Their
reddish-coloured home-spun clothes, set loosely, and their large,
felt hats, slouching over their bearded faces, give their figures a
brigand-like appearance which excites apprehension. They are heavily
armed with rifles, revolvers, and bowie-knives; and as their horses
move along at a quick walk, the riders may be heard keeping up an
animated discussion on matters of state policy. The state and its
policy is a matter of deep interest to slave-dealer and
slave-hunter; none discuss them with more pertinacity. And as every
great measure is supposed to have some bearing, directly or
indirectly, on the right of one class to enslave the other, a
never-ceasing political jar is kept up by these worthies, and too
often finds its way into the public acts of men who should be far
removed above their selfishness.
The horse on which Romescos rides, a sprightly dark-bay, seeming to
have an instinctive knowledge of his master's pursuit, pricks his
ears erect, and keeps his head turning from one side to the other,
as if watching the approach of some object in the forest. A few
paces ahead are seven fierce hounds, now scenting about the ground,
then scampering through the trees, and again, quickly obeying the
call, return to the horses. Not a bark is heard, not a growl escapes
them! Nothing could be under more explicit subjection-not even those
northern dogs who pollute their own free soil by making it a forest,
where the souls of men are humbled, and where, willing allies of the
sport, they desecrate that holy sentence, "Our Pilgrim Fathers!"
Presently the lean figure of a man is seen advancing from a thicket
in the distance.
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