ccount
of the obstinacy of the mule. Indeed, it required no small diplomacy
on the part of the negro to induce the animal to proceed at all, and
finally, despairing of the efficiency of words, he drew a club,
evidently reserved for such emergencies, from the interior of the cart,
and gave utterance to an ultimatum. Following this display of force
our advance became a trifle more rapid.

I endeavored to think, to plan more definitely my course upon arriving
at the Beaucaire plantation, but discovered it quite impossible to
concentrate my mind upon anything. My entire attention had to be
riveted on the intricacies of the road, which wound in and out among
the bluffs, down one gully and up another, until I finally lost all
sense of direction, and merely stumbled on after the dark outlines of
the cart, through a black cave formed by the branches of over-arching
trees.

It was considerably after ten o'clock when we emerged upon an open
plateau, and a glimmer of stars overhead revealed to me afar off the
silver thread of the great river. Even in that dim light I could trace
its winding course along the valley, and the view by daylight from this
point must have been a delight to the eye. Pete stopped the straining
mule, a feat not at all difficult of accomplishment, the animal's sides
rising and falling as he wheezed for breath, and came back to where I
stood, staring about at the dimly perceived objects in the foreground.

"Out dar am de Beaucaire place," he announced, as soon as he could
distinguish my presence, waving his arm to indicate the direction.
"An' I reckon we bettah not ride no further, fer if Alick shud smell
corn, he'd nat'larly raise dis whol' neighborhood--he's got a powerful
voice, sah."

"Equal to his appetite no doubt."

"Yas, sah; that's mostly whut Alick am."

"How far away is the house?"

"Likely 'bout a hundred yards. Yer see dat light out yonder; well
dat's it, an' I reckon de ladies mus' be up yet, keepin' de lamp
burnin'. Here's de slave cabins 'long de edge ob de woods, but dey's
all dark. What's yer a goin' fer ter do now, Massa Knox?"

I was conscious that my heart was beating rapidly, and that my mind was
anything but clear. The problem fronting me did not appear so easily
solved, now that I was fairly up against it, and yet there seemed only
one natural method of procedure. I must go at my unpleasant task
boldly, and in this case only the truth would serve. I was an officer