When father and I reached home we found our fellows there, and also Mr. Todd and Mr. Dickson, who had come over to spend the evening.

The events of the afternoon had already been thoroughly discussed, but the matter was taken up again when we arrived, and after that the mare’s mysterious disappearance was the chief subject of conversation.

One thing that not a little surprised us, was the coolness, not to say indifference, with which father and his two gentleman friends spoke of the loss I had sustained.

Our fellows went in strong for raising a hue and cry, and making the swamp too hot to hold the thief; but the men shook their heads and said they thought that wouldn’t do. They had tried that in the case of Luke Redman, and what had it amounted to?

107The best thing we could do would be to keep our eyes open and our mouths closed, and perhaps in a few days something would turn up in our favor.

At ten o’clock the two gentlemen took their leave, and our fellows went up to bed.

“Now, I’ll jest tell you what’s the matter with me,” said Sandy, when he had settled himself snugly between the sheets. "My name hain’t Micawber, and that’s the reason I don’t believe in waitin’ fur things to ‘turn up.’ I’ll tell you what we’ll do, fellers. If the men won’t help us, we’ll help ourselves. We’ll let our dinner go this once, take to the woods at daybreak, and spend Christmas in lookin’ fur that thar hoss, eh?"

Sandy could not have made a proposition that would have suited me better, or the rest of the fellows either, judging by the readiness with which they agreed to it.

The matter was settled without much debate, and then we arranged our pillows, and prepared to go to sleep. We did sleep, but not long. There was more excitement in store for us. About two o’clock our cotton-gin was set on fire.

108I need not stop to tell you how frightened I was when my brother dragged me out of bed and shouted in my ear that the plantation was burning up; how I looked out of the window as I pulled on my clothes, and saw the gin wrapped in flames; how our fellows rushed out of the house, and, after bustling about for a while in a state of intense excitement, getting in every body’s way, and accomplishing nothing, stood quietly by my father’s side, and saw twelve thousand dollars’ worth of cotton consumed; how we wondered and made wild guesses as to who the incendiary could be; and finally went back to bed, and lay for a long time talking the matter over. You can imagine all that, and will know just how we felt.

Excited as I was, I fell asleep again, but was awakened about daylight by the sound of horses’ hoofs in the yard. I ran to the window, and saw several mounted men waiting before the door. They were all booted and spurred, and some carried guns slung over their shoulders, while others had revolvers strapped about their waists.

A negro stood by, holding a splendid coal-black 109horse which belonged to father, and presently he came out of the house, armed like the others, sprang into the saddle, and the whole cavalcade started down the road at a rapid gallop.

I caught my sleeping companions by the shoulders, and, after a good deal of shaking and pulling, succeeded in getting them out of bed and to the window, just in time to catch one glimpse of the horsemen before they disappeared down a lane that led to the woods.

“Now I’ll jest tell you what’s the matter,” exclaimed Sandy. “What’s up, do you reckon?”

“They’ve gone out to look for the men who set fire to that cotton-gin,” replied Duke, fairly jumping into his trowsers. “That’s what’s up, and here we are in bed and sound asleep, like so many wooden boys.”

“Hurrah!” yelled Mark. “Here’s fun! I’d give something to know what else is going to happen this winter.”

As he said this, he jerked on his boots, thrust one arm into his coat, and started down stairs to talk to mother, and find out what it 110was that had taken father and his companions off in so great a hurry, while the rest of us brought out the guns, and began loading them with hands that trembled violently. We could not have been more impatient to get the weapons ready for use if a band of hostile Indians had at that very moment been approaching the house.

“I am going to put twelve buckshot in my gun,” said Herbert, “and if I meet the fellow who set fire to that gin, won’t I—won’t I wake him, eh?”

“How will you know him if you do meet him?” asked Duke, spilling a charge of powder on the floor in his haste.

“Why, he will look guilty, won’t he? Well, what’s the matter?”

This last question was addressed to Mark, who just then came up stairs in two jumps.

“Mother says there are moccasin-tracks all around that gin,” said he, so excited that he could scarcely speak plainly, “and that shows that it was set on fire by the Indians. It was done by some of those worthless half-breeds—probably 111by the same one with whom I had that fuss the other day.”

All our fellows thought that Mark’s idea of the matter was the correct one.

This half-breed—Pete, he called himself—and a half dozen others, who were as bad as he was, had held a grudge against father for more than a year, and we had been expecting something of this kind. More than that, our gin was not the only one that had been burned during the last six months.

The guilty parties, whoever they were, had always escaped detection, but as Pete and his crowd had had some trouble with nearly every one in the settlement, the planters had suddenly taken it into their heads that they were the ones who had been doing all the mischief, and were resolved that they should no longer go unpunished.

“Mother says that before noon there will be a hundred men in the cane-brakes,” panted Mark. “Hurry up, fellows, or we shall miss all the sport. We don’t want any breakfast, do we?”

“No!” we all shouted.

112“I couldn’t eat a mouthful if I should try,” said Herbert, seizing his gloves and riding-whip. “Say, boys, wouldn’t it be a glorious thing for us if we could capture the incendiaries all by ourselves without any help from the planters?”

Oh, wouldn’t that be an exploit worth boasting of? Only let us have the opportunity, and see how quick we would attempt it!

We thought we knew right where to go to find the Indians. Most likely they were encamped on Deer Lake, about fifteen miles from the plantation.

We would go down there, dash into their camp like a squad of cavalry on the charge, and if we found that rascally Pete there, four of us would cover him with our guns; Sandy, being the largest and strongest in the party, would dismount and tie his hands behind his back; and we would bring him home with us, whether he was willing to come or not.

It would all be done before the Indians knew what was going on, and if they pursued us, or attempted to rescue Pete, we would keep them straight by pointing our guns at them.

113Wasn’t that a glorious plan? and wouldn’t father and all the rest of the planters be astonished when they saw us and our captive?

We talked the matter over while we were dressing, and as soon as we were ready for the start, slung our guns over our shoulders, and dashed down the stairs like a lot of wild boys.

In the kitchen we met mother.

Now, according to my way of thinking, my mother was a model woman. She understood the nature of boys perfectly. She gave Mark and me all the privileges we deserved, and could not have sympathized with us more fully, or taken a deeper interest in our sports and pastimes, if she had been a boy herself.

She knew that we could not possibly stop to eat any breakfast while there was any thing exciting in prospect, and when we entered the kitchen, she handed us each a sandwich and a glass of milk.

“Now, boys,” said she, “don’t run any risks.”

“No, ma’am,” we replied.

“Don’t try to accomplish any thing by yourselves,” she continued—and when she said that 114we looked at one another and frowned fiercely. “What could five boys like you do with a lot of savage half-breeds? Find the men as soon as possible, and remain with them; and if you don’t succeed ............