with us?"

He was slow in replying, and, as I eagerly watched his face, I could
almost comprehend the working of the lawyer mind. He saw and argued
every doubt, considered every danger.

"In spirit, yes," he answered at last, "but not physically. I believe
under the circumstances you are justified, Knox. Perhaps I'd do the
same thing if I was in your place and had your youth behind me. But I
am a lawyer, fifty years old, and this is my home. If the story ever
got out that I took part in nigger stealing, that would be the end of
me in Missouri. As you say, you are a young man, and I reckon you were
not brought up in the South either. That makes a difference. You can
take the risk, but about all I can do will be to keep a quiet tongue in
my head. Nobody will ever learn what has happened through me--I'll
promise you that. But that is all I can promise."

"Yet you acknowledge this is the only way? No legal course is open to
us?"

"Absolutely none. If there was I should never consent to be a party to
this plan, or shield you in any way. Kirby has undoubtedly got the law
with him. We cannot establish fraud; the property actually belongs to
him--both mother and daughter are his slaves."

"And how about the other girl--Eloise?"

"He has no legal hold on her; she is a free white woman. He could only
hope to overcome her resistance by threats. The plantation is
irrevocably lost to the Beaucaires, but she possesses the power to defy