"You are lighted up here as though you were going to have a ball instead of a fight," suggested Colonel Belthorpe.
"There are plenty of balls in the fort, but they are all twelve-pounders," returned the major as the party alighted. "Levi has been at work here while we were at the meeting, and he will explain everything to you better than I can."
The trio of visitors entered the building, and were astonished at the nature and extent of the preparations to defend the mansion and its occupants from a hostile demonstration. Levi stated what he had done, and pointed out everything in detail.
"You think the ruffians are coming over here to-night, do you, Colonel Cosgrove?" asked the planter.
"I think they are on their way here now," replied the Kentuckian.
"Is there any other way they can get to your house than over that bridge?" asked Colonel Belthorpe, who was the only military man in the party who had seen real service, though Levi had been in the militia.
"There is no other way," replied Levi, when his employer nodded to him. "No mob could get through the swamp back of the mansion in the daytime, to say nothing of doing it in the night. The bridge is the only approach; and, if worse comes to worst, we can cut that away."
"You are in a very strong position, and I don't believe it will be necessary to cut away the bridge," added the military gentleman. "They can only cross the creek in boats."
"Our boats are all taken out of the water."
"With those twelve-pounders you can beat off a regiment. You have everything for the defence except soldiers," added the authority of the party.