THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE RUFFIANS
Deck Lyon rushed furiously down the lane which connected the two roads
at this point. It was dark, and it was in vain that he tried to
understand the situation from anything he could see. He was sure that
the main body of the ruffians were not in the cross-cut, for there was
not room enough for them. He had to depend chiefly upon his ears for
information, for the trees on one side of the passage obscured his way.
The first sound that attracted his attention as he advanced, above the
general din, was a half-suppressed scream quite near him. The lane was
so rough that he was obliged to move more slowly than when he had left
the wagon, and he halted when he heard the cry. A moment later he
discovered a man bearing a form in his arms, whose cries he was
evidently trying to suppress with one of his hands placed over her
mouth.
An opening in the grove enabled him to see so much, and to note the
position of the ruffian. With his revolver in his hand he rushed
forward; and, finding himself behind the assailant of the female, he
threw himself upon him, and grasped him by the throat with both hands.
He had done some of this kind of work at the schoolhouse in the evening,
and the experience was useful to him.
He compelled the villain to release his hold upon his prisoner in order
to defend himself. Deck wrenched and twisted him in an effort to throw
him down, but his arms were not strong enough to accomplish his purpose,
and he called upon Mose to assist him. The faithful servant was close by
him; and perhaps he was desirous of striking a literal blow in defence
of his young master, for he delivered one squarely on the head of the
ruffian which knocked him six feet from the spot.
At this moment, and just as the captor of the lady went over backwards
into a hole by the side of the cart-path, a bright light was flashed
upon the scene, and Deck could see where he was and where the ruffian he
had encountered was. When Clinker had secured the horses at the end of
the lane, he realized the necessity of more light on the subject before
the party; for though he heard much he saw little.
Taking a quantity of the hay from the wagon, he hastened to the scene of
the conflict just as Deck had closed with the ruffian who was bearing
the lady away. Putting it on the ground, he lighted it with a match, and
then heaped on sticks and hits of board and plank scattered about by
those who had loaded stone in the passage. The blaze revealed the entire
situation to Deck and his companions, and it made a weird picture.
"Good, Clinker!" shouted Deck, as he saw the blacksmith standing with
his musket in his hand, busy doing what he had undertaken. "Keep the
fire up!"
The ruffian whom Mose, who was not much inferior to General and Dummy in
bulk and strength, had knocked both literally and slangily "in a hole,"
lay perfectly still. Some five rods ahead of him Deck discovered a road
wagon in the lane. Two horses were harnessed to it, and at the head of
each of them was a ruffian, doing his best to restrain the spirited
animals, frightened by the cries and the movements of the assailants.
Behind the wagon were two white men engaged in a terrible struggle with
half a dozen of the soldiers of the ruffian army. They were getting the
worst of it, though they fought with desperate energy.
From their appearance and the fact that they were defending themselves,
it was plain enough to Deck that they were in charge of the two females.
They were unarmed, though one of them had procured a piece of board, and
was doing good service with it. Just beyond the scene of the fight stood
Buck Lagger, holding a female by the arm. She evidently realized that
resistance was useless, and she had ceased to struggle or scream.
"Now follow me, boys!" shouted Deck. "You had better walk over to the
fire, miss," he added to the young lady redeemed from the hands of the
ruffian. "Clinker will see that no harm comes to you."
The six men who had followed the young man in advance of them, marched
close to him, with their muskets in readiness for use. Deck could not
order them to fire, for they were as likely to hit friends as enemies;
but he rushed to the scene of the conflict, where the two white men had
just been forced back by the marauders.
"Both fall back this way, gentlemen!" called the young leader.
Major Gadbury and Tom Belthorpe, as the colonel had given the names of
those who attended his two daughters to the party, could not help
realizing that assistance was at hand, though they saw only a stout boy
and half a dozen negroes, and they promptly detached themselves from
their assailants, and retreated behind the wagon.
"Now fire at them, one at a time!" shouted Deck, when it was safe to do
so.
Mose was nearest to him, and instantly discharged his musket at the
foremost assailants of the gentlemen. One of them dropped to the ground.
The ruffians had not bargained for this sort of discipline, and they
fled on the instant; for they had heard Deck's order, and saw that there
were more bullets where the first one came from. They ran into the
woods, and disappeared behind the trunks of the great trees.
"Don't fire again, but follow me!" said Deck, as he started at his best
speed towards the spot where Buck Lagger stood with his prisoner.
This ruffian perceived the defeat of his party, and he attempted to
force the lady in the direction taken by his infamous comrades. He led
the way, dragging his prisoner after him; but she resisted now, hanging
back so that he could not move at anything more than a snail's pace. She
screamed again, and Major Gadbury and Tom Belthorpe started to assist
her.
Deck had accomplished half the distance to the ruffian when he saw that
the strength of the lady was failing her, and Buck was advancing more
rapidly. He raised his revolver, and, aiming the weapon with all
possible care, he fired. Clinker had kept the fire blazing freely, and
he had plenty of light. The ruffian released his hold upon his prisoner,
and swung his right hand over to his left shoulder. Deck believed his
bullet had struck him there, though he continued his retreat to the
wood.
"I am sorry you didn't kill him!" exclaimed one of the two gentlemen, as
they halted at Deck's side.
"I had to be careful not to hit the lady," replied Deck. "But we have
driven them off. Now, boys, in line!" shouted the young leader to his
men. "Face the woods!"
[Illustration: "I HAD TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO HIT THE LADY."]
The six men came into line very promptly, though the movement would
hardly have been satisfactory to a drill officer.
"Ready!" he continued. "Aim! Fire!"
That was about the extent of the recruits' knowledge of the drill; but
they fired their weapons, and each of them sent two more shots after the
first as the command was given. One of the gentlemen suggested that none
of the ruffians were hit by the volley, and Deck explained that the last
discharges were for their moral effect, though not in these words.
"I don't know you, sir, but we are under ten thousand obligations to you
for this timely assistance," said the gentleman who remained with Deck,
for the other had hastened to the lady Buck had abandoned.
"My name is Dexter Lyon," replied the young defender. "What is yours?"
"Tom Belthorpe," returned the other, who appeared to be something over
twenty years of age. "We have been to a party with the girls at Rock
Lodge, and were on our way home."
"Then you are the son of Colonel Belthorpe. Who is the other gentleman?"
"That is Major Gadbury, who is spending a week at my father's
plantation," replied Tom, rubbing his head and some of his limbs, for he
was rather the worse for the wear in his conflict with the ruffians, as
the other gentleman conducted the terrified lady to the spot.
"I never was so frightened in all my life," gasped the lady, as they
stopped in front of Deck.
"It is all over now, and I would not mind any more about it," added the
Major cheerfully, though he was considerably battered after the fight
through which he had passed.
"This is Mr. Dexter Lyon, Major, the son of our neighbor," said Tom,
presenting the leader of the colored battalion, though Deck was somewhat
abashed at the formality, and to hear himself "mistered" was a new
experience to him.
"I am glad to know you, Captain Lyon," replied the Major, grasping his
hand and wringing it till the boy winced. "You have rendered us noble
and brave service, and we shall all be grateful to you as long as we
live. This is Miss Margie Belthorpe."
"I am delighted to see you, Mr. Lyon!" exclaimed the young lady, who was
only nineteen years old, as she sprang to the hero of the night, grasped
his hand, and then kissed him as though he had been a baby.
Deck was seventeen years old, and rather large of his age, as well as
somewhat forward for his years; and he felt as though he had tumbled
into a sugar-bowl at that moment. The blaze of Clinker's fire lighted up
his blushing face, and possibly he was sorry there were no more ruffians
at hand for him to shoot if such was to be his reward. He forgot that he
was tired and sleepy in the pleasurable excitement which followed the
encounter.
"If you please, we will go over to the fire where the other lady is
waiting for you," said he, as he started for the point indicated. "Fall
in behind and follow us, boys," he added to the recruits.
"I have never happened to meet any negroes in arms before," said Tom
Belthorpe, as he walked along with Deck. "But they seem to be ready for
business."
"They are indeed; and these boys are as brave as any white men could
be," added Deck, loud enough for the subject of his remark to hear it.
The two ruffians who had been left at the heads of the horses had fled
into the woods as soon as they saw that the assault was repulsed, and
the animals had become restive. Clinker had rushed over to secure them,
and he had quieted them down so they were quite reasonable by this time.
The young lady committed to his charge had followed him.
"This is my sister, Miss Kate Belthorpe," said Margie, when the party
reached the spot.
"Oh, I am so glad you came when you did, Mr.----"
"Dexter Lyon," added Tom.
"Mr. Lyon; and you were as brave as a lion!" exclaimed Kate, as she took
the hand of Deck; and either because she had witnessed the reception her
sister had given the hero, or as an inspiration of her own, she promptly
kissed him on both cheeks, and Deck felt as though he had fallen into a
barrel of sugar. "You grappled with that villain, just as though you had
been as big as he was, and held on to him till one of your boys knocked
him into the hole with his fist. You are a brave fellow, and I shall
remember you as long as I live."
"And 'none but the brave deserve the fair,'" added Major Gadbury.
"How did you happen to get into this scrape, Mr. Belthorpe?" asked Deck.
"We were all invited to a party at Rock Lodge, and we went. The governor
couldn't go, for he insisted upon attending a Union meeting at the Big
Bend schoolhouse," replied Tom. "But he promised to call for us on his
way home, for he drove us to the Lodge himself. Most of the guests left
by midnight, but father did not come, and we could not walk home. But at
three o'clock Captain Carms volunteered to send us home when we became
impatient."
"My father and I went to that meeting, and so did some of these ruffians
that committed this outrage," added Deck.
"But these scoundrels are not Union men," objected Tom.
"But some of them were there, all the same, and some of them got put
out. But it is a long story, and we had better be moving before we tell
it."
The ladies agreed to this last proposition, for they were in evening
dresses, and the chill air of the night made them shiver. The driver of
Captain Carms's wagon had come out of the quarry, whither he had
retreated, as soon as the danger was passed, and his team was ready to
proceed. Deck sent Clinker for his wagon, and he drew it up at the end
of the cross-cut.
The ladies were assisted to their seats again, while the two gentlemen
took the seat in front of them. Miss Kate insisted that Deck should ride
with them, for she wanted to hear the story about the meeting. More than
this, she insisted that he should sit on the back seat between her
sister and herself. Margie did not object, and the major and Tom only
laughed. Deck had his doubts about his ability to tell his story in the
midst of such delightful surroundings.
The team started, and at the corner Deck directed Clinker to follow
closely after him. But his story was interesting and exciting, and he
did not suffer from cold or embarrassment during his recital. When he
had disposed of the Union meeting, he described the battle fought at
Riverlawn, and the preparations which had been made for the onslaught,
including the discovery and removal of the arms and ammunition. He had
hardly finished before the wagon stopped at the plantation of Colonel
Belthorpe.