Dorothy's Spy/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII
MASTER DEAN'S BEWILDERMENT
The children entered the living room at the exact moment when Master Dean, welcoming this second visit of the citizens as an opportunity for him to extricate himself from the dilemma in which Dorothy and Sarah had placed him, sprang from his chair to give the new-comers admission.
Master Lamb, who it must be confessed was quicker to grasp all the details of a newly presented situation, ran after him, catching the silversmith by the coat-sleeve with a clutch sufficient to detain him against his will, and said hurriedly, speaking in a low tone as if fearful that those on the outside might hear him:
"Now is the time to be cautious, friend Dean. Let Scip open the door."
"To what end?" the silversmith asked irritably, trying in vain to release himself from his friend's hold. "It is my purpose to explain immediately what we have learned, and lead these good people to where the spy is hidden."
"And thus rush into the same mistake you were so eager to avoid? Many of them would believe that you had given up the Britisher on this second visit only because you were afraid; but that it was your original intention to have set him at liberty."
"Open the door! We demand admission in the name of the United Colonies!" a peremptory voice cried from the outside, and Master Lamb said sharply to Scipio:
"Obey the summons at once; but spend a few moments in pretending that it is difficult to turn the key."
"What would you do now?" the silversmith asked angrily. "The mischief may be repaired if we do not provoke them. It is evident that the citizens who are waiting have received encouragement from one high in authority, otherwise they would not dare present themselves here a second time, and we must explain all."
"Why?"
Master Dean looked at his friend in amazement.
"Is it possible, Anthony Lamb, that you have not had trouble enough this evening, but would delay the explanation which must be made?"
"To my mind there is no necessity for you or me to do anything. These good people have saved us the trouble. Let them come in. Provide them with candles with which to make the search, and, in fact, throw your house open freely. The spy will be found, and then it can be said that he must have come in while you and your wife was absent—which is the exact truth; that you knew nothing of his whereabouts when you spoke so harshly—which is again the truth. It is a much better story to go before the citizens of New York than the one you would tell, if all the details were given."
"What is the matter?" some one on the outside asked, as Scip vainly tried to turn back the bolt.
"Dis yere lock am rusted, an' it takes a pow'ful long time to work de key. Here she am now!" and Scipio threw open the door with the same flourish he would have used while ushering in his master's best friends.
Now was the moment when Dorothy believed her father's mind should be relieved of its burden, and as Master Lamb relaxed his hold on the coat-sleeve, she ran forward.
"Father, I have done"
"Again I command you, Dorothy, to hold your peace!" Master Dean cried angrily. "Surely we have suffered enough already because of your forwardness. Go into the kitchen, and take Sarah with you. Remain there until your mother calls."
"But father"
"Not another word!" and the silversmith literally pushed his daughter toward the rear room, Sarah following close at her heels, with Scipio trailing on behind, eager to be beyond reach either of his master's hand or voice.
"Why wouldn't your father let you tell him what we had done?" Sarah asked when the three were in the kitchen alone, and the foremost of the visitors were trooping into the living room with the air of people who have both might and right on their side.
"I'm sure I can't tell. He was real angry, too!" and Dorothy choked back a sob, realizing that she had cried quite enough for one evening.
It was Scipio who understood the situation, or believed he did, and to the girls he gave the following explanation of his master's odd behavior:
"It am des like dis, chillun. Massa don' wan' ter know anything 'bout it till dis yere rumpus am all ober, kase dat's wha' Massa Lamb 'lows ought'er be did. Ef you'se up an' tole him de whole story, he'd be 'bleeged fur ter scriggle out'er it, an' dat would be mighty hard 'less he done tole a lie."
This seemed to be a very plausible explanation of the situation, and Dorothy no longer believed her father had used her harshly when she was pushed from the room.
The two girls would have been content to remain in the kitchen with the door closed, talking about the chances their spy had for escape; but the old darkey was not of the same mind. He wanted to hear and see all that was going on, provided it could be done while he was out of his master's sight, and to this end he pushed the door open ever so little, which enabled the three to be unseen spectators of the scene.
"We have come to make a thorough search of this house. Master Dean," the leader of the mob said curtly, without showing the ordinary respect to which the silversmith's position in the community entitled him. "We are not satisfied with what was done here a short time ago, an' there are others in the city of the same mind. Harsh words won't drive us away, and if you stand on such high ground as when we were here last, an appeal will be made to the military authorities."
"You have no need to assume any such air with me," Master Dean said sharply, for the manner and tone of the speaker aroused his ire. "I am free to admit, as Master Lamb claims, that I spoke intemperately to you before; but at the time it seemed as if the situation demanded it. My house had been closed; all my family, including old Scip, must have been at Bowling Green when you started in chase of the spy. You had the building surrounded in such manner that a man could not have escaped, when I arrived, and yet it was your purpose to break down my door."
"Perhaps we were a little too free-spoken. Master Dean," the man said in conciliatory tone, "and for that you should make allowance, knowing the excitement of the moment."
Here Master Lamb interposed.
"There has been no show of a spy since friend Dean and I came into the house, and, thus, the situation is the same as during your first visit. Both sides are willing to admit that words were used which had better have been left unsaid, therefore what is to prevent your company from making a search now, examining carefully every portion of the house; but having due regard to care lest anything he injured?"
"That is my idea," the silversmith added, wiping the perspiration from his forehead which had been brought out by mental anxiety rather than heat. "I hope most fervently you may find that for which you seek, even though it be in my house, and all of you know full well that if I discovered a British spy on these premises, or anywhere else, I would hale him before the officers of the law without delay."
"True for you, Master Dean!" some one in the front hall shouted, for by this time the crowd extended, in a densely packed mass, from the living room to the street.
"We know you for a true patriot," another cried, "and never meant to suggest that you would harbor the enemies of your country, let alone a dirty spy!"
"Before you begin, let men be placed inside the house, one at each door and window, so there may be no possibility of escape if you run your game to earth," Master Dean said. "Then go to work systematically and search every nook and corner; but remember that housewives are particular as to how their belongings are tumbled about."
By this time the visitors were in a good humor, and Master Lamb drew a long breath of relief, believing that Lieutenant Oakman would speedily be captured, and in such a manner that no blame could attach to his friend or himself.
"It is a very comfortable way out of what promised to be a disagreeable situation," he whispered to the silversmith while the sentinels were being posted. "They will find the fellow in the chest, and no one can suspect, after your caution as to the thoroughness of the search, that we had any knowledge of his presence."
"You are right, friend Lamb. I only wish I had as cool a head and as quick a wit as you."
"Dere!" Scipio exclaimed triumphantly to the girls. "Now you'se kin see why Massa didn't want you to tell him what we'd been doin' ob! Course he knows wha' we'd done; but so long as yo' didn't splain de whole ting, he could 'pear mighty innercent like."
"How fortunate it was that I paid particular attention to what he and mother said, else things wouldn't be as they are now," Dorothy added in a tone of content, and thus it was that when the real search for the spy began, every one concerned felt in the best of humor.
Masters Dean and Lamb, with their wives, remained in the living room while the mob literally took possession of the house, and Dorothy's mother was in a state of mind bordering on terror, lest the dwelling should be set on fire, for the men had provided themselves with a plentiful supply of candles before making this second visit, and thirty or more, lighted and dripping tallow, were being carried through the different apartments.
The children and Scip listened intently to the remarks of the searchers as they failed in finding anything, and it is possible the attic would have been passed unheeded, had not Sarah taken it upon herself to cry to her father through the partially open door:
"They are not going any further than the second floor, sir."
The two gentlemen, eager that the search should be ended by the finding of the spy, went to the stairway, and Master Dean called out loudly:
"Have you looked in the attic?"
"How do you get there?" some one asked. "I allowed we'd seen the whole house."
"There is a narrow door near the main chimney, which is sometimes covered by a chest of drawers," the silversmith replied.
"Come up here and show it to us!"
Master Dean obeyed the command, his friend Lamb following, and Scip whispered to Dorothy:
"I'se nigh erbout crazy fur ter see dat crowd when dey fin' dere's nobody here. We might sneak up de back stairs, honey," he suggested coaxingly, and, despite the fact that she had been told to remain in the kitchen, Dorothy motioned for him to lead the way.
It was impossible for either the girls or Scipio to ascend the attic stairs until after the searchers had scattered around in the unfinished lumber room; but the picture they then saw was well calculated to provoke mirth, in the secret of the escape as they were.
The oaken chest was empty, the lid thrown back and the key in the lock. Directly in front of it stood Masters Dean and Lamb, gazing alternately at each other and the place where they had supposed the spy to be securely hidden, with an expression of perfect bewilderment on their faces.
One not acquainted with the facts would have said that the two gentlemen were both terrified and fascinated by the open box, wherein could be seen no sign of its recent occupancy.
In different parts of the attic the men were making most thorough search, overturning this barrel or emptying out the contents of that box with utter disregard of Mistress Dean's wishes, as might have been expected under the circumstances.
The boards of the floor had not been nailed down, and many of these were taken up that a view between the timbers might be had, although it was impossible even a child could have ventured on to the laths and plaster without breaking through into the apartment below.
Not a single hiding-place which might have screened from view a cat, was left unsearched, and at the end of half an hour the leader of the party said to Master Dean, who was yet standing in front of the chest as if petrified:
"I'll go bail that there's no spy in this house, unless he's a mighty small one. We'll have a look at the cellar, and when that has been done we can testify to what is a fact: That you were right in saying it was impossible a Britisher could have got in while you and your family were absent."
The worthy silversmith was in such a state of bewilderment that he gave no heed to the flaring, flickering candles which were held recklessly by their bearers at imminent risk of igniting the inflammable articles with which the attic was well-nigh filled; but meekly led the way down-stairs, the girls and Scipio following, after the men had disappeared.
Once more in the kitchen, Dorothy and Sarah could hear the uninvited guests rummaging around in the cellar, and again they congratulated themselves with having been so quick to understand what it was Master Dean would have them do.
Scipio was in the highest possible state of delight at the very satisfactory manner in which his master had been extricated from what had seemed like a serious dilemma. The old darkey danced to and fro as if he could not remain quiet, and chuckled and laughed until Dorothy sternly bade him be silent, fearing lest the searchers might hear his demonstrations of joy, and become suspicious.
At the end of a full hour the mission of the citizens had come to an end to their entire satisfaction, and the bewilderment of Masters Dean and Lamb.
The children in the kitchen heard the spokesman say as he and his followers made ready to take their departure:
"We are sorry to have made extra work for Mistress Dean, by so overhauling things; but glad for your sake that it has been done, for otherwise the people would never have been satisfied, despite the fact that you have been an earnest worker in the Cause, that a Britisher was not in this house to-night. Now we have ample proof to the contrary, and the same shall be made known wherever words of suspicion have been spoken."
To this speech the silversmith could make no reply; he was yet in such a state of bewilderment as to be incapable of connected thought, and Master Lamb addressed the citizens in his behalf, thanking them for the friendly words, at the same time recalling to mind, as proof that he would not knowingly give aid to an enemy, all that Master Dean had done in behalf of the colony as against the king.
Then the last of the searchers departed; Scipio was called to lock the street door, and the two gentlemen sat down to consider the mystery.
Dorothy and Sarah were summoned from the kitchen, even before anything concerning the escape had been said to the ladies, and Master Dean questioned his daughter.
"Did you tell me that the spy was hidden in the oaken chest?"
"Yes, sir."
"And that he was likely to remain there?"
"Yes, sir, for he couldn't get out, because I had the key."
"What is the meaning of these questions?" Mistress Lamb asked sharply, "and why did the citizens fail to find the Britisher?"
"That last is exactly what we are trying to find out, madam," the silversmith replied, and, turning to his daughter once more, he asked, "Did you have the key when you told me where he was?"
"Certainly, sir."
"Then how did he escape?" Master Lamb cried, looking around in amazement.
"Why, we let him out of the back window, as Master Dean said should be done," Sarah replied quickly, whereat the elder members of the party gazed at her in surprise and bewilderment, neither apparently able to speak.
"We let him go as soon as you and mother said it was to be done," Dorothy added triumphantly, "and it was well we set about it at once, for he had just left when the citizens came."
"Do you mean to say that I told you to set him free?" Master Dean literally screamed, and Dorothy replied in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Yes, sir; didn't he, Sarah?"
Then Master Lamb's daughter nodded in the affirmative, and the bewilderment of the elderly people was merged into stupefaction.
It was Master Lamb who first "gathered himself together" sufficiently to speak, and, striding across the room, he cried:
"And I assured those worthy citizens that no one had left this house, while at the same time my own daughter had but just finished the work of aiding that most dastardly of enemies—a spy! It is shameful! Monstrous!"
"We thought you knew all about it, sir, else why did you prevent us from telling what had been done?" Sarah said as she crept more closely to Dorothy's side.
"Wait," the silversmith commanded. "Let us understand the situation first. Dorothy, explain to me when I or your mother told you to set the Britisher free?"
The child repeated the conversation which had been so misleading, and Scipio plucked up sufficient courage to corroborate her statement by saying emphatically:
"All dat am gospil trufe, Massa Dean, kase I done heared de berry same talk, else why does yo' s'pose I'd been shinnyin' 'roun' wid de clothes-line fur?"
"Hold your tongue, you black scoundrel!" and it really seemed as if the silversmith was benefited by giving way to his anger. "I should have known that you had some hand in the matter. Get into the kitchen where you belong, and I will settle this affair with you when I have more time!"
Poor old Scip went out of the room looking thoroughly perplexed. He had entered expecting to be praised for his portion of the work, instead of which he was driven out with threats.
"Dem Sons ob Liberty am mighty queer folks," he muttered softly as he obeyed the command of his master, and when he disappeared Mistress Dean said with a sigh:
"It is all very terrible; but I do remember saying that which Dorothy repeated, and I know, Jacob, that you wouldn't let the child speak when the visitors first came."
"I supposed, madam, that she had an ordinary amount of common sense, and could distinguish between an idle remark and a positive command. Master Lamb and I are ruined and disgraced forever!"
Then the silversmith sought relief by pacing the floor just in the rear of his friend, and if the situation had not been so grave it would have been comical.
Not until the night was nearly spent did either of the gentlemen see any ray of hope in the black cloud which enveloped them, and meanwhile the children crouched by their mothers' knees in mute suspense; finding no little consolation in the knowledge that the very kindly officer who had children of his own in England would not be hanged for spying where nothing of importance could be learned.
It was Master Lamb who first saw a glimmer of light in the cloud, and he cried suddenly, as if such a possibility had never before occurred to him:
"After all, friend Dean, we are the only persons, with the exception of the spy himself, who knows what has been done. The citizens must believe that those who chased the Britisher were mistaken in the supposition that he entered this house, and if we hold our peace no one will be the wiser."
The silversmith stared at his friend as if unable to understand all that had been said, and then he cried:
"But we know that because of us an enemy has escaped!"
"Yet not by our desire or intention, for we were decided to give him up, although as to how it might safely be done was not agreed upon. It has all been the work of the girls, and that stupid black man. Your task shall be to make certain he holds his tongue, and the whole affair is as clear as the sun."
Master Dean persisted for some time in believing that he and his neighbor were culpable, and declared that he would never again be able to look his fellow patriots in the face; but when the ladies joined with Master Lamb, he finally took a less despairing view of the affair.
It was now so near morning that Mistress Dean proposed their guests remain until after breakfast, and straightway this invitation was accepted the children were sent to bed, to their mutual delight.
When Lieutenant Oakman's young friends were snugly tucked up in the lavender-scented sheets, Sarah whispered:
"Do you think we did such a very wicked thing, when we let that poor, dear spy climb out of the window?" and Dorothy replied emphatically.
"It would have been wicked if we had let him stay there to be hanged! Of course we wouldn't have dared to do such a thing if it hadn't been for what father and mother said, and I'm glad we made a mistake!"
"Do you believe Scip will be flogged?"
"Of course he won't. Father was angry when he sent him into the kitchen, and to-morrow morning Scip will get a good scolding, but nothing more."
"And do you suppose the officer got away?"
"If he hadn't, those men who came here would have known, and told about it. He must be on Staten Island by this time, wondering how it happened that two Sons of Liberty were willing to let him go free."