Bessy still slept soundly, to all appearance; and at length, after much hesitation, I determined not to rouse her. I employed, the time in sawing out, with the old saw which lay in the corner, several stout pins and bolts to fasten the door. For this purpose I took part of the table, and in a short time I made the entrance secure. The shutters of the windows ran in grooves, and the woodwork, both of them and of the door, was almost an inch and a half thick; which, though penetrable by a musket-ball, was sufficient to deaden the shot greatly. There were no apertures at the back of the house: the square aperture which served for a window, commanded the only approach; and, satisfied that my little castle was fortified as far as possible, I waited, watching to see if the negroes would quit the covert, though I had some apprehension that they might make their exit on the opposite side. I had hardly resumed my post at the window a minute, when Bessy crept up to my side. The noise of the axe and the saw had awakened her; and I had to tell her all that had occurred, and to go over with her all the reasonings which induced me to remain where we were. She seemed to have an unquestioning faith in my decisions; and while I tightly fastened up the window in the other room where she had been sleeping, she kept watch in the first room, never moving from the spot where I had placed her. "Nothing has moved," she said, as I rejoined her; "not a twig has quivered, not a rain-drop has fallen from a leaf." "Then probably the men remain there still," I answered; "for I suspect they have horses with them, and the batch of bushes is too narrow for any large body to move out unperceived." "I do not think," observed Bessy, after meditating for a moment or two, "that there is any fear of violence from Mr. Thornton or his party. Robert is a coward, I am sure. He may bolster himself up to some degree of determination when he is forced to it by fear of the world; and he may do terrible and cruel acts where poor negroes or women are concerned. But he is always more or less cowed, as I have seen, when he is opposed to a free man, and more especially to a gentleman. He does not seem to know how to act; and, in his hesitation, he gets alarmed." "I agree with you," I replied; "for although in the unfortunate affair between himself and me he did not actually show want of nerve, I could plainly perceive he would a great deal rather have avoided fighting, had it been possible. But see! there is something moving in the bushes." It certainly was so, and the movement was towards the side at which we were standing, but nobody issued forth; and after waiting for a few minutes more, sharing in my watch, Bessy left me to call old Jenny, who had slept uninterruptedly through all that had taken place.