CHAPTER VII--In the Tories' Hands Again
Herbert Miller, the young schoolteacher, when he heard the demand madeby Hank Sprowl, felt that he was in great danger. He realized that theTories were bad men, and that they might kill him, if they got hold ofhim again. And as he had a young man's desire to live, he made up hismind not to let them get hold of him, if possible to avoid thecontingency.
The room Miller was in was at the front of the house, and that was thereason he heard the words of the Tory. It was a starlight night, andstepping to the window, the teacher looked out and downward. He sawseveral dark forms standing before the house. There were six or seven ofthe scoundrels, Miller decided, and that would be too many for him totry to fight against, even with the assistance of Mr. Santon.Furthermore, as the young man had no wish to get his friends intotrouble, he made up his mind that the best thing he could do would be tomake his escape.
With this idea in mind, he left the front room, and made his way into achamber at the rear. Opening the window, he looked out and about. Therewas no one in sight, so the young man decided that he would be able toleap to the ground and get safely away.
Climbing cautiously over the ledge, he seized hold of the window-silland lowered himself till he hung suspended at full length. Then herelaxed his hold and dropped. He alighted on his feet all right andunhurt, and turned to leave--when around the corner rushed four of theTories.
"Here he is!" yelled one. "Grab 'im, men."
They dashed forward and seized Miller before he could make his escape,and although he fought desperately, he was overpowered. The rest of thegang came rushing around the corner, just as the four had gotten thebetter of the teacher, and his arms were quickly tied together behindhis back.
They conducted him around to the front of the house, and Sprowl callingMr. Santon to the door gave him a rough talking to. "If ever we ketch yeharborin' or helpin' another rebel, John Santon, we'll drive ye out uvther country. D'ye hear?" he said in conclusion.
"Yes, I hear," was the reply. There was an angry look on Mr. Santon'sface, but he did not say much, for he realized that it would not takemany words from him to cause the ruffians to seize him and give him arough handling, the same as they likely intended doing with Miller. Hedid ask, however, what they proposed doing with the teacher.
"Oh, thet's our bizness," was the reply.
"We're goin' to try to do enuff, this time, to discourage him frumtryin' to stay aroun' in this part of the country, though. Ye may besure uv thet."
Then they set out through the woods, Miller in their midst. "Don't worryabout me, Mr. Santon," the teacher called back over his shoulder. "Theywon't dare do me serious injury."
"Oh, won't we, hey?" growled Sprowl. "Wai, mebby ye'll change yer mindafore we git through with ye."
"Oh, father, I'm afraid they'll kill him!" half-moaned Lizzie, when thegroup had disappeared amid the trees.
"I don't hardly think they will dare do that, Lizzie," was the soberreply. "But I fear they will give him rough treatment."
"Can't we prevent it somehow, father?" There was great eagerness in thevoice of the girl. It was evident that she was deeply moved. The factwas, that she thought a great deal of Herbert Miller. And he, on hispart, thought a great deal of Lizzie Santon.
Mr. Santon shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't, Lizzie," he said."There are seven of them."
"But, we can take our rifles, and follow them, father, and if they go toinjure Mr. Miller, we can shoot some of them. I can shoot as good as anyman, you know, father."
Mr. Santon hesitated a few moments, and then said: "Very well, Lizzie.We'll follow them, and perhaps we may be able to drive them away, ifthey try to injure Mr. Miller. Let's hurry, or they'll get so far awaywe won't be able to follow them."
He seized his rifle, and the girl did the same. With a few words to Mrs.Santon, they left the house, and set out through the timber. But theyhad gone only about fifty yards, when a rough voice challenged them.
"Stop whar ye are!" called the voice, threateningly. "Ef ye come anyfurder, we'll plug ye. Hank said as how mebby ye'd try to foller us, an'made us stay behin' to watch fur ye. Now, ef ye value yer lives, ye'llturn aroun' an' go right back ter the house, an' stay thar. Ye hear?"
"We may as well go back, Lizzie," said her father. "They'll shoot us ifwe try to follow now."
"Thet's what we will, Santon. Ye're talkin' sense. Git back to therhouse, now, an' stay thar. Ef ye come out ag'in, we'll shoot furst an'mebby talk arterwards."
"Come, Lizzie," said Mr. Santon, sadly, and they turned and went back tothe house.
"Sprowl left a couple of his men to watch and prevent us fromfollowing," explained Mr. Santon to his wife, and Lizzie, with tears ofdisappointment in her eyes, went up to her room.
In the meantime, Sprowl and four of his companions--he had, as we know,left two men behind to watch Santon's house--made their way onward tillthey had gone about two miles, and then they came to a log cabin in ahollow. There was a thick growth of trees and many clumps of bushes allaround, which would make it difficult for a chance passerby to see thecabin, even though his path led within a short distance of it.
Here the ruffians stopped, and Sprowl ordered that Miller be stripped tothe waist.
"We giv' ye a coat uv tar an' feathers, ther other time," he said, "butthis time we're goin' to give ye ther blamedest lickin' ye ever got inyour life. Tie 'im to that tree, boys." The last words to his men, whohad already quickly divested the teacher of his clothing, and he stoodthere, naked to the waist.
"You will be sorry for this, Hank Sprowl!" said Miller. "You had betternot commit this outrage."
"Shut up," was the brief reply. "Ye're goin' ter git a lickin' ye'llremember to yer dyin' day, an' then ye' hev twenty-four hours to leavether country in. Get the switches, men, an' begin."
A bundle of switches was produced from the nearby cabin, and a couple ofthe ruffians took each a heavy switch, several feet in length.Stationing themselves on either side of their intended victim, theylifted the switches and held them poised, waiting for the word fromSprowl to strike.
"Ready?" said Sprowl. "Go ahead. Give 'im a lickin' thet'll last 'im alifetime."
Herbert Miller set his teeth and waited.
The Dare Boys in Virginia Page 7
