Part 20 (1/2)
”Stop!” Mrs. Haden gasped again; ”there's three hundred and more young chaps and boys wi' sticks and stones joost awaiting on this side t'village, awaiting to pay you all oot.”
e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns of alarm were heard all round, and several of the girls began to whimper.
”Hus.h.!.+” Mr. Dodgson said, coming forward. ”Let all keep silence, there may be no occasion for alarm; let us hear all about it, Mrs. Haden.”
Mrs. Haden repeated her story, and said that Harry's father and mother were getting a body of pitmen to help them.
”I think, Mr. Dodgson,” said Jack, ”the girls had best go back to Mr.
Brook's as quickly as possible; we will come and fetch them when it's all over.”
”I think so too,” said Mr. Dodgson, ”they might be injured by stones. My dear, do you lead the girls back to Mr. Brook's. The house will hardly be shut up yet, and even if it is, Mr. Brook will gladly receive you.
There is no chance of any of the ruffians pursuing them, do you think, Jack, when they find they have only us to deal with?”
”I don't know, sir. If three or four of us were to put on their cloaks, something light to show in the dark, they will think the girls are among us.”
”Quick! here they come,” Mr. Dodgson said, ”go back silently, girls, not a word.”
Two or three cloaks and shawls were hastily borrowed and the lads then turned up the road, where the sound of suppressed laughter and coa.r.s.e oaths could be heard, while the young women went off at a rapid pace towards the hall.
”There are four of the clubs, nigh twenty in each,” Jack said; ”let each club keep together and go right at 'em. Stick together whatever ye do.”
”I'll take my place by you, Jack,” Mr. Dodgson said; ”you are our captain now.”
Talking in a careless voice the party went forward. The road here was only divided from the fields on either side by a newly planted hedge of a foot or so in height. Jack had arranged that he, with the few married pitmen, Mr. Dodgson, and the eight Bull-dogs who did not belong to the other a.s.sociations, should hold the road; that two of the other clubs should go on each side, fight their way as far as they could, and then close in on the road to take the a.s.sailants there on both flanks.
The spirit of a.s.sociation did wonders; many of the lads were but fourteen or fifteen, yet all gathered under their respective leaders and prepared for what they felt would be a desperate struggle. Presently they saw a dark ma.s.s gathered in the road.
As soon as the light shawls were seen there was a cry of ”Here they be, give it 'em well, lads;” and a volley of what were, in the majority of cases, clods of earth, but among which were many stones, was poured in.
Without an instant's pause the party attacked separated, two bands leapt into the field on either side, and then the whole rushed at the a.s.sailants. No such charge as this had been antic.i.p.ated. The cowardly ruffians had expected to give a complete surprise, to hear the shrieks of the girls, and perhaps some slight resistance from a few of the older lads; the suddenness of this attack astonished them.
In an instant Jack and his supporters were in their midst, and the fury which animated them at this cowardly attack, and the unity of their action, bore all before them; and in spite of their sticks the leaders of the a.s.sailants were beaten to the ground. Then the sheer weight of the ma.s.s behind stopped the advance and the conflict became a general one. In the crowd and confusion it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe, and this prevented the a.s.sailants from making full use of their stakes, rails, and other implements with which they were armed.
They were, however, getting the best of it, Mr. Dodgson had been knocked down with a heavy stake and several others were badly hurt, when the strong bands in the field who had driven back the scattered a.s.sailants there, fell upon the flanks of the main body in the road.
For five minutes the fight was a desperate one, and then, just as numbers and weapons were telling, there was a shout in the rear, and fifteen pitmen, headed by Jim Shepherd and armed with pick handles, as formidable weapons as could be desired in the hands of strong men, fell upon the rear of the a.s.sailants. Yells, shouts, and heavy cras.h.i.+ng blows told the tale to those engaged in front; and at once the a.s.sailants broke and scattered in flight.
”Catch 'em and bring 'em down,” Jack shouted; ”they shall pay for this night's work.”
Such of the lads as were not disabled started off, and being fleet of foot, those of the a.s.sailants nearest to them had little chance of escape. Two or three lads together sprung upon one and pulled him down, and so when the pursuit ended twenty-nine of the a.s.sailants had fallen into their hands. In addition to this a score of them lay or sat by the road with broken heads and bones, the work of the pitmen's weapons.
Of the lads the greater part had been badly knocked about, and some lay insensible in the road. The prisoners were brought together, five of the pitmen with twenty of the lads marched with those able to walk, to the village, where they shut them up in the school-room. The other pitmen remained in charge of the wounded of both sides, and the rest of the party were sent back to Mr. Brook's to fetch the women and girls. Near the house they met Mr. Brook, accompanied by his two men-servants and gardener, armed with spades, hurrying forward; and he expressed his delight at the issue of the conflict, but shook his head at the number of serious injuries on both sides.
In a shed near the house were a number of hurdles, and twenty of these were at once sent forward with the men to carry those unable to walk into the village.
Mrs. Dodgson turned pale as her husband, his face covered with blood, entered the dining-room, where, huddled together, the frightened girls were standing; Mrs. Dodgson, aided by Nelly Hardy, having done her utmost to allay their fears.
”I am not hurt,” Mr. Dodgson said heartily, ”at least not seriously; but I fear that some are. It is all over now, and those ruffians have fled.