Bolts and bars, which, I should think, had not been used for many a
long year before, were removed from the door of Doctor Blunt's house,
apparently with some difficulty, for I heard a good deal of thumping
within before I obtained admittance. I myself was gladly welcomed; but
there was some hesitation about my companions;--not much, indeed, in
the case of Uncle Jack, of whom the rumour had already spread, that he
was endeavouring, even at the risk of his own life, to appease an
insurrection which he knew to be hopeless, and which could only have a
course of barbarous massacre, and end in the bloody tragedy of legal
execution.
My word given for Zed, and my assurance that he had saved my life in
the massacre at Mr. Stringer's, succeeded at last in obtaining
admission for him also; though much whispered discussion took place
amongst some of the gentlemen at the door, of which I could hear some
part.
"Why, we have four negroes already in the house," said one.
"Those two will make six, and there are but seven of us in all," added
another.
"You have left out Sir Richard and the boy; and let me tell you the
latter is as good as any of us," replied the first speaker. "But they
only make nine; and what with six negroes in the house, and thirty or
forty outside, we might have hard work of it."
"But if Sir Richard passes his word for the man," said a third, "we
may be quite sure of him."
"I am quite willing to do that," I interposed; "he has saved my life
at the peril of his own; and, whatever happens, I am sure he will be
found on our side."
At that moment a stout, broad-built, middle-aged man, with a somewhat
stern countenance, appeared from some room, apparently at the back of
the house, accompanied by no other than my friend Billy Byles. And
myself, and the stranger, who was the owner of the plantation, were
introduced to each other with the usual words:--
"Doctor Blunt, Sir Richard Conway."
"Sir Richard, I am glad to see you," said Doctor Blunt, in a courteous
tone. Then turning to the others, he added, "Admit the man, admit the
man. If Sir Richard pledges his word for him, he is quite sure. Now,
Sir Richard, permit me to speak with you for a few minutes. You are in
the British army, and have seen some service."
"Four or five campaigns," I replied; "and amongst people barbarous
enough, though rather more civilized than these."
"Well, sir," continued the doctor, with a tone in which there was some
pomposity and a little excitement, "you shall tell us what you think
of our plan of defence. We are certain to be attacked to-night; for
this is the only house in the neighbourhood which the villains have
not assailed. They waited for greater numbers; for they knew that they
would meet with resistance here. Pray come into the parlour with me,
sir, and we will talk the matter over."
I followed him, while Billy Byles remained a few moments to speak a
few words with his old acquaintance Zed; and although I was most
anxious to see Bessy, and to hear all that had befallen her since we
parted, the doctor was so full of the perilous conjuncture which he
apprehended, that, in common politeness, I was obliged to delay the
inquiries I meditated.
"Now, Sir Richard," he said, closing the door; "you will see that we
have two windows in this room facing the orchard, and two in the room
similar to this on the opposite side of the hall. The back of the
house we have barricaded; fastened up all the windows, put up all the
shutters, and only left a little look-out as it were, where some one
can be placed to give timely information if the enemy approaches on
that side, which I do not believe to be likely. Our precautions,
however, will give us time to prepare, in case the attack should take
place there. Now that you are with us, we have nine men in all,
including my son Simon, and we have plenty of arms and ammunition. I
propose to place two men at each window, and to station one at the
little look-out at the back, to insure us from attack on that side,
and have in each room a negro on whom we can depend, to hand us fresh
arms and ammunition."
He entered into a good many more details, showing the means of
communication from room to room, in case some advantage should be
gained at any particular point, and seemed altogether to have a very
tolerable notion of defending his premises against a superior body of
assailants. He was very minute in his details, however, and I wished
to heaven he would bring his long statements to an end; for, although
I was by no means insensible to the necessity of preparation and
forethought, I was thinking of Bessy Davenport all the time, and paid,
I am afraid, little attention to various arrangements of which he
thought a great deal, but which, to a man accustomed to such things,
were mere matters of child's play.
"Now, Sir Richard," he said, in conclusion, "such are my arrangements.
Have you any suggestions to make? I shall defer of course to your
military knowledge and experience."
I was quite sure he would defer with very great unwillingness, and
that his plans must be touched with considerable delicacy. I therefore
replied,--
"Your arrangements seem to me to be admirable, Doctor Blunt; and I do
not see anything that requires alteration, unless, indeed, you should
judge that it would be better to defend the floor above this. You have
here very stout shutters and bars. You could place mattresses across
the lower part of the windows, upstairs, so as to leave nothing but
the heads of your defenders exposed. You are well aware, I know, that
an aim upwards, by inexperienced marksmen, is never so certain as an
aim down, or on a level. They are always sure to fire either too high
or too low; and even if they were to get into the house, we should
have the opportunity of firing upon them down the stairs, while we
were pretty nearly under cover."
"Why, Sir Richard," he said, "I think myself, that, considering----"
I saw he was getting up objections in his mind to any other plan than
his own; but, luckily, he was given further time for reflection by the
entrance of Billy Byles, bringing Zed with him.
"Zed tells me, Sir Richard," cried my good second, "that you have had
a brush with these fellows yourself just now. Let us hear all about
it. But first tell us what you think of our arrangements for giving
the rascals a hammering if they come here."
"Oh, I think they are excellent," I replied. "I have not the slightest
doubt we shall repulse them with great loss."
"I have been thinking," said Doctor Blunt, before Mr. Byles could
reply, "and, indeed, Sir Richard judges so too, that it would be
better to barricade these windows down below, and make our defence
from above. What is your opinion, Byles? You see we should have
greater command of the approaches; would be more under cover; and,
even if they broke in, could better defend the staircase, when we were
already at the top."
I had not the slightest objection to his appropriating my view, so
that he adopted it; and was very glad to hear Billy Byles approve
highly of the arrangements.
"But let us hear, Sir Richard," he said, "what you think of the
numbers of these people. Zed says they are about twenty."
"Oh, no," I answered; "his eyes magnify. I could count no more than
twelve, and two of those I shot. Whether they are dangerously hurt I
cannot tell; for my gun was only loaded with buckshot, and the
distance must have been nearly sixty yards. They fell over at once,
however, as if they had been pretty hard hit."
"You don't often miss your aim, I fancy," said Billy Byles, with a
laugh, for he was just as gay and unconcerned as ever; "but if there
are only ten or twelve of these fellows, we have no great cause for
alarm, for we could lick them out of the field with our horsewhips."
"You must not _depend_ upon their being in such petty numbers," I
replied. "Doubtless, they will increase considerably as night comes
on; for they were evidently afraid of showing themselves beyond the
edge of the woods in daylight; and their plan will be to attack
unexpectedly in the night, till they can muster a much larger force
than they have at present."
"That is our great advantage," answered Billy Byles. "We are not
afraid of showing ourselves in the daylight, and hunting them down
wherever we can find them. When I was at Jerusalem three or four hours
ago, the gentlemen mustered one hundred and fifty strong; and the
dragoons were coming in very rapidly; while parties were spreading all
over the country to clear the woods of these villains. I should not
wonder if they did not come here at all."
"I differ with you," I replied, seizing what I considered a favourable
opportunity to lead to the subject of which I most wished to speak. "I
agree with Doctor Blunt in thinking they will attack this house
certainly to-night, especially as they know there are so many ladies
in it."
"Ladies! my dear Sir Richard," exclaimed Doctor Blunt; "there are no
ladies here. The only one who was here I sent away this morning."
"Why, I heard that Miss Davenport was here," I exclaimed, with a
degree of alarm which all must have perceived. Dr. Blunt gazed upon
me, and Billy Byles turned his eyes from him to me with a look of
doubt, and, I must say, of great apprehension also.
"Why, did she not escape from Mr. Stringer's with you?" exclaimed the
latter at length. "We all heard so."
"She did," I answered; "but I left her for a short time in the wood,
while I went to see if the road to Jerusalem was clear. When I came
back she was gone, and I was told, shortly after, she was come
hither."
"Poor Bessy!" ejaculated Billy Byles, in a tone of deep feeling; and I
turned my eyes sternly upon Zed.
I could see the old man was shaking in every limb; and the moment my
look fell upon him, he dropped upon his knees.
"Pardon, master, pardon!" he cried. "I only told you so to get you
away; because you would stop to fight with four men with muskets, and
you nobody but yourself. What good could you do Miss Bessy, getting
yourself killed?"
I could not speak for a moment or two, and I shook violently, under
exhaustion, anger, and the sudden and terrible disappointment I had
met with. The man's words crushed out all my hopes, revived all my
fears and anxieties--nay, almost drove me to despair. My thoughts were
all in confusion; my brain seemed to whirl. Where was she? What had
become of her? Was she in the hands of those terrible men? or was she
wandering about in the woods, likely to perish, without any one to aid
or help her? Or, if she had fled at the approach of the party I had
seen, was she not sure to fall into the hands of some other band of
murderers?
"You are ill, Sir Richard," said Billy Byles. "Get him a glass of
brandy. I can easily conceive what you feel. I know if Lou had been
left in such a situation, I should be just as bad. Zed, you rascal,
you ought to be licked."
"Well, perhaps I ought, Master Byles," said Zed, still upon his knees;
"but I did it for the best."
"Damn the best!" exclaimed Byles; "it is always the worst thing in the
world."
"Oh, master, forgive me," cried Zed. "Either beat me or forgive me."
"Leave the room," I said with a gasp; for I felt I could hardly draw
my breath. "I cannot, I will not, speak to you now."
"Here, take this brandy, Sir Richard," said Doctor Blunt, "and let us
consider the matter more calmly. It may not be as bad as it seems at
first. Where did you leave Miss Davenport?"
I related, as briefly and as clearly as I could, all that had occurred
after Bessy and I took shelter in the angle of the wood; and in doing
so, in some degree recovered hope and confidence from the recollection
that Bessy was not left alone, and that Zed had more than once
declared that some one, whom he called Colonel Halliday, had passed
that way with a party of white men.
"Come, come, this is not so bad," said Billy Byles, "if she had got
old Jenny with her. That was worth a troop of horse; for she's a 'cute
old girl, and knows what she's about quite well. Then, if Halliday
passed that way, he has, most likely, taken them all with him to some
place of safety."
"But this story may be as false as the other Zed told me," I replied.
"I don't think that," answered Billy Byles; "he had a reason for
telling the one lie, and none for telling the other. But I'll soon
know. Uncle Jack was with Master Zed, and he'll tell the truth, at all
events."
Thus saying, he left the room, and returned in a minute, saying,--
"It is quite true; Halliday was there with six or seven men. Uncle
Jack saw him in the wood, and, depend upon it, he has taken Bessy away
with him."
"I can hardly think she would go," I replied, "without taking some
means to let me know she was safe."
"Oh, you cannot tell," said Billy Byles; "he might be in haste; and
hurry her away. Halliday is a wild dog, and not to be contradicted by
man or woman when he has got any notion in his head; but from your own
account, you must be nearly starving, Sir Richard."
"God bless me! I beg your pardon; I never thought of that," said Dr.
Blunt. "The stores of our garrison are not very sumptuous, but they
can get you a slice of ham and some bread in a minute."
The food was soon brought, and a bottle of most excellent Madeira; but
I had scarcely eaten two mouthfuls, and drunk one glass of wine, when
a boy's voice was heard calling loudly from above,--
"Father, fatter, the moon is just getting up, and I think I see the
negroes gathering at the edge of the wood."
"Here, boys, pull in all these shutters," cried Dr. Blunt, "and make
them as fast as possible; then each man take his station as he was
told before, only at the upstairs windows instead of these. Move up
the powder-flasks and the bullets. Don't hurry, Sir Richard, don't
hurry; we shall have plenty of time."
"Less time for eating than for fighting and drinking, I suspect," said
Billy Byles. "Here, Sir Richard, let me fill your tumbler. I'll take
one for company. I say, Blunt, order half a dozen of this Madeira to
the rooms upstairs. It is dry work fighting upon cold water."
"Ay, bold Billy Byles to the last," said Dr. Blunt; "but we'll have
the wine up, and some brandy too; for some of our people may want a
little of that kind of courage, though you don't, Byles."
"Father, father," cried the boy's voice again, "I can see them coming
through the corn."
"How many are there?" shouted Dr. Blunt.
"Twenty or thirty, I should guess," replied the boy; "but I can't
count them, they are so close together."
While all this had been taking place, several men, some black, but
mostly white, had been closing the windows and barricading them as
well as they could; and as soon as I had drunk the wine which Mr.
Byles had poured out for me, I made a little tour through the lower
rooms to see that everything had been rendered as secure as possible.
I then accompanied Dr. Blunt and the rest of the party to the floor
above.