Kitabı oku: «True To His Colors», sayfa 11
CHAPTER XII
THE FIRST COMPANY IN ACTION
"There," said Dixon soothingly. "I told you you shouldn't be hurt if you obey orders without making any fuss. Now come with us, and don't speak above a whisper."
"What do you reckon the kurn'll do to me?" inquired Caleb, who could scarcely have been more frightened if the students had threatened him as Bud Goble had threatened Rodney and Dick.
"He'll not do the first thing to you," Billings assured him. "Why should he when you come here as a friend to those two prisoners? We'll see you safe outside the gate as soon as the officers are through questioning you."
"An' will you-uns give me the money?" asked Caleb. "If you don't, them boys is bound to get whopped."
"Did Bud say so?"
"He made that same remark. An' he said, furder, that if I wasn't back by sun-up with the hunderd dollars, he would know you-uns had held fast to me, an' then he would lick 'em, sure hope to die."
"I promise you that you shall be back there before sunrise," said Dixon significantly. "We can't permit those fellows to be whipped on account of a joke, and we won't, either. You are quite sure you can go straight to him?"
Yes, Caleb was sure he could do that; and then his conductors, who had all the while held fast to his arms, halted in front of Captain Wilson, the officer of the guard, who chanced to be pacing back and forth in front of the tent. The captain listened in amazement while the boys told their story, and the light from the tent showed that there was a shade of anxiety on his face when he inquired:
"Where did you find this man?"
"Outside the grounds, sir," Dixon promptly responded.
"And what were you doing outside the grounds at this hour, when you know that such a thing is positively forbidden?" continued the officer severely.
"I had started for Barrington, sir," answered Marcy. "The commandant wouldn't give me a chance to ask permission to go."
"And so you went without it?"
"Yes, sir, I did. I was resolved to learn something about Rodney and
Dick before I slept."
"I shall be obliged to shut you up," said the captain.
"Very good, sir," replied Marcy. "But how about Rodney and Dick? Is that villain Goble to be permitted to abuse them as he pleases?"
"I am surprised at your insolence, Private Gray," said the officer sternly. "Go inside the tent under arrest."
Marcy went, and all the boys, as well as Caleb Judson, went in with him, and Captain Wilson hastened away to lay the matter before the colonel.
"Now, I'll tell you what's a fact," said Marcy. "Captain Wilson would do something for those boys if he were in command, but the colonel will not do the first thing."
"So be it," answered Billings. "Then we'll see whether or not the fellows will do something. They are not the lads I take them for if they do not rally on center the minute they find out how the land lies."
"What's up?" whispered a student, thrusting his head into the tent and then looking back to see if there was any one coming. "Who's that gentleman" (nodding at Caleb), "and what are you doing in there?"
"In arrest for being sassy," replied Cole. "Say – "
Here all the boys got upon their feet, stepped to the door and held a short but earnest conversation with the student outside, who muttered, ejaculated, and scratched his head in a way that indicated the profoundest surprise and bewilderment. Then he said: "You bet I'll do it," disappeared around the corner of the tent, and the boys ran back to the table, beside which they stood, with their caps off and their hands to their foreheads, when the officer of the guard came in accompanied by the colonel. The latter looked and acted as if the burden of his responsibility was too heavy for him to carry; and the worst of it was, it was growing heavier every day. He was out of patience, too, and as cross as a bear.
"What sort of a cock-and-bull story is this I hear about Sergeant Gray and Private Graham?" said he snappishly. "I am in no humor for wasting words."
"Neither are we, sir," Marcy replied boldly. "My cousin is in trouble, and I should like to have him helped out of it."
"If he hadn't run the guard and gone to town without permission, he wouldn't be in trouble," answered the colonel. "Now let me hear the story from beginning to end, and in as short a space of time as possible."
Marcy Gray and Dixon could talk to the point when they made up their minds to it, and the colonel was not kept in his chair a second longer than was necessary to make him understand just how Rodney and Dick were situated. That the recital made him nervous was plain from the way he rubbed his hands together and tumbled his hair about his forehead.
"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" he asked, when the story was concluded.
"We should like to have you send an officer down there, under guidance of this man Judson, and rescue those boys," said Marcy.
"That is the duty of the civil authorities, and I cannot interfere with them," replied the colonel, in a tone which seemed to say that the matter was settled so far as he was concerned. "Last night I tried to do a friendly turn for the citizens of Barrington, but I will never do it again. They can be burned up or whipped for all I care."
"But, sir, these boys are not citizens of Barrington," said Dixon. "They are pupils of this school, and as such they are entitled to all the aid and comfort it is in your power to give them."
"When I think I need to be instructed in my duty toward those who are placed under my care, I will send for you, Private Dixon," replied the colonel loftily; but the boys all saw, and so did the officer of the guard, that he could not make up his mind how to act under the circumstances. The colonel knew well enough that there was little dependence to be placed upon the Barrington authorities, and that the surest way to help Rodney and Dick was to do as Marcy suggested; but he could not make a move without running the risk of offending the influential members of the Committee of Safety. As he spoke he pointed toward the door, and Dixon saluted and went out.
"In order to relieve your suspense, Private Gray, I will tell you what I purpose doing," continued the colonel. "I will send this man with a note to the police justice in town, and request him to take some steps looking to your cousin's release. That is all I can do."
"An' will you give me the hunderd dollars to hand to Bud?" inquired
Caleb.
"I shall not give you a cent."
"Then I sha'n't go nigh Bud, an' that's flat," declared Caleb, with more spirit than he had previously exhibited. "Them chaps will get licked if I don't have that money to hand to Bud when I see him, an' I aint wantin' to get into trouble."
Dixon, who was loitering about on the outside of the tent, did not wait to hear any more, but posted off to the hall, where he found an excited, almost frantic, crowd of students impatiently looking for some one to come from the guard tent and tell them what the commandant had decided to do.
"Colonel," said Marcy, whose white face showed how desperate was the conflict that was raging within him, and how hard it was to be respectful to the man who had it in his power to help Rodney, and who refused to use that power because he was afraid of the Barrington secessionists. "Your plan will not work, sir."
"I can't help it," was the colonel's answer. "It is the only thing I can do. If Rodney had stayed within bounds he would not be in need of help. Now go, all of you."
As soon as they were safe out of the tent Marcy caught Caleb by the arm and whispered —
"If the colonel hands you a note to carry to town, don't go away with it until I see you again. If you do you may get into difficulty. I'll raise some money for you."
"That's talking sense," said Caleb, in the same cautious whisper. "It's the only way to get 'em off without a lickin'."
"Look here," exclaimed Billings, as the three moved away leaving Caleb standing near the guard tent. "Are you going to raise a hundred dollars for Goble?"
"Not much. I don't think I could; but I'm going to raise something to pay Caleb for guiding me to Bud's hiding-place."
"Bully for you. Count us in."
"I'll not ask any one to go with me," answered Marcy. "If you want to help, you can do it by telling me how I can smuggle my musket and cartridge-box out of the armory."
"Now, that's an idea. Of course we'll help. Great Scott! What a crazy crowd, and what do you reckon they're going to do?"
It was no wonder that Bob Cole asked this question. While he and his companions were talking they walked through the archway into the hall, which was filled with pale, determined-looking students, who were quietly making their way up the wide stairs toward the armory.
"What's up?" repeated Cole.
"We're going after our muskets," replied one. "Fall in."
"Not the whole school?" Billings managed to gasp, while Marcy Gray stood speechless, wondering at the magnitude of the rebellion which had been brought about by the colonel's refusal to send a squad to Rodney's assistance and Dick's, and by the stirring appeals to which they had listened from Dixon, as well as from the lips of the boy who had received those hasty instructions at the guard-tent.
"Talk about rebels! Why, this is a riot," said Cole.
"It looks very like it," replied Dixon, who stood at the foot of the stairs urging every boy to fall in. "They're all going except the company officers, who have taken themselves off out of sight, so that they cannot be called upon to oppose us. Where's Caleb?"
"I made sure of him by saying that I would raise some money for him," replied Marcy.
"If we were only outside the gate we should be all right."
"We'll get out easy as falling off a log," said Dixon. "If you had glanced toward the gate when you came in, you would have seen four good fellows there talking with the sentry. It will be their business to disarm him, if he shows fight when we attempt to march out, as it is his duty to do; and if the officer of the guard tries to turn the key upon us, those four fellows will quietly take the gate from its hinges and tumble it over into the road. It's all cut and dried, and if the boys keep as still as they are now, we'll be out before the colonel knows what we are up to. Oh, I haven't been idle since the commandant ordered me from the guard-tent."
There was no need that Dixon should say this, for the actions of the students proved that he had done a good deal of talking since he was ordered out of the tent. Although they were pushing and crowding one another in their haste to get into the armory and out of it again before some busybody (there are boys of that sort in every school) could run to the colonel and apprise him of what was going on, there was not the least noise or confusion, not a word spoken above a whisper, and if there had been any studious scholars in the dormitories, they would not have been in the least disturbed. In five minutes more the armory was thronged with students, who having taken their muskets from the racks, were buckling on their cartridge-boxes. The weight of the boxes dispelled the fear that the colonel might have had the ball cartridges that were put in them the night before removed. Why he hadn't done it, seeing that he had promised to remain neutral in future, was a mystery.
"This is a high-handed proceeding, boys," observed one, "and if a shoulder-strap should come in and order us to put these guns back, then what?"
"Then would be the time for you, to prove that you were in earnest when you promised that you would stand by Rodney and Dick if the colonel refused to help them," said another. "Who cares? We're rebels anyhow, and we certainly would not go back on our principles at the command of anybody up North."
"Don't stop to discuss politics," said Dixon, who, by common consent, was the commander of the expedition, there being no commissioned officers present. "Some of you take muskets number twenty-two, thirty-four, forty-four, and fifty-six from the racks in addition to your own for those four fellows at the gate. Now fall in, in your places as near as you can. We'll not stop to count fours or to divide the companies into platoons. So long as we get there, we don't care whether we go in military form or not. Fours right: Forward, column left, march!"
"Charge bayonets!" shouted some half-wild fellow in the ranks, when the colonel and officer of the guard, both with drawn swords in their hands, suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Run over everything that gets in the road."
"Young gentlemen! Boys! Private Dixon, what are you about?" cried the colonel, who was so amazed that he hardly knew what he said. "I'll put the last one of you in the guard-house. Just one moment, boys. Listen to reason. I'll do everything I can to get Rodney and Dick out of that scrape. I will, I assure you."
"Forward, double quick!" somebody shouted; and although the command came from one who had no business to give it, Dixon being the acknowledged leader, the most of the students would have obeyed it with the greatest promptness, had not the Kentucky boy jumped in front of the first four and barred their way with his musket, which he held at the height of his shoulders.
"Halt!" he shouted. "Colonel, this is too plain a case, as you see. If you will not help our friends who are in difficulty, we will. If we will break ranks, will you send the first company, under Judson's lead, to bring Rodney and Dick to the academy?"
"I will," replied the colonel, who saw that if he didn't agree to the proposition, the boys would go without being sent.
"Very good, sir," said Dixon; while the most of the rebels looked disappointed. "That is all we ask. Forward, column right, march. Fours, left, halt, right dress, front, order arms!"
This brought the boys back into the armory, in line, and in readiness to hear what the colonel had to say to them; but the latter was in no humor for making a speech. He could not praise the students for what they had done, and he was afraid to find fault with them, because there was an expression on their faces which said as plainly as words that the rebellion was not yet subdued, and that they were ready to go on with it if the colonel did not do as he promised without any unnecessary delay. This was something new in the history of the Barrington Military Institute. It was the first time the students had ever taken the law into their own hands, and they had showed the colonel that he could not carry water on both shoulders without running the risk of spilling some of it.
"I shall close the school and send you to your homes the first thing in the morning," sputtered the commandant, jamming his sword into its scabbard, as if to say that he had no further use for it. "This is a state of affairs to which I will not submit."
"And in the meantime, sir, permit me to remind you that my cousin is in the hands of a ruffian who has threatened to beat him, if certain demands he has made are not complied with," said Marcy, who was impatient to be off.
The colonel bit his lip, glared savagely at Marcy for an instant, said a few hurried words to Captain Wilson, and left the armory. The first thing the officer of the guard did was to remove his red sash and hand it to another teacher – an action which all the boys in line greeted with hearty cheers; and his second move was to march the first company out of line, and order the others to break ranks. This looked like business. Captain Wilson was going in command, and that meant that Rodney and his companion in trouble would be found and released before the company returned. But would the captain permit them to give Bud a whack or two with the butts of their muskets just to teach him to mind his own business in future? Probably not; and if Captain Wilson forbade it Bud would be safe, for the boys thought too much of him to rebel against his orders.
"We will wait a few minutes for the officers," said the Captain, "and in the meantime – count fours."
But the boy officers did not "show up." They had concealed themselves so effectually that the orderlies sent out by the colonel could not find them, and so the captain was obliged to go without them. They would be disappointed when they came out of their hiding-places and found that their company had gone off with the colonel's permission, but that could not be helped. Caleb Judson was much surprised when he found himself at the head of the column, surrounded by a corporal's guard who were instructed, in his hearing, to see that he did not give them the slip, but he did not refuse to act as guide.
"All I ask of you, capting," said he, "is to let me stay back out of sight when you grab Bud, so't he won't suspicion that I had anything to do with bringin' you-uns onto him. He's a bad man when he's mad – "
"So I have heard," said the captain dryly. "He must be a terrible fellow to let Elder Bowen walk him out of the yard by the back of the neck. But your wishes shall be respected, and my boys will never mention your name in connection with this business."
This satisfied Caleb, who strode ahead as if he were in a great hurry to reach his destination.
"It's queer doings, this taking nearly a hundred boys to capture two vagabonds," whispered Dixon, who had taken pains to secure a place in the ranks next to Marcy Gray. "But it's the best thing that could be done. If any of us had been ordered to stay behind, there might have been another rebellion. Besides, Bud and Silas are Injuns, and I shouldn't be surprised if they slipped through our fingers."
"I hope they will," said Marcy honestly. "Bad as they are, I shouldn't want to see them hurt."
The students marched through the principal street of Barrington, but if any one saw then! they never heard of it. There was but one man stirring, and that was old Mr. Bailey, who devoted a wakeful half-hour to patroling his premises with his revolver in his hand. If he was surprised to see the boys he did not say anything about it, for the rapidity of their movements and the strict silence they maintained were indications that they did not care to have the citizens know they were out. Mr. Bailey would have given all the candy and peanuts in his store to know what their errand was, but was forced to content himself with the reflection that he would learn all about it the next time Dick Graham came to town.
"Now, capting," said Caleb, after they had gone a long distance down the road that led to Mr. Riley's house, "Bud's camp is off that a-way about a mile. The woods is tol'able thick, an' I don't reckon you can go through 'em in a bunch, like you be now, without scarin' him. He's got ears, Bud has. You-uns had best scatter out an' go one at a time."
"Form skirmish line, I suppose you mean."
"I don't know what you call it. Couldn't make 'em into something like a horse-shoe, could ye?"
"Certainly. Hold back the center and push the flanks forward. That's easy enough."
"Eh?" said Caleb.
"I'll make a horse-shoe, if that's what you want."
"All right. An' when you get to where his fire is, you can kinder bring the heels of the shoe in t'wards each other, an' there Bud an' Silas'll be on the inside of 'em. See?"
The captain understood, and thought it a good plan to act upon the guide's suggestion, although he could not make up his mind that he would permit his men to make prisoners of Bud and Silas. Perhaps, on the whole, it would not be safe. Good-natured, obedient Dick Graham could be easily controlled, but how about fiery Rodney Gray, angry as he undoubtedly was? The latter, quick-tempered and impatient of discipline as he was known to be, when he found himself backed by nearly all the boys in his class and company might avow a determination to take ample vengeance upon his captors; and if he so much as suggested the thing, the students were in the right mood to help him through with it.
"We don't want to make captives of those two men," said the captain, as he passed along the ranks getting the skirmish line in shape. "We'll scare them out of a year's growth and show them that they cannot fool with our boys with impunity, but that is as far as we will go. If they can get away, let them."
It took ten minutes to form the "horse-shoe" and make each boy acquainted with the signals that were to be used for his guidance, and then the order was given to advance. The woods were pitch dark, and it was a task of no little difficulty for the boys to find their way through the thick underbrush, and over the fallen logs that obstructed every foot of the mile that lay between the road and Bud Goble's camp, but they did it without making noise enough to alarm him. What they were most afraid of was that he would hear them coming and drag his prisoners away from the fire and deeper into the woods, where they could not be found until Bud had had time to wreak vengeance upon them. But they need not have borrowed any trouble on that score. If Bud Goble had had the faintest idea of the commotion his senseless act had caused among the academy boys, money would not have hired him to lay a finger upon Rodney and Dick.
At the end of an hour Captain Wilson, who was in the center of the line, came within sight of Bud's camp-fire, and the order was passed for the flanks to close upon each other. In fifteen minutes more a shrill whistle coming from the opposite side of the fire announced that the command had been obeyed, and with a charging yell, that was never surpassed by any they afterward uttered in battle, the boys sprang up and rushed for the fire. Not a bayonet had been fixed or a piece loaded that is, by orders; but some of the young soldiers had quietly driven home a cartridge while working their way through the woods, and when the signal to advance was given, they fired their muskets into the air with such effect that Bud and Silas gave themselves up for lost, and the prisoners jumped from their beds of leaves by the fire, and shouted and waved their caps to show their comrades where they were.
"Death to all Minute-men!" somebody yelled; and the cry was taken up and carried along the line with such volume that Bud's frantic appeals for "quarter" could not be heard.
In less time than it takes to write it the students crowded into the camp, and Rodney and Dick were being shaken by both hands. Their captors were so completely surprised, and so very frightened that they had not thought of their rifles, which were leaning against convenient trees. And now came the very demonstration that Captain Wilson had been afraid of. Jerking himself loose from the detaining hands of his comrades, Rodney picked up a heavy switch lying on the ground near the log that Bud had been using for a seat.
"Turn about is fair play, old fellow," said he. "You promised to use this on our backs if you did not receive the hundred dollars you said we owed you, and now we'll see – "
"Give it to him!" shouted the students, almost as one boy. "We'll stand by you. Put it on good and strong. Stand back, Captain Wilson. We don't want to go against you, but these men must have a lesson they will not forget."
Thus encouraged Rodney raised the switch, and in a second more it would have fallen with full force upon Bud's head and shoulders, had not Marcy Gray, dashing aside three or four friends who stood in his way, jumped forward and seized his cousin's arm.
"Rodney," said he, "is this your manhood?"
The angry boy glared at his cousin for an instant, and then, to the surprise of all, he lowered his arm and gave up the switch.
"You here, Marcy?" he exclaimed. "There isn't as much manhood in my whole body as there is in your little finger. Don't look at me in that way. Don't speak to me; I am beneath contempt. Goble, you're free to go, but don't come near me again."
"Yes, Goble, clear yourself," shouted Dixon, who, although he did not understand the matter at all, thought Bud had better get out of danger while the students were in the mood to let him go. "I'm about to stick the butt of my gun through the air right where you are standing, and if you're there, you'll get hurt. One – two – "
Goble turned and ran for his life, the boys dividing right and left, and jeering him loudly as he passed through their ranks.
"He's a minute-man," said one.
"Yes; and he'll get there in a good deal less than a minute," cried another. "Go faster than that, for he's close after you. Ah, He came pretty near hitting you that time! Next time you'll be a goner."
Dixon had not moved an inch from his tracks, but he had accomplished his object and sent Bud off without injury. Silas Walker must have gone about the same time, for when the boys looked around for him they could not find him.
