Part 15 (1/2)
”Why, Captain,” exclaimed Mr. Riley. ”You don't pretend to say that-”
”I don't pretend to say anything but this,” interrupted the captain. ”When the houses of two Union men, situated more than a mile apart, get on fire at the same time, and no bells are rung, and the engines can't work because they are out of order, and a big crowd like this stands about without lifting a finger to save anything when all these things happen, it makes me suspect that there are firebugs around, and that they are after Union men and n.o.body else. At any rate I shall act on that suspicion. These muskets are loaded with ball, and if any one attempts to apply a match to a building in the presence of my guards, he'll get hurt.”
”Three cheers for Captain Wilson,” shouted some Union boys in the ranks.
”Silence!” commanded the captain. He was angry enough to put that boy under arrest, but not foolish enough to try to find out who he was. He knew by past experience that the students would not tell tales on one another.
The captain was as good as his word. Paying no attention to the protests of the different members of the committee who gathered about him, the details were quickly made, and so it came about that Dixon and five others, including a non-commissioned officer, found themselves guarding Mr. Bailey's store. Another and much larger squad was sent down the road at double time to see what they could do to a.s.sist Elder Bowen.
”Go up that by-path a piece, Dixon,” said the corporal, as he stepped upon the porch that ran in front of old man Bailey's door. ”Keep your eye peeled for fire-bugs, and if you see-”
”Hey, there!” shouted a voice from the inside of the store. ”Get off that porch.”
”On the watch, are you?” replied the corporal. ”Well, we'll watch too, if you will give us some candy to eat while we are doing it. Come out and see the Union men burn up. It will be your turn next.”
Mr. Bailey was astonished-at least the corporal thought he was, for he heard him talking to himself as he stumbled around in the dark searching for a jar of candy. The old man had not looked for anything like this. Being on the watch he knew when the fire in town broke out, and believing that Bud Goble was at work, he began patroling his store with his revolver in his hand, ready to give the incendiaries a warm reception if they came near him. This was what the old man told the corporal when he opened the door and pa.s.sed out the candy and a bag of peanuts.
”The nuts are for Graham, if he is with you,” said he. ”I never saw such an appet.i.te as that boy's got for goobers.”
”But he isn't here,” replied the corporal. ”He is on guard at the academy. Now tell me all you know about this business. I'm here to guard your property, although I can't see the sense of it. Mr. Riley wouldn't let Bud touch you.”
”I don't think he would if he knew it, for he knows just where I stand,” answered Mr. Bailey. ”But Bud might take it into his crazy head to operate on his own hook, and that is what I am afraid of.”
”Halt!” shouted Dixon, who had scarcely taken the position a.s.signed him before he discovered Bud and Silas coming.
”There!” exclaimed Mr. Bailey. ”I'll bet that's Bud. If it isn't, what is he sneaking around toward the back of the store for?”
”All right,” replied the corporal. ”I'll give him such a scare that he'll never trouble you again. If he doesn't tell a pretty straight story I'll march him before Captain Wilson.”
As he spoke he stepped off the porch and started toward Dixon's post, and it was the sound of his footsteps that frightened Bud and his companion into a run. He was really alarmed when he heard the report of Dixon's piece.
”You've played smash on your watch, old fellow,” said he, as he hastened to the sentry's side.
”Can't help it,” was Dixon's answer. ”Orders are orders.”
”Who was it?”
”Bud Goble for one. I recognized his voice; but I don't know who his companion was.”
”Did you hit either of them?”
”Guess not. I shot to hit if they were firebugs, and to miss if they were not. They both ran away, so I reckon they were innocent of any wrong intent; but they ought to have stopped when I told them.”
The corporal walked up the road a few hundred yards, but could not see anything of Bud and his friend. They had taken themselves safely off. Just as he got back to Dixon's post a sentry on the other side of the store shouted out a challenge.
”I told you you had played smash,” said the corporal. ”The captain has come up to inquire into the matter.”
That was just who the new-comer was, as the corporal found when he responded to the sentry's call; but he did not have a word of fault to find with the way Dixon had obeyed orders. His men had been commanded to halt everybody who came near their beat, and to fire upon all who did not come in and give an account of themselves. He was excited, and possibly expressed his sentiments with more freedom in the presence of his non-commissioned officer than he ought to have done.
”Dixon did right,” said he. ”The colonel told me to protect property, and if he doesn't approve of the measures I have taken to do it, he can send somebody else in command the next time he finds it necessary to order out a company of students. These are terrible times, corporal, and they are getting worse every day. Terrible times when neighbors are turned against one another as they seem to be in this town.”