"He made that same remark. An" he said, furder, that if I wasn"t back by sun-up with the hunderd dollars, he would know you-uns had held fast to me, an" then he would lick "em, sure hope to die."
"I promise you that you shall be back there before sunrise," said Dixon significantly. "We can"t permit those fellows to be whipped on account of a joke, and we won"t, either. You are quite sure you can go straight to him?"
Yes, Caleb was sure he could do that; and then his conductors, who had all the while held fast to his arms, halted in front of Captain Wilson, the officer of the guard, who chanced to be pacing back and forth in front of the tent. The captain listened in amazement while the boys told their story, and the light from the tent showed that there was a shade of anxiety on his face when he inquired:
"Where did you find this man?"
"Outside the grounds, sir," Dixon promptly responded.
"And what were you doing outside the grounds at this hour, when you know that such a thing is positively forbidden?" continued the officer severely.
"I had started for Barrington, sir," answered Marcy. "The commandant wouldn"t give me a chance to ask permission to go."
"And so you went without it?"
"Yes, sir, I did. I was resolved to learn something about Rodney and d.i.c.k before I slept."
"I shall be obliged to shut you up," said the captain.
"Very good, sir," replied Marcy. "But how about Rodney and d.i.c.k? Is that villain Goble to be permitted to abuse them as he pleases?"
"I am surprised at your insolence, Private Gray," said the officer sternly. "Go inside the tent under arrest."
Marcy went, and all the boys, as well as Caleb Judson, went in with him, and Captain Wilson hastened away to lay the matter before the colonel.
"Now, I"ll tell you what"s a fact," said Marcy. "Captain Wilson would do something for those boys if he were in command, but the colonel will not do the first thing."
"So be it," answered Billings. "Then we"ll see whether or not the fellows will do something. They are not the lads I take them for if they do not rally on center the minute they find out how the land lies."
"What"s up?" whispered a student, thrusting his head into the tent and then looking back to see if there was any one coming. "Who"s that gentleman" (nodding at Caleb), "and what are you doing in there?"
"In arrest for being sa.s.sy," replied Cole. "Say-"
Here all the boys got upon their feet, stepped to the door and held a short but earnest conversation with the student outside, who muttered, e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, and scratched his head in a way that indicated the profoundest surprise and bewilderment. Then he said: "You bet I"ll do it," disappeared around the corner of the tent, and the boys ran back to the table, beside which they stood, with their caps off and their hands to their foreheads, when the officer of the guard came in accompanied by the colonel. The latter looked and acted as if the burden of his responsibility was too heavy for him to carry; and the worst of it was, it was growing heavier every day. He was out of patience, too, and as cross as a bear.
"What sort of a c.o.c.k-and-bull story is this I hear about Sergeant Gray and Private Graham?" said he snappishly. "I am in no humor for wasting words."
"Neither are we, sir," Marcy replied boldly. "My cousin is in trouble, and I should like to have him helped out of it."
"If he hadn"t run the guard and gone to town without permission, he wouldn"t be in trouble," answered the colonel. "Now let me hear the story from beginning to end, and in as short a s.p.a.ce of time as possible."
Marcy Gray and Dixon could talk to the point when they made up their minds to it, and the colonel was not kept in his chair a second longer than was necessary to make him understand just how Rodney and d.i.c.k were situated. That the recital made him nervous was plain from the way he rubbed his hands together and tumbled his hair about his forehead.
"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" he asked, when the story was concluded.
"We should like to have you send an officer down there, under guidance of this man Judson, and rescue those boys," said Marcy.
"That is the duty of the civil authorities, and I cannot interfere with them," replied the colonel, in a tone which seemed to say that the matter was settled so far as he was concerned. "Last night I tried to do a friendly turn for the citizens of Barrington, but I will never do it again. They can be burned up or whipped for all I care."
"But, sir, these boys are not citizens of Barrington," said Dixon. "They are pupils of this school, and as such they are ent.i.tled to all the aid and comfort it is in your power to give them."
"When I think I need to be instructed in my duty toward those who are placed under my care, I will send for you, Private Dixon," replied the colonel loftily; but the boys all saw, and so did the officer of the guard, that he could not make up his mind how to act under the circ.u.mstances. The colonel knew well enough that there was little dependence to be placed upon the Barrington authorities, and that the surest way to help Rodney and d.i.c.k was to do as Marcy suggested; but he could not make a move without running the risk of offending the influential members of the Committee of Safety. As he spoke he pointed toward the door, and Dixon saluted and went out.
"In order to relieve your suspense, Private Gray, I will tell you what I purpose doing," continued the colonel. "I will send this man with a note to the police justice in town, and request him to take some steps looking to your cousin"s release. That is all I can do."
"An" will you give me the hunderd dollars to hand to Bud?" inquired Caleb.
"I shall not give you a cent."
"Then I sha"n"t go nigh Bud, an" that"s flat," declared Caleb, with more spirit than he had previously exhibited. "Them chaps will get licked if I don"t have that money to hand to Bud when I see him, an" I aint wantin" to get into trouble."
Dixon, who was loitering about on the outside of the tent, did not wait to hear any more, but posted off to the hall, where he found an excited, almost frantic, crowd of students impatiently looking for some one to come from the guard tent and tell them what the commandant had decided to do.
"Colonel," said Marcy, whose white face showed how desperate was the conflict that was raging within him, and how hard it was to be respectful to the man who had it in his power to help Rodney, and who refused to use that power because he was afraid of the Barrington secessionists. "Your plan will not work, sir."
"I can"t help it," was the colonel"s answer. "It is the only thing I can do. If Rodney had stayed within bounds he would not be in need of help. Now go, all of you."
As soon as they were safe out of the tent Marcy caught Caleb by the arm and whispered-
"If the colonel hands you a note to carry to town, don"t go away with it until I see you again. If you do you may get into difficulty. I"ll raise some money for you."
"That"s talking sense," said Caleb, in the same cautious whisper. "It"s the only way to get "em off without a lickin"."
"Look here," exclaimed Billings, as the three moved away leaving Caleb standing near the guard tent. "Are you going to raise a hundred dollars for Goble?"
"Not much. I don"t think I could; but I"m going to raise something to pay Caleb for guiding me to Bud"s hiding-place."
"Bully for you. Count us in."
"I"ll not ask any one to go with me," answered Marcy. "If you want to help, you can do it by telling me how I can smuggle my musket and cartridge-box out of the armory."
"Now, that"s an idea. Of course we"ll help. Great Scott! What a crazy crowd, and what do you reckon they"re going to do?"
It was no wonder that Bob Cole asked this question. While he and his companions were talking they walked through the archway into the hall, which was filled with pale, determined-looking students, who were quietly making their way up the wide stairs toward the armory.
"What"s up?" repeated Cole.
"We"re going after our muskets," replied one. "Fall in."
"Not the whole school?" Billings managed to gasp, while Marcy Gray stood speechless, wondering at the magnitude of the rebellion which had been brought about by the colonel"s refusal to send a squad to Rodney"s a.s.sistance and d.i.c.k"s, and by the stirring appeals to which they had listened from Dixon, as well as from the lips of the boy who had received those hasty instructions at the guard-tent.
"Talk about rebels! Why, this is a riot," said Cole.
"It looks very like it," replied Dixon, who stood at the foot of the stairs urging every boy to fall in. "They"re all going except the company officers, who have taken themselves off out of sight, so that they cannot be called upon to oppose us. Where"s Caleb?"
"I made sure of him by saying that I would raise some money for him," replied Marcy.
"If we were only outside the gate we should be all right."
"We"ll get out easy as falling off a log," said Dixon. "If you had glanced toward the gate when you came in, you would have seen four good fellows there talking with the sentry. It will be their business to disarm him, if he shows fight when we attempt to march out, as it is his duty to do; and if the officer of the guard tries to turn the key upon us, those four fellows will quietly take the gate from its hinges and tumble it over into the road. It"s all cut and dried, and if the boys keep as still as they are now, we"ll be out before the colonel knows what we are up to. Oh, I haven"t been idle since the commandant ordered me from the guard-tent."