The Four Canadian Highwaymen; Or, The Robbers of Markham Swamp

by J. E. Collins

CHAPTER IX.

DISCIPLINE AND OTHER INCIDENTS.

On the morning after the foregoing occurrence breakfast was taken at the usual hour. All the robbers were present; and the Rev. Mr. Jonas thanked God for the repast, and begged that his brethren would be given strength from above to carry on the good work in which they had engaged.

The old woman had taken her place at the head of the table, and upon her hands and face were many plasters. The face of the captain was as dark as night; and he did not for many minutes speak to anybody. At last, when the meal was nearly ended, he fixed his fierce eyes upon Roland.

'Those whose hearts are too craven,' he said, 'to go out for adventure among men, like to amuse themselves by assailing old women.'

'She may thank the fiend who presides over her destiny that she came off so easily,' Roland replied with the most consummate coolness.

'But the fact remains,' sneered the chief, 'that while you are afraid to face men, you wreak your vengeance upon an old woman.'

'If you were not what you are, a despicable villain, I should open this discussion by saying that you are a liar. I will merely say that, at all events, I am not afraid to meet you now or any other time, here or any other where.'

The effects of this daring speech was much the same as if a thunderbolt had fallen out of the heavens among the party. As Roland concluded he rose from the table and placed his back against the bluff face of the boulder. The chief did not reply or make any demonstration of violence as they all evidently imagined that he would. Murfrey looked meaningly at his captain; and then rushing from the table, approached our hero. He had his hand in his hip pocket, and there was a gleam of brutal ferocity in his face. Roland immediately drew his pistol.

'Ruffian,' he cried, 'I am always prepared. If you make one step further you fall where you stand. I am not afraid of you, nor of your captain, nor of any one, or of all, your bloody band. I seek no quarrel with anybody; my great wish is to avoid quarrel; but as you choose, one and all, to insult me, and to attempt my life, this is my only course.' The robber was dumbfounded, but he was speedily recalled to his senses by his chief.

'We will deal with this fellow at some other time. I have a different matter on hand now. Take this rope and fasten an end of it to his arm,' pointing to The Lifter.

The poor wretch knew that some horrible punishment was in store for him, and his face grew deadly pale. Otherwise he showed no sign of terror.

Murfrey fastened the cord, securely, as directed, and stood awaiting further instructions. But the chief had a lecture to deliver before he gave the order; and this was the lecture:

'I desire one and all to know why this punishment is inflicted. It is for treason. My mother was about to take vengeance for insult offered her by this man,' pointing to Roland, 'but my son interfered in a way that you all know. Now I am glad that my mother did not succeed, for I have an object in keeping this young man here for the present. Nevertheless, the fact remains that The Lifter broke the compact which binds us loyally to one another. Hoist him up, Murfrey!'

This burly robber threw the rope over an oak limb, and directed The Lifter to stand 'plumb under.' Murfrey now tightened the rope but he could not raise The Lifter from the ground.

'Since this punishment is for the promotion of one of the great virtues,' chimed in the Rev. Mr. Jonas, 'I may help you.'

The exertions of the two robbers availed, and in a minute the unfortunate Liller, his face convulsed in agony, was hanging by one arm four feet from the ground. Our hero had looked on, a silent spectator, while this brutal act progressed, lamenting his powerlessness to prevent it. But when the robbers coolly took their pipes and began to smoke, paying no heed to the agonised moans of the victim, a courageous resolution formed itself in Roland's brain.

'To save my life,' he thought, 'this poor wretch incurred and suffers this punishment.' He had no sooner made up his mind than he made a step from his seat towards the group.

'How long do you propose keeping him there?' The captain did not reply, but Murfrey made answer.

'Perhaps an hour, perhaps two. But what is it of your business? Do you wish to get strung up?'

'It is so far my business, that if I can release him, not ten seconds longer will he hang there;' and saying these words he strode towards the tree. Facing in such a manner that the entire gang was in front of him he drew his pistol, and by the aid of his left arm began to make his way up the tree. He paused on the first limb, for he perceived that Murfrey was about to spring upon him.

'The first man or woman that makes a move to hinder me, I will shoot.' Murfrey stood irresolute, then moved a step nearer to the tree, whereupon Roland promptly covered him with his weapon.

This was more than the bully had looked for; and upon noticing that no one seemed disposed to assist, he turned away and joined the group. With one blow of his knife, then, Roland severed the cord, and The Lifter fell like a log upon the turf.

Descending then he found that the miserable wretch had fainted from his suffering; indeed, for a time he could discover no trace of a pulse.

'Nancy, fetch me a glass of brandy, immediately.'

Nancy looked at the chief as if to ask his permission, but he merely said:

'I have no concern in the affairs of this whelp.'

'Then I will go,' the girl said, and darting below, she soon returned with a flask. Forcing open The Lifter's mouth, Roland poured in about half a glass of brandy, which in a few seconds brought back the sufferer's pulse. When he had recovered his consciousness he said in a low voice:

'Stranger, you have made me your friend. You are a man.'

Meanwhile the old woman had begun to storm and gesticulate.

'What has the place come to?' she screamed, 'if the master is to be bullied before us all. Is there no one here who will take this impudent upstart and tie him up?'

Nobody moved.

'Pack of cowardly curs,' she screamed, 'to allow a thing like him to frighten you so.'

'Peace, mother,' interposed the Captain. 'Some things are to be punished, others to be tolerated. I think you may safely allow, all these matters, to remain with me. For the present let nothing further be said about this business.' The old woman subsided with a scowl; and Murfrey's eyes gleamed like a beast who has resolved that his prey shall not escape him. The robbers threw themselves around on dried bushes strewn about for such purposes; but Roland and The Lifter took their guns and set out through the bush to hunt partridge.

'You saved my life to-day,' The Lifter said, as he looked in our hero's face; 'and if ever the opportunity comes I will show you that, wicked as I am, I can be grateful.'

'Peace. There is nothing to be said on that point. You saved my life; and we are square.'

'Ah, but it was different. I did it among my friends; you among your enemies.'

'I should like to ask you a favour in return for what you consider my generosity, then,' Roland said, looking at his companion.

'Name it; and if the thing be possible, I shall do it.'

'I would not think of asking if I did not know it to be possible.'

'Well, the favour I ask is not for myself, but for an-f other.' His eyes had sought those of the robber, and held them in their earnest, entreating gaze.

'And who may it be that you ask this favour for?'

'For yourself.' The Lifter was exceedingly astonished; and he did not interrupt by words. 'Yes; my greatest wish is now that you will do me the favour of doing something for yourself.'

'And what is that?'

'To make the resolution, to give me your word, now, here, that as soon as possible you will give up this life of crime, leave this odious lair, and seek your living among honest men.'

'Ah,' his companion replied, with a deep sigh, 'you ask me to do what is impossible.'

'And why impossible? Is it that you are too deeply attached to the ties of this place, to your mode of life, to break the one and give up the other?'

'It is not that; no, indeed. But what would become of me were I to leave this place? I am not so good at disguises as the rest. I would certainly be caught and given to the gallows.'

'You will allow that I know as much, at least, as you can know on this matter. I do not consider the risk great at all. Your disguise would carry you through Canadian territory, and once in the United States you would be free to go among good men and earn your bread. It is true that you never can make thorough reparation for all the crimes to which you have been an accessory, or all the misery that you have helped to create. But you can atone to some extent for the past. You have many gifts, and I am sure that you would win a comfortable position for yourself in a world that guessed nothing of the early chapters of your history.

'Suppose that instead of doing this you elect to remain here. There is one chance that you may go free through all the dangers of your trade of blood; but there are ninety and nine chances that a violent death or the halter shall be your ultimate fate.

'Besides, you may be sure that the law will not much longer permit this lair to remain undiscovered. Your captain is now busy planning the abduction of some young lady, who is, so far as I can judge, a person of note. This will once more incense public feeling against your band; and judge how it must fare with you should the law be triumphant.'

'Upon earth there is notheen that I should prefer doeen to what you say. But do you really think it is sometheen I ought to look to?'

'You have my opinion.'

'Then I pledge myself to do as you desire, and I shall be ready to leave here when you say "go" or "come."' Roland stretched out his hand.

'It is well; it is a bargain. Leave you all the rest to me.'

After they had roamed the woods for some hours—during which they secured a dozen brace of birds—The Lifter said:

'Are you aware that you are to be a prisoner to-night?'

'No.'

'Well, there is a highway robbery on hand to-night, and. I am to go with them.'

'Do you know what the robbery is?'

'Yes; a negro lad, the servant of a very wealthy stock-raiser in a distant part of the township. The servant is to return home after moon rise with a large sum of money, from the sale of several droves. The cattle dealer is gouty, and he has no faith in anything. His servant brings the money home, because he will not trust the banks. The Capteen does not care about entrusteen you to the keepeen of the women; so before we depart you will be fastened securely in your own room. But you will have one friend at home. Nancy, I believe, like myself, would do much to serve you, although she is obliged for her own safety, to pretend that she considers you both dangerous and untrustworthy.'

When supper was ended that evening Roland noticed that the robbers made unusual preparations. Before they departed the chief addressed our hero:

'I have no reason to put any trust in you. Therefore you shall henceforth be treated as a mad dog. Go now to your room; for the door must be made secure before I leave.

'My only regret to-night,' replied Roland, 'is that it lies not in my power to thwart you in your infamous plot. It is well that you set this watch upon me; else I should go from the wood and inform your intended victim of your designs.'

'To your room, sir. Some time you may go too far.'

'This is a point that I have no desire to discuss, you odious robber. My word you have heard, and you hear again, that I care not for your threats; that I defy you and declare you to be as cowardly as you are bloody and bad.' He had faced the band, holding his pistol in his hand; and he moved backward towards the pit. He then noticed that Silent Poll was not among the rest; and he was unwilling to trust himself to the mercies of this creature.

'I shall not descend till the girl joins the rest;' and he now stood in such a manner as to have a view of the robbers and the old woman, as well as of the tunnel's mouth.

The chief shouted, and Silent Poll came forth with an extremely hang-dog expression. Then Roland descended, entered his room, and closed the door. In a moment it was securely fastened upon the outside with sturdy iron bars.

The robbers then set out through the wood for the road, by which the unsuspecting negro must pass. The heavy clouds which had crept in upon the sky at the set of sun now began to part, and, before the miscreants had emerged from the bush, the deep dark of their path was here and there parted by a shaft of silvery light. Through the tree tops a glimpse of the sky could be occasionally obtained; and although no leaf quivered in this sombre swamp the clouds raced across the face of the moon, sometimes shutting up the heavens in dark, again allowing the glory to stream forth and bathe the sky in pure splendour.

'We had better be mounted,' the chief said. 'The negro is a good horseman, and he will likely have one or two others with him. We have little time to lose.' The robbers then bent their steps to the stables, where the horses of the band were kept. A deaf mute cared for the horses, a man with a face so villainous looking, as to make it entirely indescribable. Standing upon the top of the bleak common, with drifts of moonlight shot from the openings, with flying clouds above, every now and again falling upon it, it looked well like the lair of mystery and crime.

The robber chief laid his finger-tips with a gentle sound upon the door, and immediately the mute pushed back the bolts; and then stood aside to let the robbers in.

'Well,' enquired the chief, 'have they passed to York?' and the dummy answering (for it was only to the country side that he was deaf and dumb) said:

'Yes, he and a big country loot passed about twelve o'clock.'

'So early!' ejaculated the captain. 'Then we are not here any too soon.'

'Shall I saddle?'

'Immediately—Do you think these fellows will fight?'

'They were both heavily armed. The negro carried a heavy cutlass and a pair of pistols.

'Ah, then the swamp has its terrors for them.'

'I am sure,' put in the evil looking mute, 'that this nigger will fight like a devil. But as for the galoot that goes with him, I'm sure there's no sand in him. Easy,' the fellow exclaimed, 'I hear hoofs now; and no doubt 'tis your man.'

'Into your saddles,' was the Captain's order; and immediately the four men sprang out upon the road.

A heavy cloud had drifted across the moon, and when the robbers rode down from the stables, the night was as dark as pitch. When they reached the highway they found themselves close to their victim, who, for some reason had halted.

'Surround him,' said the Captain in an audible whisper. While he was yet speaking the cloud drifted off the moon, and the situation became clearly revealed. The negro sat upon his horse, his head thrust out as if anticipating mischief. The country loot of whom the groom had spoken was not with him.

'Surrender!' shouted the robber chief in a carefully disguised voice. The black immediately slid from his horse, and stood in such a manner that he had the protection of the animal.

The robbers then rode toward him but raising his arm he fired at the Captain. The chiefs horse received the shot in the breast, reared high, and then fell sidelong upon the road. The next shot fired from the plucky negro hit The Lifter upon the right arm, breaking it close to the shoulder.

The suddenness of these casualties deterred the highwaymen for a few moments; during which time the black was edging towards the woods. Nature seemed now as if in conspiracy against the robbers, for at this moment another heavy cloud rolled across the moon. In the sudden darkness that followed the negro escaped into the bush, through which he moved with a tread as noiseless as the rabbit. From the road he could hear the curses of the outwitted highwaymen.

'I will follow this black imp,' the Captain said. 'Get this beast off the road,' indicating the dying horse; 'then go home. You can set bones, Sykes?'

'Yes, God has so blessed me,' returned the pious Mr. Jonas.

'Then attend to his arm at once upon your arrival.' The Lifter was exceedingly pale from the pain of his wound and from the loss of blood. He seemed to have no heart in the affair before the rencontre; and noticing this the Captain wondered much. And if anybody had been watching the face of the wounded highwayman when the negro escaped, he would have seen his eye lighten with satisfaction. The Lifter was in very truth a changed man. So much for the influence of one who is good, zealous and strong of purpose!

Like a sleuth hound the Captain set out along the road which he believed the negro would soon take; and we leave him in pursuit, while we go back to the lair, where the life of our hero stands in grave jeopardy.