CHEERS FOR "THE STARS AND BARS."
If any boy who reads this series of books believes that secession was
the result of a sudden impulse on the part of the Southern people, he
has but to look into his history to find that he is mistaken. They had
not only been thinking about it for a long time, but, aided by some of
Buchanan's treacherous cabinet officers, they had been preparing for it.
The Secretary of the Navy ordered the best vessels in our little fleet
to distant stations, so that they could not be called upon to help the
government when the insurgents seized the forts that were scattered
along the coast; and the Secretary of War took nearly a hundred and
fifty thousand stand of arms out of Northern arsenals and sent them to
the South. He did it openly and without any attempt at concealment, and
the Southern papers publicly thanked him for so doing. The Mobile
_Register_ said, in so many words, that they were much obliged to Mr.
Floyd for "disarming the North and equipping the South."
After such acts as these on the part of government officials, it is not
surprising that private citizens began to take their local affairs into
their own hands. A regular system of espionage and ostracism was
established all over the South. Everybody who was known or suspected of
being opposed to slavery and disunion was not only closely watched, but
was denied admission to homes in which he had always been a welcome
visitor. Free negroes were given to understand that they could either
clear out, or remain and be sold into bondage. Northern men--even those
who had long been engaged in business in the South, and whose interests
were centered there--were looked upon and treated with contempt, and
their lives were made miserable in every way that the exasperated and
unreasonable people around them could think of.
But, of course, things did not stop here. These suspected persons very
soon became the victims of open violence. Some were taken out of their
houses at night and whipped; others were tarred and feathered; and more
were hanged by self-appointed vigilance committees, or killed in
personal encounters. Up to the time of which we write there had been
none of this violence in and around Barrington, but it was coming now.
Almost the first thing that attracted the attention of Rodney Gray and
his companions when they went into the post-office was a notice that had
been fastened upon the bulletin board. It took them a minute or two to
elbow their way through the crowd of men and boys who were gathered in
front of it, reading and commenting upon the startling intelligence it
contained, and when they succeeded they read as follows:
IMPORTANT NOTICE.
At a meeting of the citizens and voters of Barrington, held this day,
March 9, 1861, it was unanimously
_Resolved:_ That the excitement at present existing among the people
renders it prudent for us to appoint a committee of the citizens of
Barrington to recommend what measures (if any) should be adopted for the
purpose of suppressing any unlawful or riotous outbreak in the town; and
that the following named are hereby appointed a "_Committee of Safety_"
who are respectfully requested to adopt such measures, or to recommend
any measures for adoption by the citizens generally, as may seem to them
proper and necessary for the preservation of good order.
Then followed a long list, containing the names of nearly all the
prominent and wealthy men of the place.
"Humph!" exclaimed Dick Graham, contemptuously. "The fellows who got
this up wasted time and ink to no purpose. There has been no outbreak in
Barrington, and none threatened."
"How does it come that you are so well posted, Dick?" said a friendly
voice at his elbow; and when he faced about Dick's eyes met those of Mr.
Riley, one of the men whose names appeared on the list. "The gentlemen
who framed that resolution did not mean to convey the impression that
there had been any riotous proceedings in and around Barrington," he
continued. "But if they had desired to create an uproar and excite the
fears of the women and children, they might have said that there has
been an outbreak threatened; and it would have been nothing but the
truth. You boys, who are all the while shut up in the academy, can not
be expected to know all that is going on in the country."
"Who has threatened any outbreak?" inquired Dick incredulously. "And
when is it coming off?"
"Look here," said Mr. Riley, lowering his voice. "You remember the John
Brown raid, don't you?"
"Seems to me I have heard something about it. But you are not afraid of
him, are you?"
"I am not joking," replied Mr. Riley earnestly. "Brown laid out a
regular campaign before he started in at Harper's Ferry. He had a map,
and on it had marked several localities in which the negroes were
greatly in excess of the whites. Those towns and villages were to be
destroyed, after the blacks had been coaxed or forced into his army, and
Barrington was one of them."
"Well, what of it?" exclaimed Dick. "He didn't get here, did he?"
"Of course he didn't; but he spread such a spirit of discontent among
the niggers that we have been shaky ever since. And the events of the
last few weeks do not tend to quiet our fears, I assure you."
"When is this insurrection, or whatever you call it, coming off?"
"We don't know when to expect it, but we mean to be ready for it at any
hour of the day or night. We have positive evidence that there are about
half a dozen too many Abolitionists, and altogether too many free
niggers, in and around Barrington."
"When did you find it out?"
"We've always known it; but we never felt so very much afraid of them
before. I don't mind telling you, although I should not want to post it
on the town pump, that we have had spies out for the last three or four
days."
"That's what I thought you were getting at. But who are they?"
"There's Bud Goble, for one."
"Aw, Great Scott!" exclaimed Dick, and even Rodney looked disgusted. "I
hope you haven't put the least faith in anything that lazy, worthless
fellow has said to you."
"He may be too lazy to earn an honest living, but he is far from
worthless in an emergency like the present," replied the committeeman.
"He is with us all over, and has been very active since these troubles
began."
"I don't see why he should be so very active. He never owned the price
of a pickaninny in his life. But I'll tell you what's a fact, Mr. Riley:
Bud Goble has got something against every Northern man in Barrington and
for miles outside of it, and he will do anything or swear to any number
of lies--"
"Don't you give the Committee of Safety any credit for common-sense or
prudence?" demanded Rodney, who, although he appeared to be listening to
the conversation, was busy thinking over a project that had suddenly
suggested itself to him. "You don't suppose that anything will be done
to these suspected men until they have had a fair trial, do you?"
"That's the idea," said Mr. Riley, with a smile. "Rodney, you have your
share of common-sense, whether the committee have or not."
"A fair trial?" repeated Dick, who was like Marcy Gray in that he never
"pulled in his shingle one inch"; in other words, never backed down from
his principles, no matter who might hear what he had to say about them.
"Who'll try these suspected men? Judge Lynch; who will order them to be
strung up before they can say a word in their own defense. I tell you
such work is all wrong."
"Don't let your excitement run away with your reason, Dick," said Mr.
Riley soothingly. "There's been no innocent person harmed yet, and,
moreover, such a thing never happened in this county."
"No, but it is going on all over the South; and I tell you that there
are plenty of people of the Bud Goble stamp who would do the same thing
right here if they were not afraid," said Dick earnestly.
"Put him out! He's a traitor!" cried one of the academy boys; and "put
him out," was echoed from all parts of the post-office. But the boys who
uttered the words were all Dick Graham's friends, and an attempt to put
him out would certainly have resulted disastrously to somebody.
"Of course I understand that this is all sport," said Mr. Riley. "But
seriously, Dick, the time may come when it will be anything but safe for
you to express your sentiments with so much freedom."
"I assure you I appreciate your kindness in giving me a friendly word of
caution, and thank you for it," replied the boy, "but this is a free
country, and I shall say what I think, regardless of consequences. Wait
till the time for fighting comes and see--"
"See what?" interrupted Billings. "There isn't going to be any
fighting."
"Don't fool yourself. There'll be fighting before this thing is over,
and more than you redhot secessionists will want to see--mark that! And
when it comes we'll see who will do the most of it, I or men like Bud
Goble, who have taken advantage of this time of excitement to get
innocent folks into trouble."
Having had his talk out Dick turned to work his way to the window to get
his mail; but before he got there a wild shout arose from the crowd of
students who blocked his path, and a moment afterward a brand new
Confederate flag fluttered over their heads. Rodney Gray had received a
package from home and this was what he found in it.
"I say, Graham," he exclaimed, as soon as he could make himself heard,
"doesn't the sight of this make you ashamed of the sentiments you have
just uttered?"
"Not a bit of it," was the prompt response. "Missouri hasn't recognized
that flag yet. When she does, I will fight for it as long and as hard as
you will."
"Will you join us in a hurrah for it?" continued Rodney.
"No, I won't."
"Three cheers for the Stars and Bars!" shouted Ed Billings. "Long may
that flag wave, and may it never be polluted by the touch of a hated
Yankee."
The cheers that followed were not cheers; they were whoops and
yells--very much like those with which the charging Confederates so
often saluted our blue-coats on the field of battle. Dick had half a
notion to see if he could not get up a little counter-enthusiasm in
behalf of the Stars and Stripes, but was afraid the attempt might result
in failure; so after he had secured his mail, he went out on the porch
and sat down to read those acts of the Confederate Congress calling for
one hundred thousand volunteers, and ordering all who sympathized with
the North to leave the limits of the Confederacy within ten days. His
secession paper told him all about them, the editor enlarged upon and
applauded them, and Dick was forced to the conclusion that things were
getting serious; how serious, he little dreamed until four weeks more
had passed away.
Dick spent half an hour over his paper and letters, and then Rodney Gray
appeared. He had found a stick somewhere and fastened his flag to it.
Although these two boys had had some sharp verbal contests during the
last three months, they kept up an appearance of friendship, which was
real so far as Dick Graham was concerned. The latter could not "swallow
Rodney's disunion doctrines," as he often declared, but for all that he
had a sincere regard for him, and always spoke of him as one of the
finest fellows in school. Perhaps we shall see whether or not Rodney
paid him back in kind.
"Give it a cheer, why don't you?" said Rodney, waving his flag over
Dick's head. "Where in the world have you been?"
"Right here, waiting for you."
"Well, come up the road a piece. There's a squad there, and we have been
counting noses."
"How many noses do you want, and what do you want them for?" inquired
Dick, putting his paper into his pocket and getting upon his feet. "What
new nonsense are you up to?"
"There's no nonsense about this, I tell you. It's business. We want as
many noses as we can get, and the boys behind them must be true blue.
The fellows said I would be wasting time if I came after you, but I want
to hear you say so with your own lips before I shall believe it. You
have said more than once that if Missouri goes out and joins the
Confederacy, you will go with her, haven't you?"
"You bet, and I say so yet. My State, or any State, has the right to go
out of the Union as she came into it--of her own free will; and if those
fellows up North are going to fight to keep her in, I shall fight to
help her out. That's me; but you see Missouri hasn't yet--"
"I have heard that until I am tired of it," interrupted Rodney.
"Missouri hasn't gone out yet, but she's going; and in the meantime,
what about that flag at the academy? Are you in favor of letting it stay
there?"
"That depends entirely upon the colonel," answered Dick. "If he says
haul her down, down she comes. If he says let her stay up, up she stays.
That's me."
"And will you continue to march and drill under it, now that we have a
flag of our own?" demanded Rodney.
"That also depends. If the other boys drill under it and march after it,
I will. In fact, I don't know but I shall do it any way, whether the
others do or not. I don't know what you mean when you speak of a flag of
our own. I don't recognize that thing you are carrying over your
shoulder. The old flag is my flag, and will be as long as Missouri stays
in the Union. I don't see the least use in rushing things. You and your
friends are taking a good deal upon yourselves when you presume to act
in advance of the State."
"Well, you see what the business men of Barrington think of the
situation, don't you? That notice in the post-office looks and sounds
mighty innocent, but reading between the lines--"
"So you read between the lines!" exclaimed Dick. "I did the same, and I
tell you that that Committee of Safety is a fraud. Bud Goble has been
carrying tales about some innocent men whom, for personal reasons, he
does not like, and Mr. Riley and a few other hotheads are trying to find
some excuse for driving them out of town. There'll be outrages here the
first thing you know and they will be committed under cover of that
business men's meeting, and with the connivance of those whose names are
signed to that list."
"Do you mean to say that all those prominent men are such ruffians?"
cried Rodney, in great excitement. "Why didn't you say as much when you
were talking to Mr. Riley? You dared not do it."
"I didn't think of it; but I will wait here while you run back and tell
him."
Dick looked sharply at his companion as he said this, and was surprised
to see the usually self-possessed Rodney turn as red as a beet. It was
plain that he had been touched in some tender spot by these chance
words.
"What's he been up to?" was the question Dick Graham propounded to
himself. "If I had known that I was going to hit him as hard as that, I
wouldn't have said a word. He has been doing something sneaking, and I
did not think that of Rodney Gray." Then aloud he said: "I didn't mean
to hint that you would do such a thing, but you have been about
half-wild during the last few weeks, and I don't believe you know all
the time what you are doing."
"Well, if I'm crazy, I have the satisfaction of knowing that there are a
good many like me in the South," replied Rodney, with a light laugh; and
he uttered nothing but the truth. Taken as a body the Southern people
certainly acted as if they had lost their senses. Among all those who
rejoiced over South Carolina's reckless act there were few who saw that
"it was but the prelude to the most terrible tragedy of the age--the
unchaining of a storm that was destined to shake the continent with
terror and devastation, leaving the Southern States a wreck, and
sweeping from the earth the institution in whose behalf the fatal work
was done." You may be sure that Rodney Gray did not see this sad
picture, for just at that moment there were few things he could see
except the elegant silk banner that waved above his head, and which he
was determined to hoist at the academy flag-staff the very next
morning.
"Here are the fellows," he added, as he and Dick came up with the squad
who were gathered on a street corner waiting for them.
"And a fine-looking lot of lads they are," was Dick's comment. "Rebels
the last one of them."
"Washington was a rebel, young fellow," replied one of the students,
"and that is what he would be if he were with us to-day."
"Well, seeing that he isn't here to decide the matter, don't let's waste
time in talking about it," said Cole. "The question is, Is that flag at
the academy going to stay up or come down--which?"
"It's going to come down," replied Billings, very decidedly. "We've got
a handsomer flag to take its place. Let's cheer it, and see how many of
that crowd on the other side of the street will take off their hats to
it."
The cheers were given with a will; and this time Dick Graham joined
in--not because he cared a cent for the Stars and Bars, but just to help
make a noise. The result was all the boys could have desired. The cheers
were answered and hats were lifted in all directions, and handkerchiefs
and red, white, and blue rosettes were waved from the windows of
neighboring houses.
"Every one in sight made some demonstration," said Rodney gleefully.
"Dick, you are out in the cold."
"I don't feel very forlorn over it," was the reply. "How do you know but
that some of those who cheered your old rag are Union at heart? But what
are you fellows going to do, and what do you want of me?"
"We intend to hoist Rodney's flag on that tower to-morrow morning
immediately after roll-call, and we want to know if you are in."
"No; I'm not in. I'm out. That's me."
"There, Rodney," exclaimed one of the students. "I hope you are
satisfied now that you wasted time when you went after Dick Graham. He's
a Yankee."
"You're another," retorted Dick.
"Do you still claim to be neutral?"
"I do, for a fact. You see, Missouri--"
"Oh, Dick, have a little mercy on a fellow, and don't say that again,"
cried half a dozen voices at once.
"Well, then, what do you want me to say? I'll not help you pull down the
flag, if that is what you are after. I say, let her alone and she will
come down of herself when the sunset gun is fired."
"We don't want her to come down of herself," answered Rodney. "We want
the satisfaction of hauling her down."
"Very well, go and do it; but don't come to me whining over the broken
heads you will be sure to get before you are through with the business.
If you will let the orderly run her down, I will help steal her, so that
she can't be run up in the morning; but being neutral, Missouri not
having gone out of--"
"That scheme won't work at all," Rodney declared, with some disgust in
his tones. "Don't you know that the colonel takes charge of the bunting
every night?"
"I believe I have heard something to that effect."
"And don't you know that he keeps it locked in his bureau?" chimed in
Billings.
"Having been on duty at headquarters a time or two I am not ignorant of
the fact," answered Dick. "All I ask of you is to do as I say, and I'll
get the flag."
Of course the boys were impatient to know what they could do to help,
and Dick at once proceeded to unfold his plans; but as they will be
revealed presently we do not stop to tell what they were. Some of the
combative ones among the students did not like the scheme at all, for
there was not enough danger and excitement in it; and if it succeeded,
they would be deprived of the pleasure of listening to the praises which
they were sure the Barrington people would lavish upon them, when it
should become known that they had hauled the flag down after a desperate
battle with the Northern sympathizers who had tried to protect it. But
these were in the minority. The others had no desire to provoke a fight
with Marcy Gray and his friends, and it was finally decided that Dick's
plan was the safest and best.
"That rather interferes with your arrangements, Cole," said Ed Billings,
as the boys paired off and bent their steps toward the academy, Rodney
Gray leading, with the flag in his hand. "Those girls were particular to
say that the next time you came to see them you must bring word that the
flag had been hauled down. I don't know whether or not they will be
quite satisfied when you tell them that it was taken from the colonel's
room, after it had been pulled down in the proper way."
Cole wasn't certain on that point, either; but he had said all he could
against the adoption of Dick Graham's plan, and that was all anybody
could do.