Among the Brigands

by James De Mille

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  _The sleepless Watch.--The mysterious Steps.--The low Whispers.--Theycome! They come!--The Garrison roused.--To Arms! To Arms!--Thebeleaguered Party.--At Bay.--The decisive Moment.--The ScalingLadders.--Onset of the Brigands._

  So they all went to Bed.

  So great was the confidence which they all felt in their preparations,precautions, and barricades, that not the slightest thought ofdanger remained in the mind of any one of them to create alarm,with the single exception of Bob.

  For some reason or other Bob was more excitable at this time thanthe others. It may have been that this was his nature, or it mayhave been that his nerves were more sensitive since his tremendousadventures during the night of horror near Paestum; but whateverwas the cause, certain it is, that on this occasion he remainedwide awake, and incapable of sleep, while all the others wereslumbering the sleep of the innocent.

  He and Frank had the same bed, and it was the bed which had beenplaced against the door. It had been placed in such a way that thehead of the bed was against the door. On the north side of theroom, and on the left of this bed, was another, in which UncleMoses slept; while on the south side, or the right, was the bedwhich was occupied by David and Clive. In this way they had disposedof themselves.

  Bob was very wakeful. The beds were father unprepossessing, andconsequently they had all retired without altogether undressingthemselves; but in spite of this comparative discomfort they soonfell asleep. Bob alone remained awake.

  He tried all he could to overcome his wakefulness. He resorted toall the means for producing sleep that he had ever heard of or readof. He tried counting, and went on counting and counting tens, andhundreds, and thousands. He counted fast, and he counted slow. Invain. Counting was useless, and when he had reached as high asfour thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven, he gave it up indisgust.

  Then he tried another infallible recipe for sleep He imagined, ortried to imagine, endless lines of rolling waves. This also wasuseless.

  Then he tried another. He endeavored to imagine clouds of smokerolling before him. This was as useless as the others.

  Then he tested ever so many other methods, as follows:--

  Waving grain. Marching soldiers. Funerals. A shore covered with sea-weed. An illimitable forest. A ditto prairie. The vault of heaven. The wide, shoreless ocean. A cataract. Fireworks. The stars. A burning forest. Looking at his nose. Wishing himself asleep. Rubbing his forehead. Lying on his back, do. do. right side. do. do. left side. do. do. face.

  And about seventy-nine other methods, which need not be mentioned,for the simple reason that they were all equally useless.

  At last he gave up in despair, and rising up he sat on the side ofthe bed, with his feet dangling down, and looked around.

  The moon had risen, and was shining into the room. By its light hecould see the outline of the beds. Around him there ascended achoral harmony composed of snores of every degree, reaching fromthe mild, mellow intonation of Clive, down to the deep, hoarse,sepulchral drone of Uncle Moses. In spite of his vexation abouthis wakefulness, a smile passed over Bob's face, as he listened tothose astonishing voices of the night.

  Suddenly a sound caught his ears, which at once attracted hisattention, and turned all his thoughts in another direction.

  It was the sound of footsteps immediately in front of the house,and apparently at the doorway. How much time had passed he didnot know; but he felt sure that it must be at least midnight. Henow perceived that there were some in the house who had not goneto bed. The footsteps were shuffling and irregular, as though somepeople were trying to walk without making a noise. The soundattracted Bob, and greatly excited him.

  In addition to the footsteps there were other sounds. There werethe low murmurs of voices in a subdued tone, and he judged thatthere must be at least a half a dozen who were thus talking. Tothis noise Bob sat listening for some time. It remained in the sameplace, and of course he could make nothing out of it; but it servedto reawaken all the fears of brigands which had been aroused beforethey went to bed.

  At length he heard a movement from below. The movement was alongthe ball. It was a shuffling movement, as of men walking with theendeavor not to make a noise.

  Bob listened.

  His excitement increased.

  At last he heard the sounds more plainly.

  They were evidently at the foot of the stairway.

  Bob listened in increasing excitement.

  Then there came a creaking sound. It was from the stairway. Theywere ascending it.

  He thought of waking Frank, but decided to wait.

  The sounds draw nearer. There must have been six or seven men uponthe stairway, and they were walking up. What for?

  He had no doubt what it was for, and he waited, knowing that theywere coming to this room in which he was.

  They tried to walk softly. There were low whispers once or twice,which ceased as they drew nearer.

  Nearer and nearer!

  At last Bob knew that they were outside of the door, and as he saton the bed, he knew that there could not be more than a yard ofdistance Between himself and those bloody-minded, beetle-browed,ruthless, demoniac, and fiendish brigands.

  His blood ran cold in his veins at the very thought.

  He did not dare to move. He sat rigid, with every sense on thealert, his eyes fixed on the door, listening.

  Then came a slight creaking sound--the sound of a pressure againstthe door, which yielded slightly, but was prevented by the heavybed from being opened at all. It was an unmistakable sound. Theywere trying to open the door. They were also trying to do it asnoiselessly as possible. Evidently they thought that their victimswere all asleep, and they wished to come in noiselessly, so as toaccomplish their fearful errand.

  For a moment it seemed to Bob as though the bed was being pushedback. The thought gave him anguish inexpressible, but he soon foundthat it was not so. Then he expected a savage push at the door fromthe baffled brigands. He thought that they would drop all attemptsat secrecy, and begin an open attack.

  But they did not do so.

  There were whispers outside the door. Evidently they weredeliberating. They were unwilling, as yet, to resort to noisyviolence. They wished to effect their full purpose in secret andin silence. Such were Bob's thoughts, which thoughts were strengthenedas he heard them slowly move away, and descend the stairs, withthe same carefulness, and the same shuffling sound, with which theyhad ascended.

  "They are going to try the windows," thought Bob.

  And now as this thought came to him, he could restrain himself nolonger. It was no time for sleep. He determined to rouse the others.

  He laid his hand on Frank's forehead, and shook his bead. Then,bending down dose to him, he hissed in his ear,--

  "Wake! wake! Brigands! Don't speak! don't speak! silence!"

  Frank was a light sleeper, and a quick-witted lad, who alwaysretained his presence of mind. At Bob's cry he became wide awake,and without a single word sat up in bed and listened. All was still.

  "What's the matter?" he asked.

  Bob told Him all in a few words.

  Upon this Frank got up, stole noiselessly to the window on tiptoe,and listened. Bob followed. As they stood close to the window,they heard the sound of murmuring voices immediately beneath.Several of the panes of glass were out of this window, so that thevoices were perfectly audible; though of course their ignorance ofthe language prevented them from understanding what was said.

  As they listened, there arose a movement among them. The voicesgrew louder. The men were evidently walking out of the house. Thelisteners heard the sound of their footsteps on the ground as theywalked away, and at a little distance off they noticed that thevoices became more free and unrestrained.

  "They'll be back again," said Frank.

  "Let's wake the others," said Bob.

  Upon this suggestion they both proceeded at once to act, wakingthem carefully, and cautioning them agains
t making any noise. Thecautions against noise were so earnest, that not a word was spokenabove a whisper; but Clive and David, and finally Uncle Moses,stepped out upon the floor, and the whole party proceeded to puttheir heads together.

  "I've got a chair," said Clive.

  "I've got a knife," said Frank.

  "I've got a chair," said Bob.

  "I've got a knife," said David.

  "An I've got my razor, which I shoved under my pillow," said UncleMoses; "an so let em come on. But where are they now?"

  "H-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-h!" Said Frank.

  All were silent, and listened. There came out from without thesound of footsteps approaching the house, and of low voices.

  "They're coming back again," said Bob.

  The rest listened.

  Frank stole to the window and looked cautiously out.

  By the moonlight he saw plainly the figures of four men. They werecoming from the road to the house, and they were carrying a ladder.The ladder was very long. The sight sent a shudder through him. Hehad thought of the windows as being out of the reach of danger;the idea of a ladder had never entered his head at all. Yet he nowsaw that this-was one of the most simple and natural plans whichcould be adopted by the brigands.

  He came back and told the others. All felt the same dismay whichFrank had felt. None of them said a word, but they all stole up tothe window, and looking out they saw for themselves.

  The brigands approached the house, carrying the ladder; and onreaching it, they put their load on the ground, and rested for ashort time. As they did so, the boys noticed that they all lookedup at the upper windows of the house.

  Then they saw the brigands gathering close together, and the murmurof their conversation came up to their ears.

  It was a thrilling sight. The boys stood in dread suspense. No onesaid a word, not even a whisper.

  The conversation among the brigands was followed by a movement ontheir part which brought things nearer to a climax. They raisedthe ladder once more, and moving it a little farther away, theyproceeded to put it up against the house. The ladder was put upat the south end of the house, and as it was being carried therefor the purpose of erection, the boys and Uncle Moses all stoleover to that south window, where, standing a little distance back,so as to be out of observation, they looked out. Each one graspedhis weapon of defence.

  Clive his chair.

  Frank his knife.

  Bob his chair.

  David his knife.

  Uncle Moses his razor.

  "Be ready, boys," said Uncle Moses, in a firm voice, as he graspedhis razor. "The hour air come, and the decisive moment air at hand!"

  He said this in a whisper, and the boys made no reply whatever.

  The brigands meanwhile elevated the ladder, and the upper end struckthe building. The dull thud of that stroke sent a thrill to thehearts of those listeners in the room. As they saw one of thebrigands seize the ladder in order to mount, they all involuntarilyshrank back one step.

  "It isn't this window, at any rate," said Frank, in a whisper.

  This remark encouraged them for a moment. No, it was not theirwindow, but the attic window. They watched in silence now, andsaw the four brigands go up.

  Overhead they heard the sound that announced them as they steppedin through the window.

  One brigand!

  Two brigands!!

  Three brigands!!!

  Four brigands!!!!

  And now the momentary relief which they had experienced at seeingthat the attack was not made upon their window was succeeded bythe darkest apprehensions, as they heard the entrance of those fourbrigands, and knew that these desperate men were just above them.They were there overhead. The hatchway was open. Through thatopening they could drop down one by one.

  The same thought came to all of them, and with one common impulsethey moved softly to where the step-ladder lay on the floor. Frankmade this movement first; the others followed.

  They stood ranged along the step-ladder.

  First, Frank, with his knife.

  Second, Bob, with his chair.

  Third, Clive, with his chair.

  Fourth, David, with his knife.

  Fifth, Uncle Moses, with his razor.

  Every one held his weapon in a grasp which the excitement of themoment had rendered convulsive. Every eye was fixed upon thehatchway above, which lay concealed in the gloom. Overhead theyheard, whispering, but no movement whatever.

  "Let's jump out of the windows and run," whispered Bob, hurriedly.

  "No," said Frank, "they are watching below--no use."

  But further remarks were prevented by the sudden glimmer of a lightabove. It was a light in the attic, not very bright, yet sufficientlyso to show the opening through which their enemies were about tocome.

  The brigands had lighted a lamp!

  The excitement grew stronger.

  Voices arose, low and hushed.

  Then footsteps!

  The light above the opening grew brighter!

  It was an awful moment!

  The suspense was terrible!

  Yet in the midst of that suspense they had no thought of surrender.In fact, they did not think that surrender would be possible. Thesebloody-minded miscreants would show no quarter; and the besiegedparty felt the task imposed upon them of selling their lives asdearly as possible. And so it was, that as the brigands came nearerto the opening,--

  Frank grasped his knife more firmly.

  Bob do. " chair do.

  David do. " knife do.

  Clive do. " chair do.

  While Uncle Moses held up his razor in such a way, that the firstbrigand who descended should fall full upon its keen edge.

  The light grew brighter over the opening. The shuffling footstepsdrew nearer. Then there was a pause, and low whispers arose. Thebrigands were immediately above them. The light shone down intothe room.

  The suspense was now intolerable. It was Frank who broke the silence.

  "_Who's there?_" he cried in a loud, strong, stern, menacing voice,in which there was not the slightest tremor.

  At this the whispering above ceased. Everything was perfectly still.

  "WHO'S THERE?" cried Frank a second time, in a louder, stronger,sterner, and more menacing voice.

  No answer.

  All was still.

  What did it mean?

  "WHO'S THERE?" cried Frank a third time, in the loudest, strongest,sternest, and most menacing tone that he could compass, "SPEAK, ORI'LL FIRE!!!!!!!!!"

  This tremendous threat could not have been carried out, of course,with the knives, chairs, and razor of the party below; but at anyrate it brought a reply.

  "Alla raight!" cried a voice. "O, yais. It's onalee me. Alla safe.Come up here to get some straps for de vettura. Alla raight. I hafjoosta come back from Velletre. Haf brot de oder vettura. Scusa deinterruption, but haf to-get de straps; dey up here. Alla raight!"

  It was the voice of their driver!

  At the first sound of that voice there was an instantaneous andimmense revulsion of feeling. The dark terror of a moment beforewas suddenly transformed to an absurdity. They had been makingfools of themselves. They felt this very keenly. The chairs wereput quietly upon the floor; the knives were pocketed very stealthily;and Uncle Moses' razor was slipped hurriedly into the breast pocketof his coat.

  "O!" said-Frank, trying to speak in an easy, careless, matter-of-facttone. "We didn't know. Shall we leave in the morning?"

  "O, yais. Alla r-r-raight," said the driver.

  Soon after the party descended the ladder, and took it away. Theboys and Uncle Moses made no remark whatever. They all creptsilently, and rather sheepishly, back to their beds, feeling verymuch ashamed of themselves.

  And yet there was no reason for shame, for to them the danger seemedreal; and believing it to be real, they had not shrunk, but hadfaced it with very commendable pluck.

  This was the end of their troubles on the road. For the remaind
erof that night they slept soundly. In the morning they awakedrefreshed, and found a good breakfast waiting for them. Theyfound also another carriage, in which they entered and resumedtheir journey.