CHAPTER IX.
TRYON'S DEMONSTRATION.
Although we, meaning Sidney and I, had saved a man's life, it was buta trifling incident to the majority, so intense was the interest inthe outcome of the trial to be held on the morrow.
The welfare of the colony, and, perhaps, the lives of hundreds of ourpeople depended upon what would be done next day in the Hillsboroughcourt-house, and with such a great stake at hazard, the citizens mightwell be excused for giving but little heed to the fact that atax-collector had been very near death.
Those who paid any particular attention to the events which I havejust set down, viewed the entire proceeding as but the first move inthe game betwixt rulers and those who are ruled, and if anydisquietude was felt, it arose from the fact that the moresuperstitious took Sandy Wells' escape from death as a token that ouroppressors would win the legal battle, or contrive some way by whichit might be turned into a farce.
When I rejoined my parents I found them looking decidedlyuncomfortable in mind, and it was possible to guess the reason fortheir anxiety when mother said to me in a low tone as she clasped myhand lovingly:
"My son, in case it should not be prudent to return home at once, Ifeel confident you will conduct yourself as if my eyes were upon youall the time."
"Then father thinks Tryon will get the best of us to-morrow?" I cried,looking up quickly.
"It is possible that, despite all our show of force, the king's partymay outwit us, or force the judges to decide in Tryon's favor," myfather replied thoughtfully.
"If that should happen the people would make quick work of thetraitors," I said, thinking of the scene I had just witnessed.
"No one can say when or how a gathering like this is to be swervedfrom its purpose. Within four and twenty hours the situation mayappear entirely different to those who now cry out against the king'sminions."
"But the Regulators will hold steadfast," I said quickly. "Havingannounced themselves as true Sons of Liberty, they cannot give up thestruggle while right is on their side."
"I know not what may be the result of to-morrow's trial," my fatherreplied gravely, "and it is of little use to speculate, as I havealready been led to do by certain questions your mother asked. Weshall know the outcome in due season."
"But you have intimated to her that it may be several weeks before Ireturn home, as if believing the result will be in favor of Tryon'sparty," I insisted.
"I have said that it might become necessary for the Regulation toremain in session some time and of course, since you are a member, itwill be needful to remain in camp."
I understood that father had indulged in more forebodings whileconversing privately with mother, than he cared to have made known tome, and was not surprised thereat. It had been in my mind for manyhours that the governor could and would influence the decision of thecourt, if he believed it might be done with safety so far as hepersonally was concerned, and it would not have caused me astonishmenthad I been told that the case was already settled without regard toany evidence which might be submitted.
The judges upon the bench would be Chief Justice Martin Howard, withMaurice Moore and Richard Henderson as his associates.
It had been said more than once that to these gentlemen Tryon's desirewas of more importance than the king's written law, and even GeneralHamilton was quoted as having declared that the words of the decisionsin the cases which were to come up on the morrow would have beendictated by the man who made of justice a mockery.
However, when I looked around upon the vast assembly, and realizedthat the governor knew beyond a peradventure that all these peoplewould cry out against any additional wrongs, even to the extent ofresorting to arms, I could not believe he would dare trifle with them.
Mother, observing the mood into which I had fallen, bade me forget herwords, but not the substance of them, and to change the current ofthought suggested that father and myself escort her around theencampment in order that she might meet our friends.
We were on the point of acceding to what was really a proposition,when one of the Regulators came up hurriedly with the word:
"The members of the association are ordered to fall into line,mounted, and fully armed."
It was a command to be obeyed on the instant, and as I ran toward mycamp to make preparations, I wondered what could have happened to givecolor to such a warlike proceeding.
So far as I was able to see, everything appeared in much the samecondition as when we had rescued Sandy, yet there could be no questionbut that danger threatened from some quarter.
Sidney was by my side before I arrived at the lean-to, and his firstquestion was as to whether I knew the meaning of the command.
"I can see nothing to cause alarm, and yet General Hamilton is far toocautious to do anything unnecessarily which might provoke a conflict,"I replied. "At such a time as this it needs but a spark to set allthese men aflame, for after the many wrongs committed in the king'sname they are like to so much tinder, and our forming into ranks willarouse them at once."
"If Sandy Wells can stir up the visitors to the point of murder, itstands our officers in hand to go slowly and with exceeding caution,"Sidney said in so grave a tone that I looked at him in surprise.
When we began saddling our horses, which had been kept within theenclosure that day lest they might be frightened away, or stolen, thecollector was alarmed, and, poking his head out from under thebrushpile, asked in a voice trembling with apprehension:
"What is the matter? Have any others from the sheriff's office been soreckless as to follow my example by coming across the river?"
"We don't know what is on foot," Sidney replied; "but certain it isthat we are called out for duty. Take my advice and keep under covertill night, when we will make an effort to send you over to the town."
Sandy disappeared like a flash, and despite the fears in my mind Icould not repress the smile which was provoked by a glimpse of hisface.
The day was exceedingly warm, and his hiding-place must have beenclose indeed, for not a breath of air could reach him beneath all thatbrush. His cheeks were flushed crimson, and the perspiration oozedfrom every pore, only to be covered with pine needles which adhered tothe skin as if glued there.
We were not long in answering the call, and once my comrade and I wereon the brow of the hill overlooking the town, where the command wasbeing formed, it was possible to understand why we had been summoned.
Across that sea of heads, just in front of the court-house, wasGovernor Tryon's army, drawn up as if for action. We could see thatevery man was fully armed, and all the officers in position, readyfor immediate movement.
"What is the meaning of that display of force?" I asked in surprise,and the man nearest me replied grimly:
"That is what all of us would like to know. It may be that Tryon isonly showing the visitors what he can muster in case of a riot, andyet such would be a foolish move, for it simply proves that thismultitude could make short work of them. If I stood in Tryon's shoes Ishould hesitate about showing my hand so plainly."
"The fellow is no fool, however much of a knave he may be," one of theRegulators who had heard the reply said quickly. "I warrant thosesoldiers are not there to overawe the people."
"Then why have they been called out?" Sidney asked impatiently.
"In my opinion they will march across the river, or, at least, to apoint mighty near this camp."
"Meaning that the governor counts on showing fight?" I asked indismay.
"You are getting beyond me; but the question is likely to be answeredvery soon, for the men are in motion."
As he spoke the command wheeled into files, and advanced in order offours directly toward us. At the head of the column rode threeofficers tricked out with gold lace and feathers; but we could seereadily that Tryon himself was not among them.
By this time the people, who had been aroused by seeing us form inline as if to resist an attack, now perceived what was happening onthe other side of the river, and str
aightway a murmuring sound arosewhich was at the same time menacing and disquieting.
I could see that the male visitors were hurrying the women andchildren around to the other side of the hill, as if expecting abattle was imminent, while the younger men and older lads werecollecting into a solid mass.
"If yonder fellows were armed, Tryon's recruits would have a roughtime of it," Sidney said with a laugh as he pointed at the throngwhich was edging toward the hill as if to support us.
"God forbid that such should be the case, else Hillsborough would be ashambles this night," a horseman near me said in a low tone. "If Tryonbegins blood-letting to-day, he and we alike will rue it."
The soldiers advanced in something like regular order until they werecome to the river bank, and there, not more than two hundred yardsfrom where the Regulators and their horses remained like statues, theycame to a halt.
The three officers who had led the column rode into the stream to apoint midway across the ford, where they also halted.
"It is a parley!" I heard some one near me mutter, and then came a cryfrom that officer whose uniform bore the greatest amount of gold lace:
"Is there any one who professes to command your force?"
General Hamilton, attended by Master James Hunter and my father, rodeto the line of the encampment, and the old Scotchman lifted his hat inanswer to the question.
"Who am I addressing?" the officer asked, and then it was that Irecognized him as the governor's secretary.
"That you know full well, David Edwards!" our old commander shouted;"but lest you may think I'm afraid to bring myself under the ban ofyour mock court, I'll repeat it. I am Ninian Bell Hamilton, afreeholder of this colony, president of that association known as theRegulation, and bending the knee to no one outside of bonny Scotland!"
What a shout went up from the people as the old gentleman thus boldlyannounced himself! It was as if the hill literally trembled because ofthe tumult, and not until a good five minutes had passed was itpossible for Master Edwards to make himself heard.
Then, when the people were hoarse from much shouting, the secretarycried:
"In the name of the king I bid you disperse!"
"Wherefore?" General Hamilton asked sharply. "Is it not allowed thatthe people may assemble when their court of law is about to decideupon the fate of two most worthy members of this colony?"
"It is not lawful to menace the king's officers while they are indischarge of their duty."
"It is you who are menacing, my good man. We have come here in orderlyfashion, and were doing our best to preserve order when you marchedout in full war array."
"You are inciting the people to deeds of violence. It is hardly anhour since one of his majesty's officers was foully murdered by youwho call yourselves Regulators, and I demand that those who had anyhand in that cowardly deed be delivered up to his excellency's guard,whereof I am temporarily in command."
"Whatever is the rascal talking about?" I heard General Hamiltonmutter; but after Master Hunter had spoken with him, he looked aroundas if in search of some person.
I made bold to spur my horse forward a few paces, believing Iunderstood what the general would have, and immediately he motioned menearer.
"Have you that rascally tax-collector in your charge, my lad?"
"Aye, sir; that is to say, he was in our camp half an hour since."
"Bring him out here, and we will see if he's the man yonder popinjayprates about so loudly."
I rode back to our lean-to without loss of time, and once there calledto Sandy.
He poked his head out from amid the brush like a turtle, and becauseof the pine needles which covered his face the best friend he had inthe world would have failed to recognize him.
"The governor's troops have sent for you," I said curtly, intent onlyon performing my duty in the shortest possible space of time. "You areto come with me."
"I don't dare, lad, I don't dare!" he cried in an agony of terror."You alone amid all this throng cannot protect me!"
"There will be no throng where you are to go. The Regulators are drawnup in line, and I give you my word they will brook no interferencefrom those who were near to doing murder."
Instead of coming out, he drew back till I could see no more than thetop of his head, and I was angered because of the delay.
"The general has sent for you, and I am not willing to waste time. Ifyou are not by my side before it is possible to count ten, I'll put abullet into your head as you lie there!"
Although I would not have done such a thing to save my right hand, thecoward must have believed I was in deadly earnest, for he crept out,shaking with fear like a man suffering from an ague fit.
"Now march by the side of my horse, holding to the stirrup," I saidsharply. "It will be well so long as you obey orders; but once I seeany show of running away, my bullet will make a target of yourcarcass."
"How could I run away while on every hand are those who would murderme?" he asked with a whine. "If the people see me I am undone."
"The governor's troops have come to conduct you to the town, andsurely you may trust them!" I cried.
Sandy shook his head doubtfully; he was in that frame of mind where hetrusted no one, and his terror was so great as to excite pity.
I contrived, however, by a liberal use of threats, to keep him by meuntil I had arrived at General Hamilton's side, and then the oldScotchman bade me advance with Sandy until I was midway betweenhimself and the three officers.
"Is that the man you accuse us of murdering?" the general asked when Ihad obeyed his order, and I could see a look of surprise come overMaster Edwards' face.
"Is it Sandy Wells, of the sheriff's office?" he asked; but myprisoner remained silent, whereupon I prodded him in the side,whispering as I did so:
"Speak out, man! Do you distrust your own friends?"
"I'm not certain if I have any," he said mournfully, and then so farplucked up courage as to reply in a thin, tremulous voice:
"Aye, sir, I am Sandy Wells."
"We heard that you had been murdered," Master Edwards said, much as ifdisappointed because such was not the fact.
"I was indeed very near death; but those who call themselvesRegulators rescued me from the vile men who accuse me of having workedthem harm because of obeying the sheriff's orders."
"Is that the man you declared had been murdered?" General Hamiltonshouted, and after some delay Master Edwards replied:
"That is the man."
"Send him forward, lad, and let those brave gentlemen take the fellowwithout delay to his excellency, who will be in distress of mind untilafter having assured himself that he is in the land of the living."
Master Edwards wheeled about as if to join his force, and GeneralHamilton shouted:
"Turn back, David Edwards, and take him who has caused you so muchtrouble! Why do you not grasp the gallant gentleman's hand?"
"Come back, please, dear Master Edwards!" Sandy shouted. "Else I shallbe killed, for the Regulators evidently will have no more of me!"
At this pathetic appeal the people burst into a roar of laughter whichwas like unto the shrieking of a hurricane, and not until he hadcrossed to the other side of the river did Master Edwards turn hishead.
Then his cheeks were flaming red as with shame, and I fearing lest wemight let slip this opportunity of safely delivering our prisoner,said to Sandy:
"Run forward, man, now that you have the opportunity! It is notcertain Sidney and I can smuggle you into the town, and you may cometo grief on this side the river, no matter how close you hideyourself."
The tax-collector hesitated only an instant, and then seeing thatthere were none between him and the line of red-coated soldiers, tookto his heels, crying at the full force of his lungs:
"Wait for me, Master Edwards! For the love of heaven don't leave mehere to be murdered, dear Master Edwards!"
"Wait for the lost sheep which we have restored to you, MasterSecretary!" General Hamilton shouted, and the people
were once moreconvulsed with laughter.
They roared and shrieked in mirth until Sandy was by the side of theangry secretary, and jeered both the tax-collector and the soldiersuntil the governor's guard fairly ran toward the court-house.
Meanwhile I had ridden back to my place in the line, and, arrivingthere, heard one horseman say to his neighbor:
"There will be no further thought of foul play, now that the peopleare amused; but if those two lads had not rescued the tax-collectorwhen he was nigh to death, we should have a pretty hornets' nest aboutour ears by this time."
It filled me with pride as I realized that Sidney and I had done somuch for the cause, and I could well understand how important was ourwork of mercy, by glancing at the governor's troops.
Had Sandy Wells been killed, as he would have been but for us twolads, then had Tryon such a weapon against us as must have doomed theRegulation to everlasting shame and contempt.
We held our line until the governor's soldiers disappeared behind thecourt-house, and then the command was given to break ranks, afterwhich General Hamilton rode up to Sidney and me, saying as he facedabout to check our forward movement:
"I thank you, lads, in the name of the Regulation, for having made itpossible for us to throw ridicule upon the enemy. May you ride long inthe ranks of the Sons of Liberty!"
I was as proud as any turkey cock at being publicly praised by one ofthe foremost men in the colony, and when we were alone in our lean-toSidney said:
"I reckon we ought to be well satisfied with ourselves. There's many aone in this company who would give half he possessed to win such wordsas we received from the general."
"But for you Sandy would have been killed, and the governor had justcause to imprison every Regulator he could come at. I have taken myshare of the praise, but without having earned it."
"I say you're entitled to as much as myself," the lad cried hotly. "Ihad no idea anything very serious was on foot when I dragged you fromyour mother, and once we were in the crowd it was impossible to doother than exactly as we did."
Sidney's generous heart prompted him to give me a full share in thework when I had but followed him, and during the remainder of that dayI took good care to make every one who spoke of the matter understandexactly the position of affairs.
When my horse had been tethered I sought out mother once more, and shesang my praises till my cheeks were red with something very likeshame, for she would not listen to the explanations I made; butinsisted on calling me "a brave lad" who was an honor to his parents.
A stranger who had come suddenly upon us during the afternoon of thisday would have found it difficult to believe that we were ready for,and expecting, mischief on the morrow.
The scene on the hill and nearabout the river was rather one of peaceand good-will. Neighbors and friends seemed bent on a holiday, with nothought of care, and yet their merry-making was carried on between twosmall armies, each prepared to meet the other in deadly conflict ifprovocation was given.
It was a scene of gaiety which might be entirely changed by themorrow, and then instead of smiles one could expect to see tears;instead of laughter, to hear groans of agony, unless God should put itin the heart of William Tryon to deal justly and lawfully by thoseover whom the king had set him.
It was with some such thoughts as these that I looked down from thebrow of the hill upon the joyous throng, and my heart grew sick withapprehension as I speculated upon that which the morrow's sun mightbring to light.
The Boy Spies with the Regulators Page 9