"Quite done!" said the colonel, taking a revolver from his pocket.
"Go and join your friends! I will order every man with a gun to shoot you if you are seen about the place in five minutes!"
The overseer did not like the looks of the revolver in the hands of his employer, and he fled from the house. The commander had sent all the Riverlawn force back to the two roads to observe the movements of the ruffians, or he would have given the faithless fellow an escort from the vicinity of the mansion.
"The boys will all stand by you, mars'r," said Sam in the white jacket as the colonel followed the renegade to the front door.
"Then call two of them"—
"They're all right here, mars'r," interposed the servant.
The commander sent two of them to follow Tilford. He found, somewhat to his astonishment, that all the servants on the place, even to the old men, had armed themselves with clubs, pitchforks, shovels, or whatever they could lay their hands upon, ready to defend their master, who had always been kinder to them than the overseer. Besides, the armed negroes from Riverlawn had remained some little time on the premises, and had very fully informed them in regard to the events of the night, including the capture of the two daughters of their master, which had roused them to the highest pitch of indignation, for they looked upon Margie and Kate as a pair of angels, and wondered they had no wings.
When Colonel Belthorpe returned to the sitting-room, he found that Tom had collected all the arms and ammunition in the mansion, taking a repeating rifle for himself, and giving another to the guest of the house. Each of them took a revolver, and they were loading these weapons for immediate use. The rest of the arms were given to a few of the most trusty of the servants.
The commander led the way to the large courtyard in front of the mansion, where he divided the force into two parties, one to meet the enemy on each of the two roads. Before this could be done, the scouts on the new road returned, with the two Lyndhall boys who had followed Tilford. They had passed him through the ranks of the mounted men when they were in sight of the ruffians, and some of them had stoned him as a farewell salute.
The commander made Major Lyon the officer of the old road force. He objected, and suggested Major Gadbury for the position; but it was found that the visitor held his title only by courtesy, and was not a military man, and then the Riverlawn planter accepted the position. Tom Belthorpe, Squire Truman, Deck, and four of the eight mounted men, with about twenty of the Lyndhall boys, were placed under his command.