CHAPTER IX.
THE COMMITTEE AT WORK.
Elder Bowen's negro boy Sam, who was working among the flower-beds withhis master, sought safety in flight when Bud Goble's coming wasannounced, and, standing concealed behind an evergreen in the garden,saw and heard all that passed between the minister and the man who hadcome there to browbeat him. When Bud was ejected from the grounds Samcame out from his hiding-place grinning broadly.
"Marse Joe," said he, as soon as he could make himself understood, "datbeats all de sermons you ever preached all holler. It does so. But,Marse Joe, I 'fraid Marse Gobble gwine make ole Toby trouble all alongof dat babolition paper. De nex' time he go dar he ax Uncle Toby whar hegot dat money of his'n stowed away. Dat's what I 'fraid of, sah.'
"I didn't think of that, and perhaps it would be well for you to runover and put Toby on his guard," replied Mr. Bowen. "Neighbor Goble ison the war-path sure enough, and he would just as soon rob that oldnegro as to rob a white man. Tell Toby to give the money into hismaster's keeping."
Sam obeyed instructions, but we have seen that the suspicious old Tobywas not willing to listen to advice. He was terribly alarmed when Samtold him what Bud had been about that morning, and taking advantage ofhis master's absence, and of his own position as helper about thestables, he dug up his money which he had buried before daylight, andposted off to the academy to have a talk with one of the Gray boys. Hekept to the fields and gave the roads a wide berth; but he was obligedto cross one highway during his journey, and that was the time Bud Goblesaw him. The old negro's actions excited Bud's interest as well as hissuspicions, and having nothing else to do, he rose from his log andfollowed him.
And right here it is necessary to make a short explanation in order thatyou may understand what happened afterward. Rodney and Marcy Gray hadbeen studying at the academy for almost four years, and although theywere popular among all classes in and around Barrington, there weresome, whites as well as blacks, who invariably got them mixed up, andnever could tell one from the other unless they chanced to meet them incompany. It was Rodney, the rebel, who helped Bud Goble when his familywere all prostrated with the ague, and offered him a reward for findingthat underground railroad, but it was Marcy, the Union boy, who pickedthe banjo with superior skill, danced and sung his way into theaffections of the plantation darkies, and saved old Toby's melon-patchfrom being devastated by the students. These two had eaten a good manyof old Toby's melons, and more than one Thanksgiving turkey which gracedhis table had been bought with their money. Believing from what Sam toldhim that his hard-earned wealth was not safe as long as he knew where itwas, Toby decided that one of these two boys, the one he happened tofind first, should be its custodian. Dick Graham, who was on duty at thefront gate, told him where Marcy was, and the old man lost no time inmaking his way through the woods to his friend's beat. But Marcydeclined to accept the responsibility, as we have seen, and so Toby tookthe money back and hid it in the ground whence he had taken it. He wouldhave been better off--almost two hundred dollars better off--if he haddone as Mr. Bowen and Marcy advised him to do; for Bud Goble dogged hisfootsteps every rod of the way, and Toby never once suspected it. Buddid not hear what passed between Toby and the sentry--he dared not goclose enough for that; but he saw the stocking that went back and forthbetween the iron pickets of the fence, and he was in plain sight of thenegro when he returned it to its hiding-place.
Here again Toby made a great mistake. If he had concealed the moneyunder his cabin, within hearing and scenting distance of the coon dogsthat were so numerous in the quarter, it would have been comparativelysafe; but he was so very much averse to having it around him that hetook it behind his garden-patch, rolled a decayed log from its bed andburied it there, covering it with his hands, and rolling the log back toits place.
TOBY HIDES THE MONEY.]
"Dar now," said Toby, loud enough to be overheard by the man who wascrouching in the bushes not more than twenty yards away. "Nuffin can'tfind it dar 'ceptin' de hogs, an' dey can't eat it."
"That's a fact," soliloquized Goble, chuckling to himself. "But atwo-legged hog like me can eat an' wear the things it will buy. Whokeers for preachers an' storekeepers now? 'Pears like this mornin's workis goin' to turn out all right after all; don't it to you?"
Through the rails of the fence Bud Goble watched Toby until hedisappeared in the quarter, and then he crept up to the log. In tenminutes more old Toby's money was tightly buttoned under the breast ofhis coat, and Bud, highly elated with the result of his morning's laborwas taking long strides toward his cabin.
"I aint got the dress an' shoes I promised to have for ye when I comehome," said Bud, when he burst in upon his wife, whom he found engagedin her usual occupation--sitting in front of the fire with her elbowsupon her knees and a cob pipe between her teeth. "Old man Baileywouldn't trust me, but Toby wasn't so perticular. He hid this herestockin' under a log, an' bein' afeared that the hogs might come alongan' root it up an' carry it away, I jest thought I'd take keer on it forhim," added Bud, laughing loudly at his own wit.
The woman's eyes glistened as she thrust her bony arm into the stockingand brought out a handful of shining silver coin. She would have herdress now in spite of old man Bailey; and as for Toby--she gave scarcelya thought to the consternation and alarm that would almost overwhelm himwhen he discovered his loss, for a field hand had no business to have astocking half-full of money, when white folks did not know where theirnext meal was coming from. Her only fear was that Mr. Riley mightsomehow learn that Bud had taken the money, and then there would betrouble.
"You must look out for that yourself," Bud declared. "I've done my part,an' if you can't hide the stockin' where nobody can't find it, an' keepa still tongue in your head about our havin' it, you aint the woman Itake you for. Now give me what you think your dress'll cost, an' atrifle more to put in bacon an' meal, an' I'll go an' get 'em."
His wife complying with the request, Bud hung his rifle upon its hooksover the fireplace and posted off to Barrington, where a surprise, thatwas not altogether an agreeable one, awaited him. He could not find anyof his friends, but every one on the street, with whom he exchanged aword of greeting, seemed to know all about the adventures he had hadthat day. Bud didn't mind being told that he had permitted a little oldman, who could not stand against a twelve-year-old boy, to scare himwith a revolver, for he was not the only one in that scrape. Four othermen had stood on the outside of the counter while Mr. Bailey talked tothem as he pleased; but when folks came to joke him for being walked outof the yard by a preacher, it was more than he could endure.
"Jest let him get the grip on you that he got on me, an' he'll make thebest among ye walk turkey," Bud retorted sharply. "There aint a man intown that's got any business with him, if he is a preacher. But let metell ye: He aint by no means heared the last of me yet."
Bud saw signs of suppressed excitement on all sides and in the face ofevery man he met; but, conceited as he was, he could not believe thatthe excitement was occasioned by the incidents of which he had been thehero. They might have had something to do with the grave look he saw onMr. Riley's face as the latter hurried by him without speaking, but Budbelieved that there was something else in the wind of which he had notheard. It had such a depressing effect upon him that he transacted hisbusiness with as little delay as possible and went home.
"There's goin' to be doin's of some sort or another about yer, an'before long, too," said he, as he handed his wife the articles he hadbought for her, and deposited the bag containing the meal and bacon onthe floor. "I don't know what's up, but Riley an' among 'em look sorteruneasy. Mebbe that outbreak old woman, that's what's the matter, sure'syou're born. That outbreak's comin', an' who knows but it'll be herethis very night?"
"Good lands save us!" exclaimed Mrs. Goble, in alarm; and even herhusband looked as though he would have liked to go to a little saferplace than Barrington was, if he had only known where to find it
.
"Yes, sir, that's jest what's the matter," repeated Bud. "Riley'ssomehow got wind of it, an' that's what made him look so glum. Whydidn't he stop an' tell me all about it, I'd like to know. I'll jesttell him he mustn't do that a-way no more, kase it aint right long's Iam workin' for that committee. Say," he continued, lowering his voicealmost to a whisper. "When John Brown made that raid of his'n,Barrington was one of the places that was marked on his map to beburned, kase there was more niggers here than white folks. 'Member it,don't you?"
"Good lands!" cried Mrs. Goble, who, if she had ever before heard of thecircumstance, had quite forgotten all about it.
"That's what Riley says," continued Bud, "an' who knows but the thingwe've been a-dreadin' is comin' now? They do say that there's guns an'things hid somewheres in the woods--"
"You don't tell me!"
"It's jest what I do tell ye, kase I've heard it often. Of course theniggers knows where them guns is, an' when they an' the babolitionistslike Elder Bowen get ready, they'll fetch 'em out an' go for us."
In a very short time Bud succeeded in talking himself into a mostuncomfortable frame of mind. He did not feel quite safe at home, for hiscabin was exposed, being fully a quarter of a mile from the nearesthouse, and he was afraid to go into town. His utter ignorance of thenature of the danger that threatened him made the situation hard tobear. As for fighting in case he were attacked--that was something Budhad not yet thought of. He would have preferred to run. His wife was sobadly frightened that she could scarcely cook the dinner, and Bud couldeat but little of it after it was cooked; but he smoked more than hisshare of tobacco, managed to run a few extra bullets for his rifle, andto bring in a supply of light-wood sufficient to keep a bright fireburning during the night.
As the sun sank out of sight behind the trees, and daylight faded anddarkness came on, Bud's fears grew upon him. He dared not stay in thecabin for fear that some evil-minded Union man might slip up behind it,and shoot him through some of the cracks where the chinking had fallenout, so he drew one of the rickety chairs in front of the door and satupon it, with his rifle for company. That was a little better than beingcooped up within doors, but the unwonted silence that brooded over thesurrounding woods distressed him.
"Durin' all the years we've lived yer I never seen the road so desertedas it is to-night," he said, in a whisper to his wife. "There's alwayssomebody goin' one way or t'other, but now they seem to have holed up."
"Mebbe they're feared the outbreak'll ketch 'em," Mrs. Goble suggested."What does it look like, any way?"
"Now, listen at her!" exclaimed Bud, in accents of disgust. "'Tain't ahant that'll run after you, all dressed up in white, an' retch out itshands to grab--"
"Don't, don't!" cried his wife, shuddering perceptibly and covering hereyes with her hands to shut out the picture that Bud's words hadconjured up. "Don't talk that a-way."
"Well, then, an outbreak is a-a-thing where the niggers an'babolitionists run around, whoopin' an' yellin' like they was wildInjuns, shootin' the men an' scalpin' the women folks an' burnin' an'stealin'," said Bud. "That's what an outbreak is, an' you can see foryourself what will happen to us if one of 'em gets loose in Barrington.I wish't somebody would come along from over town so't I could ax himhow things is goin' there."
But no one came, and for long hours Bud Goble sat there, listening andpeering into the darkness, and in momentary expectation of hearing orseeing something alarming. About midnight, however, the excitementbegan. At that hour Bud mustered up courage enough to start on a triparound the cabin, and when he got to the back of it, where he could lookthrough the tops of the trees toward Mr. Riley's house, he stopped as ifhe had suddenly been deprived of the power to go a step farther. The skyin that direction was glowing with a brighter red than he had ever seenat sunset, and the longer he looked at it, the brighter it grew. Beyonda doubt Mr. Riley's house was on fire. When this thought flashed throughBud's mind, the cold chills crept all over him, and instead of hasteningto render what assistance he could in saving the planter's property, heturned and ran into the cabin, banging the door behind him, and droppedthe heavy bar to its place.
"Good lands!" exclaimed Mrs. Goble, whom her husband, in his excitementand terror had upset, chair and all, in front of the fireplace.
"Don't stop to talk, old woman," said Bud, in a hoarse whisper, "but getup an' fly around an' do something. The outbreak has come like I toldyou it would. Riley's house is a mask of fire. If you don't b'lieve itpeep through this yer crack."
For a minute or two the deep silence that reigned in the cabin wasbroken only by the hurried breathing of its frightened inmates, and thenthere came a sound from the outside--a quick, heavy step on the hardground, followed by the fumbling of a hand for the latchstring. Bud'sface grew as white as a sheet, his knees trembled under him, and themuzzle of his rifle, which he tried to point toward the door, coveredevery square foot of surface on that side of the cabin in two seconds'time.
"Who's there?" he demanded, in quavering tones. "Speak up, for there'sa bullet comin' right through the door where you stand."
"What's the matter of the fule?" inquired the man on the outside; andBud recognized the voice of one of his friends. "Lemme in."
Bud was only too glad to comply. He threw up the bar, opened the door,and Silas Walker same in the man who held his rifle in the store whilehe was making ready to punish Mr. Bailey for refusing him credit. Budwas glad to see that he was not the only one who had been alarmed andexcited by that blaze in the sky. Silas's face had no color in it tospeak of, and he trembled as he moved across the floor.
"How did you get home so quick?" were the first words he spoke.
"Who? Me?" cried Bud. "I've been home sense noon; aint I, old woman?"
"Then who done it?" questioned Silas.
"Done what?"
"Set the elder's house on fire."
Bud was astounded, and so was his wife. The former looked sharply at hisvisitor for a moment, and then backed toward the nearest chair.
"Isn't it Riley's house?" he gasped.
"Course not. I can see it plain from my door, an' there's Riley's housestandin' up safe an' sound as it ever was. It's Elder Bowen's, fastenough. I kinder thought you done it to pay him for shovin' you outenhis lot by the neck, and I said to my old woman that you had sarved himjest right; but if you didn't do it, then some of that Committee ofSafety must be to work."
Bud hadn't once thought of that, and it put an entirely different lookon the matter. If it was true that the "outbreak had come," it must bethat--
"There's a light off this a-way, too," observed Mrs. Goble, who toconceal her agitation from the visitor, had moved around the room untilshe found an opening between the logs through which she could look outtoward Barrington. "'Pears like there might be an other house a-fire."
"Hey-youp!" yelled Bud, whose terror had given away to almost fiendishexultation. "The outbreak has come, like I said it was goin' to do, butit aint the babolitionists an' niggers that's doin' of it. It's our ownfriends. Come on, Sile. Me an' you mustn't hang back when there's workto be done for the 'Federacy an' danger to be met."
"Now's a good time to settle with old man Bailey," Silas remarked.
"Couldn't find a better if we tried for a whole month," replied Budgleefully. "I knowed I would get even with him some day, but I didn'tthink it would come before I'd had time to sleep. Hush yer noise, oldwoman. Course I'm goin' up there. Riley said the 'Federacy would lookfor every man to do his dooty when the time come, an' if it aint comenow, I'd like to know what's the reason. Nobody won't harm you here."
In spite of the querulous protests of Mrs. Goble, who strongly objectedto being left alone now that "the outbreak had come," Bud and hiscompanion rushed out of the house and started for Barrington, runningfull tilt all the way for fear that the fun would all be over, and thehome of every Union man in town be destroyed before they could get thereto lend a hand. There was no suspicion in their minds that these twofires, located so far apart,
could be the result of accident. If therewas any faith to be placed in that notice in the post-office there hadbeen an outbreak of some sort threatened, and beyond a doubt the membersof the Committee of Safety had thought it wise to anticipate it bydriving from Barrington every man who was suspected of being implicatedin it. That was the way Bud and Silas reasoned it out, and although theywere not altogether correct, they had hit pretty close to the mark.
When they reached the cross-roads, so that they could look two ways andsee both the fires at once, they told each other that the houses musthave been burning for some time before they knew it, for the roofs hadfallen in and the blaze was beginning to die away. But where were theengines? They could not hear any bells or brakes at work, and if therewere any commands given the breeze must have carried them the otherway.
"That committee of our'n has got everything cut an' dried," was Bud'sgleeful comment. "Let Riley an' them fellers alone for doin' things upin shape when they get at it. But it won't do for us to say that wesuspicion them, for I've kinder thought, from the way they acted, thatthey wanted to stay behine an' pay sich chaps as me an' you for doin'the work. Now le's scoot off this a-way an' set old man Bailey agoin'."
Bud Goble, who had taken the precaution to put some matches in hispocket before leaving home, led the way along the short cut,congratulating himself on the fact that he and Silas would have a clearfield for their operations, for of course the little storekeeper, andall of the rest of the men in town, were congregated at the fire. Sointent were they on taking vengeance on Mr. Bailey that they did not goa step out of their way to locate the fire that was raging in town, butwent straight towards the store, and without taking the least care toconceal their movements.
"It's all dark," whispered Silas. "But I don't reckon we'd best go anyfurder on the road. Le's go through the field an' come up behine it."
Before Bud could say a word in reply or make a motion towards actingupon the suggestion, a clear strong voice directly in front of them, andbut a short distance away, called out:
"Halt! Who comes there?"
"Well, I do think in my soul!" exclaimed Silas. "Who do you reckon thatis?"
Bud was frightened again, and couldn't speak. He could not see anybody,either; but if it should chance to be old man Bailey who was on thewatch, wouldn't he know in a minute what it was that brought Bud thereat that hour, and would he not be likely to use that revolver if he hadit about him? While Bud was trying to make up his mind what he hadbetter do, take to his heels, or stand where he was until someone cameup and identified him, the challenge came again, and in more peremptorytones.
"Who comes there?" cried the voice; and the question was followed by asound that was suspiciously like the clicking of a gun-lock.
"It's us," replied Bud, who began to think he ought to say something.
"Halt, us!" commanded the voice. "Corporal of the guard number one!"
All of this was quite unintelligible to the two men, who could scarcelyhave been more bewildered and alarmed if they had found themselvesconfronted by one of those "white things" that Bud had described to hiswife; and when they heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps on theroad, without being able to see who or what it was that made the noise,they could stand it no longer, but faced about and ran for their lives.
"Halt!" shouted the voice, three times in quick succession; but thefrightened men did not stop. A second later there was a flash and a roarbehind them, and a musket ball whistled through the air and threw up alittle cloud of dust a few yards further along the road. One of thosewould-be incendiaries came very near getting his exemption papers thatnight.
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