A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING.
"You will go up to Six Roads and see what can be done?" he asked, while
his hopes sank lower and lower.
"I can't. Say, tell you what I will do. I am intending to start for
Washington to-day; but when I get through there, and it won't take me
more than a week. I will come back by way of the Six Roads. I wish I had
let the plaguey route alone."
"That will be too late to help me," said Little Snap.
"I tell you, you want to get out of it as quick as you can. Let this
Shag you speak of carry the mail until I can get around."
"I am afraid you do not understand the situation, Mr. Calvert. There is
some sort of a conspiracy to rob the government, and this Dan Shag is
one of those at the bottom of it."
"Oh, nonsense! you have your suspicions and jump at conclusions. It may
be that some of them are trying to crowd you a little, seeing you are a
boy, but we all have to put up with such things. We laugh at them when
we grow older. Come into the house and have some refreshments and a few
hours' sleep before you attempt your long journey home. Jove! you showed
good grit in undertaking it."
"I undertook it in the good faith that you would stand by me in this
affair, Mr. Calvert, and though it is worth something for me to know how
you feel about it, I am disappointed to find you do not care for the
welfare of the route, for whose success or failure you are really
responsible."
"You are pretty blunt, I will say that for you. I am inclined to think
you will be a hard one for them to bluff down."
"I shall stand up for my rights, Mr. Calvert, as long as I can. Can't
you come to Six Roads before you go to Washington? They are expecting
you."
"You said Mr. Warfield still stands by you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then, I think I can fix you all right. I will give you a note to him to
stand by you until I come to town, though I still advise you to get out
of it."
Little Snap saw that it was no use to urge him more, so he remained
silent, while Mr. Calvert hastily scribbled away on a slip of paper he
took from his pocket. When he had finished, he read:
"VOLNEY, Va., Sept. 18.
"MR. JASON WARFIELD, Union Six Roads, Va.
"DEAR SIR: Stand by the bearer of this, Mr. Dix Lewis, in his
troubles as far as you think prudent, until I can see you.
Your obt. servant,
MARION CALVERT."
"There, I think that will do the business. Sorry you don't feel like
coming in to rest until daylight. It's a long, lonesome ride before
you."
Thanking him, Little Snap took the piece of paper, and carefully placing
it in one of his pockets, he wheeled the horse about to start homeward.
"Hold on!" cried Mr. Calvert, as the postboy gained the road.
Little Snap turned the horse and galloped back into the yard, wondering
and hoping.
"I wanted to say that you will no doubt see the wisdom of my advice
before you get home."
"If that is all you have to say to me farther, Mr. Calvert," said our
hero, somewhat sharply, "I will bid you good-night! My name is at stake
in this matter, and I will know the right and the wrong of it before I
am driven out."
The postboy spoke more sharply than he intended, but the other's last
words had cut like a knife. Without waiting for a reply, he touched the
horse smartly with the spurs and sped down the road at a furious pace.
"I should know he was a Lewis if I hadn't heard his name," muttered the
mail contractor, as he watched the boyish rider out of sight. "I ought
to have known better than to have let him fool with the business at the
outset, but Rimmon said he could do it. Well, I must get ready for my
start to the capital."
His hopes crushed, so far as expecting any aid from Mr. Calvert was
concerned, Little Snap pursued his homeward journey with a gloomy mind.
Since midnight the sky had become overcast, so it was quite dark—too
dark for him to note his surroundings with any clearness.
The ride back as far as Mr. Renders' seemed shorter than he had
expected, and he found that gentleman awaiting his coming.
"You went pretty quick, but Jim don't show his journey a bit. I tell you
that horse can't be beat very easy. Pay? I don't want a red cent. I have
fed your horses, so they are all right to start. How'd you find Calvert?
He's cranky sometimes, but a fairly good sort of a fellow as men go.
Wish he might go to Congress rather than that old Warfield. Never liked
that old duffer; he's deceitful. Nothing of that kind about Cal. Hello!
Starting?"
While Mr. Renders had been running on in his sort of haphazard way,
Little Snap had put the saddle on Jack's back and sprung into the seat.
"I wish you would take pay for the use of your horse, Mr. Renders, but
if you won't, I am a thousand times obliged to you, and I hope I can do
you a favor some time. Good-night."
"He's right after his business!" said the other to himself, as the
clatter of horses' hoofs died out in the distance. "That boy is bound to
succeed."
Riding swiftly homeward, Little Snap was saying to his dumb companions:
"I have to fight my own battles, and this trip has been for nothing. No;
not for nothing, for I know just what to do now. You needn't crowd on
quite so hard, Jack; we have plenty of time."
Shifting from one animal to the other when he thought best, Little Snap
rode on through the night, unmindful of the gathering stormclouds,
though he kept a sharp gaze as he drew near the lonesome spot where he
had been accosted by the stranger.
Not a sound broke the deathlike silence, save the dull tramp of his
horses' feet, and with a feeling of relief he had soon left the place a
mile behind.
At Greenbrier the postboy shifted steeds, giving Jack another rest,
intending to return to him at Daring's Diamond.
No one was astir at this place yet, neither was there any sign of life
at Hollow Tree. But he hadn't gone a dozen rods beyond the Tree before a
sharp voice commanded him to stop, and he suddenly found his way blocked
with a body of armed men.
Three or four caught upon Fairy's bit with a force which dragged her
back upon her haunches, and Little Snap was nearly pulled from his seat.
Realizing his desperate situation, the postboy dextrously slipped the
bridle from the mare's head, at the same time shouting for her to rush
on. Rallying, she made the wild attempt, and Jack, having already
cleared a way through the party, she followed upon his heels.
Shots rang about the fleeing postboy's head, some of the bullets flying
uncomfortably near, but he fancied he was going to get away, when he
dashed furiously down the descent leading to Greenbrier bridge.
As he came in sight of the stream with its high, precipitous banks, a
cry of dismay left his lips. Every bridge plank had been removed, and
only the stringers spanned the dark chasm of foaming waters!
Retreat cut off, with no possible chance to ford the stream, Little Snap
saw at a glance that he was rushing into a veritable deathtrap!
The cries of his pursuers rang exultantly in his ears.