This harsh order came from the barricade, and at the same time a number of heads appeared in view over the top of the heavy planks forming the stockade around the buildings of the cement works.
It did not need the sight of the Winchester rifles in the hands of these men to tell Hugh they must be the guards who were responsible for the shooting. He knew that in the main these men were hardened, desperate fellows, who possibly made it their business to hire out to companies needing such kind of help, for it always brought big pay, and a certain sort of excitement which they craved.
Of course Hugh obeyed immediately. He did not want to dare them to fire on him or take unnecessary chances simply because he was carrying a flag of truce. Besides that he was now close up to the heavy barricade, and in a position to do what little talking he had in view.
As he ran his eye along the top of the fence he concluded that there must be some sort of platform on the other side, built so that the guards could crouch behind the shelter, and at the same time be in a position to suddenly show themselves in case they felt that it was necessary to shoot.
Hugh also decided that the man near the middle must be the one whose gruff voice had uttered that significant command. Yes, there was that about him to designate the big man a leader. Even as Hugh was making up his mind as to this he heard once more the booming of the heavy voice that rasped unpleasantly on his ears.
“Now, who are you, and what d’ye want here, anyway?”
“We are Boy Scouts from Oakvale,” the boy immediately hastened to tell him, “and we happened to be in camp only a couple of miles away. When we heard the shooting we hurried over, thinking that we might be of some assistance, that’s all.”
“As how?” demanded the captain of the armed guards, harshly.
“Why, you see, all scouts are taught the first principles of taking care of the wounded; and prompt action in that way often saves a person from bleeding to death. Some of my comrades are busy right now over in the settlement, and we’ve come here to ask if you have any objections to our carrying off any others who have been hurt, and are lying helpless close by.”
Hugh said this without trying to give any offense. He could easily guess that he was speaking to a man with very little or no feeling in his heart for the ignorant foreigners who had rebelled against a reduction in pay, and were making trouble for the rich owner of the works. To this captain of the guards, they were only so many “dagoes” and he believed in treating them pretty much as animals.