ut Peter is close at
hand."

"Ho, yis! bery close at hand, Geo'ge!" said Peter himself, suddenly
emerging from a place of concealment. "Now you come along wid me, sar,
an' let dat poo' chile meet her fadder in private."

"But she cannot do that, Peter, for Edouard Laronde is with him."

"Who'n all de wurld's Eddard Larongd?"

Before Foster could reply Hester had bounded from his side, and next
moment was locked in her father's arms.

"Come away, Geo'ge--an' you too, Eddard La--La-whatever-it-is!" cried
the negro, grasping the latter by the arm and hurrying him along the
road in the direction of the seashore, while the reunited father and
child knelt down together and poured out their gratitude to God.

"Dey'll foller us in a minnit or two," continued the negro. "What kep'
you so long, Geo'ge?"

"Couldn't manage it sooner. But can you guess, Peter, why Ben-Ahmed
behaved in the strange way he has done? He got into a rage when I
attempted to tell him honestly, that I did not intend to go back to him,
or to take Sommers to his house, and that I'd try to escape along with
him if I could, but he would not listen or let me say a word."

"Did you t'ink ob tellin' him all dat?" asked Peter.

"I certainly did."

"Well, you're not half such a hipperkrite as I t'ink you was."

"I'm glad to hear you say so, for I don't like to play the part of a
hypocrite, Peter; I like to be all fair and above-board."

"Was it all fair an' above-board, Geo'ge, to kiss dat leetle gal when
she was all alone and unpurtected? Was it all fair an' above-board to
call her you dear _chile_, as if you was her fadder?"

"Come, come, Peter, `everything is fair,' you know, `in love and war.'
But that's not the point. Can you guess, I ask, Ben-Ahmed's motive for
acting so oddly?"

"Oh! yis, Geo'ge, I kin guess a'most anybody's motives, zough, p'r'aps,
I mightn't guess right. I shouldn't wonder, now, if Ben-Ahmed will hab
to account to do Dey for de tottle disappearance of Hugh Sommers--to say
not'ing ob Eddard La--La--what's-'is-name--an' p'r'aps he'd like to be
able to say he'd no notion o' what de man he sent to fetch de slabe was
goin' to do. Now he couldn't hab say dat, you know, if he let you tell
him all about it--like a goose as you was. So he let you go off, d'ye
see, gib you your orders so far, an' labes de rest to your good sense--
zough dere wasn't too much ob dat to leab it to, or you wouldn't hab
bring away Eddard La--La--