A Lieutenant at Eighteen Part 36

"I surrender; but I will not be bound like a n.i.g.g.e.r!" exclaimed Captain Grundy, as he sprang away from the lieutenant, and ran into the back room.

"What's the matter now, Phil?" demanded the colonel, as the mulatto of this name rushed into the hall, panting more from excitement than physical exertion, for his horse was at the door.

Both Deck and Davis pursued the captain; but they were taken off their guard, and neither of them succeeded in getting hold of the ruffian. He fled to a window which some one had left open, leaped out, and ran towards the front of the mansion. Davis fired his rifle at him; but being "on the wing," he failed to bring him down. Deck, believing that the fight was finished, had left his rifle in the parlor.

"The Lord save us, Mars'r Cun'l!" shouted Phil, as he broke into the hall. "The ruffians, more'n twenty of 'em, is coming up the road on hossback, at full gallop!"

It looked like another fight against great odds.

CHAPTER x.x.xI

AN UNEXPECTED RE-ENFORCEMENT

Captain Grundy's claim that he was in the Confederate service was undoubtedly pure fiction; and he did not even pretend to have a commission of any kind, not even as a Partisan Ranger. The Riverlawn Cavalry had rendered important service to the State in the suppression of guerilla bands, acting under no authority whatever, plundering and killing Union men. Grundy's force consisted of over thirty men. They were mounted, and doubtless had stolen the horses they rode from the plantations they had raided.

They were simply brigands; they wore no uniform beyond a belt, and had taken no part in the battle of the day before. Their leader was an enterprising man, and seemed to be operating at the same time in several places. Their sole mission was to rob the planters; and they were especially eager to obtain money, though it was a very scarce article in the State.

Lieutenant Lyon had talked with Colonel Hickman about the band, and he had gathered much information in regard to their operations in the northern and western counties. The planter was a fighting man, as well as a strong Unionist. He had been aware of the approach of the gang, and while he had seven white men living on his estate he had felt abundantly able to defend his property.

His spring-house was his a.r.s.enal; and it was well stored with arms and ammunition, including two field-pieces. He was not a man to be intimidated, as many loyal citizens had been; and he had made his preparations to give the brigands a warm reception when they paid him a visit, as he had no doubt they would.

After the return of the colonel with his re-enforcements from the ferry, Deck Lyon had not had the opportunity to examine minutely the premises, especially outside of the immediate scene of operations. He had followed Captain Grundy from the mansion when he escaped from the parlor in company with Davis. The latter had fired at him; but the density of the grove interfered with his aim, and the ruffian had suddenly disappeared.

Outside of the grove there were no trees, and the lieutenant saw on a hill the mounted gang riding at full speed towards the elevation on which stood the mansion. The road was a private one, and very narrow.

Deck counted twenty-four riders in the distance, for they rode two abreast. As he and his companion came out of the grove to the front of the mansion, the officer discovered something that looked like a mound of earth on one side of the road to the mansion.

"What is that, Davis?" asked Deck, pointing at the work.

"That is the governor's fortification," replied the rifleman.

"The governor's?"

"Not the governor of the State, but my father's."

"What is it?" asked the lieutenant curiously; for he had not been able to make out the use of the mound.

"Come in a little nearer to the mansion, and you will see," replied Davis; and he led the way across a corner of the grove.

"It looks like a fort," added Deck as he obtained a view of the inside of the earthwork.

"That is just what it is," said his companion. "The governor has kept a squad of the servants over on the hill you see at the farther end of the valley through which the road pa.s.ses, as sentinels. They all have horses; and when they discover the approach of an enemy, they gallop to the mansion, and notify the colonel. We are as careful of our lives here as you have been since you came."

"What's coming now?" inquired Deck, as he heard the tramp of footsteps behind him.

"The governor's coming, and I think we will go and meet him," replied the planter's son; and he led the way through the grove towards the great house.

It was quite a procession that advanced at a rapid pace from beyond the building. At the head of it rode Colonel Hickman, mounted on the horse he generally used. Next behind him came his sons Warren and Harlan.

Then came Phil, leading a mule harnessed to a wagon, with all the other servants following it. Last of all came the two field-pieces Deck had seen on the piazza, each of them drawn by two mules. About a dozen negroes appeared in the rear and on the flanks of the column; and the lieutenant wondered where they had come from, though there was a village of huts some distance from the stable.

"How many of the robbers are left in the second story of the mansion?"

asked Davis, as the procession approached.

"Only two, I think, though I am not sure," replied Deck; and he proceeded to reckon up the number that had been put out of the way.

"Only two."

"Enough to burn the house," added Davis.

As he spoke he raised his rifle and fired. The lieutenant looked at the house, and saw one of the ruffians fall at the open window, over the piazza. No doubt he and the other ruffian who remained in the house had heard the commotion on the premises, and Phil had shouted loud enough to be heard in every room. The one who had gone to the window evidently could not control his curiosity, and it had cost him his life.

"Probably the other has looked out the window also, and has seen the approach of the rest of the gang," said Davis, as he reloaded his rifle. "He can leave now if he wants to; for there is no one left in the house to prevent him from going. But I don't like to have another added to the number of the enemy."

The rifleman walked over to a point where he could obtain a better view of the other window. It was open, but no one could be seen in the room.

Very likely he had heard the report of the rifle which killed the other, or the noise of his fall. At any rate, he did not show himself.

"No more game here just now," said Davis; and he and Deck walked over to the fort.

They found the two bra.s.s guns in position for use, and Warren in charge of them. Four of the servants, including Phil, were his a.s.sistants. The dozen rifles Deck had seen on the piazzas, and the heavy revolvers, were leaning against the trees, or hanging from the branches. The mule-wagon was in the grove, containing the ammunition; the mules harnessed to the fore-trucks of the gun-carriages were at a safe distance, and everything seemed to be ready to open fire upon the enemy.

"Colonel Hickman, you are much more familiar with the situation here than I am," said Deck when he met the planter. "You are a veteran soldier, and I am glad to resign the command, and pa.s.s it over to you."

"I accept it, for I know the ground, as you say; but I shall be happy to have your counsel," replied the colonel.

"I have none to offer at present. I will take a rifle, and act with your sons, though they are better riflemen than I am."

"All we have to do is to blaze away when the enemy begin to rise the hill, and I shall use the same weapon. Warren is the chief gunner, and he has trained some of the servants to handle the guns," said the planter, looking down the hill.

"Can any of your negroes handle a rifle, Colonel?" asked Deck, recalling the time when his father's servants had been armed with muskets, and had made good use of them at the "Battle of Riverlawn."

"Some of them can; but I have scruples against arming them for fighting purposes."

"So had my father; but when it came to the question of defending himself and the members of his family against a mob of ruffians such as those now approaching your mansion,--for they threatened to burn his house and hang him to a tree,--he did not hesitate," added Deck, recalling the stirring events of that time. "Of course there was no place for them in the army, though the overseer has kept them in training for the defence of the family and the plantation."

"We have no time to discuss that question now, and the negroes are a.s.sisting Warren at the guns," replied the colonel. "But who is that man over on the left? He seems to be running with all his might towards the column of the robbers."

"That must be Captain Grundy who surrendered and then ran away,"

answered Deck. "But he is too far off even for the riflemen."

The chief of the brigands had taken a wide sweep in order to reach the approaching force of mounted men, and was now about as far from them as from the colonel's fort. The face of the country was uneven, and he soon disappeared behind a hill. Lieutenant Lyon had endeavored to obtain some information in regard to the Riverlawn Cavalry of Warren Hickman as soon as he found the time to do so. But the riflemen were quartered apart from the mounted men, and he knew very little about the squadron. In the morning it was ascertained that General Crittenden's forces had evacuated the fort, and crossed the river. The sharpshooters, being no longer needed, had been dismissed, and the planter's sons had gone directly to their home.

"There comes Cuffy the ferryman, riding with all the speed he can get out of his poor horse," said Warren, as he pointed to the negro coming across the field from the Jamestown road. "He is devoted to the governor; and I think he brings news of some sort, good or bad."

Between the mansion and the road there was a hill which prevented them from seeing the road; but the negro soon reached the fort, which was his nearest point. He drew in his rein, and stopped his steed at one end of the breastwork. He was out of breath, apparently from excitement rather than exertion.

"Dar's a whole comp'ny of sodjers on hossback comin' down de road!"