"Now, boys, the first order of Colonel Belthorpe was to build a fire, and we will attend to that," said the overseer, as he led the way to the rear of the stone building.
"Of course I obey orders," added Artie, "but I don"t believe much in the fire. As soon as it blazes up it will give the ruffians light enough to see us. Some of them have guns, and they will fire at us then."
"What do you suppose these stone walls are for, Artie?" asked Levi with his usual smile.
"They were put up to keep the ice cool originally," replied Artie.
"Then they ought to keep us cool," said the overseer. "When the man with a big mouth opened it, the dentist told him he had opened it wide enough, for he proposed to stand outside. But we don"t propose to stand outside, but inside, as soon as we have lighted the fire."
"But we have to see what the ruffians are about on the other side of the creek; for you are not to fire a shot unless they attempt to build a raft," suggested Artie.
"We can look through the port-holes, can"t we?" asked Deck. "If they build a raft they will make a fire the first thing they do, and we can see what they are doing."
"We shall find a way to ascertain what they are doing," added Levi, as he led the way to obtain more armfuls of the broken boards; and they were the remains of the cases in which the arms and ammunition had been packed.
The wood was piled up a couple of rods from the fort, though a little at one side, so as not to obstruct the view of the party. Only a portion of the fuel was used, and the rest saved to replenish the fire. The match was applied, and in a short time the blaze mounted above the pile, and lighted the surrounding region.
"Now, boys, if you feel as though you might get a bullet through your heads, you can go into the fort, and you will be safe there," said Levi.
"Are you not going in, Levi?"
"I am when the occasion requires; but I want to see what they are about over there," replied the overseer.
As he was in no haste to put the stone walls between himself and a possible shot, the pride of the boys would not permit them to do so, and it became a sort of contention to see who would be the first to seek shelter.
"The Seceshers are firing at our people!" exclaimed Deck, quite excited as he realized that hostilities had actually begun.
"The ruffians are firing, each on his own hook, for there is no order among them," added Levi, as he heard several shots.
The plantation force could now be just seen, marching down the road, by the light of the enemy"s torches. The random shots from the ruffians were continued, and it was evident that each man was his own commander.
"Colonel Belthorpe will not stand that sort of thing for any great length of time," Levi remarked, as his eyes and ears gave him further information in regard to the situation on the other side.
"They say chance shots sometimes do the most mischief, or I have read it in some story," said Deck. "I hope one of them will not hit father."
"Of course any one of us is liable to be hit while this game is going on. Perhaps you had better go into the fort, for this fire will soon attract the enemy"s attention," suggested the overseer.
"When you get ready to go in we will go in with you," replied Artie.
"There is no need of exposing all three of us to the changes of a shot."
"Then one of us boys will stay out, for you are nearly twice as big as either one of us, and therefore twice as likely to get hit," laughed Deck.
"There!" exclaimed Levi, without noticing the remark, "now there will be music in the air!"
"What is it? I don"t hear anything," added Deck.
"Don"t you see that the colonel has halted his force? Now they have formed a line across the road," continued the overseer, as he closely watched the movements on the other side of the creek.
The fort party were silent with expectation and anxiety, and then they heard the orders of the commander, which ended in a volley from the fifteen breech-loaders. The birch torches still lighted up the ground, and the observers saw two men fall. This discharge produced a panic in the rabble, and they fled from the road to the shelter of a grove that lay beyond. From the fort it could be seen that a few of the ruffians, with guns in their hands, had taken refuge behind the trunks of the large trees, where they were reloading their pieces.
"That"s Indian fighting," said Levi. "Our men, from their position, can"t see these skulkers, who will have a good chance to pick off some of them at their leisure. We must attend to this matter."
The overseer elevated his rifle, and took deliberate aim at one of the ruffians behind a big tree, and fired. He saw his man fall. Deck and Artie followed his example, though they could not see any single individuals at whom they might direct their aim. They all continued to fire till the chambers of their weapons were empty.
"I don"t believe we hit anybody with those last shots; for as soon as my man dropped and the others could see where the shot came from, they ran away or moved to the other side of the tree," said Levi, as he carefully observed the situation.
The retreat of the main body of the ruffians, taking the torches with them, left the scene in darkness. The number and direction of the last discharges a.s.sured those who had sought the shelter of the trees that they were flanked. Nothing could be seen in the gloom of the grove; and, as no more shots came from that quarter, it was supposed that the skulkers had retreated to the main body.
"There"s a light down the creek, Levi!" exclaimed Deck, as a blaze flashed up at a point nearly opposite the boat-pier.
"That"s where the logs lay," added the overseer. "The squad that was sent down the bank of the stream has got to work at last."
"Perhaps they have been at work for the last half hour," suggested Artie. "They didn"t need any light to enable them to roll the logs into the creek and build a raft."
"Quite right, my boy; you have hit the nail on the head. By the light of the fire I can now see the raft, though they haven"t finished it,"
replied Levi.
"Hadn"t we better fire at them?" asked Deck.
"You might as well fire at the moon, my boys," returned the overseer.
"You haven"t had much practice with these breech-loaders, and you couldn"t hit anything at the distance they are from us."
"But where is our army?" asked Artie rather facetiously.
"Colonel Belthorpe don"t seem to be following up the enemy," replied Levi. "Perhaps, as the ruffians are retreating, he is satisfied to let them go home and dream over their work of this evening. The torches of the main body of the enemy seem to be going out, and very likely their stock of birch bark is all gone. They are about half-way between our force and the raft."
"They are within rifle-shot of us, anyhow," suggested Deck. "We might give them a little more waking up."
"Don"t be too enthusiastic, Mr. Lyon. We don"t win it to kill any more of them than is absolutely necessary," said the overseer rather more seriously than usual. "They have the raft in the water, and we will go in the fort and see what can be done for them."
Neither of the boys knew anything about artillery tactics, or of the process of loading a field-piece, and Levi proceeded to instruct them.
The creek bent a little to the south as it approached the river, and the chief gunner directed one of the pieces at the western embrasure, so that it covered the fire built near the logs. The inside of the opening was bevelled, so that he could bring the cannon to bear upon the objective point. It was then drawn in, and the charge, with a solid shot, was rammed home by the boys.
The cannon was run out again at the embrasure, and Levi pointed it, mindful of the instructions of the colonel commanding, so that the missile would go over the men at work on the raft.
"Now you may go outside, and see what you can see," continued Levi. "I don"t mean to hit the men there, or even the raft; but I want you to notice what effect the shot produces upon the ruffians at the work."
"All right, Levi; sing out when you are going to pull the lock-string,"
replied Deck as he followed Artie out of the fort.
"Ready! Fire!" shouted the overseer when time enough for them to take a position had elapsed.
The discharge of the cannon gave forth a tremendous report, and the boys heard the whizzing of the shot as it flew like a flash through the air.
The retreating army of the ruffians suddenly halted without any orders from Captain t.i.tus or any one else as the echo of the report struck upon their ears. Doubtless they were astonished; but they were in darkness, for the last of the torches had gone out, and it could only be seen that they had halted as abruptly as though the shot from the piece had mowed its way through the mob.
The shot, as intended, pa.s.sed over the heads of the men at work on the raft, and struck into a tree on the other side of the road, causing a heavy branch to fall to the ground. The raft-builders suddenly took to their heels, and disappeared in the grove.