And the boys pursued them with their clubs for half a mile, yelling at such a rate that the negroes thought, no doubt that half a score of boatmen were after them. They were Madame Bushane’s slaves, seeking plunder on the boat, and they were thoroughly terrified. They had not counted upon such a belligerent reception. Abraham and Allen saw at once that it was a case of life and death, and therefore they fought with desperation. The negroes left some of their best blood on deck, and it was mingled with that of our two young boatmen. For they received blows well nigh as hard as those they gave, and their blood told of their wounds. Abraham received a blow over his right eye, the scar of which he carried through life.

“We must get the boat off now as quick as possible,” said Allen, as they returned from the pursuit. “The scamps may come back with twice the number.”

“I was just thinking of that,” replied Abraham. “Jump aboard, and I will untie the boat. We must lose no time.”

In a minute Allen was aboard, and scarcely another minute had passed before Abraham followed him, having loosed the boat.

“We are safe now, if the whole plantation comes,” said Allen, as they shoved off into the stream.

“We sha’n’t need to go far,” added Abraham. “Only change our position, and we are safe.”

“That may be, but I think I shall sleep with my eyes open the rest of the night.”

“And I will keep you company,” responded Abraham. “The next time I come to New Orleans I shall come armed. This going to war without a gun is not quite the thing.”

“I wish we had been armed,” said Allen. “Wouldn’t we have made the feathers fly ?”

“The wool, you mean,” replied Abraham, jocosely. He had become as cool as if nothing had happened.

“They meant to kill us.”

“Of course they did. It wouldn’t have done for them to rob us, and leave us to tell the story to their master. But they might have made away with us, and robbed and sunk the boat, and nobody been any the wiser for it.”

“They are no fools, if they be niggers.”

“No; but after all they are not so much to blame,” added Abraham. “Slavery has robbed themof everything, and so I s’pose they think it is fair play to take what they can get.”

We shall only add that the voyage was continued to New Orleans, and the cargo of bacon and other produce disposed of to advantage. The boys returned to Indiana on the deck of a steamer, according to Mr. Gentry’s arrangement before they started.

It is a remarkable fact that Abraham, who fought the slaves to save his life, should become their emancipator, as we shall discover, thirty-five years thereafter!