CHAPTER XXXIX
The Stratagem part2
Legree poohed andpished, but read, turning page after page, till, finally, after reading someway, he threw down the book, with an oath.
"You don'tbelieve in ghosts, do you, Cass?" said he, taking the tongs and settlingthe fire. "I thought you'd more sense than to let noises scare you ."
"No matterwhat I believe," said Cassy, sullenly.
"Fellows usedto try to frighten me with their yarns at sea," said Legree. "Nevercome it round me that way. I'm too tough for any such trash, tell ye."
Cassy sat lookingintensely at him in the shadow of the corner. There was that strange light inher eyes that always impressed Legree with uneasiness.
"Them noiseswas nothing but rats and the wind," said Legree. "Rats will make adevil of a noise. I used to hear 'em sometimes down in the hold of the ship;and wind,—Lord'ssake! ye can make anything out o' wind."
Cassy knew Legreewas uneasy under her eyes, and, therefore, she made no answer, but sat fixingthem on him, with that strange, unearthly expression, as before.
"Come, speakout, woman,—don'tyou think so?" said Legree.
"Can rats walkdown stairs, and come walking through the entry, and open a door when you'velocked it and set a chair against it?" said Cassy; "and come walk,walk, walking right up to your bed, and put out their hand, so?"
Cassy kept herglittering eyes fixed on Legree, as she spoke, and he stared at her like a manin the nightmare, till, when she finished by laying her hand, icy cold, on his,he sprung back, with an oath.
"Woman! whatdo you mean? Nobody did?"
"O, no,—of course not,—did I say they did?" said Cassy, with a smile of chillingderision.
"But—did—have you really seen?—Come, Cass, what isit, now,—speak out!"
"You may sleepthere, yourself," said Cassy, "if you want to know."
"Did it comefrom the garret, Cassy?"
"It ,—what?" saidCassy.
"Why, what youtold of—"
"I didn't tellyou anything," said Cassy, with dogged sullenness.
Legree walked upand down the room, uneasily.
"I'll havethis yer thing examined. I'll look into it, this very night. I'll take mypistols—"
"Do,"said Cassy; "sleep in that room. I'd like to see you doing it. Fire yourpistols,—do!"
Legree stamped hisfoot, and swore violently.
"Don'tswear," said Cassy; "nobody knows who may be hearing you. Hark! Whatwas that?"
"What?"said Legree, starting.
A heavy old Dutchclock, that stood in the corner of the room, began, and slowly struck twelve.
For some reason orother, Legree neither spoke nor moved; a vague horror fell on him; while Cassy,with a keen, sneering glitter in her eyes, stood looking at him, counting thestrokes.
"Twelveo'clock; well now we'll see," said she, turning, andopening the door into the passage-way, and standing as if listening.
"Hark! What'sthat?" said she, raising her finger.
"It's only thewind," said Legree. "Don't you hear how cursedly it blows?"
"Simon, comehere," said Cassy, in a whisper, laying her hand on his, and leading himto the foot of the stairs: "do you know what that is?Hark!"
A wild shriek camepealing down the stairway. It came from the garret. Legree's knees knockedtogether; his face grew white with fear.
"Hadn't youbetter get your pistols?" said Cassy, with a sneer that froze Legree'sblood. "It's time this thing was looked into, you know. I'd like to haveyou go up now; they're at it ."
"I won'tgo!" said Legree, with an oath.
"Why not?There an't any such thing as ghosts, you know! Come!" and Cassy flitted upthe winding stairway, laughing, and looking back after him. "Comeon."
"I believe you are thedevil!" said Legree. "Come back you hag,—come back, Cass! Youshan't go!"
But Cassy laughedwildly, and fled on. He heard her open the entry doors that led to the garret.A wild gust of wind swept down, extinguishing the candle he held in his hand,and with it the fearful, unearthly screams; they seemed to be shrieked in hisvery ear.
Legree fledfrantically into the parlor, whither, in a few moments, he was followed byCassy, pale, calm, cold as an avenging spirit, and with that same fearful lightin her eye.
"I hope youare satisfied," said she.
"Blast you,Cass!" said Legree.
"Whatfor?" said Cassy. "I only went up and shut the doors. What'sthe matter with that garret , Simon, do you suppose?" said she.
"None of yourbusiness!" said Legree.
"O, it an't?Well," said Cassy, "at any rate, I'm glad I don'tsleep under it."
Anticipating therising of the wind, that very evening, Cassy had been up and opened the garretwindow. Of course, the moment the doors were opened, the wind had drafted down,and extinguished the light.
This may serve as aspecimen of the game that Cassy played with Legree, until he would sooner haveput his head into a lion's mouth than to have explored that garret. Meanwhile,in the night, when everybody else was asleep, Cassy slowly and carefullyaccumulated there a stock of provisions sufficient to afford subsistence forsome time; she transferred, article by article, a greater part of her own andEmmeline's wardrobe. All things being arranged, they only waited a fittingopportunity to put their plan in execution.
By cajoling Legree,and taking advantage of a good-natured interval, Cassy had got him to take herwith him to the neighboring town, which was situated directly on the Red River.With a memory sharpened to almost preternatural clearness, she remarked everyturn in the road, and formed a mental estimate of the time to be occupied intraversing it.
At the time whenall was matured for action, our readers may, perhaps, like to look behind thescenes, and see the final coup d'etat .
It was now nearevening, Legree had been absent, on a ride to a neighboring farm. For many daysCassy had been unusually gracious and accommodating in her humors; and Legreeand she had been, apparently, on the best of terms. At present, we may beholdher and Emmeline in the room of the latter, busy in sorting and arranging twosmall bundles.
"There, thesewill be large enough," said Cassy. "Now put on your bonnet, and let'sstart; it's just about the right time."
"Why, they cansee us yet," said Emmeline.
"I mean theyshall," said Cassy, coolly. "Don't you know that they must have theirchase after us, at any rate? The way of the thing is to be just this:—We will steal out ofthe back door, and run down by the quarters. Sambo or Quimbo will be sure tosee us. They will give chase, and we will get into the swamp; then, they can'tfollow us any further till they go up and give the alarm, and turn out thedogs, and so on; and, while they are blundering round, and tumbling over eachother, as they always do, you and I will slip along to the creek, that runsback of the house, and wade along in it, till we get opposite the back door.That will put the dogs all at fault; for scent won't lie in the water. Everyone will run out of the house to look after us, and then we'll whip in at theback door, and up into the garret, where I've got a nice bed made up in one ofthe great boxes. We must stay in that garret a good while, for, I tell you, hewill raise heaven and earth after us. He'll muster some of those old overseerson the other plantations, and have a great hunt; and they'll go over every inchof ground in that swamp. He makes it his boast that nobody ever got away fromhim. So let him hunt at his leisure."
"Cassy, howwell you have planned it!" said Emmeline. "Who ever would havethought of it, but you?"
There was neitherpleasure nor exultation in Cassy's eyes,—only a despairing firmness.
"Come,"she said, reaching her hand to Emmeline.
The two fugitivesglided noiselessly from the house, and flitted, through the gathering shadowsof evening, along by the quarters. The crescent moon, set like a silver signetin the western sky, delayed a little the approach of night. As Cassy expected,when quite near the verge of the swamps that encircled the plantation, theyheard a voice calling to them to stop. It was not Sambo, however, but Legree,who was pursuing them with violent execrations. At the sound, the feeblerspirit of Emmeline gave way; and, laying hold of Cassy's arm, she said,"O, Cassy, I'm going to faint!"
"If you do,I'll kill you!" said Cassy, drawing a small, glittering stiletto, andflashing it before the eyes of the girl.
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