Brother Against Brother Part 22

Levi solved the difficulty by sending all the negroes out of the building, and directing them to patrol the bank of the creek as far as the swamp.

"On the question of enlisting negroes in the army, either as regulars or volunteers, I have not yet come to a decision," said Major Lyon. "But in defence of my property, and the protection of my family I should have no objection to using all my hands who were willing to be so employed."

"Arm your negroes!" exclaimed Colonel Belthorpe.

"Not to fight the battles of the nation, but to protect my wife and children and my property," answered the Riverlawn planter. "We can muster but four white men, and two of them are boys. If a mob of fifty or a hundred or five hundred ruffians come over here to hang me and burn my house, shall I let them do so rather than employ the willing hands of men with black faces to defend myself?" demanded Noah Lyon, earnestly enough to mount almost to the height of eloquence.

"By the great Jehoshaphat, I believe you are right!" exclaimed Colonel Belthorpe, with a stamp of his foot. "I did not look at it in that way.

But making soldiers of the n.i.g.g.e.rs is another thing, and I'm not ready for that."

"We are all agreed so far as the situation on this place is concerned.

If there were any State or national force at hand to call upon for protection against these reckless ruffians, I should invoke its aid; but there is none, and we must protect ourselves," added Colonel Cosgrove.

"I heartily approve of Major Lyon's purpose to use his negroes to defend himself and his property."

"Then it is high time to get them in training for this service," said the major with energy. "Levi, call in the hands you just sent away."

Two of them came back without any calling, for they burst into the fort in a state of high excitement.

"Well, Bitts, what's the matter now?" asked Levi very calmly.

"Gouge and me done went down to de rapids, whar we kin see de bridge ober de riber, and dar's more'n two tousand men comin' ober it!" gasped Bitts.

"Call it fifty or a hundred, Bitts. But no matter, boy; call in all the hands except the two on the creek bridge."

Both of the negroes rushed off on their mission.

CHAPTER XX

THE APPROACH OF THE RUFFIAN FORCES

If the negroes asked no questions, most of them were intelligent enough to interpret the preparations which had been made at Fort Bedford. The six boatmen who had remained half the night in the rear of the schoolhouse had had time enough to do some talking among the hands, though they had come in contact only with those who had been at work on the fort.

These men had listened to the tumult in the building and in the road, and through the open window near the boat had come to their ears the demand of t.i.tus Lyon when admitted, and the reply of the meeting. They knew that Colonel Cosgrove, Colonel Belthorpe, and Squire Truman had taken an active part in the meeting, and they could understand for what purpose they had come to Riverlawn so late in the night.

The people on this plantation were doubtless better informed and more intelligent than upon most of the estates in this portion of the South, for they had always been treated with what other planters regarded as imprudent indulgence. In the time of Colonel Lyon, slavery had been a patriarchal inst.i.tution, and the negroes regarded him as a father, guide, and friend rather than as a taskmaster.

Many of them had learned to read, and even carried their education several points farther. The planter had given them his ill.u.s.trated papers, and others fell into their hands. Their usefulness increased with their intelligence; and to oblige his neighbors the colonel had occasionally sent his carpenters and masons to do jobs for them.

The more intelligent of them had kept their eyes and ears open to learn the "signs of the times" during the troubles which agitated the State; and there were those among them who were well informed in matters which were generally believed to be above their comprehension. They went about among the people of other plantations, and when they obtained any news in regard to the movements of either party, it was circulated among the whole of them.

Neither Noah Lyon nor Levi Bedford ever said anything about politics or the struggle between the contending parties for the mastery of the State; but the silence of the people indicated that they understood the situation. Though they were treated with what was considered extreme indulgence, and were entirely devoted to the planter and his family, the instinct of freedom doubtless existed in all of them.

In a short time about a dozen of the negroes had come to the fort in obedience to the order of the overseer. Half of them were mechanics who had been at work during the evening. They were collected in the building, and the white men present proceeded to interrogate them in regard to their qualifications.

"What is your name?" asked Colonel Belthorpe of the leader of the boat-crew.

"General, sar," replied he.

"You are a big fellow; did you ever fire a gun?" asked the planter.

"Yes, sar; Cunnel Lyon done send me often to shoot some ducks for de dinner."

"Are you a good shot?"

"De boys say I am," answered General modestly. "I done bring down tree quails out'n five on de wing, mars'r."

"Did you ever fire a rifle?"

"Yes, sar; Christmas time mars'r cunnel lend us his two rifles to shoot at a mark for a prize ob half a dollar; dis n.i.g.g.e.r won de prize,"

replied General, with a magnificent exhibition of ivory.

"Are you willing to fight for your master?" demanded Colonel Belthorpe sharply, as though he expected a negative response to the question.

"Yes, sar!" answered General with more energy than he had spoken before.

"Ready to be killed for Mars'r Lyon; an' so's all de boys on de place."

"You will do," added the planter, as he handed him a breech-loader and a small package of ammunition. "Do you know how to use this piece?"

"Yes, sar; seen 'em before," replied the boatman, as he took the weapon and retired.

With the boys there were seven white men present, and each one of them had examined a servant in regard to his qualifications. The questions were similar, though not the same as those put by Colonel Belthorpe; and it appeared that all of them were more or less familiar with the use of firearms, for they were the best informed and most reliable hands on the estate. They were all provided with breech-loaders and cartridges.

General and Dummy were sent with weapons to Rosebud and Mose at the bridge, and ordered to remain there; but they were not to fire upon the ruffians.

"Now we have a force of twenty-two men," said Colonel Belthorpe. "I don't know about these recruits with black faces, and I have my doubts about making soldiers of them. Fall in, and we will march up to the bridge."

All the white men were armed with revolvers as well as rifles. The men did not "fall in" in the military sense of the term, but simply followed their leader, as the experienced soldier, who had rendered most of his active service in fighting the Indians, was tacitly recognized to be.

"Don't you think we had better put out the lights in the fort, Colonel Belthorpe?" asked Levi.

"By no means. I have had fighting enough with cut-throat Indians to satisfy my tastes in that direction, and I am not anxious for any more of it," replied the planter. "Let the building remain lighted, and it will a.s.sure the ruffians that you are awake over here. If they will about wheel and go off, that will suit me better than a fight with them."

"Just my sentiments, Colonel," added Major Lyon.

"The creek is about fifty feet wide by the bridge," said Colonel Cosgrove. "It widens at its mouth to about a hundred. Is there any way by which the ruffians can get over at your boat-pier?"

"Without a boat there is no way to get across," replied Levi. "They must come across the bridge if they come at all."

"There they come!" exclaimed Major Lyon, as he pointed to the cross-roads where the creek road branched off from the others.

"They have provided themselves with lanterns and torches," said Levi.

"We can see just what they are about."

As they came opposite the boat-pier the ruffians halted. They were not marching in any kind of order, but all of them were straggling along as though the Home Guard to which they belonged had not yet done any drilling.