Datasets:

Alignment-Lab-AI

/

GutenDialogue2

like 1

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Provisional Council," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Colonel Duncan Lyon, though he never held any military position; but his title clung to him, and even his brothers in New Hampshire always spoke of him as the" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You will find the mansion of your late brother in perfect order, Mr. Lyon, said Colonel Cosgrove, as they rose from the dinner-table." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I was over there yesterday, and satisfied myself that every thing was in condition for your reception. The furniture remains just as it was in the time of Colonel Lyon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You have been very kind, Colonel Cosgrove, and I am very grateful to you for all the attention you have given to my brother's affairs and to me, replied Noah, taking the hand of the hospitable executor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Does my brother Titus live near Riverlawn?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "About a mile from it, in the village of Barcreek, answered the lawyer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your brother, the colonel, had several boats; and when he went to the village in the open season he usually made the trip by the river, rowed by half a dozen of his boys." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was not aware that he had any boys," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hands, his negroes; and he always called them boys. He was the best friend they ever had, the colonel explained." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That reminds me that I have a letter which your late brother required me to deliver personally into your hands;" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "How far is it from this town to Barcreek?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fifteen miles; and as the roads are not in the best condition at this season of the year, it will take about two hours and a half to make the trip, replied the lawyer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it is only two o'clock, and you have plenty of time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I must look up a conveyance," }, { "from": "human", "value": "A conveyance is all ready for you, Mr. Lyon, added the colonel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I directed Mr. Bedford to come over for you and your family, and he has been here since nine o'clock this morning. He came with the road-wagon, which will comfortably accommodate your whole family; and one of the boys came over with another wagon to tote your baggage over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You have been very thoughtful and considerate, Colonel Cosgrove, and I am under very great obligations to you," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't mention it, Mr. Lyon. I should be happy to have you spend the night with me, for we have still a great deal to talk about," }, { "from": "human", "value": "My family, as well as myself, are naturally quite impatient to see our new home, suggested the New Hampshire farmer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fifteen miles is not a very long distance even in New England, and I hope we shall meet often." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shall visit Riverlawn often until you are well settled in your new home. I have a plantation myself on the road to Barcreek, and about half way there, which I visit two or three times a week; and I shall be glad to give you all the information you need in regard to your surroundings, or in relation to the management of your estate. You will see me occasionally at Riverlawn, and I shall hope to meet you and your family here, or at my estate, which is called Belgrade." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thank you, Colonel; I am sure we shall be good friends in spite of my antecedents as a Northern farmer, for I am not a bigot or a fanatic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have no doubt we shall be good friends and good neighbors, said the Kentuckian, as he took the hand of his new client, and struck the bell on the table." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now I will send for Mr. Bedford, who has been the overseer or manager of your brother for the last ten years. As the colonel was, he is a bachelor of fifty, and has been one of the family at Riverlawn. He is a thoroughly reliable man, and one of the late colonel's best friends." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I have started Pink over to the place with all your baggage, Major Lyon, and I am ready to leave with the family when you say the word," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am not a major, Mr. Bedford," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Your brother was not exactly a colonel; but that is a fashion we have down here of expressing our respect for a man by giving him rank in the military, laughed the manager." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I want you to call me 'Levi,' as your brother did, and as Colonel Cosgrove does when there is no company present." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Very well, Levi; I intend to conform to the customs of the country. We are all ready to leave at once," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My team will be at the door in four minutes and three-quarters, Major Lyon," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Call it five, Levi," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Less than that, Colonel," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I would give that man double the wages I pay my present overseer if I could have him at Belgrade; and I should make money by the change, said the host, as he went to the window of the drawing-room, to which the party had retired from the dining-room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The only fault he has is that he is too gentle and indulgent to the negroes. The neighbors say he is spoiling the niggers all over two counties. But I reckon the colonel was more to blame for that, if anybody was to blame, for he had a soft heart. I never saw two men less alike than your two Kentucky brothers, continued Colonel Cosgrove, as Noah joined him at the window." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There is your team, and Levi hasn't been gone quite five minutes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Four horses!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Levi likes a good team and enough of it," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And I never saw four handsomer horses in all my life," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You will find at least thirty more of them when you get to Riverlawn." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "which meant that his judgment and knowledge had ripened beyond his years. Without being a" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Glad to see you!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "and" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Glad to see you, mars'r! shouted a score of the tribe in unison." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Glad to see you, missus!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gib you welcome to Barcreek, mars'r and missus!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Glad to see de young mars'rs and missusses!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "This is Diana, Mrs. Lyon, the cook and housekeeper," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Diana, missus, and not Dinah," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will always call you Diana, and never Dinah, replied Mrs. Lyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have no doubt we shall be good friends, though I am not used to your ways in Kentucky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This girl is Sylvie, said Diana, drawing the elder of the two octoroons into the presence of the lady; and her color was light enough to make her blushes transparent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is Julie, she added, bringing the other of the pretty pair to the front." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both of them wait on the table, and 'tend on missus. Both of them come from New Orleans when they were little girls, and both of them speak French like a pair of mocking-birds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am very happy to see you, girls, and I think we shall get along very well together, for I have never been used to having any one to wait on me," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Help you take your things off, missus?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We should like to go to our rooms, Diana, replied the lady." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I suppose they are all ready for us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All ready, missus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course you can take your choice of the rooms, Mrs. Lyon, interposed Levi, who had come into the house as soon as he had sent the people to their cottages." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are eight rooms on the second floor, besides two company chambers; and I suppose Diana has already picked out one for the owner and his wife." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You can take just what room you like, missus, but I picked out the colonel's chamber for mars'r and missus, 'cause it is the biggest, has a dressing-room and four great closets. I think that one suit missus best," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We will all go up-stairs and look at the rooms," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Sit here, if you please, Levi, and always consider yourself as one of the family," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Thank you, Major Lyon, replied he, as he took the place assigned to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I always sat at the table with Colonel Lyon, even when he had guests; but it isn't always the rule with planters to have the overseer at his table, and I am much obliged to you for your consideration." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I had two or three hired men on my farm, they always came to the table with me, and would have thought they were abused if they had been placed at a separate board, laughed the embryo planter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But they were the 'mud-sills' of the North, you know." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was raised in Tennessee, Major, and was tolerably well educated. I was in business for myself in Shelbyville, the capital of our county, which was named for one of my ancestors. But I did not succeed, for the place was not big enough. I bought some nice horses of Colonel Lyon, and for some reason he took a fancy to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think that was very strange," }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I failed, he wanted me to come and manage this place for him; and I have been here ever since. He paid me well, and I have always done the best I could for him. He was a good man; and it looks to me just as though his successor was as good a man as he was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thank you, Levi; I believe we shall be friends." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Betwixt you and me, Major, continued the manager in a low tone," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Not to be opened till five years from the date of my death. Duncan Lyon." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Of course you heard what your mother said about her visit to Titus's house to-day, Dexter," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I could not well help hearing it," }, { "from": "human", "value": "If there is anything in this world I abominate, it is a family quarrel, continued Noah, fixing his gaze upon the dark waters of the creek." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your uncle seems to be disposed to be at variance with me, though I am sure I have done nothing of which he can reasonably complain. He is down upon every Union man in the county. I should say that Barcreek was about equally divided between the two parties. But he does not talk politics to me, as he does to every other man in the place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't know what he means when he says you owe him five thousand dollars, for I thought the boot was on the other leg," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He owes me several hundred dollars I lent him before he sold his railroad stock. He is able to pay me now, for he has turned his securities into money, and he seems to be flinging it away as fast as he can. He must be worth twenty-five thousand dollars, including his house and land; but I don't know how much of it he has thrown away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he has spent five thousand dollars for arms, ammunition, and uniforms, he must have made a big hole in it, suggested Deck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He keeps three horses when he has no use for more than one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He never had a tenth part as much money before in his life, and he does not know how to use it. He will be the captain of a Home Guard as soon as he can enlist the men, and the people on his side of the question at the village have begun to call him 'Captain Lyon,' or 'Captain Titus.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sandy told me that he, his father, and Orly had been drilling for three months with an old soldier who was in the Mexican War, added Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There comes Artie in one of the boats." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where is he going?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'm sure I don't know; Artie don't always tell where he is going," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "What are you up to, Deck?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nothing particular, replied the one on the bridge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where are you going?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Up the creek, answered Artie very indefinitely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Can't you go with me? It is easier for two to row this boat than for one." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't want to go now," }, { "from": "human", "value": "You may go with him if you want to, Dexter," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't care about going now, father. Do you suppose Uncle Titus has really bought the arms and things as mother says?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Your aunt is very much worried about the actions of your uncle. I suppose he told her what he had done, for she would not make up such a story out of whole cloth. Besides, it seems to be in keeping with a dozen other things he has done; and he is certainly doing all he can to raise a company in Barcreek," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Isn't it strange that he never says anything to you about politics, especially such as we are having now?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't see him very often; he is at Bowling Green half the time. Besides, he and I never agreed on politics. By the great George Washington, there he is now!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "How do you do, Titus?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think it is about time for me to have some talk with you, Noah, replied Titus, ignoring the offered hand, and bestowing a frowning look upon Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Send that boy away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dexter knows all about my affairs, and I don't have many secrets from him," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I came over here on purpose to talk with you; and what I have to say is between you and me--for the present. If you don't wish to talk with me on these terms, that's the end on't," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will go with Artie, father," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Very well, Dexter; but you needn't go if you don't want to," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think I will go," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I have had an awful time since you called upon me this morning, said she, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't know what we are coming to at our house. For the first time in my life my husband struck me after we got up from dinner, and then hurried me down here with hardly time to change my clothes!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Struck you, Amelia!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps it was all my own fault," }, { "from": "human", "value": "No fault could justify your husband in striking you. But what was it for?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You remember that story about the arms and equipments I told you this morning? Well, it seems that my son Orly was listening at the half-open door when I supposed that no one but myself was in the house, for the girls had all gone off to the store. He heard the whole of it, and told his father when he came in to dinner," }, { "from": "human", "value": "He struck you for telling me, did he? demanded Mrs. Noah indignantly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should like to give him a piece of my mind!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Don't you say a word to him about it, for that would only make it all the worse for me. Titus says there is no truth at all in the story. He has bought no arms. I misunderstood him; he was telling about a committee in Logan County that had bought the arms and ammunition for a company. It is all a mistake; and if you have told any of your family, do take it all back, and say there is not a word of truth in the story." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "If you don't object, Deck, I would like to pull the forward oar," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is all the same to me which oar I take," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I want to talk with you, and I can do it better when you are in front of me," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where are you going? You seem to have something in your head besides bones," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Besides the bones I've got a big notion in my head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Is it a Yankee or a Kentucky notion, Artie?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I picked it up here, and it is Kentuckish. But I don't want to say anything now; for I'm afraid some one might hear me, more particularly Uncle Titus, replied the bow oarsman as he took the stroke from his cousin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wonder what brought him over here, for he don't come to Riverlawn much oftener than he goes to church." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He acts like a regular Hottentot just out of the woods; and if there are any bears in Kentucky they would behave like gentlemen compared with Uncle Titus," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uncle Titus has got something besides bones in his head this afternoon, and when he started to come over here he meant business, suggested Artie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something is in the wind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to stay and hear what was said, but Uncle Titus drove me off as he would have kicked a snake into the creek. He was as grouty and as savage as a she-lion that had lost all her cubs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did he say anything about that story your mother told at dinner?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not a word; he drove me off as though I had been a cur dog before he said a word about anything else, replied Deck, who could not easily forget the brutal manner of his uncle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But you have not told me yet where you are going, Artie. You haven't any fishlines or bait, and I suppose you are not going a-fishing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not up the creek, for the river suits me better for that business; but I'm going a-fishing for something that won't swim in the water," }, { "from": "human", "value": "What do you mean by that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pull away, Deck! What are you about? We don't want to stop here," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am about nothing; but when I talk with you I like to look you in the face, for that sometimes tells the story better than your words, replied Deck, as he gave way again with his oar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As I said before, you have got something besides bones in your head, and I am in a hurry to know what it is all about. You can't talk it into me through the back of my head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But we don't want to stop here, Richard Coeur de Lyon! protested Artie, rather vehemently for him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't you see that we are still in sight of the bridge, and I would not have Uncle Titus see what we are about for all the world, with Venus and Mars thrown in. Besides, we have a long pull before us, and we have no time to spare." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I want to know what it is all about, Deck objected." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am not going into any conspiracy with my eyes blinded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pull away, Deck! I don't want that Secesher to see us stopping here. We shall come to the bend in five minutes; and then if you want to stop and talk I will agree to it, though we haven't any time to waste," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One would think you were going to set the river on fire by your talk," }, { "from": "human", "value": "We may set the creek on fire before we get through with this job, continued Artie, deepening the mystery every minute." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There's Levi Bedford," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I wonder where Levi stands in the row that is brewing all over the country, said Deck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't hear him say anything of any consequence, though he may have talked to father. He did not come from New England, and I don't know whether he is a Secesher or not; and it looks as though he did not mean anybody should know." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He don't belong to the Home Guards any way, added Artie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He is a Tennesseean, and it would not be strange if he had some Secesh notions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't believe he is going back on father, replied Deck, when the manager had disappeared and the boat had reached the bend." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Here we are; we can't see the bridge now, and the bridge can't see us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We will stop if you say so; but we may not get back to the house before to-morrow morning if we spend much time here," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the time is so short, why didn't you start out this morning? and why didn't you let me know sooner that you were going to set the creek on fire? We might have brought our dinners with us, as we did when we went to school in Derry, and made a day of it," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Things were not ready this morning, and I started just as soon as I saw the star in the east," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You don't generally wait for the grass to grow under your feet when the lightning strikes near you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The lightning struck while we were at dinner," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I think we can fix things so that we can talk and keep moving at the same time," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "That lifts the bow higher out of the water," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So much the better, replied Deck, proceeding to give philosophical and scientific reasons to explain what experienced boatmen know by instinct, as it were." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now take the stroke from me, and don't pull any faster than I do." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Now light your match, and start the fire, Artie. We shall lose no time by this arrangement, and we shall get back to the house before morning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps, after you understand the nature of the enterprise, you will not be willing to go with me," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I can tell better about that after I know what it is, returned Deck, reciprocating the earnest gaze of the other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But it is you who are wasting the time now. Why don't you come to the point without going around all the buildings on the plantation?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "You heard the story mother told about the arms and ammunition Uncle Titus had bought for the Home Guards in order to make himself the captain of the company?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course I heard it," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did you believe it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then you are satisfied that Uncle Titus has a lot of arms hid away somewhere in this region?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had my doubts, and I spoke to father about it on the bridge just before you came along in the boat. He thought that his brother was just crazy enough to do such a thing; but he thought whiskey had a good deal to do with the matter, especially in permitting him to tell his wife about it. Of course Sandy and Orly are mixed up in this business. But this is an old story by this time, Artie, and you have not told me yet what you are driving at," }, { "from": "human", "value": "We are going to look for the arms and ammunition, Deck! exclaimed the originator of the enterprise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Is that talking plainly enough?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "To look for the arms and ammunition!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You insisted on my telling you all at once, and I have done so; you have stopped rowing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What you said was enough to throw a fellow off his base. Do you mean that you are going on a wild-goose chase all over the State of Kentucky to look for what may be a mere notion, conjured up by an overdose of whiskey?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't get excited, Coeur de Lyon; cold steel cuts best," }, { "from": "human", "value": "And that's the reason father puts his razor into hot water when he is shaving." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think anybody is right down sure of anything in this world, continued the leader of the enterprise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think I am as sure as any fellow can be in this State of Kentucky, where no man or boy can tell which end he stands on, that I know where Uncle Titus's arms and ammunition are hidden." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You know!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think I know." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What are you doing up the creek, then? Didn't Aunt Amelia say that the arms were concealed near the river?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think I know where they are hidden better than she did. If Uncle Titus told his wife that they were hidden on the river,--and that is just what aunt said,--her husband intended to cheat her, said Artie very confidently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should say that a dozen glasses of whiskey would not have made Uncle Titus fool enough to tell anybody where the arms were concealed, not even his wife; and they don't seem to be a very loving couple since they came to Kentucky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That's so," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Do you remember that time about a fortnight ago when father spoke to me about being out so late one night, Deck?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I remember it; it was on the bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night I found out something I could not explain, but I can now, after what I heard at dinner to-day. But we have eight or ten miles to pull if we are going to find the arms to-day, and we must be moving," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You seem to be excited, Titus," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have good reason to be excited, growled the angry man." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My wife has acted like a fool and a traitor to me!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am sorry for that, Brother Titus; but I hope you don't hold me responsible for her conduct," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not exactly; but you are responsible for enough without that, and I have made up my mind that it is time for you and me to have a reckoning, for you don't do by me as a brother should; and if father was living to-day he would be ashamed of you," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I was not aware that I had been wanting in anything one brother ought to do for another. But we had better consider a subject of such importance when you are cooler than you seem to be just now, Titus. Your present complaint appears to be against Amelia, and not against me. What has she done? I have always looked upon her as a very good woman and good wife." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You don't know her as well as I do. I don't know what bad advice Ruth has given her, or what influence she has over Meely, but she made her tell a ridiculous story about some arms and ammunition, said Titus in a milder manner; for he seemed to be intent upon counteracting the effect of her action." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I s'pose Ruth repeated to you the story Meely told." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She said you had given five thousand dollars for the purchase of arms, ammunition, and uniforms for a company of Home Guards, of which you were to be the captain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'll bet that wa'n't all she told you," }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was the substance of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I suppose most folks in Barcreek know all that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I never knew it till to-day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You don't go about among folks in this county as I do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't associate much with Secessionists and Home Guards." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I do! But that is my business, and I have a good right to give my money where it will do the most good; and I shall do so whether you like it or not," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't dispute your right; though I am surprised that a man brought up in the State of New Hampshire should become a Secessionist when more than half the people of Kentucky are in favor of the Union," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I believe Ruth did tell me that the arms and munitions had already been purchased, and were hidden somewhere on the river, added Noah." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I did not pay much attention to this part of the story. The material part of it was that you had given so much money to assist in making war in the State." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I give the money to keep the war out of Kentucky, and maintain the neutrality of the State," }, { "from": "human", "value": "We had better not talk politics, brother, and I will not give my views of neutrality." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The story my wife told about the arms was all a lie! exclaimed the visitor with an oath which shocked the owner of the plantation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No arms are hid on the river, or anywhere else. Meely understood what I said with her elbows; and she has come down now to take it all back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Very well; I don't care anything about the arms, though I should be sorry to have them go into the hands of the Secessionists or the Home Guards, for they are all in the same boat." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I wonder that you keep that fellow on the place, said Titus, as Levi rode off." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In my opinion, and I have seen more of him than you have, Noah, he is a rascal;" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think he is a very useful man, and my family are already very much attached to him; for he is always good-natured, and kind and obliging to everybody," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There ain't no accounting for tastes, as my wife says; but if I had this place that cuss would get kicked out before he had a chance to breathe twice more," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I take Levi as I find him, and I have been very much pleased with him," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I did not come over here to talk about that dirty shote, continued Titus, suddenly bracing himself up to attack the subject of the grievances which had gnawed like a live snake at his vitals for nearly two years." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the fust place, I want you to understand, Noah Lyon, that there ain't a word of truth in the story Meely told this noon in your house." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All right, Brother Titus, replied Noah." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I haven't looked for the arms and ammunition, and I know nothing about them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Do you believe what I say, Noah?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have no reason to doubt your statement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If you and your family want to make trouble over that statement, I s'pose you can do so. You 'n' I don't agree on politics." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We are not disposed to make trouble. If there should be any difficulty it will come from your side of the house, Titus." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You are an abolitionist, and folks on the right side in this county have found it out. They don't believe in no Lincoln shriekers, and the Union's already busted," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I voted for Lincoln, and I believe in the Union," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes; and there is five hundred men in this county that would like to drive you out of the State, and burn your house over your head! exclaimed Titus, becoming not a little excited." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I believe they'd done it before this time if I hadn't stood in their way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then I am very much obliged to you for your friendly influence. I was not aware that I had been in any peril before, returned Noah with a smile, which was suggestive of a doubt in his mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you think I am in any danger from such an outrage as you suggest?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I know you are! Titus belched out with something like fury in his manner." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If it hadn't been for me they'd done it before now. You haven't been a bit keerful in your doings. You've got up a Union meeting at the Big Bend schoolhouse for to-morrow night; and if you go on with it, I'm almost sure you will get cleaned out; and the folks on the right side may come over here, after they have shut your mouths at the Bend, and see whether your house will burn or not. I have done all I could to keep our folks quiet, and advised them not to meddle with the meeting at the schoolhouse; but if you keep on the way you're going, I won't be responsible for what happens." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though I came from the North since you did, all the people I meet seem to be very friendly to me," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You don't meet all nor a tenth part of the people, and you don't know what is running in their heads, protested the Secessionist." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You and your two boys keep on howling for the Union when the people round here are all dead set agin it. What can you expect? Seven States is out of the Union, and that busts the whole thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't think a majority of the people about here are of your way of thinking, Brother Titus; but if I am in danger of mob violence, as you say I am, my house is my castle; I shall defend it as long as there is anything left of me," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Defend your house! said Titus with a bitter sneer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You hadn't better do anything of the sort. If you show fight, the crowd will hang you to one of them big trees. You ain't reasonable, Noah. Do you cal'late on fighting the whole county?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We differ considerably in regard to the state of feeling in this county. We are between two fires, and I think we had better not say anything more on that subject." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That's so; but one fire is an alfired sight hotter than t'other; and that's the one that will burn up that big house of yourn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I shall defend my house, and I think I shall be able to hold my own. But I am not an abolitionist any more than you are, Brother Titus," }, { "from": "human", "value": "You shriek for the Union, and it's all the same thing among honest folks down here," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hold about fifty slaves, and I had an idea that this made me a slaveholder," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Don't you own 'em? demanded Titus violently; for this subject touched upon one of his grievances." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have done everything I could to save you from any hard usage on the part of our folks in spite of the way you've used me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am not aware that I have used you badly, Brother Titus." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You call me brother; but judging from your actions you ain't no brother of mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I should like to have you tell me in what manner I have wronged you, Titus. I hear from others that I owe you five thousand dollars; but I am not aware that I owe you a nickel," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "If a man has two brothers, and one of them goes back on him, is that any reason why the other should go back on him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sunday lingo," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Decidedly not, replied Noah very promptly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the contrary, he ought to stand by the brother if he has been wronged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That is just exactly what you have not done, Noah Lyon! exclaimed Titus, springing from his seat again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And Nathan said unto David, 'Thou art the man!'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Which means that I am the man, answered Noah, his smile becoming almost a laugh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't know, Brother Titus, that I was the David, and I must ask you to explain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dunk went back on me," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I was not aware that Dunk did any such a thing. I suppose you mean in his will." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That is just what I mean! stormed Titus." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He gave you ten thousand dollars more than he gave me; and that was not fair or right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the will explains why he did so." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On account of fetching up them two children! I wouldn't have brought in any bill for taking care of my dead brother's children. I ain't one of them sort!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But you refused to take one of them into your family when I proposed it to you," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because my wife was sick at the time," }, { "from": "human", "value": "You did not offer to take one of them afterwards. But I did not bring in any bill; I never even mentioned the matter to the colonel when I wrote to him. I boarded, clothed, and schooled them for ten years, and paid all their doctor's bills." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Dunk gave you ten thousand dollars for it; and it wasn't right. He spent a month with you in Derry not long before he died, and you smoothed his fur in the right way," }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the children were not mentioned. I am sure it cost me a thousand dollars a year to take care of the children; but I did not complain, and never asked you or Dunk to pay a cent of the cost. The colonel made his will to suit himself; and he never spoke or wrote of the matter to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You got on the right side of him, and he cheated me out of what rightfully belonged to me. I ain't talking about law, but about right. Half of that ten thousand belongs to me, and you are keeping me out of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was right for you and Dunk to pay as much for supporting the orphans as I did. Then you and he owed me two-thirds of the sum bequeathed to me. At compound interest that would amount to more than I receive under the will. I will figure it up when I have time, and of course if you owe me anything on this account, you will pay me." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I'll look the thing over again when I go home, for I want to be fair and right in everything I do, said Titus, after he had sought in vain for an argument with which he could upset the theory of Noah." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I only claimed that you owed me half of the ten thousand; I didn't ask for the whole on't." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You never asked for even half of it before; you only told others that I owed you that sum," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, I believed it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In that case neither you nor the colonel would pay anything towards the support of the children for ten years, for the law would divide the property equally between us, replied Noah." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I can't tell exactly how the matter stands till I figure it up; but I think you will owe me something if we settle it on the basis you suggest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I guess we'd better drop the subject till we have both looked it over agin, added Titus, utterly disgusted with the result of the argument." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't say that Dunk hadn't a right to dispose of his property as he pleased; but jest s'pose'n he had left it all to me and gi'n you nothin'--would that been right?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he had had any reason for doing so, it would have been his right to do so; but I should say I should not be in condition to be an impartial judge in the matter," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Did he have any reason for treating me any wus than he did you? asked Titus sharply, as he sprang to his feet again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dunk wa'n't no abolitionist, and went with the folks round here on politics. He 'n' I agreed, and never had no dispute on these things." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think the colonel did treat you any worse than he did me. He chose to pay for supporting the orphans, though I never asked him to do so, or hinted at any such thing. We have talked that over, and nothing more need be said about it now. I have indicated how that thing might be fairly settled, and we will let it rest there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I still say Dunk used me wus 'n he did you; and as a brother you are in duty bound to set me right, as you said one of the same blood should do." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't understand you, Brother Titus; for I am not aware that the colonel treated me any better in his will than he did you," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Didn't he give five thousand dollars to that cuss that just rid over the bridge? demanded Titus with a sort of triumphant tone and manner, as though he had the planter where no argument could avail him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was just the same as taking twenty-five hundred dollars out of my pocket, as well as out of yours." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But you don't bear in mind, my dear brother, that the colonel was disposing of his own property, and not yours or mine," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't go to dearin' me, Noah; it will be time enough for that sort of thing when you've done me justice," }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I've done you justice! exclaimed the planter, rising from his seat again to vent his mirth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I must do you justice because your brother and mine gave Levi Bedford five thousand dollars! Must I pay you twenty-five hundred dollars on this account?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't say so." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But you implied it; for you were trying to prove that the colonel used me better than he did you. It seems to me that you ought to make your claim on Levi, if anybody." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You git ahead faster'n I do. I only meant to say that Dunk didn't use me right when he gave his money to this mean whelp; but he treated you as bad as he did me, Noah." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have no complaint whatever to make, and I am glad the colonel remembered Levi handsomely; he deserved it, for he had always been a useful and faithful overseer," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Let that rest, said Titus when he found that he made no headway in the direction he had chosen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I s'pose you won't agree with me, but I say Dunk ought to have left this place to me instid of you. I was his oldest brother, and I have lived here eight years, and know all about the plantation, while you never saw it till after Dunk was dead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am inclined to think the colonel knew what he was about, and he made his will to suit himself," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should think he made it to suit you. Of course I know it's law, but it wa'n't right," }, { "from": "human", "value": "If you think it was not right, why don't you contest the will, and have it set aside?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't I say it was law; and I suppose it can't be helped now, and the injured man tried to put on an air of resignation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I ain't done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should say you had said enough; for there seems to be no foundation for any of your complaints. I think the colonel meant to be fair and just, and make an equal distribution of his property between you and me. Taking out fifteen thousand dollars he gave to charity and his friends" }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was giving away what belonged to you and me," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You are as unreasonable as a pig in a cornfield, Brother Titus! exclaimed Noah, whose abundant patience was on the verge of exhaustion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Duncan was giving away his own property, and not yours or mine, as you appear to think he was, especially yours; for I believe he did just right. Taking out the fifteen thousand and the ten he paid for the support of the orphans,--which I suppose you mean to have settled up in another way,--there was seventy-five thousand dollars left, which he divided equally among his brothers and the representatives of the one who died over ten years ago. That is according to the valuation annexed to the will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's mighty strange, Noah, that you can't see nothin' when it's p'inted out to you, stormed Titus, his wrath rising to the boiling point at his repeated defeats; for," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't believe at all in your pointing, Brother Titus." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You talk about that valuation; but it was a fraud, and it was meant to cheat me out of eight or ten thousand dollars! roared the malcontent, gesticulating violently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It ought to been thirty thousand dollars more'n 'twas! I say it out loud; and I know what I'm talkin' about!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think you do, Brother Titus. I think you had better stop drinking whiskey for a week, and then we can talk this subject over more satisfactorily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you mean to accuse me of bein' drunk, Noah Lyon?" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I don't think you are drunk, Brother Titus, as tipplers understand the word, but you are under the influence of liquor, and it affects your judgment," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then you mean that I _am_ drunk!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "THEN YOU MEAN I AM DRUNK." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "What do you want here?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What is it, Levi?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't know but you might want me," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I don't want you for anything just now, Levi," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "What do you mean, you scoundrel, by stickin' your nose in where you're not wanted?" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I hate that villain!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he despises you as thoroughly as you hate him; so there is no love lost. But I think you had better conduct yourself a little more peaceably, Titus; for I do not like to have the people on the plantation see that there is any difficulty between us, for we are brothers, I wish you to remember. Perhaps we had better drop the subject where it is, for it is almost suppertime," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not jest yet, returned Titus warmly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I said that valuation was a fraud, meant to cheat me out of my rightful due; and you told me I was drunk, which ain't no kind of an argument." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I did not say that exactly; but if it was an argument for anything, it was that we should talk this matter over some time when you had not drunk anything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I drink something everyday; and I have a perfect right to do so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't dispute it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dunk gave you all the niggers, and did not put them in the valuation. Wasn't that cheating me out of my share of the thirty thousand they would bring even in these shaky times?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't think it was. I repeat that the colonel had a perfect right, just as good a right as you have to drink whiskey, though I don't do so, to dispose of his property as he pleased," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That ain't no argument! blustered Titus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The law gives a man's property to his brothers and sisters when he leaves no parents or children; and every honest and just man does the same thing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I did not mean to say anything to anybody about the servants on the place; but I feel obliged to speak to you about them so far as to tell the facts relating to them," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I cal'late you better speak out if you've got anything to say, or else pay me over fifteen thousand dollars for my share in the value of them niggers," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When I was at Colonel Cosgrove's house on the day of our arrival, he handed me a letter, heavily sealed with red wax, from our deceased brother. This letter contained another. I have both of these letters in the safe in the library. Now, if you will go to the house with me, I will show you both of these letters," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Not to sell one of the niggers for five years! he exclaimed when he had finished it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That is another outrage! And you are not to open that other letter for the same time. Give it to me, Noah, and I will open it now!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It shall not be opened till the five years have expired," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "It seems that story about the arms and ammunition has no truth at all in it," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So Titus says," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Meely was terribly excited about it, and said she ought not to have said a word about it. She begged me not to let any one in the house say anything about it to any one. Her husband abused her, and even struck her, for what she had done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I did not know but he would strike me this afternoon. I suppose the boys have had their supper," }, { "from": "human", "value": "No, they have not; I haven't seen anything of them since they went from dinner, answered Mrs. Lyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wonder where they are?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They went up the creek together in one of the boats just after Titus came, and I haven't seen or heard anything of them since, said Noah." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think they were going a-fishing. They have been gone about seven hours now, and it is time they were at home. Did you see anything of them, Levi?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I saw them rowing up the creek when I was riding up to the hill pasture; but I haven't seen them since," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hope nothing has happened to them, continued Mrs. Lyon, looking quite anxious." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps the boat has been upset." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't believe it did; but if it went over, both of the boys can swim like ducks," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Where in the world have you been, boys?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We have been exploring the creek, and we have been a good ways up, as far as the rocky hills," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did you catch any fish?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not a fish; we did not put a line into the water." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "While you are here, boys, I want to tell you that your Aunt Amelia has been at the house all the afternoon, said Mrs. Lyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She came to take back that story she told me this morning in her own house about the arms and ammunition. She misunderstood your uncle, and there is not a word of truth in it. So you will understand, all of you, that not a word is to be said about it out of the house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not a word of truth in it!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your aunt says there are no arms hidden on the river, or anywhere else. You mustn't say a word about the matter, and I have cautioned all in the house not to whisper a sound of it," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You never explained why you were out so late that night," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to look into the matter a little more before I said anything, for I didn't care to make a fool of myself," }, { "from": "human", "value": "You have a habit of keeping your mouth shut pretty tight," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't believe in talking too much about things you don't understand, and I meant to have looked into the matter before this time, but somehow I haven't had the chance to do so, replied Artie, still pulling his oar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'm going to tell you about my night adventure now, and you can judge for yourself whether we are going on a wild-goose chase up the creek." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All right; and I will keep my oar moving all the time, so that we shall be getting ahead while I listen," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was in the canoe, and I had gone farther up the creek than I had ever been before, Artie began." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You have been up the road that leads to Dripping Spring and the Mammouth Cave. It crosses the railroad about five miles before you get to the spring, and the creek flows within a quarter of a mile of this place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I remember the place very well; for Levi stopped his team there to let the girls get out and pick some flowers. I could see the creek from this spot," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then you know the place. I had been up the creek three or four miles farther, and I was on my way home. I had been ashore just abreast of Dripping Spring, and I got interested in looking over a sink,--I believe that is what they call these holes in the ground down here,--and the sun went down before I thought how late it was getting. But I found the hole led into a cave; but it was too dark for me to explore it. I made a note of it, to bring a lantern up and survey the cavern when I had plenty of time to do so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That will be a good job for both of us some time," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I could hear every word they said; and the man who was bossing the job, whatever it was, satisfied me that he was Uncle Titus." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uncle Titus!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not the least doubt of it; and more than this, I soon recognized the tones of Sandy and Orly; but I don't know who the other three were." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what were they doing?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "You have stopped rowing, Deck, and we shall never get there at this rate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, this was an adventure; but you didn't tell me what they were doing," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will tell you all about it, but don't stop rowing, or we shall not get home before midnight, and father will give us a lecture for being out late at night. The men were handling a lot of boxes. Some of them were long enough to hold coffins, and I wondered if they hadn't been killing Union men, and were getting rid of the bodies. Then they brought out a lot of haypoles or hand-barrows from the two big wagons in the road. I saw them put one of the boxes on the poles or barrow, and move towards the creek. I thought it was about time for me to be leaving, for I believed they would kill me if they caught me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They wouldn't have let you off with a whole skin, anyhow, said Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you suppose the boxes contained bodies, Artie?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hold on till I come to it, and I will tell you all about it, replied the narrator rather impatiently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wasn't safe where I was, and I crept back to the creek between the clumps of bushes without making a bit of noise on the soft ground. The box the first couple carried was heavy and the bushes were in their way, so that they could not get along very fast. As soon as I was out of hearing of the party, I ran with all my might." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't blame you for being in a hurry, for if Uncle Titus had got hold of you he would have made you see more stars then were in the sky just then. I wonder if they had been killing Union men. The Seceshers have done that thing in this State. A Union man was murdered in his own house not far from here." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dry up, Deck, or I shall never get through with my story!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Go on, Artie; I won't say another word," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "The next load was brought by four men; and I could see by the way they handled it that it was very heavy. I stopped till they had brought down two more boxes, and then I thought it was time for me to be going. When the party had all left the shore I rowed along by the bushes that overhang the creek till I got round the bend. I didn't wait to see any more, but rowed as fast as I could; and when I got to the pier I was so tired I could hardly stand up. That is the end of the story, Deck, and you know as much about the affair as I do; and I will answer all of your questions as well as I can." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You did not find out anything for certain?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I did not; but I have been able to guess at some things; and that is the privilege of a New England Yankee." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, what do you guess was in those boxes?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't guess on that question at the time of it; but I was satisfied that they concealed some sort of iniquity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What do you suppose they were putting them in the boat for?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not to take them down the river, for they would have carried them to some place on its banks if they had wanted to do that. They wanted to take them up the creek, and this was the nearest point to it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What did they want to do with the boxes? Oh, I know! They were going to sink the bodies in the creek!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "That would have been a good enough guess a fortnight ago; but it isn't worth shucks now. I told you before that I could explain things better this afternoon than I could when I saw what the men were doing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How is that?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moment mother told that story from Aunt Amelia, I knew what was in the boxes; and they did not contain bodies, either." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Oh, I see! They contained the arms and ammunition." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A blind man could see that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, that was an adventure. You mean that they were going to put them in the cavern by the sink?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Precisely that, and nothing less; and now we are going up to the sink to see for ourselves what is in the boxes," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Your Uncle Titus has been here this afternoon, and I have had a long talk with him on the bridge; but his first business here was to disclaim any knowledge of the arms and ammunition concealed on the river, said Mr. Lyon, before the boys had an opportunity to open with the story of their adventure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He says your Aunt Amelia understood him with her elbows, and it was a ridiculous story she told your mother without a word of truth in it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without a word of truth in it," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "What are you laughing at, boys? interposed their father." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is a serious matter as your uncle looks upon it; and I suppose such a rumor circulated about the county might get him and his sons into trouble. The Unionists regard the Home Guards as precisely the same as Secessionists, and believe that they are armed, so far as they are armed, to help along the cause of the South." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I should say that Uncle Titus might be a little shaken up about the story Aunt Amelia related," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't know but the Union people would mob him if they believed he had obtained arms for any Home Guards, especially for such ruffians as they say he has been gathering together for his company, said Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have cautioned all who heard the story not to mention or hint at it in the strongest manner; for of course I don't want to get your uncle into trouble by repeating a false rumor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suppose he gets himself into trouble? suggested Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He is an out-and-out Secesher, and he don't make any bones of saying so out loud. Sandy thinks they will break up the Union meeting at the schoolhouse to-morrow night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Titus says he has done his best to prevent anything of the kind being done, replied Mr. Lynn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He thinks I should be mobbed and this house burned over our heads if he did not use his influence to prevent it. But your uncle believes what he wants to believe, and is certain a vast majority of the people of the county are Secessionists. I am very well satisfied that they are at least about equally divided. At any rate, the Secessionists are doing their best to overawe the Union people, and they might succeed to some extent if they could arm the villains they have enrolled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then it is better not to let them be armed," }, { "from": "human", "value": "The story your mother told at dinner made it look as though they were to be provided with weapons and ammunition at once; but the statement is not true, and we appear to be safe for the present, said Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But where have you been all the afternoon, boys?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Deck will tell the story, father," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You led off in this business, Artie, and I think you had better tell it," }, { "from": "human", "value": "We will both tell it, then, added Artie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will begin and go as far as where you joined me this afternoon at the bridge, and you shall tell the rest of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All right; fire away, Artie." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Were the boxes all of the same kind?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were not the same, replied Deck, taking a paper from his pocket, on which he had written down a list of the cases." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The lid of one of the two in which the cannon were boxed up had been split off in part, so that we could see what was in it. Twelve cases were labelled 'Breech-loading Rifles,' and the rest of the lot were marked with the kind of ammunition they contained. The smallest of them had cannon-balls and grape in them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There isn't any doubt about the matter now, replied Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This means war; and I have no doubt they are to be used in this county by your uncle's cut-throats; for that is what they are according to what Colonel Cosgrove said to me the other day. This is bad business," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sandy says the company of Home Guards is about full, and I suppose they will not leave the arms and ammunition in the cavern for any great length of time," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something must be done, said Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If that company get these weapons they will terrorize the whole county. There are some very strong Unionists in this vicinity. Colonel Cosgrove told me they had threatened to burn his house, though he is a very conservative man. He was in favor of neutrality; but he admits that the Home Guards in this county are about all Secessionists. Your Uncle Titus says I am looked upon as an abolitionist, and if it had not been for him they would have 'cleaned me out,' as he called it, before this time. It is time something was done," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "It almost breaks my heart to have my only living brother associated with, and even leading, these conspirators against the Union, Mr. Lyon resumed, as he wiped some tears from his eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But when it comes to the defence of the old flag under which we have become the most enlightened and prosperous nation in the world, no true man can favor even his brother when he plots to ruin it. Something must be done!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What shall be done, father?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We must defend the old flag, my boys! We must rally with those who are marching to the defence of the Union! The time for talking has gone by, and the time for action has come. I have not passed the military age, and I shall not shirk the plain duty of the citizen, which is to become a soldier," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you mean to say that you shall join the army, father?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Certainly; what else can I do at a time like this? replied the father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And that is not all, my son; you and Artemas are now sixteen years old, nearly seventeen. You are both stout boys; and not only the sire, but the sons, must shoulder the musket and march to the battle-field." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am ready for one!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am ready for the other!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For some time I have seen that this was what we must come to; but I have put off saying anything about it, for it is a solemn and even an awful thing to engage in the strife of civil war, brother against brother, the son against his father, and the father against his son." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In our own family, we shall all be on the same side," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But your uncle and his two sons will be with the enemies of the Union. It is not of our choosing, and God will be with us while we do our duty to our country, said the patriot father, as he solemnly lifted his eyes upward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now, my sons, for you both call me father, and I have always tried to be the same to both of you" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And you always have been! And Aunt Ruth has been a mother to me and my sister Dorcas! interposed Artie, as he wiped the tears from his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shall never again call either of you anything but father or mother. I am ready to enlist whenever you say the word, father." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You are honest and true, and that is the kind of man you will make, my son; and I can say the same of Dexter. You will both make good soldiers." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "There, boys! I did not intend to make a scene like this; but the finding of the arms and ammunition convinces me that your Uncle Titus and his villanous associates mean to make war upon loyal men in this county. When you join the ranks of the Union army, you will find them all in the columns of the enemy. You have done good service to our cause in the discovery and ferreting out of this conspiracy against the true men of this locality." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was all by accident that I found out about it," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I hope you will forgive me for scolding at you for being out so late that night," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You didn't scold me; you only gave me some good advice, and I hope I shall always remember it. But I did not know then what I had discovered, or where they were storing the arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You did exceedingly well, whether you knew what you were doing or not. Now it is driven into my very soul that I ought not to let the enemy profit by obtaining those arms. I have made up my mind that it would be treason, or next door to it, for me to let Titus and his gang have all these weapons; and with the blessing of God they never shall have them!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That is the talk, father!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "So say we all of us! Artie chimed in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what can we do?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before the light of to-morrow morning breaks upon Riverlawn, we must move all those boxes to the plantation," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We have teams enough to haul the whole of them over here at one load," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Keep cool, my son, for we must be very prudent in our movements. Do you know what became of the flatboat with which the conspirators moved the cases up to the cavern?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Artie thought of that; and we found the gundalow in a little inlet at the mouth of a brook, covered up with bushes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then we may use that, replied the planter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I am in doubt about one thing which may bother us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What's that, father?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't know that we can depend upon every person about the plantation. A single one opposed to our scheme could ruin it. He might go to the village and tell Titus, or some of his fellow-conspirators, what we were about, and interfere with us before we got back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one here would do such a thing, protested Deck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the servants believe in you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was thinking of Levi Bedford." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Levi!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have never spoken a word to him about politics, or he to me. Absolutely all I know about him is that he is a Tennesseean. But we must settle this point on the instant; you may go and find him, Dexter, and ask him to come into the library." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I am in doubt, Levi, and I have sent for you, Mr. Lyon began." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As you are aware, I have never talked politics with you, and have not known to which party you belong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't belong to any party, replied Levi with a very broad smile on his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My party is the plantation and the family. I look out for them, and I don't bother my head much about anything else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I suppose you have relatives in Tennessee?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Second or third cousins very likely; but I don't know anything about them, and I don't lie awake nights thinking of them. My father died before I was twenty-one; I had no sisters, and my only brother went to California twenty years ago, and I haven't heard from him in ten years." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't mean to meddle with your affairs, Levi, but the time has come when every man, must declare himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should think it had, Mr. Lyon; and this afternoon I thought I was going to have a chance to strike for your side of the house. I was ready to do it, for two or three times I thought you were in peril. I don't know what you were talking about, only it was something very stirring," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't think I was in any danger, but I am very much obliged to you for looking out for me. Now things have come to such a pass that I must put a direct question to you: Are you a Union man or a Secessionist?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am a Union man now from the crown of my foot to the sole of my head, laughed Levi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it wouldn't be anything more than honest and square, Major Lyon, for me to say that I haven't been so many months. Colonel Lyon was a Union man; but he didn't have it half as bad as you have it. Some of his neighbors thought he was too tender with his people; but he and Colonel Cosgrove were pretty well matched on politics." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He is a strong Union man, though he is in favor of neutrality if it can be carried out, which is utterly impossible," }, { "from": "human", "value": "About the only thing in the row that set me to thinking and made me mad was that such a set of reckless scallawags have run the machine on the other side. There is hardly a man of any standing among them. I know that your brother, who is nothing but a Northern doughface, is one of the principal leaders among them, and--" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We haven't any time to talk about this matter now, Levi, interposed Noah Lyon, looking at his watch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I see that you are all right, for you are a Union man, and you do not approve the course of the violent party in this county, and the time has come for the boys and me to do something." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I am with you in this matter, Major Lyon, on its merits, though I like to be on your side; but these ruffians who are trying to make civil war in the State of Kentucky must be checked, he replied, when the planter had hurried through his statement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am sorry that brother of yours used any of the money the colonel left him to buy arms and ammunition to help drag the State out of the Union. I will work day and night to euchre him and the rest of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You are just the right man in the right place, Levi Bedford! exclaimed Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We have no time now to decide what we will do with these warlike implements, only to get possession of them. It is quarter-past nine now, and I have my plan for the beginning. While we are carrying it out we can settle what is to be done with the arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I know just where that sink-hole and cavern are, and all we have to do to get there is to follow the creek," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The flatboat is near the place, and we can move the boxes in that, as the conspirators conveyed them from the road, replied Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But there are only four of us, two men and two boys. The cannons must weigh six or seven hundred pounds apiece, and we shall want more help." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, we have help enough, and we can take a dozen of the people with us, if we want as many as that, added Levi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I know something about these things, for when I kept stable in my State I used to belong to an artillery company." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Can the negroes be trusted? We must keep our operations a profound secret." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In this business you can trust them a great deal farther than you can a white man, said the overseer, as he took a piece of paper from the desk and wrote down the names of some of the hands." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How many do you want, Major Lyon?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Half a dozen; we can't accommodate more than that. Put in the boatmen, for there is a deal of boating to be done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "General, Dummy, Rosebud, Woolly, Mose, Faraway, Mr. Lyon read from the list." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I should say you had picked out just the men we need. They are all used to the boats, and they are among the toughest and strongest hands on the place. Yon must put them under oath, if need be, to be as secret as death itself. I will leave all that to you. Now, have them at the lower boat pier just as soon as possible, and we will be there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will have them there in fifteen minutes," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now, boys, go to the pier, and get the Magnolia in condition to go up the creek," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Magnolia! exclaimed Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why, she--" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We have no time to argue any question, Dexter, interposed the father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Take your overcoats; and you are to be as secret as the rest of us. Ask your mother to come into the library, but don't stop to talk, my son." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What in the world is going on here to-night, Noah? asked the good woman." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ever since the boys came in you have been closeted in here as if you were planning something." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So we are, Ruth, for the boys made a great discovery on their trip up the creek, answered the planter hurriedly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That story about the arms and ammunition which Titus and Amelia came down here to disclaim and deny was all as true as gospel, for the boys have found them." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "We may want the mast and sail, interposed Levi;" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But we have no boatman, and none of us know how to manage the sail, argued Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would be a bad time to get upset, and we have no time to indulge in fooling, Levi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The mast and sail are not in the way in the boat. I am no boatman, and I never tried to handle the Magnolia, for the colonel was the only person on the place who ever learned the trick of doing that; but I often sailed in her up and down the river, and I used to think I could do it if I tried," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oh, well, if you can handle her with a sail, that's another thing," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Here, Rosebud, unlock the boathouse, and bring out six oars, the biggest ones, and all the boathooks you can find," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "and everything was as true, as high, as big, as handsome, as" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moses in de bulrushes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Faraway had been a pet word with the one to whom the planter had given this name. They were all reliable servants, and were devoted to their past and present masters. No king, prince, or potentate had ever been as big a man in their estimation as the colonel; and they had transferred this homage to the" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Drop your oars!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ought to say 'let fall,' Mars'r Levi," }, { "from": "human", "value": "No talk, General. Now gather up, and pull away!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Give way!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "We are fairly started, and this boat seems to be making at least five miles an hour," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More than that, I should say, Major Lyon. I don't believe the hands can keep up this gait all the way; but we shall get to the sink about midnight," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't know that there is anything to apprehend in the way of danger," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't know whether there is or not; but I put my revolver and a box of cartridges into my pocket." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I never owned a pistol of any kind, and have hardly fired a gun since I was a boy; but in the storeroom out of the library I found some very nice weapons,--a double-barrelled rifle and a fowling-piece." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The colonel had two revolvers; and they must be somewhere about the library. A few years ago some horse-thieves were in this vicinity, and we kept a watch on the place every night for a couple of weeks," }, { "from": "human", "value": "If Uncle Titus put five thousand dollars into these guns and pistols, I should think he would be apt to keep a watch over them," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A watch would not amount to anything unless he put as many as half a dozen men on it, answered Levi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I think he depends upon the secrecy of his movements and the safety of the cavern for the security of the arms. He put the things away in the night, and I don't believe anybody ever goes over the spring road in the darkness. If he put a watch anywhere he would station it on that road at the place where they shifted the boxes from the wagon to the flatboat. But I reckon we can take care of the watch if there is any there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the road is about a quarter of a mile from the creek," }, { "from": "human", "value": "All of that; and we may pass the place without much of any noise, and no one on the road would be likely to hear us," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't think the watch, if there is one, will give us any trouble, for if they hear us, we can keep out of their way; and I don't think they would have any boat in the creek, added the planter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Your revolver will keep them at a proper distance when we reach the cavern." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I found a shingling hatchet in the boathouse, and I brought that along with me," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Are you going to fight with that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not exactly that; but we couldn't open one of the boxes this afternoon for the want of a tool, and we can do so with this hatchet; then we shall have all the muskets, revolvers, and cartridges we can use," }, { "from": "human", "value": "That is a good scheme, my boy, added Levi approvingly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I don't believe we shall have to do any fighting. If the conspirators have set a watch, it must be in the road; and I reckon we shall clean out the cavern before they can get there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We won't fight any battles before we get there, interposed the planter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We have always been peaceable people, but I suppose we must get used to fighting, for we are going to have a terrible war; and I don't believe in Mr. Seward's prediction that it will all be over in a hundred days. I am ready to become a soldier, Levi, and so are the boys, in defence of the Union." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I suppose I ought to do the same, added the overseer;" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You are fifty years old, and you will not be called upon to go into the army, Levi," }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I am ready to do my share of the fighting; and if I am over fifty, I reckon I am as tough and hearty as any of them that will shoulder a musket," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hope you will not go to the war, my friend, continued Mr. Lyon in a very serious tone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am only forty-two, and I believe it is not only my duty to send my boys into the army, but to go myself. I have thought a great deal of this subject within the last month, though I haven't said much. I believe a man's first duty is to his family, and I should hate to go off into the army, and leave my wife and the girls here; for I believe whoever stays in Barcreek will see some fighting here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And see some before a great while, added Levi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everything is boiling round here, and it will boil over before long. These Secession ruffians are not going to keep the peace much longer. They are itching to begin the work of driving the Union men into their cub pasture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That is my own opinion; and that is my only dread in joining the army. But I have comforted myself with the belief that Levi Bedford was over fifty, and he would remain on the plantation and take care of my family." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am very much obliged to you, Major Lyon, for the confidence you put in me, and I can assure you it shall not be abused, returned the manager, with more gravity in his tone and manner than usual." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If by staying here I can keep three good Union soldiers in the field, perhaps that will be doing my fair share of the work." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We will talk this matter at another time, Levi; and I will only say I could not have found a man more to my mind to take charge of the plantation and the women-folks if I had hunted for him all over the nation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That's handsome, Major; and you may wager your life and all you have in the world that I will never go back on you or your family," }, { "from": "human", "value": "We understand each other perfectly, Levi. But there is a more pressing question than that before the house just now, said Mr. Lyon, as he took Levi's offered hand, and gave it an earnest grasp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What are we to do with all these arms and ammunition when we get them down to Riverlawn?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I haven't had much time to think of that; but I had an idea come across my head as I was running from the house down to the boat-pier. I passed by the ice-house, and it jumped into my noddle that it would make a good arsenal; but I haven't worked up the idea yet," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That is a happy thought! exclaimed the planter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It never occurred to me. It is in just the right place; for my brother has given me warning that I was in danger of being mobbed as an abolitionist, and that nothing but his influence has prevented it from being done before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is hard work for me to believe that doughface is a brother of yours and the late colonel; but if he dared to show his face in it, he would be the first man to get up such a demonstration. Excuse me, Major, if I am talking too plainly, said Levi, who had little patience with, or toleration for, Titus Lyon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He may send his company of Home Guards over to clean out the mansion, but he won't come himself, for he is a poison snake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps you know my brother as he has developed himself in this locality better than I do, though he has even shown his fangs, under a mask, to me; but I shall keep the peace with him," }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he attempts anything of that sort, or any other border-ruffians do, I believe we can make them wish they had stayed at home," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We can make the ice-house into a fortress for the protection of the mansion, continued the planter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is near the creek, and commands the bridge and the road leading to it, which is the only practicable approach to the mansion. The swamp half a mile back of the house lies between the spring road and the creek, and extends all the way to the hills, not less than ten miles by water; and no body of men can get through that way." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Stop rowing, said Levi, when they came to a bend five miles above the bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now rest yourselves for five minutes, boys." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Don't need no rest, mars'r, said General, as he drew his arm over his forehead, from which the perspiration was dropping on the handle of his oar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We done pulled dis boat twenty mile widout stoppin' once." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A little rest will do you no harm, for you will be kept at work till morning," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whar we gwine, mars'r?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "About five miles farther, replied the overseer evasively." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Have you brought your jackets or coats with you, boys?" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Now, not one of you must speak a loud word, or make any noise, continued Levi, when he had seen that the oars were all properly muffled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You must excuse me, Major, if I request all in this part of the boat to keep still also; for we are coming to the nearest point to the spring road. If there is any one on watch there, we will fool him if we can." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All right, Levi; we will keep as still as mice in a pantry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pull away again, boys, he added, to the disgust of General, who wanted him to give his orders in" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Now you may put your muscle into your oars, boys," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Hold on, here, boys! called the overseer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We have gone too far, for here is the mouth of the brook, and I reckon the flatboat is under that heap of stuff; and he pointed to a mound of branches by the shore of the inlet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I reckon we want the lanterns now, Major Lyon. Did you light one of them?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No; I only looked at my watch. We are in good time, for it wants a quarter of twelve, replied the planter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Get out the lanterns, boys, and we will light them." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "It is about twenty feet to the opening, said Levi, as he measured the distance with his eye." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The roof is not more than five feet high half the way; and, if their skulls are not harder than the limestone, General and Dummy will be likely to stave a hole in them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rest of the hands are not so tall," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I brought this rope with me without knowing that it would be of any use to us; but I find that it is just the thing we want, continued the overseer as he uncoiled the line." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now, boys, all we will ask you to do is to hold the lanterns; but you must not go to sleep and let them fall on the stone floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No danger of that, laughed Deck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But we can work in the low place without smashing our heads." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am glad there is no hard work for you, boys, for you must be tired after pulling a boat twenty miles this afternoon," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am not very tired, and I can do my share of the work," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So can I," }, { "from": "human", "value": "But you can do the most good by holding the lights, replied Levi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of you stand down here; and the other, with two of the lanterns, near the opening." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Now, Rosebud, and the rest of you, take hold of this rope, and when the word comes up to you from General, haul up the box which is made fast to the other end of it, continued Levi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As soon as you get it up here, unhitch the line, and throw the end down to General. As soon as you have done that, load the case into the boat, then haul up another, and do the same thing over again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gunnymunks! exclaimed the laughing negro." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whar all de boxes come from?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "None of your business, Rosebud; mind your work, and don't ask questions," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "W'at we gwine to do, Mars'r Bedford?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "You are going to pull and haul; and you can begin now, replied Levi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Take hold of that line, and draw that box up here. Pull steady, so as not to break it." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Above there! called the overseer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now haul steady on the rope! Ease it out of the opening, General." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It won't take long to do the job at this rate, said Mr. Lyon when the overseer joined him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your plan of doing the work makes an easy thing of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I could not tell how it was to be done till I saw the situation of things here; but we shall be back to Riverlawn before daylight," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Seceshers" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Go 'way dar, niggers! exclaimed General, waving his hand for the others to get out of the way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cotch hold ob de end ob de shooter, Dummy, and we uns will tote it in de boat!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "When your precious brother visits that cavern next time, he will be likely to wonder what has become of his arms and ammunition, said Levi, wiping the perspiration from his brow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now, boys, go down into that hole again, and see that we have left nothing there, for I don't want Captain Titus to find anything to let him know who has done this job for him." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I hope you won't tip the sailboat over, Levi," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If I do I shall not spill you out, either of you; for I want you to take charge of the flatboat, with two of the hands, replied the overseer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shall keep four men in the Magnolia to row, and I think the sail will help us along a good deal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should like to change that plan a little, Levi, interposed Mr. Lyon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The boys and myself can take care of the flatboat, and you can have all the men at the oars." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Just as you say, Major Lyon, and perhaps that will be the best scheme. I was thinking that you and the boys might sleep part of the way down, answered the overseer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The wind is blowing pretty hard from the south-west, and I reckon we shall get some rain before a great many hours. The sail ought to help us a big piece." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Dexter, Artemas! shouted the planter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wake up! The cruise is ended." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "What are we stopping here for, father? Has anything broken?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nothing but your slumbers, my son, replied the planter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Haven't you got your eyes open yet? Can't you see that you have got home?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I believe I have been asleep," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I know you have, my boy; for I spread your overcoats over you both before we reached the big bend, and I know you were sleeping as soundly as a pair of babies then. You must have slept an hour and a half, the father explained." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am glad you had some sleep, for we have more work to do before we can go to bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I can see the bridge now," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And there is the house," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Now, boys, you can sleep all the rest of the day," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We haven't seen any men on the watch, said Levi, while he was placing some boards over the windows of the building," }, { "from": "human", "value": "If they were in the road near the big bend, where you thought they would be, if anywhere, they could not have walked to the cavern in time to find us there, for we made quick work of loading the boat," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If there were any men there, they may have observed us; but they could not get round here to see what was done with the cases if they did, replied Levi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They may possibly have recognized the Magnolia: and that is the only clew they could have obtained of the operations in this affair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is time to go to bed, and I am inclined to think we shall do some sleeping to-day," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "as he called the gang with whom the Northern" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Shavings was the most skilful of them, and was the" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "at any job to be done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gouge and" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bitts" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "How many horses are there on the place now, Frank?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thirty-five in all, Major," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Are they all fit for service?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, sir; six of them are breeding mares, and nine are colts, two and three years old. We have fifteen horses and mares four years old and more, for sale, and I reckoned you would sell them about this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That's all, Frank," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't know what you are driving at, Major Lyon, but we have twenty-seven horses over three years old, and fit for service, though the three year olds are rather young yet for hard work," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have held my tongue about as long as necessary; but now all these sores in the State seem to be coming to a head, and I will tell you, between ourselves, that I have an idea of raising a company of Union cavalry to offset the Home Guards of this county," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That's a glorious idea! exclaimed Levi with tremendous enthusiasm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wish I was ten years younger, and weighed thirty pounds less, for I should like to swing a sabre in that company." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But you are to look out for the plantation and take care of my family while I am away, Levi. You can ride a colt better than any of us; but your work is here, and you may be called upon to do as much fighting as any of us," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will do my duty wherever you put me, Major; but I should rather enjoy a whack at those border ruffians who are making the whole county hot with outrages. Last night they burned out a Union man two miles above the village." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The time for action is close at hand, added Mr. Lyon, as they came to the ice-house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There have been talk and threats enough. My brother has told me that I am liable to be hung on one of the big trees after a mob has burned the house; but I think we are ready for such a gathering as he suggests. We may hear something about it to-night in the meeting at the Big Bend schoolhouse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have looked the ice-house over this morning, and I have made up my mind what ought to be done, said Levi; and he proceeded to state his plan for turning the stone structure into a sort of fort." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have ordered the doors already, and if you say the word, Major, I will make three or four embrasures in the walls for the two field-pieces; and we must have a magazine for the ammunition." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I approve your plan; go ahead and do the work as you think best. You can use all the hands you need; and from this moment the ice-house will be known as Fort Bedford," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thank you, Major, and I will endeavor to make the fortress worthy of a better name," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I think we shall be in condition to stand a siege by to-morrow night," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It looks so now, replied Mr. Lyon as he went into the building." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You have made remarkable progress for one day. But I want to open one of these boxes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Which one, Major?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The one which contains revolvers and cartridges, for some of the smaller ones are labelled with the names of these articles. I hardly expect any trouble at the meeting to-night; but I think it its best to be prepared for the worst. I have brought one of the colonel's pistols with me; but I want to put the boys in condition to defend themselves," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think we can make good use of them, for we have had some experience with such tools," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where have you had any such experience, Dexter?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tom Bartlett and Ben Mason had revolvers at the time of the housebreaking scare in Derry, and Artie and I used to fire at a mark with them in the hill pasture, replied the enthusiastic boy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Artie used to beat us all, and often put the ball through the centre of the target." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sometimes," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then you are both ahead of me, for I never fired a revolver or a pistol of any kind, though I used to go hunting with a fowling-piece when I was a boy," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then I think you had better practise a little, Major, said Levi, as he pulled out one of the smaller boxes from the top of the pile of cases." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This contains what you want, I reckon." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I should like to try this little persuader," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You will improve with more experience, Major; but I reckon you could hit a bushwhacker if he wasn't more than ten feet from you; and these tools generally come into use at short range. How were you going up to Big Bend, Major?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I thought we should walk, replied the planter; and he reloaded his revolver, as both of the boys had done by this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is not more than three-quarters of a mile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think you had better go in the Magnolia, with the crew that pulled us last night, suggested Levi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If there should be any row at the schoolhouse, those boys will stand by you as long as there is anything left of you." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't look for any row, Levi, but I suppose it is always best to be prepared for the worst, replied the planter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You may send for the crew." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I suppose, if there should be any trouble at the schoolhouse, and I should be protected by my negroes, it would tend to aggravate the charge against me of being an abolitionist; and that seems to be about the worst thing that can be said against a man in this county." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But only among the border ruffians, the overseer amended the statement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man that owns fifty niggers cannot decently be accused of being an abolitionist. I advise you to go in the boat because the schoolhouse is right on the very bank of the river. The back windows over the platform look out upon the water. If the bushwhackers come down upon you, and things go against you, it will be easy to get out by one of these windows. A good general always keeps the line of retreat open behind him when he goes into battle; and you had better have the Magnolia under one of these windows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why, Levi, you talk as though you were about sure an attempt would be made to break up the meeting," }, { "from": "human", "value": "To tell you the truth, I do feel almost sure of it, returned the overseer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Captain Titus, as they call him up in the village so as not to mix him up with Major Noah Lyon, was about mad enough yesterday to do something desperate. You say he has threatened you, and" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I did not say that, Levi, interposed the planter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't make my brother out any worse than he is, for conscience' sake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What did he say, then?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He told me the people on his side of the question would have mobbed me before this time if he had not prevented them from doing so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That's about the same thing. I don't like to say anything against your brother, Major, but I don't look on Captain Titus as a square man. He wants to keep his own head covered up because you are his brother; but I believe on my conscience that he would like to see your place burned to the ground, and it wouldn't break his heart to see you hanging by the neck to one of the big trees." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "It is generally understood about here that you called this Union meeting," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I suggested it, for we ought to know who's who; and it remains to be seen how many will have the pluck to attend the meeting. Titus believes that a large majority of the people in these parts are of his way of thinking, while I believe that they are about two to one the other way, though most of them are afraid to do or say much, and I want to bring them out if possible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You are right as to numbers, Major; and when a man is afraid that his house will be burned down over his head, or that he will get a bullet through his brains while he sits at his window, I don't much wonder that he is not inclined to speak out loud, and these bushwhackers have had it all their own way. I hope you will be able to bring out the prudent and timid ones." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I talked the meeting over with others, and Colonel Cosgrove promised to come up and help us out with a speech. We all agreed that it was time to make a demonstration in favor of the Union," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I should like to go with you. Major, but I don't think it is safe to leave the place alone, said the overseer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whether the ruffians had a watch on the spring road last night or not, I don't know. We haven't heard anything of them during the day; but I should be willing to wager a pair of my old shoes they have found out by this time that the arms and ammunition placed in the cavern have taken to themselves wings, like other riches, and flown away. If I am not much mistaken, Captain Titus finds himself some thousands poorer to-day than he was a week ago." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you believe they have discovered the loss so soon?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I haven't much doubt of it. Captain Titus keeps three horses, and it was easy enough for him to send one of his boys over to the cavern to see that the arms were all right. He has missed them by this time; and if we do our duty they won't shoot any bullets into the heads and hearts of the Union army. Of course Captain Titus and his gang are boiling over with wrath. You won't see him at the meeting, perhaps; but there will be enough there to make a noise, if nothing more. I have been thinking of these things to-day, and that is the reason why I thought it best to take proper precautions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I am glad you have spoken out, Levi, for you have generally been very reticent," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I couldn't say much while I believed your brother was at the bottom of most of the mischief," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I beg leave to inform those who are struggling to create a disturbance, that this is a Union meeting, called as such, and as such only, said the orator, shaking with indignation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was called for Union men only! It is a gathering of those who are loyal to the government at Washington, and not to decide between secession and fidelity to the old flag. Those who are not Union men are respectfully requested to retire from the meeting." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Has the time come when free speech in behalf of this glorious Union is to be put down? And then the ruffians howled again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Has it come to this in the State of Kentucky, the second to be admitted into the Union? and, with the help of God and all honest men, she shall be the last to leave it! Are we men to be badgered and silenced by half a score of blackguards and ruffians? I am one of half a dozen to put them out of the hall." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "What are you go'n' to do about it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Are you a Union man?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "No, I'm not!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then you were not invited here, and you will leave!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "This buildin' is public, and I have as much right here as you have!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "HE GRAPPLED WITH THE FELLOW." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "That will do for the present," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think we had better station a guard at the door, and challenge every man who wants to come in," }, { "from": "human", "value": "That's a good idea, for it is the evident intention of the blackguards to break up the meeting; and I should be ashamed to have such a thing done,--a Union meeting dispersed by force in the State of Kentucky!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Precisely so! exclaimed Colonel Cosgrove." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will offer my services as one of the guard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good! shouted Colonel Belthorpe, a big Kentuckian whose plantation was near that of Major Lyon," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will be another." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Here are two more!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lively boys, laughed Colonel Cosgrove." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both of them took a hand in the skirmish we have had, and they will do very well for this duty." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Are you a Union man?" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I am!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pass in," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Put the same question, Artie," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "to the cause of the Union, with which to start a cavalry company; and" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think I can _find_ arms for the men," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will also contribute twenty horses," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will give the next twenty," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Are you a Union man, sir?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, I am not!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then you can't go in," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who says I can't?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "This is a Union meeting, and none but Union men are admitted," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Do you see that?" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "And do you see that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And that?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Take yourself off!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Isn't this a free building?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Free to Union men to-night," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Three cheers for the boys!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "No matter for them, said the chairman." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Let us go on with this meeting, and when they come in, if they do so, we will take care of them. The boys will keep watch, and let us know if they approach the schoolhouse." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Are you a Union man?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am not," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then you can't go into this meeting," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I have no weapons, as you have, boys, and I have something to say to this meeting, said Titus, after he had meditated for two or three minutes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I want to go in; but I shall not stop there many minutes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We can't let you in, Uncle Titus, replied Deck decidedly;" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I'm going in if I'm shot for it," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "We can't let you in, Uncle Titus, and we don't want to shoot you, interposed Artie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will call Colonel Cosgrove, and you can make your request to him;" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I am going in," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You can't go in! said Deck, as he crowded his uncle back from the entrance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wait a moment, and you can tell Colonel Cosgrove what you want!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't want anything of Colonel Cosgrove; he is worse than your father," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good-evening, Mr. Lyon," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have something to say to this meeting, Colonel, which it is important for the meeting to hear," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Come right in and say it, Mr. Lyon," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Chairman, I have the honor to present Captain Titus Lyon of Barcreek to the meeting, said the colonel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He claims to have something of importance to communicate. He is not a Union man, as is well known, but I trust no objection will be made to hearing him." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Them arms and ammernition has been stole, continued Titus, waxing indignant in spite of his effort to keep cool, and relapsing into his everyday speech." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I believe it was done by what you call Union men, and I cal'late I know jest who done it; and I cal'late, Mr. Chairman, you know jest as well or better'n I do who done it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Who was it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I h'ain't got nothin' to say here about that, answered Captain Titus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But if them arms and ammernition ain't given up right off, here and now, on the spot, or some plan agreed on for doin' so afore to-morrer noon, the blood will run in the low places round here, and the clouds in the sky will give back the light from the fires that is burnin' down some of the nicest houses in these parts. I hain't got nothin' more to say; but if any one wants to see me about settlin' up this matter, I can be found near the road in front of the schoolhouse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But this is war, Captain Lyon," }, { "from": "human", "value": "I know 'tis; and that's jest what I mean. We want the Union thieves to give up the property they stole; and that's all we ask now," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We are ready to meet you on that ground! shouted Squire Truman, springing to his feet; for he knew that Captain Titus was the ringleader of the ruffians in the vicinity, and his threat roused him to a fiery indignation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I know nothing about the arms and ammunition; but whoever took possession of them has done a noble and patriotic deed, and, Mr. Chairman, I move you that a vote of thanks be tendered to them for it." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "Captain Lyon, said Colonel Cosgrove, when the tumult had subsided in a measure," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, I haven't; I've said my say, and fire and blood is the next thing," } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "We want Major Lyon and his two cubs!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "We want Major Lyon and his cubs! repeated Buck Lagger, in a voice loud enough to be heard all over the building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We don't mean to meddle with nobody else, and all the rest o' you uns can go home without no trouble. Hand over Major Lyon and his cubs so we can get the property he stole, and we won't make no fuss." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We shall not hand him over, but we will protect him to the last drop of our blood! yelled Squire Truman, hoarse with the strain upon his voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Turn the ruffian out!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "My friends, I am grateful for your support and promise of protection to me and my boys, said Noah Lyon, who had descended from the platform to the floor, where the boys had joined him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It appears from what the messenger of the ruffians has said that I am the sole object of their vengeance. I have the means here of taking good care of myself and my boys, and I need not involve you all in a fight to protect me." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "We have been fooled! shouted Buck Lagger, as he started after the column." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where is Major Lyon?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He is not here," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where is he?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't know;" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where is Major Lyon?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He came in his boat, and he has returned by it," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is treachery! howled Buck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You were to give him up to us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, we were not, returned the doughty colonel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Didn't you hear us say we would protect him to the last drop of our blood?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We will soon find him and his cubs!" } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "You have come back safe and sound, Major," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By the skin of our teeth we have," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then you have had trouble over there?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes; some of the ruffians tried to break up the meeting, and we put them out without any ceremony." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good! exclaimed Levi heartily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I feel as though I were an inch taller. I was afraid our friends would let the ruffians bully you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Buck Lagger and about half a dozen others took places in the schoolhouse, and began to yell while Squire Truman was making his speech. He is a very smart young man, an eloquent orator, and full of vim. When he proposed to put the disturbers out, we went in with him and did it. The boys faced the music, and stood up to it like veteran policemen," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good, boys! I knew you would do it," }, { "from": "human", "value": "But why is the fort lighted up so late in the evening, Levi?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have had a dozen hands at work there, all the carpenters and masons included, and we have the building about ready for business, replied the overseer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The fact of it is, I am taking a more serious view of the state of things than you appear to be doing, and I thought I would have things ready for whatever comes, and as soon as it comes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am glad you have done so; and I should have worked with you if I had not had to attend the meeting, added the major." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The situation looks decidedly serious to-night, and my eyes have been opened wide enough to see it." } ]

[ { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't think Captain Titus would show himself in the meeting, said Levi, as they walked up to the fort." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That Buck Lagger is one of the biggest villains that goes unhung; and hanging would do him good. I should say that the ball had opened." } ]