"I am hopeless of that man, sir," said uncle Jack, who had hitherto remained silent. "I had once great expectations in regard to him, and, perhaps, my opinion might not have changed, even in consequence of the revolt and the massacre of white men; for he has peculiar notions regarding himself, is extremely superstitious, and believes he has a right to shake off what he calls the yoke of the oppressor. But the man who can murder in cold blood young girls and innocent babes, is a villain beyond all hope. Here we are, however, approaching the house of Dr. Blunt.--Hold! Let us take care; there is a man pointing a musket at us from the window. He thinks we are some of the insurgents." "Keep back then," I said; "I will go forward. There is light enough for them to see me." And, advancing before the rest, I waved my hand, exclaiming,-- "Do not fire, do not fire. We are friends." "Who are you? What are you?" cried a boy's voice; for I could now perceive that the musketeer could not be above thirteen or fourteen years of age. "Father, father," he added, calling to some one within the house, "here are three men coming, who declare they are friends." "My name," I said, "is Sir Richard Conway, whom you may have heard of. One of the two men behind me is Uncle Jack, the preacher; the other, my own servant, who saved my life when the murderers attacked Mr. Stringer's house." By this time two or three other persons had appeared at different windows, and one of them exclaimed,-- "Oh, welcome, welcome, Sir Richard! We will open the door and let you in. We are here, as it were, in a beleaguered fortress, and shall be glad of your military experience and advice. Stay a minute and we will give you admission." CHAPTER XXV. Bolts and bars, which, I should think, had not been used for many a long year before, were removed from the door of Doctor Blunt's house, apparently with some difficulty, for I heard a good deal of thumping within before I obtained admittance. I myself was gladly welcomed; but there was some hesitation about my companions;--not much, indeed, in the case of Uncle Jack, of whom the rumour had already spread, that he was endeavouring, even at the risk of his own life, to appease an insurrection which he knew to be hopeless, and which could only have a course of barbarous massacre, and end in the bloody tragedy of legal execution. My word given for Zed, and my assurance that he had saved my life in the massacre at Mr. Stringer's, succeeded at last in obtaining admission for him also; though much whispered discussion took place amongst some of the gentlemen at the door, of which I could hear some part. "Why, we have four negroes already in the house," said one. "Those two will make six, and there are but seven of us in all," added another.