Dicey pulled back the great oaken bar which served as a lock, and in pushed half a dozen men heavily armed, none of whom she had ever seen before.
“COWARD, SHOOT NOW IF YOU DARE!”—Page [261].
“So the Whig cub has gone, has he?” asked the one who seemed the leader, a tall man dressed in buckskin trousers of Indian make, over which the red coat of the British officer seemed odd enough.
“It is true that my son has gone forth to serve his country,” said Mr. Langston, in a quiet voice.
At the reply, which seemed to enrage the ruffian, he strode a step forward, cocking his pistol as he advanced.
“I’ll show him how to serve his country when I find him, and as for you, old man, long enough have you hampered the King’s service.”
He pointed the weapon at Mr. Langston, when with a cry Dicey threw her arms about her father’s neck, and, shielding him with her body, called out over her shoulder,—
“Coward, shoot now if you dare!”
Bloody Bates, for indeed it was he, raised his pistol once more, and with a wicked scowl was preparing to fire, when one of the men who had stood silently by till now knocked up the weapon, saying,—