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diff --git a/23557.txt b/23557.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5311b70 --- /dev/null +++ b/23557.txt @@ -0,0 +1,992 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Crucial Moment, by +Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Crucial Moment + 1911 + +Author: Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +Release Date: November 19, 2007 [EBook #23557] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CRUCIAL MOMENT *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +THE CRUCIAL MOMENT + +By Charles Egbert Craddock + +1911 + + +A mere moment seems an inconsiderable factor in life--only its +multiplication attaining importance and signifying time. It could +never have occurred to Walter Hoxer that all his years of labor, the +aggregation of the material values of industry, experience, skill, +integrity, could be nullified by this minimum unit of space--as sudden, +as potent, as destructive, as a stroke of lightning. But after the fact +it did not remind' him of any agency of the angry skies; to him it was +like one of the obstructions of the river engineers to divert the course +of the great Mississippi, a mattress-spur, a thing insignificant in +itself, a mere trifle of woven willow wands, set up at a crafty angle, +against the tumultuous current Yet he had seen the swirling waves, in +their oncoming like innumerable herds of wild horses, hesitate at +the impact, turn aside, and go racing by, scouring out a new channel, +leaving the old bank bereft, thrown inland, no longer the margin of the +stream. + +The river was much in his mind that afternoon as he trudged along the +county road at the base of the levee, on his way, all un-prescient, to +meet this signal, potential moment. Outside, he knew that the water +was standing higher than his head, rippling against the thick turf of +Bermuda grass with which the great earthwork was covered. For the river +was bank-full and still rising--indeed, it was feared that an overflow +impended. However, there was as yet no break; advices from up the river +and down the river told only of extra precautions and constant work to +keep the barriers intact against the increasing volume of the stream. +The favorable chances were reinforced by the fact of a singularly dry +winter, that had so far eliminated the danger from back-water, which, +if aggregated from rainfall in low-lying swamps, would move up slowly +to inundate the arable lands. These were already ploughed to bed up for +cotton, and an overflow now would mean the loss of many thousands of +dollars to the submerged communities. The February rains had begun +in the upper country, with a persistency and volume that bade fair +to compensate for the long-continued drought, and thus the river was +already booming; the bayous that drew off a vast surplusage of its +waters were overcharged, and gradually would spread out in murky +shallows, heavily laden with river detritus, over the low grounds +bordering their course. + +"This Jeffrey levee will hold," Hoxer said to himself, as once he +paused, his hands in his pockets, his cap on the back of his red head, +his freckled, commonplace, square face lifted into a sort of dignity by +the light of expert capacity and intelligence in his bluff blue eyes. He +had been muttering to himself the details of its construction: so many +feet across the base in proportion to its height, the width of the +summit, the angle of the incline of its interior slope--the exterior +being invisible, having the Mississippi River standing against it. "A +fairly good levee, though an old one," he muttered. "I'll bet, though, +Major Jeffrey feels mightily like Noah when he looks at all that water +out there tearing through the country." + +His face clouded at the mention of the name, and as he took the short +pipe from his month and stuck it into the pocket of his loose sack-coat +his tread lost a certain free elasticity that had characterized it +hitherto, and he trudged on doggedly. He had passed many acres of +ploughed lands, the road running between the fields and the levee. The +scene was all solitary; the sun had set, and night would presently be +coming on. As he turned in at the big white gate that opened on a long +avenue of oaks leading to the mansion house, he began to fear that his +visit might be ill-timed, and that a man of his station could not hope +for an audience so near the major's dinner-hour. + +It was with definite relief that he heard the gentle impact of ivory +balls in the absolute quiet, and he remembered that a certain little +octagonal structure with a conical red roof, in the grounds, was a +billiard-room, for the sound betokened that he might find the owner of +the place here. + +He expected to see a group of the Major's "quality friends" in the +building but as he ascended the steps leading directly to the door, he +perceived that the man he sought was alone. Major Jeffrey was engaged in +idly knocking the balls about in some skilful fancy shots, his cigar +in his mouth, and a black velvet smoking-jacket setting off to special +advantage his dense, snowy hair, prematurely white, his long mustache, +and his pointed imperial. His heavy white eyebrows drew frowningly +together over arrogant dark eyes as he noted the man at the entrance. + +Despite Hoxer's oft-reiterated sentiment that he was "as good as anybody +and would take nothing off nobody, and cared for no old duck just +because he was rich," he could not speak for a moment as he felt Major +Jeffrey's inimical eyes upon him. He lost the advantage in losing the +salutation. + +"Did you get my check?" Major Jeffrey asked curtly. + +"Yes," Hoxer admitted; "but----" + +"The amount was according to contract." + +Hoxer felt indignant with himself that he should have allowed this +interpretation to be placed on his presence here; then he still more +resented the conjecture. + +"I have not come for extra money," he said. "That point of the +transaction is closed." + +"All the points of the transaction are closed," said Major Jeffrey, +ungraciously. There was more than the flush of the waning western sky +on his face. He had already dined, and he was one of those wine-bibbers +whom drink does not render genial, "I want to hear no more about it." + +He turned to the table, and with a skilful cue sent one ball caroming +against two others. + +"But you must hear what I have got to say, Major Jeffrey," protested +Hoxer. "I built that cross-levee for you to join your main levee, and +done it well." + +"And have been well paid." + +"But you go and say at the store that I deviated from the line of survey +and saved one furlong, seven poles, and five feet of levee." + +"And so you did." + +"But you know, Major, that Burbeck Lake had shrunk in the drought at the +time of the survey, and if I'd followed the calls for the south of the +lake, I'd had to build in four feet of water, so I drew back a mite--you +bein' in Orleans, where I couldn't consult you, an' no time to be lost +nohow, the river bein' then on the rise, an'----" + +"Look here, fellow," exclaimed Major Jeffrey, bringing the cue down on +the table with a force that must have cut the cloth, "do you suppose +that I have nothing better to do than to stand here to listen to your +fool harangue?" + +The anger and the drink and perhaps the consciousness of being in the +wrong were all ablaze in the Major's eyes. + +The two were alone; only the darkling shadows stood at tiptoe at the +open windows, and still the flushed sky sent down a pervasive glow from +above. + +Hoxer swallowed hard, gulping down his own wrath and sense of injury. +"Major," he said blandly, trying a new deal, "I don't think you quite +understand me." + +"Such a complicated proposition you are, to be sure!" + +Hoxer disregarded the sarcasm, the contempt in the tone. + +"I am not trying to rip up an old score, but you said at Winfield's +store--at the store--that I did not build the cross levee on the +surveyor's line; that I shortened it----" + +"So you did." + +"But as if I had shortened the levee for my own profit, when, as you +know, it was paid for by the pole----" + +"You tax me with making a false impression?" + +An extreme revulsion of expectation harassed Hoxer. He had always known +that Jeffrey was an exception to the general rule of the few large +land-owners in the community, who were wont to conserve and, in fact, to +deserve the pose of kindly patron as well as wealthy magnate. But even +Jeffrey, he thought, would not grudge a word to set a matter straight +that could cost him nothing and would mean much to the levee-contractor. +Though of large experience in levee-building, Hoxer was new to the +position of contractor, having been graduated into it, so to speak, from +the station of foreman of a construction-gang of Irishmen. He had hoped +for further employ in this neighborhood, in building private levees +that, in addition to the main levees along the banks of the Mississippi, +would aid riparian protection by turning off overflow from surcharged +bayous and encroaching lakes in the interior. But, unluckily, +the employer of the first enterprise he had essayed on his own +responsibility had declared that he had deviated from the line of +survey, usually essential to the validity of the construction, thereby +much shortening the work; and had made this statement at Winfield's +store--at the store! + +Whatever was said at the store was as if proclaimed through the +resounding trump of fame. The store in a Mississippi neighborhood, +frequented by the surrounding planters, great and small, was the focus +of civilization, the dispenser of all the wares of the world, from a +spool of thread to a two-horse wagon, the post-office, in a manner the +club. Here, sooner or later, everybody came, and hence was the news of +the Bend noised abroad. Hoxer's business could scarcely recover from +this disparagement, and he had not doubted that Jeffrey would declare +that he had said nothing to justify this impression, and that he would +forthwith take occasion to clear it up. For were not Mr. Tompkins and +Judge Claris, both with a severe case of "high-water scare," ready to +contract for a joint cross levee for mutual protection from an unruly +bayou! + +Therefore, with a sedulous effort, Hoxer maintained his composure when +the Major thundered again, "You tax me with making a false impression?" + +"Not intentionally, Major, but----" + +"And who are you to judge of my motives? Told a lie by accident, did I? +Begone, sir, or I'll break your head with this billiard cue!" + +He had reached the limit as he brandished the cue. He was still agile, +vigorous, and it was scarcely possible that Hoxer could escape the blow. +He dreaded the indignity indeed more than the hurt. + +"If you strike me," he declared in a single breath, between his set +teeth, "before God, I'll shoot you with your own pistol!" + +It seemed a fatality that a pair in their open case should have been +lying on the sill of the window, where their owner had just been +cleaning and oiling them. Hoxer, of course, had no certainty that they +were loaded, but the change in Jeffrey's expression proclaimed it. He +was sober enough now--the shock was all sufficient--as he sprang to the +case. The younger man was the quicker. He had one of the pistols in his +hand before Jeffrey could level the other that he had snatched. Quicker +to fire, too, for the weapon in Jeffrey's hand was discharged in his +latest impulse of action after he fell to the floor, the blood +gushing from a wound that crimsoned all the delicate whiteness of his +shirt-front and bedabbled his snowy hair and beard. + +This was the moment, the signal, fatal, final moment, that the +levee contractor had come to meet, that placed the period to his own +existence. He lived no longer, Hoxer felt. He did not recognize as his +own a single action hereafter, a single mental impulse. It was something +else, standing here in the red gloaming--some foreign entity, cogently +reasoning, swiftly acting. Self-defense--was it? And who would believe +that? Had he found justice so alert to redress his wrongs, even in a +little matter, that he must needs risk his neck upon it? This Thing that +was not himself--no, never more!--had the theory of alibi in his mind +as he stripped off his low-cut shoes and socks, thrusting them into his +pockets, leaping from the door, and flying among the dusky shadows down +the glooming grove, and through the gate. + +Dusk here, too, on the lonely county road, the vague open expanse of the +ploughed fields glimmering to the instarred sky of a still, chill night +of early February. He did not even wonder that there should be no hue +and cry on his tracks--the Thing was logical! Jeffrey had doubtless +had his pistols carried down from the mansion to him in his den in the +billiard-room, for the avowed purpose of putting the weapons in order. +If the shots were heard at all at the dwelling, the sound was reasonably +ascribed to the supposed testing of the weapons. Hoxer was conscious +that a sentiment of gratulation, of sly triumph, pervaded his mental +processes as he sped along barefoot, like some tramp or outcast, or +other creature of a low station. He had laid his plans well in this +curious, involuntary cerebration. Those big, bare footprints were ample +disguise for a well-clad, well-groomed, well-shod middle-class man of a +skilful and lucrative employ. The next moment his heart sank like lead. +He was followed! He heard the pursuit in the dark! Swift, unerring, +leaping along the dusty road, leaving its own footprints as a testimony +against him. For he had recognized its nature at last! It was his own +dog--a little, worthless cur, that had a hide like a doormat and a heart +as big as the United States--a waif, a stray, that had attached himself +to the contractor at the shanties of the construction gang, and slept by +his bed, and followed at his heel, and lived on the glance of his eye. + +He was off again, the dog fairly winging his way to match his master's +speed. Hoxer could not kill him here, for the carcass would tell the +story. But was it not told already in those tracks in the dusty road? +What vengeance was there not written in the eccentric script of those +queer little padded imprints of the creature's paws. Fie, fool! Was this +the only cur-dog in the Bend? he asked himself, impatient of his fears. +Was not the whole neighborhood swarming with canine dependents? + +Despite his reasoning, this endowment that was once himself had +been affrighted by the shock. The presence of the little cur-dog had +destroyed the complacence of his boasted ratiocination. He had only the +instincts of flight as he struck off through the woods when the great +expanse of cultivated lands had given way to lower ground and the wide +liberties of the "open swamp," as it was called. This dense wilderness +stretched out on every side; the gigantic growth of gum trees was +leafless at this season, and without a suggestion of underbrush. + +The ground was as level as a floor. Generally during the winter the open +swamp is covered with shallow water, but in this singularly droughty +season it had remained "with dry feet," according to the phrase of that +country. The southern moon, rising far along its levels, began to cast +burnished golden shafts of light adown its unobstructed vistas. It might +seem some magnificent park, with its innumerable splendid trees, its +great expanse, and ever and anon in the distance the silver sheen of +the waters of a lake, shining responsive to the lunar lustre as with +an inherent lustre of its own. On and on he went, his noiseless tread +falling as regularly as machinery, leaving miles behind him, the +distance only to be conjectured by the lapse of time, and, after so +long, his flagging strength. He began to notice that the open swamp was +giving way in the vicinity of one of the lakes to the characteristics of +the swamp proper, although the ground was still dry and the going good. +He had traversed now and then a higher ridge on which switch-cane grew +somewhat sparsely, but near the lake on a bluff bank a dense brake of +the heavier cane filled the umbrageous shadows, so tall and rank and +impenetrable a growth that once the fugitive paused to contemplate it +with the theory that a secret intrusted to its sombre seclusions might +be held intact forever. + +As he stood thus motionless in the absolute stillness, a sudden thought +came to his mind--a sudden and terrible thought. He could not be sure +whether he had heard aught, or whether the sight of the water suggested +the idea. He knew that he could little longer sustain his flight, +despite his vigor and strength. Quivering in every fibre from his long +exertions, he set his course straight for that glimmering sheen of +water. Encircling it were heavy shadows. Tall trees pressed close to +the verge, where lay here a fallen branch, and there a rotten log, half +sunken in mud and ooze, and again a great tangle of vines that had grown +smiling to the summer sun, but now, with the slow expansion of the lake +which was fed by a surcharged bayou, quite submerged in a fretwork of +miry strands. The margin was fringed with saw-grass, thick and prickly, +and his practised eye could discern where the original banks lay by the +spears thrust up above the surface a score of feet away. Thus he was +sure of his depth as he waded out staunchly, despite the cruel pricks +to his sensitive naked feet. The little dog had scant philosophy; he +squeaked and wheezed and wailed with the pain until the man, who had no +time to kill him now--for had he heard aught or naught?--picked him up +and carried him in his arms, the creature licking Hoxer's hands in an +ecstasy of gratitude, and even standing on his hind-legs on his master's +arm to snatch a lick upon his cheek. + +In the darksome shadows, further and further from the spot where he had +entered the lake, Hoxer toiled along the margin, sometimes pausing to +listen--for had he heard aught or naught?--as long as his strength would +suffice. Then amidst the miry debris of last summer's growths beneath +the recent inundation he sank down in the darkness, the dog exhausted in +his arms. + +This was one of those frequent crescent-shaped lakes peculiar to the +region; sometimes, miles in extent, the lacustrine contour is not +discernible to the glance; here the broad expanse seemed as if the body +of water were circular and perhaps three miles in diameter. + +Suddenly Hoxer heard the sound that had baffled him hitherto--heard +it again and--oh, horrible!--recognized it at last! The baying of +bloodhounds it was, the triumphant cry that showed that the brutes had +caught the trail and were keeping it. On and on came the iteration, ever +louder, ever nearer, waking the echoes till wood and brake and midnight +waters seemed to rock and sway with the sound, and the stars in the sky +to quake in unison with the vibrations. Never at fault, never a moment's +cessation, and presently the shouts of men and the tramp of horses +blended with that deep, tumultuous note of blood crying to heaven for +vengeance. Far, far, down the lake it was. Hoxer could see nothing of +the frantic rout when the hounds paused baffled at the water-side. He +was quick to note the changed tone of the brutes' pursuit, plaintive, +anxious, consciously thwarted. They ran hither and thither, patrolling +the banks, and with all their boasted instinct they could only protest +that the fugitive took to water at this spot. But how? They could not +say, and the men argued in vain. The lake was too broad to swim--there +was no island, no point of vantage. A boat might have taken him off, +and, if so, the craft would now be lying on the opposite bank. A party +set off to skirt the edge of the lake and explore the further shores by +order of the sheriff, for this officer, summoned by telephone, had +come swiftly from the county town in an automobile, to the verge of the +swamp, there accommodated with a horse by a neighboring planter. And +then, Hoxer, lying on the elastic submerged brush, with only a portion +of his face above the surface of the water, watched in a speechless +ecstasy of terror the hue and cry progress on the hither side, his dog, +half dead from exhaustion, unconscious in his arms. + +The moon, unmoved as ever, looked calmly down on the turmoil in the +midst of the dense woods. The soft brilliance illumined the long, +open vistas and gave to the sylvan intricacies an effect as of silver +arabesques, a glittering tracery amidst the shadows. But the lunar light +did not suffice. Great torches of pine knots, with a red and yellow +flare and streaming pennants of smoke, darted hither and thither as the +officer's posse searched the bosky recesses without avail. + +Presently a new sound!--a crashing iteration--assailed the air. A +frantic crowd was beating the bushes about the margin of the lake and +the verges of the almost impenetrable cane-brake. Here, however, there +could be no hope of discovery, and suddenly a cry arose, unanimously +iterated the next instant, "Fire the cane-brake! Fire the cane-brake!" + +For so late had come the rise of the river, so persistent had been the +winter's drought, so delayed the usual inundation of the swamp, that the +vegetation, dry as tinder, caught the sparks instantly, and the fierce +expedient to force the fugitive to leave his supposed shelter in the +brake, a vast woodland conflagration, was added to the terror of the +scene. The flames flared frantically upward from the cane, itself twenty +feet in height, and along its dense columns issued forth jets like +the volleyings of musketry from serried ranks of troops, the illusion +enhanced by continuous sharp, rifle-like reports, the joints of the +growth exploding as the air within was liberated by the heat of the +fire. All around this blazing Gehenna were swiftly running figures of +men applying with demoniac suggestion torches here and there, that a new +area might be involved. Others were mounted, carrying flaming torches +aloft, the restive horses plunging in frantic terror of the fiery +furnace in the depths of the brake, the leaping sheets of flame, +the tumultuous clouds of smoke. Oh, a terrible fate, had the forlorn +fugitive sought refuge here! Let us hope that no poor denizen of the +brake, bear or panther or fox, dazed by the tumult and the terror, +forgot which way to flee! + +But human energies must needs fail as time wears on. Nerves of steel +collapse at last. The relinquishment of the quest came gradually; the +crowd thinned; now and again the sound of rapid hoof-beats told of +homeward-bound horsemen; languid groups stood and talked dully here +and there, dispersing to follow a new suggestion for a space, them +ultimately disappearing; even the fire began to die ont, and the site +of the cane-break had become a dense, charred mass, as far as eye could +reach, with here and there a vague blue flicker where some bed of coals +could yet send up a jet, when at length the pale day, slow and aghast, +came peering along the levels to view the relics of the strange events +that had betided in the watches of the night. + +Hoxer had not waited for the light. Deriving a certain strength, a +certain triumph, from the obvious fact that the end was not yet, he +contrived in that darkest hour before the dawn to pull himself into +a sitting posture, then to creep out to the shore. The little dog had +seemed to be dying, but he too experienced a sort of resuscitation, and +while he followed at first but feebly, it was not long before he was at +heel again, although Hoxer was swift of foot, making all the speed he +might toward his temporary home, the shacks that had been occupied +by the construction gang. As he came within view of the poor little +tenements, so recently vacated by the Irish ditchers, all awry and +askew, stretching in a wavering row along the river-bank near the +junction of the levee that he had built with the main line, his eyes +filled. Oh, why had he not gone with the rest of the camp! he demanded +of an untoward fate; why must he have stayed a day longer to bespeak +the correction of an injurious error from that proud, hard man, who, +however, had wrought his last injury on earth! Hoxer was sorry, but +chiefly for his own plight. He felt that his deed was in self-defense, +and but that he had no proof he would not fear to offer the plea at the +bar of justice. As it was, however, he was sanguine of escaping without +this jeopardy. No one had cause to suspect him. No one had seen him +enter the Jeffrey grounds that fatal evening. There had been noised +abroad no intimation of his grievance against the man. He had all the +calm assurance of invisibility as he came to his abode, for a fog lay +thick on the surface of the river and hung over all the land. He did +not issue forth again freshly dressed till the sun was out once more, +dispelling the vapors and conjuring the world back to sight and +life. Nevertheless, he made no secret of having been abroad when an +acquaintance came up the road and paused for an exchange of the news of +the day. + +"But what makes ye look so durned peaked?" he broke off, gazing at Hoxer +in surprise. + +Hoxer was astonished at his own composure as he replied: "Out all night. +I was in the swamp with the posse." + +"See the fire! They tell me 't wuz more'n dangerous to fire the brake +when the woods is so uncommon dry. I dunno what we would do here in the +bottom with a forest fire." + +"Pretty big blaze now, sure's ye're born," Hoxer replied casually, and +so the matter passed. + +Later in the day another gossip, whose acquaintance he had made during +his levee-building venture, loitered up to talk over the absorbing +sensation, and, sitting down on the door-step of the shack, grew +suddenly attentive to the little dog. + +"What makes him limp?" he demanded abruptly. + +But Hoxer had not observed that he did limp. + +The acquaintance had taken the little animal up on his knee and was +examining into his condition. "Gee! how did he get so footsore?" + +"Following me around, I reckon," Hoxer hazarded. But he saw, or thought +he saw, a change on the stolid face of the visitor, who was unpleasantly +impressed with the fact that the officers investigating the case had +made inquiries concerning a small dog that, to judge by the prints in +the road, had evidently followed the big, barefooted man who had fled +from the Jeffrey precincts after the shooting. A rumor, too, was going +the rounds that a detective, reputed preternaturally sharp, who had +accompanied the sheriff to the scene of action, had examined these +tracks in the road, and declared that the foot-print was neither that of +a negro nor a tramp, but of a white man used to wearing shoes something +too tightly fitting. + +The visitor glanced down at the substantial foot-gear of the contractor, +fitting somewhat snugly, and thereafter he became more out of +countenance than before and manifested some haste to get away. Hoxer +said to himself that his anxiety whetted his apprehension. He had given +his visitor no cause for suspicion, and doubtless the man had evolved +none. Hoxer was glad that he was due and overdue to be gone from the +locality. He felt that he could scarcely breathe freely again till he +had joined the gang of Irish ditchers now establishing themselves in a +new camp in the adjoining county, where the high stage of the river gave +him employment in fighting water. He made up his mind, however, that +he would not take the train thither. He dreaded to be among men, to +encounter question and speculation, till he had time to regain control +of his nerves, his facial expression, the tones of his voice. He +resolved that he would quietly drift down the river in a row-boat that +had been at his disposal during his employment here, and join his force +already settled at their destination, without running the gauntlet +of inspection by the neighborhood in a more formal departure. He had +already bidden farewell to those few denizens of the Bend with whom his +associations had been most genial. "And I'll clear out now, as I would +have done if nothing had happened." + +He said no more of his intention of departure, but when night had come +he fastened the door of the little shanty, in which were still some of +the rude belongings of his camping outfit, with the grim determination +that it should not soon be opened again. How long the padlock should +beat the summons of the wind on the resounding battens he did not dream! + +It was close on midnight when he climbed the steep interior slope of the +levee and stood for a moment gazing cautiously about him. The rowboat +lay close by, for one might embark from the summit of the levee. It was +a cloudy night, without a star. A mist clung to the face of the waters +on the Arkansas side, but on the hither shore the atmosphere was clear, +for he could see at a considerable distance up the river the fire of +a "levee-watch," the stage of the water being so menacing that a guard +must needs be on duty throughout the night. The leaping flames of the +fire cast long lines of red and yellow and a sort of luminous brown +far into the river, where the reflection seemed to palpitate in the +pulsations of the current. No other sign of life was in the night scene, +save in the opposite direction, amidst the white vapors, the gem-like +gleam of a steamer's chimney-lights, all ruby and emerald, as a packet +was slowly rounding the neighboring point. Hoxer could hear the impact +of her paddles on the water, the night being so still. He had seated +himself in the middle of the rowboat and laid hold on the oars when his +foot struck against something soft on the bottom of the craft, partly +under the seat in the stern. It was his bundle, he thought, containing +the spoiled clothing that he had worn in the swamp, and which he +intended to sink in mid-stream. His nerve was shaken, however; he could +not restrain a sudden exclamation--this must have seemed discovery +rather than agitation. It was as a signal for premature action. He was +suddenly seized from behind, his arms held down against his sides, his +hands close together. The bundle in the stern rose all at once to the +stature of a man. + +The touch of cold metal, a sharp, quick click,--and he was captured and +handcuffed within the space of ten seconds. + +A terrible struggle ensued, which his great strength but sufficed to +prolong. His wild, hoarse cries of rage and desperation seemed to beat +against the sky; back and forth the dark riparian forests repeated them +with the effect of varying distance in the echoes, till all the sombre +woods seemed full of mad, frantic creatures, shrieking out their +helpless frenzy. More than once his superior muscle sufficed to throw +off both the officers for a moment, but to what avail? Thus manacled, he +could not escape. + +Suddenly a wild, new clamor resounded from the shore. In the dusky +uncertainty, a group of men were running down the bank, shouting out to +the barely descried boatmen imperative warnings that they would break +the levee in their commotion, coupled with violent threats if they did +not desist. For the force with which the rowboat dashed against the +summit of the levee, rebounding again and again, laden with the weight +of three ponderous men, and endowed with all the impetus of their +struggle, so eroded the earth that the waves had gained an entrance, +the initial step to a crevasse that would flood the country with a +disastrous overflow. As there was no abatement of the blows of the boat +against the embankment, no reply nor explanation, a shot from the gun of +one of the levee-watch came skipping lightsomely over the water as +Hoxer was borne exhausted to the bottom of the skiff. Then, indeed, +the sheriff of the county bethought himself to shout out his name +and official station to the astonished group on shore, and thus, +bullet-proof under the aegis of the law, the boat pulled out toward +the steamer, lying in mid-stream, silently awaiting the coming of the +officer and his prisoner, a great, towering, castellated object, half +seen in the night, her broadside of cabin lights, and their reflection +in the ripples, sparkling through the darkness like a chain of golden +stars. + +They left no stress of curiosity behind them; naught in the delta can +compete in interest with the threatened collapse of a levee in times +of high water. Before the rowboat had reached the steamer's side, its +occupants could hear the great plantation-bell ringing like mad to +summon forth into the midnight all available hands to save the levee, +and, looking back presently, a hundred lanterns were seen flickering +hither and thither, far down in the dusk--no illusion this, for all +deltaic rivers are higher in the centre than their banks--where the busy +laborers, with thousands of gunny-sacks filled with sand, were fighting +the Mississippi, building a barricade to fence it from the rich spoils +it coveted. + +The packet, which, as it happened, was already overdue, had been +telephoned by the officers at her last landing, and a number of men +stood on the guards expectant. Hoxer had ceased to struggle. He looked +up at the steamer, his pallid face and wide, distended eyes showing in +the cabin lights, as the rowboat pulled alongside. Then as the sheriff +directed him to rise, he stood up at his full height, stretched his +manacled hands high above his head, and suddenly dived into deep water, +leaving the boat rocking violently, and in danger of capsizing with the +officers. + +A desperate effort was made to recover the prisoner, alive or dead--all +in vain. A roustabout on the deck declared that in the glare of the +steamer's search-light, thrown over the murky waters, he was seen to +come to the surface once, but if he rose a second time it must have +been beneath the great bulk of the packet, to go down again to the death +awaiting him in the deeps. + +On the bank a little dog sat through sunshine and shadow in front of the +door of the shack of the contractor of the levee-construction gang, and +awaited his return with the patient devotion of his kind. Sometimes, as +the padlock wavered in the wind, he would cock his head briskly askew, +forecasting from the sound a step within. Sometimes the grief of absence +and hope deferred would wring his humble heart, and he would whimper +in an access of misery and limp about a bit. But presently he would be +seated again, alertly upright, his eyes on the door, for the earliest +glimpse of the face that he loved. When the overflow came at last the +shacks of the construction gang were swept away, and the little dog was +seen no more. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Crucial Moment, by +Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CRUCIAL MOMENT *** + +***** This file should be named 23557.txt or 23557.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/5/23557/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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