CHAPTER XVIII
A BIT TRAGIC
"Hold up your hands, nigger!"
The voice was low and sepulchral, but either the ghostly apparition thatuttered the command had slipped up on its vernacular, or it was thespirit of a bandit. Some demand of the kind was, however, urgentlynecessary, for George did not, as formerly, show a desire to flee; hisbelligerent attitude suggested fight and he was a husky specimen with ahandy club. Even though he might have suffered a qualm at againbeholding the white apparition in the moonlight, his determination todare the spectre was bolstered by the voice and the manner of thecommand.
"Ah knows who yo' is an' Ah's gwine hol' yo' up! Yo' ain't no ghos'. Disclub'll knock de sure 'nough breff out'n yo'; then we'll see."
To Gus, on the hillside above the power plant, it looked very much asthough this threat were going to be carried out. He had been quietlyobserving, under the light of a half moon, the ghostly visitation andeven the advent of this individual before the white raiment had beendonned some distance behind the tool house and unknown to the watchfulGeorge. All this had not surprised Gus, but he had been puzzled by theappearance on the hillside of another figure that kept behind the scantbushes much as Gus was doing, except that it was screened against beingseen from below and evidently did not know of Gus's presence. Now,however, all attention was given to the altercation before the toolhouse, around which the ghost had come, evidently to be disappointed atnot seeing George take to his heels.
Suddenly there was a shot. The reverberation among the hills seemedominous, but not more so than the staggering back and sinking down ofpoor George. Gus saw the white figure stand for a moment, as thoughpeering down at the victim of this murderous act; then it turned andfled straight up the hill and directly toward the one up there crouchingand--waiting? Were they in collusion? Gus had but a moment to guess.Still crouching, unseen, though brave,--for Gus was courageous evensometimes to the point of being foolhardy in the rougher sports, orwhere danger threatened others,--he avoided now the almost certain fateof George, for the villain was still armed and desperate, no doubt. AndGus hoped that the arrest of the scamp would surely follow his meetingwith the other observer.
But this safe and sane attitude of the watching Gus suffered a suddenchange when, as the ascending ruffian fairly stumbled upon the otherfigure crouching on the hillside, a scream, unmistakably that of afemale in dire distress, came to the ears of the witness. He could dimlysee the two struggling together, the dark figure with the white. Thenext instant, forgetting all danger to himself, Gus lessened thedistance by leaps and scrambles along the declivity and flung himselfupon the assailant.
There was a short, sharp tussle; a second shot, but this time the weapondischarged its leaden pellet harmlessly. Then the ghost, takingadvantage of the hillside, flung Gus aside and before the boy had timeto leap upon his foeman again, the white figure, his habiliments tornoff, had backed away and threatened Gus with the pistol. There was nomistaking the voice that uttered the threat:
"Keep off, or you'll get punctured! You needn't think anybody's going toget me. I'm going to vanish. If you try to follow me now, I'll killyou!"
This sounded desperate enough and Gus had reason to believe the fellowmeant it. But in spite of that and driven by righteous anger, he wouldagain have tackled the enemy had not the voice of Grace Hooper checkedhim:
"Oh, let him go; let him go!" she begged. "He'll shoot, and you--youmust not be killed! No; you shall not!"
And then, as the rascal turned and fled over the brow of the hill, Gusturned to the girl, sitting on the ground.
"How did you come here--what--?"
"I knew something was going to happen, and I thought I might prevent itsome way. Then he fired, and I saw how desperate he was,--and he shot--"
"Yes--we must do all we can for poor George, if anything can be done.But are you hurt?"
"Not very much; he meant to hurt me. I dodged when he struck and only myshoulder may be--bruised."
"Then you should bathe it in hot water. Can I help you up? No, you mustnot go home alone--but I must see about poor George. I heard him groan."
"I'd better go down with you."
"It might be--too horrible--for a girl, you see. Better stay here."
Gus had extended his hand to give her a lift; she took it and cameslowly to her feet; then suddenly crumpled up and lay unconscious beforehim, her face white against the dark sod, her arms outflung. Gus staredat her a few long seconds, as foolishly helpless as any boy could be. Hetold Bill afterward that he never felt so flabbergasted in his life.What to do he knew not, but he must try something, and do it quickly.Perhaps Grace had only fainted; should he go to George first? He mightbe dying--or dead! Then the thought came to him: "Women and childrenfirst."
Gus dashed down the hill, dipped his cap, cup fashion, into the water ofthe dam and fled up with it again, brimming full and spilling over. Hewas able to dash a considerable quantity of reviving water into thegirl's face. With a gasp and a struggle she turned over, opened hereyes, sat up,--her physical powers returning in advance of her mentalgrasp.
"Oh, am I,--no, not dead? Please help me--up and home."
"Yes, I'll take you home in just a jiffy. Do you feel a little better?Can you sit still here, please, till I see about George? Just a moment?"
Again the boy went down the hill, now toward the tool house; he wasbrave enough, but a sort of horror gripped him as he rounded the cornerof the little shack. What, then, was his relief when he found thewatchman on his feet, a bit uncertain about his balance and leaningagainst the door frame. It was evident from the way he held his clubthat he meant not to desert his post and that he believed his lateassailant was returning. At sight of Gus, the colored man's reliefshowed in his drawn face.
"Mist' Gus! It's you, honey! My Lawd! Ah done been shot! By the ghos',Mist' Gus, whut ain't nothin' no mo'n dat low-down, no 'count nephew o'ol' Mist' Hooper's. Ah reckon Ah's gwine die, but Ah ain't yit--not efhe's comin' back!"
"Good boy, George! You're the stuff! But you're not going to die andhe's not coming back. He lit out like a rabbit. Come now; we'll go to adoctor and then--"
"Reckon Ah can't do it. Got hit in de hip some'ers; makes mah leg totalwuthless. You-all go on an' Ah'll git me some res' yere till mawnin'."
"And maybe bleed nearly to death! No, I'll be back for you in notime,--as soon as I get Miss Grace home. She's on the hill there. Shecame out to watch that cousin of hers. You hang on till I get back."
Grace tried to show her usual energy, but seemed nearly overcome byfatigue. She made no complaint, but presently Gus saw that she wascrying, and that scared him. In his inexperience he could not know thatit was only overwrought nerves. He felt he must make speed in carryingout his intentions to get help to George and put the authorities on thetrack of Thad. Gus could see but one thing to do properly and hisnatural diffidence was cast aside by his generous and kindly nature.
"Let me give you a lift, as I do Bill, sometimes," he said, and drew thegirl's arm over his shoulder, supporting her with his other arm. In asecond or two they were going on at a rather lively pace. In a fewminutes they had reached the house. Grace entered and called loudly. Herfather and mother appeared instantly in the hallway above. The girl,half way up the stairway, told of the incidents at the power plant andadded:
"Thad boasted to me that he was going to give the boys a lot moretrouble, and I watched and saw him leave the house. So I followed,hoping to stop him, and after he shot George he ran into me and was soangry that he struck me. I wish _I_ had had a pistol! I would have--"
"Gracie, dear little girl! You mustn't wish to kill or wound anyone! Oh,are you _hurt_? Come, dear--"
"I'll be with you right off, me boy!" said Mr. Hooper to Gus, andpresently they were in the library alone.
"Listen to me, lad. This nevvy o' mine is me dead sister's child, an' Iswore t' her I'd do all I could fer him. His brother Bob, he's in theNavy, a decent lad; won't have nothin' to do with Thad. An' you can'tblam
e him, fer Thad's a rapscallion. Smart, too, an' friendly enough tohis old uncle. But now, though, I'm done with him. I'm fer lettin' himslide, not wantin' to put the law on him. I'll take care o' George. Heshall have the best doctor in the country, an' I'll keep him an' hiswife in comfort, but I don't want Thaddeus to be arrested. Now I reckonhe's gone an' so let luck take him--good, bad, er indifferent. Won't youlet him hit his own trail, foot-loose?"
"I'd like to see him arrested and jailed," said Gus, "but for you andbecause of what you'll do for George and your being so good to Bill andme, I'll keep mum on it."
"Good, me lad. An' now you git back to George an' tell him to keepThad's name out of it. I'll 'phone fer 'Doc' Little and 'Doc' Yardley,an' have an ambulance sent fer the poor feller. Then you can tell hiswife. It means very little sleep fer you this night, but you can layabed late."
Gus went away upon these duties, but with a heavy heart; he felt thatMr. Hooper, because of the very gentleness of the man was defeatingjustice, and though he had been nearly forced to give his promise, hefelt that he must keep it.