that, if you falter or shrink the danger, you may hereafter be consigned to everlasting fire!"

"I swear, Massa," said the negro, kneeling. "And I hope that Gor Almighty may strike me dead if I don't go wid you through fire and water and ebery ting!"

"I am satisfied, Joe," said his master; then turning to the young girl, who had been a mute spectator of this singular scene, he continued:

"Now, Mattie, you get in the wagon, and I'll drive down to the parsonage, and you remain there with Mrs. Peters and the children until I bring you some intelligence of your father."

While the sturdy old blacksmith was awaiting the return of his daughter, the party that he had repulsed returned with increased numbers and demanded the minister. A fierce quarrel ensued, which resulted in their seizing the smith and carrying him off. They conveyed him to a tavern half a mile distant from the shop, and there he was arraigned before what was termed a vigilance committee.

The committee met in a long room on the ground floor, dimly lighted by a lamp which stood upon a small table in front of the chairman. In about half an hour after Bradley's arrival, he was placed before the chairman for examination. The man's arms were pinioned, but nevertheless he cast a defiant look upon those around him.

66

Bradley, this is a grave charge against you. What have you to say?" said the chairman.

"What authority have you to ask? demanded the smith, fiercely eyeing his interrogator.

"The authority of the people of Tennessee," was the reply. "I deny it."

"Your denials amount to nothing. You are accused of harboring an abolitionist, and the penalty of that act, you know, is death. What have you to say to the charge?"

"I say that it is a lie, and that he who utters such charges against me is a scoundrel!"

"Simpson," said the chairman to the leader of the band

that had captured Bradley, and who now appeared with a large bandage about his head, to bind up a wound which was the result of a blow from the fist of Bradley. "Simpson," continued the chairman, "what have you to say?"

The leader then stated that he had tracked the preacher to the blacksmith's shop, and that Bradley had resisted his arrest, and that upon their return, he could not be found, and that the prisoner refused to give any information concerning him.

"Do you hear that, Mr. Bradley?" said the chairman.
"I do. What of it?" was the reply.

"Is it true?"

"Yes."

"Where is the preacher?"

"That is none of your business."

"Mr. Bradley, this tribunal is not to be insulted with impunity. I again demand to know where Mr. Peters is. Will you tell?"

"No."

"Mr. Bradley, it is well known that you are not only a member, but an exhorter in Mr. Peter's church, and therefore some little excuse is to be made for your zeal in defending him. He is from the North, and has long been suspected, and is now accused of being an abolitionist and a dangerous man. You do not deny sheltering him, and refusing to give him up. If you persist in this, you must take the consequences. I ask you for the last time if you will inform us of

his whereabouts?"

"And again I answer No!"

"Mr Bradley, there is also another serious charge against you, and your conduct in this instance confirms it. You are accused of giving comfort to the enemies of your country. What have you to say to that?"

"I

say it is false, and that he who makes it is a villain !" "I accuse him of being a traitor, aiding the cause of the Union," said Simpson.

"If my adherence to the Union merits for me the name of traitor, then I am proud of it. I have been for the Union, am still for the Union, and will be for the Union as long as life lasts!"

At these words, the chairman clutched a pistol that lay upon the table before him, and the bright blade of Simpson's bowie-knife glittered near Bradley's breast; but before he could make the fatal plunge, a swift-winged messenger of death laid him dead at the feet of his intended victim, while, at the same instant, another plunged into the heart of the chairman, and he fell forward over the table, extinguishing the light and leaving all in darkness. Confusion reigned. The inmates of the room were panic-stricken.

In the midst of the consternation a firm hand rested upon Bradley's shoulder; his bonds were severed, and he hurried out of the open window. He was again a free man, but was hastened forward into the woods at the back of the tavern, and through them to a road a quarter of a mile distant, then into a wagon, and driven rapidly off. In half an hour the smith made one of the party at the rendezvous that was to start at midnight across the mountains.

"John," said the smith, as he grasped the hand of his rescuer, while his eyes glistened and a tear coursed down his furrowed cheek, "I should like to see Mattie before I go."

"You shall," was the reply.

In another hour the blacksmith clasped his daughter to his bosom.

It was an affecting scene-there, in that lone house in the wilderness, surrounded by men who had been driven from their homes for their attachment to the principles for which the patriot fathers fought and bled-the sturdy old smith, a type of the heroes of other days, pressing his daughter to his breast, while the tear coursed down his furrowed cheek.

He felt that perhaps it was to be his last embrace; for his resolute heart had resolved to sacrifice his all upon the altar of his country, and he could no longer watch over the safety

of his only child. Was she to be left to the mercy of the parricidal wretches who were attempting to destroy the country that had given them birth, nursed their infancy, and opened a wide field for them to display the abilities with which nature has endowed them?

"Mr. Bradley," said his rescuer, after a short pause, "as you leave the State, it will be necessary, in these troublous times, for Mattie to have a protector, and I have thought that our marriage had better take place to-night."

"Well, John,” he said, as he relinquished his embrace and gazed with a fond look at her who was so dear to him, "I shall not object if Mattie is willing."

"Oh! we arranged all that as we came along," replied the young man.

Mattie blushed, but said nothing.

In a short time the hunted-down minister was called upon to perform a marriage service in that lone house. It was an impressive scene. Yet no diamonds glittered upon the neck of the bride; no pearls looped up her tresses; but a pure love glowed within her heart as she gave utterance to a vow which was registered in heaven.

Bradley, soon after the ceremony, bade his daughter and her husband an affectionate farewell, and set out with his friends to join others who had been driven from their homes, and were now rallying under the old flag to fight for the Union, and as they said, "Redeem old Tennessee!"

HOW A BLOCKADE-RUNNER WAS CAUGHT.

THE following is a highly interesting account of a shrewd trick by which a blockade-running steamer was trapped in her voyage from Nassau towards Charleston:

HARBOR OF NASSAU.

The harbor was crammed with craft of all sorts and sizes; the bay was full of shipping; the little streets were crowded, and there was a continual stir and turmoil on the quay, all too small for the press of traffic that daily poured in. All this animation, all this activity, had been caused by the federal blockade of the southern coast; and the cheerful faces of the burghers attested the fact that Nassau was the great emporium for contraband of war and smuggled cotton, and that much money was being spent in the island by those employed in this gainful but perilous commerce. Wherever I went, in tavern, grocery, store or counting-house, there was but one all-engrossing topic, one common subject of interestthe blockade. Such and such a schooner had been taken; such a brig had been burned, cargo and all, to keep her out of Yankee hands; such a droger had come in with cotton; such a steamer had got safe to Charleston, with so many thousand stand of arms on board. The Black-eyed Susan had been sunk by the United States gunboat Sloper-no, she had only received four round shot in her hull, and had escaped among the sand-keys. Who had insured the Delight? They would lose smartly, for the vessel had been condemned, whereas the Fly-by-Night, had got into Charleston securely, and her freight of Blakely guns was worth twenty-three thousand dollars, net profit.

All this gambling and venturing, this staking of fortunes on the speed of a vessel, or the wariness of a captain, was thrillingly exciting to the brokers, merchants and other