"
* * * * *
The whole of the next day was spent in preparations for flight by Patty
and her son-in-law.
A boat of sufficient size, and crew to man it, had to be procured down
the river, and this necessitated two journeys, one of Patty, to Cannon's
Ferry, another by Joe, to Vienna and Twiford's wharf.
During their absence Cy James was equally intent on something, and Hulda
saw him in the ploughed field near the old Delaware cottage, under the
swooping buzzards, directing the farmer where to guide his plough, and
it seemed, in a little while, that one of the horses had fallen into a
pit there.
Later on Hulda observed Cy James, with a spade, digging at various
places near Patty Cannon's former cottage.
"All are at work for themselves," Hulda thought, "except Levin and me.
How often have I seen Aunt Patty slip to secret places in the night, or
by early dawn, when she looked every window over to see if she was
watched. Her beehives were her greatest care."
A sudden thought made Hulda stand still, and cast the color from her
cheeks.
"They are all going away. I shall be taken, too, or kept for worse evil
here. My mother, in Florida, hates me; she has told me so. I know the
marriage Allan McLane means for me--to be his white slave! Levin is
poor, and his mother is poor, too; they say Patty Cannon has buried
gold. Perhaps God will point it out to me.
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