The Liberty Boys Running the Blockade | Page 6

alarm. They would have taken the girls if
they had thought twice."
"But will the girls be able to show them the way?"
"They can take them to where we were attacked, and after that the boys
will follow the trail. Mark is a good hand at that sort of thing, and he
will have good boys to help him."
"Yes, they would all turn out and join in the hunt if he asked them,"
declared Bob.
"But there is no use in our staying in the dark, Bob," said Dick. "You
have matches with you?"
"Yes. They did not search us and I have matches, and my pistols and
everything."
Bob then lighted a sulphur match, the only kind in use at the time, and
looked about him. They were in a room with one door but no windows,
and were evidently under guard at the back of the stone house. Dick
listened attentively for some minutes, and at last heard the sound of
some one coming downstairs.
"Put out the light, Bob," he said, in a low tone. "If they see it under the
door they may get suspicious."
Bob blew out the candle, and in a moment all was dark and still in the
room.
"When the door opens make a rush at it, Bob, and overturn the fellows.
There are two of them."
Bob stood ready to act upon the instant, and the steps of the two men
coming on could be heard plainer than ever, rays of light beginning to
show under the door. The men said nothing, and came on softly, but

Dick's ears were very sharp, and he could hear them with no trouble.
The key was turned in the lock and the bolts shot back, and then, as the
door opened slowly, the boys both threw their weight upon it suddenly
and sent it flying wide open in an instant. There was a startled cry and a
heavy fall, and in a moment the place was thrown into profound
darkness.
"Pick them up and lock them in, Bob," said Dick, and the boys hurried
into the passage, presently stumbling upon two men who were just
getting upon their feet.
They seized the men, threw them into the room, closed the door and
locked them in, taking out the key, and then looked for the lantern as
they heard a call from above.
CHAPTER IV.
--The Boys' Escape.
"Hallo, down there, what's the matter?" called some one at the head of
the stairs.
"The blame rebels tried to get out and upset the lantern," answered
Dick, in a gruff voice.
"Huh! where are they now?"
"They're all right. We locked the door again."
"H'm! we better come down and help you. We gotter take them away."
"All right, come on, an' fetch another light."
Then the boys began to move steadily toward the stairs, finally finding
them.
"Come on, Bob," whispered Dick. "Don't waste any ceremony on them,
but tumble them downstairs as soon as they come. They won't get the

others out in a hurry, for I have the key."
The boys went rapidly upstairs, but, just as a light appeared at the top,
the men in the room below began to shout:
"Hallo! Bill, Toby, look out for them rebels; they've shut us up in the
storeroom!"
"Hurry, Bob!" hissed Dick.
The two boys dashed up to the top of the steps and came upon two men
carrying lanterns. In an instant each seized one of the Tories and sent
him rolling down the stairs uttering startled yells. Then they hurried
forward in the dark to the front of the stone house, opened the door and
ran out. At the same moment they heard shouts from the house, and
then shots were fired, the bullets passing over their heads. They
returned the shots, and heard a yell, and a sudden slamming of a door,
and then a cry from up the bank:
"Hallo! Dick, Bob, are you there?"
"Yes, Mark, coming right along!" shouted Dick, and then he and Bob
hurried up the steep bank, presently seeing lanterns and a number of the
Liberty Boys.
"We had some little trouble in finding the place," declared Mark, when
Dick and Bob joined him and the rest, there being fully a score of them.
"The young ladies had no idea where the wretches had gone, but we
picked up the trail at length and then had less difficulty in following it.
Where were you?"
"In the stone house--a regular nest of thieves," Dick answered. "I must
have a look at the place later."
There was no further sound from below, and the boys went on to the
top, where they found several of the Liberty Boys and the two girls.
Dick and Bob now jumped