"Ain't hed nothin' t' eat since day 'fore yistiddy," said D'ri.
"Judas Priest! I 'm all et up with hunger."
With old Burgundy and biscuit and venison and hot coffee he was
rapidly reviving.
"I 'm wondering where I will hide you both," said the baroness,
thoughtfully.
"Hed n't orter hev no rumpus here, 'n' go t' shootin' 'n' mebbe
spile yer house 'n' furnicher," said D'ri. "'T ain't decent er 't
ain't nice. We 'd better mek tracks an' put a mild er tew 'twixt
us 'n' here 'fore we hev any trouble. 'T ain't a-goin' t' be no
Sunday School. Ef they can, they 're a-goin't' tek us dead er
'live. Ef they ever tuk us we would n't be wuth shucks, nuther on
us, efter court martial."
"I shall not permit you to go," said the baroness. "They may be
here now, about the house in the dark. They would shoot you, they
would stab you, they would cause you to die as you went. No, I
shall permit you not to go, There are four of them? Very well, we
shall fight here, we shall conquer. We have a general, a count, a
millionnaire, a marquis, a lawyer, an astronomer, a scout, and,"
she added, patting me on the shoulder, "_le brave capitaine_! I
have four guns and three pistols, and M'sieur Bell has arms also.
We shall conquer. We shall make them to bite the dust."
"Guns; did ye say? Jerushy Jane! Le' 's hev 'em," said D'ri.
"What did he call me? Mon Dieu! Jerushy Jane! It is not I," said
the baroness.
Again I explained the difficulty.
"Ain't very proper-spoke," said D'ri, apologetically. "Jest wan't'
say et them 'air guns er likely t' come handy here 'most any
minute. Give us guns, 'n' we 'll sock it to 'em."
"We shall sock it to them, we shall indeed," said she, hurrying out
of the room. "We shall make them to run for their lives."
They were all in the dining room--the men of the party--save the
general, who could not he awakened. Guns and pistols were loaded.
I made a novel plan of defence that was unanimously approved. I
posted a watch at every window. A little after dawn the baroness,
from behind a curtain, saw a squad of horsemen coming through the
grove.
"Ici! they have come!" said she, in a loud whisper. "There are not
four; there are many."
I took my detail of six men above-stairs. Each had a strip of
lumber we had found in the shop, and each carefully raised a
window, waiting the signal. I knew my peril, but I was never so
cool in my life. If I had been wiser, possibly I should have felt
it the more. The horsemen promptly deployed, covering every side
of the mansion. They stood close, mounted, pistol and sabre ready.
Suddenly I gave the signal. Then each of us thrust out the strip
of lumber stealthily, prodding the big drab cones on every side.
Hornets and wasps, a great swarm of them, sprang thick as seeds
from the hand of a sower. It was my part to unhouse a colony of
the long, white-faced hornets. Goaded by the ruin of their nests,
they saw the nodding heads below them, and darted at man and horse
like a night of arrows. They put their hot spurs into flank and
face and neck. I saw them strike and fall; they do hit hard, those
big-winged _Vespae_. It was terrible, the swift charge of that
winged battalion of the air. I heard howls of pain below me, and
the thunder of rushing feet. The horses were rearing and plunging,
the men striking with their hats.