however, he discovered the canoe in which De Guy had arrived, and,
casting it off, he paddled with astonishing rapidity towards the
opposite shore.

His pursuers reached the bank, and perceiving the canoe through the
darkness, Jaspar discharged his rifle at it. A heavy splash followed the
discharge. The canoe appeared to float at the mercy of the current.
Jaspar and De Guy, satisfied that the rifle-ball had done its work,
hastened down stream to a small point of land which projected into the
river, with the hope of securing the canoe and the body of the slave,
upon which they expected to find the will. The canoe was driven ashore,
as they had anticipated; but it contained not the objects for which they
sought. The corpse of Hatchie was nowhere to be found, though they
paddled about the river an hour in search of it,--not that the body of
the mulatto was of any consequence, but in the hope of obtaining the
precious will.

Here was a contingency for which Jaspar was wholly unprepared. The
original signature of the will was not now available, and they must
trust to luck for accuracy in signing the false one. There was little
difficulty in this, as the will was known to have been signed in the
usual manner, and the private character they had in their possession.
Still Jaspar felt that the original paper afforded the surer means of
deceiving the witnesses. They had before intended to produce a
fac-simile, mechanically, of the original,--a purpose which could not
now be accomplished. The witnesses were all friends of Colonel Dumont,
and they had various papers signed by them from which to copy their
signatures. The worst, and to Jaspar's daring mind the only difficulty
which now presented itself, was the fear that the body of Hatchie might
be found, and the genuine will thus brought to light. After much
reflection and consultation with De Guy, he determined to risk all, to
watch for the body, and be prepared to overcome any obstacle which might
be presented. With this conclusion they returned to the library. By the
aid of old notes, checks, and other papers, the fictitious will was duly
signed, the significant character affixed, and the document enveloped so
as to exactly resemble the original packet.

The whole transaction was so well performed that Jaspar retired to his
pillow confident of success, to await the result on the morrow, when the
will was to be read.

CHAPTER V.

"Is this the daughter of a slav