"Yes. sir!" said the new sheriff with a smile.
"And take his partner there with him!"
The sheriff and his deputies marched Lem and Brisbane off, both men shouting their innocence. Brisbane kept yelling, "Have you all gone daft? Have you all gone soft on runaways?"
"These here proceedings are closed!" said Halverston, banging his gavel like a gunshot.
A roar went up among the crowd and the passengers of Colfax's Excursion Line.
TWENTY-ONE
SECRET CELEBRATIONS
Daniel rushed up to Old Billy, the two of them hugged and laughed. Daniel also took Colonel Halverston's hand and shook it, saying a warm thank you and asking, "What'11 happen to Sheriff Brisbane and Lem?"
"Oh, no doubt we'll get Lem to tell us all we want to know about the former sheriff's little operation, and Brisbane will be behind bars for a long, long time, Daniel. Good to see you and your friends safe. Mrs. Halverston and I are proud of you, Daniel."
"So, son," said Billy, "what're you going to be doing now? You staying home in Hannibal where you belong, or you setting your sights for other horizons?"
Old Billy was like a father to Daniel, and Daniel loved the old man. "I'll be going North with the excursion and Mr. Fairfield, to learn the road, Billy. I got me a notion to help out folks like Mr. Ichabod, Miss Daisy and the others best I can."
Judge Halverston stopped at his chamber door, turned and whispered to Daniel, "Did you say Fairfield?"
"No sir, I mean, I meant Colfax."
"Is Colfax actually John Fairfield? You must tell me the truth, Daniel."
Daniel breathed deeply and nodded, saying, "He is."
"One and the same. He's known as one of the bravest men working a line on the Underground," whispered Halverston. "He's a legend, a living legend among people who know the operations of the road, among abolitionists North and South. He's wanted in every state south of the Mason-Dixon Line. If he's ever caught this far south, he'll spend the rest of his days in a cell."
"I didn't know he was so popular, no sir," said Daniel.
Halverston shouted for Colfax, stopping him cold at the courthouse door. Colfax turned and said, "Yes, sir, judge?"
"Hannibal offers its sincerest regrets over this awful matter, and I'd like for you to be my guest at my home here in Hannibal. There're some special friends I'd like for you to meet."
"I don't know. My sons and I have a schedule to keep."
"Doctor says your passenger, Mr. Hillock, won't be capable of traveling for another day," the judge countered. "Besides, I know my wife, Amanda, would be angry if you left without her having the honor of meeting you. Say this evening?"
Mr. Fairfield smiled and replied, "I should be grateful to accept. But are you sure the lady would care to entertain a soldier of fortune such as myself?"
"Oh. but I know she would indeed, sir. My house promptly at six, Mr. Colfax." The judge left.
In the next instant. Sissy rushed in, yelling the news that George was going to be all right. "His bleeding's stopped and all he needs now is rest."
"Lord praise the angels," said Daisy, holding firm to Ichabod, who supported her. Together they went off to visit George at the doctor's office.
"You sure your mind is set about going off with the excursion, Daniel?"
"I sure am, Mr. Billy."
"You done some mighty tall growing up these past few days, Daniel Webster Jackson."
"A might, yes, sir."
"War's a-coming, Daniel, sure as the river runs south, war's a-coming to this place."
"That's exactly what George said," replied Daniel as they walked out into the late afternoon sun.
"A boy like you, Daniel, at least you'll know where you stand. Most of the boys around Hannibal, white and black, are brought up such that they won't know what stand to take, and will likely take the wrong one when they do."
"Where're we going, Mr. Billy?" asked Daniel as he followed him.
"Why, you're my houseguest this evening, Daniel. I got myself a real smart place, right outside the judge's house, a thing they used to call the carriage house. Judge Hatcher spent a lot on fancy servants with French accents, on clothes and buggies, but that's all over now."
Daniel looked up at Mr. Billy's house, saying, "Why, it's grand, Mr. Billy! But I really ought to stop over to the doctor's to see George."
"Oh, he's got two women seeing after his every need. He ain't going nowheres," said Billy with a smile. "Besides, he'll have you all to himself tomorrow. They'll put him and you on that fancied up flatboat, and I won't never see you ever again."
"Why, that ain't so, Billy. I'll come to visit."
"You just come to visit tonight, young man," Billy stubbornly replied.
Daniel shook his head and said, "You think I won't ever be coming back to Hannibal because of the war, don't you, Mr. Billy?"
"'Cause of the war, 'cause of your work on the freedom road."
"It'll be mighty good learning from men like George Penrose, Mr. Fairfield and his sons, Billy."
"You run that line as long as you can, Daniel. This idea about using the excursion boat! It's the best notion. It's so brash, and I was so proud of those people, pulling it off the way they did. Think on it. I was proud of those people, my people!"
They stood before Old Billy's small but elegant white house with windows all around it. Daniel looked at the judge's large mansion alongside it, where the lights glowed warmly. "The judge has done scandalized the town over me, Daniel. The business of giving me my freedom papers, making me his bailiff and giving me the carriage house outright to live in, well...it don't set right with a lot of folks about here."
"Why don't you come away with us tomorrow, Billy, if'n you ain't comfortable here?"
"No, no, son. I can do a lot of good here so long as the colonel stays in office, don't you see?"
"You sure did a sight of good today in court for our side. Still, maybe you ought to take a trip up North, Mr. Billy, take some time away from Hannibal."
Billy tugged at his chin whiskers and said, "Daniel, maybe you're right. Judge Halverston might do a sight more good hereabouts if...if he didn't upset the locals over making me his bailiff. Maybe I ought to skee-daddle. See this here North I done sent so many others to see ahead of me. Maybe it is time I saw what's so all-fired good about up North."
"It'd be a grand time we'd have, Billy. You could tell stories along the way to all the passengers on the excursion."
Billy smiled wide at this. "I allow it might be best for the colonel's future as a judge in Hannibal, and so best for every single body in Hannibal, if'n I go."
Daniel nodded, understanding. "You're sure welcome to come, Mr. Billy. I know Mr. Fairfield wouldn't really charge you no money. He'd love to hear all about your days sending runaways north."
"Then it's settled. I'll pack my bags tonight and tell the colonel and his missus all about it. You know, they's going to give me a devilish fight over it."
"I'll go with you. Help them see your reasoning, Billy," Daniel assured him.
Old Billy and Daniel entered the mansion through the servant's entrance, following the long hallway to the front rooms where laughter and talk met them. When they saw that Mr. Fairfield was standing before a group of people and speaking openly about the Underground Railroad, Daniel couldn't believe his eyes or ears. Judge Halverston had settled in a chair beside his beautiful wife, Amanda, whose white evening gown took some of the attention off Mr. Fairfield.
The room, filled with other men and women from the town, including Judge Hatcher and Reverend Thornbush. was gray with cigar smoke. Mr. Fairfield was in the middle of relating the tale of how the brave men of the Colfax keelboat boarded the steamboat Walter Scott as she sank to acquire clothes for themselves and the others to make the ruse in Hannibal work. Daniel could not believe his ears. For a moment, he wondered if Mr. John Fairfield might not be turning them all in, but Daniel relaxed when suddenly everyone clapped. Then Daniel saw Grady, Tom and
Old Ichabod amble to the front of the room.
Judge Halverston stood and shook hands with the former Blainy slaves. His wife followed suit, and Old Billy whispered in Daniel's ear, "Just the night's entertainment, Daniel. Nothing to worry over. This'11 bring more funds and converts to the cause of freedom."
"But there sits even Mr. and Mrs. Blainy," said Daniel. "I don't understand."
"They's all Hannibal folk, Daniel. All of them belong to the cause now, even some who've once held slaves.
They's all members of the secret Hannibal Abolition Society, all citizens of the territory who want to see an end to slavery in America."
"Daniel! Daniel Webster Jackson," Mr. Fairfield shouted over the assembly. "Ladies, gentlemen, this here is the brave young man I spoke of."
"The one who saved my life," Grady added with delight.
Ichabod ushered Daniel away from Billy and into the center of the room. "Saved the day, this boy did. More'n once."
"This is your day, son," Billy said with a smile, and Daniel realized only now that it had been Billy's job to get Daniel here for the surprise.
Daniel was wide-eyed as he realized that the people in the room weren't strangers at all. He shook hands with Mr. Barnes, the amiable owner of the land office. Daniel's mouth fell wide open when he shook hands with Dr. Horton, the new sheriff, the livery stable man, the owner of the grist mill, Jed Stamp the dry goods man, and Mr. Waverly, the postal clerk.
"My-my-my word," stuttered Daniel. "I didn't know there was another abolitionist in the whole state besides the colonel and Old Billy."
"When did you start being one, Daniel?" asked Judge Hatcher.
Hatcher's quick, sparkling eyes met Daniel's. "Why, I've been against slavery all my life, Daniel. You needn't look so shocked."
"That's right, Daniel. There are a lot more of us than you might think. Tell us about your adventures, Daniel," said Dr. Horton, the man who had patched up George.
Jed Stamp added, "Most in our society couldn't get here on such short notice. But there are men all over Missouri who would have done all they could to help you and your friends, Daniel."
"Times have changed," added Judge Hatcher.
"How do you spot a friend?" Daniel asked. "I thought I couldn't trust nobody, not even Joe Grier, and for the longest time I felt awful bad about what I was doing, 'cause it's against the law, and I had to so often lie and go against what Mrs. Shorr always taught us in school, about what was right and proper."
A little amused laughter at this preceded what Colonel Halverston said. "You notice Mrs. Shorr is not one of us, Daniel. All of us in this room have lied, stolen and broken bad laws in order to help fugitives faced with a lifetime of slavery. Human bondage, even if it's protected by compromising lawmakers, Daniel, is against human dignity and the conscience of every good man."
Daniel looked a bit confused, and Ichabod simplified what Halverston meant by adding, "You followed your feelings, Daniel. You helped friends in need. You generally can't go wrong doing what your heart tells you is right."
Old Billy held his hands up and said, "Folks, I am here to make my own announcement. I intend at dawn to take the Colfax Excursion Tour upriver north to see what's so grand up there! I ask for your good wishes, and I mean to say my good-byes to you, one and all."
Old Billy's retirement speech was met with great cheers and congratulations.
The following day, Daniel and the Fairfield sons carried George out of the doctor's office and onto the keelboat. Old Billy, his valise packed, joined the excursion tour, and made a public show of paying his money to Mr. Isaac Colfax.
The band, and the men, women, and children of Hannibal were assembled at the landing to say goodbye. The keelboat inched out to the center of the river amid cheers, streamers and waving. The flatboat's heading was once more due north.
"We're off for good this time," Daniel said to George, who now rested in what had been Sheriff Brisbane's bed. George had made a substantial recovery. Now he looked up at Daniel and smiled widely. His mother and Sissy stood at his bedside as well.
"Yeah. Daniel, but we'll be back again some day. Maybe when we return, Missouri will be a free state."
EPILOGUE
September 18, 1858
Daniel Webster Jackson's eyes moved over the scene, quickly taking in everything at the farmstead. He watched the mechanic, a white man, at work in the barn's loft, cursing at some pulley that didn't want to work properly. He watched a farmhand working on a fence at the chicken coop. The man stood hunched over; he was perhaps Old Billy's age when Daniel had first learned of the Underground Railroad six years ago. A woman came out of the coop with a basketful of eggs she'd gathered.
Daniel's trained eye measured off the steps the petite black woman took from the henhouse to the house. At the side door to the house, a large-handed, broad-faced woman at the door took the eggs from the younger woman and shooed her off. This woman, looking faintly like Daisy, stepped out onto the porch for a moment, and she stared right at Daniel as if she could see him where he lay in the tall Missouri grass, but she didn't see him so much as sense him.
Now twenty-one years old and a man, Daniel wondered if he had learned all his lessons well enough to succeed alone at what he meant to do here. He wished that Mr. Fairfield or George could have come along with him. But he was alone when he'd heard of the runaway slave named Jim. Heard the story in Hannibal, where he'd gone to visit Judge Halverston. who remained in office. Daniel's stopover was meant to be a one-nighter, but then Judge Halverston told him all about Jim. He'd run off from a Hannibal woman everyone knew as Widow Douglas. The widow had begun negotiations to sell Jim. and the man feared he'd be sold to Deep South, never to see his family again. He made a run at freedom. But before Judge Halverston or anyone working the local could help him, Jim had simply disappeared.
Daniel had been on the lookout for the runaway as he approached the colonel's former home. He wondered if any of the black people might know about Old Billy's underground cavern, and if Jim could be hidden there. With the papers he held, Daniel could take Jim, along with twenty others, right to Mr. Fairfield in Illinois. For all anyone would know, Daniel would not be stealing slaves and running them North, but returning runaways, since he and his dog, Sam, who lay beside him in the grass, were now runaway catchers by trade and reputation. George's original disguise as a runaway catcher had excellent results for Daniel, a white man, because it did not raise eyebrows.
He reached over now and lovingly patted Samuel. He thought of the last five years. Sam was as alert and as helpful as ever, and had become his dog. George, after several more years of working for Mr. Fairfield, went on to Canada and married Sissy. Ichabod and Daisy married and lived there too.
War continued to grow in likelihood with each passing day. The Underground Railroad continued as strong as ever. Mr. Fairfield ran the Colfax Steamer, billed as one of the greatest excursion tours on earth, twice a year, and he brought out seventy-five to one hundred slaves each year. Mr. Fairfield's sons had all married and had children of their own now, but they too continued to make the excursions into the South to bring out fugitive slaves. Old Billy had passed away peacefully among his many friends and free slaves in Canada.
Back to the business at hand, Daniel now worked his way down to the dilapidated old quarters where Old Billy once made his home. Suddenly, a white haired old black man came around a tree and surprised Daniel. Their eyes met and he asked, "Who're you, young man? You looking for the massa?"
"My name is Daniel. I'm a...a friend...."
"A friend?"
"An agent."
"An agent? What kinda agent is you?"
"An agent on the road. I thought you might like to ship some cargo on the north line."
"Cargo? North line?"
"I'm heading for the North star."
The old man, who didn't look a lick like Billy up close, acted as if Daniel was speaking in Portuguese. He squinted and looked off to where the main house still stood i
n disrepair. "Maybe you ought to come up to the big house, talk to my massa, son."
"I used to know the man who lived here once, a man who was Judge Halverston's slave, name of Old Billy."
"Judge Halverston don't own any slaves."
"He used to own this place and he had slaves, but Old Billy wasn't really no slave but a partner, and they trusted me. They showed me the passage, the cavern they used for their Underground Railroad station. Are you hiding this runaway named of Jim there now?"
"Jim who? I don't know nothing about no underground nothing, and I don't know nobody named Jim. You talking mighty crazy, young mister."
Daniel pulled a beautiful gold watch from his pocket and dangled it on a chain. "You ever hear tell of Old Billy's chime watch? The one that saved his life once when he come up on some witches in Thatcher Woods?"
"You saying that's it? That's the watch Old Billy used?"
"Yes it is.”
“Then you knew Old Billy?"
He shook his head and looked at the earth, "No, never had the pleasure, but I heard the story told over and over. Fact is, everyone in these parts tells stories 'bout Old Billy, how he everyday helped hundreds of his own out of slavery, a regular Moses he was."
"I worked with Old Billy on the last fifty people he helped to freedom, alongside Mr. John Fairfield and George Penny, and we done it with Judge Halverston's help."
"I hear Old Billy is living real good now in Canada."
"Then you'll trust me with Jim?"
"Come on, son. He's been cooped up below the big house for days. Not the massa, not nobody knows but me. We can't go trusting nobody, but since you know about the cavern and you're a friend of Old Billy's and John Fairfield's, then I gots to trust you."
The old man walked toward the meadow where Daniel's memory began to fill in the detail of the place. "I don't understand why Judge Halverston couldn't find Jim here. He knows about the cavern and he's a friend, like I am."
Daniel Webster Jackson & The Wrongway Railroad Page 16
