The next afternoon at four o'clock I was at the appointed place, and
Boston Yankee was with me. I did not look for Sarah before five
o'clock, so we tied our horse and kept a good watch upon the road.
An hour went by and no Sarah appeared. I told Boston Yankee I did
not believe she would come.
"Don't be impatient; wait a little longer," said my friend.
In twenty minutes we saw emerge, not from Scheimer's house, but from
his eldest son's house, which was still nearer to the place where we
were waiting, three women, two of whom I recognized as Sarah and
Mary, and the third I did not know, nor could I imagine why she was
with the other two; but as I saw them, leaving Boston Yankee in the
woods, I drove the horse down into the road. As Sarah drew near she
kissed her hand to me and came up to the wagon. "Are you ready to go
with me?" I asked. "I am, indeed," was her reply, and I put out my
hand to help her into the buggy. But the third woman caught hold of
her dress, tried to prevent her from getting in, and began to scream
so as to attract attention at Sarah's brother's house. I told the
woman to let her go, and threatened her with my whip. "Get away,"
shouted Boston Yankee, who had come upon the scene. "Drive as fast
as you can; never mind if you kill the horse."
We started; the woman still shouting for help, and I drove on as
rapidly as the horse would go. When we had gone on a mile or two, I
asked Sarah what all this meant? She told me that the woman was her
brother's servant; that Mary and herself left her father's house a
little after four o'clock to go over and call at her brother's; that
just before five, when she was to meet me, she and Mary proposed to
go out for a walk; that the whole family watched her constantly, and
so her brother's wife told the servant woman to get on her things
and go with them.
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