Among the Brigands

by James De Mille

  CHAPTER XXII.

  _The March ended.--A lonely Inn.--Evil Faces.--BeetlingBrows.--Sinister Glances.--Suspicions of the Party.--They puttheir Head together.--Conferences of the Party.--A threateningProspect.--Barricades.--In Time of Peace prepare for War.--TheGarrison arm themselves._

  After completing their arrangements they resumed their journey;but this time they all went on foot, with the exception of UncleMoses. They went on foot for two reasons: first, because it wasimpossible for the horses to pull them all when one of the wheelswas gone, since it was as much as they could do to maintain awalking pace even with the empty carriage; and the other reasonwas, that by walking they would be better able to fight off thedrowsiness which had menaced them. In truth, as far as drowsinessis concerned, there did not now seem to be any particular danger;for the shock of the break-down had been sufficient to rouse evenBob, and the effects of that shock still remained. Uncle Moses,however, on account of his years, his infirmities, and his tendencyto "rheumatics," together with his freedom from drowsiness, wasinstalled in the carriage, with all due honors, as its sole occupant.Walking on thus, they did not regret, in the slightest degree, thehardships of their lot, but rather exulted in them, since they hadbeen the means of rousing them out of their almost unconquerabletendency to sleep. Frank felt the highest possible relief, sincehe was now freed from the responsibility that had of late been soheavy. In Bob, however, there was the exhibition of the greatestliveliness. Bob, mercurial, volatile, nonsensical, mobile, was everrunning to extremes; and as he was the first to fall asleep, sonow, when he had awaked, he was the most wide awake of all. Hesang, he shouted, he laughed, he danced, he ran; he seemed, infact, overflowing with animal spirits.

  Fortunately they were not very far from the end of the marshes whenthe wheel broke, and in less than two hours they had traversed theremainder. The driver could speak a little English, and informedthem that they could not reach the destination which he had proposed;but he hoped before dark to get as far as an inn, where they couldobtain food and lodging. He informed them that it was not a verygood inn; but under the circumstances it was the best that theycould hope for. To the boys, however, it made very little differencewhat sort of an inn they came to. As long as they could getsomething to eat, and any kind of a bed to lie on, they were content;and so they told the driver.

  Leaving the marshes, the road began to ascend; and after about ahalf hour's farther tramp, they came, to a place which the driverinformed them was the inn.

  It was by no means an inviting place. It was an old stone edifice,two stories high, which had once been covered with, stucco; butthe stucco had fallen off in most places, disclosing the roughstones underneath, and giving it an air of dilapidation and squalor.The front was by the road-side. A door opened in the middle, oneach side of which was a small, dismal window. In the second storywere two other small, dismal windows. At the end they law a windowon each story, and a third in the attic. These were all small anddismal. Some of them had sashes and glass; others had sasheswithout glass; while others had no sashes at all.

  A group of men were outside the house, all of whom stared hardat the carriage as it drew near. There was something in theaspect of these men which was indescribably repulsive to theboys: their dirty, swarthy faces, covered with shaggy, jet-blackbeards; their bushy eyebrows, from beneath which their black eyesglowed like balls of fire; their hats slouched down over theirbrows; their lounging attitudes, and their furtive glances; allthese combined to give them an evil aspect--a wicked, sinister,suspicious appearance, by which all the boys were equally impressed.They said nothing, however; and much as they disliked the lookof the place and its surroundings, they saw that there was nohelp for it, and so they made up their minds to pass the nighthere as well as they could.

  Leaving the carriage, they waited a few moments to ask the driverabout the prospects for the next day. The driver had everythingarranged. Velletre was only five miles away, and he was going tosend there for another carriage, or go himself. They would all beable to leave early on the following day.

  This reassured them somewhat, and though they all would have beenwilling to walk to Velletre, rather than pass the night here, yetUncle Moses would not be able to do it, and so they had to make uptheir minds to stay.

  On entering the house, they found the interior quite in keepingwith the exterior. The hall was narrow, and on either side weretwo dirty rooms, in which were some frowsy women. One room seemedto be a kitchen, and the other a sitting-room. A rickety stairwayled up to the second story. Here they came to a room, which, theywere informed, was to be theirs. The door was fragile, and withoutany fastening. The room was a large one, containing a table andthree beds, with one small wash-stand. Two windows looked out infront, and at either end was one. At the south end the window hadno sash at all, but was open to the air.

  The aspect of the room was certainly rather cheerless, but therewas nothing to be done. So they sat down, and waited as patientlyas they could for dinner. Before it came, the sun set, and a feeblelamp was brought in, which flickered in the draughts of air, andscarcely lighted the room at all.

  The dinner was but a meagre repast. There was some very thin soup,then a stew, then macaroni. There were also bread and sour wine.However, the boys did not complain. They had footed it so far, andhad worked so hard, that they were all as hungry as hunters; andso the dinner gave as great satisfaction as if it had been farbetter. While they were eating, an evil-faced, low-browed villainwaited on the table; and as he placed down each dish in succession,he looked round upon the company with a scowl that would have takenaway the appetites of any guests less hungry than these. But thesewere too near starvation to be affected by mere scowls, and so theyate on, reserving their remarks for a future occasion.

  So the dinner passed.

  And after the dinner was over, and the dishes were removed, andthey found themselves alone, they all looked round stealthily, andthey all put their heads together, and then,--

  "I don't like this," said Frank. do. said Clive. do. said David. do. said Bob.

  "I don't feel altogether comfortable here," said Uncle Moses.

  "Did you notice that scowl?" said Bob. do. said Clive. do. said David. do. said Frank.

  "He's the ugliest creetur I ever see," said Uncle Moses. "I've beenexpectin somethin o' this sort."

  The boys looked all around, for fear of being observed. Frank gotup and closed the rickety door. Then he resumed his seat.

  Then they all put their heads together again.

  "This is a bad place," said Frank. do. said Clive. do. said David. do. said Bob.

  "It's the onwholesomedest lookin place I ever see," saidUncle Moses.

  "I distrust them all," said Clive. do. said. Frank, do. said David. do. said Bob.

  "I don't like the looks of that ere driver," said Uncle Hoses. "Ib'leve he contrived that there break-down a purpose, so as to bringus to this here den."

  Uncle Moses' remark sank deep into the minds of all. Who was thedriver, after all? That break-down was certainly suspicious. Itmight have been all pre-arranged. It looked suspicions. Then themen below. There were so many of them!

  "There are a dozen of them," said Bob. do. said Frank. do. said David. do. said Clive.

  "Thar's too big a gatherin here altogether," said Uncle Moses, "anit's my idee that they've come for no good. Didn't you notice howthey stared at us with them wicked-looking eyes o' theirs?"

  "I wish we'd gone on," said David. do. said Bob. do. said Clive. do. said Frank.

  "Yes, boys, that's what we'd ort to hev done," said Uncle Moses."Why didn't some on ye think of it?"

  "We did; but we thought you'd be too tired," said Frank.

  "Tired? tired?" exclaimed Uncle Moses. "Tired? What! me tired!_me!_" And he paused, overcome with amazement. "Why, boys, ye mustall be ravin distracted! _Me_ tired! Why, I'm as fresh as a cricket;an though rayther oldish, yet I've got more clear muscle, narve,and sinnoo, than all on ye put together."r />
  At this little outburst' the boys said nothing, but regretted thatthey had not, at least, proposed going on.

  "We're in a fix," said Clive. do. said Bob. do. said Frank. do. said David.

  "We're in a tight place, sure," said Uncle Moses.

  "There's no help near," said Frank. do. said David. do. said Bob. do. said Clive.

  "It's the lonesomest place I ever see," said Uncle Moses.

  "It's too dark to leave now," said David. do. said Clive. do. said Bob. do. said Frank.

  "Yes, and they'd all be arter us afore we'd taken twelve steps,"said Uncle Moses.

  "They're the worst sort of brigands," said Bob. do. said Frank. do. said David. do. said Clive.

  "Yes, reg'lar bloodthirsty miscreants," said Uncle Moses.

  "The door has no lock," said Frank. do. said David. do. said Bob. do. said Clive.

  "O, yes, it's a reg'lar trap, an we're in for it, sure," said UncleMoses. "I only hope we'll get out of it."

  "That window's open, too," said David, do. said Frank. do. said Clive. do. said Bob.

  "Yes, an thar ain't even a sash in it," said Uncle Moses; "no, noreven a board to put agin it!"

  "They'll come to-night," said Clive. do. said Frank. do. said Bob. do. said David.

  "No doubt in that thar," said Uncle Moses, in lugubrious tones;"an we've got to prepar ourselves."

  "What shall we do?" said Frank. do. said Bob. do. said Clive. do. said David.

  "The pint now is," said Uncle Moses,--"the pint now is, what airwe to do under the succumstances? That's what it is."

  At this Frank rose and opened the rickety door.

  He looked out.

  He closed it again.

  Then he went to each of the windows in succession.

  He looked out of each.

  Then he resumed his seat.

  "Wal?" asked Uncle Moses, in an inquiring tone.

  "There's no one to be seen," said Frank; "but I thought I heardvoices, or rather whispers, just under the end window."

  There was a solemn silence now, and they all sat looking at oneanother with very earnest faces.

  "It's a solemn time, boys," said Uncle Moses, "a deeplysolemn time."

  To this the boys made no reply, but by their silence signifiedtheir assent to Uncle Moses' remark.

  At length, after a silence of some time, Frank spoke.

  "I think we can manage something," said he, "to keep them out forthe night. My idea is, to put the largest bedstead against thedoor. It opens inside; if the bedstead is against it, it can't beopened."

  "But the windows," said Clive.

  "O, we needn't bother about the windows, they're too high up," saidFrank, confidently.

  And now they all set themselves fairly to work making preparationsfor the night, which preparations consisted in making a barricadewhich should offer resistance to the assaults of the bloody-minded,murderous, beetle-browed, scowling, and diabolical brigands below,Frank's suggestion about the bed was acted upon first. One of thebedsteads was large, ponderous, old-fashioned, and seemed capable,if placed against a doorway, of withstanding anything less than acannon ball. This they all seized, and lifting it bodily from theground, they placed it hard and fast against the door. The resultwas gratifying in the highest degree to all of them.

  They now proceeded to inspect the room, to search out any weakspots, so as to guard against invasion. As to the windows, theythought that their height from the ground was of itself sufficientto remove all danger in that quarter.

  But in their search around the room they noticed one very alarmingthing. At the south corner there was a step-ladder, which led upinto the attic, thus affording an easy entrance to any one whomight be above. Frank rushed up to the step-ladder and shook it.To his great relief, it was loose, and not secured by any fixtures.They all took this in their hands, and though it was very heavy,yet they succeeded in taking it down from its place without makingany noise. They then laid it upon the floor, immediately underneaththe opening into the attic. They would have felt, perhaps, a triflemore secure if they had been able to close up the dark openingabove; but the removal of the step-ladder seemed sufficient, andin so doing they felt that they had cut off all means of approachfrom any possible enemy in that quarter.

  Frank drew a long breath of relief as he looked around. He feltthat nothing more could be done. All the others looked around withequal complacency, and to the apprehensions which they had beenentertaining there now succeeded a delicious sense of security.

  "We're safe at last," said Clive. do. said Bob. do. said David. do. said Frank.

  "Yes, boys," said Uncle Moses, "we're jest as safe now as if wewere to hum. We can defy a hull army of them bloody-minded miscreants,fight them off all right, and by mornin there'll be lots of wagonspassin by, an we can git help. But before we go, let's see whatweepins we can skear up in case o' need. It's allus best to havethings handy."

  "Well," said Frank, "I'm sorry to say I've got nothing but a knife;"and saying this, he displayed an ordinary jackknife, not particularlylarge, and not particularly sharp. "It isn't much," said he, as heopened it, and flourished it in the air, "but it's something."

  "Well," said Clive, "I haven't got even a knife; but I've heardthat there's nothing equal to a chair, if you want to disconcerta burglar; and so I'll take this, and knock down the first brigandthat shows his nose;" and as he said this, he lifted a chair fromthe floor, and swung it in the air.

  "I rely on the barricades," said David, "and don't see the necessityof any arms; for I don't see how we're going to be attacked. If weare, I suppose I can use my knife, like Frank."

  "Well," said Bob, "I've given my knife away, and I'll have to takea chair."

  "Wal," said Uncle Moses, "I've got a razor, an it's pooty uglyweepin in the hands of a savage man--a desprit ugly weepin."

  "And now let's go to bed," said David, do. said Bob. do. said Clive. do. said Frank.

  "Yes, boys, that's about the best thing we can do," said UncleMoses, decisively.