and refinement to
thus impress anyone she might meet, If necessary we might travel as man
and wife, with Sam as our servant. Our means of travel would attract
no particular attention in that country--the edge of the wilderness; it
was common enough. This struck me as the most reasonable course to
pursue--to work our way quietly up the Illinois by night, keeping close
in shore to avoid any passing steamer, until we arrived close to
Beardstown. There, if necessary, we might begin our masquerade, but it
need not be a long one. Undoubtedly there were blacks in the town,
both slaves and free negroes, with whom Sam could easily establish an
acquaintance. By this means we would soon be able to identify that
particular preacher into whose care I hoped to confide Rene. Of
course, the girl might refuse to enter into the game, might decline to
assume the role assigned her, however innocent I intended it to
be--indeed, I felt convinced she would meet the suggestion with
indignation. But why worry about that now? Let this be kept as a last
resort. There was no necessity for me to even mention this part of my
plan until after our approach to Beardstown; then the necessity of our
going forward with it might be so apparent, she could not refuse to
carry out her part. With this point thus settled in my own mind I felt
ready to rejoin the others.

I must have been absent in the neighborhood of two hours, and they had
returned to the bank of the creek some time in advance of me. As I
appeared at the edge of the wood, Sam hailed, offering to row the boat
across.

"All right," I replied, confident we were alone. "It will save me
another wetting. You saw nothing?"

"No, sah; leastways, not much," busily fitting the oars into the
row-locks. "We cud see up de Illinois mor'n ten mile. Ah reckon, but
dar wan't no boat nowhar, 'cepting an o' scow tied up ter de bank."

"I thought so. The keel-boat has gone down the Mississippi."

"Yer done saw her, sah?"

"I saw her smoke; she was hidden by a big bend just below. Don't sit
there staring at me--come across."

Rene greeted me with a smile, as I scrambled up on the slippery log,
and asked a number of questions. I answered these as best I could and
then explained, so far as I deemed it desirable, the general nature of
the plans I had made. Both she and the listening negro in the boat
below agreed that the safer course for us to choose led up the
Illinois, because every mi