Brother Against Brother Part 35

"Do you mean to murder us?" demanded t.i.tus, aghast at the determined policy of the commander. "You have hemmed us in so that we can't get out, and now you mean to fire on us! I cal'late you've got a bone to pick with your feller-citizens for armin' n.i.g.g.e.rs."

"I can pick it without any help from you. Now, do you surrender, or shall I order my men to fire?" demanded the colonel so sternly that t.i.tus was silenced. "I give you five minutes to consider my offer."

"I don't want to be shot like a mule with a broken leg," said Swin Pickford, loud enough to be heard in the front rank.

"Can't we make terms?" asked t.i.tus, who was terribly alarmed.

"No terms with a mob," replied the colonel.

Half a dozen of the ruffians came forward to their leader, and it was evident that they were quite as much frightened as he was himself.

Enough was heard from those in the front rank of the defenders to a.s.sure them they pleaded for surrender. Some of them farther back even shouted, "We surrender!"

"I s'pose we can't do nothin' but surrender or be shot," resumed t.i.tus.

"That's all; and you may thank your stars that some of you are not swinging by the neck from the trees at the side of the road."

"Then we surrender, for we can't do nothin' else," said Captain t.i.tus.

"But I want to tell you, Colonel Belthorpe and Noah Lyon, that you haven't seen the end of this thing yet. If the whole country don't howl ag'in you within twenty-four hours, I lose my guess."

"You had better fall back on your ruffians and guess again," added the colonel, as he placed himself at the side of Major Lyon.

"What does the surrender amount to, Colonel?" asked the planter of Riverlawn.

"It really amounts to nothing but a way to get rid of these fellows. We have had enough of them for to-night," replied the commander. "Captain Gadbury, will you ride around through the fields to Captain Deck, and ask him to let the mob move down the road toward the bridge? If any of them have guns, take them from them."

Captain Gadbury started on his mission. Four mounted negroes were sent after him to a.s.sist in disarming those who had weapons if needed. In a short time the captain and his followers arrived at their destination, as could be seen from the position of the main body. It was light enough by this time to see the force there place themselves on each side of the road.

Then the commander ordered his men to march, shouting to the mob to do the same. The ruffians began their humiliating retreat, and the defenders followed them as far as the bridge. The planters and their attendants then returned to their homes.

CHAPTER x.x.x

LEVI BEDFORD AND HIS PRISONER

Colonel Cosgrove and Squire Truman returned to Riverlawn with Major Lyon and his son. Colonel Belthorpe and Tom renewed their expressions of grat.i.tude to Deck for the important service he had rendered to the family in the protection of Margie and Kate, and insisted that he should visit Lyndhall as soon as possible. They parted at the cross roads, and both parties received a warm welcome at their homes.

Levi Bedford and Artie Lyon had remained on watch in the fort, while a sufficient number of the hands patrolled the bridge and the creek; but the ruffians had found enough to do in the direction they had gone, and there was no alarm during the rest of the night. The major took his guests to the mansion, while Deck related to Levi and Artie the events of the visit to Lyndhall.

"Captain t.i.tus and the mob have really been thoroughly whipped out of their boots," said the overseer, when Deck had finished his narrative.

"But, as the leader of the ruffians said, we haven't seen the end of this thing yet."

"Do you think they will make another attack upon Riverlawn, Levi?" asked Deck with along gape.

"I don't reckon they will try it in the same way they did before; at least not till they are fully provided with arms and ammunition,"

replied Levi. "That attempt to capture the two daughters of Colonel Belthorpe looks like one of Buck Lagger's schemes. If he had obtained possession of the two girls, very likely he would have confined them in one of the caverns like the one where they put the arms, with a guard over them."

"That would have been awful," added Artie.

"I reckon they didn't mean to hurt the girls, and wouldn't if they had got possession of them," continued Levi. "But you can see for yourselves, boys, that they would have had the key to the fortress in their own hands if they had obtained the girls."

"That's so!" exclaimed Deck, who had seen the point before without any help from the overseer.

"I don't see what good the girls could have done them," said Artie, who had been asleep most of the time during the absence of the planter and his son.

"It is as plain as the nose on a monkey's face," added Deck. "With the two girls as prisoners, Captain t.i.tus would have demanded the return of the arms and ammunition of Colonel Belthorpe."

"I see!" exclaimed Artie, as the object of the capture dawned upon him.

"But the colonel did not have the arms, and he could not have given them up."

"But father would have made common cause with him, and he could not well have helped giving up the arms to get back his neighbor's daughter,"

Deck explained.

"But I wonder they didn't try to take our girls," suggested Artie.

"That is what they may try to do next; and I shall advise your mother not to permit Miss Dorcas or Miss Hope to go outside of the plantation unless they are well guarded," added Levi. "If Captain t.i.tus could get away with your two sisters, and hide them, he could have things all his own way with your father."

"We must keep a sharp lookout for the girls," said Artie.

"Buck Lagger, with his gang, must have gone ahead of the main body of the ruffians," continued the overseer thoughtfully, "or he could not have been in the cross-cut. He must have known about the party, and that the colonel's daughters were there."

"Where does this Buck live?" asked Deck.

"He has a shanty on the road to the village, just above the schoolhouse.

He is a pedler when he does anything like work, and I suppose he knows about every family in the county," replied Levi. "He could easily have found out all about the party, and who were to be there."

"There is the breakfast-bell," said Deck, who was quite prepared by his night's work for the summons.

At the table the story of the night's adventures was repeated for the information of Mrs. Lyons and her daughters, and they wanted to hug Deck; first, because he had been so brave and vigorous in the rescue of Margie and Kate Belthorpe, and second, because he had not been killed or severely wounded in the encounter of which he had been the hero.

After the meal Major Lyon and his two guests retired to the library, while the boys went to bed. Before the former separated, they had arranged a plan for the enlistment of a company of cavalry which had been discussed at the meeting the evening before. But all concerned were tired out after the labors of the night. Colonel Cosgrove was sent to the place where he had left his team, and Squire Truman was driven to the village by Levi, who had chosen this duty himself, in order to "see what was going on," as he expressed it.

The ruffians who had formed the mob had been gathered from the region around Barcreek, and not a few of them lived in the village. There appeared to be no excitement there, and the overseer started for home.

On his way he had to pa.s.s the shanty of Buck Lagger, where he lived alone when he was at home, which was not much of the time. His worldly wealth, consisting of his stock of miscellaneous goods, was contained in a couple of tin trunks, with which he tramped all over the county.

As Levi drove by the hovel a bullet whistled past his head; and, removing his soft hat, he found that the missile had pa.s.sed through it, and within a couple of inches of the top of his head. It required no reasoning to convince him that Buck Lagger had fired the shot which had narrowly failed to send him to his long home. This particular kind of outrage was not an uncommon occurrence in Kentucky during the exciting period which followed the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Not a few who had enlisted in the armies of the Union were killed in this cowardly manner.

Levi Bedford reined in his horses, and then secured them to a tree. He was not a man to permit such a dastardly deed to remain unpunished a moment longer than was necessary. The ruffian, who had appeared to be the lieutenant of Captain t.i.tus the night before, could not be far off.

Pa.s.sing to the rear of the shanty, Levi discovered him running for the woods a short distance from the road. In his hand he carried an old flint-lock musket, from which he had doubtless fired the shot intended to deprive Major Lyon of the services of his valuable overseer.

Buck turned to look at his pursuer, though he hardly abated his speed in doing so. His left arm was hung in a sling, the material of which looked as though it might have been a part of the flag of truce displayed on the creek bridge the night before. Levi had the heavy revolver with which he had armed himself still in his pocket; and it had even occurred to him that he might have occasion to use it before he returned from his present visit to the village.

Though he was a heavy man, Levi was agile in his movements, and the ruffian could not help seeing that his pursuer was gaining upon him.

Before he reached the woods, he realized that he had no chance to escape, and he halted. Elevating his gun, he took aim at the overseer.

But Levi knew that the weapon could not be loaded, for he had fired its only charge at him, and had not had time to reload it.

"It won't go off again till you load it," said the overseer, as he rushed up to him, and wrenched the musket from his hand, thinking he might try to use it as a club. "It's no fault of yours, except in your aim, that you are not a murderer, Buck Lagger!"