Many of the locks that he found were very intricate, and more than two hours pa.s.sed away ere he secured the contents of five of the lockers. Then it seemed to him as if he heard a noise outside, indistinct at first, but very soon audible enough. The noise resembled the cry of an angry bear, and this he knew to be a signal from the chief calling him forth.

'I will not go till I get one more locker open,' he thought; and then set at work again with his pick-locks and skeleton keys. This compartment was the easiest of all rifled; the box of coin was secured and put into his sack. He then carefully closed and relocked the doors, hoisted his bag, now extremely heavy, upon his back, and retraced his steps.

The door of the secret room he likewise carefully reclosed; then pa.s.sed through the library, the drawing-room, and into the kitchen.

There was no stir, and he laid his bag of booty upon the bed which poor Bridget had so kindly spread for him. The cat, a great male tortoisesh.e.l.l, came from the corner with tail erect and back curved, and he rubbed his handsome side, against The Lifter who calmly proceeded to put on his boots.

The robber did not show the least anxiety but calmly proceeded, by the light of his candle, to tie his boots and prepare himself for a start. When tightening the lace in his last boot, he thought that he heard a noise upon the stairs; but it ceased and he went on with his work. Then there was a sudden rush as if somebody were descending many steps at once; and simultaneously with the rush a loud cry.

'Buglahs! Buglahs!'

'The d--d n.i.g.g.e.r,' the Lifter e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, and seizing his booty he made a plunge for the door, which, with his usual precaution, he had unlocked before going upon his exploit. Through the door he escaped safely enough, but he had scarcely reached the yard before the negro --the same, by the way, to whom my readers have already been introduced--was upon him.

'Help, mates, help!' shouted The Lifter, as he felt the hand of the darkey tighten about his throat.

'Help, buglahs, buglahs!' shouted at the same time the faithful negro; and in response to the alarm, there was a hurrying of many feet inside, and much hallooing.

But it was too late with the Ethiopean; for as the word 'buglahs,'

issued the second time from his lips, he was struck upon the head with a club and knocked senseless.

'Here,' said The Lifter, 'take this,' handing the bag of booty to Murfrey.

In an instant the band of desperadoes were making their flight through the pines; but not before several bullets had been sent whizzing among them. At the roadside stood the horses, and each man vaulted into the saddle.

'Here, Capteen, you better have the shiners,' the Lifter said, taking the heavy and rather clumsy sack from Joe, and flinging it across the croup of his father's saddle. 'It is worth carrying, and worth fighting for.' Then the robbers were away over the frosty road like a sudden blast of a wintry wind.

CHAPTER XII.

THE CAPTURE OF THE 'MOST' BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN.

The ride was a most furious one and there was not the ghost of a chance, had the sun been at the meridian, of overtaking those fleet-footed beasts. When they were many miles beyond the old farm-house the Captain pulled rein and waited for his son to gain his side.

'What has been your luck? I think that it has been good.'

'I am thinkeen the same myself. I eased him of half what he has.'

Then the Convert entered into a careful detail of the robbery, the circ.u.mstances of which my reader already knows. When he was ended the robber chief extended his hand.

'Well-done, boy; this is worth all the house-breaking we have had since we came to the swamp.' As he said these words he turned half towards Murfrey, who, despite his jealousy, and his anger at the remark, was, nevertheless radiant as he contemplated his share of the booty.

'You have done bravely, and like a man. I do not think that your loyalty will be any more called in question.' Another sidelong glance at the glowering bully; but he uttered never a word.

'You never boast, my son, and you never bully,' the Chief went on; 'but when a delicate measure and an important one is on hand, you are to be trusted. There is no other man in my band in which I can place such faith.' Still another malignant glance at the ruffian with the dogged face. But that villain was bent upon keeping his temper and holding his tongue; and he rode along in glum silence.

'By the Eternal,' shouted the robber chief, 'if slur is ever again put upon you, I will shoot the coward who offers it.' It did almost seem as if the Captain were courting a quarrel with his ally. But he really was not. In the intensity of his satisfaction his imagination went back to all the indignities that had been put upon his son--whom he really loved--by Murfrey; and he remembered how patiently it had all been borne.

'Hush, father!' The Lifter said, putting his hand upon the chief's arm. 'We all try to do the best we can. It would spoil everything if we quarrelled now.'

To this the chief agreed; but he had made up his mind that there should be no more persecution of his son.

The money was divided upon the return of the band to the camp, the Captain taking a double share, one going to Murfrey, one to Rev. Mr.

Jonas, a half to the old woman, and a fourth to each of the girls.

'I have reserved half a share for you, sir,' the Captain said, addressing Roland, who had been a spectator of the division, 'although you have not chosen to give us any a.s.sistance in our enterprises.'

Roland arose.

'I have to thank you for your offer; but you must know that its acceptance is impossible.'

'Well, be it as you say. I think The Lifter is ent.i.tled, then, to this extra amount, for the skill and cool-headedness that he has displayed in the matter.'

The sum that fell to the robber chief was a few shillings short of 3,000 [pounds] stg.

Several days pa.s.sed away, during which there were many slight snow-falls in the wood. The snow, it may be added, was always kept removed from the covering of that portion of the tunnel over which the intruder must pa.s.s before he could reach the open-air rendezvous of the robbers.

One evening, as Roland sat in his room reading, Nancy entered with fight tread, and took her seat beside him.

'I think that the chief will soon require your services.'

'How comes this?'

'To-morrow I think he sets out upon the expedition of which you have already heard some mention. The girl is to be brought here to-morrow night; and he believes that you can a.s.sist him in two ways, first by turning your knowledge of the district to be visited to account: and second, by acting as a decoy for the young lady.'

'I shall die before he force me into such a work.'

'As I expected. Of course you will refuse, and he will rave and rage. See to it that you are armed, for he would shoot or stab you as he would a dog when he finds that you thwart him in a matter that he has so much at heart.'

'I shall be prepared, Nancy. When do you think he will make his request?'

'I should judge to-morrow morning.'

'Nancy, it seems to me that the time is not far away when we shall escape from this pit of infamy. If it lie within my power this girl shall be saved from her odious abductor. We can depend upon The Lifter--you of course will not flinch.'

'So far from flinching,' the girl replied, 'I should be delighted to lay down my life in helping you in the n.o.ble resolve which you have formed.'

'Be it so, then. Can you use firearms?'

'I can; indeed since a child I have been expert with pistols. I know what you can do; The Lifter is brave at the proper time, and you will not find me useless. I think that we need not despair.'

'Still, it will be five against two.'

'Oh, to-morrow is Sunday, and the Rev. Mr. Jonas is to preach at the Don. In fact he is holding a series of revivals there, and will not be back before Tuesday next.' Then she bade our hero good-night.

The next moment The Lifter entered. He corroborated what Nancy had told, and declared his willingness to join Roland.

He may try to shoot you to-morrow morneen when you refuse; but remember you will have a friend standeen by your side who can shoot too.'