My father"s first care was to place my mother and Kathleen in safety, and to insist on their going into a store-closet, to which no bullets could penetrate should any pierce the shutters. Black Rose begged leave to accompany them, but Biddy indignantly refused to hide herself, declaring that she only wished "the spalpeens" would show their ugly faces at the door, and she would put some marks on them which they would carry to their graves. Having thus expressed herself, she hastened into the kitchen, where she lighted the fire, blowing away with all her might to get the poker into a red heat.
My father"s first care was to set one of us to watch at the window of each room, to give the alarm should any attempt be made to force them, while he himself stood at the front entrance. Peter was posted at the rear of the house. Loop-holes had been formed in the shutters through which we could look and see what was taking place outside. They had slides so that they could be closed in an instant. As no lamps were left burning in any of the rooms, those outside could not distinguish the small openings, while the moon, though waning, afforded light sufficient to enable us to see anyone moving about round the house.
Our preparations for defence were made in a shorter time than I have taken to describe them. I was looking through the loophole in my window-shutter in the front of the house when I saw a person stealing cautiously forward along the road which led to it. I could make out that he had a rifle in his hand, which he was holding ready for action.
Presently half-a-dozen more men came in sight, when their leader stopped until they got up with him. I instantly called out to my father that the enemy were close upon us.
"We must be certain that they come with hostile intent. Let no one fire until I give the word," he said; "I will speak to them first, and hear what they want."
There was little doubt about that, however; before my father could open the loophole, a thundering blow was dealt with the trunk of a tree against the door, making it shake on its hinges, though the tough wood held firm.
"Who dares thus attack my house?" shouted my father; "off with you, or take the consequences."
A shower of bullets which pinged against the door and walls on either side was the reply. Our a.s.sailants, disappointed in their first attempt to break open the door, hoped to alarm us into submission.
"Open the door, and let us in; we come on lawful business to look after a runaway slave, and have him we will, alive or dead, although we burn your house about your heads," shouted one of the men outside.
Uncle Denis thought from the sound of the voice that it was Mr Bracher himself who spoke.
"We have no runaway slave within, but open the door we will not; so if you again make the attempt to force it, your blood be on your own heads," answered my father in a firm voice.
"That"s all empty boast," was the answer; "if you hurt any of our men, not one of you shall escape with your lives."
"Faith! we"re wasting time talking to the fellows," cried Uncle Denis; "let"s begin to treat them as they deserve. If they don"t go away, I"ll knock over that big blackguard Bracher, and his crew will soon be taking to their heels if they haven"t him to lead them on."
My father, although a soldier, was as averse as any man to shedding blood.
"We will show them that they are not likely to succeed, and that they will pay dearly for the attempt if they again try to break open the door," he said. "Mr Bracher," he shouted, "understand that I don"t wish to be your enemy, and have no unkind feeling towards you. You have made an unwarrantable attack on my house. No harm has as yet come of it. If you will go peaceably away I will overlook the insult and take no further steps in the matter; but if not, I once for all warn you that I am well prepared to defend my house, and that you will pay dearly should you try to enter it. I again say your slave is not within my doors, so that you will gain nothing if you succeed, which you have no chance of doing."
My father in speaking this had some hopes of inducing the Kentuckians to change their intentions, and at all events he might prolong the time so that daylight would surprise them before they should recommence the attack. It would then be more easy to distinguish the leaders and shoot them down, when the rest would in all probability beat a hasty retreat.
Of this Silas Bracher, if he was there in person, was probably aware.
In spite of the warning the Kentuckians had received, they, supposing perhaps from our not having fired that we had no ammunition, or were afraid of doing so, again a.s.saulted the door with their battering-ram; it, however, as before, stoutly withstood the thundering blows they bestowed on it.
"If they will have it they must," at length exclaimed my father; and scarcely were the words out of his mouth than Uncle Denis, the overseer, and our guest fired. I was going to fire when my father shouted to Dan and me not to pull a trigger. A cry arose from the midst of our a.s.sailants, followed by a loud shout.
"Death to all within the house! Batter in the door, boys; a few strokes and it will be done."
The ram thundered against the door. I at that moment looked through my loophole, and I caught sight of a party in reserve, who the next instant sent a shower of bullets rattling against the shutters and walls, one shot narrowly missing my head as it whistled through the loophole. I therefore thrust out my rifle and fired in the direction from whence the shot came. Whether or not I had hit anyone I could not tell. I was too well-trained a sportsman to lose a moment before again reloading. All our little garrison were now engaged in firing and loading as fast as they could. My father kept his post at the door, and Uncle Denis and the overseer stationed themselves at the windows nearest to him on either side, ready, should the door be burst open, to a.s.sist in driving back the miscreants, while Biddy remained intently watching the proceedings, with her hand on the red-hot poker, prepared to help in the defence. As I could not bring my rifle to bear on the party with the battering-ram, I contented myself with firing at those in the distance, but as they kept as much as possible under cover, I could not tell whether my shot took effect. The blows which the door received threatened every instant to break it in, and I suspected that we should have a fearful struggle before we should succeed in driving back our a.s.sailants. Their cries and shouts increased. Excited with rage and disappointment they rushed again and again to the a.s.sault. The firing also became hotter and hotter. Fortunately, so well sheltered were all our party, as we only went to the window to fire, then retreating behind the walls, that not one of us had hitherto been hurt. From the sounds which reached my ears I believed that the rifles of those of the garrison who commanded the entrance were taking effect. Presently, after another attempt to break open the door, I saw our a.s.sailants in the grey light of morning beating a rapid retreat and dragging along with them three or four of their number who had been either killed or badly wounded.
"Victory, victory?" shouted Uncle Denis, "Erin-go-braugh, I knew we should do for the audacious villains. Hurrah, hurrah?" The rest of us echoed his shout, including Biddy from the kitchen, while she flourished her red-hot poker above her head.
My father hastened to a.s.sure my mother and Kathleen that we were safe for the present, while we all shook hands round, congratulating ourselves on our victory.
"We must not be too certain that we have got rid of them altogether,"
observed my father; "those Kentuckians are persevering fellows. If they think they have a chance of success they will be at us again."
Increasing daylight enabled us to see for some distance around the house, but no one could we discover. We all began to believe that they had finally gone away, when Peter, who was looking through a window at the side of the house exclaimed--
"See, ma.s.sa, see! look dare!"
A bright flame shot up, its size rapidly increasing. It was in the direction of a barn in which a quant.i.ty of corn and other produce was stored.
"The scoundrels have set it on fire in revenge!" exclaimed Uncle Denis; "let"s be out and after them."
"The very thing they would wish us to do," observed my father; "probably one of their objects in firing the building was the hope that we should rush out to extinguish the flames. Provided the fire does not extend, it will be wiser to remain here."
Uncle Denis agreed that my father was right. That he was so we afterwards ascertained from one of the farm-labourers who had cautiously followed the Kentuckians.
The sun at length rose, when Mr Tidey insisted on going out to learn whether they had actually taken their departure. To this my father consented, and the Dominie set off with his rifle, accompanied by Boxer.
On going out, he found numerous splashes of blood in the front near the battering-ram, showing that the Kentuckians had been deservedly punished for the outrage.
We had reason to be thankful that we had all escaped without injury.
Towards evening Mr Tidey came back bringing the satisfactory intelligence that he had traced the retreating party to the Ohio.
Severe as was the lesson they had received, it was but too probable that they would return and take another opportunity of wreaking their vengeance on our heads. My father was a brave man, and had he been alone would have remained and defended his property to the last, but he thought of the danger to which my mother and we were exposed, and this made him more willing than he otherwise would have been, to listen to the proposal of Mr McDermont.
"You"ll be after having a troubled life of it here, captain," observed our guest, the next day. "For my part I am not altogether unaccustomed to such proceedings in the old country, and have no wife or children to be troubled about, and should rather like the excitement of the sort of life I should have to lead here for a year or two, until I have taught the Kentuckians to leave me alone in peace. This makes me bold to offer you a price for your farm, should you be disposed to move farther westward or northward, out of their way. I know how to deal with fellows of their character, though I should be puzzled if I had redskins to guard against, or a new country to clear. What say you now to twenty thousand dollars? It will go a long way westward. I am aware that your farm, under other circ.u.mstances, would be worth more than that. Should you accept my proposal, I would advise you not to migrate to Swampyville. You have the advantage of my experience in that matter,"
he added, laughing.
My father took time to consider Mr McDermont"s proposal, and he and Uncle Denis had a long consultation on the subject. He finally decided to accept the offer, and greatly to his satisfaction Uncle Denis told him that he had made up his mind to part with his farm in Kentucky and to cast in his lot with us.
"I wish that I had done so years ago," he said. "I had an offer just before I left home: I shall not be long in settling the matter."
Our uncle was a man of action, and observing that he should give Mr Bracher a wide berth, and promising to return in a few days, at once set about making preparations for a start.
Mr McDermont was ready to purchase the furniture and everything we did not require. Dan and I meantime set off to try and find poor Dio, and either to escort him on his way to Mr Grey"s, or should he desire to return, to bring him back with us, as my father considered that for the present he would run no risk of being captured, and he might prefer continuing with us to seeking his fortune among strangers. We gladly undertook the duty, having little doubt of what he would like to do.
"I am afraid the poor fellow must have been starving all this time, as the provisions Mr Tidey left with him can scarcely have lasted more than couple of days," observed Dan as we trudged along.
"He had his rifle, you must remember," I answered, "and although he may not be a very good shot, he will be able to knock over a few birds or a rac.o.o.n, or an opossum, and there are berries in abundance growing in the neighbourhood of the cave."
Although I said this, I was well aware that there were many dangers to which Dio might have been exposed. Wolves or bears while prowling about might have found him asleep, or he might have fallen into the hands of Indians, or he might have been discovered by white men, who, suspecting him to be a runaway slave, might have secured him in the hope of obtaining a reward for bringing him back. There was also the possibility, should he have finished his provisions, that he might have been afraid of going out in search of more, and that he might be suffering from starvation. We therefore hurried on as fast as our legs could carry us. We did not pa.s.s a single farm on our route where we could obtain a.s.sistance should we require it, although there were several away to the eastward.
In spite of the utmost exertions we could make, it was nearly sunset before we reached the neighbourhood of the cave. We looked about, no sign of Dio could we discover, not the slightest trail to show that he had left the cavern or that anyone had entered it. So far this was satisfactory. Though we knew the locality, the mouth of the cavern itself was not very easy to find. We had therefore to hunt about for some time, until at length we discovered the bushes which grew in front of it, when we at once began to creep through them; we crawled on till we found ourselves in the mouth of the cave. Mr Tidey had minutely described the spot where he had left Dio. We groped our way forward expecting to see the light from his fire, but not a gleam came forth from any of the pa.s.sages to direct us.
"Oh, suppose a bear and her cubs are hid away anywhere, what shall we do?" exclaimed Dan.
"Shoot the bear and knock the cubs on the head," I answered, although I knew that was more easily said than done.
Dan and I called to Dio in vain. Again I shouted, "Dio, Dio, answer us, pray do, if you are here."
"Listen! I hear a voice; it"s very faint, but not far off," said Dan.
I stopped shouting, and distinctly heard the words--
"Here, ma.s.sa, here, all in de dark; dis n.i.g.g.ar bery sick."
On this I struck a match, and by its faint light I saw a figure lying on the ground in a recess of the cave. There were a number of sticks collected for fire-wood piled up close to him, so putting the match to some dry leaves which we swept up together, we quickly had a blaze.