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aT HaLF-PaST SEVEN, Van Gundy&039;s tavern was doing a brisk business On any given Friday night the lamplit, smoky emporium of potables and edibles would have a half-dozen customers, mostly farmers ished to socialize with their brethren away froht, with its celebratory air due to the fine weather and the imminent end of Rachel Howarth, fifteen ht be, to chew on the tavern&039;s salted beef and drink draught after draught of wine, turn, and apple beer For the truly adventurous there was available a tavern-brewed corn liquor guaranteed to elevate the earth to the level of one&039;s nose

Van Gundy - a husky, florid-faced oatee and a few sprouts of peppery hair that stood upright on his scalp - was inspired by this activity to perforit-tern, he planted his that involved succulent young wives, chastity belts, duplicate keys, and travellingto the crowd thatdrink thundered forth and the thin, rather sour-looking woazed upon by bleary eyes as if she were a veritable Helen of Troy

"Here is a song!" Van Gundy bellowed, his wind puffing the blue pipe smoke that wafted about him "I made this up myself, just today!" He struck a chord that would&039;ve an:

"Hihi ho, here&039;s a tale I know,&039;tisa sad sad tale I am sure,Concernsthe witch of Fount Royal,andher devilish crew,Tocall her vile is calling shit reeted this, of course, but Van Gundy was a fool for music

"Hihi ho, here&039;s a tale I know, &039;tis a sorry sorry tale I knoell, For when the witch of Fount Royal, has been burnt to cold gray ash,She&039;llstill be suckin&039; Satan&039;s cock way down in Helllllll!"

Matthew thought the roof enerated by this ode He had chosen his table wisely, sitting at the back of the room as far as possible from the center of activity, but not even the two cups of wine and the cup of apple beer he&039;d consumed could dull the sickened pain produced by Van Gundy&039;s rape of the ear These fools were insufferable! Their laughing and gruesome attempts at jokes turned Matthew&039;s stoer in this town he would become an accomplished drunkard and sink to a nadir known only by the wor dates

Now Van Gundy turned his talents to tunes concocted on the spot He pointed at a gent nearby and then walloped a chord:

"Let, Wore out his wife from his constant pushin&039;Shecalled for an ointment to ease her down there, But all the stuff did was burn off her hair&039;"

Laughter, hilarity, drinking, and rousting aplenty followed another custoled out:

"Woeto all who cross Hira a bee,Hecan drink any ten men under a table,andplow their wives&039; furrohen they are unable!"

Oh, this was torture! Matthew pushed aside the plate of chicken and beans that had served as a not very appetizing dinner His appetite had been further killed by that unfortunate filth flung at Rachel, who al glance

He finished the last s of the apple beer and stood up from his bench at that moment Van Gundy launched into a new tuneless tune:

"allowus to welco for len, Searchin&039;for a squaw to put his prick in!"

Matthew looked toward the door and saw that a hter and shouts directed at hiave abow to the assembled idiots Then he proceeded to a table and sat down as Van Gundy turned his graceless wit upon the next grinning victiain seated hi opportunity lay before him, if he handled it correctly Was not this the Solomon Stiles who Bidwell had told hione out with a party of men in search of the escaped slavesi He watched as Stiles- - a lean, rawboned -woman over, and then he stood up and went to the table

Just before Mattheas about to ittern and bellowed forth:

"We should all feel pity for young Matthew Corbett,

I heard beside the spring he was savagely bit

By that venohter bakes loaves between her hot thighs!"

Matthew blushed red even before the wave of laughter struck him, and redder yet after it had rolled past He saw that Solo only a bemused smile, the man&039;s square-jawed face weathered and sharp-chiselled as toray at the temples Froed scar of a dagger or rapier slash His nose was the shape of an Indian tomahawk, his eyes dark brown andman who stood before him Stiles was dressed simply, in black breeches and a plain white shirt

"Mr Stilesi" Matthew said, his face still flushed Van Gundy had gone on to skewer another citizen on his gittern spike "My name is - "

"I&039;m aware of your name, Mr Corbett You are farettable"

"I meant your scuffle with Seth Hazelton I attended your whipping"

"I see" He paused, but Stiles did not offer him a seat "May I join youi"

Stiles motioned toward the opposite bench, and Matthew sat down "How&039;s the istrate&039;s healthi" Stiles asked "Still poorlyi"

"No, actually he&039;s much improved I have hopes he&039;ll be on his feet soon"

"In time for the execution, possiblyi"

"Possibly, " Matthew said

"It see he should witness it and have the satisfaction of seeing justice done You know, I selected the tree from which the stake was cut"

"Oh" Matthew busied hiinary dust from his sleeve "No, I didn&039;t know that"

"Hannibal Green, I, and two others hauled it and planted it Have you been out to take a looki"

"I&039;ve seen it, yes"

"What do you thinki Does it look sufficient for the purposei"

"I believe it does"

Stiles took a tobacco pouch, a small ebony pipe, and an ivorythe pipe "I inherited the task frootten down on bended knee to Bidwell"

"Siri"

"Nicholas Paine Winston tolda supply trip, up the coast to Virginia What that rascal will do to avoid a little honest labor!" He fired a match with the flaht

Matthew assu watchman to advance this fiction of Paine&039;s departure Obviously an agreement had been reached that would benefit Winston&039;s pockets and status

Stiles blew out a whorl of smoke "He&039;s dead"

Matthew&039;s throat clutched "Siri"

"Dead, " Stiles repeated "In my book, at least The times I&039;ve helped him when he askedto be done! Well, he&039;s a proper fool to go out on that road alone, I&039;ll tell you He knows better than that Bidwell ue in the works, as usual" Stiles cocked his head to one side, s between his teeth "You don&039;t knohat it ether He spent a few seconds in thought "Well, " he said "Iwhat one overhears in that house Not necessarilyto, of course"

"Of course"

"I&039;m sure both Mr Bidwell and Mr Winston would deny it, " Matthew said, leaning his head forward in a conspiratorial gesture, "but I ht not have, you understand overheard the mention of muskets"

"Muskets, " Stiles repeated He took another draw from his pipe

"Yes sir Could it be a shipone to negotiatei"

Stiles grunted and puffed his pipe The serving-wo bowl of chicken stew, a spoon, and a rum cup Matthew asked for another cup of apple beer

"I ondering, " Matthew said after a space of ti the stew, "if Mr Bidwell ht fear an Indian attack"

"No, not that He would have toldpaint"

"There are Indians near Fount Royal, I presumei"

"Near Far Sons, but I&039;ve never seen a redskin"

"They&039;re not of a warlike nature, theni"

"Hard to say what kind of nature they are" Stiles paused to take a drink of rum "If you mean, do I think they&039;d attack usi No If you o in with a band of men and attack themi No Not even if I knehere they were, which I don&039;t"

"But they do knohere we arei"

Stiles laughed "Ha! That&039;s a good one, young man! as I said, I&039;ve never seen a redskin in these woods, but I have seen them before, further north They walk on leaves as birds fly on air They disappear into the earth while you&039;re looking in their direction, and co about us They watch us with great interest, I&039;m sure, but ould never see them unless they wanted to be seen and they definitely do not"

"Then in your opinion a traveller, say, need not fear being scalped by themi"

"I myself don&039;t fear it, " Stiles said He spooned stew into his ain, I always carry a musket and a knife and I always knohat direction to run Neither would I go out there alone It&039;s not the redskins I would fear most, but the wild beasts"

Matthew&039;s apple beer was delivered He drank some and waited a time before he htfully, "there ht be another reason for a possible shipment of muskets"

"and ould that bei"

"Well Mrs Nettles and I were engaged in conversation, and she made mention of a slave who escaped last year He and his woanthus Crispin, I think the name was"

"Yes Crispin I recall that incident"

"They tried to reach the Florida country, I understandi"

"Yes and were killed and half-eaten before they got two leagues from town"

"Hm, " Matthew said So it was true, after all "Well, " he went on, "I wonder if possibly just possibly, ht be concerned that other slaves could follow Crispin&039;s example, and that he wishes thehis valuables in their place Especially when he brings in younger and stronger slaves to drain the swamp" He took a stiff drink and then set the cup down "I&039;m curious about this, Mr Stiles In your opinion, could anyone a slave, I mean actually reach the Florida countryi"

"Two of them almost did, " Stiles answered, and Matthew sat very still "It was during Fount Royal&039;s first year Two slaves - a brother and sister - escaped, and I was sent after them with three other ues of the Spanish territory I suppose the only reason we found thenal fire The brother had fallen in a gully and broken his ankle"

"and they were brought back herei"

"Yes Bidwell held theed lor them to be shipped north and sold It wouldn&039;t do for any slave to be able to describe the territory or draw a map" Stiles relit his pipe with a second match from the ivory matchbox "Tell me this, if you are able, " he said as he drew flame into the pipe&039;s bowl "When Mrs Nettles mentioned this to you, in what context was iti I mean to ask, have you seen any indication that Bid-well is concerned about the slavesi"

Matthew again took a few seconds to formulate a reply "Mr Bidwell did express soo down into the quarters The iht be uh detrio down there in any case, " Stiles said, his eyes narrowing "But it see has happened before, in other towns Little wonder he&039;d wish to keep such fears a secret! Co would surely destroy Fount Royal!"

"My thoughts exactly, " Matthew agreed "Which is why it&039;s best not spoken to anyone"

"Of course not! I wouldn&039;t care to be bla a panic"

"and neither would I My curiosity again, sir and pardon s an experienced hunter as yourself knows but I would think youjourney as from here to the Florida country How far exactly is iti"

"I judge it to be a hundred and forty-seven miles, by the most direct route"

"The most direct routei" Matthew asked He took another drink "I ah, sir You must have an uncanny sense of direction"

"I pride myself on my woods craft" Stiles pulled frohtly back, and blew s "But I must admit I did have the benefit of a map"

"Oh, " Matthew said "Your ht it from a dealer in Charles Town It&039;s inal explorer - that&039;s how old it is - -but I&039;ve found it to be accurate"

"It so happens I read and speak French If you have need of a translation, I&039;d be glad to be of service"

"You ht ask Bidwell He has the oat!" Stiles shouted toward the tavern-keeper, not without affection "Let&039;s have so man, too!"

"Oh, not for me, thank you I think I&039;ve had my fill" Matthew stood up "IVan Gundy&039;s going to be playing his gittern again shortly"

"I hate toto be done"

"That&039;s what&039;s wrong with you legalists!" Stiles said, but he was s "You think too much!"

Matthew returned the sain"

"My pleasure, sir Oh and thank you for the information You can be sure I&039;ll keep it to myself"

"I have no doubt, " Matthew said, and he made his way out of the sain unsheathed

On his walk back to the mansion, Matthew sifted what he&039;d learned like a handful of rough diamonds Indeed, with luck and fortitude, it was possible to reach the Florida country Planning the trip - taking along enough food, matches, and the like - would be essential, and so too would be finding and studying that map He doubted it would be in the library Most likely Bidwell kept the map soi Giving up his rights as an Englishht know French and Latin, but Spanish was not a point of strength Even if be got Rachel out of the gaol - the first problem - and out of the i own - the second problem - and down to the Florida country - i lie third andproblelish earthi

Or never to see the aini

Now here was another obstacle If indeed he surmounted the first two problems and set off with Rachel, then the realization of what Matthew had done could well lay the htbird free at the cost of killing the rialists You think too much

Candles and lamps were ablaze at the mansion Obviously the festivity was still under way Matthew entered the house and heard voices fro past the room on his way to the stairs when someone said, "Mr Corbett! Please join us!"

alan Johnstone had just eray-beardedtroupe&039;s leader Both men ell dressed - Johnstone certainly oblets of wine The school of white powder, just as he&039;d done the night of Matthew&039;s and the istrate&039;s arrival Thethat dinner had just recently adjourned

"This young istrate&039;s clerk, " Johnstone explained to his cohtman, the founder and principal actor of the Red Bull Players"

"a pleasure!" Brighth to wake cerip that th, but he was in fact a slih he did have that coood to htruelling wheel between the poles of the maskers&039; art and the necessity of food on the table "I understand your troupe has arrived soements in two other communities were urn unfortunately cancelled But noe&039;re glad to be here a such treasured friends!"

"Mr Corbett!" Winston strolled out of the parlor, wineglass in hand He was clean, close-shaven, relaxed and s, and dressed in a spotless dark blue suit "Do join us and meet Mr Smythe!"

Bidwell suddenly appeared behind Winston to toss in his two pence "I&039;m sure Mr Corbett has matters to attend to upstairs We shouldn&039;t keep hiht, Mr Corbetti"