第98章

"I know old Porter well, for he is still alive and bears a pretty bad reputation still, though we have never been able to bring him to book.I remember all the circumstances of that affair, for I served upon the posse.While Porter was in prison his house was kept for him by a married daughter and her husband.There was a strong suspicion that the man was one of the gang too, but we couldn't prove it.They have lived there ever since.They have got five or six field hands, and are said to be well off.We have no doubt they have got a still somewhere in the swamps, but we have never been able to find it.I will send a man off to-morrow to make inquiries whether any stranger has arrived there lately.Of course, Pearson will not have kept that name, and he will not have appeared as John Porter, for he would be arrested on a fresh warrant at once for his share in that former business.I think, Captain Wingfield, you had better register at the hotel here under some other name.I don't suppose that he has any fear of being tracked here; still it is just possible his father may have got somebody here and at Florence to keep their eyes open and let him know if there are any inquiries being made by strangers about a missing negress.One cannot be too careful.If he got the least hint, his son and the woman would be hidden away in the swamps before we could get there, and there would be no saying when we could find him."Vincent took the sheriff's advice, and entered his name in the hotel book as Mr.Vincent.Late in the evening the sheriff came round to him.

"I have just sent summonses to six men.I would rather have had two or three more, but young men are very scarce around here now; and as with you and myself that brings it up to eight that ought to be sufficient, as these follows will have no time to summon any of their friends to their assistance.Have you a rifle, Captain Wingfield?""No; I have a brace of revolvers.""They are useful enough for close work," the sheriff said, "but if they see us coming, and barricade their house and open fire upon us, you will want something that carries further than a revolver.Ican lend you a rifle as well as a horse if you will accept them."Vincent accepted the offer with thanks.The next morning at daylight ho went round to tho sheriff's house, where six determined-looking men, belonging to the town or neighboring farms, were assembled.Slinging the rifle that the sheriff handed him across his back, Vincent at once mounted, and the party sot off at a brisk trot.

"My man came back half an hour ago," the sheriff said to Vincent as they rode along."He found out that a man answering to your description arrived with another at Porter's about a fortnight ago, and is staying there still.Whether they brought a negress with them or not no one seems to have noticed.However, there is not a shadow of doubt that it is our man, and I shall be heartily glad to lay hold of him; for a brother of mine was badly wounded in that last affair, and though he lived some years afterward he was never the same man again.So I have a personal interest in it, you see.""How far is it to Porter's?""About thirty-five miles.We shall get there about two o'clock, Ireckon.We are all pretty well mounted and can keep at this pace, with a break or two, till we get there.I propose that we dismount when we get within half a mile of the place.We will try and get hold of some one who knows the country well, and get him to load three of us round through the edge of the swamp to the back of the house.It stands within fifty yards of the swamp.I have no doubt they put it there so that they might escape if pressed, and also to prevent their being observed going backward and forward to that still of theirs."This plan was followed out.A negro lad was found who, on the promise of a couple of dollars, agreed to act as guide Three of the party were then told off to follow him, and the rest, after waiting for half an hour to allow them to make the detour, mounted their horses and rode down at a gallop to the house.When they were within a short distance of it they heard a shout, and a man who was lounging near the door ran inside.Almost instantly they saw the shutters swing back across the windows, and when they drew up fifty yards from the door the barrels of four rifles were pushed out through slits in the shutters.

The sheriff held up his hand."William Porter, I want a word with you."A shutter in an upper room opened, and an elderly man appeared with a rifle in his hand.

"William Porter," the sheriff said, "I have a warrant for the arrest of two men now in your house on the charge of kidnaping a female slave, the property of Captain Wingfield here.I have no proof that you had any share in the matter, or that you are aware that the slave was not honestly obtained.In the second place, I have a warrant for the arrest of your son John Porter, now in your house and passing recently under the name of Jonas Pearson, on the charge of resisting and killing the officers of the law on the 5th of December, 1851.I counsel you to hand over these men to me without resistance.You know what happened when your sons defied the law before, and what will happen now if you refuse compliance.""Yah!" the old man shouted."Do you suppose we are going to give in to five mon? Not if we know it.Now, I warn you, move yourself off while I let you, else you will get a bullet in you before I count three.""Very well, then.You must take the consequences," the sheriff replied, and at once called the party to fall back.

"We must dismount," ho said in answer to Vincent's look of surprise; "they would riddle us here on horseback in the open.