The question was, could we by any means come unobserved at a place
where the wagons could be intercepted? I put it to Uncle Moses, who
answered me readily enough, not seeing the drift of it. If we
crossed the swamp, and retraced our way through the forest, we
could skirt the whole length of the plantation without fear of
being discovered until we arrived within a very short distance of
the road to Spanish Town. We should then have to cross the road in
the open, but having crossed it, we should come in less than a
furlong to another clump of woodland, and passing through this,
avoiding the plantain groves which filled that portion of the
estate, we should reach the rough track leading to Dry Harbor, at a
point about three miles from the big house. 'Twas a round in all of
some twenty-five miles, and, as Uncle Moses assured me, if we were
reasonably cautious we should run no risks save at the crossing of
the road.

In great elation of spirit I now took into consultation Cludde with
Uncle Moses, Noah, and Jacob, all of whom I felt I could trust,
because all had suffered. I told them what I proposed, and whether
it was the story I had told of the wondrous good fortune that had
befallen me through the crown piece, or whether their own native
courage and their thirst for revenge influenced them, I know not;
but certain it is that the negroes agreed at once to follow my
lead.

Considering then how the rest of my party should be made up, I
decided, with the assent of Uncle Moses, to take only two more men,
these being all who had fled from the Cludde estate. I thought it
better that none but those who had a personal interest in the
welfare of Mistress Lucy, and who had reason to deplore the iron