Brother Against Brother Part 20

"You can't go in!" said Deck, as he crowded his uncle back from the entrance. "Wait a moment, and you can tell Colonel Cosgrove what you want!"

"I don't want anything of Colonel Cosgrove; he is worse than your father," replied the applicant.

"Good-evening, Mr. Lyon," said the Kentuckian, presenting himself at the door at this moment.

"I have something to say to this meeting, Colonel, which it is important for the meeting to hear," added t.i.tus.

"Come right in and say it, Mr. Lyon," replied the colonel, to the astonishment of the young guardians of the portal.

He was as polite as a Kentucky gentleman generally is; and he took the arm of the applicant, and marched with him to the s.p.a.ce behind the desks, where he halted till the former had finished his remarks. Noah Lyon was taken "all back" by the appearance of his brother escorted by the most influential Kentuckian in the county. The entire audience turned and stared at the unexpected guest.

"Mr. Chairman, I have the honor to present Captain t.i.tus Lyon of Barcreek to the meeting," said the colonel. "He claims to have something of importance to communicate. He is not a Union man, as is well known, but I trust no objection will be made to hearing him."

"I am not a Union man, as Colonel Cosgrove says," t.i.tus began. "When I came to this State, I became a Kentuckian, and I go with the people of this section of the country. But I did not come here to talk politics.

There is two sides to the question before the country, and each on 'em has its rights. I belong to the party that is tryin' to keep the peace in the State if we have to fight for it. As we had a perfect right to do, we bought about three thousand dollars worth of arms and ammernition to protect ourselves agin them that is tryin' to force the State into a war of subjergation agin our own flesh and blood.

"Them arms and ammernition has been stole," continued t.i.tus, waxing indignant in spite of his effort to keep cool, and relapsing into his everyday speech. "I believe it was done by what you call Union men, and I cal'late I know jest who done it; and I cal'late, Mr. Chairman, you know jest as well or better'n I do who done it."

"Who was it?" demanded a person in the audience.

"I h'ain't got nothin' to say here about that," answered Captain t.i.tus.

"But if them arms and ammernition ain't given up right off, here and now, on the spot, or some plan agreed on for doin' so afore to-morrer noon, the blood will run in the low places round here, and the clouds in the sky will give back the light from the fires that is burnin' down some of the nicest houses in these parts. I hain't got nothin' more to say; but if any one wants to see me about settlin' up this matter, I can be found near the road in front of the schoolhouse."

"But this is war, Captain Lyon," suggested Colonel Belthorpe.

"I know 'tis; and that's jest what I mean. We want the Union thieves to give up the property they stole; and that's all we ask now," replied t.i.tus, whose wrath was beginning to be stirred to the boiling point.

"We are ready to meet you on that ground!" shouted Squire Truman, springing to his feet; for he knew that Captain t.i.tus was the ringleader of the ruffians in the vicinity, and his threat roused him to a fiery indignation. "I know nothing about the arms and ammunition; but whoever took possession of them has done a n.o.ble and patriotic deed, and, Mr.

Chairman, I move you that a vote of thanks be tendered to them for it."

This motion was hailed with thunders of applause; and when the presiding officer put it to the meeting, it was carried unanimously, and no one wished to delay it by making a speech.

Squire Truman then made another speech, in which he pictured the result of permitting the arms to get into the hands of the ruffians for whose use they were evidently intended; and he magnified the prudence and forethought of the unknown persons who had taken the responsibility of such a forward step. This speech was received with cheers, in which the throats of the audience seemed to be strained to their utmost tension.

"Captain Lyon," said Colonel Cosgrove, when the tumult had subsided in a measure, "no formal answer seems to be necessary to your demand. The action of this meeting and the spirit with which it has been received are a sufficient reply. Personally, I can only say I heartily rejoice that the arms and ammunition have been turned aside from the purpose for which they were intended, and we will take care that they are not used against the government of the United States. We are loyal citizens, and we shall do our duty to the glorious flag under which we live. Have you any further communication to make to this meeting, Captain Lyon?"

"No, I haven't; I've said my say, and fire and blood is the next thing,"

replied t.i.tus, as he rushed out of the schoolroom, furious with pa.s.sion.

The business of the meeting was completed; but the boys informed the two colonels that the road was full of men. Then several of the Unionists drew revolvers from their pockets; for they had fully expected that the meeting would be disturbed, and that it would end in a fight. They had come prepared to defend themselves. The situation was discussed, but no one was inclined to avoid the issue. If there was to be a fight, it would be no new thing in the State.

Colonel Belthorpe, whose t.i.tle was not one of mere courtesy, for he had served in the regular army in his younger days, and won his later spurs in the militia, advised that a procession be formed, with the armed men on the right, while the others were told to obtain clubs, or anything they could lay their hands upon. But before the column was formed Buck Lagger appeared at the door.

"We want Major Lyon and his two cubs!" shouted the ruffian, who appeared to be the right-hand man of Captain t.i.tus.

The ruffians had held a meeting in the grove, privately notified by this Buck,--for t.i.tus had not been inclined to show his hand,--and a delegation had been sent to try the temper of the a.s.semblage in the schoolhouse. They had been defeated and ejected. It was plain by this time that the cavern had been visited and the loss of the munitions discovered.

The speech of Captain t.i.tus indicated that he knew who had taken possession of the property, though Noah Lyon could not conjecture who had given the information. He was inclined to believe that his brother had jumped to his conclusion, though spies about the plantation might have obtained some clew to the night visit to the sink-hole of the Magnolia. The flatboat had been loaded with rocks and sunk in the deepest water of the river, so that it need not betray the planter and his people.

"We want Major Lyon and his cubs!" repeated Buck Lagger, in a voice loud enough to be heard all over the building. "We don't mean to meddle with n.o.body else, and all the rest o' you uns can go home without no trouble.

Hand over Major Lyon and his cubs so we can get the property he stole, and we won't make no fuss."

"We shall not hand him over, but we will protect him to the last drop of our blood!" yelled Squire Truman, hoa.r.s.e with the strain upon his voice.

"Turn the ruffian out!"

But it was not necessary to turn him out, for he fled as soon as he had executed his mission. There was no great commotion outside, though the mob could be seen through the open door. The demand of Buck indicated the princ.i.p.al object of the ruffians, and the purpose for which they had a.s.sembled in the grove.

"My friends, I am grateful for your support and promise of protection to me and my boys," said Noah Lyon, who had descended from the platform to the floor, where the boys had joined him. "It appears from what the messenger of the ruffians has said that I am the sole object of their vengeance. I have the means here of taking good care of myself and my boys, and I need not involve you all in a fight to protect me."

To a few of the prominent men near him he stated in a low tone, so that he need not be heard by any ruffian lingering near the door, that his boat was under the south window, and he could escape without confronting the mob in the road. This course would save a fight, and the planter's friends decided to adopt it. The door was closed, and the boys pa.s.sed out of the window first. They ordered the crew to be silent, and after Noah Lyon had shaken hands with the princ.i.p.al men, he followed them. The Magnolia was shoved out into the river. Deck headed it across the stream, so as to keep the schoolhouse between it and the ruffians.

Under the lead of Colonel Belthorpe, with his revolver ready for use, the Union men marched out of the building, forming four deep when they reached the foot of the steps. The ruffians had placed themselves so that the column pa.s.sed through them, and they all scrutinized the faces by the light of a fire they had kindled at the side of the road. They did not see the victims for whom they were looking, and when the last of the procession had pa.s.sed them they set up a furious howl.

"We have been fooled!" shouted Buck Lagger, as he started after the column. "Where is Major Lyon?" he demanded.

"He is not here," replied some one in the ranks.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know;" and he told the truth, for he had not heard the planter's statement about the boat, and had not been near the window.

"Where is Major Lyon?" demanded Buck Lagger when he reached the head of the procession.

"He came in his boat, and he has returned by it," replied Colonel Belthorpe, with something like a chuckle at the discomfiture of the ruffian.

"This is treachery!" howled Buck. "You were to give him up to us."

"No, we were not," returned the doughty colonel. "Didn't you hear us say we would protect him to the last drop of our blood?"

"We will soon find him and his cubs!" growled the present leader, as he fell back into the grove, followed by the rest of the mob.

The Magnolia reached the boat-pier, and Levi Bedford was there to welcome the party.

CHAPTER XIX

THE CONFERENCE IN FORT BEDFORD

The two windows in the rear of the schoolhouse had been wide open all the evening, and the negroes of the boat's crew could not help hearing the excited speeches, and the thunders of applause in the meeting of the Unionists; but not one of them spoke a word about them to the planter and the boys. They pulled with all their might, and made a quick run to the boat-pier.

The first thing that attracted the attention of Major Lyon--we may as well call him so, as most of the people of Barcreek did--was the lights in Fort Bedford. Through the embrasures which had been made in the front and ends of the building it could be seen that the interior of the building was brilliantly illuminated.

"You have come back safe and sound, Major," said Levi, as he took the painter of the Magnolia.

"By the skin of our teeth we have," replied the planter.