A Lieutenant at Eighteen Part 5

The captain did not hesitate any longer, but descended the steps very slowly, as though he was marching at his own funeral.

"Win, bring all the cords and straps you can find. We shall want a lot of them," said Deck in a low tone to the guide. "Bugler, go with him and help him bring them."

"This is not fair play," said the captain as he landed in the hall.

"No more talk!"

"What are you going to do with me?" demanded c.o.o.nly.

"You are my prisoner, and I intend to secure you properly. Give me your sword and pistols."

"I'll see you in"--

"Life!" called Deck, as he saw the stalwart sergeant near the front door.

"Here, Leftenant!" replied Life as he strode into the hall and made the military salute to his officer.

"Disarm this man!" said Deck, pointing to the ruffian leader.

The tall sergeant seized c.o.o.nly by the collar of his coat with his left hand, held him out as though he had been a small boy, unbuckled his sword-belt, and took two revolvers from his pockets with his right. The captain was a middling-sized man, and he struggled in the gripe of the powerful Kentuckian; but he might as well have attempted to resist Hercules himself.

"Now bind his arms behind him," continued Deck.

"I protest, Lieutenant, against this brutal treatment!" stormed the prisoner in a loud voice.

"All right; protest as much as you please, but don't make too much noise about it, or I shall be obliged to have you gagged."

This hint quieted him; and with the aid of the bugler he was secured as the officer had ordered.

CHAPTER V

LIEUTENANT LYON ENCOUNTERS ANOTHER ENEMY

Surrounded by double their own number of soldiers, armed with the best weapons, the marauders imprisoned in the upper story of the mansion could not help realizing that their situation was hopeless. They had not offered to come to the a.s.sistance of Captain c.o.o.nly when he was in the gripe of the stalwart sergeant; for the carbines of the cavalrymen still covered them, and they saw that they would be shot down if they attempted to descend the stairs without orders, or fired upon their a.s.sailants in the hall.

The captain was conducted into the sitting-room, and a man was placed at the door to keep watch of him. But he was harmless by this time; as Win expressed it, "the fun had all gone out of him." Deck began to think he had spent time enough over the affair; and he was in a hurry to return to the Millersville Road.

"Up-stairs there!" he called to the ruffians, who remained there because they could not escape without the certainty of being shot whether they attempted to leave by the windows or the stairs. "Is there any officer among you?"

"Lieutenant Billock is here," replied one of them.

"Let him show himself."

"That is my name," responded a fellow nearly as big as Life Knox at the head of the stairs.

"Your commander is a prisoner, and you rank next to him. What do you propose to do, fight or surrender?" Deck inquired of him.

"What can I do?" asked the big fellow; and he had not the air of a fighting-man, in spite of his ample proportions.

"That is for you to decide," answered Deck.

"We are surrounded by double our own number, and caged here like a lot of mules. Give me five minutes to talk to the boys," returned the guerilla lieutenant.

"All right; but not a minute more than five," added the officer of cavalry, as he looked at his watch.

"What are you gwine to do with 'em when you get 'em?" asked Life in a low tone.

"Turn them over to Captain Gordon when I have done my share of the job," answered Deck.

"We have concluded to surrender," said Lieutenant Billock at the head of the stairs. "I don't see 's we kin help ourselves under the suc.u.mstances."

"Very well; I shall hold you as prisoners, and treat you as I did your captain. Call in six more men, Life."

This additional force, carbine in hand, was stationed in the hall by the officer, with orders to shoot any man who resisted or tried to escape; and the orders were given in a loud tone, so that the prisoners on the floor above could hear them.

"Now you will form a line up there, and march down in single file, six feet apart. Each man will deposit all his weapons on the floor, and go into the room on the left, after his arms are tied behind him,"

continued Deck.

The prisoners said nothing, and obeyed the order in silence. Lieutenant Billock came first. The bugler was ordered to see that every one put all his arms on the floor, and a.s.sist him in doing so. Two men tied his arms behind him, and led him to the sitting-room. All the others followed him, and were served in the same manner. Twenty-two men were counted when the ceremony was finished. The bugler was ordered to blow the a.s.sembly, and the whole platoon gathered in front of the mansion, which faced the east.

Lieutenant Lyon appeared to have studied up his plan, for he was ready to take the next step as soon as all the prisoners had been secured. He next formed his men in two ranks, reaching from the mansion to the fence, where the ruffians had hitched their horses, retaining the sergeant and half a dozen soldiers in the hall, where he stood himself.

Then he sent half the prisoners out-doors, with their arms still secured behind them, and directed Life in what manner to mount and otherwise dispose of them.

The sergeant called ten men from the ranks to a.s.sist him, and each one of them took a ruffian in his charge. Life had Captain c.o.o.nly in his own hands. As the prisoners pointed out their own horses, they were conducted to the fence. The cord or strap was then loosened from the left wrist of each, but remained fastened to the right. They were then required to mount their steeds, which were a sorry-looking set of animals.

"Now you are all right," said Life when the captain was in his seat in the saddle.

"Why don't you take this strap from my right wrist?" asked the prisoner.

"Beca'se I kin make a better use on't," replied the sergeant, taking the strap in his hand, and making it fast to the crupper strap behind the rider.

It was drawn back far enough to prevent the prisoner from reaching it with his left hand. This was a device of Deck himself; and he had treated a prisoner in this manner once before, and it had succeeded admirably, though his man was disposed to resist. Life looked over the work the men had done, and changed some of it when necessary. Half of the cavalrymen were then sent for their horses.

They returned mounted in a few minutes, and were placed in charge of the prisoners, under Corporal Tilford. The other half of the ruffians were then mounted in the same manner, and the rest of the platoon went for their steeds in the grove; while orderly Sergeant Life formed the platoon, with the prisoners in the centre, and half a dozen soldiers on their flanks, to check the ambition of any who attempted to escape. All was ready for the march to the Millersville Road, and Deck went in to bid adieu to Mr. Halliburn and his wife.

"I sincerely hope that you will have no more visits from such ruffians," said he as he took the hand of the ex-clergyman. "I am confident this gang will not molest you again. I had my men search them as they laid down their arms, and they found a few trinkets, which I pa.s.sed over to Mr. Milton."

"All we had of any great value was in the treasure-chest which Grace carried away before the servants of sin entered the mansion. I am under such a load of obligation to you, Lieutenant Lyon, that I shall never be able to repay or reciprocate your kindness to us in our distress; but I thank you with all my heart, and I shall pray daily for you, that you may be saved from peril and temptation in this world, and that we may meet in the happy land beyond the grave."

Mrs. Halliburn expressed herself in the same terms; and the young officer hastened away, attended by Win Milton, who was going to the home of Colonel Halliburn, to a.s.sure himself of the safety of Grace Morgan.

"What shall we do with all these guns and pistols, Lieutenant?" asked Win, as he pointed to the pile of them in the hall.

"Anything you like; I don't want them. I advise you to conceal them under the hay in your stable. There must be some servants about this house, though I have not seen one," said Deck.