I have got a couple of letters to write, and shall be ready to start in half an hour.

Give the horse a good feed and have him at the door again by that time." "Am I to go with you, sah ?" "No, Dan; I must go by myself this time." Dan felt anxious as he went out, for it was seldom that his master ever went away without telling him where he was going, and he felt sure that the service was one of unusual danger; nor was his anxiety lessened when, at the appointed time, Vincent came out and handed him two letters.
"You are to keep these letters, Dan, until I return, or till you hear that something has happened to me.

If you hear that, you are to take one of these letters to my mother, and take the other yourself to Miss Kingston.

Tell her before you give it her what has happened, as gently as you can.

As for yourself, Dan, you had your letters of freedom long ago, and I have left you five hundred dollars; so that you can get a cabin and patch of your own, and settle down when these troubles are over." "Let me go with you, master," Dan said, with the tears streaming down his cheeks.