The statements of the number of white persons who had been slain, and the number who were missing, were also very much exaggerated, and carried into many bosoms the same anxiety and terror which agitated mine. Although the account given by the prisoners at the block-house certainly afforded some relief to my mind, and re-awakened hope, I could not shake off apprehension; and I would fain have set off that very hour to ascertain whether poor Bessy had really found a refuge amongst the old servants of Aunt Bab. I found that was impossible, however; and, after having met all my suggestions, by objections unanswerable, Billy Byles added,-- "Depend upon it, Sir Richard, there is nothing to be done by you to-night, but to get some food and some rest. With the first ray of light to-morrow morning I will be ready to set out with you, and to-night you shall share a little dog-hole of a room which I have secured for myself in the midst of all this scramble and confusion. As to food, that will be a more difficult matter; for I do not believe there are provisions enough in Jerusalem to feed one-half of the people here. Plenty of good whiskey is to be got, and bad brandy; but everything else, as far as I can learn, is exhausted. Come, first, let us go and see what our good friend the colonel is doing down there. I can't imagine what he can be about, poking away at the corner of the bridge by himself." Billy Byles was one of those men who were made for happiness, whose minds may perhaps be susceptible of strong impressions, but those impressions are merely temporary. Now I have heard it argued that men of this character suffer as much diminution of their pleasures as their pains. But I do not think so. In the first place, few will assert, I imagine, that in this world of trial the pleasures are at all equal to the pains; and, in the next place, I do not see that it is a necessary consequence of men being a little susceptible of a pang, that they should be little susceptible of an enjoyment. At least, at that moment, I envied him the facility with which he could cast away the thought of all the dreadful things which had been passing around us, and walk unconcernedly down to the river side to see what a gentleman had been doing in whom he had no particular interest. The distance could not be above twenty or thirty yards. I remained where I was; but the moment after, he called out,-- "Hurrah! Treasure trove, treasure trove! Gentlemen both, I seize and impound you on behalf of the state, and of William Byles, Esq., of Dunmore, near the Cross Keys, and the county of Southampton, in the state of Virginia." And up he came, carrying in each hand a large, short-necked black bottle. "What have you got there?" I asked.