Chapter 9

Jim West and Artemus Gordon landed with the Aurora well after dark. To supply their needs, the men had brought horses with them. They had been kept in the workroom on the airship, carefully cobbled and watched. The animals overburdened the craft, but Passepartout worked diligently to counter the strain. He, after all, had suggested the need. After Passepartout landed, he and his passengers carefully walked the animals off the ship.

As they regained their land feet, Jason Singleton came out of the trees to greet them. He took in the sight of his horses and nodded. "You can't be English with that good a judge of horseflesh."

The American agents looked at each other, laughing at their absent English friend's expense. "No, we're Americans. And you are Captain Singleton?" Jim said.

"That's me." Jason said and shook hands with the newcomers. "If he flew horses here, the French pilot must be more competent that I thought."

"Thank you, sir," Passepartout said, accepting what he was sure was rare praise for foreigners.

"Come along. We found the plantation and a lot more than we were expecting."

Back at Jason's camp, Jason told the Agents all that had happened as Jules and the Ridgemont brothers were snug in their bedrolls. "I expect all the foreigners are dead now. The dwarf giving orders is American. He isn't from here, maybe from somewhere back east. Most of his workers are ex-slaves. There is a woman with him most of the time. Don't seem to be a plantation wife. Too dressed up, and she doesn't seem to do much. If you know about plantations, you know the lady's run things. This one doesn't seem in charge of anything, not even the house servants."

The agents took all that in just as their English counterparts came back from their watch. "Everything is quiet now," Phileas reported. "Has Captain Singleton told you that all the League personnel appear to be dead?"

"Yes," Artemus answered. "He has also told us about the castor plants."

"We will have to secure the records to know what they were growing them for," Rebecca said, "but I am sure it was not for a good purpose. The League causes devastation everywhere it goes."

"We can guess that," Jim agreed. "The poison from those beans must be intended for something. We won't let them be taken elsewhere. Tomorrow, we should get rid of them." Jim asked for a map of the plantation to be drawn for him. Phileas set one up on the ground. Together they settled on a plan before waking Jules and Matt to take the watch.

The next morning, with the American agents in charge, the League base was quietly invaded. The eight broke up into two groups to start their work. But a major complication interfered with Jim West's plans. Just after breakfast, the cavalry detachment that protected the League rode in the front gate. They came up the drive, riding two by two in formation. Nearly everyone on the plantation pulled themselves from their usual duties to greet them.

West's group, comprising Fogg and the twins, found themselves trapped in an open area of the left side yard. Their part of the plan was to secure the packed wagon, which had been parked by the stable. They expected most of the important records to be packed in it. The second group set to create a diversion to allow them to do it halted in mid-action. The stables were about to get very busy.

West gave a one-word order, "Hide."

They all dove for a thick row of azaleas beside the house.

In front, the cavalrymen stopped in a uniform rank. The commanding officer, Captain Johnson, dismounted with a smile to greet Dr. Loveless and his lady. The doctor greeted the officer warmly, but with a subdued quality when asked to see Commander Tipton. He explained that his former partner had died and of the sufferings they had endured.

"Are there any still sick?" Johnson said. Not for the lost plantation, but for his own men, who had just walked into the disaster.

"No, all the ill are dead now. Those that are recovering are no danger to anyone. Come inside please, I will explain it all over drinks." Dr. Loveless, his lady and the army officer headed into the house. The other soldiers were ordered to disperse into the vacant sentry posts and set up a watch.

After listening in on the officer's greeting, Phileas followed West around to the back of the house, away from the parade of cavalrymen. Matt and Mark let the older men gain the corner first before they followed. That delay in their departure nearly had them captured.

Voices sounded close behind them, coming around the side of the house. They couldn't go back to the shrubbery and would never make the corner in time. Matt grabbed his brother, pointed, and slipped into the back of a lean-to woodshed, ducking behind its tall pile of seasoning hardwood. It was a tight fit for two tall men, but they managed. In the process of settling themselves, they had to evict a snake that had also taken refuge there. Thankfully, it was only a racer, but neither brother wanted it to share their hiding place. Matt grabbed it behind the head and along the body and gave it a good toss over the top of the woodpile.

Two soldiers came by within seconds of the boys taking cover, walking right by the woodshed. They gave the snake they saw crossing the yard a quick look for identification. Once it was declared harmless, they continued to the kitchens for anything they could talk out of the cook.

The English and American agents were not quite on the far side of the kitchen when the cavalrymen rounded the house.

The soldiers had been on this plantation many times in the past and knew most of the soldiers and staff. They did not recognize the two men. One soldier continued through the kitchen door while the other slipped around the side, following the two strangers. Both had their guns drawn. As the soldier on the outside of the house rounded the corner to the back, Fogg and West were just opening the back pantry door. The sound of a revolver being cocked behind them stopped both men in their tracks.

"Don't move," a voice behind them ordered. As they turned to see the cavalryman with his pistol, the second soldier finished opening the pantry door and covered them from the other side.