by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER V
THE DISTRESS OF MRS. TITUS LYON
In the rear of the drawing-room was the library. It contained about fivehundred bound volumes, and more than this number of pamphlets anddocuments, which had accumulated in a quarter of a century. It containeda large desk and a safe, and the apartment was an office rather than alibrary, though the owner of Riverlawn had largely improved hiseducation by reading in his abundant leisure. The shelves were piledhigh with newspapers and magazines, which appeared to have been thestaple of his intellectual food.
Levi had given the key of the safe to the new proprietor; and after Noahhad read and reread the open letter, and pondered its contents, hecarried the one which was not to be opened for five years to thelibrary, and deposited it in the safe with the explanatory epistle whichleft the whole subject a mystery. What was eventually to become of thenegroes was not indicated, but he was enjoined not to sell one of themon any account.
Though opposed to the extension of slavery, Noah Lyon did not believethat Congress had any constitutional right to meddle with the system asit existed in the States. He had never been brought into contact withslavery, and did not howl when his brother became a slaveholder. Likethe majority of the people of the North, he was instinctively, as itwere, opposed to human bondage; but he had never been considered afanatic or an abolitionist by his friends and neighbors. He simplyrefrained from meddling with the subject.
The fifty-one negroes on the estate had been willed to him, and he wasas much a slaveholder as his brother had been. The injunction not tosell one of them was needless in its application to him, for he would asreadily have thought of selling one of his own children as any humanbeing.
It would require a bulky volume to detail the experience of Noah Lyonand his family during the years that followed his arrival at Barcreek.He was an intelligent man, richly endowed with saving common-sense, andsoon made himself familiar with all the affairs of the plantation. Hemade the acquaintance of the servants, which was no small matter initself, for he ascertained the history, disposition, and character ofall of them.
He found that his brother had not over-estimated the worth of LeviBedford, who soon became a great favorite with all the family. The newproprietor found no occasion to change the conduct of affairs in themanagement of the place, even if he had felt that he was competent toimprove the methods and system of his late brother. Everything went onas before. Levi made the crops of hemp, tobacco, corn, and vegetables,and raised horses, marketing everything to be sold. He consulted hisemployer, but he had little to say.
The family became acquainted with their neighbors within a circuit often miles, and in spite of their origin they were kindly and hospitablyreceived by the best families.
At the end of a year the Lyons had practically become Kentuckians. Inthe following year came the great political campaign which resulted inthe election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. Ominous growls hadbeen heard from the South, and even in the border State of Kentucky.Noah regarded the situation with no little anxiety; but he continued toattend to his own affairs, and it was not till the bombardment of FortSumter that he began to take an active part in the agitation which wasshaking the entire nation.
Titus Lyon was one of the most stormy and aggressive of the Southernsympathizers. Even neutrality was a compromise with him. When Noah'sfamily took possession of Riverlawn, he did not call at the mansion forseveral days, though his wife and Mabel, his eldest daughter, had spentthe day after their arrival with them. Though Titus said nothing atfirst, or for months to come, it was very evident to Noah that he wasintensely dissatisfied with the distribution the colonel had made of hisproperty.
The state of affairs in Barcreek has been shown in the conversationbetween the planter and his son on the bridge. This seemed to be afavorite resort for conferences, and they returned to it after dinner.On one side of it was a seat which had been put up there years before;for it was shaded by a magnificent tree which grew by the side of thecreek road, and the bridge was the coolest place on the estate in a hotday.
"Of course you heard what your mother said about her visit to Titus'shouse to-day, Dexter," said the father, as he seated himself on thebench.
"I could not well help hearing it," replied Deck.
"If there is anything in this world I abominate, it is a familyquarrel," continued Noah, fixing his gaze upon the dark waters of thecreek. "Your uncle seems to be disposed to be at variance with me,though I am sure I have done nothing of which he can reasonablycomplain. He is down upon every Union man in the county. I should saythat Barcreek was about equally divided between the two parties. But hedoes not talk politics to me, as he does to every other man in theplace."
"I don't know what he means when he says you owe him five thousanddollars, for I thought the boot was on the other leg," said Deck,looking into the troubled face of his father.
"He owes me several hundred dollars I lent him before he sold hisrailroad stock. He is able to pay me now, for he has turned hissecurities into money, and he seems to be flinging it away as fast as hecan. He must be worth twenty-five thousand dollars, including his houseand land; but I don't know how much of it he has thrown away."
"If he has spent five thousand dollars for arms, ammunition, anduniforms, he must have made a big hole in it," suggested Deck. "He keepsthree horses when he has no use for more than one."
"He never had a tenth part as much money before in his life, and he doesnot know how to use it. He will be the captain of a Home Guard as soonas he can enlist the men, and the people on his side of the question atthe village have begun to call him 'Captain Lyon,' or 'Captain Titus.'"
"Sandy told me that he, his father, and Orly had been drilling for threemonths with an old soldier who was in the Mexican War," added Deck."There comes Artie in one of the boats."
"Where is he going?" asked Noah.
"I'm sure I don't know; Artie don't always tell where he is going,"answered Deck.
His cousin, whom he regarded and treated as his brother, was pulling avery handsome keel boat leisurely up the creek. The colonel appeared tohave had some aquatic tastes, for at a kind of pier half-way between thebridge and the river were a sailboat and two row-boats, all of whichwere kept in excellent condition. In places the river was wide enough toallow the use of a boat with a sail, and the colonel had had some skillin managing one; but neither Noah nor his boys could handle such acraft, and it was never used.
The creek extended back some ten miles through a flat, swampy region,and Deck and Artie had explored it almost to its source in some lowhills not a dozen miles from the Mammoth Cave. Like most boys, they werefond of boats, and nothing but the forbidding command of the planterprevented them from experimenting with the Magnolia, as the sailboat wascalled by the colonel.
If the boys had explored Bar Creek to its source, they would havediscovered that it came out of the numerous "sinks" to be found in thisportion of the country, and streams flowed in subterranean channelswhich honeycombed the earth at a greater or less depth below thesurface.
"What are you up to, Deck?" shouted Artie, as he approached the bridge.
"Nothing particular," replied the one on the bridge. "Where are yougoing?"
"Up the creek," answered Artie very indefinitely. "Can't you go with me?It is easier for two to row this boat than for one."
"I don't want to go now," returned Deck, who was too much interested inthe conversation with his father to leave him.
"You may go with him if you want to, Dexter," interposed Mr. Lyon.
"I don't care about going now, father. Do you suppose Uncle Titus hasreally bought the arms and things as mother says?" asked Deck.
"Your aunt is very much worried about the actions of your uncle. Isuppose he told her what he had done, for she would not make up such astory out of whole cloth. Besides, it seems to be in keeping with adozen other things he has done; and he is certainly doing all he can toraise a company in Barcreek," replied Mr. Lyon.
"Isn't it strang
e that he never says anything to you about politics,especially such as we are having now?" asked the son.
"I don't see him very often; he is at Bowling Green half the time.Besides, he and I never agreed on politics. By the great GeorgeWashington, there he is now!" exclaimed Noah Lyon, springing up from hisseat on the bench.
Titus Lyon was seated with his wife in a stylish buggy. He stopped hishorse on the bridge when he came opposite to his brother, and passingthe reins to Mrs. Lyon he descended to the planks. His wife drove on,and stopped at the front door of the mansion. Frank the coachman ranwith all his might from the stable to take charge of the team, and thelady went into the house.
"How do you do, Titus?" said Noah, extending his hand to his brother.
"I think it is about time for me to have some talk with you, Noah,"replied Titus, ignoring the offered hand, and bestowing a frowning lookupon Deck. "Send that boy away."
"Dexter knows all about my affairs, and I don't have many secrets fromhim," replied Noah very mildly, and somewhat nettled to have his sontreated in that rude manner.
"I came over here on purpose to talk with you; and what I have to say isbetween you and me--for the present. If you don't wish to talk with meon these terms, that's the end on't," added Titus, rising from the seathe had taken.
"I will go with Artie, father," interposed Deck, who did not wish toprevent an interview between the brothers, though he thought his unclebehaved like a Hottentot.
"Very well, Dexter; but you needn't go if you don't want to," said hisfather, who evidently did not believe that the proposed interview withTitus would be conducted on a peace basis.
"I think I will go," added Deck, who hailed Artie from the bridge, andthen hastened to a plank where he could get into the boat.
For a reason which he would not have explained if he had beeninterrogated by his father, or by any other person except Deck, Artiewas very desirous to have his cousin go with him; in fact, he wasthinking of postponing his excursion, whatever its object, till hiscousin could accompany him, when the hail came to him from the bridge.He pulled up to the plank, the outer end of which was supported bystakes driven into the bottom of the stream, with a cross-piece abovethe water. It had been built for the convenience of those taking one ofthe boats near the mansion. Deck took an oar, and they pulled togetherup the creek.
Mrs. Titus Lyon was cordially welcomed at the door of the house by Mrs.Noah, who had seen her coming from the window. The lady from the villagewas in a high state of perturbation, and her eyes looked as though shehad been weeping.
"I have had an awful time since you called upon me this morning," saidshe, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief. "I don't know what we arecoming to at our house. For the first time in my life my husband struckme after we got up from dinner, and then hurried me down here withhardly time to change my clothes!"
"Struck you, Amelia!" exclaimed Mrs. Noah with an expression of horror.
"Perhaps it was all my own fault," groaned the poor woman.
"No fault could justify your husband in striking you. But what was itfor?" inquired Mrs. Noah, overflowing with sympathy for hersister-in-law.
"You remember that story about the arms and equipments I told you thismorning? Well, it seems that my son Orly was listening at the half-opendoor when I supposed that no one but myself was in the house, for thegirls had all gone off to the store. He heard the whole of it, and toldhis father when he came in to dinner," gasped the abused lady in shortsentences.
"He struck you for telling me, did he?" demanded Mrs. Noah indignantly."I should like to give him a piece of my mind!"
"Don't you say a word to him about it, for that would only make it allthe worse for me. Titus says there is no truth at all in the story. Hehas bought no arms. I misunderstood him; he was telling about acommittee in Logan County that had bought the arms and ammunition for acompany. It is all a mistake; and if you have told any of your family,do take it all back, and say there is not a word of truth in the story."
Mrs. Titus could see from the window that the two brothers were having astormy interview on the bridge; but she stayed till long after dark, andhad recovered her self-possession before she left. Noah had no suppertill she had gone, and the boys had not yet returned.