The distance that Milton Derr had to go to reach the New Pike gate, from
where the raiders halted and held parley, was but a short one, measured
by paces, yet during that brief ride many irrelevant things came
crowding fast upon his memory--indeed, it seemed that his whole life's
history was swiftly reviewed in that brief period.
His boyhood days arose to his mind--those careless, happy days of early
youth that were spent amid the wild, sweet freedom of the hills, from
which he had just now ridden--the old schoolhouse in Alder Creek glen,
that unforgotten spot where pretty Sally Brown had first ensnared his
boyish heart and held it a willing captive ever since.
He recalled to mind the sharp pangs of jealousy Jade Beddow took a
delight in arousing in his youthful bosom by showing marked attention to
the object of their mutual admiration--then of gloomier matters, his
mother's illness and her death, which had wrung his heart with the
bitterest grief that had ever crept into his young life. There came to
mind a memory of the subsequent home with his uncle--a home that meant
little else than a mere shelter, and an opportunity for much hard work,
for the Squire was a grasping man, close and calculating, and required
of every one the last atom of effort.
Most clear in his memory was that eventful day when his uncle first
learned that the smiles of the pretty toll-taker were rather for the
nephew than for the uncle, and this discovery seemed suddenly to change
the Squire's indifference toward his ward into an intense hatred, which
smoldered for a while, then at last broke forth into a fierce flame of
passion, when there was a bitter quarrel, and the young man was driven
from his uncle's roof, and went back to live amid his native hills once
more.
When Milton Derr made up his mind to join the raiders, he was actuated
by the two strongest passions that sway the human heart--love and hate.
The first and uppermost one urged him to join the band in order that he
might be able to influence the members to spare the New Pike gate, for
the present, at least; the second made it evident that, by aiding in the
general destruction of toll-houses throughout the county, and the
abolishment of tolls, he would be in a position to do his kinsman much
damage, and affect the most vulnerable spot in evidence--his pocket.
Thus, in Derr's bosom, love and hate held almost equal sway.
All these things passed in hurried view through the rider's excited
mind, like a fleeting panorama, brief, yet clear and intense as the
glimpse of a surrounding landscape seen by the flash of the lightning's
path across the starless heavens.
He once more recalled to mind the conversation that his sweetheart had
overheard and repeated to him, which had taken place between his uncle
and some unknown man upon the public highway. Could this mysterious
person have been Jade Beddow, and had they arranged it between them to
have him sent forward so that he might be shot, or taken prisoner? This
was evidently the trap that had been so adroitly set, and into which he
was now riding, though not without protest.
Won to this belief, he still rode onward unflinchingly toward the
toll-house now looming up before him like a ghostly warning, and dimly
outlined against the cold gray midnight sky.
Nature herself seemed steeped in profound slumber at this wan, late
hour, and neither life nor movement was visible about the place. The
solitary horseman appeared to be the only living object in all that
cheerless, dimly-defined landscape. There was no sign of danger on any
hand, no suspicious movement of a lurking enemy. The deep silence of
night's midhour brooded over the quiet scene, and its peace fell heavily
upon it like the mantle of darkness round about.
The lone rider began to look about him with growing confidence. It was
all so quiet, so still, so filled with the hush of midnight--surely the
monition he had received that the gate would be guarded must have been
built on mere rumor without the foundation of fact.
When he came to the gate, he found the pole up, as it was wont to be at
so late an hour of the night, and after pausing a brief moment, thinking
tenderly of one within the darkened toll-house, he passed from under
the raised pole, and rode a short distance along the road.
Once again he paused, and looked back, and listened. No sight or sound
betrayed the presence of guard or officer. It must be that the posse had
failed to materialize, believing the rumor of an impending attack mere
idle talk. With a feeling of relief the horseman raised a whistle to his
lips and blew a sharp call as a signal that the raiders might advance.
In quick response the clatter of many hoofs came beating down the road
in rhythmic measure.
Suddenly--breaking harshly into the musical ring of the hurrying
hoof-beats--rang the discordant note of a shot from out the darkness,
and quick upon it came another, while the advance rider, startled and
surprised by its unexpectedness, heard the bullet singing keenly past
his ear.
An answering fire from the oncoming raiders, shooting at random, seeking
an unseen and hidden foe, awoke the echoes, and speedily a volley of
shots from both raiders and guards filled the quiet night with
tumultuous sounds.
For a brief space of time Derr sat motionless on his horse, making no
effort to escape, stunned by the surprise of his attack, then realizing
that a fight was really on, that the gate was under guard, and, despite
his warnings, the band had gotten themselves into a jeopardous
situation, while he, being a sworn member, must now stand or fall with
it. He turned quickly about and dashed back to join his comrades.
The first shot had been the premature discharge of a gun in the hands of
a nervous guard, who had fired before the raiders had reached the spot
where the men lay in waiting.
This, coupled with the fact that the stone wall behind which the guards
were concealed, was on a stretch of ground sloping from the road, caused
the later volley of shots fired on the raiders to speed harmlessly
overhead, while the raiders' answering fire was quite as futile.
The latter had been quick to respond to their unseen assailants, and had
pressed on, reassured by the first single shot, but when met by a
determined volley, the captain gave orders for a hasty retreat, quickly
realizing that the band had ridden recklessly into an ambush, and that
the odds were greatly against his men.
As the raiders turned, the advance rider dashed back to join them.
Several bullets sang a keen note of danger as he galloped by, but he was
unscathed.
A little beyond the gate one of the riders fell, or was thrown from his
horse, which seemed to stumble, then quickly regain his feet, and,
riderless now, dashed along the road after the retreating band.
As Milt came up, he suddenly checked his horse at the spot where the
accident occurred, for the fallen man had risen to his feet, and was
sorely in need of succor, since his horse had taken flight without him.
As he stood in the road, a dark shadow on a light background, seemingly
dazed and uncertain what to do, Derr pulled up alongside, and bracing
himself in his stirrups, leaned forward and cried hurriedly, "Leap up
behind me!"
The man quickly obeyed, though clumsily, for his right arm appeared to
be of little service to him, but with the mounted man's assistance he
managed to climb up behind, and throw one arm around his deliverer, then
both men bowed low over the saddle, yet not a moment too soon to avoid
a parting volley fired at the two on the fleeing horse.
"The rest rid off an' left me, but you risked your life to take me up,"
muttered Steve Judson, as they galloped on through the night. "Milt
Derr, I promise you I won't forget tonight."
"That's all right; hang on!"