"Not jest yet," returned t.i.tus warmly. "I said that valuation was a fraud, meant to cheat me out of my rightful due; and you told me I was drunk, which ain"t no kind of an argument."
"I did not say that exactly; but if it was an argument for anything, it was that we should talk this matter over some time when you had not drunk anything."
"I drink something everyday; and I have a perfect right to do so."
"I don"t dispute it."
"Dunk gave you all the n.i.g.g.e.rs, and did not put them in the valuation.
Wasn"t that cheating me out of my share of the thirty thousand they would bring even in these shaky times?"
"I don"t think it was. I repeat that the colonel had a perfect right, just as good a right as you have to drink whiskey, though I don"t do so, to dispose of his property as he pleased," added Noah, looking down at the planks of the bridge, and remaining for a minute in deep thought.
"That ain"t no argument!" bl.u.s.tered t.i.tus. "The law gives a man"s property to his brothers and sisters when he leaves no parents or children; and every honest and just man does the same thing."
"I did not mean to say anything to anybody about the servants on the place; but I feel obliged to speak to you about them so far as to tell the facts relating to them," said Noah when he had come to this conclusion.
"I cal"late you better speak out if you"ve got anything to say, or else pay me over fifteen thousand dollars for my share in the value of them n.i.g.g.e.rs," replied t.i.tus with a triumphant air, for he believed he had gained a point.
"When I was at Colonel Cosgrove"s house on the day of our arrival, he handed me a letter, heavily sealed with red wax, from our deceased brother. This letter contained another. I have both of these letters in the safe in the library. Now, if you will go to the house with me, I will show you both of these letters," continued the planter, disregarding the tone and manner of his irate brother.
t.i.tus was curious to know what the colonel had to say in defence of his conduct, and he a.s.sented to the visit to the library. Noah produced the two letters, handing the opened one to his brother, and showing the heavily sealed one to him but not permitting it to pa.s.s out of his hands. The malcontent read the opened one.
"Not to sell one of the n.i.g.g.e.rs for five years!" he exclaimed when he had finished it. "That is another outrage! And you are not to open that other letter for the same time. Give it to me, Noah, and I will open it now!"
"It shall not be opened till the five years have expired," answered the planter firmly, as he returned both of the epistles to the safe and locked the door of it.
t.i.tus was more violent than ever, for he had been defeated in his last and most promising stronghold, as he regarded it. He stormed like a madman, and kept it up for nearly an hour. He made so much noise that Mrs. Noah knocked at the door to learn what was the matter. At the same time she called them to supper; but t.i.tus was so angry that he rushed out of the house, called for his team, and left with his wife at once.
CHAPTER X
THE SINK-CAVERN NEAR BAR CREEK
The supper at the mansion had waited till it was quite dark; and it was evident to Mrs. Noah that the brothers were engaged in important business, for they had been talking on the bridge all the afternoon, and t.i.tus spoke so loud in the library that he could be heard all over the house, though he could not be understood. Something very exciting was pa.s.sing between them; Mrs. Noah thought it was politics, but Mrs. t.i.tus thought it was about "that story" she had repeated.
As the angry brother pa.s.sed the door of the sitting-room he called his wife out, and bolted from the house. Noah followed, and rang the stable bell. Frank brought the team to the door; t.i.tus pushed his suffering wife into it, and drove off without the formality of saying good-night.
The planter ate his supper, and was as pleasant as usual, saying nothing of the business which had brought t.i.tus to Riverlawn.
"It seems that story about the arms and ammunition has no truth at all in it," said Mrs. Noah.
"So t.i.tus says," replied the husband.
"Meely was terribly excited about it, and said she ought not to have said a word about it. She begged me not to let any one in the house say anything about it to any one. Her husband abused her, and even struck her, for what she had done."
"I did not know but he would strike me this afternoon. I suppose the boys have had their supper," added Noah, looking over the table to their vacant places.
"No, they have not; I haven"t seen anything of them since they went from dinner," answered Mrs. Lyon. "I wonder where they are?"
"They went up the creek together in one of the boats just after t.i.tus came, and I haven"t seen or heard anything of them since," said Noah. "I don"t think they were going a-fishing. They have been gone about seven hours now, and it is time they were at home. Did you see anything of them, Levi?"
"I saw them rowing up the creek when I was riding up to the hill pasture; but I haven"t seen them since," replied the overseer.
"I hope nothing has happened to them," continued Mrs. Lyon, looking quite anxious. "Perhaps the boat has been upset."
"I don"t believe it did; but if it went over, both of the boys can swim like ducks," replied the planter.
The conversation in regard to the absentees was continued till the meal was finished, and all the party were very much troubled. Levi volunteered to ride up the creek road and look for them; and just as he was going to the stable, the absentees came into the house.
"Where in the world have you been, boys?" demanded Mrs. Lyon, delighted to find they were safe.
"We have been exploring the creek, and we have been a good ways up, as far as the rocky hills," replied Deck, as he seated himself at the table; and Diana went for the waffles she had kept hot for them.
"Did you catch any fish?" asked Levi.
"Not a fish; we did not put a line into the water."
They had no narrative to relate, or if they had they did not relate it, though they were questioned for some time, and they told what they had seen, or a portion of it.
"While you are here, boys, I want to tell you that your Aunt Amelia has been at the house all the afternoon," said Mrs. Lyon. "She came to take back that story she told me this morning in her own house about the arms and ammunition. She misunderstood your uncle, and there is not a word of truth in it. So you will understand, all of you, that not a word is to be said about it out of the house."
"Not a word of truth in it!" exclaimed Deck; and Artie dropped his hot waffle in astonishment, or under the influence of some other emotion.
"Your aunt says there are no arms hidden on the river, or anywhere else.
You mustn"t say a word about the matter, and I have cautioned all in the house not to whisper a sound of it," added Mrs. Lyon.
Deck looked at Artie, and Artie looked at Deck. A significant smile pa.s.sed between them, but they said nothing. As soon as they had finished their supper they followed the planter into his library, which had been lighted before. It was an important conference which followed there, and it must be left in progress in order to return to the boat in which the boys were pursuing their adventure on the creek.
Artie had the floor on the boat, and he had just recalled the time when Noah had spoken to him about being out so late the night before. Deck remembered it very well, and also that his cousin had evaded an adequate explanation of his absence from the house when he ought to have been in bed.
"You never explained why you were out so late that night," said he.
"I wanted to look into the matter a little more before I said anything, for I didn"t care to make a fool of myself," replied Artie.
"You have a habit of keeping your mouth shut pretty tight," said Deck with a smile.
"I don"t believe in talking too much about things you don"t understand, and I meant to have looked into the matter before this time, but somehow I haven"t had the chance to do so," replied Artie, still pulling his oar. "I"m going to tell you about my night adventure now, and you can judge for yourself whether we are going on a wild-goose chase up the creek."
"All right; and I will keep my oar moving all the time, so that we shall be getting ahead while I listen," replied Deck.
"I was in the canoe, and I had gone farther up the creek than I had ever been before," Artie began. "You have been up the road that leads to Dripping Spring and the Mammouth Cave. It crosses the railroad about five miles before you get to the spring, and the creek flows within a quarter of a mile of this place."
"I remember the place very well; for Levi stopped his team there to let the girls get out and pick some flowers. I could see the creek from this spot," added Deck.
"Then you know the place. I had been up the creek three or four miles farther, and I was on my way home. I had been ash.o.r.e just abreast of Dripping Spring, and I got interested in looking over a sink,--I believe that is what they call these holes in the ground down here,--and the sun went down before I thought how late it was getting. But I found the hole led into a cave; but it was too dark for me to explore it. I made a note of it, to bring a lantern up and survey the cavern when I had plenty of time to do so."
"That will be a good job for both of us some time," suggested Deck.