by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER I
TROUBLESOME TIMES IN KENTUCKY
"Neutrality! There is no such thing as neutrality in the presentsituation, my son!" protested Noah Lyon to the stout boy of sixteen whostood in front of him on the bridge over Bar Creek, in the State ofKentucky. "He that is not for the Union is against it. No man can servetwo masters, Dexter."
"That is just what I was saying to Sandy," replied the boy, whomeverybody but his father and mother called "Deck."
"Your Cousin Alexander takes after his father, who is my own brother;but I must say I am ashamed of him, for he is a rank Secessionist,"continued Noah Lyon, fixing his gaze on the planks of the bridge, andlooking as grieved as though one of his own blood had turned againsthim. "He was born and brought up in New Hampshire, where about all thepeople believe in the Union as they do in their own mothers, and atraitor would be ridden on a rail out of almost any town within itsborders."
"Well, it isn't so down here in the State of Kentucky, father," answeredDeck.
"Kentucky was the second new State to be admitted to the Union of theoriginal thirteen, and there are plenty of people now within her borderswho protest that it will be the last to leave it," replied the father,as he took a crumpled newspaper from his pocket. "Here's a little piecefrom a Clarke County paper which is just the opinion of a majority ofthe people of Kentucky. Read it out loud, Dexter," added Mr. Lyon, as hehanded the paper to his son, and pointed out the article.
The young man took the paper, and read in a loud voice, as though hewished even the fishes in the creek to hear it, and to desire them torefuse to be food for Secessionists: "Any attempt on the part of thegovernment of this State, or any one else, to put Kentucky out of theUnion by force, or using force to compel Union men in any manner tosubmit to an ordinance of secession, or any pretended resolution ordecree arising from such secession, is an act of treason against theState of Kentucky. It is therefore lawful to resist any such ordinance."
"That's the doctrine!" exclaimed Mr. Lyons, clapping his hands with aringing sound to emphasize his opinion. "Those are my sentimentsexactly, and they are political gospel to me; and I should be ashamed ofany son of mine who did not stand by the Union, whether he lived in NewHampshire or Kentucky."
"You can count me in for the Union every time, father," said Deck, whohad read all the newspapers, those from the North and of the State inwhich he resided, as well as the history of Kentucky and the currentexciting documents that were floating about the country, including thelong and illogical letter of the State's senator who immediately becamea Confederate brigadier.
"I haven't heard your Cousin Artie, who is just your age, and old enoughto do something on his own account, say much about the troubles of thetimes," added Mr. Lyon, bestowing an inquiring look upon his son. "Ihave seen Sandy Lyon talking to him a good deal lately, and I hope he isnot leading him astray."
"No danger of that; for Artie is as stiff as a cart-stake for the Union,and Sandy can't pour any Secession molasses down his back," repliedDeck.
"I am glad to hear it. I heard some one say that Sandy had joined, orwas going to join, the Home Guards."
"He asked me to join them, and wanted me to go down to Bowling Greenwith him in the boat. He had already put his name down as a member of acompany; but of course I wouldn't go."
"The Home Guards thrive very well in Bar Creek; and I noticed that allwho joined them are Secessionists, or have a leaning that way," addedthe father. "The avowed purpose of these organizations is to preservethe neutrality of the State; but that is only another name for treason;and when affairs have progressed a little farther, the Home Guards willwheel into the ranks of the Confederate army. President Lincoln made avery guarded and non-committal reply to the Governor's letter onneutrality; but it is as plain as the nose on a toper's face that hedon't believe in it."
"I think it is best to be on one side or the other."
"Isn't Sandy trying to rope Artie into the Home Guards, Dexter?" askedMr. Lyon with an anxious look on his face.
"Of course he is, as he has tried to get me to join."
"Artie is a quiet sort of a boy, and don't say much; but it is plainthat he keeps up a tremendous thinking all the time, though I have notbeen able to make out what it is all about."
"He is considering just what all the rest of us are thinking about; butI am satisfied that he has come out just where all the rest of us atRiverlawn have arrived, father. He and I have talked a great deal aboutthe war; and Artie is all right now, though he may have had some doubtsabout where he belonged a few months ago."
"But Sandy was over here no longer ago than yesterday, and he wastalking for over an hour with Artie on this bridge where we are now,"said Mr. Lyon.
"They were talking about the Union meeting to be held to-morrow night atthe schoolhouse by the Big Bend," added Deck.
"What interest has Sandy in that meeting? He does not train in thatcompany."
"He advised Artie not to go to the meeting, for it was gotten up bytraitors to their State."
"That's a Secessionist phrase which he borrowed from some Confederateorator, or at Bowling Green, where he spends too much of his time; andhis father had better be teaching him how to lay bricks and mix mortar."
"But Uncle Titus is over there half his time," suggested Deck.
"He had better be attending to his business; for the people over at thevillage say they will have to get another mason to settle there, foryour Uncle Titus don't work half his time, and the people can't gettheir jobs done. There is a new house over there waiting for him tobuild the chimney."
"Why don't you talk to him, father?" asked Deck very seriously.
"Talk to him, Dexter!" exclaimed Mr. Lyon. "You might as well set yourdog to barking at the rapids in the river. For some reason Titus seemsto be rather set against me since we settled in Barcreek. We used to beon the best of terms in New Hampshire, for I always lent him money whenhe was hard pressed. I don't know what has come over him since we cameto Kentucky."
"I do," added Deck, looking earnestly into his father's face.
"Well, what is it, I should like to know? I have always done everythingI could since I came here for him."
"Sandy told me something about it one day, and seemed to have a gooddeal of feeling about it. He says you wronged Uncle Titus out of fivethousand dollars," said Deck, wondering if his father had ever heard thecharge before.
"I know what Sandy meant. Of course Titus must have been in the habit oftalking about this matter in his family, or Sandy would not have knownanything about it," replied Mr. Lyon, evidently very much annoyed at therevelation of his son.
"I did not know what Sandy meant, and I thought I had better not askhim; for of course I knew there was not a particle of truth in thecharge," added Deck, surprised to find that his father knew somethingabout the accusation.
"I don't talk with my children about troublesome family matters, Dexter,and your Uncle Titus ought not to do so. I shall only say that there isnot the slightest grain of reason or justice in the charge against me;and Titus knows it as well as I do. If anybody has wronged him, it wasyour deceased Uncle Duncan. Let the matter drop there, at least for thepresent. Why does Sandy wish to prevent Artie from attending the Unionmeeting to-morrow night?"
"He said it was likely to be broken up by the Home Guards."
"Then he probably knows something about a plot to interfere with thegathering. I rode up to the village this morning, and I was quitesurprised to find that several whom I knew to be loyal men did notintend to be present. When I urged them to be there, they hinted thatthere would be trouble at the schoolhouse."
At this moment a bell was rung at the side-door of the mansion, aboutten rods from the bridge where the father and son had been discussingthe situation. It crossed the creek a quarter of a mile from the river,which has a course of three hundred miles through the State, and isnavigable from the Ohio two-thirds of its length during the season ofhigh water. The mansion was the residence of Noah Lyon; and after
thegreen field, ornamented with stately trees, which extended from thehouse to the river, it had taken the name of "Riverlawn" in the time ofthe former proprietor. The plantation extended along the creek more thanhalf a mile, including over five hundred acres of the richest land inthe State.
Above the bridge was a little village of negro houses, so neat andsubstantial that they deserved a better name than "huts," generallygiven to the dwellings of the slaves of a plantation. Each had itslittle garden, fenced off and well cared for. It was evident that theoccupants of these cottages were subjected to few if any of thehardships of their condition. Many of them were just returning from thehemp fields and the horse pastures of the estate; and they seemed to behappy and contented, with no care for the troubles that were thenagitating the State.
The bell had been rung at the side-door of the mansion by a black woman,very neatly dressed. Back of the dwelling was the kitchen in a separatebuilding, according to the custom at the South. Mr. Lyon, though he wasthe present proprietor of this extensive estate, was dressed in veryplain clothes, and had none of the air of a Kentucky gentleman. Deck wasclothed in the same manner; but both of them looked very neat and veryrespectable in spite of their plain clothes.
They came from the bridge at the sound of the bell. On the left of theentrance was the dining-room, a large apartment, with the table set fordinner in the middle of it. Two young octoroon girls were standing bythe chairs to wait upon the family, which consisted of six persons.
"You have been shopping this forenoon, haven't you, Ruth?" asked Mr.Lyon, addressing his wife, who was seated at one end of the table whilehe was at the other.
"I did not do much shopping; but I called upon Amelia, and found hervery much troubled," replied Mrs. Lyon, alluding to the wife of TitusLyon.
"I should think she might be troubled," replied Mr. Lyon. "She does nottake any part in politics; but one of her brothers is a captain in a NewHampshire regiment, and another is a major, and all her family are loyalto the backbone. She has not said much of anything, but I know she doesnot approve the attitude of her husband and her two sons. The last timeI saw her, she was afraid they would enlist in the Confederate army.Titus won't hear a word of objection from her."
"She told me an astonishing piece of news this forenoon," continued Mrs.Lyon.
"I shall not be much astonished at anything Titus does," added thehusband. "But what has he done now? Has he enlisted in the Confederatearmy?"
"Not yet; but Amelia says he has been offered the command of a companyof Home Guards if he will pay for the arms and uniform of it. He agreedto do so, and has already paid over the money, five thousand dollars."
"Is it possible!" exclaimed Mr. Lyon; and the two boys dropped theirknives and forks in their astonishment. "I did not think he would go asfar as that. He could not be a ranker Secessionist if he had lived allhis life in South Carolina, instead of nine or ten years in Kentucky."
"This happened a month ago, and Amelia says the arms are hiddensomewhere on the river."
"Does she know where?"
"She did not tell me where if she knew. More than this, she says he isdrinking too much whiskey, and that the Secessionists have made a foolof him. She is afraid he will throw away all his property."
"I have noticed several times that he has been drinking too much, thoughhe was not exactly intoxicated."
"Oh! Amelia said he meant to make you pay for the arms and uniforms,"said Mrs. Lyon, with some excitement in her manner. "He insists that youowe him five thousand dollars."
"If I did, he gives me a good excuse for not paying it; but I do not owehim a nickel. Home Guards and Confederates here are all the same; and nomoney of mine shall go for arming either of them."
"Titus's wife says you are denounced as an abolitionist, Noah, and theywill drive you out of the county soon," added Mrs. Lyon.
"When they are ready to begin, I shall be there," replied Mr. Lyon witha smile.
The dinner was finished, and the family separated, Deck and his fatherreturning to the bridge, followed by Artie.