I did not feel at all sure that they would not have a shot at us from the denser parts of the forest, as we passed along through the narrow paths which we had to thread in order to reach the high road; and I kept my gun upon my knee, to give it back again in case of need. But the great highway to Suffolk was reached at length, and on we went in more security. A large, lumbering, heavy stage-coach passed us, with its tall springs and huge body, looking like a great solitary capon, and quite unlike the neat, compact, dashing vehicles which roll along with such tremendous speed over our smooth English roads. It stopped for a moment, to give time for the passengers and driver to ask us--"What news?" and then went on again, rolling and wallowing through the sand, and the ruts, and the holes, like a porpoise in a rough sea. About two miles farther on, just as we were coming to the opening of another road branching to the left, I heard a well-known voice exclaiming,-- "Hi, massa, hi!" Looking round, I saw Zed just starting up from a large log on which he had been sitting. He ran as quickly towards us as his crooked leg would admit; and, coming close to my horse, he said, in a low, mysterious, and important voice,-- "Got news of Miss Bessy, massa. Saw an ole woman in her cabin, half-way between Doctor Blunt's and Mr. Hiram Shield's; and she tell me that she saw four men and two women, a-horseback, pass by last night just as it was growing dark. They were all white men, and one was a white woman. She says, she swears, she was Miss Bessy. T'other woman's face she could not see; but she says she was mighty fat, so that must be aunt Jenny." "Which way did they take?" I demanded, though I did not exactly see why there should not be other fat women in the world besides aunt Jenny. "Oh, they have gone to Jerusalem, of course," cried Billy Byles. "It was some of Halliday's party, depend upon it. Very likely they split into two; but they have all taken to Jerusalem, you may be sure of it. You see, in the crowd and confusion last night, no one could find anything, and the search for Bessy was like looking for a needle in a pottle of hay. "Ole woman thinks they took t'other way," said Zed; "but you see, massa, her cabin just stand at de corner, where you can see no way at all; for they could turn either right or left when they got a hundred yards farther; and she only judge by the sound of the horses' feet." "Oh, they've gone to Jerusalem," said Billy Byles. And turning to Zed, he added, "She was quite sure they were white men?" "Oh, she swore by gorry dey was white men," answered Zed. "No doubt of dat." "Then she is safe, at all events," answered Billy Byles; "and we had better make the best of our way on to town and seek for her. So that she hasn't fallen into the hands of these devils, we have no occasion to be afraid."