The slaves then took a straight course for the Baton Rouge and
Bayou Sara road, about four miles distant. Nearer and nearer the
whimpering pack pressed on; their delusion begins to dispel. All
at once the truth flashes upon the minds of the fugitives like a
glare of light,--'tis Tabor with his dogs!
The scent becomes warmer and warmer, and what was at first an
irregular cry now deepens into one ceaseless roar, as the
relentless pack presses on after its human prey.
They at last reach the river, and in the negroes plunge, followed
by the catch-dog. Jerome is caught and is once more in the hands
of his master, while the other poor fellow finds a watery grave.
They return, and the preacher sends his slave to jail.
CHAPTER XIX
THE TRUE HEROINE.
IN vain did Georgiana try to console Clotelle, when the latter
heard, through one of the other slaves, that Mr. Wilson had
started with the dogs in pursuit of Jerome. The poor girl well
knew that he would be caught, and that severe punishment, if not
death, would be the result of his capture. It was therefore with a
heart filled with the deepest grief that the slave-girl heard the
footsteps of her master on his return from the chase. The dogged
and stern manner of the preacher forbade even his daughter
inquiring as to the success of his pursuit. Georgiana secretly
hoped that the fugitive had not been caught; she wished it for the
sake of the slave, and more especially for her maid-servant, whom
she regarded more as a companion than a menial.
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