Once, on returning to Baltimore, after a longer absence than usual, his friends greeted him warmly.
"By Jove, Webster, we had begun to think you were in trouble," one of them exclaimed.
"No danger of that," was the laughing response. "I have no intention of being trapped before I fulfill my mission. I have some valuable work to do for the Southern Confederacy before the Yankees can get the upper hand of me."
They were in a saloon--a favorite rendezvous of these men--and Webster was in the midst of his crowd. He was telling them about some imaginary "points" which he had picked up in Washington, and a.s.suring them he would in some manner transmit the information he had received to the rebel commanders before he was a week older. While thus entertaining his hearers, his attention was attracted by a man who entered the saloon with a swaggering gait, his hands in his pockets, and his hat tipped over one side of his head. He knew this man as a ruffian and bully of the worst stripe, Bill Zigler, and one of the ringleaders of the mob that had attacked the Union troops on the 19th of April; consequently, he entertained a wholesome contempt for the fellow, and avoided him as much as possible.
He was much surprised when the new-comer stopped in the middle of the room, and exclaimed, gruffly:
"h.e.l.lo, Webster! You"re _here_, are you? By G--d, I"ve been looking for you!"
Webster turned toward him a look of surprised inquiry.
"Did you speak to me, sir?" he asked, quietly.
"Yes, I spoke to you, sir!" mimicked Bill Zigler, in a bullying voice.
"I say I"ve been lookin" for you, and when I"ve spoke my piece I reckon this town will be too hot to hold you many hours longer."
"I don"t understand you," protested Webster.
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the ruffian, a glitter of triumph and hatred in his eyes. "You"ve been playin" it fine on the boys here for the last three weeks, but d--n you, I"ll spoil your little game!"
"What do you mean?" demanded Webster, his anger beginning to rise. "You speak in riddles."
"I"ll tell you what I mean!" bl.u.s.tered the bully. "Gentlemen," turning toward the crowd, and pointing his finger toward the detective; "that man is leagued with the Yankees, and comes among you as a spy."
There was a general start of astonishment, and Webster himself was dumfounded.
"Oh, nonsense, Zigler," spoke up one of the men, after a death-like silence of several moments. "You must be drunk to make such an a.s.sertion as that. There is not a better Southern man in Baltimore than Mr.
Webster."
"I am as sober as the soberest man here," declared Zigler; "and I reckon I know what I am talking about. I saw that fellow in Washington yesterday."
"I can well believe that you saw me in Washington yesterday," said Webster, quietly, "for I certainly was there. I have just been telling these gentlemen what I saw and heard while there."
"Maybe you have, but I"ll bet ten dollars you didn"t tell "em that you had a conversation with the _chief of the detective force_ while you were there!"
Webster, it must be admitted, was wholly unprepared for this, but he realized in an instant that the bully"s insinuation must be denied and overcome. With an a.s.sumption of uncontrollable rage he cried out "You are a liar and a scoundrel!"
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_The man reeled half way across the room, and fell prostrate between two tables._" P. 277.]
"I am, eh?" hissed Zigler through his clenched teeth, and before any one could make a movement to restrain him he sprang furiously toward Webster.
Quick as was this movement, however, Webster was prepared for him. Like a flash of lightning his fist flew straight out from the shoulder, striking the ruffian between the eyes, with a force that would have felled an ox. The man reeled half-way across the room, and fell prostrate between two tables.
With a roar like that of a baffled beast, Zigler gathered himself up and rushed at Webster, flourishing above his head a murderous-looking knife.
But, as if by magic, a revolver appeared in the detective"s hand, the muzzle of which covered his adversary"s heart.
"Stop!" cried Webster, in a tone of stern command. "Hold your distance, you miserable cur, or your blood will be upon your own head!"
Zigler involuntarily recoiled. The frowning muzzle of the pistol, the unmistakable meaning of those words, and the deadly purpose expressed in the cold, calm face before him, were too much even for his boasted bravery. He turned pale and drew back, muttering and growling.
"Coward!" exclaimed Webster, "if I served you right I would shoot you down like a dog; and I am afraid I can"t resist the temptation to do so anyway, if you don"t immediately leave the room. Go! and in future be careful who you accuse of being in league with the accursed Yankees."
By this time a number of the other men had recovered from their astonishment, and they immediately joined their threats to those of Webster, commanding Zigler to leave the saloon at once, if he desired to "save his bacon."
Zigler did not dare to disobey. Sullenly putting up his knife, and muttering curses on the whole crowd, he slunk out, stopping at the door long enough to glance back at Webster, with the exclamation:
"I"ll fix you yet, d--n you!"
When he was gone, Webster said:
"I cannot conceive what that fellow has against me, that he should try to defame my character by such an accusation."
Several of the men broke into a derisive laugh.
"I"d as soon suspect Jeff Davis of being a Yankee spy," said one, with a boisterous guffaw.
"Lord, Webster," spoke up another, "you needn"t calculate that anything that fellow can say is going to injure you with the people here."
"I reckon Zigler is mad because you won"t clique in with him and his gang," said a third. "n.o.body takes any stock in him. It would have been considered a good riddance if your pistol had gone off while it covered his heart. Bah! he isn"t worth a thought. Come, boys, let"s licker."
And the affair ended in a witty cross-fire of jokes, frequent explosions of hearty laughter, and numerous b.u.mpers of sparkling wine.
So far from proving disastrous to Webster or his mission, this little episode with Bill Zigler rather elevated him in the estimation of his companions. The neat knock-down with which he had met the bully"s unprovoked a.s.sault; his air of virtuous indignation in resenting the imputation of disloyalty to the South, and the manner in which he had defeated and put to flight a man who was much feared among his fellows, only won for him new laurels, and caused him to be regarded as brave as he was loyal. His intimate acquaintances reposed such firm faith in him, that not one of them entertained for a moment the thought that there might possibly be a grain of justice in Zigler"s accusation.
One morning, not long after this little episode, Webster left his hotel to walk down town, when he noticed that there was some unusual excitement on the streets. On every corner on Baltimore street, from the Exchange office, large numbers of men were standing in groups, evidently absorbed in some particular topic of conversation.
While wondering what all this meant, the detective was accosted by a man named Sam Sloan, one of the most faithful of his adherents.
"Webster, I was just going up to see you. Have you heard the news?"
"I have heard nothing, Sam," was the reply. "Is there a new sensation this morning?"
"Another of Lincoln"s outrages," said Sloan, with an indignant oath.
"Major Brown, Ross Winans, and several others were arrested last night, and taken to Fort McHenry."
"What for?"
"For no other purpose, I suppose, than to break up the election, which is to take place next month."
"But how can that interfere with the election?"
"By making us all afraid to go to the polls, or speak our minds."
The two walked down the street together, and dropped into a drug store, which was known as one of the resorts of the unterrified. There they found a number of men conversing somewhat excitedly. The proprietor, a Mr. Rogers, turned toward the new-comers and said:
"Good morning, Mr. Webster; we were just talking over last night"s proceedings."