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Show il2 BICIJAIW 1111/WIS , shrnb, fl.ung him sc l~ in:liflCrcnt ly upon the gra ss, and gave ·way t? the b1ttercst mcd ttnt10ns. H e IHtd toiled long, witl•out ccssatwn, and l•is toils had nil been taken in vain. I t did not offer nny qu:-dification to his mortified feelings to reflect that he had also toiled dishonoraLiy. .nut on a sudden he rose, aml resumed his scat in the saddle. I~1 s meditations had taken a new course. His hopes had r eVIved i aud he now plann ed projects, the charncter of w11ich, C\'Cn worse tlw.n those nlrcndy known to the read er, will 50011 be developed . He put spurs to I tis steed, :lnd rode furiously through the wood. It was deep, dark and tangled; but he knew the country, with which, it 'NHS fortunate for him, his horse wns also familiar. Througlt by-paths which were made L~ the catt~o, or by scouting neg roes, he hurried through tho f01 est, and m a couple of hours' space, emerged fi'Om it into a more beato~1 path. A ride of an hour more carried him beyond the plantation of my father, which tho circuit throucrh the forest had enabled him to avoid, and in the immed iate n~in·hborhood of a. misera~l e ca?i.n that stood in a secluclcd :mel wilcl spot, and w~s s~en wtth ddhculty tltrough the crowding darkness. A f;u~Jt l1ght shone througlt the irregular logs of which it was built, an~ scrve~l, while i 1~ clicat in~ tlte dwell ing, to convey to the obs01 ver au mcreased ulca of 1ts cheerlessness. It \~'as b~fore this l11J.b itation, if such it might be called, tk1t J ohn llur~ t s dt:ew up his horse. lie ttlightcd, and, lnwing first led tl~e annnal mto shadow behind the house, he returned to tho door m front, and tnpping, obtained immodinte entrance. 'rho ro.om into which he was admitted was a small OHe, and so filled wtth smoke t~1at objects were sca rce discernible. Some light wood thrown mto the fire on !tis entrance served to illumine if not to di sperse it, and John spoke to the inmates with a. dcn-:·ee of familinrity which showed him to kt.Ye been an old acqu;intance. They were old ncquaintancC', not only of ltim but of myself. The man wns a villain whom I had cmwht stenliucr con~ from our field s, and whom, but for Jolin , I sl10uiJ. ] 1a,;~ pUi~l sh ed accordingly. I little knew what was t110 trne moti\·e wlttch prompted his interference, and gave him credit for a ~rcn.ter de~rce of lmmanity than was consistent either with JUSIIce or Ius true character. lie was a burly ruffian, a black- GU ILTY P JL\C'T l ('J;;, 83 b(':nded, blaek-faccll fellow, rarely clean, seldom visible by cby, a. sullen, sonr, bad-minilf'd wretch, who l1nd no mode of Ji,•eli ltood of wltich tile neighbors knew except by inv e i~lin g the negroes into thefts of property which, in his wandenngs, he disposed of. He wns a constant wanderer to the towns around, and it wns said, sometimes extentlcd his rambles to others out of the state. His rifle and a mangy cur that slept in the fireplace, aml like his mnstcr was never visible by day, were his so le companions wlten abroad. At home he had a wif'e and one child. 'l'ltc wife, like himself, seemed sour and dissntisfied. If cr looks, when not vacant, were dark anJ threatening. She spoke li ttle but r~ll'ely idly, and howe\·er much her outward deportment might resemble that of her husband, it must be sn-id in her favor, that her nature was decidedly gentler, and her character as far superior as it well could be, living in such contact, ancl having no sympntlties snvc those which she found. in her child and husband . P erhaps, too, her mind was something stronger, as it was more direct and less flexibl e, than lti s. Sl10 was a woman of dcliber~lte and com posed manner, rarely passionate, and careful to accommodate her conduct and nppea.~·auce to the well.known lmmility of condition in which she li\'Cd . In this lay h er wisdom. The people around commiserated her as she was neither presumptuous nor offensive, and tolerated many offences in him, in consideration of herself and child, which would have Lrougltt any other !)Orson to the whipping post. 'l'he child, l.lll unlwppy creature, a girl of fifteen, was an idiot.born. She was pretty, very pretty, and sometimes, when a sudden spark of intelligence lighted up her eye, she seemed really beautiful. But the mind was utterly lacking. 'l'he temple was graceful, erect, and iiwiting, but the god had never t.akcn possession of his shrine. ]<:nough! It was to this unpromising fami ly and mean abode that John IIm·dis came late at night. 'rho inmates were watchful nnd the man ready to answer to the summons. rrhe woman, too, was a watcher, probably after un accustomed habit, but the idiot gi rl slept on a pallet in one corner of the apartment. 1Vhcn J ohn Hurdis ent ered, she rai scU her head, and regardecl him with a show of interest which he did not appenr to sec. |
