"I understand, I understand," said my host. "I will go and tell them all; but you cannot expect very well-disciplined soldiers here, Sir Richard."
"We must do our best, my good sir," I answered; "and I have no doubt of the result. One of us is equal to five or six of them, when we are not taken asleep in our beds." Doctor Blunt moved away to give the orders I had suggested, and I again put my head out of the window. The body of insurgents was now not a hundred and fifty yards from the house; but I don't think they saw me, for that side of the building was completely in shadow. They advanced very cautiously, however, taking advantage of the trees of the peach-orchard, to cover their approach; and there was evidently some hesitation at its verge, before they came out in the clear moonlight. They might, indeed, be laying their plan of attack. At length one man came forth, about ten or twenty yards before the rest, and took a leisurely survey of the whole front of the house. I was greatly afraid that some of our party would fire; but all kept still. At length the negro returned to his companions, and then they marched forward in a long, straggling line; each man with his gun raised to his shoulder, covering the upper windows.
"Keep down!" I said to my young companion; "keep your head down, and let them fire. Then raise yourself, choose your man, and when I give the word, pull the trigger." I have always found it a very difficult thing to get men to reserve their fire. There is a sort of natural anxiety to have the first chance, which causes many a shot to be thrown away. There was no nervousness, however, upon the present occasion; and all remained profoundly still, while the insurgents advanced to within about thirty paces of the house. We could now see all the men distinctly; so much so as nearly to distinguish their features, though that is somewhat difficult with a negro, even in the daylight. They evidently saw us too, and our white faces made us a better mark; but, as I had expected, the having to fire upward disturbed their aim. When they were at the distance I have mentioned, the word "Halt!" was pronounced; and the whole line came to a stand. Then there seemed to be some little hesitation; but, after a moment some one shouted, "Fire!" And nine or ten guns went off right at the windows. The glass crashed and rattled above us in the upper part of the frame, and a bullet seemed to strike the wall just below where I was standing; but not a single shot took effect upon anybody in the house. I had a great mind to let them come a little nearer still, that we might be more sure of our aim; but I knew that every one was impatient round me; and, seeing a movement amongst the negroes, as if to make a rush upon the lower part of the house, I gave the word to fire. Every one was prepared; every one had selected his man, and all the guns went off almost at once. Never was such a scene as now ensued. Six or seven of the insurgents fell down at once; and then there was a general scamper. Away they went in every different direction--tumbling over their fallen companions--running against the trees of the orchard--throwing away their guns to fly the better; and showing every symptom of that panic terror which so generally accompanies want of discipline. From the boldness with which they had marched up to the house, and the deliberation with which they had fired, I had not thought that the affair would be so soon over; but they were now evidently routed beyond any chance of a rally; and I gave one tall, big fellow, who was running faster than any of the rest, the advantage of my second barrel. He stumbled and fell, but was up again in a moment, and away, though he must have been wounded. Several more shots were fired amongst the fugitives from the other windows. Running round to Doctor Blunt, I said--
"If we make a sally now, we may capture some of them." Three or four of the gentlemen followed me downstairs; and rushing out, we got into the orchard as fast as possible, amongst the trees of which, several of the insurgents were endeavouring to shelter themselves from the shots which had been coming after them from the windows; though they might have made a good fight of it still, had they not been so completely scared. But no resistance was offered. Three or four ran away across the fields as fast as they could go, when they saw white faces in the orchard; but we captured two of them and marched them up towards the house. On the spot where the negro line had been formed we found the rest of our party, with a lantern and a sort of link or flambeau, examining the fallen. Billy Byles was hauling up one of the wounded men, while Doctor Blunt and another gentleman were stooping down over a tall fellow, who seemed quite dead, and holding the link to his face as if they saw something very curious in it.
"The most curious head I ever beheld," said Doctor Blunt's companion. "Did you ever see such a development? The organ of combativeness enormously full, and destructiveness as big as my fist. I must have that head for my cabinet, doctor."
"Ah, Sir Richard, I see you have brought in a prisoner," said Doctor Blunt, raising his head as I came up with the man I had taken. "This is my friend, Doctor ----, the famous phrenologist."
"Did you ever see such an extraordinary head, Sir Richard?" said the enthusiastic professor of what was then almost a new science. "Why, it is all back; it has neither top nor front. The posterior portion must weigh ten times the anterior. You, sir, what's your name?" he continued, turning to my prisoner. "Do you know who this is?"
"That is Will, sir," answered the unfortunate man;--"that is the gentleman who said we were to kill all the babies."
"There, I told you so!" cried the doctor, rejoicing in the triumph of his art. "He could not help it. That organ of destructiveness did it all. That man should never have been suffered to go loose. Henceforth, if crimes are committed, it is the fault of society. We can always detect the propensity to mischief by the certain laws of phrenology, and our business is to guard against it. If we suffer men like that to go loose, the crimes they commit are chargeable to our own negligence." I was not inclined to stay longer to hear the worthy gentleman's dissertation; and, touching Doctor Blunt's arm, I said--
"We had better return to the house and secure these two men. I must also ask you to do me the great favour of lending me a horse to ride to the county town; for I cannot be satisfied till I see this Colonel Halliday."