CHAPTER XXIX
THE HUMILIATING RETREAT OF THE RUFFIANS
The situation on the rising ground was a puzzle to Colonel Belthorpe andhis companions. They could plainly see the little force of Captain Deckin the rear of the enemy, and realized that it prevented the ruffiansfrom running away, as they had done on the new road. The commander wasinclined to laugh; for taking into account the fury with which the mobhad followed up their purpose, it was rather ludicrous to see thempenned in, as it were, on the hill.
As it was the policy of Major Lyon and his son to kill or wound as fewas possible of the ruffians, the firing had entirely ceased on the partof the defenders, though an occasional shot came from the unorganizedmob. The negroes from the new road were coming in all the time; butUncle Dave had been studying the situation as well as his master, andhis flock obeyed him as implicitly as they did the colonel himself.
The preacher saw that the enemy were surrounded so far as the old roadwas concerned, and could not retreat in the direction of the creek. Thefield by which Captain Deck had reached his present position was stillopen to them, and without orders or suggestions from any one heproceeded to occupy it with the few of his people who had come with him.He intercepted the others as they approached, and led them to a pointwhere they could fall upon the ruffians if they attempted to escape inthat direction.
The firing had ceased, and Captain Titus Lyon could not help seeing themovement of the negroes under the lead of Uncle Dave. Probably a few ofthe refugees from the skirmish on the new road succeeded in reaching thehill where his advance had been checked, and had informed him of thedisaster to his other division. Even the desultory firing of his men wasdiscontinued very soon when they saw that they were hemmed in on allsides, and that they were at the mercy of the victors.
"Well, Major Lyon, you seem to have brought everything to a standstillon this portion of the field," said Colonel Belthorpe as he rode up tothe planter from Riverlawn after he had taken a full view of thesituation. "I see that you have made a flank movement, and placed aportion of your force in the rear of the enemy."
"My son is in command of that detachment, and the movement was made athis suggestion," replied the major, who could not help laughing insympathy with the colonel. "The movement was made at his suggestion, andI think there is a great deal more military in Dexter's composition thanin mine."
"Captain Deck has skill as well as pluck, and he has put the enemy in atight place," added the commander-in-chief. "There they are like a flockof sheep in a pen, and they cannot get out. What are you going to donext, Major Lyon?"
"That is for you to say, for you command all the forces," answered themajor.
"You have brought this sore to a head, my friend, and probably you cansuggest in what manner the wound may be healed," returned the colonel,still laughing; for to a military man like him the whole affair appearedto be rather in the nature of a farce. "You have proved to be an ablecommander, and I need your advice."
"You seem to look very lightly upon the whole matter, ColonelBelthorpe," said the major, who could not understand why his superiorofficer indulged in his continued laugh.
"Not at all, my dear sir; I have looked upon it, up to the present stageof affairs, as a very serious matter; and I am confident that both yourmansion and mine would have been in ashes before this time if we had nottaken the bull by the horns as we did."
"You appear to be amused."
"I am amused at the present situation; and perhaps the victory we haveachieved puts me in condition to be amused. My property and my daughtershave been saved, and we have the ruffians pinched up in a tight place. Ithink you have as much reason to rejoice as I have, Major Lyon."
"Certainly I have; but, not being a military man, it looks more seriousto me than to you. I thought you were inclined to make fun of the wholeaffair."
"Not at all. For a civilian you have done wonders. As we have won we canafford to laugh. But it is about daylight now, and this operation mustbe finished. What is your counsel, Major?"
"I think we had better get a little nearer to the enemy," replied themajor. "I see a good many of your people in the field on our left."
"From mild, peaceable, and even timid people, they suddenly became asbrave as lions, and as ferocious as fiends, and they have severelypunished the ruffians who fled in this direction. I never supposed therewas anything like fight in them before."
"If you are ready we will advance, Colonel," added Major Lyon, as hegave the order to march.
The commander took his place by the side of the planter of Riverlawn,and the column moved up the declivity. The fire was still burningbrightly, and lighted up the whole of the surrounding region. It wasevidently replenished with fuel frequently, in order to enable theentrapped foe to observe the movements of the visitors. The approach ofthe forces appeared to cause a decided sensation in the ranks of theruffians, and presently a white flag was displayed in front of them.
"Captain Titus seems to have a passion for white flags," said thecolonel. "He tried that dodge for the second time over on the new road."
"And for the third time on this road," added the major. "But thereappears to be some reason for showing it this time."
The major did not give an order to halt this time; but the force marchedto a point within twenty-five feet of the front rank of the ruffians, ifthere could be said to be anything like a rank in the mob. Then thecommand to halt was given.
"I shall leave you to do all the talking, Colonel Belthorpe," said themajor, as he backed his horse so as to leave the commander alone at thefront.
"I am quite willing to do the talking, but I may need your advice,"replied the colonel.
The planter of Riverlawn could distinctly make out his brother at thisdistance, and he was glad that he had not been shot dead, or apparentlywounded. Two men came from the direction of the fire, bearing lightedtorches, and placed themselves one on each side of Captain Titus andanother person at his side, who carried the white flag.
"Do you know that man with the flag, Squire Truman?" asked Major Lyon,as he observed the proceedings on the other side.
"I ought to know him, for I prosecuted him for an assault not long ago,"replied the lawyer. "That is Swin Pickford, a bully and a ruffian of thevilest sort."
"My brother is not very particular in the selection of his associates,"added Noah Lyon very sadly.
Captain Titus advanced with the flag and the torches at a stately pace,as though he were the victor instead of the vanquished in the severalconflicts of the night, and halted in the middle of the space betweenthe contestants.
"I desire to meet Noah Lyon," said he.
"I decline to meet him," called the owner of the name.
"He declines to meet you on the present occasion," replied the commandersternly. "This is not exactly a fraternal meeting, and there is only onequestion which is in order: Do you surrender?"
"Surrender? No! not as long as there is a breath left in my body!"replied the leader of the ruffians, as fiercely as though he expected tohave all his own way in spite of his disastrous defeat.
"What do you want, then?" demanded the colonel.
"I want justice!" stormed Captain Titus.
"If you got it you would be swinging to one of these trees; and that iswhere you would be if you were not the brother of Major Lyon."
"Major Lyon, as you call him, is a thief and a robber!" yelled Titus."The very guns and cannon you have turned against us to-night werestolen from me by him!"
"At a meeting of the Union men of this vicinity last night, a vote ofthanks was passed to Major Lyon for taking possession of the arms andammunition found in a cavern; and we all stand by that vote," repliedthe colonel with dignity.
"What do we care for the vote of a set of traitors to the State!"
"This is not the time or the place to discuss the subject. I desire onlyto know what you and your mob are going to do about it."
"We are going to have justice if there is any such thing left in theSt
ate."
"It is your next move, Captain Titus."
"I wish to be fair and reasonable," continued Titus, moderating hisspeech and manner. "I have done my best to keep the gentlemen with mefrom doing violence to them that stole our property, and"--
"And for that reason you became their leader and captain-general in anattempt to burn your brother's house and mine!" interjected the colonel.
"No matter what we came out for; I have a plan to state that will settlethe difficulty," Titus proceeded, struggling to keep cool.
"State your plan, and be quick about it!"
"If the stolen arms and things are returned to us at once, we will go toour several homes and let the matter end here," said Titus.
"That's enough!" exclaimed Colonel Belthorpe indignantly. "Have you comeover here under a flag of truce to say that?"
"That is what I come here for; and I insist on't that the things begiven up!" replied Titus, waxing wrathful.
"Now you can retire with your flag of truce."
"I won't do no such thing!"
"If you won't I shall be obliged to open fire upon you and your mob; andyou will be the first to fall," added the commander quietly.
"Do you mean to murder us?" demanded Titus, aghast at the determinedpolicy of the commander. "You have hemmed us in so that we can't getout, and now you mean to fire on us! I cal'late you've got a bone topick with your feller-citizens for armin' niggers."
"I can pick it without any help from you. Now, do you surrender, orshall I order my men to fire?" demanded the colonel so sternly thatTitus was silenced. "I give you five minutes to consider my offer."
"I don't want to be shot like a mule with a broken leg," said SwinPickford, loud enough to be heard in the front rank.
"Can't we make terms?" asked Titus, who was terribly alarmed.
"No terms with a mob," replied the colonel.
Half a dozen of the ruffians came forward to their leader, and it wasevident that they were quite as much frightened as he was himself.Enough was heard from those in the front rank of the defenders to assurethem they pleaded for surrender. Some of them farther back even shouted,"We surrender!"
"I s'pose we can't do nothin' but surrender or be shot," resumed Titus.
"That's all; and you may thank your stars that some of you are notswinging by the neck from the trees at the side of the road."
"Then we surrender, for we can't do nothin' else," said Captain Titus."But I want to tell you, Colonel Belthorpe and Noah Lyon, that youhaven't seen the end of this thing yet. If the whole country don't howlag'in you within twenty-four hours, I lose my guess."
"You had better fall back on your ruffians and guess again," added thecolonel, as he placed himself at the side of Major Lyon.
"What does the surrender amount to, Colonel?" asked the planter ofRiverlawn.
"It really amounts to nothing but a way to get rid of these fellows. Wehave had enough of them for to-night," replied the commander. "CaptainGadbury, will you ride around through the fields to Captain Deck, andask him to let the mob move down the road toward the bridge? If any ofthem have guns, take them from them."
Captain Gadbury started on his mission. Four mounted negroes were sentafter him to assist in disarming those who had weapons if needed. In ashort time the captain and his followers arrived at their destination,as could be seen from the position of the main body. It was light enoughby this time to see the force there place themselves on each side of theroad.
Then the commander ordered his men to march, shouting to the mob to dothe same. The ruffians began their humiliating retreat, and thedefenders followed them as far as the bridge. The planters and theirattendants then returned to their homes.