"I suppose the loss of the military stores has roused him to the highest pitch of wrath, which he manifested in his visit to the meeting. But if he can proceed so far as to bring a horde of ruffians to burn your house and hang you to a tree, you can"t do less than defend yourself, even if he is your own brother," said the lawyer.
"I do not shrink from my duty," added Noah Lyon.
"March!" exclaimed the leader, as he advanced to the middle of the bridge, where the party from the other side had halted by this time.
Captain t.i.tus was evidently surprised to find his brother supported by two of the most distinguished men of the county, to say nothing of the eloquent village lawyer. He could not help seeing that there was law enough on the other side, and that they knew what they were doing.
"What is your business here?" demanded Colonel Belthorpe in a very stern tone.
"I stated my position in the meet"n" you held to-night, and you heard what I had to say," Captain t.i.tus began.
"We all heard you; and it is not necessary to repeat it," replied the commander. "What is your business here at this time of night?"
"We came here for the arms and ammunition that was stole from us last night. They were my property till they were given out to the company,"
Captain t.i.tus explained.
"What company? Do you mean the ruffians you have led over here? They are a horde of lawless men. You have no authority to raise a company, and it does not appear in what service they are to be employed. They have made war upon the peaceable people of this county, as they did this evening at the schoolhouse."
"We hain"t made war on n.o.body!" protested t.i.tus, warming up to the occasion.
"You sent some of your force into the schoolroom to break up a Union meeting; and that was making war upon the people there a.s.sembled. The man at your side with the white flag was one that I a.s.sisted in putting out. We knew the arms were for the use of these ruffians in terrorizing the whole country," said Colonel Belthorpe in the most emphatic speech; and he used the "we" to shift the responsibility from the shoulders of Major Lyon to those of himself and a.s.sociates. "Captain t.i.tus Lyon, you and your gang have been bullying and persecuting the Union citizens of this vicinity long enough; and from this time they intend to defend themselves in earnest. You have made war on them, and the arms and ammunition were simply the spoils of war."
"I come over here to talk with my brother, and not with you," t.i.tus objected, upset by the logic and by the announcement of the intentions of the Unionists.
"Colonel Belthorpe represents me, as he does all the rest of us,"
interposed Major Lyon. "You threatened me yesterday to your heart"s content, Brother t.i.tus, to burn my house and hang me to a big tree; and I don"t care to hear anything more of it."
"I have said all it is necessary to say," resumed the commander; "and we decline to hear anything more from you. We shall defend Major Lyon and his plantation from all enemies who may appear. The conference is ended."
"Defend him with n.i.g.g.e.rs!" shouted Buck Lagger. "Are we white men to stand up and fight n.i.g.g.e.rs in this war, as you call it? It is an outrage, and we won"t stand it! We will hang every n.i.g.g.e.r we catch with arms in his possession!"
"Then a white ruffian will hang to the next tree! It will take two to play at that game," responded the commander vigorously. "When about a hundred ruffians, composed mostly of white trash, come over here to burn Major Lyon"s mansion and hang him to a big tree, he is quite justified in calling in his servants to defend his property and himself."
The colonel had his doubts about the propriety of arming the negroes, and he wished to be understood even by the enemy; and he certainly made a plain case of it.
"We have had enough of your gabble!" continued the leader. "We decline any further communication with you under a flag of truce or otherwise.
If you and your ruffians don"t retire from this vicinity within five minutes, we shall open fire upon you! About face, march!"
The three men behind the colonel turned about, and deliberately marched back to the end of the bridge nearest to the mansion. The party of the flag hesitated a few moments, and then returned to the main body of the ruffians. At the end of the bridge the Riverlawn planter found his wife and the two girls. From the windows of the mansion they had seen the blazing torches of the ruffians, and the party who had marched from the fort to oppose them.
They found Deck and Artie in the ranks drawn up on the bridge; and they had explained the situation, including a brief account of the tumult at the meeting. Mrs. Lyon and her daughters were much alarmed for the safety of the male members of the family; but Levi succeeded in quieting them, so that they were quite calm when the major returned.
"We have been terribly frightened, Noah," said Mrs. Lyon. "When you and the boys did not come home from the meeting, I was afraid something had happened to you."
The two colonels and the village lawyer saluted the ladies, and a.s.sured them that there was no danger, and that they were amply able to defend the place from the a.s.sault of a thousand men.
"Now go home, Ruth, and go to bed," added Noah. "We will join you as soon as we have driven off these ruffians, and it won"t take long to do it."
She accepted this advice, though she still appeared to have her doubts, and went back to the mansion. What she had seen looked like war to her; and though she had freely consented that her husband and the two boys should join the army of the Union, she and the girls had some of a woman"s timidity in the face of the awful calamities of actual war.
"What are they about now?" asked Colonel Belthorpe, as his friends took their places in the ranks.
"They have sent a dozen men or more down the bank of the creek, and they are out of sight now," replied Levi.
"They are looking for a chance to get across the stream," added the commander. "They had better stay where they are if they don"t intend to go home. Is there any boat on that side of the river?"
"No boat of any kind; but there is a lot of logs on the sh.o.r.e, about half-way to the river, and they might build a raft of them. I did not think of those logs before, or I should have rolled them into the creek," replied the overseer.
"It will be the worse for them if they attempt to cross. Some one said you had served in an artillery company in Tennessee, Mr. Bedford; is that so?" inquired the commander.
"That is so, Colonel; and I know how to handle a twelve-pounder,"
replied Levi.
"How many men will it take to manage one of the guns in the fort?"
"If you will give me the two boys, I can send a shot across the creek every five minutes, and in less time when we get a little used to the piece."
"Then take the boys, if Major Lyon does not object, and go to the fort."
"Of course I don"t object, Colonel," added the father.
"We don"t want to kill any of the ruffians if we can help it; but I am decidedly in favor of driving them away. I saw plenty of broken lumber about the fort; and I think you had better kindle a big fire on the sh.o.r.e of the creek, so that you can see over on the other side. If they attempt to build a raft, give them a shot; but not otherwise," said Colonel Belthorpe, still straining his eyes to ascertain in the darkness what the squad were doing on the bank of the creek.
"Shall you remain here, Colonel?" asked Levi.
"Not at all; we shall march over the bridge. This is a neighborhood war, and I believe in carrying it on upon peace principles as far as possible, and the first shot must come from the other side," replied the planter from outside.
Levi departed for Fort Bedford, attended by Deck and Artie. The commander then arranged his men in ranks by fours, and taught them how to come in line again, using some technical terms which the negroes did not understand; but he succeeded in getting them to perform the manoeuvre quite clumsily. They marched over the bridge by fours. The enemy still occupied the position where they had first halted, and the colonel continued the march till the force was within hail of the enemy.
Some of the ruffians had muskets; and whether in obedience to the orders of their leaders or not, three random shots were fired. This was enough to satisfy the conscience of Colonel Belthorpe, and he gave the command to halt, and the men came into line again across the road.
"Ready!" he shouted; and the men all brought themselves into position as they had before been instructed. "Aim!"
These orders and the movements of the men appeared to produce a decided sensation in the rabble in front of them; for they were simply a crowd, not formed in any order. Some of them took to their heels, and were seen running down the road at a breakneck speed.
"Fire!" added the commander.
A terrible yell came back as the men fired their rifles. That volley was enough for them, and they bolted before the smoke of the powder had blown aside. Two men were seen lying on the ground, killed or wounded, and the ruffians were too much shaken to give them any attention.
Half-way to the river they halted again, as did the pursuing force. The enemy scattered at this point; but in a few moments the whizzing of bullets was heard over their heads by the defenders of the plantation.
CHAPTER XXII
THE FIRST SHOT FROM FORT BEDFORD
Levi Bedford had made all possible haste to reach the fort, and the boys had not lingered far behind him, though they could not help giving some of their attention to the enemy on the other side of the creek. The ruffians remained at the position they had taken; and certainly they had made no progress in the accomplishment of the purpose which had brought them to the vicinity of Riverlawn. Probably if the darkness had not concealed the artillery party, those with guns would have fired at them.