Part 6 (1/2)
”Call me by my proper name and I'll answer a civil question.”
”You'll answer whether I put the question civilly or not,” cried the fellow, raising his whip and spurring his horse on towards Dan, on which I brought my rifle to bear on the man, exclaiming--
”If you touch my brother, I'll shoot you, as sure as you're a living man.”
On this he pulled in his rein, while his companion, bursting into a loud laugh, exclaimed--
”These young c.o.c.ks crow loudly! I say, youngsters, who is your father?
he must be a smart fellow to own such a pair of bantlings.”
”Our father is Captain Loraine who lives at Uphill, and he's not the person to stand nonsense from you or any other man like you!” exclaimed Dan, whose Irish temper had risen almost to boiling pitch.
The strangers, seeing that they could not get much change out of us, rode on; the last man who had spoken bantering his companion on their defeat. I saw the other turn his head several times as though not quite sure that we should not fire after him.
”I am glad they didn't come upon our camp this morning, although as they have no blood-hounds with them, we might have managed to conceal the negro without having had resort to force,” I remarked.
”But we should have had to tell lies if they had put questions to us, or have given him up or fought for him,” observed Dan.
”Still better reason why we should be thankful that they did not find us,” I answered.
We were so excited by what had occurred that we slackened our speed for a considerable way. We were still several miles from home when night overtook us; we had therefore again to camp out. We did not mind this, but we were anxious to get to the farm, to send a.s.sistance to our tutor and the poor black. According to our usual plan, we built a shanty, lighted a fire, and one of us sat up to keep the latter blazing. We heard strange sounds during the night, which kept us wakeful, and during my watch I caught sight of a bear, though the fire made him keep at a respectful distance. After surveying us for a few minutes, and not discovering any tempting odour, he slunk away, convinced that he would gain nothing by paying us a visit. When I roused up Dan, I told him to keep a look-out, lest bruin should come back, and lay down to s.n.a.t.c.h a short sleep, expecting to be roused up again before long. Dan, however, saw nothing during his watch to induce him to call me, so I had my sleep out. I was awakened by feeling him shaking my shoulder.
”It is near morning, Mike, I think,” he said; ”I suspect that I must have nodded, for the fire is lower than it should be, but I have thrown on some sticks and it will soon be blazing up again.”
I sprang to my feet just in time to see a big s.h.a.ggy beast emerging from the surrounding darkness. I gave a poke to the fire with my foot, it made some dry leaves burst into a flame, and then Dan and I both shouted at the top of our voices. The bear, who had again scented us out, might in another instant have caught Dan or me in his unfriendly embrace; but he stopped short, and then, turning round, retreated much faster than he had come. We did not fire, as we should probably only have wounded him and have excited him to rage.
Soon after this daylight broke. Having eaten the remainder of our provisions, we started off, hoping to reach home in three or four hours.
We met with no other adventures by the way. The first person we saw on approaching our home was our father. We told him of our discovery of the apparently dying black, and that the dominie had remained behind to take care of the poor fellow.
”Mr Tidey has done as I would have had him, and acted the part of the good Samaritan. We'll send the waggon off at once, to bring him and the negro in,” said my father.
Though I wanted to go too, our father declared that we looked so much knocked up from our long tramp and sleepless nights, that we must turn in and get some rest, and he said that he would despatch Peter, who knew the country better than we did, for the purpose.
CHAPTER THREE.
ARRIVAL OF THE WAGGON--WHY DIO RAN AWAY--HOW TO ACT FOR THE BEST-- ABOLITION OF SLAVERY--WHAT BIDDY O'TOOLE MEANT TO DO--KATHLEEN AND DIO-- BIDDY'S INTERVIEW WITH THE STRANGERS--DIO'S PURSUERS--A FORTUNATE ARRIVAL--TEACHING THE BLACK TO READ--GOOD WORDS--AN INTERRUPTED LESSON-- THE ALARM--MAN-HUNTERS--EVERY MAN'S HOUSE HIS CASTLE--WATCHING THE STRANGERS--AN AGREEABLE SURPRISE--MR. MCDERMONT--MY MOTHER'S APPREHENSIONS OF DANGER--OUR GARRISON INCREASED.
The first thing I did the next morning on getting up was to hurry out to ascertain if Mr Tidey and the negro had arrived, and was much disappointed to find that the waggon had not come back. Breakfast was over, and still it did not appear. My mother suggested that possibly the black was too weak to be removed. When I told my father of the two men we had fallen in with, in search of a runaway slave, he looked grave, remarking--
”Possibly the fellows on their return may have fallen in with the waggon, and if so, they have carried off it and its occupants.”
”I don't think Mr Tidey would allow himself to be captured by only two men, or would surrender the black of whom he had taken charge,” I remarked.
”He is not likely to submit himself to be made prisoner, I grant, unless he should have been wounded, but possibly he may not have felt himself called on to fight for a stranger, should the men in search of the slave be able to prove that he belongs to them or their employer,” answered my father. ”However, I'll set out to try to ascertain what has happened; saddle Swiftsure, Mike, while I get ready.”
As I was on my way to the field in which our horses grazed, I heard Dan shout out--
”Here comes the waggon, no necessity to get the horses.”
On running back to the hill on which Dan was standing, I saw the waggon coming along, driven at a quick rate by Peter, while Mr Tidey was seated with his rifle between his knees, close behind him. I could not discover a third person, and I began to fear that the negro had died or been captured by his pursuers. This was a great disappointment, and I pictured to myself the misery of the poor fellow, should he have been dragged back into slavery.