The other obeyed, hurrying round the clump in which the negroes were concealed; and father and son were soon deep in a whispered and hasty consultation, with their faces still towards the hut, and their backs towards the bushes. My eyes continued fixed upon them for a moment or two; but then some sound--I know not what--made me raise them. The shrubs which lay behind them, at not twenty yards' distance, were agitated as if by some large body passing amongst the branches; and the next instant, no less than four negroes drew out from the bushes with a stealthy, quiet step. The two first had each a gun raised to the shoulder, and pointed towards Mr. Thornton and his son, as if the men sought to approach nearer to their victims, but were prepared to fire as soon as they saw the slightest movement. The other two negroes were also armed; but they were at a somewhat greater distance, leading two or three horses through a gap amongst the brakes, where the beasts' feet would not make so much noise. Though both father and son well deserved whatever fate they might meet, I could not bear to see two human beings shot down like wild brutes; and, by impulse, rather than anything else, I shouted,-- "Take care! take care!" And both started and turned round. At their very first motion there was a flash and a report; and Robert Thornton fell forward on his face. His father staggered; and then ran towards his horses, seemingly to shelter himself behind them; but the young negro who was holding them, apparently terrified at what had occurred, cast the reins loose, and ran away as fast as he could go. In the meantime, Nat Turner, who was standing in front of the shrubs, followed the flying man with his second barrel as deliberately as a sportsman follows a bird on the wing. Before he got near any of the horses, the trigger was drawn, and, with a wild cry of pain, the old man fell upon his knees, and then sank gradually down. At the same moment Matthew Leary came running round, with evident fear in his face, exclaiming,-- "It's the sheriff! it's the sheriff, with a large party." The moment he saw his two masters on the ground, he stopped short, like one thunder-struck, without uttering a word, and glanced his eye towards the cabin; but a shot from one of the negroes, who were leading up the horses, knocked his hat off, and soon showed him whence the murderous volley had come. "Bring them up quick! bring them up quick!" cried Nat Turner, waving to the other men. He had evidently heard the announcement of the sheriff's approach, and he and two of his companions were mounted in a few seconds. The fourth seemed to have no horse, but ran to catch one of those which had brought Mr. Thornton's party thither. This caused a little delay; and before they could escape, the sheriff's party, consisting of nine or ten persons, appeared, some on one side of the little copse, and some on the other. "Now," I thought, "these blood-thirsty fellows are caught at last."