CHAPTER III.
A DESPERATE VENTURE.
The meaning look which Mrs. Dillard had bestowed upon the prisoners,brief though it was, sufficed to revive their spirits wonderfully. Notthat there was any promise in it; but it showed they were recognizedby the hostess and, knowing her as they did, the boys knew that ifthere was a loophole of escape for them she would point it out.
While preceding the soldier up the stairs it was much as though theywere guests in Sarah Dillard's home, and there came with the fancy acertain sense of relief and security such as had not been theirs formany hours.
The apartment selected to serve as prison was by no means dismal; itwas cleanly, like unto every other portion of Sarah Dillard's home,and sufficiently large to permit of moderate exercise, with a barredwindow overlooking the stable-yard which allowed all that took placein the rear of the dwelling to be seen.
"I shouldn't mind being a rebel myself for a few hours in order to getsuch quarters as these," the soldier said as he followed the boys intothe chamber. "Not a bad place in which to spend the night."
"With a couple of blankets a body might be very comfortable," Nathanreplied in a cheery tone, for despite the dangers which threatenedthat little band at Greene's Spring, despite Ephraim Sowers' avowedenmity and probable ability to do harm, despite the fact that he was aprisoner, this enforced visit to Captain Dillard's house was so muchlike a home-coming that his spirits were raised at once.
"And you have the effrontery to ask for blankets after getting such aprison as makes a soldier's mouth water," the Britisher said with acertain rough good-nature in his tone. "You rebels have a preciousqueer idea of this sort of business, if you can complain because oflack of blankets."
"I am not complaining," Nathan replied with a laugh. "Of course thereis no situation which cannot be bettered in some way, and I was simplyspeaking of how this might be improved. We are satisfied with it,however, as it is."
"And so you had better be, for I am thinking there are not two rebelprisoners as comfortably bottled up, and by this time to-morrow nightyou will be wishing yourselves back," replied the guard.
Then the soldier locked and barred the door on the outside, trying itagain and again to make certain it could not readily be forced open,and a few seconds later the sound of his footsteps told that the boyswere comparatively alone for the time being.
Now was come the moment when they should make known the danger whichthreatened the friends of freedom through Ephraim Sowers' perfidy, forevery second might be precious if a warning message could be sent, andinvoluntarily both the lads ran to the window, looking eagerly outthrough the bars in the hope of seeing some member of the householdwhose attention might be attracted.
Major Ferguson's subordinates were not so careless as to allow theirprisoners many opportunities of such a nature. All the servants, andin fact every person on the plantation, was kept busily engagedwaiting upon the redcoats, a goodly number of whom could be seen inthe stable-yards, which knowledge caused Evan to say mournfully:
"We are not like to get speech with any one who could carry word toGreene's Spring. It stands to reason Ephraim Sowers has warned theBritishers that such an attempt might be made, and you may becertain, Nathan, no one can leave the plantation without MajorFerguson's permission."
"It is possible he can prevent a message being carried; but I shallnot give up hope yet awhile."
"Before many hours have passed the troop, or at least a portion of it,will set out to slaughter our friends. I would I knew where that Toryspy was at this moment!"
"Most likely he has gone ahead to make sure his victims do not escape.We shall hear of him again 'twixt now and daybreak."
"I am afraid so," Evan replied with a long-drawn sigh, and then,leaning his forehead against the wooden bars, he gazed out longinglyin the direction his feet would have taken had he been at liberty.
With two hours' start he might save the lives, perhaps of a hundredmen, all of whom could be accounted his friends, and yet because ofone lad's wickedness that little band of patriots was in imminentdanger of being massacred.
From the apartments below the coarse laugh and coarser jest of aBritisher could be heard, telling that the enemy were still bent onmaking themselves as obnoxious to the inmates of the household as waspossible, while now and then from the outside came sounds of thesplintering of wood or the cackling of poultry as the soldierycontinued their work of wanton destruction.
Both officers and men grew more nearly quiet as the shadows of nightbegan to lengthen. The Britishers were weary with asserting theirpretended right as victors, and the stable-yard was well-nigh desertedof its redcoated occupants.
The young prisoners were standing near the window in silence, when aslight noise as of some animal scratching at the door attracted theirattention, and instantly the same thought came into the mind of each.
Sarah Dillard, freed for the time being from the exacting demands ofthe unwelcome visitors, had come, perchance, to point out some way ofescape.
Now was arrived the moment when they might reveal to this brave womanthe dangers which threatened, and yet for the instant Nathan hesitatedso to do, because it appeared to him that he would be distressing herneedlessly, since it was hardly probable she could find means ofconveying the warning to those in peril. By making her acquainted withall that threatened he would be doing no more than to increase herdistress of mind.
Evan, however, was not looking so far into the future. He onlyrealized that perhaps now was the moment when he would make knownEphraim Sowers' perfidy, and crept noiselessly toward the door,whispering eagerly:
"Is that you, Mistress Dillard?"
"Yes, boys, and I have come in the almost vain hope that it may bepossible to serve you, although I know not how. When did you fall intothe hands of the enemy?"
"Have you seen Ephraim Sowers here?" Evan asked, heeding not thequestion.
"No. Has he also been made prisoner?"
"It is far worse than that. He is a spy in the service of theredcoats, and has revealed to them the whereabouts of Colonel Clarke'sband."
"That is impossible, for the entire company were here not more thaneight hours ago, and with them was my husband."
"Then the miserable spy is mistaken, and these Britishers will havetheir journey for their pains," Nathan whispered in a tone of intenserelief. "Ephraim has told Major Ferguson that they were encamped atGreene's Spring, and there----"
"And it is to Greene's Spring they are going!" Mrs. Dillard criedunconsciously loud. "How could any spy have learned of their intendedmovements?"
"You must remember that Ephraim Sowers has not been looked upon as aspy. Perchance no one except the Britishers knew it until we two sawhim coming into the camp where we were prisoners," and Nathan spokehurriedly. "It is not for us to speculate how our friends have beenbetrayed; but to give the warning to them without loss of time."
Mrs. Dillard did not reply immediately, and the prisoners could wellfancy that she was trying to decide how the danger might best bewarded off.
"Is it not possible for you to release us?" Nathan asked after a briefpause. "If either Evan or I were at liberty we might be able, by rapidrunning, to cover the distance between here and Greene's Springsbefore the redcoats could arrive there, for it is not likely they willstart very early in the night."
"To escape from the window while the soldiers are in the stable-yardis impossible," Mrs. Dillard replied, much as though speaking toherself, "and as for getting you out by this way I am powerless. Oneof the officers has a key to the door, and even if it was in ourpossession, there is little chance you could make your way through thehouse secretly."
"But something must be done, and at once," Nathan whispered in anagony of apprehension, and at that moment the sound of footsteps onthe floor below caused Mrs. Dillard to beat a retreat.
The boys could hear the swish of her garments as she ran through thehallway, and it was as if the good woman had no more than hiddenherself from view before th
e heavy footsteps of a man on the stairstold that some one of the Britishers was coming to make certain theprisoners were securely confined.
Creeping noiselessly away from the door lest the redcoat should enterand find them in a position which betokened that they had been holdingconverse with some one on the outside, the lads remained silent andmotionless until the noise of footsteps told that this cautiousBritisher, having satisfied himself all was as it should be, hadreturned to the floor below.
Then the lads stole softly back near the door where they awaited thecoming of the woman whom they hoped might show them the way tofreedom, even though at the time it seemed impossible she could do so.
The moments passed like hours while she remained absent, and then oncemore they heard a faint scratching at the door which told of herreturn.
"Tell me all you know regarding this boy Sowers being a spy," Mrs.Dillard whispered when she was once more where private conversationcould be carried on, and Nathan said nervously:
"Why speak of him at a time when every moment is precious? Instead ofgiving such as that villain a place in our thoughts we should betrying to form some plan whereby the lives of our friends may besaved."
"It is yet too early in the night for us to make any move," the bravewoman replied as if her mind was already made up to a course ofaction. "Until the men have quieted down somewhat we cannot so much ascross the yard without being challenged, and I would know all that maybe told before setting out for Greene's Spring."
"Do you count on making such a venture?" Evan asked in surprise.
"Some one must do it, and since I cannot set you free, I must act asmessenger."
"But there is hardly one chance in a hundred you will succeed."
"Yet I shall try to take advantage of that hundredth chance."
"But how may you get there? It is twenty miles over a rough mountainroad."
"Even though it were ten times as far, and the peril greater anhundredfold, do you not think I would brave it in the hope of savingthe lives of those brave men?"
Evan ceased to find objections to her plan; but asked how she might beable to make the journey.
"There is in the stable a colt which the Britishers will hardlyattempt to drive away because he has not yet been broken. I shall domy best at riding him, and trust in the good God for protection."
Nathan was not a cowardly lad; his acquaintances spoke of him as onehaving much courage, and yet he trembled at the thought of this womanattempting to bridle an unbroken colt, and then ride him twenty milesover the rough mountain roads where only the steadiest of horses mightsafely be used.
He would have said something in the hope of dissuading her from herpurpose; but it was as if his tongue refused its office, for SarahDillard would ride that night not only to save a hundred or morefriends of freedom, but to save the life of her husband.
"Tell me all you know of the spy, so that I may warn our peopleagainst him with fair proof."
Neither Evan nor Nathan made any attempt at giving advice; the woman'scourage so far eclipsed theirs that it was as if she should commandand they obey--as if they had no right even to offer a suggestion.Obedient to her wishes they repeated all they had heard the vindictiveTory say, and described in detail his reception at Major Ferguson'scamp.
"If you could only take us with you, or what would be better, somanage it that we might go in your stead," Nathan said when hisaccount of Ephraim Sowers was brought to an end.
"I would willingly do so if it might be possible; but I can see no wayto accomplish such a purpose."
"Yet there are many chances against your being able to ride the colt,however willing you may be," Evan said, as if hoping such suggestionmight cause her to devise another means of forwarding the warning.
"I know full well how many chances there are against success, and yetbecause it is the only hope, I shall venture."
But little conversation was indulged in after this assertion, whichseemed prompted by despair.
Nathan told the brave woman all he knew regarding the most direct paththrough the thicket to the American encampment, and Evan warned her tobe on the alert for Sowers nearabout the spring, where both he and hiscomrade believed the spy had gone to make certain his intended victimsdid not escape.
Then all fell silent as if awed by the dangers which were to bevoluntarily encountered, and presently the boys knew from the faintsounds that Sarah Dillard had stolen swiftly away without so much as aword of adieu.
"She will never be able to get an unbroken colt out of the stable,even if she succeeds in bridling him," Evan whispered, and Nathanreplied with a certain hopefulness in his tone, although he was farfrom believing the venture might succeed:
"It is possible the task may be accomplished. I have more faith in hergaining the mastery of the colt for a certain time than I have of herbeing able to keep him on the trail. There are many places 'twixt hereand Greene's Spring where a single misstep, such as an untrainedanimal is likely to make, will send them both into eternity."
As if by a common impulse the boys moved toward the window, and therestood gazing out, waiting for the appearance of the brave woman whohad not only to master an untamed horse, but to keep herself concealedfrom view while surrounded by enemies.
The troopers' steeds had been stabled in the huge barns to the rightof the dwelling, where were kept the draft animals, and, as the boyswell knew, Captain Dillard's saddle horses and the colt to which hiswife had referred, were housed in the small building directly acrossthe stable-yard from the improvised prison.
This particular portion of the plantation appeared to be entirelyabandoned by redcoats; but the officers in the dwelling were so nearat hand that any unusual noise in or around the yard would immediatelyattract their attention, even though the sentinels were remiss intheir duty, and it seemed well-nigh impossible that Sarah Dillardcould so much as lead the most steady animal out into the open withoutbetraying her movements to the enemy.
"She won't be able to bridle the colt without something of a fight,"Evan said half to himself, and Nathan added as if he would find someray of hope in the gloom which surrounded them:
"It is fortunate that the stable has no floor, and the colt may doconsiderable prancing around without giving an alarm."
"Yet it is not likely she can ride him out without a certain amount ofnoise."
"I know the venture is a desperate one," Nathan replied mournfully;"but I am forcing myself to believe it may succeed."
At this instant a dark form was seen moving cautiously around thecorner of the house in the direction of the small stable, and the boysknew that the desperate venture was begun.
Although the night had fully come it was not so dark but thatsurrounding objects could be seen with reasonable distinctness, andfrom the moment Sarah Dillard thus came in view the prisoners wereable to follow her every movement.
No frontiersman could have made his way across the yard with lessnoise than she did; not so much as the breaking of a twig betrayed hermovements, and if this stealing out of the house had been the onlydifficult part of her task, then one might say she would accomplish itreadily.
The boys hardly dared to breathe as she came from the shadows of thebuilding, moving with reasonable rapidity across the yard until shewas lost to view in the gloom of the stable, and then, although nocreaking of hinges betrayed her purpose, both knew she had effected anentrance.
It was only the easiest portion of the work which had beenaccomplished, however, and the prisoners stood with every nervestrained to its utmost tension as they listened for what would betokenthat the struggle with the untamed animal had begun.
Once, just for an instant, they saw her form at the door, and then shesuddenly disappeared as if the colt had pulled her back; but as yet,even though on the alert, they could hear nothing unusual, and unlessthe British officers grew suspicious because of her absence, she wasyet in safety.
One, two, three moments passed almost as if they were hours, and thenthe brave woman could be see
n fondling and petting the colt, whoalready wore the bridle, as she peered out from the doorway to learnif the coast was yet clear.
"She has bridled him, and without making a noise," Evan whispered in atone of astonishment.
"It was easier to do that in the darkness than it would have been inthe light, and if she is wise she will mount inside, instead of tryingto do so out here."
It was as if Nathan had no more than spoken when with a bound thecolt, bearing on his back the woman who was risking her life to saveher husband, came over the threshold, rearing straight up on his hindfeet until there seemed every danger he would topple backward; but yethis rider kept her seat.
"I had never believed a woman could do that," Evan exclaimed in awhisper.
"Perhaps this one might not have been able to but for the necessity.It hardly seems possible she can get out of the yard withoutdetection, for the sound of his hoofs as he rears and plunges must ofnecessity bring the redcoats out in the belief that their own horseshave been stampeded."
The colt struggled desperately to free himself from the strange burdenupon his back, and yet, singularly enough, never once did he come downupon the ground with sufficient force to cause alarm. He alternatelyreared and plunged while one might have counted ten, his riderclinging to him meanwhile as if she had been strapped securely down,and then with a bound he cleared the stack of brush which was piledjust behind the stable, disappearing an instant later amid the forest,which on this side the plantation had been left standing within ahundred yards of the dwelling.
"She is off, and headed in the right direction," Nathan said in a toneof amazement, as if it was almost incredible the feat had beenaccomplished, and the words were no more than uttered before out ofthe house came trooping half a dozen men, alarmed by the thud of theanimal's hoofs.
"They have heard her," Evan cried in an agony of apprehension, "andnow the chase will begin, for they must understand what her purpose isin thus running away."
Fortunately for the safety of that little band at Greene's Spring, theBritishers were not so well informed by the noise of all that hadtaken place as Evan believed.
The thud of the colt's feet had simply caused them to believe theremight be a disturbance among their own animals, and they were very farfrom suspecting the real truth of the matter.
They went hurriedly toward the barns wherein their horses werestabled, however, and seeing this both the boys believed that chasewas about to be given.
"If she can keep the colt straight on the course, I have no fear theywill overtake her," Nathan said, much as though speaking to himself;"but it is not probable the beast will be so tractable."
Now the prisoners watched in anxious suspense to see the first of thetroop ride out in pursuit, and as the moments passed their spiritsincreased almost to bewilderment because no such move was made.
Finally, one by one, the redcoats returned to the house as ifsatisfied everything was as it should be, and Evan whispered, as ifdoubting the truth of his own statement:
"It must be that they fail to suspect anything is wrong. There is yeta possibility, Nathan, that Sarah Dillard will accomplish the taskwhich half an hour ago I would have said was absolutely beyond herpowers."
"And if she can bridle and mount the beast, I am tempted to believeshe may reach Greene's Spring in time, for certain it is that up tothis moment no one suspects that she has left the plantation."
"I could----"
Evan ceased speaking very suddenly, and it was with difficulty hecould repress a cry of fear, for at this instant the key was turned inthe lock, the door flung open, and as the prisoners suddenly facedaround, they saw before them Ephraim Sowers, looking satisfied andtriumphant.