"Oh yes; I'll go." He went towards the judge's lodge. "You go right into that lodge, fool Hollis, and stay there,--stay with that unreasonable, vituperative, cantankerous old Bourbon of a judge, and--judge of Bourbon! You smooth him down, and you hearten him up, you agree with him every time; you tuck him in, you hang his old clothes over a chair, you take his shoes out, and black 'em; and you conduct yourself generally like one of his own nigs in the glorious old days of slavery--Maryland, my Maryland!" He lifted the latch of the door, and went in. Paul, meanwhile, had gone to the big pine; when he reached it, the twilight had darkened into night. A crouching figure stood close to the trunk--Porley; she was tied by a small rope to the tree, the firm ligatures encircling her in three places--at the throat, the waist, and the ankles; in addition, her hands were tied behind her. "Well, Porley, a good joke, isn't it?" Paul said, as he cut the knots of the rope with his knife. "Ah-_hoo!_" sobbed the girl, her fright breaking into audible expression now that aid was near. "Mrs. Morrison thought she would see how brave you were." "Ah-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo-_hoo!_" roared Porley, in a paroxysm of frantic weeping. "If you are so frightened as that, what did you let her do it for? You are five times as strong as she is." "I coulden tech her, marse--I coulden! Says she, 'A-follerin' an' spyin', Porley? Take dat rope an' come wid me.' So I come. She's cunjud me, marse; I is done fer." "Nonsense! Where's the nurse?" "I doan know--I doan know. Says she, 'We'll take a walk, Miss Mile.' An' off dey went, 'way ober dat way. Reckon Miss Mile's dead!" "No more dead than you are. Go back to the camp and un-cunjer yourself; there's a dollar to help it along." He went off in the direction she had indicated. After a while he began to call at intervals; there was a distant answer, and he called again. And then gradually, nearer and nearer, came the self-respecting voice of Mary Ann Mile. Each time he shouted, "Hello there!" her answer was, "Yes, sir; present-lée," in a very well-educated tone. "What is this, Mrs. Mile?" "You may well ask, sir. Such an incident has never happened to me before. Mrs. Morrison remarked that she should enjoy a walk, and I therefore went with her; after we had proceeded some distance, suddenly she darted off. I followed her, and kept her in sight for a while, or rather she kept me in sight; then she disappeared, and I perceived not only that I had lost her, but that I myself was lost. It is a curious thing, sir,--the cleverness of people whose minds are disordered!" "Her mind is no longer disordered, Mrs. Mile; she has got back her senses." "Do you consider this an instance of it?" asked the nurse, doubtfully. When Paul left Cicely's lodge, Eve closed the door. "Cicely, I have something to tell you. Listen." "It is a pity you like that man--that Paul Tennant," Cicely answered.