"By no means, madam, by no means; though, had we known it
before, it might have been some aid to us in our search. Have we
your permission to see this woman and to question her?"

"Certainly not," Mrs. Wingfield said; "but if you have any question
to ask I will ask her and give you her answer."

"We want to know whether she has seen her husband since the day
of his flight from the plantation?"

"I shall certainly not ask her that question, Mr. Sheriff. I have no
doubt that, as the place from which he has escaped is only a few
miles from here, he did come to see his wife. It would have been
very strange if he did not. I hope that by this time the man is
hundreds of miles away. He was brutally treated by a brutal
master, who, I believe, deliberately set to work to make him run
away, so that he could hunt him down and punish him. I presume,
sir, you do not wish to search this house, and you do not suppose
that the man is hidden here. As to the slave-huts and the
plantation, you can, of course, search them thoroughly; but as it is
now more than a fortnight since the man escaped, it is not likely
you will find him hiding within a few miles of his master's
plantation."

So saying she went into the house and shut the door behind her.

Mr. Jackson ground his teeth with rage, but the sheriff rode off
toward the slave-huts without a word. The position of Mrs.
Wingfield of the Orangery, connected as she was with half the old
families of Virginia, and herself a large slave-owner, was beyond