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Show 234 RIC IIA RD HURDTS. u What! to this accursed brotherhood 1 Never!" " llow can you help it, 'squi re 1 If you don't, he'll expose you! lie swears to hang you, if you do not!" "But he can not! How can he prove his charge 1 Besides, I struck no blow-! never left my home!" "You forget, 'squire; he heard our talk together." "But who'll believe him, Ben 1 Yon can swear him down that you never had such a conversation." "No ! I dare not; for then he'd prove me to be tllC man that shot the shot. " ' e must submit, 'squire, I'm afraid, or he'd con· viet us both; and, to save myself, I'd swear against yon! I'd have to do it, 'squire!" 'l'his declaration completed the misery of Hurd is, as it showed l1im how insecure was the tenure, by which the slaves of vice are held together. rrhe bitterness of fear-4 thc very worst bitterness of human pass ion-was in his heart, in all its force and fulncss, and he hacl to chink deeper draughts of its lnuniliating waters even than this. " 'Vltat ! Ben Pickett, cnn it be that yon would give evi-dence against me, after all I have done for you 1 You do not tell me so 1" "To save life only, 'squire ! rro save life only -for no otlJCr necess ity. But life is sweet, 'squire-too sweet for us to stand on any friendship, when we can save it by giving everything up beside. It wouldn't Ue at the first jump neither, squire, that I would let out the secrets of an old friend. It is only when I see there's no other hope to save myself, and, then, I should be mighty sorry." "Sorry 1" exclaimed Hurdis, bitterly. "Thus it is," he thought, "to usc base instruments for unworthy mJdS. rl 'he slave becomes the arbiter- the master- and to silence nnd to subdue our fears, "·c add to our secret consciousness of shame." In anxiousness, but without expression, he mused thus with his own tl10ughts. "Well, Ben, since it can be no b etter," he spoke to his com-panion, "we must even hold togetl1er, and do as well as we can to work ourselves out of this difficulty. You are resolved to do uothing with the fellow at your own house 1" DOMINO! -Til E (;HIE BLOCKED. 235 tivPci ccoknecttlu rseivpe! .i ed m· '\.O t.t ] s nn d a lone, which made his negn- to " \lV c "m u s t ~ee 1l i·S 1J anel, then, and kn ow the game he intends Pay, contmuccl llm·dis "y get him out of t1 c , 1' • ou arc agreed that we must 1 "ny 10r our own safet T l how is all the difficulty. Am I right 1" y. o say w len and l. "T hat'~ it, 'squ ire i though, somehow, if we could clincl nm now, It seems to me it would be better tha 1 . . l for"~~oth~r dny." n cavmg It over .Liwt s not to be thought on, Ben. It's too gre t . k" "! don'_t know, 'squire. I could ive him a di a ~ rts . ' . ta~k,ng with him; and if, w!Ien I !~ado tlw mot~~vl~~e you;~ ta {0 hun .by the throat, or only dash your hat in 'h. ~ cou conf~Jse 111m, I think it might be done easil enou h ,',s ace to P1ckett showed his bowie-knif< 1 Y g : carefully hidcle . I. b e ns. Je spoke, wlnch ·he had n 111 liS osom, unpercetved b, hi b ],~ ;vent abroad. Dnt tllis plan, though, perl;aps,' tY,:e~~st e~r~ wit' no encomagement from his more poli tic, or, to ,' en~ p ~mly, more tJ.tmcl companion. lie shook his head a l VOICC of the CmlSS:try at a li ttle distan . ' . t n the some rude ditty to cheer the solitude c:f '~l?: ll.~arc!~ as he sang haps to notify the twain that he was becom~ugsJi~a .';n, ;r per- " llark! he approaches us," sa id llurdis "Lp,tt len . more 1 E 1 · c us say no I I o';'· noug I that we understand each other ·n 7 • t watc 1 111s game in ·] . · n emus though I ld ' OH cr to determmc U})On our own. and we ao.' mt::~l~otn:~lyw~ sh~uld do_ anythii~g to-night; yet: wba; quickly L t e_ one wtthout l'lsk, but must be donA · e us go to h1m now." |