by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXVI
THE SKIRMISH ON THE NEW ROAD
The officer whom the riders wished to see was evidently ColonelBelthorpe, as he had been in command from the beginning. He hastened tothe hall, and found General there, who was rather more excited thanusual, simply because he had something to communicate. In about everyassemblage of men, white or black, there is generally one who naturallybecomes the leader, though there may be a number of others who thinkthey could do better. General was this single man, and had thus won hisname.
"What is the matter, General?" asked the Colonel, as he confronted thebulky form of the black leader.
"Not'in' de matter, Mars'r Cunnel, but de rebels is on de road, comin'dis way," replied the self-appointed captain of cavalry.
"How far off are they?" asked the commander.
"About a mile, mars'r; but I reckon some ob 'em done went home, for darisn't more'n half as many as we done see near de creek bridge."
"I should think they might have got enough of it by this time," repliedthe colonel. "What do you want now, Sam?" he said, turning to themulatto in a white jacket, who appeared to be the man-servant of thehouse.
"Another man here wants to see you, mars'r," replied Sam, as hepresented Mose, who had just come to the front door, where a servantdoes not usually come in the South. "He's a footman, an' not a hossman,mars'r."
"What is your name, my boy?" asked the colonel, turning to thenew-comer.
"Mose is w'at dey all calls me, sar, but my truly name is 'Zekel. Deruffins is stopped half a mile from whar we com'd out on de ole road,mars'r," replied Mose, clinging to his old hat, which he pressed to hischest, as he bowed low, trying to be as respectful and deferential aspossible.
"Did you go near them, Mose?" asked the commander.
"Not berry near, mars'r: but dey done make a fire, so we see 'em plainnuff."
"The main body of the ruffians cannot very well be on both roads," saidthe colonel.
"No, sar; but I reck'n Cap'n Titus done dewide his army, and he's gwineto take de place on de front and on de back," suggested Mose.
"Quite right, my boy; you have a head on your shoulders, and we shallnot soon forget the hit you gave the fellow that was carrying off mydaughter," added the colonel, surveying the leader of the foot party, ashe proved to be. "How far off is this party at the fire?"
"About half a mile, mars'r. I reckon de fire is a signal to dem as is onde new road," replied Mose, bowing low and hugging his old hat again.
"All right, my boys; now return to your men, and we will be with yousoon," said the commander as he returned to the party in thesitting-room.
All the party in the apartment fixed their gaze earnestly on ColonelBelthorpe as he entered, and there was an expression of fear and anxietyon the fair faces of the two daughters. By this time they all understoodthe situation perfectly. A gang of ruffians were approaching the mansionto revenge their defeat at Riverlawn upon the owner of this plantation,for he had been the chief man of the defence. It was evident that thecommander had been put in possession of additional information in regardto the enemy.
He lost no time, but proceeded to state the facts which had just beenreported to him by the scouts he had sent out. It was plain to all thedefenders that another battle, if such a name could be properly appliedto the skirmish near the creek bridge, was imminent.
"I think we are ready for the enemy," said Major Lyon; "and it will notbe a difficult matter to drive the ruffians off. But I am not a militaryman, and we leave the defence entirely in your hands, ColonelBelthorpe."
"As I have said before, my place is not as favorable for a defence asyours is, Major Lyon," replied the commander. "We have no stream orswamp to cover our position, and we must act on open ground. Now, whatforce can we take into the field?"
"We have all that we had at the bridge," replied Squire Truman.
"Including Dexter, we have five white men here," added Major Lyon."Eight of my boys are mounted, and seven came over in the wagon, and allof these are armed with breech-loaders, so that they can fire sevenshots apiece. That makes twenty."
"And here we add to our number," said Colonel Cosgrove, glancing atMajor Gadbury and Tom Belthorpe.
"Certainly; we expect to take part in any fight that is to come off,"added the major.
"We have three repeating rifles in the house, two double-barrelledbucking guns, and four revolvers. We laid in a stock of arms when thehorse-stealers were at work in this county," said the commander. "But Ihave never put arms in the hands of my negroes."
"I never did till to-night, and I found that all mine were as willing tofight as to work for me," the major explained. "You have an overseer, ofcourse."
"I have; but I have my doubts about him. Tilford is rather a brutalfellow, and I believe he is a Secessionist at heart, though he has neversaid anything to commit himself. The worst thing I know about him isthat he associates with Buck Lagger."
"Make him face the music, governor," added Tom. "If he is not willing tostand by you at such a time as this, he ought to be fired off theplace."
Sam was sent for the overseer. Everybody about the mansion had beenroused from his slumbers, and Tilford had been sulking about the spacein front of the house, evidently disgusted to see the negroes fromRiverlawn mounted on fine horses with breech-loaders slung at theirbacks. He obeyed the order of his employer, and stalked into thesitting-room with a defiant expression on his face.
"Tilford, something like a hundred ruffians are coming up the two roadsfor the purpose of burning my mansion and hanging me to the nearesttree," Colonel Belthorpe began in a mild tone. "With the aid of myfriends here, I intend to defend myself, my family, and my property."
"Are them niggers with guns strapped on their backs your friends?"demanded the overseer, with a cynical smile on his ill-favored face.
"They are brave men, who have this night defended their master from anattack of the reprobates who are marching upon my place; and I honorthem for their bravery and fidelity, for not one of them has flinched!"returned the colonel vigorously. "I want to know now upon whom I candepend to defend me from the violence of these villains who are comingdown upon me."
"I reckon you can depend upon your niggers, but you can't depend on me!"replied the overseer, edging towards the door. "You have fotched allthis on yourself by turning abolitionist!"
"If assisting my neighbor and friend to defend himself and his familyfrom the attacks of a pack of ruffians is being an abolitionist, then Iam one with all my mind, heart, and soul!" replied the planter with avehemence that brought down the applause of his associates, evenincluding the ladies.
"Them gentlemen you call ruffi'ns is my friends, Colonel Belthorpe, andI don't never go back on my friends, not unless they turn abolitionists,and I ain't go'n' to fight ag'in 'em," added Tilford, working nearer tothe door. "I reckon my time's about done on this place."
"Quite done!" said the colonel, taking a revolver from his pocket.
"Go and join your friends! I will order every man with a gun to shootyou if you are seen about the place in five minutes!"
The overseer did not like the looks of the revolver in the hands of hisemployer, and he fled from the house. The commander had sent all theRiverlawn force back to the two roads to observe the movements of theruffians, or he would have given the faithless fellow an escort from thevicinity of the mansion.
"The boys will all stand by you, mars'r," said Sam in the white jacketas the colonel followed the renegade to the front door.
"Then call two of them"--
"They're all right here, mars'r," interposed the servant.
The commander sent two of them to follow Tilford. He found, somewhat tohis astonishment, that all the servants on the place, even to the oldmen, had armed themselves with clubs, pitchforks, shovels, or whateverthey could lay their hands upon, ready to defend their master, who hadalways been kinder to them than the overseer. Besides, the armed negroesfrom Riverlawn had remained some little time on the premises, and ha
dvery fully informed them in regard to the events of the night, includingthe capture of the two daughters of their master, which had roused themto the highest pitch of indignation, for they looked upon Margie andKate as a pair of angels, and wondered they had no wings.
When Colonel Belthorpe returned to the sitting-room, he found that Tomhad collected all the arms and ammunition in the mansion, taking arepeating rifle for himself, and giving another to the guest of thehouse. Each of them took a revolver, and they were loading these weaponsfor immediate use. The rest of the arms were given to a few of the mosttrusty of the servants.
The commander led the way to the large courtyard in front of themansion, where he divided the force into two parties, one to meet theenemy on each of the two roads. Before this could be done, the scouts onthe new road returned, with the two Lyndhall boys who had followedTilford. They had passed him through the ranks of the mounted men whenthey were in sight of the ruffians, and some of them had stoned him as afarewell salute.
The commander made Major Lyon the officer of the old road force. Heobjected, and suggested Major Gadbury for the position; but it was foundthat the visitor held his title only by courtesy, and was not a militaryman, and then the Riverlawn planter accepted the position. TomBelthorpe, Squire Truman, Deck, and four of the eight mounted men, withabout twenty of the Lyndhall boys, were placed under his command.
The commander had endeavored to make a fair division of the force, andColonel Cosgrove, Major Gadbury, four Riverlawn horsemen, and a score ofhis own people composed his own force. The ruffians were within fiftyrods of the mansion on the new road, and the division for this servicemarched at once. The cavalry were sent out ahead, with orders not tofire unless the ruffians opened upon them.
General was at the head of the horsemen, and he galloped his horse up tothe front of the ruffians. He and his men had loosened the slings oftheir weapons, and brought them in front of them, so that they wereready for immediate use. The ruffians had halted as soon as theydiscovered the riders in front of them. Then they built a fire, and assoon as its light shone upon them, General discovered a flag of truce.
The leader ventured to approach a little nearer to the enemy, when hewas saluted with a volley of oaths, and some one of them, not CaptainTitus, demanded where his master was.
"Ober on de ole road," replied General, almost as savagely as he hadbeen addressed.
"Do you know what this flag means, you nigger?" interrogated the speakerwith an oath.
"Yes, sar! Mars'r Belthorpe won't hab no more ob dat nonsense," answeredGeneral.
"Tell him I want to see him under a flag of truce!" shouted the one whoappeared to be in command.
The horseman was afraid of making some mistake, and he sent one of hisboys back to the commander with this message. Colonel Belthorpe had sentSam back for his saddle horse, and presently he galloped to the front.
"Take in your flag of truce, or I will fire upon it!" shouted thecolonel. "No more fooling! I don't parley with ruffians!"
The flag immediately disappeared. By the light of the fire it could beseen that about half a dozen men at the front of the column were armedwith muskets, which, with or without a command from the officer, theybrought to their shoulders and fired. Colonel Belthorpe put his hand onhis left arm, as though a ball had struck him there.
"Now, my boys, fire at them at will, just as you please," continued thecommander, as he began to blaze away with his heavy revolver.
The four mounted men began to use their repeaters; but their horses wererestive, and they could not fire at the best advantage, though severalof the ruffians were seen to fall, while the main body of them fled intothe adjoining fields.