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Show 328 HJCIIARD I!URDIS. CIIAP'l'ER XLVI. DESPAIR OJ~' THE WEAK IIIW'I'TIEI!. 'The dt·unknnl ufte r rtll his In visit cups b dry, nud !lieu is soLt't'; so, :tt length, \Vh cn you nwuke ft·om 1hc lll"(:ivious drenm R epentance theu will follow, like the sLing l'lnceJ iu the ndd e1·'s Lail."- lVI1itc lJeva. r.rm~ next morning, before it was yet dawn, Foster aroused me where I was sleeping Len oath my green· wood tree. "tV c must be stining, \Villiams; I hnvc tidings from some of our friends in 'l'uscaloosa, who appoint to meet me to-morrow noon, at the Sipsy. \V c IJ:tYC a snug plncc in tltc Jlinr 'swam1'• more :;;ccmc nnd comfortable even tktn tltis; and \I 'C sll:tll 110 doubt meet many of our fricnUs. r.rhcrc, too, you must keep a bright look out, for you will tl,ct·c see ]~ berly, mu] y olll' watch mttst begin from the moment you encounter bim." I arose with no very comfortable feelings nt tltis nssurancc. I was to begin tlte labors of the spy. \V ell ! my hand was in for it, and it was no time to look bnck. I mu:;t on, with what feeling it mattered little to tlwse around me; nnd, k tving g-ouo so far, perhaps but little to myself. I strove, as well ns I might, to shnke off my sombre feeli11gs-certainly to coHccnl their expression. Foster did not seem to lteed my tncitnrnity. 1f he did, he did not suffer me to sec that he renwrked it; but }Jlayfully and even wittily remarking upon tltc sluggish movements of om companions, 'Vcbbcr included, to whom early rising seemed an annoyance, 110 Jed the way, nnd we were all soon mounted and on om· journey. It was nenr noon when we reacl10d our place of destination, and such a place! Imngino for yourself, a thousand sluices over a low boggy ground running into one, which, in time, overflowing its channels sluices DE8 PATB. OF Till~ Wf~ AK BROTflER. 320 aJl tho country round it, and you lt:we some faint idea of the bnrd('rs of tl1e F:lipsy Ri\·l:'r. Notlting could we SC'C hut a tmbid )'C'IIow water, that ran in mn0 11g' the roots of tlJe tH·e s, spreml itRelf all around for miles, forming a lmndred little current s, some of wltich were quite as rapid ns a mill-race. rrhe rond was lost in the ittnndation; and but tltnt our men were well acquninted with the region, ·we should have been drownedom horses at lenst-in the numerous bays and bogs which by cverywl1ere before us. Even among our party a guide was necf'ssmy-:mcl one wllO understood the route better than the rest was singled out to lend the way. .For a time we seeme(l utterly lost in the accumulnting pits and ponds, crossing currents and quag1nires in which our patlt was soon inYolved, and I could easily conjecture the anxiety of our company from tlto general silence which they kept. But our guide was equal to the task, and we soon found ourselves upon a high dry island, within a few yards of the opposite shore, which, wl1en we reached, l, oster t~rowing ltimself with an air of satisfaction from his horse, proclaimed it our present resting-place. llere we were joined by a man whom I had not seen before, who had been awaiting us, and who brought letters to Foster. Some of these, from :1\Iobile, New Orleans, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa, he was pleased to sl10w me; and their contents contributed not a little to confound me, as tl1ey developed tltc large extent of the singular confederacy, of which I was held a member. Some of the plans contained in these letters were of no less startling character. One, which was dwelt on with some earnestness by two of the writers was a simultaneous robbery of all the banks. "A good proposition enough," was the quiet remark of Foster, passing his finger over tlw paragrnphs-u had they iu money but one-tenth part of the amount which they have in paper. But to empty vaults which have no specie, is l ittle to my taste. I should soon })Uta stop to specie payments, without rendering necessary an net of Congress. Here now, is something infinitely mo1·e profitable, but far more dnngerous. 'V e slmll consider tit is." Ilo pointed out to :rhe another suggestion of the writer wl1ich seemed to have been debated upon Lefore-tlto alrociousnes~:~ |
