"We will go down now," Elsie said, rising and taking Harold"s hand, "papa, grandpa and Uncle Horace will be here in a moment."
"Mamma," whispered her namesake daughter, "how good G.o.d was to keep them safe from the Ku Klux!"
"Yes, dearest, let us thank him with all our hearts."
Chapter Fourteenth.
"The more the bold, the bustling, and the bad, Press to usurp the reins of power, the more Behooves it virtue, with indignant zeal, To check their combination."
--THOMSON
The spirit of resistance was now fully aroused within the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of our friends of Ion and the Oaks. Mr. Travilla"s was a type of the American character; he would bear long with his injuries, vexations, encroachments upon his rights, but when once the end of his forbearance was reached, woe to the aggressor; for he would find himself opposed by a man of great resources, unconquerable determination and undaunted courage.
His measures were taken quietly, but with promptness and energy. He had been seeking proofs of the ident.i.ty of the raiders, and found them in the case of one of the party; whose gait had been recognized by several, his voice by one or two, while the mark of his b.l.o.o.d.y hand laid upon the clothing of one of the women as he roughly pushed her out of his way, seemed to furnish the strongest circ.u.mstantial evidence against him.
George Boyd"s right hand had been maimed in a peculiar manner during the war, and this b.l.o.o.d.y mark upon the woman"s night-dress was its exact imprint.
Already Mr. Travilla had procured his arrest, and had him imprisoned for trial, in the county jail.
Yet this was but a small part of the day"s work: lumber had been ordered, and men engaged for the rebuilding of the school-house; merchandise also to replace the furniture and clothing destroyed; and arms for every man at the quarter capable of using them.
All this Elsie knew and approved, as did her father and brother. For Mrs. Carrington"s sake they deeply regretted that Boyd was implicated in the outrage; but all agreed that justice must have its course.
The question had been mooted in both families whether any or all of them should leave the South until the restoration of law and order should render it a safe abiding place for honest, peaceable folk, but unanimously decided in the negative.
The gentlemen scorned to fly from the desperadoes and resign to their despotic rule their poor dependents and the land of their love; nay they would stay and defend both to the utmost of their power; and the wives upheld their husbands in their determination and refused to leave them to meet the peril alone.
Returning from the burial of Uncle Mose, Mr. Dinsmore and Horace spent an hour at Ion before riding back to the Oaks.
The three gentlemen were in the library earnestly discussing the state of affairs, when Elsie, coming down from seeing her little ones settled for the night, heard the sound of wheels in the avenue, and stepping to the door saw the Ashlands carriage just drawing up in front of it.
The vehicle had scarcely come to a standstill ere its door was thrown hastily open and the elder Mrs. Carrington alighted.
Elsie sprang to meet her with outstretched arms, and the exclamation, "My dear old friend!" though her heart beat quickly, her cheek crimsoned, and tears filled her eyes.
The old lady, speechless with grief, fell upon her neck and wept there silently for a moment; then low and gaspingly, in a voice broken with sobs, "I--have--come to--ask about--George," she said, "can it, oh can it be that he has done this dreadful thing?" and shuddering she hid her face on Elsie"s shoulder her slight frame shaken with the sobs she vainly strove to suppress.
"Dear Mrs. Carrington, I am so sorry, so _very_ sorry to think it,"
Elsie said, in a voice full of tears, "my heart aches for you who love him so; you who have been so sorely afflicted: may the Lord give you strength to bear up under this new trial."
"He will! he does! My sister"s son! oh tis sad, "tis heart-breaking! But the proofs: what are they?"
Elsie named them; first drawing her friend to a seat where she supported her with her arm.
"Yes, yes, his voice, his gait are both peculiar, and--his hand. Let me see that--that garment."
Leading her into a private room, and seating her comfortably there Elsie had it brought and laid before her.
Mrs. Carrington gave it one glance, and motioning it away with a look and gesture of horror, dropped her face into her hands and groaned aloud.
Elsie kneeling by her side, clasped her arms about her and wept with her.
"A slayer of the weak and helpless--a murderer--a midnight a.s.sa.s.sin!"
groaned the half distracted aunt.
"May there not possibly be some mistake. Let us give him the benefit of the doubt," whispered Elsie.
"Alas there seems scarcely room for doubt!" sighed Mrs. Carrington, then, with a determined effort to recover her composure, "But don"t think, dear Elsie, that I blame you or your husband. Can I see him? and your father if he is here?"
"Yes, they are both here and will rejoice if they can be of any comfort or service to you. Ah, I hear papa"s voice in the hall, asking for me!"
and stepping to the door, she called to him and her husband, "Please come in here," she said, "Mrs. Carrington wishes to see you both."
"You here and alone at this late hour, my dear madam!" Mr. Dinsmore exclaimed, taking the old lady"s hand in a cordial grasp, "your courage surprises me."
"Ah, my good friend, they who have little to lose, need not have much to do with fear," she answered. "That was what I told Sophie who would have had me defer my call till to-morrow."
"My dear madam, you are surely right in thinking that no one would molest you--a lady whom all cla.s.ses unite in loving and honoring," Mr.
Travilla said, greeting her with almost filial respect and affection.
She bowed in acknowledgment. "Do not think for a moment that I have come to upbraid you, gentlemen. Justice demands that those who break the laws suffer the penalty, and I have nothing to say against it; though the criminal be my own flesh and blood. But I want to hear all about this sad affair."
They told her briefly all they knew, she listening with calm though sad demeanor.
"Thank you," she said when they had finished. "That George is guilty, I dare hardly doubt, and I am far from upholding him in his wickedness. As you all know, I was strong for accession, and am no Republican now, but I say perish the cause that can be upheld only by such measures as these. I would have every member of this wicked, dreadful conspiracy brought to punishment; they are ruining their country; but their deeds are not chargeable upon the secessionists of the war time, as a cla.s.s."
"That is certainly true, madam."
"We are fully convinced of that, Mrs. Carrington," the gentlemen replied.
She rose to take leave. Mr. Travilla requested her to delay a little till his horse could be brought to the door, and he would see her home.
"No, no, Travilla," said Mr. Dinsmore, "Horace and I will do that, if Mrs. Carrington will accept our escort."
"Many thanks to you both, gentlemen," she said, "but I a.s.sure you I am not in the least afraid; and it would be putting you to unnecessary trouble."
"On the contrary, my dear madam, it would be a pleasure; and as our horses are already at the door, we need not delay you a moment," said Mr. Dinsmore. "It will not take us so very far out of our way, either: and I should like to have a word with Sophie."
Upon that Mrs. Carrington gratefully accepted his offer, and the three went away together.
Convinced of his guilt, Mrs. Carrington made no effort to obtain the release of her nephew, but several of his confederates having perjured themselves to prove an alibi in his favor, he was soon at large again.
He showed his face no more at the Oaks or Ion, and upon occasion of an accidental meeting with Travilla or either of the Dinsmores, regarded him with dark, scowling looks, sometimes adding a muttered word or two of anger and defiance.
In the meantime damages had been repaired in the quarters at Fairview and Ion, and the men at the latter, secretly supplied with arms; also the rebuilding of the school-house was going rapidly forward.