by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER X
THE SINK-CAVERN NEAR BAR CREEK
The supper at the mansion had waited till it was quite dark; and it wasevident to Mrs. Noah that the brothers were engaged in importantbusiness, for they had been talking on the bridge all the afternoon, andTitus spoke so loud in the library that he could be heard all over thehouse, though he could not be understood. Something very exciting waspassing between them; Mrs. Noah thought it was politics, but Mrs. Titusthought it was about "that story" she had repeated.
As the angry brother passed the door of the sitting-room he called hiswife out, and bolted from the house. Noah followed, and rang the stablebell. Frank brought the team to the door; Titus pushed his sufferingwife into it, and drove off without the formality of saying good-night.The planter ate his supper, and was as pleasant as usual, saying nothingof the business which had brought Titus to Riverlawn.
"It seems that story about the arms and ammunition has no truth at allin it," said Mrs. Noah.
"So Titus says," replied the husband.
"Meely was terribly excited about it, and said she ought not to havesaid a word about it. She begged me not to let any one in the house sayanything about it to any one. Her husband abused her, and even struckher, for what she had done."
"I did not know but he would strike me this afternoon. I suppose theboys have had their supper," added Noah, looking over the table to theirvacant places.
"No, they have not; I haven't seen anything of them since they went fromdinner," answered Mrs. Lyon. "I wonder where they are?"
"They went up the creek together in one of the boats just after Tituscame, and I haven't seen or heard anything of them since," said Noah. "Idon't think they were going a-fishing. They have been gone about sevenhours now, and it is time they were at home. Did you see anything ofthem, Levi?"
"I saw them rowing up the creek when I was riding up to the hillpasture; but I haven't seen them since," replied the overseer.
"I hope nothing has happened to them," continued Mrs. Lyon, lookingquite anxious. "Perhaps the boat has been upset."
"I don't believe it did; but if it went over, both of the boys can swimlike ducks," replied the planter.
The conversation in regard to the absentees was continued till the mealwas finished, and all the party were very much troubled. Levivolunteered to ride up the creek road and look for them; and just as hewas going to the stable, the absentees came into the house.
"Where in the world have you been, boys?" demanded Mrs. Lyon, delightedto find they were safe.
"We have been exploring the creek, and we have been a good ways up, asfar as the rocky hills," replied Deck, as he seated himself at thetable; and Diana went for the waffles she had kept hot for them.
"Did you catch any fish?" asked Levi.
"Not a fish; we did not put a line into the water."
They had no narrative to relate, or if they had they did not relate it,though they were questioned for some time, and they told what they hadseen, or a portion of it.
"While you are here, boys, I want to tell you that your Aunt Amelia hasbeen at the house all the afternoon," said Mrs. Lyon. "She came to takeback that story she told me this morning in her own house about the armsand ammunition. She misunderstood your uncle, and there is not a word oftruth in it. So you will understand, all of you, that not a word is tobe said about it out of the house."
"Not a word of truth in it!" exclaimed Deck; and Artie dropped his hotwaffle in astonishment, or under the influence of some other emotion.
"Your aunt says there are no arms hidden on the river, or anywhere else.You mustn't say a word about the matter, and I have cautioned all in thehouse not to whisper a sound of it," added Mrs. Lyon.
Deck looked at Artie, and Artie looked at Deck. A significant smilepassed between them, but they said nothing. As soon as they had finishedtheir supper they followed the planter into his library, which had beenlighted before. It was an important conference which followed there, andit must be left in progress in order to return to the boat in which theboys were pursuing their adventure on the creek.
Artie had the floor on the boat, and he had just recalled the time whenNoah had spoken to him about being out so late the night before. Deckremembered it very well, and also that his cousin had evaded an adequateexplanation of his absence from the house when he ought to have been inbed.
"You never explained why you were out so late that night," said he.
"I wanted to look into the matter a little more before I said anything,for I didn't care to make a fool of myself," replied Artie.
"You have a habit of keeping your mouth shut pretty tight," said Deckwith a smile.
"I don't believe in talking too much about things you don't understand,and I meant to have looked into the matter before this time, but somehowI haven't had the chance to do so," replied Artie, still pulling hisoar. "I'm going to tell you about my night adventure now, and you canjudge for yourself whether we are going on a wild-goose chase up thecreek."
"All right; and I will keep my oar moving all the time, so that we shallbe getting ahead while I listen," replied Deck.
"I was in the canoe, and I had gone farther up the creek than I had everbeen before," Artie began. "You have been up the road that leads toDripping Spring and the Mammouth Cave. It crosses the railroad aboutfive miles before you get to the spring, and the creek flows within aquarter of a mile of this place."
"I remember the place very well; for Levi stopped his team there to letthe girls get out and pick some flowers. I could see the creek from thisspot," added Deck.
"Then you know the place. I had been up the creek three or four milesfarther, and I was on my way home. I had been ashore just abreast ofDripping Spring, and I got interested in looking over a sink,--I believethat is what they call these holes in the ground down here,--and the sunwent down before I thought how late it was getting. But I found the holeled into a cave; but it was too dark for me to explore it. I made a noteof it, to bring a lantern up and survey the cavern when I had plenty oftime to do so."
"That will be a good job for both of us some time," suggested Deck.
"I couldn't tell how far I was from home, but I knew it was a longdistance, and I made tracks for the canoe as soon as I saw that it wasgetting dark. I hurried up till my arms ached so that I had to stop andrest. I made up my mind that I must take it moderately or I never shouldget home.
"While I was resting I saw three lights off to the south of me, and thenI knew I was near that road. I could make out about half a dozen men orboys there, and I watched them for some time. I concluded that they wereup to some mischief, and in my interest I forgot how late it wasgetting. I was possessed to know what iniquity was going on there, and Ihauled the canoe up to the shore and made the painter fast to a bush. Ilanded, and made my way as near to the road as I dared to go. The groundwas low, and covered with clumps of bushes, so I had no difficulty inhiding myself till I was within twenty feet of the party.
"I could hear every word they said; and the man who was bossing the job,whatever it was, satisfied me that he was Uncle Titus."
"Uncle Titus!" exclaimed Deck, ceasing to row in his astonishment.
"Not the least doubt of it; and more than this, I soon recognized thetones of Sandy and Orly; but I don't know who the other three were."
"But what were they doing?" asked Deck, absorbed in the narrative.
"You have stopped rowing, Deck, and we shall never get there at thisrate."
The stroke oarsman turned his body so that he could change hands at thehandle of the oar, and then resumed pulling.
"Well, this was an adventure; but you didn't tell me what they weredoing," added Deck.
"I will tell you all about it, but don't stop rowing, or we shall notget home before midnight, and father will give us a lecture for beingout late at night. The men were handling a lot of boxes. Some of themwere long enough to hold coffins, and I wondered if they hadn't beenkilling Union men, and were getting rid of the bodies. Then they
broughtout a lot of haypoles or hand-barrows from the two big wagons in theroad. I saw them put one of the boxes on the poles or barrow, and movetowards the creek. I thought it was about time for me to be leaving, forI believed they would kill me if they caught me."
"They wouldn't have let you off with a whole skin, anyhow," said Deck."Do you suppose the boxes contained bodies, Artie?"
"Hold on till I come to it, and I will tell you all about it," repliedthe narrator rather impatiently. "I wasn't safe where I was, and I creptback to the creek between the clumps of bushes without making a bit ofnoise on the soft ground. The box the first couple carried was heavy andthe bushes were in their way, so that they could not get along veryfast. As soon as I was out of hearing of the party, I ran with all mymight."
"I don't blame you for being in a hurry, for if Uncle Titus had got holdof you he would have made you see more stars then were in the sky justthen. I wonder if they had been killing Union men. The Seceshers havedone that thing in this State. A Union man was murdered in his own housenot far from here."
"Dry up, Deck, or I shall never get through with my story!" exclaimedArtie, who did not relish these repeated interruptions.
"Go on, Artie; I won't say another word," Deck promptly promised.
"I reached the creek, and cast off the canoe. I crossed over to theother side, and pulled down stream; for I knew that the two with the boxcould not be near the shore. I kept on towards home, but I was carefulnot to make any noise with my oars. Just below I saw a big flatboat,like the gundalow they used to have on the river to carry hay from themeadows. I drove the canoe into some bushes, and waited. The two menbrought that long box to the shore, and loaded it into the flatboat,which was big enough to carry six cords of wood.
"The next load was brought by four men; and I could see by the way theyhandled it that it was very heavy. I stopped till they had brought downtwo more boxes, and then I thought it was time for me to be going. Whenthe party had all left the shore I rowed along by the bushes thatoverhang the creek till I got round the bend. I didn't wait to see anymore, but rowed as fast as I could; and when I got to the pier I was sotired I could hardly stand up. That is the end of the story, Deck, andyou know as much about the affair as I do; and I will answer all of yourquestions as well as I can."
"You did not find out anything for certain?" added the listener,disappointed because his cousin had not ascertained what was in theboxes.
"I did not; but I have been able to guess at some things; and that isthe privilege of a New England Yankee."
"Well, what do you guess was in those boxes?"
"I didn't guess on that question at the time of it; but I was satisfiedthat they concealed some sort of iniquity."
"What do you suppose they were putting them in the boat for?"
"Not to take them down the river, for they would have carried them tosome place on its banks if they had wanted to do that. They wanted totake them up the creek, and this was the nearest point to it."
"What did they want to do with the boxes? Oh, I know! They were going tosink the bodies in the creek!" exclaimed Deck.
"That would have been a good enough guess a fortnight ago; but it isn'tworth shucks now. I told you before that I could explain things betterthis afternoon than I could when I saw what the men were doing."
"How is that?" asked Deck with his mouth half open.
"The moment mother told that story from Aunt Amelia, I knew what was inthe boxes; and they did not contain bodies, either."
"Oh, I see! They contained the arms and ammunition."
"A blind man could see that."
"Well, that was an adventure. You mean that they were going to put themin the cavern by the sink?"
"Precisely that, and nothing less; and now we are going up to the sinkto see for ourselves what is in the boxes," replied Artie.
They had a long pull before them; but they reached the place by fiveo'clock, and explored the cavern. They found the boxes and two cannonswith their carriages. They could not open the boxes for the want of anytools; but the labels assured them they contained muskets and revolvers.They hastened down the creek; but it was eight o'clock when they reachedthe mansion.