Camp Venture: A Story of the Virginia Mountains

  CHAPTER XI

  _An Armed Negotiation_

  Just before noon, Tom carefully removed all the bones and meat fragmentsfrom his soup kettle. Then he mixed up some corn meal dumplings anddropped them into the kettle, after the southern culinary fashion. Thesewould answer as a sufficient substitute for bread, and as for meat, thecompany was to dine that day on the cold roast wild boar.

  Just as Tom dropped the last of the dumplings into the kettle, he lookedout through the half-open door and saw an ugly looking mountaineercreeping stealthily, and with his rifle in hand, up over the littlecliff to the east of Camp Venture. His attention was evidently rivetedupon the chopping boys, the scene of whose labors lay to the northwestof the house. Apparently, the man supposed the hut to be empty andintended to pass to the south of it, using it as a secure cover for hisapproach to the boys chopping.

  Tom was a person distinctly quick of apprehension. In an instant, hesaw what the man's plans were, and in another instant he had seized andcocked the Doctor's repeating rifle, which had fortunately been left inthe hut.

  As the mountaineer stealthily crept by the cabin, Tom "drew a bead" onhim at not more than six paces distant, and called out:

  "Lay down your gun instantly, or I'll shoot."

  There was nothing to do but obey without a moment's loss of time. Themountaineer dropped his gun.

  "Now, step inside," commanded Tom, still keeping the magazine rifle inposition for instant and deadly use. "Step inside. I want to talk withyou."

  The man obeyed.

  "Now, sit down on that stool," said Tom, "and tell me what you're up to.Come, now! No lying! Tell me what you were sneaking into this camp for!"

  The man, who seemed much surlier and was certainly much brawnier thanthe former visitor to the camp, hesitated. Tom stimulated his utterance,by saying:

  "Come, speak up! My patience is about exhausted, and I'm not going towait for you to think of something false to say. Answer, or I'llshoot."

  "Don't shoot, pard!" pleaded the man. "I didn't mean no harm. I onlycome to negotiate like."

  "Then why were you sneaking and creeping upon my comrades with yourrifle at full cock?"

  "Well, you see, we fellers what lives up here in the mountings has to bekeerful like. I wanted to make a bargain with you fellers, but if I'd'a' walked into your camp regular like, why mebbe some on you'd 'a' shotme unbeknownst like. So I thought I'd just creep up like a catamount andgit the drap on some on you, an' then tell you, simple like, as how Ididn't want to do you no harm if you'd do us fellers no harm. I wantedto negotiate, that's all."

  "Well, I don't like your way of negotiating," answered Little Tom, stillkeeping his rifle in poise against his hip ready for instant use. "Idon't like to negotiate with a man that's 'got the drap on me' as yousay. But now that I've 'got the drap' on you instead, I don't mindopening diplomatic relations--I don't suppose you know what that means,but never mind. Go on and tell me what it is you want."

  "Well, you see," said the mountaineer, "first off we wanted you fellersto clear out'n here and git down out'n the mountings. We sent a man toyou to negotiate that, an' you used him up so bad that he ain't no'count no more in such business. Well, you won't go. We all seed thatclear enough an' at first we was a plannin' to come over here with ourguns and jes' exterminate you all. But then we knew what a hullabaloothat would raise. You see, it would 'a' give us away, like, an' nextthing we know'd the revenue agents would 'a' come up here with a pack o'soldiers at their back, an' us fellers would 'a' been shot down likerabbits. So we held a little confab, like, an' we decided to let youfellers stay up here in the mountings ef you'd agree to behave decent,like."

  "How exceedingly kind of you!" ejaculated Tom, derisively. "And howconsiderate! But go on; I didn't mean to interrupt. In what particularway do you exact that we shall behave ourselves in order to win yourgracious permission to remain here on land that belongs to us?"

  "Now, you're a gittin' at the pint," answered the man. "We're willin' tolet you alone ef you'll let us alone. We're willin' to let you stay inthe mountings an' cut all the timber you like, ef you won't bother us inany way."

  "In what way have we bothered you?" asked Tom, who was growing steadilyangrier with the man's extraordinary insolence.

  "Well, you see, you fellers has planted your wood chute jist edzacklywrong."

  "How so?"

  "Well, ef you should send anything down that chute it would run rightthrough a little shanty we've got down there under the cliff."

  "An illicit still, you mean?" asked Tom.

  "Well, as to that--"

  "Never mind. You needn't lie about it. I understand. Now, as I catchyour meaning, you want us to change the direction of our wood chute, soas to spare an illicit still that you have set up down there under thecliff, to hide it from the revenue officers. You've located that stillon my mother's property, without leave or license, for she owns thewhole of this side of the mountain down to its very foot; you are usingher timber to fire up with under your still, without paying her a centfor it. In brief, you are thieves and robbers, and you have theinsolence now to come here and demand that we shall change our chute inorder to leave you undisturbed in your robbery of the government on theone hand and of my mother on the other. Very well, we will do nothing ofthe kind. At five minutes after three o'clock to-morrow afternoon weshall begin sending timber down through the chute. If you can removeyour criminal apparatus by that time we'll not interfere with you. Ifyou can't get it away by then, you'll simply have to take theconsequences. But, at any rate, you can yourselves get out of the way,so that our timbers will not hurt you personally.

  "Now go! Get away from here--no, don't pick up your rifle; I'll takecare of that. You people have declared war on us, and in war it is notthe custom to return arms to men captured and turned loose, I believe. Idon't want your property, but I'm going to keep it for the present. Ifyou'll come peaceably to my mother's house down in the town there, afterwe fellows go home, I'll give your rifle back to you. But not now, whenyou want it to shoot some of us with. Go now! and whether you get yourstill out by three o'clock to-morrow or not, be very careful thatneither you nor any of your comrades remain there after that hour, forthen the chute will begin to carry its load."

  The evil-visaged man slunk away over the cliff by which he had ascended,and down the mountain. There was revenge written in every line of hiscountenance, and Tom quite well understood that he and his comrades musttake care of themselves. Just as the fellow was marching away, withTom's rifle leveled at him and with his own rifle lying upon the groundas a spoil of war, the rest of the company came up, but they did notinterfere. They trusted Tom as a strategist, and they instantly sawthat this was an "incident closed" as the diplomatists say. When thefellow was completely gone, Tom lowered the hammer of his rifle,restored it to its place, picked up the captured gun of the mountaineer,lowered its hammer to half cock, and carefully bestowed it in aconvenient corner.

  "What is it, Tom?" eagerly asked the others.

  "Wait a minute!" said the boy, "till I dish up the soup. I hope it isn'tspoiled, and as for the rest, I'll tell you all about it after dinner."