by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XVII
THE EJECTION OF THE NOISY RUFFIANS
The planter of Riverlawn was not a fighting character; he had alwaysbeen one of the most peaceful of men. He had never raised a hand againstone of his fellow-beings, and it required the stimulus of an occasionlike the present to rouse a belligerent feeling in him, if thegroundwork of any such emotion existed in his nature. It was hardlythat, but rather a sense of his solemn duty, which he was called upon toperform, as a surgeon is required to amputate a limb to save life; andhe was impelled to save the life of the Union.
Noah Lyon was not physically a large man, but one who weighed a hundredand a half; yet his frame was well knit, firmly compacted, and inured byhard labor from his boyhood. As he rose to his feet and marched down themiddle aisle of the schoolroom, his face exhibited more strength thanhis form; for all the determination of his nature was concentrated inhis eyes and the muscles of his countenance.
The fervid speech of the young orator had brought him to his bearings.Deck and Artie had been similarly affected; and with their fistsclinched they followed the planter. Squire Truman leaped from theplatform into the midst of them, as the dozen others sprang to theirfeet, some with their eyes flashing with indignation, and all of themwith a fixed purpose not to submit to the outrage in which the ruffianswere engaged.
When Mr. Lyon had proceeded as far as the middle of the room, one of thedisturbers of the peace, whom the planter had spotted, rose to his feetand confronted him in the aisle. It was Buck Lagger, a pedler, who wasone of the most virulent of the Secessionists, and who aspired to be aleader among the turbulent spirits of the county.
"What are you go'n' to do about it?" demanded he savagely.
"Are you a Union man?" asked Mr. Lyon with quiet determination.
"No, I'm not!" yelled the ruffian, who had the reputation in Barcreek ofbeing a brute of the lowest order, with a whole volley of oaths.
"Then you were not invited here, and you will leave!" said the planter.
"This buildin' is public, and I have as much right here as you have!"answered Buck Lagger, with a coarse guffaw.
Noah Lyon did not wait for anything more, but grappled with the fellowas an eagle swoops down on his prey. Buck tried to get his right handinto his breast pocket, evidently to obtain a weapon of some kind; buthis assailant understood his purpose, and crowded him over backwardsupon one of the desks, choking him so hard that he soon lost all hispluck.
"HE GRAPPLED WITH THE FELLOW." ]
Colonel Cosgrove was close behind Mr. Lyon, and seized upon the booncompanion of the pedler. He was an excellent specimen of a Kentuckygentleman, stalwart in form and determined in purpose. He bore his mandown as the leader had done. The other ruffians rushed to the assistanceof their leaders, and the _melee_ became general.
There did not appear to be more than half a dozen active ruffians in theroom; at least not more who were resolute enough to take part in thesestormy proceedings. Mr. Lyon had choked so much of the energy out ofBuck Laggar that he had ceased to feel for his weapon, and the plantertook him by the collar of the coat with both hands, and dragged him tothe door, where he pitched him on the ground all in a heap.
Colonel Cosgrove followed him with his man; and then came the oratorwith a fellow nearly twice his size, with whom he was having a hardtussle, when Deck leaped upon the back of this victim, and drawing hisarms tightly under his throat, brought him to the floor, and then rolledhim out at the door. The other Union men in the audience had tackled theremaining ruffians when they went to the assistance of those of theirnumber who had been attacked, and hustled them out of the apartment.
"That will do for the present," said Squire Truman, as the resoluteUnionists completed their active work, and stopped to catch theirbreath.
"I think we had better station a guard at the door, and challenge everyman who wants to come in," suggested Mr. Lyon.
"That's a good idea, for it is the evident intention of the blackguardsto break up the meeting; and I should be ashamed to have such a thingdone,--a Union meeting dispersed by force in the State of Kentucky!"added the young lawyer.
"Precisely so!" exclaimed Colonel Cosgrove. "I will offer my services asone of the guard."
"Good!" shouted Colonel Belthorpe, a big Kentuckian whose plantation wasnear that of Major Lyon, "I will be another."
"Here are two more!" cried Deck Lyon, as he and Artie presentedthemselves.
"Lively boys," laughed Colonel Cosgrove. "Both of them took a hand inthe skirmish we have had, and they will do very well for this duty."
The Union men in the assembly applauded warmly, and the young orator ledthe way back to the seats, mounting the platform himself. He resumed hisspeech with an allusion to the event which had just transpired, androused his audience to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by his fieryeloquence. He spoke half an hour, and concluded by nominating Major NoahLyon as the presiding officer of the evening; and the selection washeartily indorsed by the meeting.
Before he could reach the platform, a dozen men appeared at the door.The volunteer committee on admissions retired to the lobby so that theyneed not disturb the proceedings. Colonel Cosgrove took Artie by thearm, while Colonel Belthorpe did the same with Deck, each at one side ofthe door.
"Are you a Union man?" demanded Deck in a loud voice, for he felt thathe must do or say something, boiling over with enthusiasm for the causeas he was; and perhaps the fact that he had a loaded revolver in hispocket was an inciting influence with him.
"I am!" exclaimed the person addressed, with emphasis.
"Pass in," replied Deck.
"Put the same question, Artie," added Colonel Cosgrove, amused at theearnestness of Deck.
Artie put the question with less pomposity than his cousin, and theanswer was the same. The brace of colonels then took part in thechallenging, and the dozen applicants were promptly admitted. One of thecolonels then suggested to the other that the boys could remain in thelobby while they stood inside the door.
Noah Lyon had presided on several occasions in town meetings, and hismodesty had been so far overcome that he could face an audience,especially in such a cause as the present. He was received with applauseand cheers, and proceeded to make a speech in his usual quiet way. Hesaid he could not make such a speech as the eloquent gentleman fromBarcreek village had done; but he was a Union man in every fibre of hisbeing, whether he was in New Hampshire or Kentucky.
This statement was received with tremendous applause. He proceeded tosay that he was a peaceable man, and was in favor of peaceable measures;but he did not intend to be overridden and trodden down by the Secessionelement, which he believed was in a large minority in the State. He wasready to talk as long as talking did any good; but when he had talkedenough he was ready to fight.
This was the popular sentiment in the meeting, and a tumult of applausefollowed, ending in nine rousing cheers. He was ready to shoulder amusket in any Kentucky regiment, and he was glad that some had alreadybeen organized. He had twenty-seven horses he would give "without moneyand without price," to the cause of the Union, with which to start acavalry company; and "I think I can _find_ arms for the men," he added.
This offer was greeted with yells of approval, and it was some timebefore he could say anything more.
"I will also contribute twenty horses," shouted Colonel Cosgrove.
"I will give the next twenty," Colonel Belthorpe cried out.
The clapping of hands and the cheering were renewed with more vigor thanever, if possible; and others offered to contribute from one to fiveeach, till over a hundred horses were pledged for the company. In themidst of this enthusiasm the voice of Deck was heard in the lobby.
"Are you a Union man, sir?" he demanded in a voice loud enough to beheard in a momentary lull of the enthusiasm.
"No, I am not!" replied the applicant, with a volley of expletives.
"Then you can't go in," answered Deck.
"Who says I can't?" asked the intruder in fierce tones.
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"This is a Union meeting, and none but Union men are admitted," repliedDeck, loud enough to be heard on the platform; for the meeting hadbecome silent, and all were turning around to see the door.
"Do you see that?" demanded the ruffian, as he drew a bowie-knife fromhis pocket, and threw it open with a jerk.
Deck had put his right hand on his hip pocket, which contained hisrevolver; and, the moment he saw the knife, he drew it, and pointed itat the part where the intruder carried what brains he had.
"And do you see that?" called the plucky boy.
"And that?" added Artie on the other side of the door.
"Take yourself off!" shouted Deck furiously, as he retreated a pace, tokeep out of the reach of the wicked-looking blade of the knife.
"Isn't this a free building?" asked the ruffian, as he looked from onerevolver to the other.
"Free to Union men to-night," answered Deck.
By this time half a dozen men from the interior were approaching thedoor, and the ruffian suddenly decamped. Deck followed him to the door,and saw the man disappear in the grove on the other side of the road.Then he heard a voice among the trees; and it was evident to him thatthere were more ruffians, perhaps biding their time to make an attackupon the Unionists when they went to their homes.
"Three cheers for the boys!" shouted one of the men who had come to thedoor, and observed the retreat of the ruffian.
They were lustily given, and then Deck announced to the meeting thatthere were more men in the grove, for some one had hailed the ruffianthat had just left the door.
"No matter for them," said the chairman. "Let us go on with thismeeting, and when they come in, if they do so, we will take care ofthem. The boys will keep watch, and let us know if they approach theschoolhouse."
A committee of three were appointed to attend to the enrolment of thecompany of cavalry. The two colonels and the major by courtesy wereappointed on this committee. Then Colonel Cosgrove was called upon tomake the speech he had promised. He was not so eloquent as hisprofessional brother from the village; but he was more solid, and was asvigorously applauded as the other speakers had been.
He said there had been a sort of reign of terror in the county, and itwas because the Unionists had been less demonstrative than theSecessionists, and for that reason he believed in the present meeting.He was disposed to be peaceable, but he was ready to fight for theUnion. He proceeded at considerable length. He was in favor of having itunderstood in the county that there were plenty of Unionists within itsborders, and that they were not to be frowned or bullied down by theruffians of the other side.
This remark seemed to be the sense of the assembly, which had nowincreased in numbers to over a hundred, and the applause was decided.
While the colonel from the county town was speaking, Deck and Artie hadbeen over to the other side of the road, and penetrated the grove for ashort distance. Probably those who had been ejected from the meetingwere there; but the boys crept near enough to make out that there werenot less than fifty men there, and possibly double that number.
As they retired from the grove they found that a single man wasfollowing them. They retreated to the lobby of the schoolhouse, withtheir revolvers in their hands. They had hardly resumed their stationsat the door when the man presented himself before them. To theastonishment of his two nephews this person proved to be Titus Lyon.
"Are you a Union man?" demanded Deck.
"I am not," replied Titus.
"Then you can't go into this meeting," added Deck, as firmly as he hadspoken at any time before.
The applicant could not fail to see that both of the boys had weapons intheir hands. He looked earnest and determined, but he did not appear tobe even angry. He halted and fixed his gaze upon the floor, apparentlyin deep thought.