Chapter XXII: The Rescue

While the men at "Mount Pisgah" were planning how to deliver Viola from her captors, Mart Spink, father of Susanna, the girl with the wonderful eyes, was down with a severe chill in his cabin among the hills. Cold shivers ran up and down his back, as though a lizard shod with ice were making a playground of it. Then the cold struck his head, and his teeth began to chatter worse than if he were climbing "Greenland's icy mountains." Soon his whole body was in a frigid state which made him cry out for bedclothes, and more bedclothes, and still more blankets and quilts. He shook so with his chilly sensations that the bedclothes above him were in perpetual motion, and the mattress under him was agitated with the motions of his body. Then came on the terrible fever, which was worse than the chill, as the pain of fire is harder to bear than the cold of ice. Poor Spink seemed to be burning up. A dreadful headache seized him, which was only a little relieved when his wife applied cloths wrung out of cold water to his forehead. After some hours came the great sweat, which saturated his night shirt and a portion of his pillow and bedclothes.

This attack was so violent it bordered on a "congestive chill," which the settlers knew to be very dangerous. His wife waited upon him all night, not wishing to keep the children up, and in the morning he was very weak and she much worn.

Susanna rose early and took the pail to milk Brindle. What was her surprise to find the barn door open, and when she looked into the building she saw that their young horse, Chester, was missing. He had pushed the barn door ajar and disappeared. She dropped her pail, ran into the house, and told her mother the news. Mrs. Spink thought it best to inform her husband of the occurrence, though he was still quite ill.

Spink spoke from his bed: "That hoss has prob'ly went back to his old hum. You'uns knows I bought him of a feller away back on de knobs. Sum one must go find 'im. I can't go, nuther can yer ma. Elmiry an' the boys must do the chores. So, Susanna, you must get Maud out'n de barn, an' go after de hoss. It's a long trip, an' I'm sorry ye hav ter go. Take a snack (food) with yer, fer ye'll git hungry."

Susanna replied: "Don't be troubled, pa. I can ride as good as a man. I will gladly go, and try my best to find Chester." Her marvelous eyes shone with a brilliant light, and in a few minutes she was gone.

The girl's quest for the horse might have reminded her of Saul's search for his father's asses, had she been better acquainted with the Bible. As Saul failed to discover the animals, but found a kingdom, so the maid did not find the horse, Chester, but discovered a startling situation.

Her way led by Zibe Turner's cabin, then to the knob, and along its side, ever up toward the former home of the horse. When she had nearly reached the top she came to the little open space containing the hut in which Viola LeMonde was imprisoned.

There was an old well by the hut, but its sweep had rotted down, and the water was stagnant and unfit to drink. Hence, Elmira Turner, the guard of Viola, was compelled to go to a spring one-eighth of a mile distant to get pure water. Having barred the cabin on the outside, she was on such a trip when Susanna rode up.

The rider, with a girl's curiosity, came to the hut to look it over. Viola heard the horse's tread and, looking between two logs from which the chinks had fallen, saw her young friend. "Susanna, dear," she cried, greatly excited, "Sam Wiles and Zibe Turner have taken me by force and brought me here. My guard, Elmira Turner, has gone to the spring for water. Ride as fast as you can, and tell my father or some other friend of my whereabouts."

Susanna was surprised beyond measure at the discovery, and her heavenly eyes glowed like two stars.

"O my dear teacher," she exclaimed, "I have heard that you were carried away. I wanted to help in the search but was not able. This is awful. I will ride back as quick as possible, and try to find some one to come to aid you."

With this she turned her horse about, and applied whip and spur to Maud. Regardless of obstructions frequently in her path--fallen limbs, saplings growing close together, bushes coming to the breast of her steed, springy soil and uneven ground--she rode with a swift pace. Her dark hair streamed behind her. With firm hands she held the reins, and her bright eyes traced the direction to take and also looked for some of the searchers.

She was riding through a thick wood, tolerably free from underbrush, when she was overjoyed to see Jasper Very riding toward her on his well known horse, Bob. The preacher showed the marks of his exertions. His face was flushed, his hair never very amenable to brush and comb, was rumpled by contact with bushes, twigs and leaves. He was moving along swiftly, ever looking for some signs which would lead him to his beloved. He had become separated from his companion, John Larkin.

Susanna and Jasper saw each other about the same time, and in a trice their horses were face to face. Almost breathless with hard riding and excitement the girl told what she had learned.

The preacher was affected as though a current of electricity had passed through his body. For a minute he was too bewildered to think, but by an effort of will he became somewhat more calm and considered what was best to be done.

He said: "Susanna, how can we thank you enough for this information? God bless you for bringing it to me. Now ride as rapidly as possible to your home and ask your father please to loan us a horse and buggy. Bring them along the road as far as you can with ease. If I get Miss Viola out of the hut, I will give her a place on Bob's back, and we will ride till we meet the buggy. Is it possible for you to direct me to the hut?"

"Yes, Mr. Very. When I returned, thinking I might have to act as pilot to the cabin I kept the way in my mind, and I think I can tell you pretty well how to go." She then indicated the route in considerable detail, and Jasper was sure he could find the place.

What deep emotions stirred his breast as he hurried forward! He knew that his darling was alive. This was a great satisfaction. But she was in dire peril. He must rescue her at once at all hazards. He would dare the danger alone, for the searchers being scattered through the wilderness, there was no one to whom he could look for help.

He had learned that Elmira Turner, the monster dwarf's sister, was guarding Viola, and he rightly supposed that Sam Wiles or the dwarf would picket the hut most of the time.

Without any great difficulty Jasper Very followed the route given him by Susanna. At last he saw a little before him the opening in the forest of which he had been told. He dismounted from Bob, and hid him in a thicket. Then he cautiously crept forward and, coming to the edge of the clearing, screened himself behind a big walnut tree and reconnoitered the surroundings. The coast seemed clear. He walked quickly to the door of the hut and said in a loud voice: "Viola, Jasper is here, and has come to take you home. I find the door is locked on the inside, but not the outside. Can you unfasten the door?"

"O Jasper," said Viola, "the woman with me holds the key to the lock, and she will not give it to me."

"No, indeed, I'll not," said Elmira Turner, "an' I defy you to git in. My brother'll be here soon, an' if you want to save yer hide, it will be healthy for you to make yo'self sca'se right off."

"Woman," shouted Very, "if you will not unlock the door I'll break it down."

"Try it," said she.

Jasper did try. He was the strongest man in the county, and it seemed that now the strength of ten men was given him.

The door was made of thick oak. The cabin may have been built extra strong to shelter some former inmates, if attacked by Indians. But at this time the door was weakened by age and exposure to the elements; also it was somewhat worm eaten.

Jasper put his right shoulder to the door, and pushed with all his might. The door cracked a little, but did not break. He took the broken well sweep and, using the larger end (which contained some sound wood) as a battering ram, fiercely assaulted the obstruction. This weakened the structure, but it did not yield. Then Jasper, summoning all his mighty strength, hurled himself against the door, and it fell in with a crash.

He at once passed inside the hut. Taking hold of Viola, he was leading her to the opening, when Elmira Turner, seized hold of the girl to keep her in the room. A struggle ensued. Jasper did not want to strike the Turner woman or treat her roughly. So he was compelled to force Viola from her grasp by main strength. This he did, and taking his betrothed in his arms, stepped out into the sunlight.

Just then the sound of a shot rang out on the stillness of the summer air, and Viola became limp and apparently lifeless in her lover's arms.

Zibe Turner, the monster dwarf, had come to the clearing in the nick of time. He saw the open door. He beheld the rescuer bearing out the captive in his arms. Murder sprang up at once in his heart. He decided to kill the preacher then and there. This he had wanted to do for a long time. But the excitement of the occasion and his own dreadful hate unsteadied his nerves a trifle. When putting his rifle to his shoulder, he aimed at Very's heart, crying out: "Dat's my holt!" The bullet missed its mark, and entered the right shoulder of the lovely Viola.

When the dwarf saw the unexpected result of his shot, even his resolution failed him, and he proceeded no further with his murderous work.

Jasper Very looked down on the senseless form of his beloved, and cried out in the bitter agony of his soul: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Holding her as he would a little child in his arms, he strode out of the clearing. Quickly coming to his horse, Bob, he unhitched his rein, and holding the unconscious girl tenderly but firmly in his left arm, he swung into the saddle.

With anguish in his soul and unaccustomed tears in his blue eyes, he pressed one kiss upon the pale lips of her who was dearer to him than life. Holding her in as comfortable position as possible, he started down the knob.

Viola gave little if any signs of life. She was wholly unconscious, her face was as pale as death, her eyes were closed, there was no perceptible pulse.

Jasper rode as carefully as possible, but was a considerable time reaching the more open section of the country. At last he came to the very primitive road along which he had not ridden far, when he beheld approaching the horse and buggy he had requested Susanna to get.

Susanna was the driver, and was amazed at what she saw--her Sunday School teacher lying like one dead on the preacher's arm.

Time was too precious for many words of explanation, and it was the work of only a minute or two to place Viola in the buggy, and for Jasper to get in beside her. Susanna rode Bob.

Jasper Very's plan was to take the wounded maiden to Mart Spink's house, and then to hurry for medical help, if she were living.

Driving as rapidly as was consistent with the seriousness of the case, they at last reached the home of Susanna. The daughter rushed into the house and told her mother the tragic story in brief. The woman was greatly shocked, and at once went to the buggy and told Jasper Very that Viola could be put into a bedroom adjoining the one in which her husband lay. Mart Spink was much better now. Such is the way of chills and fever.

Jasper, seeing faint signs of life in Viola, left her to the tender ministries of Mrs. Spink and Susanna, while he rode with all haste for a doctor who lived several miles away.

The women undressed the patient, and put her into the bed. They bathed her wound, and bandaged it as best they could. Fortunately it had not bled excessively.

In due time the physician, who was also a surgeon, came. He probed for the ball, and succeeded in extracting it. He gave those restoratives and remedies which the state of medicine in those days and in that region warranted. He ordered that the patient be kept perfectly quiet, and that no persons but her mother (who became her nurse) and Mrs. Spink should enter the room.

For days and weeks the life of the lovely girl hung in an even balance. Great was the interest which this calamity aroused in the whole country around. The news of the shooting spread with great rapidity. By night all the searchers had heard of it, and as the kidnaped maiden was found and restored to friends, their work in that particular was done, and most of them returned to their homes.

As the golden autumn days came Viola gained a little strength and was able to be moved to "Mount Pisgah." Here Jasper and her intimate friends were permitted to see her for short periods. Her face was as white as the pillow upon which she lay. Her blue eyes had lost their bright, but not their kind and loving, look. Her golden hair was still beautiful, and it seemed an aureole around her head.

One bright day she felt able to hold a longer conversation than before with her betrothed. Very sat by the bedside, holding the thin white hand. The slender finger could scarce retain the beautiful engagement ring her lover had given her.

"Jasper, dear," she said, "how happy I am that I received the cruel ball instead of you. All the suffering I have gladly borne for your sake. Yes, and if it were my lot to be an invalid while life lasts, I would willingly bear the burden, knowing that by the cross I suffer my beloved is able in the full strength of his manhood to preach the gospel and minister to the wants of human souls. So there are compensations in all the ills of life."

"My precious one," said the preacher, "your words are those of her who lives very near the heart of God. The finest thing in the world is sacrifice and suffering for the benefit of others. But you must put far away the idea of being a constant invalid. Gradually you are regaining your health, and before long we shall see you as lively and jolly as ever. By Christmas time I want to behold roses in your cheeks, and see you skip about like a roe upon the mountains. Keep up a brave, trustful spirit, and I believe all will be well."

He kissed his betrothed tenderly, stroked her beautiful hair, and retired from the room.