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Show 352 HIC'IIAIW JIUIWJS • . 'Villiams k nows that !te must find him in tli:li t ime, and if he docs not, send Dillon awl H aliN on his tr:H.:k, n.nd tlt{'y find him, T' ll bet my lif<', though they hi1l h im :n the elosr st ~tuttle. hole of 1\~atchy swmnp. Let us all go to~cthrr to the lll<'cling of the • Bl ind,' ancl not nlann tho traitor by pressing tho pursuit upon him in the YCI'Y moment of his flig bt. Let him h:wc a little time-let him marry uway, and be happy , if he can, for a nig ht or two. It will not d iminish !tis punishment that he has a taste only of wedlock. Julia Grafton is a sweet girl enough-! could have taken her lnyself, and, pcrhnps, been an honest 0\'Crsccr of her father's plantation nll my life-bowing respectfully to his high mightiness, and k issing tltc rod of his rebuke - had he only lookeil a. will ingness to let me have her. But, as it is - let the game go ! It mntters not much who has what we can't ha,·e ; and yet I hate Grafton so cmsedly, that it gives me !Jleasurc to think that she is to be the wife of one so completely in our power, as Edward ]~berly -or Clifton, as we should call him in Grafton Lodge. LC't him swing freely on his gate awhile; and \Villiams may take his time. He c:m not escape all of us, though he may escape him." "You will i nstruct \Villiams then, when he shall go, and where," snid l!"'oster. "Yes- that shall be my look-out. In the meantime, let us go to sleep. \V c have to start early , and the small hours are beginning- ! can tell from the increasing darkness and the cold. Let us wrap up, and sleep fast, for we must Le stirring early. \ Villiams, I 'll wake you in tl1e morning." 14 T he sooner the better," was my reply; " for, between us, I don't like th is putti11g off'. I f I mn to go after Eberly, I'd rather stnrt at daylight, and strike as soon as I get a chnncc. I hate, when I have such a business on lutnd, to r isk its j ustice by my own delay; particularly when delay can bo avoided. Besides, I'm thinking that if Eberly marries this girl, he will be cunning euough to leave the country. T on to one, ~1e's made all his arrangements for an early start, :md will be off on fast liOJ'ses soon after tbe event." 14 'That's tr ue," said tho rum an ; "I did not think of thatvou shall start as soon as possible after we have met our men ~t tho 'Blind' to-morrow. We must meet them there Hrst, for THE APPAJH r.nOWS ~lORJO: INTnJC,\TE. 353 I have business of import:mco with on!' of thcn1 that must be seen to;' and you' ll hnvc to wait t ill I t·nn sllow you the way to Grnfton s, and some few of our hid ing-pltH.'CS tlll~l'(.•abouts." I n my eng!'rness, I l11Hl almost told him that L knew the place ~''ell enoug h, and could fiud it with ol~t him. My anxiety to Ue m season to prevent the nuptials, had nearly blinded me to the great r isk of detection, to wh ic!J such :w avowal must have suhj~cted me. But f met the inquiring glance of F oster's eye at tins Inoment, and that brougl1t me to my senses. l t taught me that I was playing a part of tr iple treachery, and warned me to be duly cautious of what I uttered. \Vithont further question or reilly, we broke up for the night ; nnd it seemed to me that I had scarcely got snugly into my place of rest, nncl closed my eyes for an instant, before .[ wus :nvakcned by \V ebber, with a summons to set forward. Ilowcver waHtinO' in proper rest, for my pa rtial slumbers of' the night had give~ me no refreshment, I had too grc:ttly at l10art the pcncc of Grafton's family, nncl the safety of the poor g irl J ulia, 110t to leap with alacrity at. the summons. 'ron minutes sufliccd to set us all in motion, an~l as the br ight blaze of the sun opened upon us, we were speedmg on at full gallop, some seven of us, at least, to out· place of meeting at the" Blind." There had Leen, at different periods of tl1e uight, full thirty men in our Livouac in the Sipsy, but they came and went at nll hours, <\nd none remained but those wl~o l1ad something of the general managen~ ent of the rest. F 1vc of these were my companions now. 'I he other two were llaller and myself. Haller, it seems, was not. so much a counsellor as a trusted underl in(J' ur orderly-a fello\v sufficiently cunning to seem wise, and 0so much of the rogue as to deserve, even if lacking wisdom, a conspicuous pln~e among those whose sole aim was dishonesty. But our busmcss is not with him. A smart ride of a few honrs bronght ns to our resting-place, a nest of hills huddlecl together confusedly, and forming, with the valley already described, called the "Dny Blind," n. hundred natural !Jiding-places of like form and chnracter. IIere I was within a few miles only of Col. Grafton's resitlcnce. I had passed the dwelling of .1\Iatthew \Vebber, already so well known to the reader, and who shon1;l be my com_pnnion, side |