CHAPTER X.
A VISIT TO THE JAIL.
For a wonder the evening following the day on which the news of thebattle of Lexington was received, was an evening of "do-nothing" withEnoch Crosby. He could not perform any of the odd jobs about the house,he could not read, and under almost any other circumstances he wouldhave regarded the time as wasted. The next day was Sunday, and Enoch andhis mother were very much opposed to doing any work of their own on thatday; but they remembered the parable of the sheep who fell into a pit onthat day, and the owner had pulled him out and carried him home on hisshoulder. So they took that parable to themselves, and thought Enochwould not be doing any wrong by attempting to seize the officers of theschooner when they came ashore to attend divine service.
"I tell you, mother, we are already standing on the edge of a much worsepit than the sheep of old fell into," said Enoch. "If the king does notwake up and do something very soon, we are going to see a war here."
His mother did not attempt to deny it. She nodded her head and went onwith her knitting, while Enoch got down in front of the fire as close ashe could, rested his elbows on his knees, and gazed thoughtfully at thefloor. His mother thought he was growing down-hearted, and that wouldnot do for a provincial; so she began and related some adventures ofwhich his father had been the hero after he resigned his commission andcame out of the service. Enoch listened intently, and now and then heheard something that made his eyes flash, and he really wished he couldhave stood beside his father with another flint-lock in his hand.
When Caleb came over after the yeast Enoch detained him as long as hecould, but that was not very long, for Caleb was on an errand for hismother. He got the yeast, promised that he would be on hand when thatcheer was sounded on the morrow, and went out. Something, we don't knowwhat it was, prevented Enoch from taking up his hat and accompanyingCaleb to his home. If he had done so, we should have had two boys inthat brig instead of one.
The hands on the old-fashioned clock that stood on the mantle werebeginning to come around toward nine o'clock, the hour when all goodpersons ought to be in bed, when there came a timid knock at the kitchendoor. Wondering who could want to see any of his family at that hourEnoch opened it and found Mrs. Young on the threshold. Enoch thought shelooked uneasy about something, and without saying a word she steppedinto the kitchen and ran her eyes all around it. She was looking forCaleb, but she failed to find him there.
"Has my boy been here to-night?" she asked, in a trembling voice. "Isent him over to borrow some yeast of you----"
"He got the yeast and went home," said Mrs. Crosby. "Have you not seenanything of him?"
"No, I have not," said Mrs. Young, groping for the nearest chair andsinking into it. "He has not been near our house since he came overhere."
"Where do you suppose he is?" said Enoch.
"If I knew where he was I should have gone after him," replied Mrs.Young. "He does not generally perform errands in this way."
"No," said Enoch, who grew angry when anything was said against hiscompanion. "He generally does your bidding right up to the handle; andhe would have been at your house unless something has happened to him."
"Happened to Caleb!" exclaimed Mrs. Young. "Why--what----"
"I don't know," replied Enoch. "But you will remember that he did notpay his fine to-day."
The women looked at each other but did not say anything.
"Now it has just occurred to me all on a sudden that that magistrate isgoing to collect that pound and costs of Caleb in some way," beganEnoch.
"And has he arrested him for it?" stammered Mrs. Young.
"I don't know, but I can soon find out," replied Enoch. "I will go downand see Zeke about it."
"Be careful, my son, that you don't fall into the hands of the Toriesyourself," said Mrs. Crosby, when she saw Enoch taking down his hat.
"They have not got anything against me," said Enoch, as he opened thedoor. "I don't know what sort of stories James has told about me, but Iknow that I took Caleb away from him when he had him down. He can't sayanything hard against me for that."
"But you are not a Tory, and that will go against you."
Enoch went out, making no reply, and he left two very uneasy womenbehind him. They were not frightened, for in those days it took morethan a supposition to alarm them. Mrs. Young felt uneasy in regard toCaleb, and Mrs. Crosby felt that Way when she considered that Enoch wasgoing out there in the dark and perhaps would run into the very trapthat had been set for his friend.
"I can't help it," said Enoch, as he closed the gate behind him and setoff at a rapid run for Zeke's house. "He must be in jail, but I kept mymouth silent in the presence of his mother."
Enoch took to the middle of the street, for he concluded that he wouldbe safer there than on the sidewalk. It was dark, but Enoch knew theway, and presently was standing on Zeke's back steps. It was all dark inthe house and that proved that the man he wanted to see had gone to bed;but this was too serious a matter to admit of delay. "With his fist hepounded loudly upon the door, and a voice from the inside immediatelyasked--
"Who is that out there?"
"It is I--Enoch Crosby," replied the boy. "You'll have to get up andhelp us again. Caleb is in trouble."
It did not need any second call to bring Zeke out of bed and to hisfeet. He opened the door, saying as he did so--
"That Caleb beats all the boys in the world that I ever heard of. Whathas he been doing now?"
Enoch replied that he did not know. Caleb had come over to his house toborrow something of his mother, and he had never gone home with it. Hismother was at Mrs. Crosby's now looking for him.
"Beyond a doubt he is in jail," said Enoch. "You know he did not pay hisfine to-day, and I will bet that that magistrate has arrested him andlocked him up."
"Bussin' on it, I believe you are right," said Zeke, hurrying on hisclothes. "If he is in jail I wager that he will come out. Come in."
"I guess I had better stay out here. You will have to take a lanternwith you, for it is awful dark."
In much less time than it takes to tell it Zeke presented himself at thedoor arrayed in his usual costume, but he had something else that he didnot carry in the daytime. It was a huge club, and he had fashioned itafter a style of his own. The club looked too heavy for one man tomanage, but Zeke handled it as though it were a walking-cane. In hisleft hand he carried a lantern which he handed to Enoch.
"You don't think there is going to be a fight, do you?" asked the boy."If you do I had better go home and get my flint-lock."
"There is no knowing what will happen," returned Zeke, with a peculiartwist of his head. "Suppose he is in jail, and the magistrate hasbrought up some of them fellows from the Margaretta to act as hisguards. I don't know that he has done it, but it is well enough to be onthe safe side. Now let us go and see the place where Caleb was arrested.We may be able to find out something from that."
"Now, Zeke, do be careful of yourself," said his wife, who was sittingup in bed.
"You never heard of Zeke being captured yet, did you?" asked Zeke."Well, you never will."
Enoch, being provided with the lantern, took the lead down the sidewalktoward the place where Caleb had struggled so hard for his freedom.Almost the first thing he saw was the bucket which had contained theyeast. It was thrown up on one side near the fence, and was jammed inthe side; but it was empty.
"Here is the place where he was caught," said Zeke, taking the lanternfrom Enoch's hand and carefully examining all the footprints in the softearth. "Now, are these constables' tracks or Tories' tracks?"
Enoch did not know. He was all in the dark in more respects than one,and he forbore to express an opinion.
"Now, we will visit the jail," said Zeke, starting off with one of hislong strides which compelled Enoch to strike a trot in order to keep upwith him. "If he is in there he will come out."
"Where are you going to get some help?" asked Enoch.
"I do not want help. That old Tory knows
me, and as soon as he knows myvoice he will open that door. Now you mind what I tell you."
In a few minutes they ascended the steps that led to the jail, but allwas dark inside. Zeke lifted his club and pounded loudly upon the door.It seemed as if the echoes would arouse everybody within hearing. Ananswer came from the inside, but it was not such a one that suited Zeke.
"Go away from there!" shouted a voice that was full of rage. "You arenot a constable, I know, for they do not make such a noise when theycome here. Go away, now, or I will shut you up."
So soon as this answer was received the club fell heavier than before;whereupon there was the creaking of a bed and the sound of barefootsteps on the other side of the door.
"Who's that on the outside there?" came the inquiry this time; and itwas not nearly so full of rage as it was before.
"It is me," answered Zeke. "And if you want to see this door stay whereit is, you will open it up pretty quick."
"Oh, Zeke, is it you? I'll open the door directly. Why didn't you tellme who you were?"
"Didn't I say he would open the door?" said Zeke, hitting Enoch in theribs with his elbow. "He knows me."
In process of time the door came open and Zeke and Enoch stepped insideof it. The Tory was frightened, and he grew more so as he glanced at theclub which Zeke carried in his hand.
"What do you want here at this time of night?" asked the jailer. "Ihaven't got but one with me here to-night----"
"Give me your keys," interrupted Zeke.
"Now, Zeke, is not that going pretty far?" asked the Tory, who wasreally frightened now. "You know I haven't any right to give you mykeys----."
"Give me your keys," said Zeke in a louder tone, at the same timeseizing the jailer by the collar with one hand while with the other heraised his club and held it over his head. "This is the last time Ishall ask you."
"Give me your keys," said Zeke.]
"Of course if you are bound to have the keys there they are," said thejailer, going to his bed and feeling under his pillow. "You willremember that I give them up to you because I had to----"
"That is all right," said Zeke, who had kept close by his side. He threwthe pillow off as the jailer felt under it, and there lay two heavyhorse pistols, of which he took immediate possession. "I will leavethese things on the other side of the way and you can easily get themafter we go away," he added, as he pushed the weapons into his pocket."Now let us see if our man is in here."
"Who are you looking for?" asked the jailer. "There is not but one manin here, and he was put in for being drunk."
Zeke did not delay his search for what the jailer had said. He might betelling him the truth and then again he might not. He found the keywhich gave entrance into the cell-room, the doors of which were allopen with one exception, and that one confined a prisoner. Enoch andZeke were so surprised that they could not express themselves in fittinglanguage. They looked at each other for a minute or two and then Zekesaid:
"Bussin' on it, Caleb is not here."
"Are you speaking of Caleb Young?" asked the jailer. "I have not seenhim. I did hear that he would be here to keep company with me to-nightbecause he could not pay his fine which the magistrate imposed upon him,but I have not seen him or the constable either."
"Well, he is gone, if it will do you any good to know it," said Zeke,thoroughly at his wits' end. "And now the next question is, Where is he?I got that boy in a scrape, and I am bound to find him and give him upto his mother before I quit looking for him. Enoch, where is he?"
"Have you got through with your business here?" asked Enoch in reply."If you have let us go. I will tell you what I think of Caleb'sdisappearance when we get outside."
The First Capture; or, Hauling Down the Flag of England Page 10
