"And some of them have muskets," added Colonel Cosgrove.
"It looks as though some one or more of us might be shot," continued Major Lyon. "If there is any man here, black or white, who wants to leave and find a safer place than this may be in a few minutes, he is at liberty to do so. I don't want any man to render unwilling service on my account; and you can make peace with that gang by giving me and my boys up to them."
"Never! Never! Never!" yelled every one of the servants.
"Mars'r Lyon foreber!" shouted General.
"Glory to God! We all die for Mars'r Lyon!" cried Dummy the preacher.
"Now all hands give three cheers!" interposed Colonel Belthorpe; and they were given as vigorously as on the deck of a man-of-war. "That will convince the enemy that we are wide awake, and don't mean to run away."
"I reckon that squad is just a little astonished about this time," said Levi.
For this reason, or some other, the enemy suddenly made a halt, and the tumult of many voices came up the road. If Captain Titus was in command of the enemy, his force was not reduced to anything like discipline. From the sounds there appeared to be many commanders, each of whom wanted to have his own way. The defenders of the mansion waited full a quarter of an hour before the tumult subsided, indicating that some point had been carried, though enough of the shouts of the stormy ruffians indicated that they were in favor of going ahead and making the attack. It was plain to the listeners that some of the gang had cooler heads, and knew what prudence meant.
Presently four men were seen marching up the road towards the bridge, the two at the flanks carrying flaming torches, as if to illuminate a white flag borne on a pole, which had possibly cost some member of the troop his white shirt. The two in the middle were evidently the officers, or ambassadors, of the ruffians. They came up to their end of the bridge, and halted there.