Abner, set the
Captain at liberty; and now, if you will tarry until I am ready to
draw nigher to the settlements, you shall both have the benefit of
carriage; if not, never say that you did not get a friendly offer."
"Now, may the strong oppress me, and my sins be visited harshly on my
own head, if I forget your honesty, however slow it has been in
showing itself," cried Middleton, hastening to the side of the weeping
Inez, the instant he was released; "and, friend, I pledge you the
honour of a soldier, that your own part of this transaction shall be
forgotten, whatever I may deem fit to have done, when I reach a place
where the arm of government can make itself felt."
The dull smile, with which the squatter answered to this assurance,
proved how little he valued the pledge that the youth, in the first
revulsion of his feelings, was so free to make.
"Neither fear nor favour, but what I call justice, has brought me to
this judgment," he said, "do you that which may seem right in your
eyes, and believe that the world is wide enough to hold us both,
without our crossing each other's path again! If you ar' content,
well; if you ar' not content, seek to ease your feelings in your own
fashion.
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