And as I
fell on my knees, bursting into tears, and thanking God for
freeing me from such terrible remorse, he exclaimed: 'We are in a
nice fix! I advise you to congratulate yourself! 'From that time
forward, I noticed he displayed the feverish anxiety of a man who
feels that he is constantly threatened with some great danger. A
few days afterward, he said to me: 'I cannot endure this! Have our
trunks ready to-morrow, and we will start South. Instead of
calling ourselves Gordon, we'll travel under the name of Grant.' I
did not venture to question him. He had quite mastered me by his
cruel tyranny, and I was accustomed to obey him like a slave in
terror of the lash. However, during our long journey, I learned
the cause of our flight and change of name.
"'Your brother, d--n him,' he said, one day, 'is hunting for me
everywhere! He wants to kill me or to deliver me up to justice, I
don't know which. He pretends that I tried to murder him!' It
was strange; but Arthur Gordon, who was bravery personified, and
who exposed himself again and again to the most frightful dangers,
felt a wild, unreasoning, inconceivable fear of my brother. It
was this dread that had decided him to burden himself with me. He
feared that if he left me, lying unconscious beside my brother's
lifeless form, I might on recovering my senses reveal the truth,
and unconsciously act as his accuser.
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