THE SINK-CAVERN NEAR BAR CREEK
The supper at the mansion had waited till it was quite dark; and it was
evident to Mrs. Noah that the brothers were engaged in important
business, for they had been talking on the bridge all the afternoon, and
Titus spoke so loud in the library that he could be heard all over the
house, though he could not be understood. Something very exciting was
passing between them; Mrs. Noah thought it was politics, but Mrs. Titus
thought it was about "that story" she had repeated.
As the angry brother passed the door of the sitting-room he called his
wife out, and bolted from the house. Noah followed, and rang the stable
bell. Frank brought the team to the door; Titus pushed his suffering
wife into it, and drove off without the formality of saying good-night.
The planter ate his supper, and was as pleasant as usual, saying nothing
of the business which had brought Titus to Riverlawn.
"It seems that story about the arms and ammunition has no truth at all
in it," said Mrs. Noah.
"So Titus says," replied the husband.
"Meely was terribly excited about it, and said she ought not to have
said a word about it. She begged me not to let any one in the house say
anything about it to any one. Her husband abused her, and even struck
her, for what she had done."
"I did not know but he would strike me this afternoon. I suppose the
boys have had their supper," added Noah, looking over the table to their
vacant places.
"No, they have not; I haven't seen anything of them since they went from
dinner," answered Mrs. Lyon. "I wonder where they are?"
"They went up the creek together in one of the boats just after Titus
came, and I haven't seen or heard anything of them since," said Noah. "I
don't think they were going a-fishing. They have been gone about seven
hours now, and it is time they were at home. Did you see anything of
them, Levi?"
"I saw them rowing up the creek when I was riding up to the hill
pasture; but I haven't seen them since," replied the overseer.
"I hope nothing has happened to them," continued Mrs. Lyon, looking
quite anxious. "Perhaps the boat has been upset."
"I don't believe it did; but if it went over, both of the boys can swim
like ducks," replied the planter.
The conversation in regard to the absentees was continued till the meal
was finished, and all the party were very much troubled. Levi
volunteered to ride up the creek road and look for them; and just as he
was going to the stable, the absentees came into the house.
"Where in the world have you been, boys?" demanded Mrs. Lyon, delighted
to find they were safe.
"We have been exploring the creek, and we have been a good ways up, as
far as the rocky hills," replied Deck, as he seated himself at the
table; and Diana went for the waffles she had kept hot for them.
"Did you catch any fish?" asked Levi.
"Not a fish; we did not put a line into the water."
They had no narrative to relate, or if they had they did not relate it,
though they were questioned for some time, and they told what they had
seen, or a portion of it.
"While you are here, boys, I want to tell you that your Aunt Amelia has
been at the house all the afternoon," said Mrs. Lyon. "She came to take
back that story she told me this morning in her own house about the arms
and ammunition. She misunderstood your uncle, and there is not a word of
truth in it. So you will understand, all of you, that not a word is to
be said about it out of the house."
"Not a word of truth in it!" exclaimed Deck; and Artie dropped his hot
waffle in astonishment, or under the influence of some other emotion.
"Your aunt says there are no arms hidden on the river, or anywhere else.
You mustn't say a word about the matter, and I have cautioned all in the
house not to whisper a sound of it," added Mrs. Lyon.
Deck looked at Artie, and Artie looked at Deck. A significant smile
passed between them, but they said nothing. As soon as they had finished
their supper they followed the planter into his library, which had been
lighted before. It was an important conference which followed there, and
it must be left in progress in order to return to the boat in which the
boys were pursuing their adventure on the creek.
Artie had the floor on the boat, and he had just recalled the time when
Noah had spoken to him about being out so late the night before. Deck
remembered it very well, and also that his cousin had evaded an adequate
explanation of his absence from the house when he ought to have been in
bed.
"You never explained why you were out so late that night," said he.
"I wanted to look into the matter a little more before I said anything,
for I didn't care to make a fool of myself," replied Artie.
"You have a habit of keeping your mouth shut pretty tight," said Deck
with a smile.
"I don't believe in talking too much about things you don't understand,
and I meant to have looked into the matter before this time, but somehow
I haven't had the chance to do so," replied Artie, still pulling his
oar. "I'm going to tell you about my night adventure now, and you can
judge for yourself whether we are going on a wild-goose chase up the
creek."
"All right; and I will keep my oar moving all the time, so that we shall
be getting ahead while I listen," replied Deck.
"I was in the canoe, and I had gone farther up the creek than I had ever
been before," Artie began. "You have been up the road that leads to
Dripping Spring and the Mammouth Cave. It crosses the railroad about
five miles before you get to the spring, and the creek flows within a
quarter of a mile of this place."
"I remember the place very well; for Levi stopped his team there to let
the girls get out and pick some flowers. I could see the creek from this
spot," added Deck.
"Then you know the place. I had been up the creek three or four miles
farther, and I was on my way home. I had been ashore just abreast of
Dripping Spring, and I got interested in looking over a sink,--I believe
that is what they call these holes in the ground down here,--and the sun
went down before I thought how late it was getting. But I found the hole
led into a cave; but it was too dark for me to explore it. I made a note
of it, to bring a lantern up and survey the cavern when I had plenty of
time to do so."
"That will be a good job for both of us some time," suggested Deck.
"I couldn't tell how far I was from home, but I knew it was a long
distance, and I made tracks for the canoe as soon as I saw that it was
getting dark. I hurried up till my arms ached so that I had to stop and
rest. I made up my mind that I must take it moderately or I never should
get home.
"While I was resting I saw three lights off to the south of me, and then
I knew I was near that road. I could make out about half a dozen men or
boys there, and I watched them for some time. I concluded that they were
up to some mischief, and in my interest I forgot how late it was
getting. I was possessed to know what iniquity was going on there, and I
hauled the canoe up to the shore and made the painter fast to a bush. I
landed, and made my way as near to the road as I dared to go. The ground
was low, and covered with clumps of bushes, so I had no difficulty in
hiding myself till I was within twenty feet of the party.
"I could hear every word they said; and the man who was bossing the job,
whatever it was, satisfied me that he was Uncle Titus."
"Uncle Titus!" exclaimed Deck, ceasing to row in his astonishment.
"Not the least doubt of it; and more than this, I soon recognized the
tones of Sandy and Orly; but I don't know who the other three were."
"But what were they doing?" asked Deck, absorbed in the narrative.
"You have stopped rowing, Deck, and we shall never get there at this
rate."
The stroke oarsman turned his body so that he could change hands at the
handle of the oar, and then resumed pulling.
"Well, this was an adventure; but you didn't tell me what they were
doing," added Deck.
"I will tell you all about it, but don't stop rowing, or we shall not
get home before midnight, and father will give us a lecture for being
out late at night. The men were handling a lot of boxes. Some of them
were long enough to hold coffins, and I wondered if they hadn't been
killing Union men, and were getting rid of the bodies. Then they brought
out a lot of haypoles or hand-barrows from the two big wagons in the
road. I saw them put one of the boxes on the poles or barrow, and move
towards the creek. I thought it was about time for me to be leaving, for
I believed they would kill me if they caught me."
"They wouldn't have let you off with a whole skin, anyhow," said Deck.
"Do you suppose the boxes contained bodies, Artie?"
"Hold on till I come to it, and I will tell you all about it," replied
the narrator rather impatiently. "I wasn't safe where I was, and I crept
back to the creek between the clumps of bushes without making a bit of
noise on the soft ground. The box the first couple carried was heavy and
the bushes were in their way, so that they could not get along very
fast. As soon as I was out of hearing of the party, I ran with all my
might."
"I don't blame you for being in a hurry, for if Uncle Titus had got hold
of you he would have made you see more stars then were in the sky just
then. I wonder if they had been killing Union men. The Seceshers have
done that thing in this State. A Union man was murdered in his own house
not far from here."
"Dry up, Deck, or I shall never get through with my story!" exclaimed
Artie, who did not relish these repeated interruptions.
"Go on, Artie; I won't say another word," Deck promptly promised.
"I reached the creek, and cast off the canoe. I crossed over to the
other side, and pulled down stream; for I knew that the two with the box
could not be near the shore. I kept on towards home, but I was careful
not to make any noise with my oars. Just below I saw a big flatboat,
like the gundalow they used to have on the river to carry hay from the
meadows. I drove the canoe into some bushes, and waited. The two men
brought that long box to the shore, and loaded it into the flatboat,
which was big enough to carry six cords of wood.
"The next load was brought by four men; and I could see by the way they
handled it that it was very heavy. I stopped till they had brought down
two more boxes, and then I thought it was time for me to be going. When
the party had all left the shore I rowed along by the bushes that
overhang the creek till I got round the bend. I didn't wait to see any
more, but rowed as fast as I could; and when I got to the pier I was so
tired I could hardly stand up. That is the end of the story, Deck, and
you know as much about the affair as I do; and I will answer all of your
questions as well as I can."
"You did not find out anything for certain?" added the listener,
disappointed because his cousin had not ascertained what was in the
boxes.
"I did not; but I have been able to guess at some things; and that is
the privilege of a New England Yankee."
"Well, what do you guess was in those boxes?"
"I didn't guess on that question at the time of it; but I was satisfied
that they concealed some sort of iniquity."
"What do you suppose they were putting them in the boat for?"
"Not to take them down the river, for they would have carried them to
some place on its banks if they had wanted to do that. They wanted to
take them up the creek, and this was the nearest point to it."
"What did they want to do with the boxes? Oh, I know! They were going to
sink the bodies in the creek!" exclaimed Deck.
"That would have been a good enough guess a fortnight ago; but it isn't
worth shucks now. I told you before that I could explain things better
this afternoon than I could when I saw what the men were doing."
"How is that?" asked Deck with his mouth half open.
"The moment mother told that story from Aunt Amelia, I knew what was in
the boxes; and they did not contain bodies, either."
"Oh, I see! They contained the arms and ammunition."
"A blind man could see that."
"Well, that was an adventure. You mean that they were going to put them
in the cavern by the sink?"
"Precisely that, and nothing less; and now we are going up to the sink
to see for ourselves what is in the boxes," replied Artie.
They had a long pull before them; but they reached the place by five
o'clock, and explored the cavern. They found the boxes and two cannons
with their carriages. They could not open the boxes for the want of any
tools; but the labels assured them they contained muskets and revolvers.
They hastened down the creek; but it was eight o'clock when they reached
the mansion.