CHAPTER VIII
HIDDEN
The first impulse in the mind of Robert DorIon as he followed Hannah from the house was to run to the place in the woods where his horse had been left, and, leaping upon his back, to flee with all haste from the region. Nero must be somewhat rested now, he thought, and once safely mounted upon him he would have but little to fear from the marauding gang that was approaching.
His purpose was apparent even to Hannah, but as she saw her visitor about to dart around the corner of the house and run toward the woods, she said quickly, "Here! Don't do that."
"I must. They 'll get me again!"
"You are going to leave my mother and me to face these men alone?"
Instantly Robert stopped, but as he hastened back to Hannah's side the intrepid girl said, "We shall be all right. You need have no fear for us. It's you they want."
"What shall I do?" demanded Robert "They 'll be here in a minute!"
"Wait! Stay right where you are! Don't move! I 'll be back in a minute!"
As she spoke Hannah turned and darted into the house, leaving Robert standing alone outside. For a moment he was tempted to run again, and then he decided to follow her. Of his own fate, if he should once more be taken by the men, he had no question, but he was still minded to do all in his power to protect the two women who had befriended him. Before he could act, however, Hannah rushed from the building holding in her hands a huge wing of a goose, which was used by the household to brush away the ashes that accumulated about the fireplace in the room.
Quickly drawing two of the longest feathers from the wing, she cut the ends from both with a knife and blew through each to test its emptiness, and then thrust the end of one into the larger opening of the other and so joined the two parts.
"Put this end in your mouth," she demanded, holding them forth to Robert; and as soon as he had received them she seized a rude shovel that was leaning against the side of the house and began almost frantically to dig in the great pile of wood ashes that was standing near.
Still Robert was mystified by the actions of the girl, and said, "What are you doing? I can't stay here like this!"
Apparently disregarding his question, Hannah continued to work desperately until she had made a great opening in the ashes. Then turning to Robert she said sharply, "Now shut your eyes and your mouth! Keep that goose-quill between your teeth and do just what I tell you to do!"
"What's that?"
"Get in there!" she exclaimed. "Do as I tell you! Don't stand there like a hitching-post. Get in! Get in!" she added, her voice almost breaking in her excitement. "I'm going to cover you up, eyes, ears, nose, and everything! Do what I tell you! Did you ever see such a man!" she added angrily, as Robert hesitated for a moment. "Be quick, or I 'll drop the shovel and leave you! Claud Brown may not ask you to hide in an ash-heap! He 'll put you where you won't need any goose-quills! Are you going to do as I say?"
The excitement of the girl, the near approach of danger, the certainty that he would be taken again, all combined to make Robert Dorlon aware of his own desperate plight, and instantly he threw himself into the opening in the heap which Hannah had made with her shovel. Well-nigh frantic with fear, the girl quickly began to shovel the ashes back over his prostrate body. At any moment now the men might break into the house, and if she was detected in her present occupation her own peril, as well as that of Robert, would be vastly increased. Still she was sufficiently collected to try to make as slight a cloud as possible as she plied her shovel, and Robert was soon hidden from sight. He had followed her directions implicitly, and tightly closed his eyes and mouth, still retaining the precious goose-quill between his teeth.
At last her task was accomplished, and nothing could be seen of the young soldier or his belongings, save the tip of the goose-quill, which only slightly protruded above the surface. Satisfied that her work was done, Hannah turned back into the house just as Claud Brown and one of his companions entered by the other door. He was known to both women, who looked quietly at him as he entered, though the heart of each was trembling with a fear that was born of experience in dealing with the treacherous cowboy.
"Where's that young rascal?" demanded Claudius Brown brutally.
"We have n't any young rascal here," replied Mrs. Nott tartly.
"You know what I mean."
Neither woman responded, and after a brief silence Brown laughed brutally as he said, "Oh, we know what we 're talking about. He's here, and the sooner you give him up the better it will be for all concerned."
"Do you mean my brother or my father?" said Hannah quietly. "If you do, you know as well as I do where they are. If you will go on to Fort Montgomery, I think you 'll find them, and they 'll be glad to see you, too."
"Where have you hidden him?"
"Who?"
"That rascally young 'express.’"
"You 'll have to explain yourself," said Hannah, her heart bounding as she heard the word "express." Then her visitor was all that he had claimed to be, and whatever misgivings she might have had in striving to shield a stranger were now satisfied by the demands of Brown. She longed to glance behind her at the ash-heap to make sure that Robert had done nothing to betray his hiding-place, but she was cautious and did not once turn her eyes away from the brutal man before her.
"Come!" said Brown brusquely. "Are you going to give him up to us?"
"I certainly should not give any one up to you if I had any one here that you wanted," said Mrs. Nott. "You know that without my telling you. I think my husband and boys will be deeply interested in the report which I shall give them of your visit to two defenseless women."
"I know all about your 'defenseless women,’" laughed Brown. "I never come here without seeing you an' the girl standing close to your guns. Not that you can scare us any, but it makes me laugh to hear you talk of being defenseless. I rather guess you can do a little toward takin' care o' yourselves."
"We can try," replied Mrs. Nott quietly. Both she and Hannah were standing near two rifles that were leaning against the walls of the room. And Claudius Brown was aware that he had spoken truly when he had declared that they would attempt, at least, to protect themselves.
"If you think there is some one here, why don't you make a search and satisfy yourself?" suggested Hannah tartly. "If you are not willing to take our word for it when we tell you there is n't a man in the house, why, you 'll have to look for yourselves, that's all." She was thinking of Robert as she spoke, and what he must be undergoing at that time. That the traitors would search the place before they departed she was convinced, and if they began it at once then it would the more quickly be ended.
"You did n't say there was n't any one here. Has any one been here?" he demanded sharply.
"Yes, sir. A young man did come here last night."
"Ah! there did? Yes, yes. What became of him?"
"He went back into the road again." It was the truth, though only a half truth, but Hannah did not feel called upon to explain that Robert had returned to the house after he had gone back to the road to secure his horse.
"What time did he come?"
"I don't know."
"About what time?"
"It was before it was light, was n't it, mother?" said Hannah, turning and speaking to Mrs. Nott.
"Yes," replied Mrs. Nott.
"In which direction did he go?"
"He went across the lot to the road."
"In which direction did he go then?"
"I cannot say."
"You will not say, you mean," said Brown sharply.
Neither woman replied, and Brown retired from the room with his companion. Could it be possible that the men were about to leave? The question was in Hannah's eyes as she glanced at her mother, who shook her head and motioned for her daughter to remain where she then was. Behind her, through the rear door, Hannah could see the heap of ashes, and to all appearances it was as she had left it. She was aware, however, how desperate Robert's plight was, and she was eager to learn the decision of the visitors, but still she remained standing beside her mother, striving to be calm and not to increase the suspicions of her visitors.
In a brief time Brown and all his comrades reëntered the house, and the leader said abruptly, "My men don't believe you. We 're going to search the place."
"As you wish," replied Mrs. Nott. "We cannot prevent you, though I assure you we can report you."
"We 'll soon have that husband of yours and his boys where all the reportin' you want to do won't count for much. Ye might send down now to the sugar-houses in New York an' ask some o' your friends to come up and help."
Without waiting for a reply Brown directed two of his men to go up into the loft and one to go down into the cellar, while he himself at once began to search the rooms on the first floor of the house. Boards were torn up from the floor, closets were opened, barrels broken, and every conceivable hiding-place was inspected, but not a trace of the man for whom they were searching could be found.
"I hope you are satisfied now," said Hannah tartly, when the men all assembled in the room where she was standing.
"Satisfied he's not in the house," replied Brown grimly. "But, my lady, there's other places that need lookin' into, too. Go down t' the barn," he said sharply to two of his men. "Jim and I 'll take a look at the chicken-coop and the smoke-house."
"Don't you want me to show you the way?" demanded Hannah.
Brown did not reply as he and his men departed from the house to do his bidding. Far more fearful now, Hannah stepped to the door to watch their movements. All four men passed close to the ash-heap, but apparently it did not occur to any of them that such a place might be the very one where the man they were seeking was concealed. Two of them passed on to the barn, while Brown and his man at once began to inspect the places nearer the house. A new fear had seized upon Hannah now, and she was listening to discover if Robert's horse, which had been taken into the woods, would hear the men, and mistaking them for his master, expose his hiding-place by a whinny. In such an event the peril of all would be greatly increased; but in a brief time the men returned from the barn and joined their comrades who were standing near the ash-heap. A conversation, so low that Hannah could not hear what was said, followed, and in an agony of fear she watched every movement, not even glancing at her mother. It seemed to her that the men must suspect something, or they would not remain standing so long near the very place where the peril was greatest.
"Careful, Hannah," whispered her mother, as the girl peered out from the door. "You will make them suspicious. Better come in and wait patiently."
"I can't wait patiently! Oh! Why don't they come! I— There they come!" she added hastily, as she stepped quickly back into the room.
"We can't find him," said the leader, as he stopped for a moment in front of the kitchen door. "Apparently you told the truth."
"Apparently we did," retorted Hannah, her eyes snapping, as it was evident the search was about to be abandoned.
Brown said no more, but at once turned and with his followers remounted and rode swiftly out to the road, not once glancing back at the house.
"There! Thank goodness! We 've seen the last of them!" exclaimed Hannah, as the men disappeared from sight. "Now I 'll dig the poor fellow out of his grave."
"Had n't you better wait"—began Mrs. Nott; but evidently Hannah had no thought of waiting longer, for she ran to the ash-heap, and with her hands began to dig away the ashes around the place where the tip of the goose-quill could be seen. In a brief time Robert's face appeared and Hannah said gleefully, —
"Why don't you get up ? Do you like your bed so much you think you 'll stay there forever? There! Don't you try to open your eyes or your mouth! Are you all right? I wish your mother could see you now. I don't believe even Claud Brown would want you. Just wait here. Don't move. I 'll be back in a minute. Stand up! That's right," she added, as Robert arose. "But don't move. Wait for me."
Darting into the house, the eager girl soon returned with broom and water, and with many exclamations of her pretended dismay at his appearance she carefully washed his face until he could once more open his eyes, and then began to brush him savagely with the broom, which she dexterously wielded. Even Robert was laughing by this time, but the laughter and the task were both sharply interrupted by the appearance of Mrs. Nott with a word that was as startling as it was unexpected.