The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-12-31
CHAPTER IL.
THE sToRY-A MIDNIGHT ALARM.

It will be necessary to precede Captain
Alton and his attendant two hours III our
story and reach the little seaport town OF
Manoa before they do. Manoa, as We
have seen, was ourishing~slLittle~7il-
lape at the time Of wht.f~&e write. 1t
was wedged in between two high bluffs
| of hills y hich were dotted with cedars,
! oaks and other forest trees. Its harbor
was q small bay-too small, in fact, to
be a safe harbor at all seasons, and its
shores were rocky. The scenery was
picturesque. and, to the lover Of the wild
in nature, beautiful. Manoa creek emp
tied into the bay on theI south side of
town.
The houses were built OF stone or wood,
md some were good substantial build
incs. The chief dwell ng-house stood on
an eminence in the north part of the vii
lare-in fact, almost beyond the village
limits. Itwas large, substantial dwell
/ ing. two and half stories in height, and
built Of the gray granite indigenous to
Manoa. This was the home of Captain
John Gatrell, an old retired seaman, the
father of tie young woman to whom
Captain Alton was betrothed.
On the evening of the day on which the
events recorded in our last ,hapter oc-
cured, Manoa presented quite an anil
mated scene. Long lines of earthworks
were thrown up ABOUT the entlre village.
Between three and four hundred men and
large boys, including many negroes as
well as whites, were still busy with picks,
shovels, spades, and oil kinds of imple-
mepts, making the embankment higher.
The works we're constructed with little
regard to laws of military engineering,
but were much better than no defense.
Considering the fact that they worked
without any recognized leader, those men
were doing remarkably we'll.
There was lack of order and organiz-
alton, but the picks, and shovels, and
spades kept diligently picking and dig,
ging away, heavirg up sand and gravel
into large ridges, which were fast becom-
ing breastworks. On the side next to the
ocean, the ground being lower, the earth.
works had been raised eight or ten feet
high Several pieces of artillery, rang
ing from nine to ten-pounders, were
within the works, and long twenty-four
brass piece was mounted on o gun-car-
riace near the highest part of the works.
Order, skill. and discipline alone were
lacking. The men had strength, courage
and coolness.
The sun was just descending over the
western hills when two men mounted on
iaded horses rode down the broad thor
ouehrare winch leo to the village. Tne
picket, instead of hating them, as o
we'll. trained soldier should have done,
set up shout of JOY and waved his straw
hat in the air.
The west embankment was Immediately
covered with excited men, shouting and
huzzahing, as Captain Alton and his
single attendant rode down the hill
through a gap into the works.
They all recognized the Captain, for
these defenders of Manoa weie either
villagers or farmers of the surrounding
country WHO had known Griffith Alton
from boyl ood. They regarded him as a
prodigy and thought him to be one of the
most remarkable military men of the
age. He had always been favorite, and
now they looked rpon him as deliverer
from the clutches of an enemy whose
cruelty md powers had teen magnifed
He1pilapd fold.
- II. old boy. here you -arel'