placed her hat upon her head and arose to go. The preacher also
arose, thinking to himself: "I wish I could change the apple blossoms
into orange blossoms and see them crowning her golden hair."

They had walked along the farm road, and had nearly reached the garden
gate when they saw the slave Mose running rapidly toward the house.
They were just ascending the hill when the black man, getting within
speaking distance, cried out: "Miss Vi'la, Ah jist cum frum town, an'
what do yo' 'spose? Sam Wiles hab' 'scaped frum jail. He got out las'
night. Sumhow he got a file an' cut two ba's out'n his cell winder an'
crep' through. In sum way he clim' ober de yawd fence an' got cl'ar
'way. De she'ff an' constables is now chasin' 'im an' callin' on all
who can to help run 'im down. Ah's gwine to hurry to de house to tell
Mas'r LeMonde uv de 'scape."

With this remark Mose ran on, his white eyeballs rolling in his
excitement and his head bobbing from one side to the other.

In a few minutes Viola and Jasper were with Judge LeMonde and the rest
of the house. The Judge was questioning his faithful servant: "Did the
officers think he had any help in escaping?"

"Yessar, sum one mus' 'a' sperited dat file inter de jail, an' ob
cou'se no ossifer would 'a dun it."

"Who do they think was his helper?"

"Zibe Turner. Two er free in de town see 'im sneakin' roun', but befo'
dey could grab 'im he war gone. He seems to be in league wif de debil,
an' can become inwisible when he wants ter."

"But how could the monster dwarf get the file to him?"

"It am 'sposed he had a secret talk wif de colored cook, Dinah, an' sum
way cum it ober her--bewitched her mor'n likely ur gib 'er a big lot ob
money--an' she passed de file in sum ob Wiles' food, an' he cut his way
out."

"But his cell was in the second story, and how did he reach the
ground?"

"He made a rope ob de bedclothes an' clum down dem. Dey thinks he frew
de same rope ober de wall, an' Turner held de outer end while Wiles
clum to de top; den he could easy drap to de bottom. Ah 'spects dey bof
cl'ar out togedder, an' by dis time air way back on de knobs safe an'
sound."

Judge LeMonde said: "We must do all we can to recapture Wiles and
arrest Turner, for they are desperate men, and will stop at nothing to
secure their own ends. However, I am afraid it will be almost
impossible to take them if they have reached the fastnesses of the
hills. They can hide in caves, ravines, and fo