“I submit, if it be the will of the men,” he said, calmly. “Heaven forefend that I should seek to betray these women and children into merciless hands,” and he glanced around on the swarthy faces revealed by the tallow dips.
“Let the captain help us,” cried several voices; but old Levi silenced the speakers with a look.
“I’d like to, but it won’t do,” he said. “The evidence is strong against him. I saw him whispering to Morg Sawyer at the gate, a minute before that dog’s desertion, and Wolf-Cap has just shouted over the palisades that he is a traitor.”
For the first time the captain’s face grew pale, and Levi proceeded to disarm him.
“I’m sorry for all this, Cap,” he said, sympathetically; “but you see, we’ve got to do it, and—”
“Arrest Captain Strong!” interrupted a sturdy young settler, whose head shot above the hatchway at this juncture. “Wolf-Cap has just halloed over the gate that he is a traitor. Ah! so you’ve already caught the dog! Zeb Strong, for a shilling I’d strike you stiff and cold on these boards. I’ve two sisters here, and to think that you would give them over to the tomahawk!”
The youth towered before the suspected man with flashing eyes and leveled gun, and other weapons were drawn to shed the captain’s blood.
“No, no, boys; he’s not condemned yet,” said Levi Armstrong, pushing the weapons aside. “We’ll tend to him after the fight.”
“But we may not win.”
“Then, of course, he dies.”