"Is that the n.i.g.g.e.r"s name?"
"Yes. Columbus Washington."
"The guerrillas will take care of him."
"Do you mean to say they will shoot him?"
"What if they do? n.i.g.g.e.rs don"t count in this world."
"I think you are a monster, Dr. Mackey!" exclaimed our hero, in horror.
"To kill a negro is as much murder as to kill anyone else."
"I won"t discuss the subject. The question is, will you go along peacefully with me?"
"I will not. You have no right to abduct me in this fashion."
"I have a right to do as I please with my own son."
"Again I say I am not your son. Do you know what I think? I think you are nothing but a swindler--a rascal who wishes to use me as a tool, in order to get hold of some fortune coming to me or to somebody else."
Dr. Mackey glared at Jack for a moment, then leaped forward and struck our hero a cruel blow in the face.
"That for your impudence!" he cried wrathfully. "After this, keep a civil tongue in your head."
The blow made Jack"s blood boil, but he was helpless to resent it. "You are a coward, to hit me when I am tied like this," he said. "But some day, Dr. Mackey, I may be able to square accounts, and then you had better beware."
One of the guerrillas now came forward to consult with the surgeon, and Jack was left with the other prisoners, to meditate over what had been said and done.
"He"s de wust rascal wot I eber seen," whispered Old Ben sympathetically. "Wot a pity he wasn"t shot down in de fust battle wot he eber got into!"
"He wants to take us both out of the country, Ben."
"Wot, away from ole South Carolina?"
"Yes--on a trip on the ocean."
"I don"t want to go, Ma.s.sah Jack."
"No more do I; but how can we help ourselves?"
"I wish dis n.i.g.g.ah could git free, Ma.s.sah Jack."
"We must try our best to escape to-night. If we don"t do it to-night, I reckon our last chance will be gone."
"Ise willin" ter do all I kin," answered Old Ben, and the other negro said the same.
With the setting of the sun over the mountains a strong breeze sprang up, and presently the sky was obscured by heavy clouds. Dr. Mackey had gone off half an hour before.
"We"re in fer a heavy storm," Jack heard one of the guerrillas say.
"It"s a good thing we can crawl into the cave when it comes."
"If they come in here our chances of escape will be slim," thought our hero.
The approaching storm made it very dark in the cave, and during this time he worked with energy at his bonds.
At last he was free, and without making any noise he rolled over and released Old Ben and Columbus Washington.
Suddenly there was a shout from outside.
A guerrilla on guard had discovered a man on the trail, with two horses loaded with store goods.
"Here"s a chance fer a haul!" was the cry.
The guerrillas ran outside, and soon the majority of them were making after the traveler.
Only two were left on guard, and one of these was more than half overcome by the liquor he had imbibed.
"Now is our chance!" whispered Jack, as he tiptoed his way to the cave entrance. "Ben, you and I will pounce upon that man with the gun.
Columbus, you silence the fellow sitting on the rock. We must not let them cry for aid."
The negroes understood the plan, and in a moment more the party of three were upon the guerrillas. While Jack seized the gun of the one, Old Ben caught him from behind and placed a large hand over his mouth.
"Silence, on your life!" said Jack, and leveled the gun at the rascal"s head. The man understood and, when allowed to breathe, said not a word.
To capture the half tipsy sentinel was likewise easy, and after both were disarmed they were ordered to enter the cave.
"If you make the least outcry we"ll come back and shoot you," said Jack.
Then he motioned to the two negroes, and all three set off on a run down the mountain side. They heard a rifle shot to the right, and consequently moved to the left.
The storm now burst over the mountains in all of its fury, with vivid flashes of lightning and sharp cracks of thunder. As they proceeded they heard the distant falling of one tree or another, as the giants of the forest were laid low by the elements.
"I dun rackon da won"t follow us in dis yeah storm," remarked Old Ben, as they stopped after a while, to catch their breath. "Da will be fo"
gittin" back to de cabe an" stayin" dar."
"I hope that traveler escaped them," answered Jack. "But those gun-shots sounded dubious."
"De gorillas ought all to be hung!" came from Columbus Washington. "Da aint no sodgers, no matter if da do w"ar a uniform."
"They are outlaws, pure and simple," answered Jack. "But come, we must go on. Ben, how far are we from home, do you calculate?"
"Six or seben miles, Ma.s.sah Jack."
"Then we have a good, stiff walk before us."
"Do yo" t"ink yo" can walk dat far, Ma.s.sah Jack, in dis awful storm?"
"I can, unless the rain sets in harder. I am anxious to get back, you know."