Part 11 (2/2)
”That was what made the trouble here in Missouri,” said he, with great indignation. ”Up to that time we were strong for the Union, and took pains to say that the State had no call to sever her connection with it; but at the same time we recommended, as a sure means of avoiding civil war, that the Federal troops should be withdrawn from all points where they were likely to come into collision with the citizens. How was that recommendation received? With silent contempt, sir; with silent contempt, and that is something we will not stand.”
Supper being over Mr. Westall, Nels and Jeff left the cabin, to shut Tom Percival up in the corn-crib, the latter carrying upon his arm a tattered blanket which the prisoner was to use ”to keep himself warm.” It was with a heavy heart that Rodney saw him go, and as Tom did not once look his way, the latter could not even give him a glance of encouragement. When the three men returned at the end of ten minutes Mr. Westall was saying:
”It's a slimpsy place to shut a prisoner up in and I should be afraid to trust it, if it were not for the dogs. He can't crawl out between the logs, that much is certain; but the door is almost ready to drop from its hinges, and has a good deal of play back and forth behind the bar. If he had a thin, stout stick he could slip it through the crack, lift the bar and take himself off.”
”But I tell you again that there aint the first thing in the crib that he can stick through that there crack,” exclaimed Jeff, earnestly. ”There aint nothing but corn ever been in there.”
”I reckon he's safe enough,” said Mr, Westall. ”At any rate we will take our chances on it and try to get a good night's sleep. It might be well for whoever gets up during the night to mend the fire, to step out arid take a look at him. Now, Jeff, what about sleeping arrangements? There are not bunks enough for all of us, and I reckon we'll have to tote this table of yours out doors to make room for us to lie down on the floor, won't we?”
”Now that your prisoner is out of hearing, would you have any objection to telling me what he has been doing?” inquired Rodney, as Jeff and Nels pushed back their nail kegs and got up to act upon Mr. Westall's suggestion.
”No objection whatever, and it will not take me long to do it,” replied the latter. ”He's Union.”
”But he doesn't look like a horse-thief,” added Rodney.
”Yes, he's Union the worst kind,” repeated the Emergency man. ”We've been hearing about his father's doings ever since the election. We don't know him personally for he doesn't live in our county; but we know of him, and we've been told that he is a dangerous man. He owns a lot of n.i.g.g.e.rs, but last election he walked up to the polls, as brave as you please, and voted for Abe Lincoln; and there wasn't a man who dared say a word to him or lift a hand to stop him. What do you think of that?”
”I admire his courage,” replied Rodney, who had heard the story before.
”So would I, if it had been shown in a good cause,” said the Emergency man. ”But that's altogether too much cheek for a traitor, and I don't see anything in it to admire. This son of his is more to be feared than the old man, for he has been off somewhere and got a military education; and the very first thing he did when he came home from school was to get up a company of Home Guards, and send word to Captain Lyon that if he wanted help all he had to do was to say so.”
Mr. Westall proceeded to light his pipe, which he had previously filled, and during the operation he winked at Rodney and nodded as if to ask him what he thought of that. The latter felt a thrill ran through every nerve in him. He was glad to know that his old schoolmate was not wanting in courage, even if he did sympathize with the Yankee invaders, and we may add that this feeling was characteristic of the Barrington boys all through the war. If they heard, as they occasionally did, that some schoolfellow in the opposing ranks had done something that was thought to be worthy of praise, they felt an honest pride in it.
”I said that young Percival sent word to Captain Lyon that he was ready to help him, but that was not strictly correct,” continued Mr. Westall, taking a few puffs at his pipe to make sure that it was well lighted. ”He took word to him personally to be certain he got it, riding alone on horseback all the way from Springfield to St. Louis. What pa.s.sed between him and Lyon we don't know yet, for he won't open his mouth; but we may find means to make him tell all we care to hear. When he got through with his business at St. Louis he didn't go directly home, and that is what got him into this difficulty. He came back by the way of Pilot k.n.o.b, where he has a Union uncle living; but that's where I and my friends live, too.”
”And was it there he stole the horse?” asked Rodney.
”Well, between you and me and the gatepost, he never stole a horse,” replied Mr. Westall slowly, as if he were reluctant to make the admission.
Rodney Gray crossed his legs, clasped his hands around one knee and settled back on his nail keg with an air that said, almost as plainly as words:
”I knew it all the time.”
”No, he never stole a horse or anything else that we know of,” repeated Mr. Westall. ”But he rides a critter that is so near like one that was stolen from a Confederate by a Union man of the name of Morehouse a few days ago, that you could hardly tell them apart.”
”And I don't much blame Morehouse for stealing that horse, either,” said one of the Emergency men, who had not spoken before. ”He had to get out of the country, he couldn't do it without a horse to carry him, and so he took the one that came first to his hand.”
”I don't know as I blame him, either,” a.s.sented Mr. Westall. ”But I do blame him for holding the opinions he does.”
”Well, if another man stole the horse why do you lay it on to Percival?” inquired Rodney, who could hardly keep from showing how angry he was.
”You see the matter is just this way,” replied the Emergency man, as if he scarcely knew how to explain the situation! ”If young Percival had called upon his uncle for a visit, and gone away again without taking so much interest in the affairs of the settlement, we wouldn't have done any more than to give him warning that he wasn't wanted there; but when we saw him and his uncle with their heads together, and learned from some of our spies that Union men had been caught going to and from old Percival's house at all hours of the day and night, we made up our minds that there was something wrong about this young fellow; so we telegraphed to Springfield, and found out that he was an officer in a company of Home Guards who had offered their services to Lyon. Well, you bet we were surprised to find that he was the son of the only man in his county who dared to vote for Abe Lincoln, and it made us afraid of him. too.”
”A whole settlement afraid of one boy?” exclaimed Rodney.
”Exactly. We didn't know which way to turn for the Union men are in the majority in our county, as they are all through the northern and eastern parts of Missouri, and we didn't dare do anything openly for fear of being bushwhacked. As good luck would have it we succeeded in scaring Morehouse out of the country about that time, and when he went, he took one of the best horses in the settlement with him. That gave us something to work on, and we made it up among ourselves that we would lay the theft on to young Percival, take him out of his bed that night and serve him as the law directs.”
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