"I have thy beast for thee," said Nathan, soon afterwards entering the room. "He is not what might be called by thee a swift beast, but he is still possessed of some excellent qualities. Thou hast promised to see that I am further rewarded for my gift."
Tom and the lieutenant hastened out of the room to examine Nathan"s "gift," and, as they saw the horse which he had tied to the post, they both stopped in surprise and the lieutenant broke into a loud laugh.
"Oh, Friend Nathan," said he, adopting the Quaker"s style of speech, "thou art a friend indeed! Dost thou call that thing a "beast"? Thou hast cheated the lad woefully. A good half joe for that scarecrow? Thou oughtest to reward Thomas for riding him, for I am of the opinion that I shall be compelled to carry him into camp in two pieces if he mounts that "razorback." Oh, Nathan, Nathan! Who would have believed it of thee?"
The horse was old and gaunt. A spavin was apparent in one leg, while on another was a great ringbone. One eye betrayed its blindness, and, altogether, the poor animal presented a most woe-begone and helpless appearance.
"He hath not beauty, as I told thee," said Nathan soberly. "But he is of value to me, and thou hast promised to see that I am suitably rewarded."
"Oh, Tom! Tom!" laughed the lieutenant. "What a sight you"ll be on the back of that bunch of bones! There"s no help for it, though. Come on and we"ll see what the poor "beast" can do!"
CHAPTER XIX
THE RELEASE OF BENZEOR
BENZEOR"S plight was a sad one, but as he gazed about him in his helplessness the only face upon which he could discover any traces of sympathy or compa.s.sion was that of Little Peter. The lad had had no suspicion of his neighbor, and was ignorant, as we know, of the part which Benzeor had taken in the attack on his father"s house. Even now it was difficult for him to believe that Ted had spoken truly. He must have been mistaken, Peter thought, as he recalled the kindness of Sarah and Benzeor"s wife in permitting the children to find a shelter in their home.
Perhaps the perplexed lad"s face betrayed his feelings, for just at that moment Benzeor looked up and said,--
"There! That boy knows me!" and he pointed at Little Peter as he spoke.
"He knows all about me, for he"s a neighbor of mine. I tell you there"s been a mistake. I"m not the man you"re"--
Benzeor"s words were suddenly interrupted by Ted, who thrust his head again under the water, and when he lifted him out once more the prisoner was sputtering and gasping for breath.
"Made a mistake, did I?" exclaimed the angry giant. "Well, mebbe I did, but I reckon the biggest one was in not keepin" you under the river all the time. Runnin" round here prowlin" on defenseless women folks and tryin" to steal what little money they"ve got left! Drownin" "s too good for such as you!" And, unable to restrain himself, the angry man again shook his helpless victim till it seemed as if the little breath Benzeor retained must be driven from his body.
"I--I--I"m telling you the truth," gasped Benzeor when he had recovered sufficiently to be able to speak again. "Won"t you help me? Won"t you save me from this--this--man?" he pleaded, turning to the men in the whaleboat. "That--that boy there knows me, and he"ll tell you I--I--I"m all right. Won"t you, Little Peter? Please! Please, tell them!"
"Do you know him?" said the leader to Little Peter.
"Yes," replied the lad quietly.
"Ye don"t know any good of him, do ye?" said Ted, interrupting, and tightening his grasp upon the collar of his victim as he spoke.
"He is a neighbor of mine, as he said. I never knew any bad of him. And his wife and girl are taking care of the children. I know that." Little Peter was perplexed, and his suspicions had been aroused by the discovery of his neighbor in his present predicament, but the recollection of Sarah"s kindness moved him to refer to their recent actions, in the hope that he might aid her father.
"Ho! ho! ho!" laughed Ted. "Then his wife takes care of her children, does she? She must be a wonderful woman to do that. Well, let her take care of her brats, and I"ll take care of her man, and good care, too!"
As Ted acted as if he were about to renew his attentions, the leader hastily said, "The lad doesn"t mean this fellow"s children, but his own little brothers and sisters," and in a few words he related the story of the attack on Little Peter"s home, and the sad loss which had occurred there.
"Ye don"t say so!" said Ted, bestowing a glance of sympathy upon the boy. "That"s bad! It is indeed! And ye say this fellow has taken yer little brothers and sisters into his place?"
"Yes," said Peter eagerly.
"Well, all I can say is that I"d about as soon put a hawk to look after chickens, if it was my doin"s."
"Yes," said Benzeor quickly, striving to take advantage of the impression which Little Peter"s words had momentarily created. "Yes, the children are all at my house, and being well looked after, too. That doesn"t look very much, does it, as if I was a bad man? I tell you there"s been a mistake! There"s been a mistake! I didn"t have anything to do with the attack on this man"s place. Help me! Help me!" he hastily cried out, as Ted acted as if he were about to repeat his former actions.
"Hold on a minute, Ted. Perhaps the man"s got something more to say,"
said the leader.
"I am a-holdin" on. Can"t ye see that?" replied Ted grimly, once more tightening his grasp upon the unfortunate Benzeor"s collar.
"I have got something to say. Something you want to hear, too," said Benzeor eagerly, and appealing to the leader in the whaleboat as he spoke.
"Say it," said Ted gruffly.
"The British are going to make an attack on the ship down in the bay."
"What"s that you say?" said the leader quickly. "Do you mean on the Washington?"
"Yes, yes, that"s just what I mean. There are a couple of gunboats off the sh.o.r.e here now, and they"re going to land some men and get her back again."
"There are two boats off the sh.o.r.e, Ted. I happen to know that, for this very craft we"ve got along with us we took from them this afternoon,"
said the leader. And he briefly related the story of the capture.
"There, ye see I"m right!" said Benzeor, eager to follow up the impression his words and those of the leader had created. "Now if you"ll help me out of the clutches of"--
"Keep still, you!" interrupted Ted angrily. "It"ll be time enough for you to talk when I let go on ye. I reckon n.o.body is a-goin" to take you out o" my clutches till I get good and ready to let ye go. Now then, stand up straight and speak yer piece like a little man! How did ye happen to know the British was a-goin" to make an attack on the Washington?"
"I heard one of the men up by your house say so."
"I thought ye didn"t have anything to do with that attack on poor Sallie! She"s my wife, I"d have ye know. I thought you was a-sayin" you wasn"t there, and all the time I see ye, and chased ye right out o" my yard, clear down to the river! And now ye say ye heard one of the men there tell about the plan the British have on deck to get the Washington back again!"
"I didn"t say I wasn"t there," pleaded Benzeor. "All I said was that I didn"t have anything to do with it, and I didn"t."
"Ye"--began Ted, all his anger instantly returning.
"Hold on, Ted! Hold on! Let"s hear what the man has to say," exclaimed the leader.
"I"ll hold on, never ye fret yerself about that!" replied Ted, still retaining a firm grasp on his victim, but nevertheless abandoning the action he had evidently had in mind.
"I was there, I"m not denying that," pleaded Benzeor; "but I didn"t have a gun in my hands, and I didn"t touch the rope either. I fell in with the men and they made me go with them. I just couldn"t help myself. And it was while I was there I heard "em talking about the plan to take the Love--I mean the Washington," he hastily added. "They"re going to take her in the morning."
"You mean they"re going to try to take her," said the leader.
"Yes, that"s what I mean; they"re going to try to take her."
"The reptile may be tellin" the truth," said Ted soberly. "I had some o"
the best o" the Washington"s cargo myself. Ye know they brought about all that was aboard o" her up to Manasquan, and sold it here, or leastwise Marshal John Stokes sold it for "em. I happen to know about that, and the vermin here may be tellin" the truth. Sometimes he does it by mistake, I suppose."
A few weeks prior to this time the British ship Love and Unity ran ash.o.r.e near Tom"s River. There were those among the people of the region who wagged their heads and winked slyly whenever they referred to the misfortune of the vessel, for it was a prevailing impression there that the pilot had not been especially favorable to the British, and more by design than by accident had grounded the vessel near the sh.o.r.e.
Be that as it may, the militia had quickly rallied, and as most of the men were as much at home upon the water as they were upon the land, they seized the unfortunate Love and Unity, and brought her safely into port as a prize.