"You don't need to," said Jacob quickly, "You've got enough to worry about, my boy, without bothering your head over Barzilla's words. He talks too much, anyway. You just go on and get the meal for Sarah; that's all you need to think about now."
"Yes, but Little Peter ought to know a bit more," said Barzilla doggedly. "The truth is that we've run some of Fenton's gang into these very woods. There are several of us scouring the region, and it's only fair to tell you that you may run across some of 'em if you keep on. For my part I advise you to turn back and not go to the mill at all. It isn't safe."
"Nobody'll touch him. Let him go on," said Jacob. "The children will have to be fed, and he might as well get the meal. He's safe enough."
"He can do as he pleases," muttered Barzilla.
Little Peter was perplexed, for the actions and words of the men were sadly confusing. Tom had reported to him some of their previous conversations, and his own suspicions, as we know, had been aroused. If Barzilla spoke truly now, he was in no slight danger himself, while the very decided difference of opinion between the two men tended to increase his confusion.
"I'm goin' to tell you some more," said Jacob. "Last night some of Fenton's gang went over to Mr. Farr's. You know the old man, don't you?"
"You mean Thomas Farr, the old man who lives with his wife and daughter over on the road to Imlaystown?"
"That's the very man. Well, Lew Fenton and some of his gang went over there about midnight, and attacked the house. There wasn't any one in it but the old man and his wife and their daughter, and you know she's old enough to have arrived at years of discretion, to put it mildly. The old people barricaded the doors with logs of wood just as soon as they discovered who the men were.
"The pine robbers tried to break the door down with some fence rails, but when that failed, they fired a volley of bullets right through the door. One ball broke the leg of the old man, but still they wouldn't let the pine robbers in. Then the villains went around to the back door and succeeded in smashing that in. They stuck a bayonet into the old man, who was helpless on the floor, and then they murdered his wife right before his eyes. One of the men struck the daughter with the butt of his gun, but, although she was pretty badly hurt, she managed to get out of the house.
"Fenton's gang didn't wait to plunder the place, but, as they were afraid she'd raise an alarm, they all cleared out. 'Twas mighty lucky for them that they did, for there was a lot of us near by. You see we'd seen Benzeor"—