As they passed onward, a negro drew partly out from amongst the bushes, with a gun in his hand, which he raised for a moment to his shoulder, but then let it drop again, as if he doubted his distance or his aim. The next moment he glided back quietly into the bushes, and disappeared entirely. I continued to watch for a minute or two; and once I thought I saw a dark face appear as if gazing out in the direction which Mr. Thornton's party had taken; but it was seen only for an instant, and I turned to think what had best be done. The question became, what was the greatest risk? Mr. Thornton, I judged, was very likely to return as soon as he found that Bessy was liberated; but, whatever violence he might venture to indulge in towards the comparatively unprotected negroes, I felt assured that he would hesitate a good deal before he would enter into a struggle which he knew must be carried to extremity with white people. On the other hand, Nat Turner and his companions had bound themselves by no very extensive engagement. They had promised us security during that night; but they might well look upon the bond as extending no further; and, moreover, the great moral power of responsibility was taken from them. They had dared and incurred the utmost penalty that human laws could pronounce; no mercy shown towards us could atone for their past inconceivable guilt; no fresh murder, no fresh barbarity could add one iota to the punishment which they were certain of receiving in this world. If they were not watching for our coming forth, why did they remain hiding there in the bushes just opposite the hut? I could not but suspect, also, that, hampered as I had left them, the horses could not have got out of sight without having been removed. Added to these thoughts came the considerations, that if we went out from the hut we could be attacked on any side, unaided by any or either party; but that as long as we remained within it, I could defend the door with very little difficulty against a more numerous force than I had yet seen; and, in addition, I thought that it was more than probable the sheriff, when he found, on returning to his own house, that neither I nor Bessy had returned, would scour the country along the state-line, and, perhaps, even pass it in search of us.