The Soldier Boy | Page 8

for the crowd thus far had done nothing worse than to sing the national airs.
The arrangements had all been made before the multitude started from the place of rendezvous. Three gentlemen, the principal of whom was Captain Barney, had been appointed a committee to wait upon the squire, and politely request him to display the American flag on his premises.
In the road, in front of the house, a large fire had been kindled, which threw a broad, bright glare on the house and the surrounding grounds. It was as light as day in the vicinity when the committee walked up to the front door of the house and rang the bell. The squire answered the summons himself.
"Squire Pemberton," said Captain Barney, "your fellow-citizens, about two hundred in number, have called upon you with a simple and reasonable request."
"What is it?" demanded the squire.
"That you hoist the Stars and Stripes on your house."
"I won't do it!" roared the victim, as he slammed the door in the faces of the committee.
"That is insolence," said Captain Barney, quietly. "We will go in."
The captain led the way; but the door had been locked upon them. The shoulders of three stout men pressed against it, and the bolt yielded.
"What do you mean, you villains?" thundered the squire, as he confronted the committee in the entry.
"You were so impolite as to close the door in our faces before we had finished our story," replied the immovable old sea captain.
"How dare you break in my door?" growled the squire.
"We shall do worse than that, squire, if you don't treat us respectfully."
"A man's house is his castle," added the squire, a little more moderately.
"That's very good law, but there isn't a house in Pinchbrook that is big enough or strong enough to shield a traitor from the indignation of his fellow-citizens. We do not purpose to harm you or your property, if you behave like a reasonable man."
"You shall suffer for this outrage," gasped the squire, whose rage was increased by the cool and civil manner of Captain Barney.
"When you closed the door in my face, I had intimated that your fellow-citizens wish you to display the national flag."
"I refuse to do it, sir."
"Consider, squire, what you say. The people have made up their minds not to tolerate a traitor within the corporate limits of the town of Pinchbrook."
"I am no traitor."
"That is precisely what we wish you to demonstrate to your fellow-citizens assembled outside to witness an exhibition of your patriotism."
"I will not do it on compulsion."
"Then, sir, we shall be obliged to resort to disagreeable measures."
"What do you mean by that, sir?" asked the squire, who was evidently alarmed by the threat. "Do you mean to proceed to violence?"
"We do, Squire Pemberton," answered Captain Barney, decidedly.
"O my country!" sighed the victim, "has it come to this? The laws will no longer protect her citizens."
"That's very fine, sir. Do you expect the laws to protect you while you are aiding and abetting those who are trying to destroy them? Is there any law to protect a traitor in his treason? But we waste time, Squire Pemberton. Will you display the American flag?"
"Suppose I refuse?"
"We will pull your house down over your head. We will give you a coat of tar and feathers, and remove you beyond the limits of the town. If you ever come back, we will hang you to the nearest tree."
"Good Heaven! Is it possible that my fellow-citizens are assassins--incendiaries!"
"Your answer, squire."
"For mercy's sake, husband, do what they ask," interposed his wife, who had been an anxious listener in the adjoining room.
"I must do it," groaned the squire, speaking the truth almost for the first time in forty-eight hours. "Alas! where is our boasted liberty of speech!"
"Fudge! squire," replied Captain Barney, contemptuously. "If your friend Jeff Davis should come to Massachusetts to-morrow, to preach a crusade against the North, and to raise an army to destroy the free institutions of the country, I suppose you think it would be an outrage upon free speech to put him down. We don't think so. Up with the flag, squire."
"Fred, you may hang the flag out at the front window up stairs," said the squire to his son.
"All right, squire. Now a few words more, and we bid you good night. You may think what you please, but if you utter another word of treason in Pinchbrook during the term of your natural life, the party outside will carry out the rest of the programme."
By this time Fred Pemberton had fastened the flag to one of his mother's clothes poles, and suspended it out of the window over the porch. It was hailed with three tremendous cheers by the multitude who were in waiting to discipline the squire, and exorcise the evil spirit of treason and secession.
The