"Those escaped prisoners were up to Ned's last night, and he is afraid you will think hard of him for giving them a bite to eat."
"And loaning them blankets too, Mr. Gray," chimed in honest Ned, who meant that his employer should know the full extent of his offending. "They had blankets enough first and last, but were so hard pressed by the dogs that they had to throw away everything except their guns."
"Well, I assure you that I don't think hard of you for giving hungry men something to eat and a bed to sleep on," said Mr. Gray. "I should have done the same thing myself if they had applied to me; but I trust you exercised due care while you were doing it."
"I know what you mean, sir," answered Ned, "and there isn't a white person living who knows what happened on that plantation last night except my mother and Tom Randolph."
A shell from one of the gunboats in front of Baton Rouge could scarcely have created greater consternation in that room than Ned Griffin's last words. Mr. Gray thought that Ned's doings might as well be published in Richmond at once, and was about to say as much, when Rodney took a great load from his mind, and astonished him almost beyond measure at the same time, by quietly remarking that Tom was a prisoner in the hands of the Yankees, who were bent on taking him to Baton Rouge. Then he requested Ned to tell them just what had happened on his plantation the night before, and the latter gave the particulars substantially as follows:
The first Ned and his mother heard of the escaped prisoners was through one of the house servants, who declared with much earnestness that she could not remember just who told her the news, but it was in everybody's mouth, and some of the field hands, she didn't know who, had seen and talked with white men who had seen and talked with the Confederate soldiers who were following the trail of the fugitives. She did not try to conceal her joy when she informed Mrs. Griffin that "dem Yanks was boun' to get safe to de ribber, kase dey had done pass Mooreville de night befo', and de houn' dogs had done been heared givin' tongue in de woods ten miles from Baton Rouge." Being intensely loyal to the Old Flag and friendly to those who wore the blue, Ned hoped from the bottom of his heart that this report was true; but understanding the negro nature as well as he did, he could not believe more than half of it. He told his mother that there was a conspiracy among the slaves to shield those four men, and that they might be concealed on the plantation for a month, and no white person would know a thing about it. Consequently he was not prepared for what took place about an hour after dark.