Herbert Miller, the young schoolteacher, when he heard the demand made
by Hank Sprowl, felt that he was in great danger. He realized that the
Tories were bad men, and that they might kill him, if they got hold of
him again. And as he had a young man’s desire to live, he made up his
mind not to let them get hold of him, if possible to avoid the
contingency.
The room Miller was in was at the front of the house, and that was the
reason he heard the words of the Tory. It was a starlight night, and
stepping to the window, the teacher looked out and downward. He saw
several dark forms standing before the house. There were six or seven of
the scoundrels, Miller decided, and that would be too many for him to
try to fight against, even with the assistance of Mr. Santon.
Furthermore, as the young man had no wish to get his friends into
trouble, he made up his mind that the best thing he could do would be to
make his escape.
With this idea in mind, he left the front room, and made his way into a
chamber at the rear. Opening the window, he looked out and about. There
was no one in sight, so the young man decided that he would be able to
leap to the ground and get safely away.
Climbing cautiously over the ledge, he seized hold of the window-sill
and lowered himself till he hung suspended at full length. Then he
relaxed his hold and dropped. He alighted on his feet all right and
unhurt, and turned to leave--when around the corner rushed four of the
Tories.
“Here he is!” yelled one. “Grab ’im, men.”
They dashed forward and seized Miller before he could make his escape,
and although he fought desperately, he was overpowered. The rest of the
gang came rushing around the corner, just as the four had gotten the
better of the teacher, and his arms were quickly tied together behind
his back.
They conducted him around to the front of the house, and Sprowl calling
Mr. Santon to the door gave him a rough talking to. “If ever we ketch ye
harborin’ or helpin’ another rebel, John Santon, we’ll drive ye out uv
ther country. D’ye hear?” he said in conclusion.
“Yes, I hear,” was the reply. There was an angry look on Mr. Santon’s
face, but he did not say much, for he realized that it would not take
many words from him to cause the ruffians to seize him and give him a
rough handling, the same as they likely intended doing with Miller. He
did ask, however, what they proposed doing with the teacher.
“Oh, thet’s our bizness,” was the reply.
“We’re goin’ to try to do enuff, this time, to discourage him frum
tryin’ to stay aroun’ in this part of the country, though. Ye may be
sure uv thet.”
Then they set out through the woods, Miller in their midst. “Don’t worry
about me, Mr. Santon,” the teacher called back over his shoulder. “They
won’t dare do me serious injury.”
“Oh, won’t we, hey?” growled Sprowl. “Wai, mebby ye’ll change yer mind
afore we git through with ye.”
“Oh, father, I’m afraid they’ll kill him!” half-moaned Lizzie, when the
group had disappeared amid the trees.
“I don’t hardly think they will dare do that, Lizzie,” was the sober
reply. “But I fear they will give him rough treatment.”
“Can’t we prevent it somehow, father?” There was great eagerness in the
voice of the girl. It was evident that she was deeply moved. The fact
was, that she thought a great deal of Herbert Miller. And he, on his
part, thought a great deal of Lizzie Santon.
Mr. Santon shook his head. “I’m afraid we can’t, Lizzie,” he said.
“There are seven of them.”
“But, we can take our rifles, and follow them, father, and if they go to
injure Mr. Miller, we can shoot some of them. I can shoot as good as any
man, you know, father.”
Mr. Santon hesitated a few moments, and then said: “Very well, Lizzie.
We’ll follow them, and perhaps we may be able to drive them away, if
they try to injure Mr. Miller. Let’s hurry, or they’ll get so far away
we won’t be able to follow them.”
He seized his rifle, and the girl did the same. With a few words to Mrs.
Santon, they left the house, and set out through the timber. But they
had gone only about fifty yards, when a rough voice challenged them.
“Stop whar ye are!” called the voice, threateningly. “Ef ye come any
furder, we’ll plug ye. Hank said as how mebby ye’d try to foller us, an’
made us stay behin’ to watch fur ye. Now, ef ye value yer lives, ye’ll
turn aroun’ an’ go right back ter the house, an’ stay thar. Ye hear?”
“We may as well go back, Lizzie,” said her father. “They’ll shoot us if
we try to follow now.”
“Thet’s what we will, Santon. Ye’re talkin’ sense. Git back to ther
house, now, an’ stay thar. Ef ye come out ag’in, we’ll shoot furst an’
mebby talk arterwards.”
“Come, Lizzie,” said Mr. Santon, sadly, and they turned and went back to
the house.
“Sprowl left a couple of his men to watch and prevent us from
following,” explained Mr. Santon to his wife, and Lizzie, with tears of
disappointment in her eyes, went up to her room.
In the meantime, Sprowl and four of his companions--he had, as we know,
left two men behind to watch Santon’s house--made their way onward till
they had gone about two miles, and then they came to a log cabin in a
hollow. There was a thick growth of trees and many clumps of bushes all
around, which would make it difficult for a chance passerby to see the
cabin, even though his path led within a short distance of it.
Here the ruffians stopped, and Sprowl ordered that Miller be stripped to
the waist.
“We giv’ ye a coat uv tar an’ feathers, ther other time,” he said, “but
this time we’re goin’ to give ye ther blamedest lickin’ ye ever got in
your life. Tie ’im to that tree, boys.” The last words to his men, who
had already quickly divested the teacher of his clothing, and he stood
there, naked to the waist.
“You will be sorry for this, Hank Sprowl!” said Miller. “You had better
not commit this outrage.”
“Shut up,” was the brief reply. “Ye’re goin’ ter git a lickin’ ye’ll
remember to yer dyin’ day, an’ then ye’ hev twenty-four hours to leave
ther country in. Get the switches, men, an’ begin.”
A bundle of switches was produced from the nearby cabin, and a couple of
the ruffians took each a heavy switch, several feet in length.
Stationing themselves on either side of their intended victim, they
lifted the switches and held them poised, waiting for the word from
Sprowl to strike.
“Ready?” said Sprowl. “Go ahead. Give ’im a lickin’ thet’ll last ’im a
lifetime.”
Herbert Miller set his teeth and waited.