by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XX
THE APPROACH OF THE RUFFIAN FORCES
If the negroes asked no questions, most of them were intelligent enoughto interpret the preparations which had been made at Fort Bedford. Thesix boatmen who had remained half the night in the rear of theschoolhouse had had time enough to do some talking among the hands,though they had come in contact only with those who had been at work onthe fort.
These men had listened to the tumult in the building and in the road,and through the open window near the boat had come to their ears thedemand of Titus Lyon when admitted, and the reply of the meeting. Theyknew that Colonel Cosgrove, Colonel Belthorpe, and Squire Truman hadtaken an active part in the meeting, and they could understand for whatpurpose they had come to Riverlawn so late in the night.
The people on this plantation were doubtless better informed and moreintelligent than upon most of the estates in this portion of the South,for they had always been treated with what other planters regarded asimprudent indulgence. In the time of Colonel Lyon, slavery had been apatriarchal institution, and the negroes regarded him as a father,guide, and friend rather than as a taskmaster.
Many of them had learned to read, and even carried their educationseveral points farther. The planter had given them his illustratedpapers, and others fell into their hands. Their usefulness increasedwith their intelligence; and to oblige his neighbors the colonel hadoccasionally sent his carpenters and masons to do jobs for them.
The more intelligent of them had kept their eyes and ears open to learnthe "signs of the times" during the troubles which agitated the State;and there were those among them who were well informed in matters whichwere generally believed to be above their comprehension. They went aboutamong the people of other plantations, and when they obtained any newsin regard to the movements of either party, it was circulated among thewhole of them.
Neither Noah Lyon nor Levi Bedford ever said anything about politics orthe struggle between the contending parties for the mastery of theState; but the silence of the people indicated that they understood thesituation. Though they were treated with what was considered extremeindulgence, and were entirely devoted to the planter and his family, theinstinct of freedom doubtless existed in all of them.
In a short time about a dozen of the negroes had come to the fort inobedience to the order of the overseer. Half of them were mechanics whohad been at work during the evening. They were collected in thebuilding, and the white men present proceeded to interrogate them inregard to their qualifications.
"What is your name?" asked Colonel Belthorpe of the leader of theboat-crew.
"General, sar," replied he.
"You are a big fellow; did you ever fire a gun?" asked the planter.
"Yes, sar; Cunnel Lyon done send me often to shoot some ducks for dedinner."
"Are you a good shot?"
"De boys say I am," answered General modestly. "I done bring down treequails out'n five on de wing, mars'r."
"Did you ever fire a rifle?"
"Yes, sar; Christmas time mars'r cunnel lend us his two rifles to shootat a mark for a prize ob half a dollar; dis nigger won de prize,"replied General, with a magnificent exhibition of ivory.
"Are you willing to fight for your master?" demanded Colonel Belthorpesharply, as though he expected a negative response to the question.
"Yes, sar!" answered General with more energy than he had spoken before."Ready to be killed for Mars'r Lyon; an' so's all de boys on de place."
"You will do," added the planter, as he handed him a breech-loader and asmall package of ammunition. "Do you know how to use this piece?"
"Yes, sar; seen 'em before," replied the boatman, as he took the weaponand retired.
With the boys there were seven white men present, and each one of themhad examined a servant in regard to his qualifications. The questionswere similar, though not the same as those put by Colonel Belthorpe; andit appeared that all of them were more or less familiar with the use offirearms, for they were the best informed and most reliable hands on theestate. They were all provided with breech-loaders and cartridges.General and Dummy were sent with weapons to Rosebud and Mose at thebridge, and ordered to remain there; but they were not to fire upon theruffians.
"Now we have a force of twenty-two men," said Colonel Belthorpe. "Idon't know about these recruits with black faces, and I have my doubtsabout making soldiers of them. Fall in, and we will march up to thebridge."
All the white men were armed with revolvers as well as rifles. The mendid not "fall in" in the military sense of the term, but simply followedtheir leader, as the experienced soldier, who had rendered most of hisactive service in fighting the Indians, was tacitly recognized to be.
"Don't you think we had better put out the lights in the fort, ColonelBelthorpe?" asked Levi.
"By no means. I have had fighting enough with cut-throat Indians tosatisfy my tastes in that direction, and I am not anxious for any moreof it," replied the planter. "Let the building remain lighted, and itwill assure the ruffians that you are awake over here. If they willabout wheel and go off, that will suit me better than a fight withthem."
"Just my sentiments, Colonel," added Major Lyon.
"The creek is about fifty feet wide by the bridge," said ColonelCosgrove. "It widens at its mouth to about a hundred. Is there any wayby which the ruffians can get over at your boat-pier?"
"Without a boat there is no way to get across," replied Levi. "They mustcome across the bridge if they come at all."
"There they come!" exclaimed Major Lyon, as he pointed to thecross-roads where the creek road branched off from the others.
"They have provided themselves with lanterns and torches," said Levi."We can see just what they are about."
As they came opposite the boat-pier the ruffians halted. They were notmarching in any kind of order, but all of them were straggling along asthough the Home Guard to which they belonged had not yet done anydrilling.
"What have they stopped there for, Colonel Belthorpe?" asked Major Lyon.
"They can see your fort by this time, and the lights have attractedtheir attention," replied the military gentleman. "They can see that youare ready for them, and perhaps they will not deem it advisable to comeany farther."
"I hope they will not," added the owner of Riverlawn.
The aggressive force remained a long time at this spot. In the stillnessof the night the sounds which came up the creek indicated that a disputewas in progress in the ranks of the enemy. It looked as though theruffians were divided among themselves in regard to the prudence ofadvancing any farther. If Titus Lyon was there, he could readily seethat the stone ice-house had undergone some change. The brilliant lightwithin it flashed out through the open door in the rear, and through thethree embrasures in sight.
"Major Lyon, do those rascals know that you took possession of themilitary stores, or do they only guess at it?" asked Colonel Cosgrove.
"They know the arms they stored in a sink-hole cavern are gone, and theyappeared at the meeting to know that I had caused their removal; but Ihave no idea how or where they obtained their information," replied theplanter; and while they were waiting the approach of the ruffians, hegave a full account of the discovery and removal of the ammunition.
"They don't know that three extra white men are with you, and I don'tthink they would believe you would arm your servants, or that they wouldbe good for anything if you did so," added Colonel Belthorpe. "Perhapsit would be a good idea to return to the fort and send a twelve-poundshot over the heads of that crowd."
"It would let them know that we have the cannon, if nothing more," saidColonel Cosgrove.
"You are a lawyer, Colonel; can't Captain Titus recover these arms byprocess of law?" inquired the other colonel.
"There is no law in this part of the State at the present time. Men havebeen murdered within a few miles of this spot, and no notice has beentaken of the fact. Those arms were brought here for the use of the HomeGuards, which is the same as saying
that they are for the use of theSecessionists. The law won't touch the arms," replied the legalgentleman very deliberately.
"They have settled their dispute, whatever it was, and the ruffians aremoving again," said Levi. "It is too late to send a twelve-pound shotover their heads, and if there is to be any fight, it will be at thebridge."
"You are right," replied Colonel Belthorpe, after a long look at theenemy; for as the road where they were was parallel to his line ofvision, it was difficult to determine whether they were moving or not."Let them come; and while they are doing so we will have a little drillof the forces."
He formed the six white men in one line, and the fifteen negroes inanother, though some of the latter were only a shade or two darker thanthe former. Levi Bedford soon proved that he was familiar with themanual, and he was sent to drill the dark section of the army. But theexercise was confined to loading and firing. The men were drawn up inline across the bridge, and instructed as far as "shoulder arms," andthen the drill officer explained how they were to conduct themselves.
"The ruffians are getting pretty near, Colonel," suggested Major Lyon.
"We are all ready for them," replied he.
The men were then placed at "Order arms," and permitted to watch theapproach of the enemy. Their torches, which had probably been made in abirch grove on the other side of the river, and must have beenoccasionally renewed with material brought for the purpose, blazedbrightly, and lighted up the road, so that they could be plainly seen.
"There are at least a hundred of them," said the officer in command.
"And some of them have muskets," added Colonel Cosgrove.
"It looks as though some one or more of us might be shot," continuedMajor Lyon. "If there is any man here, black or white, who wants toleave and find a safer place than this may be in a few minutes, he is atliberty to do so. I don't want any man to render unwilling service on myaccount; and you can make peace with that gang by giving me and my boysup to them."
"Never! Never! Never!" yelled every one of the servants.
"Mars'r Lyon foreber!" shouted General.
"Glory to God! We all die for Mars'r Lyon!" cried Dummy the preacher.
"Now all hands give three cheers!" interposed Colonel Belthorpe; andthey were given as vigorously as on the deck of a man-of-war. "That willconvince the enemy that we are wide awake, and don't mean to run away."
"I reckon that squad is just a little astonished about this time," saidLevi.
For this reason, or some other, the enemy suddenly made a halt, and thetumult of many voices came up the road. If Captain Titus was in commandof the enemy, his force was not reduced to anything like discipline.From the sounds there appeared to be many commanders, each of whomwanted to have his own way. The defenders of the mansion waited full aquarter of an hour before the tumult subsided, indicating that somepoint had been carried, though enough of the shouts of the stormyruffians indicated that they were in favor of going ahead and making theattack. It was plain to the listeners that some of the gang had coolerheads, and knew what prudence meant.
Presently four men were seen marching up the road towards the bridge,the two at the flanks carrying flaming torches, as if to illuminate awhite flag borne on a pole, which had possibly cost some member of thetroop his white shirt. The two in the middle were evidently theofficers, or ambassadors, of the ruffians. They came up to their end ofthe bridge, and halted there.