THE APPROACH OF THE RUFFIAN FORCES
If the negroes asked no questions, most of them were intelligent enough
to interpret the preparations which had been made at Fort Bedford. The
six boatmen who had remained half the night in the rear of the
schoolhouse had had time enough to do some talking among the hands,
though they had come in contact only with those who had been at work on
the fort.
These men had listened to the tumult in the building and in the road,
and through the open window near the boat had come to their ears the
demand of Titus Lyon when admitted, and the reply of the meeting. They
knew that Colonel Cosgrove, Colonel Belthorpe, and Squire Truman had
taken an active part in the meeting, and they could understand for what
purpose they had come to Riverlawn so late in the night.
The people on this plantation were doubtless better informed and more
intelligent than upon most of the estates in this portion of the South,
for they had always been treated with what other planters regarded as
imprudent indulgence. In the time of Colonel Lyon, slavery had been a
patriarchal institution, and the negroes regarded him as a father,
guide, and friend rather than as a taskmaster.
Many of them had learned to read, and even carried their education
several points farther. The planter had given them his illustrated
papers, and others fell into their hands. Their usefulness increased
with their intelligence; and to oblige his neighbors the colonel had
occasionally sent his carpenters and masons to do jobs for them.
The more intelligent of them had kept their eyes and ears open to learn
the "signs of the times" during the troubles which agitated the State;
and there were those among them who were well informed in matters which
were generally believed to be above their comprehension. They went about
among the people of other plantations, and when they obtained any news
in regard to the movements of either party, it was circulated among the
whole of them.
Neither Noah Lyon nor Levi Bedford ever said anything about politics or
the struggle between the contending parties for the mastery of the
State; but the silence of the people indicated that they understood the
situation. Though they were treated with what was considered extreme
indulgence, and were entirely devoted to the planter and his family, the
instinct of freedom doubtless existed in all of them.
In a short time about a dozen of the negroes had come to the fort in
obedience to the order of the overseer. Half of them were mechanics who
had been at work during the evening. They were collected in the
building, and the white men present proceeded to interrogate them in
regard to their qualifications.
"What is your name?" asked Colonel Belthorpe of the leader of the
boat-crew.
"General, sar," replied he.
"You are a big fellow; did you ever fire a gun?" asked the planter.
"Yes, sar; Cunnel Lyon done send me often to shoot some ducks for de
dinner."
"Are you a good shot?"
"De boys say I am," answered General modestly. "I done bring down tree
quails out'n five on de wing, mars'r."
"Did you ever fire a rifle?"
"Yes, sar; Christmas time mars'r cunnel lend us his two rifles to shoot
at a mark for a prize ob half a dollar; dis nigger won de prize,"
replied General, with a magnificent exhibition of ivory.
"Are you willing to fight for your master?" demanded Colonel Belthorpe
sharply, as though he expected a negative response to the question.
"Yes, sar!" answered General with more energy than he had spoken before.
"Ready to be killed for Mars'r Lyon; an' so's all de boys on de place."
"You will do," added the planter, as he handed him a breech-loader and a
small package of ammunition. "Do you know how to use this piece?"
"Yes, sar; seen 'em before," replied the boatman, as he took the weapon
and retired.
With the boys there were seven white men present, and each one of them
had examined a servant in regard to his qualifications. The questions
were similar, though not the same as those put by Colonel Belthorpe; and
it appeared that all of them were more or less familiar with the use of
firearms, for they were the best informed and most reliable hands on the
estate. They were all provided with breech-loaders and cartridges.
General and Dummy were sent with weapons to Rosebud and Mose at the
bridge, and ordered to remain there; but they were not to fire upon the
ruffians.
"Now we have a force of twenty-two men," said Colonel Belthorpe. "I
don't know about these recruits with black faces, and I have my doubts
about making soldiers of them. Fall in, and we will march up to the
bridge."
All the white men were armed with revolvers as well as rifles. The men
did not "fall in" in the military sense of the term, but simply followed
their leader, as the experienced soldier, who had rendered most of his
active service in fighting the Indians, was tacitly recognized to be.
"Don't you think we had better put out the lights in the fort, Colonel
Belthorpe?" asked Levi.
"By no means. I have had fighting enough with cut-throat Indians to
satisfy my tastes in that direction, and I am not anxious for any more
of it," replied the planter. "Let the building remain lighted, and it
will assure the ruffians that you are awake over here. If they will
about wheel and go off, that will suit me better than a fight with
them."
"Just my sentiments, Colonel," added Major Lyon.
"The creek is about fifty feet wide by the bridge," said Colonel
Cosgrove. "It widens at its mouth to about a hundred. Is there any way
by which the ruffians can get over at your boat-pier?"
"Without a boat there is no way to get across," replied Levi. "They must
come across the bridge if they come at all."
"There they come!" exclaimed Major Lyon, as he pointed to the
cross-roads where the creek road branched off from the others.
"They have provided themselves with lanterns and torches," said Levi.
"We can see just what they are about."
As they came opposite the boat-pier the ruffians halted. They were not
marching in any kind of order, but all of them were straggling along as
though the Home Guard to which they belonged had not yet done any
drilling.
"What have they stopped there for, Colonel Belthorpe?" asked Major Lyon.
"They can see your fort by this time, and the lights have attracted
their attention," replied the military gentleman. "They can see that you
are ready for them, and perhaps they will not deem it advisable to come
any farther."
"I hope they will not," added the owner of Riverlawn.
The aggressive force remained a long time at this spot. In the stillness
of the night the sounds which came up the creek indicated that a dispute
was in progress in the ranks of the enemy. It looked as though the
ruffians were divided among themselves in regard to the prudence of
advancing any farther. If Titus Lyon was there, he could readily see
that the stone ice-house had undergone some change. The brilliant light
within it flashed out through the open door in the rear, and through the
three embrasures in sight.
"Major Lyon, do those rascals know that you took possession of the
military stores, or do they only guess at it?" asked Colonel Cosgrove.
"They know the arms they stored in a sink-hole cavern are gone, and they
appeared at the meeting to know that I had caused their removal; but I
have no idea how or where they obtained their information," replied the
planter; and while they were waiting the approach of the ruffians, he
gave a full account of the discovery and removal of the ammunition.
"They don't know that three extra white men are with you, and I don't
think they would believe you would arm your servants, or that they would
be good for anything if you did so," added Colonel Belthorpe. "Perhaps
it would be a good idea to return to the fort and send a twelve-pound
shot over the heads of that crowd."
"It would let them know that we have the cannon, if nothing more," said
Colonel Cosgrove.
"You are a lawyer, Colonel; can't Captain Titus recover these arms by
process of law?" inquired the other colonel.
"There is no law in this part of the State at the present time. Men have
been murdered within a few miles of this spot, and no notice has been
taken of the fact. Those arms were brought here for the use of the Home
Guards, which is the same as saying that they are for the use of the
Secessionists. The law won't touch the arms," replied the legal
gentleman very deliberately.
"They have settled their dispute, whatever it was, and the ruffians are
moving again," said Levi. "It is too late to send a twelve-pound shot
over their heads, and if there is to be any fight, it will be at the
bridge."
"You are right," replied Colonel Belthorpe, after a long look at the
enemy; for as the road where they were was parallel to his line of
vision, it was difficult to determine whether they were moving or not.
"Let them come; and while they are doing so we will have a little drill
of the forces."
He formed the six white men in one line, and the fifteen negroes in
another, though some of the latter were only a shade or two darker than
the former. Levi Bedford soon proved that he was familiar with the
manual, and he was sent to drill the dark section of the army. But the
exercise was confined to loading and firing. The men were drawn up in
line across the bridge, and instructed as far as "shoulder arms," and
then the drill officer explained how they were to conduct themselves.
"The ruffians are getting pretty near, Colonel," suggested Major Lyon.
"We are all ready for them," replied he.
The men were then placed at "Order arms," and permitted to watch the
approach of the enemy. Their torches, which had probably been made in a
birch grove on the other side of the river, and must have been
occasionally renewed with material brought for the purpose, blazed
brightly, and lighted up the road, so that they could be plainly seen.
"There are at least a hundred of them," said the officer in command.
"And some of them have muskets," added Colonel Cosgrove.
"It looks as though some one or more of us might be shot," continued
Major Lyon. "If there is any man here, black or white, who wants to
leave and find a safer place than this may be in a few minutes, he is at
liberty to do so. I don't want any man to render unwilling service on my
account; and you can make peace with that gang by giving me and my boys
up to them."
"Never! Never! Never!" yelled every one of the servants.
"Mars'r Lyon foreber!" shouted General.
"Glory to God! We all die for Mars'r Lyon!" cried Dummy the preacher.
"Now all hands give three cheers!" interposed Colonel Belthorpe; and
they were given as vigorously as on the deck of a man-of-war. "That will
convince the enemy that we are wide awake, and don't mean to run away."
"I reckon that squad is just a little astonished about this time," said
Levi.
For this reason, or some other, the enemy suddenly made a halt, and the
tumult of many voices came up the road. If Captain Titus was in command
of the enemy, his force was not reduced to anything like discipline.
From the sounds there appeared to be many commanders, each of whom
wanted to have his own way. The defenders of the mansion waited full a
quarter of an hour before the tumult subsided, indicating that some
point had been carried, though enough of the shouts of the stormy
ruffians indicated that they were in favor of going ahead and making the
attack. It was plain to the listeners that some of the gang had cooler
heads, and knew what prudence meant.
Presently four men were seen marching up the road towards the bridge,
the two at the flanks carrying flaming torches, as if to illuminate a
white flag borne on a pole, which had possibly cost some member of the
troop his white shirt. The two in the middle were evidently the
officers, or ambassadors, of the ruffians. They came up to their end of
the bridge, and halted there.