THE FIGHT BEGINS AT GROVE-HILL MANSION
Colonel Hickman led the way; and, like most Kentuckians of good estate,
he rode an excellent horse. He hurried the animal beyond the capacity
of the two cavalry horses which had come into the possession of Deck
and Fronklyn, and he reached the avenue by the river considerably in
advance of the others. He rode into the opening, and disappeared behind
the trees.
By this time the lieutenant had an opportunity to examine this approach
to the mansion. The road was not more than thirty feet wide, with three
rows of trees on each side of it, so that it was really a grove
consisting of a variety of trees. It had evidently been laid out many
years before, for the ground was completely shaded. The mansion faced
the Millersville road, and in the rear of it was quite a village of
out-buildings.
The planter halted as soon as he was in the avenue, and waited till the
others joined him. After all that had been said about him by the sons,
he was willing to leave the management of the affair to Lieutenant
Lyon; for, young as he was, he had obtained some experience in
defeating and capturing such marauders as those who had taken
possession of the great house on the hill. The ruffians were after the
colonel's money; a gentleman as wealthy as he was reputed to be must
have a considerable sum on hand, as he had admitted, for the payment of
his ordinary expenses.
Deck had asked but few questions in regard to the situation, preferring
to inform himself more fully when he had seen the premises. The avenue,
or grove, was as the owner had described it. At the point where the
party had passed into it, the mansion could not be seen at all through
the dense foliage of the trees; and the approach to it was entirely
safe, even if the ruffians had placed some of their number on guard
outside of the dwelling. The covered road was not entirely straight,
for several bends and curves made it more picturesque than it would
otherwise have been.
It was certainly a very pleasant place for a ride on a warm day; and
the young lieutenant had taste enough to appreciate and admire it,
though under the circumstances he could not use much of his time in
examining its beauties, which he would have been pleased to do at a
more convenient season. Just then he looked at it as a strategist
rather than as a lover of art.
"I don't quite understand, Colonel Hickman, how you succeeded in
getting away from your mansion without having a bullet planted
somewhere in your head or body," said Deck, as he surveyed the
surroundings. "You came directly down the hill, and not through this
avenue."
"As I have told you before, I have been on the lookout for these
miscreants since their former visit, when they threatened to hang me to
one of my trees if I did not give up what money I had on hand," replied
the planter. "I was alone on the estate, and of course I could not
defend myself against ten men armed with rifles or muskets. I kept half
a dozen of my negroes on the watch upon the road, to notify me of their
coming. I had my horse saddled and bridled all the time. As soon as I
was informed that the ruffians were coming, I hastened to the stable,
mounted, and rode down the hill by the shortest way, in the direction
of the road to Harrison. I did not expect to obtain assistance before I
reached Jamestown, where I thought some of the Federal troops might be
posted. I was glad to find you at Cuffy's, and rejoiced to meet my sons
again."
"If there are ten of the ruffians, we shall still be outnumbered,"
added Deck. "But I hope we shall be able to outmanoeuvre them."
"My sons are riflemen, and they are dead shots at a long distance,"
said the colonel.
"I am aware of that, for I have seen them shoot with the rest of
Captain Ripley's men. I think we had better be on the march," added the
lieutenant. "We will send out a couple of pickets to feel the way for
us. Sergeant Fronklyn shall go for one, and with him one of your sons,
to show him the way and explain the situation."
"Warren shall accompany him, and can give him all the information he
needs," the planter decided.
The sergeant and the planter's son started the horses, and rode off at
full gallop; but they did not continue at this speed for more than
half-way to the top of the hill, and they soon disappeared at a bend in
the avenue. Deck and the rest of the party followed.
"I think we had better leave our horses here," said Fronklyn, as he
reined in his steed. "The sound of the horses' feet may betray us."
"I obey your orders, Sergeant; but the villains will not hear us at
this distance," replied Warren Hickman. "I have no doubt they are
looking for the money in the house."
At this suggestion they rode some distance farther; and, turning
another bend, Fronklyn discovered a three-story building at what
appeared to be the end of the avenue. He stopped his horse, and was
decidedly opposed to riding any farther. He could not yet see the
mansion; but through the trees he saw several other buildings.
"What is the three-story house?" asked the sergeant.
"That is the stable; but it is built on the side of the hill, and there
are only two stories on the front," replied Warren.
Both of the riders dismounted; and, after securing the horses to the
trees, they walked to the stable. The lower part was a cellar in the
side-hill, and appeared to be used as a place for storage. The
planter's son led the way into this apartment, and then mounted the
stairs leading to the middle story. There were half a dozen horses
there, and stalls for as many more. The doors were wide open, and the
pickets, or scouts, moved about very carefully.
Warren then looked out of the doors and windows; but not a person could
be seen, except some negro men and women, who appeared to be skulking
about the premises, apparently ready to run away in case of danger. The
sergeant and the rifleman had both unslung their firearms, and were
ready for business if they discovered any of the marauders. The
planter's son then ascended to the hayloft, and from the windows there
surveyed all that could be seen of the premises from them.
"We don't get ahead much," said Warren, as he descended the stairs. "I
must get at one of the servants, though they all seem to keep out of
harm's way."
"It is time for us to know the situation here," replied Fronklyn, as he
followed his companion down the stairs.
As a matter of precaution, Warren closed the great doors, though a
smaller one was left open on one side of them. They found that all the
horses in the stable were saddled and bridled for use. While he was
wondering what this meant, a dozen blacks rushed in through the open
door. They seemed to be greatly alarmed.
Adjoining the stable on each side were the carriage-houses; and Warren
hastened into one of them, supposing that the marauders were pursuing
them; but no enemy followed them. The negroes went into the stalls, and
began to lead out the horses.
"What does all that mean, Warren?" asked Fronklyn in a whisper.
"I don't know," replied the planter's son, as he cocked his rifle, and
returned to the stable. "What are you about here?" he demanded.
"Mars'r Warren!" exclaimed several of them.
"What are you going to do with the horses, Phil?" asked Warren.
"Who shut the big doors, Mars'r Warren?" asked Phil, who appeared to be
an upper servant of some kind.
"What are you going to do with the horses, Phil?" exclaimed the
planter's son angrily.
"I thought the robbers had got into the stable, and I wanted to save
the horses," replied the servant, breaking down at the tone of the
master's son.
"You are lying, Phil! You would not have dared to come into the stable
if you had supposed the robbers were here."
"We was gwine to run away on de hosses," added a very black fellow.
"Don't know who shut de big doors, Mars'r, if de robbers don't do it,"
said another, who was evidently a field-hand.
"I didn't think there was more'n one of them here," added Phil, as he
held up a revolver with which he had armed himself after the departure
of the planter. "I meant to kill him, and get away with the horses."
"Perhaps you would have done so."
"I do it for sure."
"Now, where are the robbers?" asked Warren.
"In the house. We don't see any for more'n half an hour. I think they
looked part of the house over to find the money, and then went
up-stairs to hunt for it," replied Phil, who appeared to be an
intelligent fellow, far superior to the rest of them.
"Very well; you may get on the horses, and ride down the avenue till
you meet the colonel," added the son of the planter. "Now, Sergeant, we
will find the condition of things in the house."
The negroes led all the horses down an inclined plane into the cellar.
This was not an uncommon device in large cities to economize space; but
the planter had caused it to be built for just such an emergency as the
present, and he had made his escape in this manner from the estate. The
terrified servants mounted the horses in the cellar, and entered the
avenue by the way Warren and the sergeant had left it.
The two scouts passed out of the stable by the same door. Keeping
behind the outbuildings, they reached the side of the mansion. Passing
entirely around it, they looked in at every window very cautiously; but
were unable to see a single guerilla on the lower floor. By an outside
door they went into the cellar of the dwelling. They found several
places where the earth had been dug up, but not a man was to be seen.
"Now, Warren, I am going up-stairs; and I should like to have you
return to the avenue, and bring up the rest of our party as quickly as
possible," said Fronklyn in a low tone.
"Up-stairs!" exclaimed the planter's son. "Do you mean to throw away
your life?"
"Not if I know myself; but I wish the lieutenant was here," replied the
sergeant, who had noted the stairs that led to the next floor.
"I will do as you say, Sergeant; but I hardly expect to find you alive
when I come back," answered Warren.
"I believe I can take care of myself; and I think these ruffians have
put themselves just where we want them," said Fronklyn, recalling the
strategy at Mr. Halliburn's mansion.
Warren left the cellar by the same way they had entered, and made his
way around the out-buildings to the avenue. Fronklyn stole up the
stairs, after he had removed his shoes, and looked into half a dozen
rooms on the first floor. The carpets had been partly torn up, the
furniture overturned and broken up, the closets ransacked, and abundant
other evidence that the search for money or other valuables had been
completed in this part of the mansion.
On the floors of the second story he could hear the tramp of shoes, the
cracking and snapping of furniture, and the rough speech of coarse men.
The search for money was still in progress; and the planter's son was
sure the marauders would not find that which they were seeking. The
money might be safe, but that was certainly not the case with the
mansion and furniture.
In the great hall, in a corner behind the front door, the sergeant
found a large steel safe, with its door wide open, and entirely empty.
The planter had evidently removed his valuables, including his books
and papers, to what he believed was a more secure depository for them.
The robbers had drawn it out from the corner, plainly to search behind
it for the hidden treasure. Fronklyn opened the front door of the
mansion, and then deposited himself behind the safe, the house door
concealing him on the open side.
His carbine was in condition for immediate use, and he had taken a
revolver from the horse he had ridden belonging to the trooper who had
perished in the river. The noise up-stairs continued, and he had become
somewhat impatient for the appearance of the rest of the party. He was
inclined to "open the ball;" but he concluded that it would be a piece
of rashness for him to do so, and he refrained from doing anything.
Between the door and the safe he obtained a full view of the head of
the staircase.
"There comes the planter!" shouted some one in the hall above.
"Hang him!" yelled another.
"Down-stairs all together!" cried the first speaker, who was perhaps
the leader of the ruffians.
He was the first to appear at the landing. Several voices repeated the
cry to hang the colonel. At that moment a shot was heard, and the first
ruffian came tumbling down the steps. The next instant the one behind
him shared his fate, and both of them lay motionless at the foot of the
stairs.
A moment later Deck rushed in through the open door, followed by the
three riflemen.