Roxy Hastings — page 114: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ROXY HASTINGS. 105 and white with mud. An old stock encircled his neck, and Luke ran his ten digits to and fro through his neatly brushed hair, tangling and tossing it like new-mown hay spread for drying. Lee had left a considerable part of his money with Hartley, all that he could induce him to take, and the re- mainder he and Luke had brought with them. As Luke now intended to accompany him in his flight he proposed to leave a few hundred dollars with Dinah, which should form part of the thousand he had promised the old man, to whom he would pay the residue before they parted. This was highly satisfactory, especially as the negro did. not expect to return again to Richmond, but thought if he could get through to Norfolk, which had been his home twenty years before, and to which he had even since longed to return, that his wife would find some way of joining him there. “TLor’ bress you !” she said, “I'll git troo in less than tree months arter I hear from you. You'll see!” “Der we be under de old flag, and Jeff Davis can’t tech us for dis yer ting.” . They did not lose time in this conversation, which took place while Alfred was putting on his new disguise, and Dinah had a basket of provisions ready packed before the arrival of the expected fugitives, so that Luke’s limit of ten minutes was scarcely exceeded before all things were ready for a start. Luke took up his basket, and nodding a sood-by .to Di- nah, bade Alfred follow him, which the young man did with great alacrity, for he had dreaded momentarily an irruption of soldiers into the house. It was dark now. The sky was slightly clouded, and the street in which they found themselves on leaving the house was one but little traversed in the evening. ° But they had barely crossed it, and walked a few rods eastward on the opposite side, and near the shore of the river, when a sound of running and loud talking was heard, and the two men stopped to listen. The noise came from a street which ran at right angles with the one in which they stood ; but 1t came momentarily nearer, and soon voices were heard seemingly near the house which they had just left. ; They staid to hear no more, but moved rapidly and Ss1- lently on. There were no buildings on the south side of the road; the river was there, with piers at irregular inter- GComilchboo gS) (e(o)