THE WISH GRATIFIED.
Marcy Gray slept like a boy who had eaten heartily of mince pie for
supper, that is, uneasily. But still he must have slumbered soundly or
he would have heard the faint scream and the hoarse, muffled voice that
came up from his mother's room shortly after midnight, or been awakened
by the swift rush of the two figures who hastened up the stairs and
through the wide-open door into his room. The figures were there, but
the first Marcy knew of it was when one turned up the lamp and the other
laid a heavy hand upon his shoulder. Then he opened his eyes and tried
to sit up, but was pressed back upon his pillow at the same instant that
the cold, sharp muzzle of a revolver was put against his head.
"Keep still now, you pore white trash, and you is all right," said the
man who held the revolver. "Make a noise, and you is all wrong, kase
you'll be dead quick's a cat can bat her eye. You heah me? Git up!"
[Illustration: THE MASKED ROBBERS.]
Any sense of fear that might have come upon Marcy Gray, if he had been
given time to think twice, was lost in profound astonishment. The man
talked like a negro; but in those days negroes were not given to doing
desperate deeds of this sort. Hardly realizing what he was doing, Marcy
threw off the bedclothes and sat up; and as he did so, the man who had
turned up the lamp snatched the pillows from the bed and took possession
of the brace of revolvers he found under them. Marcy looked at the
pillows that were flung upon the floor, and saw that there were dark
stains on both of them. He took short, searching glances at the two men,
and saw the white showing through the black on their faces. By this time
he was wide awake, and trying to nerve himself for the ordeal he saw
before him.
"Git up an' climb into them dry-goods of yourn" commanded the robber,
standing first upon one foot and then on the other, and swaying about
after the manner of a field hand who had suddenly found himself in an
embarrassing situation. "Git into 'em lively. I tol' you, chile. I is de
oberseer now, an' you is de niggah. Hustle 'em on."
"How do you expect me to dress rapidly with only one hand to work with?"
demanded Marcy, who was not frightened out of his senses, even if he was
powerless. "You must give me a little time."
"Well den, what for you go in the wah an' fight the Yankees what want to
give us pore niggahs our freedom?" said the robber. "You done got your
arm broke, an' it serves you jes right. Wisht it had been your head."
Marcy dressed in much less time than he generally did, and when he had
thrown his coat over his shoulders and slipped his well arm into one of
the sleeves, he was ready to follow the robbers downstairs and into the
cellar; for he thought that was where he would have to go sooner or
later. He drew a long breath of relief when he was conducted into the
sitting-room, where his mother was waiting for him guarded by two more
robbers, whose hands and faces were covered with something that looked
like shoe-blacking. Although she was pale she did not appear to be badly
frightened, for she smiled pleasantly as the boy seated himself on the
sofa by her side, and said:
"I hope they did not handle you very roughly, Marcy."
"Oh, no; they didn't put a hand on me."
"An' what's more, missus, we aint going to, if you do jes like we tell
you," said the robber who had thus far done the talking. "You white
folks is rich, an' we black ones is pore. You've got money, an' we aint
got none."
"And you want us to give you some, I suppose," added Marcy, putting his
hand into his pocket and drawing forth the small buckskin purse in which
he carried his change. "There's my pile. How much have you, mother?"
"Look a-here!" exclaimed the man, forgetting himself in his rage and
speaking in his ordinary tone of voice. "That won't go down. You've got
more, an' we know it; an' if you don't trot it out without no more of
this foolishness----"
"So far as I know, these purses contain every cent of money there is in
the house or about it," interrupted Marcy, taking both the articles in
question in his hand and extending them toward the robber. "The darkies
may have some, but if they have I don't know it."
With a muttered curse the man hit Marcy's hand a heavy blow and sent the
purses flying to the farthest corner of the room. He expended so much
strength in the blow that he almost pulled the boy from his seat on the
sofa, and drew an involuntary exclamation of surprise and indignation
from his mother.
"Look a-here, ole woman! You'll say 'Oh, my dear boy!' a good many times
afore we uns is done with you if you don't trot out that money,"
declared the robber, in savage tones. "We know jes what we're doing, an'
you might as well give in without wasting no more time over it. Where is
it? I ask you for the last time."
"It is in those purses," replied Marcy. "If you want it, go and pick
them up. You knocked them there."
"We'll take some of that there sass out of you in two minutes by the
watch," snarled the robber, glancing up at the heavy chandelier which,
depended from the center of the high ceiling. "Where's that rope, Jim?
Do you reckon that there thing will pull out or not?"
"What are you ruffians going to do?" gasped Mrs. Gray, when she saw the
man Jim pull a rope from his pocket.
"We're going to see if we can choke some sense into this boy of yourn,"
was the answer. "If you don't want to see him hung up afore your face
an' eyes, make him tell where that money is. We uns have got to have it
afore you see the last of us."
Mrs. Gray turned an appealing look upon Marcy, who said stoutly:
"I told nothing but the truth when I said that there is no money in the
house except the little in those purses. Why don't you men look around
and satisfy yourselves of the fact?"
"We aint got time, an' more'n that, we've knocked off work for the
night. Throw one end of the rope over that thing up there, an' make a
running noose in the other. I said I wouldn't ask him agin, an' I meant
every word of it."
Things began to look serious, and the resolute expression on Marcy's
pale face showed that he understood the situation. His mother knew he
told the truth that he had secretly removed her treasure to another
hiding-place, and she longed to throw herself upon his neck and beg him
to tell what he had done with it. But she did not do it, for that would
only have made matters worse. It would have encouraged the robbers and
disheartened the boy, who was so calmly watching the preparations that
were being made to pull him up by the neck. He knew that the men were
working on a supposition; that they had no positive proof that there was
money in the house; and hoped that they would soon weary of their
useless demands, or that something would frighten them away. But he was
obliged to confess to himself that neither contingency seemed likely to
happen. The robbers acted as though they were in earnest, and there was
nothing to interfere with their work. None of the servants had showed
themselves, and even Julius and Bose, who never failed to be on hand
when there was anything unusual going on, had not once been seen or
heard. The house was as silent as if it had been deserted. After a few
unsuccessful attempts the man Jim managed to throw the rope over one of
the branches of the chandelier at the same time that a second robber
finished the work of putting a running noose on the other end.
"Now I reckon we're about ready for business," said the leader grimly.
"Mebbe you'd best bear down on it first, Jim, to see if the thing will
hold you up."
Jim's prompt obedience came near costing him his life. Seizing the rope
with both hands he jerked his knees up toward his chin and swung himself
clear of the floor; whereupon the hook which held the chandelier, and
which was not intended to support so heavy a weight, was torn from its
socket and the ponderous fixture came down upon the head of the robber,
crushing him, bleeding and senseless, to the floor. But the room was not
left in darkness, as Marcy wished it had been; for the single lamp that
lighted it was on a side table, safely out of the way. Every one in the
room was struck motionless and speechless with amazement and alarm, and
if Marcy Gray had only had two good hands to use, the disaster to the
robber band would have been greater than it was. Their leader was so
nearly paralyzed with astonishment that a quick, dexterous fellow, such
as Marcy usually was, could have prostrated and disarmed him with very
little trouble; but under the circumstances it would have been foolhardy
to attempt it.
As was to have been expected, Mrs. Gray was the first to recover herself
and the first to act. In less than two seconds after the robber struck
the floor she was by his side, trying with both hands to remove the
chandelier from his prostrate form. The sight brought Marcy to his
senses.
"Are you lubbers going to stand there and let the man die before your
eyes?" he shouted. "Why don't you bear a hand and get him out?"
These words proved to be almost as magical as the "whistle shrill" with
which Roderick Dhu was wont to summon his Highland clan. Before they had
fairly left Marcy's lips the boy Julius danced into the room through the
door that led into the hall, shouting at the top of his voice:
"Here dey is! Here dey is! Shoot----" Then he stopped stock still, and
rolled the whites of his eyes toward the wreck in the middle of the
floor--the shattered lamps, the broken chandelier with the robber's legs
sticking out from under it--and finished by saying, "Dere's a muss for
de gals to clean up in de mawnin. Why don't you shoot 'em?"
Almost at the same instant the doorway behind the prancing darky was
filled by armed and masked men, who filed rapidly into the apartment,
turning right and left along the wall to give their companions in the
rear room to follow them. Not a word was said or a thing done until a
dozen or more had entered, and then the robbers were disarmed, without
the least show of resistance on their part, and the heavy chandelier was
lifted off their injured and still senseless comrade. It was all done in
less than two minutes, and the rescuers were about to pass out, as
quickly and silently as they came, taking the robbers with them, when
Mrs. Gray said:
"Will you not tell us who you are, so that we may know whom to thank for
the inestimable service you have rendered us?"
"We are friends," replied a voice that was plainly disguised.
"We know it; and if that is all you care to have us know, of course we
shall have to be satisfied with it," said Marcy, who had received a
slight nod from one of the masked men, whom he took to be Aleck Webster.
"But it's mighty poor consolation not to be able to call our friends by
name. I wish you would do me another friendly act by going through that
wounded robber's pockets and getting my revolvers back for me. They
jumped on to me and took them away before I was fairly awake."
This request was quickly and silently complied with, and then the masked
men started out again, taking the four would-be robbers with them. Mrs.
Gray wanted much to ask what they intended to do with the prisoners, but
a look and a few words from Marcy checked her.
"Let us show our gratitude by respecting their wishes and asking no
questions," said he earnestly. "They have saved me from a choking, and
if they ever want anything I can give them, I know they will not
hesitate to let me know it. Good-night, friends, if you will not tell us
what else to call you."
A dozen voices, which sounded strange and hollow under the thick white
masks that covered the faces of the rescuers, responded "good-night,"
and Marcy, filled with gratitude for his deliverance, stood on the porch
at the side door and saw them disappear down the lane that led through
the almost deserted negro quarter. Then he walked around to the front
door to see what had become of Bose, and discovered him curled up in his
usual place on the mat.
"You rascal!" he exclaimed. "What do you mean by lying here fast asleep,
while----"
Marcy's impulse was to kick the dog off the mat in the first place and
off the porch in the second; but remembering how faithfully the devoted
animal had served him in the past and that this was his first offence,
he bent over and grasped him by the neck, only to let go his hold the
very next instant. Bose was stiff and cold--as dead as a door nail.
"Poisoned!" ejaculated Marcy. "And to think that I was on the point of
kicking the poor beast! I deserve to be kicked myself for doubting him.
The chap who rode into the yard to-night to inquire the way to Nashville
is the villain who is to blame for this. He is the fellow who captained
the robbers to-night, and no doubt he was feeding Bose something, when I
thought he was trying to quiet him. Poor old Bose!"
The boy's heart was heavy as he faced about and went into the house,
where he found his mother pacing the floor, more frightened and agitated
now than she had been at any time while in the presence of the robbers.
She laid her head on Marcy's shoulder, and cried softly as he put his
arm around her and led her to a seat.
"What's the good of taking on so now that the trouble is all over?" said
he. "But that's always the way with a woman. She will stand up to the
rack when there is need of it, and cry when there is nothing to cry for.
What's the use of doing that?"
"Marcy," said his mother, "did I not tell you to let that money alone?"
"No, ma'am; you said you were afraid that if I tried to take it to a new
place some one would catch me at it; but I wasn't afraid. I was sure I
could do it without being seen, I knew you would sleep better if it was
put somewhere else, and so, while you and every one on the plantation,
except the man who was helping me, were in the land of Nod, I took the
bags out of the cellar wall and put them where nobody will ever think of
looking for them. Whenever you want any of it say the word, and I will
see that you get it; and in the meantime, if you are asked where it is,
you can truthfully say that you don't know."
"But, Marcy, the events of the night, which seem more like a terrible
dream than a reality, prove conclusively that the story has got abroad;
and I don't see how I can muster up the courage to pass another night in
this house," said Mrs. Gray with a shudder. "How could they have got in
without alarming Bose?"
"Poor old Bose will never act as our sentry again," replied the boy,
with tears of genuine sorrow in his eyes; and then he went on to tell
how he had found the companion and friend of his childhood dead at his
post, and his mother said that she would willingly surrender the money,
that had been nothing but a source of trouble to her ever since she drew
it from the bank, if by so doing she could bring Bose back to life
again.
"What bothers me quite as much as his death is the thought that I wanted
to hurt him because he did not awaken me," said Marcy. "And one thing I
should like to have explained is how those masked men happened to be on
the watch on this particular night, and get here as they did just in the
nick of time. I tell you, mother, I was glad to see the chandelier knock
that villain endways, and if I could have snatched the weapon the robber
captain had in his hand, I would have made a scattering among them."
"I don't suppose you have any idea who the robbers were?"
"I am sure I never saw one of them before. I didn't pay much attention
to their voices, for I knew they would not betray themselves by talking
in their natural tones, but I took notice of the way they acted and
carried themselves, and was obliged to put them down as strangers. They
do not belong about here."
"Marcy, you frighten me!" cried Mrs. Gray. "You surely do not wish me to
think that some of our neighbors brought them here to rob us?"
"That is what I think myself, and there is no use in denying it. Didn't
Shelby and Beardsley take particular pains to tell us that they would be
away from home to-night? Hallo, there!" exclaimed Marcy, who just then
caught sight of the boy Julius standing in a remote corner, pulling his
under lip and gazing ruefully at the ruins of the chandelier. "What do
you mean by keeping so quiet when you know that I want to have some
serious talk with you? Come here, sir."
Julius had learned by experience that when he was addressed in this
style he was to be taken to task for something, probably for lying or
stealing. He could not remember that he had been guilty of telling lies
very lately, but as for picking up things he had no business to touch
that was a different matter. When Julius was certain that he knew what
the offence was for which he was to be reprimanded, he always tried to
make it lighter by offering some sort of a confession; and he did so in
this instance.
"I know I aint going steal it, Marse Marcy," he began, putting his hand
into his pocket. "I jes want look at it and den I going give it back."
"So you've got it, have you?" said Marcy, who had not the slightest idea
what the black boy meant. "I knew I'd find it out sooner or later. Give
it to me, sir!"
The boy took his hand out of his pocket and placed in Marcy's extended
palm a bright, new fifty-dollar gold piece. Mother and son looked at
each other in silent amazement, both being startled by the same
suspicion. Cautious as he thought he had been, Marcy had not succeeded
in removing the money from the cellar to a new hiding-place without
being seen. Julius knew all about it.
"What for dey make all dem sharp corners on dar?" asked the boy,
pointing to the gold piece. "What for dey don't make 'em roun' like all
de res'?"
"Where are the rest?" demanded Marcy. "Hand them out."
Julius obeyed, but this time he produced a twenty-dollar piece.
"Go on. Pull out some more," said Marcy.
"Dat's all," replied the boy. "When de bag bus' you and ole Morris pick
up all but two, and dere dey is."
Marcy remembered now, although he might never have thought of it again,
how startled he was when one of the little bags in which his mother's
treasure was packed became untied in his hand, and the gold pieces
rattled down upon the hard floor of the cellar. The coachman, who was
working with him, was prompt to extinguish the lantern, while Marcy
alternately groped for the money and sat up on his knees and listened
for the sound of footsteps on the floor overhead. It seemed to him that
all in the house ought to have been aroused by the racket, but when he
became satisfied that such was not the case, the lantern was again
lighted and the work went on. He thought he had picked up all the
pieces, but it seemed he hadn't. And where was the boy Julius when this
happened? That was a point that could be cleared up at some future time;
but just now Marcy wanted to talk about something else.
"Where were you when those robbers came into the house?" he inquired.
"Were you in bed!"
"Oh, no, sar; I wasn't in bed," replied Julius.
"Where were you?"
"I was out dar," said the boy, giving his head a circular nod, so as to
include nearly all the points of the compass at once.
"Out where?"
"Jest out dar in de bresh."
"Julius," said Marcy, getting upon his feet, "are you going to answer me
or not?"
"Oh, yes sar," exclaimed the boy, backing off a step or two. "I going
answer ebery question you ax me. I was jest out in de gyarden."
"What were you doing out there at that time of night?"
"Nuffin, sar."
"Did you see the robbers come into the house?"
"Yes, sar; I done seed 'em come in."
"Then what did you do?"
"I jest went 'round out dar."
"And did you see those other masked men, who came in and rescued us from
the power of the robbers?"
"Yes, sar, I seed dem too," replied Julius, becoming interested. "And I
done tol' 'em to come in quick."
"Did you know they were out there in the garden?"
"Yes, sar; I knowed it."
"Who told you they were there?"
"Nobody."
"Julius," said Marcy sternly, "I am going to know all about this. I
shall give you no peace until you answer every one of my questions, and
I shall begin by putting a grubbing-hoe into your hands at daylight in
the morning. Have you any more money in your pockets?"
"No, sar; I gib you de lastest I got."
"Then hurry off to bed and be ready to go to work when I call you."
"Well, sar, Marse Marcy," said the boy, plunging his hands into his
pockets and swinging himself about the room as if he was in no
particular hurry to go to bed, "if you wuk Julius till he plum dead you
can't make him tell what he don't know."
At this juncture a new actor appeared upon the scene. It was old Morris,
who had been in the hall for the last five minutes, waiting as patiently
as he could for Julius to give him an opportunity to speak to Marcy and
his mother in private. His patience was pretty well exhausted by this
time, and when he saw that Julius had no intention of going away until
he got ready, the coachman stepped into the room.
"See here, niggah," he began, and that was enough. Julius knew the old
man, and when the latter pointed to the door he lost no time in going
out of it. Morris followed him to the end of the hall and closed and
locked that door behind him, and then came back to the sitting-room. He
was badly frightened, and so excited that he hardly knew what he was
doing, but he was laughing all over.
"How is you, missus?" said he, as he shut the door and backed up against
it.
"Morris," exclaimed Mrs. Gray, "do you know who the robbers were?"
"No, missus, I don't; but I does know that they don't 'long around in
dis part of the country. That Cap'n Beardsley, he brung 'em up from
Newbern."
"Do you know what you are saying?" demanded Marcy. "Who told you that
improbable story?"
"G'long now, honey," answered Morris good-naturedly. "Mebbe de niggahs
all fools, but they know a heap. Marse Marcy, dat gal Nance didn't tell
no lie when she say how that Allison and Goodwin boy come to Miss
Brown's house and talk about de money, did she? And she didn't say no
lie nudder when she tol' me that these men coming up here some night to
get that money, did she? Aint they done been here dis night? What for
the cap'n and all the rest of dem white trash gone to the Island this
night? Kase they don't want to be here when the thing happen."
"Did you know that the robbers were to come here to-night?"
"No, sar, Marse Marcy. I didn't know that. I know they was coming some
night."
"Well, some one must have known that they had made up their minds to
come to-night and told the Union men to be on the watch for them," said
Marcy.
"That's a fac'," assented Morris.
"Who was it?"
"I--I don't know, sar; 'fore the Lawd----"
"Morris!" said Mrs. Gray reproachfully.
"Yes, missus; I does know, but I don't want to tell."
"That is more like it," said Marcy. "What is the reason you don't want
to tell?"
"Kase I don't want to get nobody in trouble with Cap'n Beardsley,"
replied the coachman; and he might as well have told the full
particulars, for Marcy and his mother knew that they had one of the
captain's own servants to thank for their rescue.
"And does Julius know all these things?"
"Ye-yes, sar," exclaimed Morris, becoming so angry that he could not
talk half as fast as he wanted to. "Dat niggah all the time snooping
around, and you nebber know when he aint hear all you saying."
"He knows that you and I removed that money," said Marcy. "He was
somewhere about when that bag became untied, and here are two pieces
that he picked up after we left the cellar."
Old Morris was profoundly astonished. He leaned heavily against the
door, and gazed at the glittering coins in Marcy's hand as if he had
been deprived of the power of speech.