Part 11 (1/2)

”Ma.r.s.e Cally,” he said after a while, ”I b'lieve you done got mo'

settled, sence--dog ef I don't b'lieve dat it's been sence yistiddy! I dunner wharbouts de change is, but it sho' is dar. It mought be de way you look at me, an' it mought be de way you don't look at me--an' ef you ain't done grow'd bigger I ain't no n.i.g.g.e.r.”

”I have only ceased to be giddy for the time being,” I said. ”I am afraid I have some serious work cut out for me to-night. If you want to go you are welcome to do so, and if you stay I'll be glad to have you.

I don't know anyone I had rather have near me when a row springs up.”

”Me, Ma.r.s.e Cally? You sholy don't mean me.” It was plain that he was delighted. ”You know how skeery I is, Ma.r.s.e Cally, when dey's a row gwine on. I can't he'p gittin' skeer'd ter save my life. But it's de same way 'bout leavin' you; I'm skeer'd ter leave you. I couldn't go out dat door fer ter save my life.” Whistling Jim held out his long, slim hands where he could look at them. Then he ran the scale of an imaginary piano, once, twice, and s.h.i.+vered again. ”I tell you, Ma.r.s.e Cally, I'm a-gittin' skeerder an' skeerder. I wish dey'd come on ef dey comin'.”

”Well,” said I, ”I'll place the key of the door on the mantel here, and you can go out whenever you want to.”

But he protested almost violently. ”Don't you dast ter do dat, Ma.r.s.e Cally! You put dat key in yo' pocket, an' let it stay dar.”

Nevertheless, I laid it on the mantel. The negro looked at it more than once, and finally, as if taking leave of the temptation it represented, blew it a kiss from his long fingers.

As he sat down, four men filed into the room through the inner door, which had opened almost noiselessly.

XI

The men came in treading on one another's heels. The leader was a thick-set, heavily built fellow, and he had an evil-looking eye. He was evidently a soldier, or had been one, for he had the air and bearing that is unmistakable in a man who has seen service. He had a heavy jaw, and I noticed that his hair was cropped close to his head. The others appeared to be civilians, plain honest men, but ready, as were many men in Tennessee in those days, to help the Union cause in a quiet way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The leader ... had an evil-looking eye.]

”You said thar was only one,” remarked one of them to the short-haired man.

”I only told you what Captain Leroy said,” replied the leader.

”Well, you better had 'a' fetched Leroy along,” commented the man, and I judged that he had small stomach for the work before him.

I realized that the time had come for me to speak up. ”State your business,” said I. ”What do you want with me?”

”We want you to go with us,” replied the short-haired man; ”and we'll get our wants, too.”

”Where am I to go?”

”You'll know when you get there,” was the answer.

”By which road?” I asked. ”I am very careful about the roads I travel.”

”We'll look after the roads all right,” he replied. ”Will you go peaceable or not?”

”Just for the looks of the thing,” I replied, ”I'd rather have it said that I surrendered only after a struggle.” Glancing at the three men the ruffian had brought with him, I was confirmed in my impression that the affair was by no means to their taste. If they had made a rush all together it would have been the easiest matter in the world to overpower me, but somehow they hung back.

”Come on,” the man cried to his companions, making as if he would lead them. They hesitated, and it was then that I gave them my views of the situation.

”Gentlemen,” I said, ”I take you for honest, fair-minded men, and I would advise you to have no hand in this business. This man's orders are from no competent authority, and I give you fair warning that you will bitterly regret your part in this night's work if you live through it.”

I could see anxiety, not fear, creep into their faces, and a wholesome doubt of their leader's good faith. I was satisfied that my words had taken the edge off their eagerness, and this was all I hoped to do. I think the ruffian must have felt that his companions were weakening, for he paused and turned toward them, with his hand under his coat, as if in the act of drawing a weapon. What he intended to say I never knew, for, as he turned toward them, still watching me out of the corner of his evil eye, Whistling Jim was upon him.

Seizing the man in his arms, he whirled him around until he could get sufficient impetus, and then threw him against the wall as if he had been fired from a catapult. If you have never witnessed the fury of genuine fright it is to be hoped you never will, for there is something hideous about it. The ruffian had hardly hit the wall before the negro was upon him again, making a noise in his throat like some wild animal, his face distorted and the muscles of his arms and body standing out as prominently as if he were covered with huge wens or tumors.

The man had not been so badly stunned by his collision with the wall but that he could turn over, and by the time the negro reached him he had drawn his pistol half-way from his pocket; but that was all.