IN vain did Georgiana try to console Clotelle, when the latter heard,
through one of the other slaves, that Mr. Wilson had started
with the dogs in pursuit of Jerome. The poor girl well knew
that he would be caught, and that severe punishment, if not death,
would be the result of his capture. It was therefore with a
heart filled with the deepest grief that the slave-girl heard
the footsteps of her master on his return from the chase.
The dogged and stern manner of the preacher forbade even
his daughter inquiring as to the success of his pursuit.
Georgiana secretly hoped that the fugitive had not bee caught;
she wished it for the sake of the slave, and more especially
for her maid-servant, whom she regarded more as a companion
than a menial. But the news of the capture of Jerome soon
spread through the parson's household, and found its way
to the ears of the weeping and heart-stricken Clotelle.

The reverend gentleman had not been home more than an hour ere
some of his parishioners called to know if they should not take
the negro from the prison and execute *Lynch law* upon him.

"No negro should be permitted to live after striking a white man;
let us take him and hang him at once," remarked an elderly-looking man,
whose gray hairs thinly covered the crown of his head.

"I think the deacon is right," said another of the company;
"if our slaves are allowed to set the will of their masters
at defiance, there will be no getting along with them,--
an insurrection will be the next thing we hear of."

"No, no," said the preacher; "I am willing to let the law take its course,