Sarah Dillard's Ride: A Story of the Carolinas in 1780

"Is it not possible for you to release us?" Nathan asked after a brief pause. "If either Evan or I were at liberty we might be able, by rapid running, to cover the distance between here and Greene's Springs before the redcoats could arrive there, for it is not likely they will start very early in the night."

"To escape from the window while the soldiers are in the stable-yard is impossible," Mrs. Dillard replied, much as though speaking to herself, "and as for getting you out by this way I am powerless. One of the officers has a key to the door, and even if it was in our possession, there is little chance you could make your way through the house secretly."

"But something must be done, and at once," Nathan whispered in an agony of apprehension, and at that moment the sound of footsteps on the floor below caused Mrs. Dillard to beat a retreat.

The boys could hear the swish of her garments as she ran through the hallway, and it was as if the good woman had no more than hidden herself from view before the heavy footsteps of a man on the stairs told that some one of the Britishers was coming to make certain the prisoners were securely confined.

Creeping noiselessly away from the door lest the redcoat should enter and find them in a position which betokened that they had been holding converse with some one on the outside, the lads remained silent and motionless until the noise of footsteps told that this cautious Britisher, having satisfied himself all was as it should be, had returned to the floor below.

Then the lads stole softly back near the door where they awaited the coming of the woman whom they hoped might show them the way to freedom, even though at the time it seemed impossible she could do so.

The moments passed like hours while she remained absent, and then once more they heard a faint scratching at the door which told of her return.

"Tell me all you know regarding this boy Sowers being a spy," Mrs. Dillard whispered when she was once more where private conversation could be carried on, and Nathan said nervously:

"Why speak of him at a time when every moment is precious? Instead of giving such as that villain a place in our thoughts we should be trying to form some plan whereby the lives of our friends may be saved."

"It is yet too early in the night for us to make any move," the brave woman replied as if her mind was already made up to a course of action. "Until the men have quieted down somewhat we cannot so much as cross the yard without being challenged, and I would know all that may be 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 as messenger."

"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 mountain road."

"Even though it were ten times as far, and the peril greater an hundredfold, do you not think I would brave it in the hope of saving the lives of those brave men?"

Evan ceased to find objections to her plan; but asked how she might be able to make the journey.

"There is in the stable a colt which the Britishers will hardly attempt to drive away because he has not yet been broken. I shall do my best at riding him, and trust in the good God for protection."

Nathan was not a cowardly lad; his acquaintances spoke of him as one having much courage, and yet he trembled at the thought of this woman attempting to bridle an unbroken colt, and then ride him twenty miles over the rough mountain roads where only the steadiest of horses might safely be used.

He would have said something in the hope of dissuading her from her purpose; but it was as if his tongue refused its office, for Sarah Dillard would ride that night not only to save a hundred or more friends of freedom, but to save the life of her husband.

"Tell me all you know of the spy, so that I may warn our people against him with fair proof."

Neither Evan nor Nathan made any attempt at giving advice; the woman's courage so far eclipsed theirs that it was as if she should command and they obey – as if they had no right even to offer a suggestion. Obedient to her wishes they repeated all they had heard the vindictive Tory say, and described in detail his reception at Major Ferguson's camp.

"If you could only take us with you, or what would be better, so manage it that we might go in your stead," Nathan said when his account of Ephraim Sowers was brought to an end.

"I would willingly do so if it might be possible; but I can see no way to 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 suggestion might cause her to devise another means of forwarding the warning.

"I know full well how many chances there are against success, and yet because it is the only hope, I shall venture."

But little conversation was indulged in after this assertion, which seemed prompted by despair.

Nathan told the brave woman all he knew regarding the most direct path through the thicket to the American encampment, and Evan warned her to be on the alert for Sowers nearabout the spring, where both he and his comrade believed the spy had gone to make certain his intended victims did not escape.

Then all fell silent as if awed by the dangers which were to be voluntarily encountered, and presently the boys knew from the faint sounds that Sarah Dillard had stolen swiftly away without so much as a word 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 Nathan replied with a certain hopefulness in his tone, although he was far from believing the venture might succeed:

"It is possible the task may be accomplished. I have more faith in her gaining the mastery of the colt for a certain time than I have of her being able to keep him on the trail. There are many places 'twixt here and Greene's Spring where a single misstep, such as an untrained animal is likely to make, will send them both into eternity."

As if by a common impulse the boys moved toward the window, and there stood gazing out, waiting for the appearance of the brave woman who had not only to master an untamed horse, but to keep herself concealed from view while surrounded by enemies.

The troopers' steeds had been stabled in the huge barns to the right of the dwelling, where were kept the draft animals, and, as the boys well knew, Captain Dillard's saddle horses and the colt to which his wife had referred, were housed in the small building directly across the stable-yard from the improvised prison.

This particular portion of the plantation appeared to be entirely abandoned by redcoats; but the officers in the dwelling were so near at hand that any unusual noise in or around the yard would immediately attract their attention, even though the sentinels were remiss in their duty, and it seemed well-nigh impossible that Sarah Dillard could so much as lead the most steady animal out into the open without betraying 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 some ray of hope in the gloom which surrounded them:

"It is fortunate that the stable has no floor, and the colt may do considerable prancing around without giving an alarm."

"Yet it is not likely she can ride him out without a certain amount of noise."

"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 the corner of the house in the direction of the small stable, and the boys knew that the desperate venture was begun.

Although the night had fully come it was not so dark but that surrounding objects could be seen with reasonable distinctness, and from the moment Sarah Dillard thus came in view the prisoners were able to follow her every movement.

No frontiersman could have made his way across the yard with less noise than she did; not so much as the breaking of a twig betrayed her movements, and if this stealing out of the house had been the only difficult part of her task, then one might say she would accomplish it readily.

The boys hardly dared to breathe as she came from the shadows of the building, moving with reasonable rapidity across the yard until she was lost to view in the gloom of the stable, and then, although no creaking of hinges betrayed her purpose, both knew she had effected an entrance.

It was only the easiest portion of the work which had been accomplished, however, and the prisoners stood with every nerve strained to its utmost tension as they listened for what would betoken that the struggle with the untamed animal had begun.

Once, just for an instant, they saw her form at the door, and then she suddenly disappeared as if the colt had pulled her back; but as yet, even though on the alert, they could hear nothing unusual, and unless the British officers grew suspicious because of her absence, she was yet in safety.

One, two, three moments passed almost as if they were hours, and then the brave woman could be seen fondling and petting the colt, who already wore the bridle, as she peered out from the doorway to learn if the coast was yet clear.

"She has bridled him, and without making a noise," Evan whispered in a tone of astonishment.

"It was easier to do that in the darkness than it would have been in the light, and if she is wise she will mount inside, instead of trying to do so out here."

It was as if Nathan had no more than spoken when with a bound the colt, bearing on his back the woman who was risking her life to save her husband, came over the threshold, rearing straight up on his hind feet until there seemed every danger he would topple backward; but yet his rider kept her seat.

"I had never believed a woman could do that," Evan exclaimed in a whisper.

"Perhaps this one might not have been able to but for the necessity. It hardly seems possible she can get out of the yard without detection, for the sound of his hoofs as he rears and plunges must of necessity bring the redcoats out in the belief that their own horses have been stampeded."

The colt struggled desperately to free himself from the strange burden upon his back, and yet, singularly enough, never once did he come down upon the ground with sufficient force to cause alarm. He alternately reared and plunged while one might have counted ten, his rider clinging to him meanwhile as if she had been strapped securely down, and then with a bound he cleared the stack of brush which was piled just behind the stable, disappearing an instant later amid the forest, which on this side the plantation had been left standing within a hundred yards of the dwelling.

"She is off, and headed in the right direction," Nathan said in a tone of amazement, as if it was almost incredible the feat had been accomplished, and the words were no more than uttered before out of the house came trooping half a dozen men, alarmed by the thud of the animal's hoofs.

"They have heard her," Evan cried in an agony of apprehension, "and now the chase will begin, for they must understand what her purpose is in thus running away."

Fortunately for the safety of that little band at Greene's Spring, the Britishers were not so well informed by the noise of all that had taken place as Evan believed.

The thud of the colt's feet had simply caused them to believe there might be a disturbance among their own animals, and they were very far from suspecting the real truth of the matter.

They went hurriedly toward the barns wherein their horses were stabled, however, and seeing this both the boys believed that chase was about to be given.

"If she can keep the colt straight on the course, I have no fear they will 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 the troop ride out in pursuit, and as the moments passed their spirits increased almost to bewilderment because no such move was made.

Finally, one by one, the redcoats returned to the house as if satisfied everything was as it should be, and Evan whispered, as if doubting the truth of his own statement:

"It must be that they fail to suspect anything is wrong. There is yet a possibility, Nathan, that Sarah Dillard will accomplish the task which half an hour ago I would have said was absolutely beyond her powers."

"And if she can bridle and mount the beast, I am tempted to believe she may reach Greene's Spring in time, for certain it is that up to this moment no one suspects that she has left the plantation."

"I could – "

Evan ceased speaking very suddenly, and it was with difficulty he could repress a cry of fear, for at this instant the key was turned in the lock, the door flung open, and as the prisoners suddenly faced around, they saw before them Ephraim Sowers, looking satisfied and triumphant.

CHAPTER IV.

THE STRUGGLE

The first and most natural thought that came into the minds of the boys, as they turned to see their enemy standing in the doorway, was that he had discovered the flight, and, perhaps, counted on doing something toward checking it even now, when Sarah Dillard must have been a mile or more away.

Almost as soon as this idea presented itself, however, both realized that if the grinning Tory had even so much as a suspicion of the real state of affairs he would be urging the troopers on in pursuit, rather than standing idly there.

The young scoundrel remained for an instant in the doorway enjoying his triumph, and Nathan found it difficult to repress a smile of satisfaction as he saw the spy thus unsuspicious, while Sarah Dillard was speeding toward Greene's Spring to carry the warning which, if told, would most likely save the lives of a hundred men.

Ephraim, firmly convinced that nothing could avert the fate shaped by him for Colonel Clarke and his force, was enjoying the situation as pictured in his mind, to the utmost of his mean nature, and the boys almost forgot they were prisoners in the pleasure born of the knowledge that the Tory might yet be outwitted.

"What are you fellows doing over there by the window?" Ephraim asked peremptorily after surveying the two in silence fully a moment.

"Have the Britishers any law or rule which forbids one deprived of liberty from seeking fresh air whenever he may be so fortunate as to get an opportunity?" Nathan asked sharply.

"Hark you, Nathan Shelby, I am tired of hearing your long-winded speeches, and we will have done with them from this out – at least, so long as I am the master."

"So long as you are the master!" Evan repeated in a tone of contempt. "We haven't been aware that such was the case."

"Then you may know it now for a certainty. I am counting on you two trying to escape, and therefore have come to stand guard in this room."

"And a valiant guard you will be, Ephraim Sowers, if your courage is no greater than it was one year ago, when you fled in hot haste from what proved to be a turkey-cock, thinking you saw the head of an Indian among the weeds," Nathan said jeeringly, and the spy retorted angrily:

"Have a care over your tongue, my bold rebel! Matters have changed now from what they were forty-eight hours ago. You are among those who obey the king, and do not allow sedition-breeders free rein of their tongues."

"And now hark you, Master Sowers," Nathan cried, losing his temper somewhat because of the air of authority which this fellow assumed. "'Rebels and sedition-breeders' are names which have too much meaning in these days for you to let them fall so trippingly from your tongue! Have a care, you Tory sneak, lest even while acting the part of guard over your betters, you come to grief! I'm not minded to take many threats from a coward and a spy."

"In this case, however, you will take whatsoever I choose to give, Nathan Shelby, for it needs only that I raise my voice to bring here those who would shoot you down did you so much as lift your hand against me."

"And it is such knowledge which makes you so wondrous brave," Evan said with a laugh of scorn which did more to rouse the young spy's anger than words could have done.

He struggled for an instant to speak; but stammered and hesitated as the blood rushed into his face until, losing the last semblance of patience, he motioned for them to move back toward the window from which they had just come.

"If this is what you mean, we are willing to take our stations here without your running the risk of bursting because of your own sense of importance," Nathan said as he moved back a few paces, Evan following the example. "Have a care, however, that you do not attempt to give such orders as we shall be indisposed to obey, lest it seem as if your authority amounted to nothing."

By this time Ephraim so far regained the mastery over himself as to be able to speak, and he cried in a fury:

"We'll soon see whether you dare disobey, and to that end I will keep you busy for an hour or more, until you have learned that I am really the master. Now then, you rebels, remember that the king's troops are near at hand to shoot you down at the first sign of insubordination, and take good heed to move exactly as I command."

Ephraim straightened his body with a consequential air, and stood for an instant as if reflecting upon how he had best prove his authority, while the two prisoners gazed at him in astonishment that he should thus dare trust himself unarmed alone with them.

"Stand straight and look me in the face!" he commanded. "If the day's march was not enough to break your spirits, we will see what a little exercise will do for you now. Keep step, and travel around this room until I give you permission to stop."

"Do you think we are to be bullied by such as you?" Nathan asked in great astonishment.

"If you think it is wise, refuse to do as I say, and before five minutes have gone by you will learn the result of disobedience."

Neither Evan nor Nathan moved, but stood looking inquiringly into each other's eyes with an expression on their faces which would have warned the Tory of mischief had he been less deeply occupied with his own fancied importance.

"Fall into line and march, or it will be the worse for you!" he cried, advancing threateningly with upraised hand until he was within striking distance of the prisoners, and for an instant it appeared as if he intended to inflict punishment then and there.

Whatever idea may have been in his mind cannot be said, yet it hardly seems possible he would have attempted personal violence while alone with those whom he had wronged, even though the soldiers were so near at hand.

It is certain, however, the boys fully believed he would carry out the implied threat, and without thinking of the possible consequences, or stopping to realize what might be the result if this spy was roughly handled, as if with one accord they leaped upon him, Nathan taking the precaution of clapping his hand over the bully's mouth at the first onset in such manner that it was impossible for him to speak or make an outcry.

Even a stronger lad than Ephraim Sowers would have gone down before this sudden attack as quickly as did he, and in a twinkling the prisoners held him upon the floor in such fashion that only one arm remained free.

Evan sat upon his feet, while Nathan, in addition to covering his mouth, held his right arm firmly.

With his left hand Ephraim struck out to the best of his ability, but without accomplishing anything whatsoever, and he was permitted to thus thrash around, doing no harm to any save himself, until he had been thoroughly wearied by the struggle.

"I reckon we have got time enough to teach you quite a lesson," Nathan whispered with but slight show of anger. "You are supposed to be guarding us prisoners, and the redcoats will give little heed to you for some hours to come. While we are alone you shall get a taste of what you would deal out to others."

As a matter of course Ephraim made no reply, because it was impossible so to do; but his captors could read in his eyes the threats his tongue was powerless to utter.

"I know what you would say, my fine Tory spy. You have in your mind the thought that we must in time let you up, and then it shall be your turn, for the soldiers will be called in to perform what you fail in doing. How well would that plan work if we did our duty, and killed you here and now? It is what should be done to a lad who, having received nothing but favors in this section of the colony, betrays to their death a hundred or more of his neighbors."

Anger had rapidly died out of Ephraim's eyes as Nathan spoke, for by the tone of the latter, one would have said that he was in deadly earnest, and really questioned whether or no it was not his duty to take this worthless life.

"It would not be a hard matter to let his life-blood out," Evan added, intent only on doing his share toward frightening the spy, "and perhaps it will be best even though he had not betrayed Colonel Clarke and his men, for we can have a very fair idea of what he will be, once power is his."

"Find something with which to tie his feet and hands, and then we will contrive a gag so that it is not necessary to sit over him in this fashion."

Evan obeyed the command by tearing from the lad's hunting-shirt two or three strips of material sufficiently stout to resist all his struggles, and in a comparatively short space of time the Tory was bound hand and foot, with one sleeve of his own garment stuffed inside his mouth as a gag.

He was powerless now either to move or speak, and only when the work was accomplished did the boys fully realize that they had, perhaps, injured themselves by thus temporarily turning the tables.

"It would have been better had we let him go his own gait," Evan said in a whisper as he drew Nathan toward the window where the helpless Tory could not overhear his words. "Of course we cannot hope to keep him here longer than morning, and it is hardly likely the redcoats will suffer him to be absent so many hours without making certain he is safe. Once the troopers come we shall suffer for this bit of pleasantry."

"They are not like to put in an appearance for several hours yet, more especially if the villain gave out that he would stand guard until weary of the sport."

"Yet the end must finally come."

Nathan started as if a sudden thought had flashed upon him, and turned quickly toward the window as he seized one of the heavy bars.

"Have you any idea that it might be possible to pull that down?" Evan asked wonderingly.

"Hark you, lad," and now Nathan appeared like one laboring under great excitement. "Why might we not escape? The Britishers will have no care for us while it is believed that sneak is acting as sentinel, and if one of these bars could be removed, we might count on at least an hour's start."

"But there is no hope of our being able to remove the barrier."

"Who shall say until it has been tried?"

"I am certain that with our bare hands we might tug and strain until morning without so much as loosening one of the fastenings."

It was as if this suggestion excited Nathan to a yet more brilliant flight of fancy in the line of escape, for suddenly he darted toward the door where he stood a moment in the attitude of a listener, and then retracing his steps, whispered to Evan:

"It is almost certain the Britishers are on the floor below. This Tory has the key of the door in his pocket – "

"Surely you are not thinking of attempting to make your way down past all those who have taken possession of the house?"

"By no means; yet what will prevent our venturing into some of the chambers nearby, where perchance we shall find what will serve as a lever to remove these bars."

Evan seized his comrade's hands ecstatically. There was every reason to believe such a venture might be made, and without waiting to discuss it he began searching Ephraim's pockets for the key.

This was soon found. A bulky iron instrument fashioned by hand, and mostlike brought from the mother country, it could not well be concealed.