THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE RUFFIANS
Deck Lyon rushed furiously down the lane which connected the two roads at this point. It was dark, and it was in vain that he tried to understand the situation from anything he could see. He was sure that the main body of the ruffians were not in the cross-cut, for there was not room enough for them. He had to depend chiefly upon his ears for information, for the trees on one side of the passage obscured his way.
The first sound that attracted his attention as he advanced, above the general din, was a half-suppressed scream quite near him. The lane was so rough that he was obliged to move more slowly than when he had left the wagon, and he halted when he heard the cry. A moment later he discovered a man bearing a form in his arms, whose cries he was evidently trying to suppress with one of his hands placed over her mouth.
An opening in the grove enabled him to see so much, and to note the position of the ruffian. With his revolver in his hand he rushed forward; and, finding himself behind the assailant of the female, he threw himself upon him, and grasped him by the throat with both hands. He had done some of this kind of work at the schoolhouse in the evening, and the experience was useful to him.
He compelled the villain to release his hold upon his prisoner in order to defend himself. Deck wrenched and twisted him in an effort to throw him down, but his arms were not strong enough to accomplish his purpose, and he called upon Mose to assist him. The faithful servant was close by him; and perhaps he was desirous of striking a literal blow in defence of his young master, for he delivered one squarely on the head of the ruffian which knocked him six feet from the spot.
At this moment, and just as the captor of the lady went over backwards into a hole by the side of the cart-path, a bright light was flashed upon the scene, and Deck could see where he was and where the ruffian he had encountered was. When Clinker had secured the horses at the end of the lane, he realized the necessity of more light on the subject before the party; for though he heard much he saw little.
Taking a quantity of the hay from the wagon, he hastened to the scene of the conflict just as Deck had closed with the ruffian who was bearing the lady away. Putting it on the ground, he lighted it with a match, and then heaped on sticks and hits of board and plank scattered about by those who had loaded stone in the passage. The blaze revealed the entire situation to Deck and his companions, and it made a weird picture.
"Good, Clinker!" shouted Deck, as he saw the blacksmith standing with his musket in his hand, busy doing what he had undertaken. "Keep the fire up!"
The ruffian whom Mose, who was not much inferior to General and Dummy in bulk and strength, had knocked both literally and slangily "in a hole," lay perfectly still. Some five rods ahead of him Deck discovered a road wagon in the lane. Two horses were harnessed to it, and at the head of each of them was a ruffian, doing his best to restrain the spirited animals, frightened by the cries and the movements of the assailants. Behind the wagon were two white men engaged in a terrible struggle with half a dozen of the soldiers of the ruffian army. They were getting the worst of it, though they fought with desperate energy.
From their appearance and the fact that they were defending themselves, it was plain enough to Deck that they were in charge of the two females. They were unarmed, though one of them had procured a piece of board, and was doing good service with it. Just beyond the scene of the fight stood Buck Lagger, holding a female by the arm. She evidently realized that resistance was useless, and she had ceased to struggle or scream.
"Now follow me, boys!" shouted Deck. "You had better walk over to the fire, miss," he added to the young lady redeemed from the hands of the ruffian. "Clinker will see that no harm comes to you."
The six men who had followed the young man in advance of them, marched close to him, with their muskets in readiness for use. Deck could not order them to fire, for they were as likely to hit friends as enemies; but he rushed to the scene of the conflict, where the two white men had just been forced back by the marauders.
"Both fall back this way, gentlemen!" called the young leader.
Major Gadbury and Tom Belthorpe, as the colonel had given the names of those who attended his two daughters to the party, could not help realizing that assistance was at hand, though they saw only a stout boy and half a dozen negroes, and they promptly detached themselves from their assailants, and retreated behind the wagon.
"Now fire at them, one at a time!" shouted Deck, when it was safe to do so.
Mose was nearest to him, and instantly discharged his musket at the foremost assailants of the gentlemen. One of them dropped to the ground. The ruffians had not bargained for this sort of discipline, and they fled on the instant; for they had heard Deck's order, and saw that there were more bullets where the first one came from. They ran into the woods, and disappeared behind the trunks of the great trees.
"Don't fire again, but follow me!" said Deck, as he started at his best speed towards the spot where Buck Lagger stood with his prisoner.
This ruffian perceived the defeat of his party, and he attempted to force the lady in the direction taken by his infamous comrades. He led the way, dragging his prisoner after him; but she resisted now, hanging back so that he could not move at anything more than a snail's pace. She screamed again, and Major Gadbury and Tom Belthorpe started to assist her.
Deck had accomplished half the distance to the ruffian when he saw that the strength of the lady was failing her, and Buck was advancing more rapidly. He raised his revolver, and, aiming the weapon with all possible care, he fired. Clinker had kept the fire blazing freely, and he had plenty of light. The ruffian released his hold upon his prisoner, and swung his right hand over to his left shoulder. Deck believed his bullet had struck him there, though he continued his retreat to the wood.
"I am sorry you didn't kill him!" exclaimed one of the two gentlemen, as they halted at Deck's side.
"I had to be careful not to hit the lady," replied Deck. "But we have driven them off. Now, boys, in line!" shouted the young leader to his men. "Face the woods!"
