“Dey won’t hurt us,” he said.  “Dey hab done their work; dey lub po’ Uncle Moses.”

“Will they come with us?” I asked, with wondering delight.

“Dey will do anyt’ing for Uncle Moses,” he replied.

“Then let us get away into the forest again as soon as we can, and take them with us.  How far is the swamp now?”

“’Bout a mile, Massa.”

“Come, then; we may have time to get to it before the men can overtake us.  They cannot get their horses over the tree.”

And we made off, the dogs accompanying us willingly, in spite of the cries and calls of the baffled horsemen on the other side of the tree.  Issuing from the gorge, we struck into the forest, and heard our pursuers cursing us and the dogs as they tried to follow us.  By the help of my arm Uncle Moses managed to struggle along, and after about a quarter of an hour we came to the edge of the swamp.

Then he took from his back, where they had been strapped, two pairs of shoes in shape similar to those which our trappers in America adopted from the Indians for marching over snow, but slighter and shorter.  These we donned, the negro showing me how to fasten mine, and then we stepped on to the morass, the oozy red soil squelching beneath our feet.  The hounds came with us for a few yards, but, the ground becoming softer the farther we went from the edge, they halted, whined as though loath to part from friends, and then ran back to meet Vetch and one of his buccaneers, who stood helpless at the brink.  They fired at us, but we were already out of range, and with the sound of their execrations still in our ears we trudged slowly but steadily towards the other side of the swamp.

Chapter 25:  I Spend Cludde’s Crown Piece.

Thankful as I was for my wondrous escape, my mind still misgave me, both as to our own ultimate safety and as to what might befall Mistress Lucy.  I did not know the extent of the swamp, and maybe Vetch and his companion would go back for their horses and, circling round it, circumvent us.  Uncle Moses relieved my fears on this score, telling me that, while the swamp was little more than half a mile across, it stretched laterally for several miles, and we should reach the haven whither we were making long before the swiftest horses could complete the circuit.

On the other point, the well being of Mistress Lucy, he could give me no reassurance.  ’Twas Wednesday:  she came of age tomorrow; even if Vetch was not aware of this, but believed that Friday, the day of her birthday celebrations, was the actual birthday, it gave us terribly little time to concert any movements on her behalf.  And so my joy of having recovered my freedom was tempered by uneasiness.