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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29300.txt b/29300.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4ca588 --- /dev/null +++ b/29300.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8949 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rodney The Partisan, by Harry Castlemon + +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: Rodney The Partisan + +Author: Harry Castlemon + +Illustrator: George G. White + +Release Date: July 3, 2009 [EBook #29300] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RODNEY THE PARTISAN *** + + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: RODNEY BIDS HIS MOTHER FAREWELL.] + + CASTLEMON'S WAR SERIES, + + ---- + + RODNEY THE PARTISAN + + BY + + HARRY CASTLEMON, + + AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES," + "SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES," ETC., ETC. + + + + Four Illustrations by Geo. G. White. + + + + PHILADELPHIA: + + PORTER & COATES + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1890, + + BY + + PORTER & COATES. + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + ---- + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE, . . . 5 + + II.--THE RANGERS ELECT OFFICERS, . . 29 + + III.--DRILLS AND PARADES, . . . . . . 53 + + IV.--A SCHEME THAT DIDN'T WORK, . . 78 + + V.--A WARNING, . . . . . . . . . . 99 + + VI.--UNDER SUSPICION, . . . . . . . 124 + + VII.--THE EMERGENCY MEN, . . . . . . 149 + + VIII.--RODNEY PROVES HIS FRIENDSHIP, . 172 + + IX.--ON THE ROAD, . . . . . . . . . 196 + + X.--COMPARING NOTES, . . . . . . . 218 + + XI.--RODNEY MAKES A TRADE, . . . . . 241 + + XII.--TWICE SURPRISED, . . . . . . . 264 + + XIII.--WITH PRICE'S MEN, . . . . . . . 287 + + XIV.--"HURRAH FOR BULL RUN!" . . . . 312 + + XV.--A FULL-FLEDGED PARTISAN, . . . 334 + + XVI.--THE CONSCRIPTION ACT, . . . . . 357 + + XVII.--RODNEY MEETS A FRIEND, . . . . 378 + +XVIII.--CONCLUSION, . . . . . . . . . . 399 + + + + + + RODNEY, THE PARTISAN. + + + + CHAPTER I. + + RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. + +"So you are going to stick to your uniform, are you? I thought perhaps +you would be glad to see yourself in citizen's clothes once more, and so +I told Jane to put one of your old suits on the bed where you would be +sure to see it." + +It was Mrs. Gray who spoke, and her words were addressed to her son +Rodney, who just then stepped out of the hall upon the wide gallery +where his father and mother were sitting. Rodney had been at home about +half an hour just long enough, in fact, to take a good wash and exchange +his fatigue suit for a sergeant's full uniform. + +In the first volume of this series of books we told of the attentions +our Union hero, Marcy Gray, received while he was on the way to his home +in North Carolina, and how very distasteful and annoying they were to +him. We said that the passengers on his train took him for just what he +wasn't--a rebel soldier fresh from the seat of war, or a recruit on his +way to join some Southern regiment--and praised and petted him +accordingly. Marcy didn't dare tell the excited men around him that he +was strong for the Union, that he had refused to cheer the Stars and +Bars when they were hoisted on the tower of the Barrington Military +Academy, and that if a war came he hoped the secessionists would be +thrashed until they were brought to their senses--Marcy did not dare +give utterance to these sentiments, for fear that some of the half tipsy +passengers in his car might use upon him the revolvers they flourished +about so recklessly. He was obliged to sail under false colors until he +reached Boydtown in his native State, where Morris, his mother's +coachman, was waiting for him. Rodney Gray, the rebel, who you will +remember left the academy a few weeks before Marcy did, received just as +much attention during his homeward journey. Sumter had not yet been +fired upon, but the passengers on the train were pretty certain it was +going to be, and gave it as their opinion that if the "Lincolnites" +attempted "subjugation" they would be neatly whipped for their pains. +Being in full sympathy with the passengers Rodney was not afraid to tell +who and what he was. + +"I am neither a soldier nor a recruit," he said over and over again, +when some enthusiastic rebel shook him by the hand and praised him for +so promptly responding to the President's call for volunteers. "I am a +Barrington cadet on my way home, and I am under promise to enlist inside +of twenty-four hours after I get there. Do you see this gray suit? I +shall not wear any other color until the independence of the Southern +States has been acknowledged by the world." + +Such sentiments as these never failed to "bring down the car," as Rodney +afterward expressed it when describing some of the incidents of his +journey from Barrington, and many of the passengers assured him that he +would be at liberty to put on a citizen's suit in less than six months. + +"The fighting won't amount to anything," said one, who talked as if he +thought himself able to whip the whole Yankee nation alone and unaided. +"It will be over in a good deal less than six months, but you gallant +fellows will have to wear your uniforms a little longer in order to +escort President Davis to Washington. He will dictate terms of peace in +the enemy's capital." + +"If our President will only do that, I will stay in the army ten years +if it is necessary," declared Rodney, and he meant every word of it, for +he was carried away by his enthusiasm. + +A good many foolish notions of this sort were drummed into Rodney Gray's +head during his two days' journey from Barrington to Mooreville. He +afterward had occasion to recall some of them, and to wonder how he ever +came to accept them as the truth. But he kept his word so far as his +uniform was concerned; that is to say, he returned to the closet the +citizen's suit that had been laid out for him, and rigged himself up as +if he were going on dress parade. His mother looked at him with fond and +admiring eyes as he stepped upon the gallery and seated himself in the +easy chair that one of the attentive darkies placed for him; for Rodney +was an only child, and a very fine looking young soldier besides. + +"Yes," he said, in reply to his mother's question. "I am going to stick +to my uniform. It is the color that has been adopted by our government, +and, as I told some of the passengers on the train, I'll not wear any +other until we have secured our independence." + +"Nobly said!" exclaimed Rodney's mother, who was as strong for +secession as Marcy Gray's mother was for the Union. "I was sure you +would not stay at home very long after your State called for your +services. I don't think you will have to wear the gray for a very great +while, but your father thinks he sees trouble in the near future." + +"I don't think so my dear; I know so," replied Mr. Gray, in answer to an +inquiring look from Rodney. "The North can raise more men than we can." + +"That was what the colonel said when I asked him to let me come home," +exclaimed Rodney. "He said, further, that the Northern people are not +cowardly--they are only patient; and that there will come a time when +their patience will all be gone, and then they will sweep over us like a +cloud of locusts." + +"And did you believe any such nonsense?" inquired Mrs. Gray. "What will +our brave people be doing while the hated Yankees are sweeping over us? +Don't you remember our President said the fighting must all be done on +Northern soil?" + +"It takes two to make a bargain," said Mr. Gray, quietly. + +"That's just what Marcy said," exclaimed Rodney. "That boy is going to +get himself into business before he gets through talking. He's Union to +the back-bone, and while I was at the academy he didn't hesitate to +speak his sentiments as often as he felt like it. If he keeps that up +when he gets home his neighbors may take him in hand." + +"I am sorry to hear that about Marcy," said Mr. Gray, thoughtfully. "He +is a traitor and his mother must be another. I wonder where Sailor Jack +stands. By the way, where is Jack?" + +"He was at sea the last I heard, and I suppose Marcy and his mother are +greatly worried about him. And well they may be; for of course we'll +have a big fleet of privateers afloat within a month after war is +declared. But, father, do you think there is going to be a war?" + +"I am sure of it," answered Mr. Gray. + +"And it will be fought on Southern soil?" + +"It will." + +"Well, how long do you think I shall have to wear this uniform?" + +"If you don't take it off until the South gains her independence, you +will have to wear it as long as you live." + +"Why, father!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray, dropping her sewing into her lap and +looking fixedly at her husband, who leaned back in his big chair +watching the smoke from his cigar. "How can you bring yourself to utter +such treasonable language in your son's hearing? You know you do not +believe a word of it." + +"Never fear for me, mother," said Rodney, with a laugh. "I know where +you stand and I am with you." + +"There was nothing treasonable in what I said, and I do believe every +word of it," replied Mr. Gray. "I am as firm a friend to the South as +any man in the state, and will make as many sacrifices as the next one +to secure her independence. Why shouldn't I? Every thing I've got in the +world is right here, and if the South doesn't succeed in her efforts to +free herself, we'll be beggars, the last one of us. I wish from the +bottom of my heart that when our armies get started they might sweep +every abolitionist in the country into Massachusetts Bay; but they'll +not be able to do it. The Union has cost the Northern people so much +blood and treasure that they will not permit it to be destroyed." + +"I reckon the South had about as much to do with the war of the +Revolution as the North did," declared Rodney. + +"And another thing, the Northern people will not fight," Mrs. Gray +hastened to add. "Wasn't it the South that did the most toward whipping +Mexico?" + +"And wasn't it the North that did the most toward whipping England?" +retorted Mr. Gray. "Look here," he added, starting up in his chair when +he saw Rodney and his mother look toward each other with a smile of +disbelief on their faces. "You must have forgotten your history, you +two. During the Revolutionary War the colonies raised two hundred and +thirty-two thousand men to fight England, and of this number the North +raised one hundred and seventy-five thousand, or more than three-fourths +of the whole. Massachusetts gave sixty-eight thousand; Connecticut gave +thirty-two thousand; Pennsylvania twenty-six thousand, and New York +eighteen thousand; while that miserable little South Carolina gave only +six thousand. And yet she has the impudence to talk and act as if she +owned the country. It would have been money in her pocket and ours if +she had been sunk out of sight in the Atlantic before she was made into +a state." + +There were three things that surprised Rodney so much that for a minute +or two he could not speak--his father's sentiments, the earnest and +emphatic manner in which he expressed them, and the items of history to +which he had just listened and which were quite new to him, as they may +be to more than one boy who reads this story. But Mr. Gray was like a +good many other men in the South. He did not believe in disunion +(although he did believe in State Rights), but now that the South was +fully committed to it, he knew that he must do what he could to make the +attempt at separation successful. If it failed, he and every other +slave-holder in the South would be financially ruined. + +"Then I suppose you don't want me to go into the army?" said Rodney, at +length. + +"I didn't say so; I didn't so much as hint at such a thing," replied his +father, hastily. + +"But what's the use of enlisting if I am going to get whipped? I don't +see any fun in that." + +"Oh, we've got to fight; we have gone too far to back out. We must hold +out until England and France recognize our independence--and that will +not be long, for England must have cotton--and then we can snap our +fingers at the Yankees. You can take your choice of one of two things: +Stay at home and look out for your mother and let me go, or go +yourself." + +"You stay and let me go," answered the boy promptly. "I gave my word to +some of the fellows that I would enlist within twenty-four hours after I +reached home, if I could get to a recruiting office, and they promised +to do the same." + +"Very well," said Mr. Gray, "I shall not say one word to turn you from +your purpose, and neither will your mother," + +Mrs. Gray started when she heard these words. She had talked very +bravely about "giving her boy his sword and shield and sending him forth +to battle," and she had thought she could do it without a tremor; but +now that the matter was brought right home to her, she found, as many +another mother did, that it was going to be the hardest task she had +ever set for herself. Rodney was safe at school, hundreds of miles away +from her when she uttered those patriotic words; now he was within +hearing of her voice, and all she had to do was to tell him to mount his +horse and go. She could not do it; but her husband, who believed that +the matter might as well be settled one time as another, continued-- + +"There is an independent company of cavalry camped about a mile the +other side of Mooreville, and I know they would be glad to take you in. +The company is made up of the very best men in the county, many of whom +are your personal friends, and every member has to be balloted for." + +"They are nearly all wealthy, and some of them are going to take their +body servants to the front with them," added Mrs. Gray, trying to look +cheerful although her eyes were filled with tears. "Your father and I +spent an afternoon in their camp, and you don't know how nicely they are +situated--all the luxuries the country affords on their tables, and then +they are so full of martial ardor!" + +"Yes," assented Mr. Gray. "We found it a regulation holiday +camp--nothing to do and plenty of darkies to do it. They were having no +end of fun, lying around in the shade abusing the Yankees. But wait +until they meet those same Yankees in battle, and their blacks run away +from them, and then they have to do their own cooking and forage for +their bacon and hard-tack, and then they will know what soldiering +means." + +"Now, father," protested Mrs. Gray. "Why do you talk so when Rodney is +on the eve of enlisting? You surely do not wish to discourage him?" + +"By no means. I only want to make him see, before he swears away his +liberty for the next twelve months, that he is not going on a Fourth of +July picnic. If he knows what is before him, he will not be surprised or +disheartened when the hard times come." + +"I know a little something about soldiering, and you need have no fears +that anything father can say will discourage me," Rodney said to his +mother. "I have passed my word, and consider myself as good as enlisted +already. Who commands that company of cavalry?" + +"Bob Hubbard is the one who is getting it up, but there isn't any real +commander yet. The boys do just about as they please, and will keep on +doing so until the officers are elected, which will be when they have +eighty men enrolled. Bob says that if they elect him captain, and I +reckon he stands as good a chance as anybody, the boys will have to come +down to Limerick and quit leaving camp and staying in town over night +whenever the notion takes them." + +"Have they seen any service at all?" asked Rodney. + +"None except what some of them saw while they were members of the State +militia," answered his father. "They helped capture the United States +arsenal at Baton Rouge and hoist the Pelican flag over it, and you would +have thought by the way they acted that they had done something grand. +But the work was accomplished without the firing of a shot, the major in +command offering to surrender if a force of six or eight hundred men was +brought against him. By the way," added Mr. Gray getting upon his feet +and tossing aside the stump of his cigar, "I expected you to do just +what you have decided upon, and if you feel like taking a walk around to +the stable before dinner, I will show you the horse I bought for you +last week. Every 'Ranger' (that's what Hubbard calls his men), furnishes +his own horse, the government allowing a small sum for the use of it; +and if the horse dies or is killed in battle, the unlucky Ranger is +expected to get another the best way he can." + +"Where is this company going to serve?" inquired Rodney. + +"I don't know, and neither does Hubbard. They have offered to join a +regiment that is being raised in New Orleans, but the colonel commanding +says he can't take them unless they will give up their independent +organization." + +"Oh, I hope they'll not think of doing that." + +"You needn't worry. More than one Swamp Fox like General Marion will +come to the front before this thing is over, and Bob's company will not +be left out in the cold. I haven't said much to your mother about your +going into the service," Mr. Gray went on, throwing open the door of a +box stall and holding out an ear of corn to a glossy, well-conditioned +steed which came up to take a bite at it. "While she is strong for +secession and very patriotic where other folks are concerned, she don't +want any of the members of her own family to go to war. She thinks they +are sure to be killed." + +"That isn't at all like the women and girls around Barrington," replied +Rodney, stepping into the stall and beginning a critical inspection of +his new horse. "They'll not have any thing to do with a fellow who isn't +willing to prove his devotion to the Confederacy. Where would we get the +men to fight our battles if everybody thought as mother does?" + +"Of course she hasn't said so," Mr. Gray hastened to explain. "She is +too good a Southerner for that, but I know it is the way she feels. What +do you think of your horse? He is part Denmark, and that is what makes +him so gentle; and his Copper-bottom blood shows in his color. Almost +all Copper-bottom colts are roans." + +"He's a beauty," Rodney declared, with enthusiasm. "And as long as I +keep him I'll never fall into the clutches of the Yankees. He ought to +have speed." + +(And the new horse did have speed, too, as Rodney discovered when he +rode him over to the camp of the Rangers that afternoon in company with +his father. He moved as if he were set on springs and showed himself +impatient of restraint; but his motions were so easy that his rider was +scarcely stirred in his seat.) + +"Good-by, my son," said Mrs. Gray, when Rodney's horse and his father's +were brought to the door after dinner, and the two stood on the gallery +drawing on their gloves. "You belong to me now, but I suppose that when +you come back you will belong to your country." + +"Oh no: I can't rush things through in that style." answered the boy. +"I've got to be voted for, you know. But I shall certainly tell Mr. +Hubbard that I am ready to go if he will take me." + +During the ride through the village of Mooreville to the camp beyond, +the only indications Rodney saw of the martial spirit that everywhere +animated the people were the Confederate and State flags that floated +over all the business houses, and the red, white and blue rosettes, +which were worn principally by the women and girls. Rodney was the only +one in uniform, the Rangers not having decided how they would equip +themselves when the time came for them to go to the front. Rodney was +kept busy returning the salutes he received as he rode along, and now +and then some young fellow would rush into the street to shake his hand, +and inquire if he was going up to the camp to give in his name. The camp +was not such a one as the Barrington cadets used to make when they took +to the fields every summer to reduce to practice the military +instruction they had received during the year. There were tents in +abundance, but they were put up without any attempt at order, there were +no guards out, and the few recruits there were in camp seemed to have +nothing to do but lounge around under the trees, reading the papers and +talking over the situation. Rodney thought they might as well have been +at home for all the good they were doing there. + +"This is a pretty way to learn soldiering," said he to Mr. Hubbard, who +promptly showed himself when he heard the sound of horses' hoofs in +front of his tent. "How many men have you? Will you take in my name?" + +"You are just the fellow we want and I wish we could get fifty more like +you," replied Mr. Hubbard, returning the cordial grasp of Rodney's hand. +"The boys will certainly put you in for something or other. We haven't +got down to business yet, but will next week. I suppose that all the +military knowledge we get will be by hard knocks, because, being an +independent company, we cannot call upon any army officer to drill us. +We are studying the tactics all the time, but are in no hurry to get our +uniforms until we know whether or not our services are going to be +needed." + +"Say," exclaimed Rodney, recalling to mind something that had been said +to him on the train a few hours before. "If I were in your place I'd +lose no time in getting ready to march. President Davis is going to +dictate terms of peace in Washington. Wouldn't you like to have your +company escort him there?" + +"Now, that's an idea," exclaimed Hubbard, while the recruits who were +standing around listening to the conversation declared as one man that +they would do and dare anything if they could only have a chance to +present arms to the Confederate President when he walked into the White +House. "The boys will all be here at roll-call to-night and I will speak +to them about it. At the same time I will propose you for membership. +You'll get in, of course, and perhaps you had better report tomorrow +forenoon." + +Although Rodney could not see the use of reporting, seeing that there +was nothing to be done in camp, he promised to be on hand, and rode away +to call upon some of his friends in the village. He found, somewhat to +his relief, that there was not a single one among them who believed as +his father did that the South was sure to fail in her efforts to +dissolve the Union. They all thought as Rodney did--that the Northern +people belonged to an inferior race, that there was no fight in them, +and that the States having made the nation could unmake it whenever they +felt like it. He learned also, to his no small indignation, that his +father did not stand as high in the estimation of his neighbors as he +might have done if he had not expressed his opinions with so much +freedom. As he was about to leave the village for home just before dark, +he encountered an old acquaintance of his, Tom Randolph by name, who had +just returned from the camp. + +"You're in, Rodney," said he, after he had given the Barrington boy a +very limp hand to shake. "To-morrow forenoon we're going to elect +officers and get down to business. Will you be up?" + +Rodney replied that he would, and at the same time he wondered why it +was that Randolph treated him so coolly. They never had been friends. +They took a dislike to each other the first time they met, and the +oftener they were thrown together, the stronger that dislike seemed to +grow. They had always tried to treat each other with civility, but now +there was something in Randolph's way of talking and acting that Rodney +did not like. + +"While you were up to camp to-day did any of the boys tell you that I am +a candidate for second lieutenant of the company?" continued Randolph. + +"You?" exclaimed Rodney, in genuine astonishment. + +"Yes, me," replied Randolph, mimicing Rodney's tone and look of +surprise. "And why haven't I as good a right as anybody, I should be +pleased to know?" + +"I suppose there is no law to prevent you from running for office, but +you don't know the first thing about military matters. If the company +was in line this minute, and you were second lieutenant of it, you +couldn't go to your position unless somebody showed you where it was." + +"Well, I can learn, can't I?" snapped Randolph. "You didn't know trail +arms from right-shoulder shift when you first joined the academy, did +you? The company ought to give me that place, for my father has done a +heap for it with money and influence. Some who are now recruits held +back because they were not able to fit themselves out decently, but +father told them that the want of money need not stand in their way. If +they would go ahead and enlist, he would see that they had horses, +weapons, uniforms and everything else they wanted. He did what he could +to promote enlistments instead of preaching up the doctrine that the +South is going to be whipped and the slaves all made free." + +Rodney knew well enough that this was a slap at his father, but he +didn't see how he could resent it, for it was nothing but the truth. + +"That's why I say that the company ought to make me an officer," +continued Randolph, after a short pause. "I know you are all right, for +I heard how you stood up for the Confederacy while you were at school, +and I'll tell you what I'll do with you: If you will give me your vote +for second lieutenant, I'll do what I can to have you elected third +sergeant. The other places are spoken for." + +"I am very much obliged to you," replied Rodney. + +"Is it a bargain?" + +"Not much. I'll not vote for a man to be placed over me unless he knows +more than I do." + +"Perhaps you want a commission yourself," said Randolph, with something +like a sneer. + +"No, I don't. I never thought of such a thing." + +"Because if you do, I want to tell you that you can't get it," continued +Randolph. "Your father hasn't done half as much for the company as he +might have done, and the boy's don't like the way he talks." + +"Then let's see the boys help themselves," answered Rodney, as he placed +his foot in the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle. "Time will +show who is willing to do the most for the success of the Confederacy, +your father or mine." + +So saying he put the roan colt into a gallop and set out for home. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + THE RANGERS ELECT OFFICERS. + +When Rodney had left the village of Mooreville half a mile or so behind +him, he threw the reins loose upon his horse's neck, thrust his hands +deep into his pockets and thought over the conversation he had had with +Tom Randolph. He had warned his cousin Marcy that the North Carolina +people would be sure to turn the cold shoulder upon him on account of +his Union principles, and now it seemed to Rodney that he was in pretty +near the same predicament because his father believed and said that the +seven seceding States, with two and a half millions of free persons, +could not whip the loyal states and territories with twenty-five +millions. + +"It serves me just right," was Rodney's mental reflection. "I persecuted +Marcy on account of his opinions, and now I am going to have a little of +the same kind of treatment. No one but a red-hot secessionist has got +any business in this part of the country." + +When Rodney reached home he found his father there and supper waiting +for him. He did not mention Tom Randolph's name, but he spent a good +deal of time in thinking about him, and wondered how he would fare if +Tom succeeded in winning the coveted commission. There were many ways in +which a lieutenant could torment his subordinates, and Tom would be just +mean enough to use all the power the law allowed him. + +"I'll not take a thing to-morrow, even if it is offered to me," was the +resolution Rodney made before he went to sleep that night. "I'll go out +as a private and come back as a private, unless I can win promotion in +the face of the enemy. Time makes all things right, and we'll see who +will come out at the top of the heap--Tom Randolph or I." + +The next morning about eight o'clock, Rodney seated himself in the +carriage with his father and mother and was driven to the camp of the +Rangers. It presented more of a holiday appearance now than it did the +first time he saw it, for it had been cleaned up and decorated in honor +of the occasion. The little grove in which the tents were pitched was +thronged with visitors, the Rangers were out in full force and there was +a good deal of "logrolling" going on. All the candidates had ballots +prepared, and Rodney had scarcely set his foot on the ground before he +was surrounded by a little group of recruits, all of whom were anxious +to serve the Confederacy in the capacity of officers. + +"We've got you down for third sergeant," said one. "We've arranged to +push you for that position if you will vote for me for orderly and for +Randolph for second lieutenant." + +"Find out who the other candidates are before you make any promises," +exclaimed another; and then, when no one was observing his movements, +the speaker gave Rodney a wink and a nod which the latter could not fail +to understand. He drew off on one side and the recruit, whose hands were +full of ballots, went on to say: + +"Randolph doesn't stand the ghost of a chance for the second +lieutenancy, and he has good cheek to ask the boys to give it to him. He +thinks he is going to run the company because his father has done so +much for it." + +"And he thinks he and his friends are going to keep me in the background +because my father has done so little for it," added Rodney. + +"Well, they can't do it, and they will find it out when the thing is put +to the test. You have a military education and Randolph hasn't. That's +one thing against him, and his overwhelming self-conceit is another. You +are rather young to look for a commission in a company of men, but you +will come in for the orderly sergeant's berth sure as shooting." + +"I am obliged to those who suggested me for that place, but I'll not +take it," said Rodney very decidedly. "I enlisted for a soldier." + +"Well, what in the name of sense do you call the orderly?" + +"I call him a clerk," answered Rodney. + +"Why, I thought he was drill-master." + +"Of awkward squads--yes," + +"Then can't you see that that is another reason why we need you in that +berth? We all belong to the awkward squad now. You'll have to take it. +We need a drill-master, and must have some one who knows enough to keep +the company's books; and that's more than that friend of Randolph's can +do. I want nothing for myself, for I am not a military man. Hubbard will +come in for captain without opposition. It's the place he ought to have, +for he has done more for us than anybody else, and Odell and Percy will +be the lieutenants. Put those in the box when the time comes." + +Rodney took the ballots that were placed in his hand, and just then some +one called out: + +"Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes! All you Rangers fall in in single rank here in +front of headquarters, and be ready to cast your votes for captain." + +Rodney laughed heartily. + +"That's the deputy sheriff," said the recruit with whom he had been +conversing, as the two hastened toward the captain's tent. "There isn't +much military about that order." + +"It'll do," replied Rodney. "The boys seem to understand it, and what +more do you want?" + +"Now answer to your names," continued the deputy; whereupon Rodney +laughed again. + +"What ought he to have said?" inquired his friend. + +"Listen to roll-call, would be the proper order," said the Barrington +boy. "But it's all right. Guerillas are not supposed to be posted in +such things." + +"But we are not guerillas." + +"Look in your dictionary and you will find that you can't make us out to +be anything else," replied Rodney. + +The two fell in side by side and answered to their names when they were +called. The Barrington boy supposed that nominations would now be in +order, but it seemed that they had already been made from captain down +to fourth corporal. The Rangers were faced to the right and ordered to +march up one at a time and deposit their votes for captain in the +ballot-box (a cigar box with a slot in the cover), beside which stood +the three "inspectors of election" who were to count the votes after +they were all in, and who had been chosen before Rodney arrived on the +ground. When the balloting was completed the company had countermarched +twice, and stood on the same ground it occupied before the ceremony +began. One of the inspectors emptied the contents of the cigar box on +the table, another opened the first ballot that came to his hand and +called out the name that was written upon it, and the third kept count. +The result was just what Rodney's friend told him it would be. + +"There were sixty-five votes cast, and they one and all bear the name of +our popular friend Robert Hubbard," said the inspector and the +announcement was received with cheers. + +"Speech! Speech!" shouted the Rangers. + +"No, no!" replied the newly elected captain. "There are two lieutenants, +one orderly sergeant, five duty sergeants and four corporals yet to be +elected, and we don't want to waste any time in foolishness." + +"Have you got your ballots ready for first lieutenant?" inquired the +deputy sheriff, who continued to act as master of ceremonies. "Then face +to the right again and march yourselves around here and put 'em in the +box. Laugh away, Rodney," he added, smiling good-naturedly and shaking +his head at the Barrington boy. "We'll get the hang of these things +after a while." + +The voting was gone through with the same as before, and there was more +cheering and clapping of hands when the inspector announced that Hiram +Odell had been unanimously elected to the office of first lieutenant; +but following the example of his superior he declined to waste time in +speech-making. + +And now Rodney Gray began to take a deeper interest in what was going +on. The second lieutenant would be voted for next, and Tom Randolph, +whose father had done so much for the company, had had the impudence to +bring himself forward as a candidate. It couldn't be possible, Rodney +thought, that such an ignorant upstart stood any chance of election when +his opponent was so popular a young man as Albert Percy. He stood where +he could see Tom's face, and there was not a particle of color in it. If +he could have looked into the ballot Tom held in his hand, he would have +found that the name written upon it was that of Thomas Randolph himself. +The candidate intended to vote in his own favor and he did; but it did +not bring him the coveted office. When the result was announced he had +just twelve votes. All the others were cast for Albert Percy. Then there +was more cheering, but Tom didn't join in; and neither did he shout out +a responsive "Aye" when it was proposed that the election be declared +unanimous. On the contrary he looked daggers at every man in the ranks +whose eye he could reach; and he could reach more than half of them, for +the line was almost as crooked as a rail fence. + +"That's a pretty way for them to treat me after all the exertions my +father has made and the money he has promised to spend for the company," +said Tom to the sympathizing friend who stood next on the right. "I +believe I'll haul out." + +"Don't do it," was the reply. "Stay in and help beat the rest of that +ticket. It's all cut and dried." + +"Of course it is and has been for some time. I could see it now if I had +only half an eye; but they have been so sly about it that I never +suspected it before. Slip out of the line and tell everybody who voted +for me to vote against Gray, no matter what they put him up for. We'll +show them that they don't run the company." + +"Have you got your votes ready for orderly sergeant?" inquired the +deputy. + +"I'd like to say a word before the vote is taken," said Captain Hubbard, +without giving any one time to answer the sheriff's question, "and that +is, that the office of orderly sergeant is one of the most important in +the company." + +"I wonder how he happens to know so much," whispered Tom Randolph to the +Ranger who touched elbows with him on the right; and in a minute more he +found out. + +"Ever since I began taking an active part in getting up this company," +continued the captain, "I have been in correspondence with a military +friend who has taken pains to post me on some matters that are not +touched upon in the tactics. Among other things he warned me that if we +intend to do business in military form, we must be careful whom we +select for the office of orderly. He ought to be a thorough-going +soldier--" + +"Gray, Gray! Sergeant Rodney Gray!" yelled a score of voices. + +"Very well, gentlemen," said the captain, who looked both surprised and +pleased. "If he is your choice I have nothing to say beyond this: I +shall be more than satisfied with his election." + +"Randolph, Randolph!" shouted Tom's friends, believing that if he could +not get one office he might be willing to take another; but it turned +out that their candidate was not that sort of fellow. + +"I don't want it, and what's more to the point, I won't accept it," said +he, wrathfully. "If any one votes for me he will only be wasting his +ballot, for I am going to leave the company. Do you suppose I am such a +fool as to allow myself to be set up and bowled over by Rodney Gray?" he +added in an undertone, in response to a mild protest from his friend on +the right. "His supporters are in the majority and no one else need look +for a show." + +Everybody was surprised to hear this declaration from the lips of one +who had thus far taken the deepest interest in the organization and done +all in his power to help it along, and several of the Rangers leaned +forward to get a glimpse of the speaker's face to see if he really meant +what he said. Rodney glanced toward the captain to see how he took it, +and learned what it was that induced the defeated candidate to take this +stand. Leaning upon his cane just inside the door of the captain's tent +was Mr. Randolph, whose face was fully as black as Tom's, and who nodded +approvingly at every word the angry young man uttered. + +"I haven't been sworn in yet, and am as free to go and come as I was a +month ago," declared Tom. + +"For the matter of that, so are we all," answered the captain, who had +known a week beforehand that young Randolph was sure to be defeated, and +that he would take it very much to heart. "But I considered myself bound +from the time I put my name to this muster-roll. We can't be sworn in +except by a State officer, for the minute we consent to that, that +minute we give up our freedom and render ourselves liable to be ordered +to the remotest point in the Confederacy. We are partisans, and never +will surrender our right to do as we please." + +Captain Hubbard and his company of Rangers were not the only dupes there +were in the Confederacy at that moment. It was well known that the new +government was in full sympathy with partisan organizations; and its +agents industriously circulated the report that it would not only aid in +the formation of such organizations, but would allow them full liberty +of action after they were sworn into the service of their State. The +government knew the temper of the Southern people, and was well aware +that the desire to emulate the example of such heroes as Marion would +draw into the service many a dashing youngster who might otherwise stay +out of it. What could be more alluring to a hot-head like Rodney Gray +than the wild, free, and glorious life which the simple word "partisan" +conjured up? The ruse, for that's just what it was, proved successful. +Partisan companies sprung into existence all over the South, but in less +than twelve months after the war began there was not one of them in the +service. Neither were there any such things as State troops. + +When Morgan and Forrest were first heard of they were known and +acknowledged as partisans; and the former carried his partisanship so +far that when General Buckner declined to give him permission to act +upon his own responsibility, he took possession of a deserted house, +went into camp there, and supported his men out of his own pocket; but +before the war closed both he and Forrest were Confederate generals, and +their men were regularly sworn into the Confederate service. + +We said that the State troops also had ceased to exist, and the +following incident proves it: When the Governor of Arkansas called upon +his troops, who were serving in the Army of the Center, to come home at +once and save their State from threatened invasion, General Beauregard +ought to have permitted them to obey the summons. He could not do +otherwise and be consistent, for if the eleven rebellious States made +the Confederacy, they surely had the right to unmake it. But did he live +up to the principles for which he was fighting? On the contrary he +surrounded those Arkansas troops with a wall of gleaming bayonets backed +by frowning batteries, and gave them just five minutes to make up their +minds whether or not they would return to duty. The government at +Richmond was a despotism of the worst sort, as more than one poor, +deluded rebel found to his sorrow; and yet Jefferson Davis and the rest +of them stoutly maintained that they were fighting for the right of the +States to do as they pleased. + +"I don't consider myself bound to stay in the company for no other +reason than because my name is on that muster-roll," said Randolph. + +"Stick to it and we'll back you up," whispered the recruit on Tom's +right. + +"If I drop out of the ranks will you come too?" whispered Randolph, in +reply. + +"I will, and so will all the rest." + +Being thus encouraged Randolph stepped out of the line and walked off +toward his father's carriage, to which his indignant mother had already +beat a dignified retreat. When he had gone a little distance he looked +behind him and saw, with no little satisfaction, that he was followed by +eleven others who were displeased by the way the election was going. + +They were the ones who had been urged into the company by Mr. Randolph, +who had promised to see them well fitted out with horses and weapons, +and of course they felt bound to follow the example of his son. There +were those who believed that Mr. Randolph would not have taken so much +interest in the company if he had not believed that every recruit he +brought into it would cast a vote for Tom. + +Here was a pretty state of affairs, thought Captain Hubbard, who looked +troubled rather than vexed. He did not care so much for the desertion of +young Randolph and his friends (although the unexpected withdrawal of +twelve men from his command was no small matter), but he did care for +the spirit that prompted their action. It was a rule or ruin policy he +did not like to see manifested at that juncture. He was well enough +acquainted with Randolph to know that he would not be satisfied with +simply deserting the company, but would try in all ways to be revenged +upon every member of it who had voted against him. While the captain was +thinking about it, somebody tried to make matters worse by setting up a +loud hiss, and in an instant the sound was carried along the whole +length of the line. It wasn't stopped, either, until Rodney Gray stepped +to the front. + +"Mr. Commander," said he, raising his hand to his cap with a military +flourish, "I don't want this position. The officers already chosen have +been fairly elected, but I'll vote for Randolph for the next highest +office in the gift of the company, if he can be induced to come back." + +"Haven't you heard him say that he don't want it and won't take it?" +replied the captain. "I think the Rangers know what they are doing. +Proceed with the election." + +"But, Captain, I don't want to be a clerk," protested Rodney. "I want to +be a soldier. Aside from his writing, the orderly has little to do but +loaf about camp all the while, keeping an eye on the company property, +signing requisitions and drilling awkward squads, and that's a job I +don't want. What's more, without any intention of being disrespectful, +I'll not take it. There must be some here who want it, and who can do +that sort of work as well, if not better than I can. If you think you +must put me in for something, let me be a duty sergeant, so that I will +have a chance to go on a scout now and then." + +So saying the Barrington boy made another flourish with his hand and +stepped back to his place in the ranks with military precision. + +"Now, Rodney, take that back," said Lieutenant Percy, with most +unbecoming familiarity. "You are the only military man in the company, +and I don't see how we can get along without you." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do, Rodney," chimed in Captain Hubbard. "You +take the position, and I will promise that you shall go out on a scout +as often as you please." + +The Barrington boy's face relaxed into a broad grin. + +"Captain," said he, "what sort of an organization is this any way--a mob +or a military company?" + +"Now, what is the use of your asking such a question as that?" demanded +the captain, rather sharply. + +"Well, then, if it is a military company, I suppose you intend to be +governed by military rules, do you not?" + +"Of course we do, if we have brains enough to find out what those rules +are." + +"I have no fears on that score; and when you find out what those rules +are, you will see that you have no business to let me go out on a scout +as often as I please." + +"What's the reason I haven't?" exclaimed the captain. "I command the +company, don't I?" + +"You certainly do." + +"And haven't I a right to do as I please?" + +"That depends upon circumstances. Do you intend to remain right here +about home?" + +"Not by a jugful. We're going to belong to some part of the army, if we +have to go clear up to Missouri to find a commander who will take us." + +"Then you will find that you can't do as you please. The minute that +commander accepts you, he will swear you and all of us into the +service." + +"After we have been sworn into the service of the State?" + +"Certainly." + +"I don't believe it," said Captain Hubbard, bluntly. "He wouldn't have +any right to do it." + +The boy's words raised a chorus of dissent all along the line, and +Lieutenant Odell said, as soon as he could make himself heard: + +"You are way off the track, Rodney. What did we secede for if it wasn't +to prove the doctrine of State Rights? If we are going to give our +liberty up to a new government, we might as well have stayed under the +old." And all the Rangers uttered a hearty "That's so." + +"You'll see," replied Rodney, who was greatly amused by the look of +astonishment his words had brought to the faces around him. "A general +would look pretty accepting the services of a company he couldn't +command, wouldn't he, now?" + +"But he could command us," said everybody in the line; and Captain +Hubbard added: "I'd promise that we would obey him as promptly and +readily as any of his regular troops." + +"But that wouldn't satisfy him. He'd want the power to make us obey him, +or we might take it into our heads to leave him when things didn't go to +suit, just as Randolph and his friends have left us. If we should try +any little game like that in the face of the enemy, he might have the +last one of us shot." + +"What do you think of the prospect, boys?" said the captain, pulling out +his handkerchief and mopping his face with it. He was all in the dark +and wanted somebody to suggest something. + +"Look here, Rodney," said Lieutenant Percy. "If you knew our company was +to go up in smoke what did you join it for?" + +"I don't believe it is going up in smoke," was the reply. "I certainly +hope it isn't, for I am under promise to go into the service, and would +rather go with my friends and neighbors than with strangers; but if we +are going to bear arms, we've got to have authority from somebody to do +it." + +"Why, we'll get that from the State of Louisiana," exclaimed the +Rangers, almost as one man. "The State is supreme, no one outside of it +has a right to command our services, and State Rights will be our +battle-cry, if we need one." + +"All right," exclaimed Rodney. "I am here to share the fortunes of the +company, whatever they may be, but I can't take the position you have so +kindly offered me, and I beg you will not urge me further. Give it to +some one who wants it, and I will do all I can to help him." + +"Well, that's different," said the captain, who seemed to be much +relieved. "Fall out and prepare your ballots; and you had better fix 'em +all up while you are about it, so that there may be no further delay." + +The order to "fall out" was quite unnecessary, for the ranks were pretty +well broken before the captain gave it. He allowed them half an hour in +which to write out their ballots, and then the line was reformed, after +a fashion, and the voting went on; and although the results were in the +main satisfactory, there were some long faces among the Rangers. + +"Never mind," said Rodney, who had been elected first duty sergeant. +"You outsiders may have a chance yet. I'll bet a picayune that if this +company sees any service at all, it will not be mustered out with the +same officers it has now. Bone your tactics night and day, and then if +there is an examination, you will stand as good a chance as anybody. +Captain, who is going to commission you?" + +"I have been commissioned already; that is to say, I have been +authorized by the governor to raise a company of independent cavalry to +be mustered into the State service. That is all right, isn't it?" + +"I suppose it is," replied the boy; and then he walked off to find his +father, thoughtfully pulling his under lip as he went. + +"What's the matter?" inquired Mr. Gray, as his son approached the place +where he was standing. "Wasn't the election satisfactory? I thought the +best men were chosen." + +"I wasn't thinking about that," was the answer. "If we are mustered into +the service of the State, we must of course be sworn in. This State is a +part of the Confederacy; and if the Confederacy calls upon Louisiana for +troops then what?" + +"Why, then you would have to go. I reckon," replied one of the planters +who was talking with his father. + +"Yes, I reckon we would: and we'd have to take the oath to support the +Confederacy, and that would take us out from under the control of the +State and make us Confederate troops, wouldn't it? It's a sort of +mixed-up mess and I don't see where our independence comes in. But the +boys seem to think it is all right and I suppose it is." + +But it wasn't all right, and the sequel proved it. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + DRILL AND PARADES. + +When the Rangers had broken ranks, which they did without orders as soon +as the fourth corporal had been elected, the captain and his lieutenants +suddenly thought of something and posted off to find Rodney Gray. + +"Look here," said the former, somewhat nervously. "What's the next thing +on the programme?" + +"Drill, guard-mount and all that sort of thing; but principally drill," +answered Rodney. "If I were in your place I would send for a copy of the +army regulations without loss of time." + +"Where'll I get them?" + +"Write to the commanding officer at New Orleans, and the minute they get +here, turn this camp into a camp of instruction with written +regulations, so that every member of the company may know what is +required of him--_reveille_ at five A.M., breakfast at six, sick-call at +seven, inspection of company parade grounds at eight, squad drill at +half past, and--" + +"Hold on," exclaimed Lieutenant Percy. "You will have to put that in +writing. I never could remember it in the world." + +"You'll have to, and a good deal more like it," replied the Barrington +boy. "It's nothing to what I had to keep constantly in mind while I was +at school. I had to walk a chalk-mark, I tell you, or I'd have lost my +_chevrons._" + +"I suppose the hardest part of the work will be training our horses," +observed Lieutenant Odell. "Mine is pretty wild." + +"No matter for that if he is only intelligent. He'll learn the drill in +less time than you will, I'll bet you. But we'll not need our horses for +a month to come." + +"What's the reason we won't? We're cavalry." + +"I know it; but how are you going to teach your horses the movements +unless you know them yourselves? Suppose we were in line in two ranks +and the command was given "Without doubling, right face." The horses +don't know where to go but their riders must, in order to rein the +animals in their places. See? Oh, there's more work than fun in +soldiering." + +"Well now, look here," said the captain again. "I don't want to take the +boys away from home and shut them up here for nothing, and yet I don't +want to waste any valuable time, for we may be called upon before we +know it. Will you drill a volunteer squad here every forenoon?" + +"I will, and be glad to do it. I hope they will turn out strong, for you +will find that the workers are the men that make the soldiers. I am glad +we've got a drum and fife. You don't know how hard it would be for me to +drill a large squad without some kind of music to help them keep step." + +And so it was settled that Camp Randolph (it had been named after Tom's +father when the Confederate flag was first run up to the masthead, and +sorry enough the Rangers were for it now), was to become a camp of +instruction, and that Sergeant Gray was to drill a volunteer squad every +pleasant forenoon, and spend two hours every afternoon in teaching the +company officers their duties. + +The young soldier had undertaken a big contract, but he went about it as +though he meant business, and in less than a week succeeded in +convincing some of the members of his company that he was just a trifle +too particular to be of any use. The strict discipline in vogue at +Barrington was promptly introduced at Camp Randolph, and not the +slightest departure from the tactics was tolerated for an instant. It +made the spectators smile to see full-grown men ordered about by this +imperious youngster who was not yet seventeen years of age, and the +sight aroused the ire of Tom Randolph, who now and then rode out to the +camp to watch the drill and criticise the drill-master. He wanted to +learn something too, for Tom had an idea that he might one day have a +company of his own. His father suggested it to him, and Tom lost no time +in talking it up among his friends. To his great disgust Tom had learned +that some of these friends were getting "shaky." As time wore on and the +Rangers began to show proficiency under the severe drilling to which +they were daily subjected, these friends began to think and say that +they were afraid they had been a little too hasty in withdrawing from +the company just because Tom Randolph could not get the office he +wanted, and the first mounted drill that was held confirmed them in the +opinion. Due notice had been given of the drill, and the whole town and +all the planters for miles around, turned out to see it. Of course the +horses were green but their riders understood their business as well as +could be expected, and the spectators, one and all, declared that it was +a very creditable showing. + +We do not, of course, mean to say that Randolph and his father and +mother and a few other dissatisfied ones were pleased with the drill. +They were rather disappointed to find that the Rangers could do so well +without the aid of the twelve deserters. They came to witness it because +their neighbors came, one of them, at least, being animated by the hope +that the spirited horses would become so restive when they heard the +rattle of the drum and the shrill scream of the fife, that their riders +could not keep them in line. It was a matter of difficulty, that's a +fact; but the Rangers were all good riders, and if Randolph hoped to see +any of them thrown from his saddle, his amiable wish was not gratified. +Another thing that disgusted Tom was the fact that Sergeant Gray +commanded the drill, the commissioned officers riding in the ranks like +so many privates. The file-closers, of course, occupied their proper +places. + +"If I could afford to buy a horse I would join the company within an +hour, if they would take me," said one of the eleven who had seen fit to +withdraw from the Rangers when Tom did. "I cut off my nose to spite my +face, and so did all of us who got our backs up because we couldn't have +things our own way. But I don't suppose they would take us back now." + +"Would you be willing to have such a fellow as Rodney Gray order you +around as he does the rest of them!" demanded Tom. + +"Why, I don't see what's the matter with Rodney Gray. I never heard the +first word said against him until you took it into your head that he was +going to run against you for second lieutenant. Yes; I'd let him or +anybody else boss me around if he would only teach me how to drill. He's +a nobby soldier, aint he?" + +"Nobby nothing," snarled Randolph. "I'll bet you our company will drill +just as well as they do." + +"Our company?" + +"Yes. You don't imagine that the Rangers are the only ones who will go +into the service from this place, do you? It would not be policy for the +State to send all her best men into the Confederate army," said Tom, +quoting from his father; for although he had been a voter for more than +three years he seldom read the papers, and depended upon others to keep +him posted in the events of the day. "Some of us can't go. Father says +the Yankees will fight if they are crowded too hard, and if they should +happen to come down the river from Cairo, or up the river from New +Orleans, wouldn't the capital of our State be in a pretty fix if there +were no troops here to defend it?" + +"Aw! they aint a-going to come up or down," exclaimed the other, who was +too good a rebel to believe that Union troops could by any possibility +gain a foothold in the seceded States. 'The fighting must all be done on +Northern soil.' That's what our President said, and I reckon he knows +what he was talking about." + +"Perhaps he don't. Fortune of war, you know," said Randolph, who, ever +since his father suggested the idea, had kept telling himself that +nothing would suit him better than to be captain of a company of finely +uniformed and mounted State Guards. "At any rate we are going to prepare +for what may happen. We are going to get up a company, and my father +will equip every one who joins it. If he has a family, my father will +support them if we have to leave the neighborhood and go to some other +part of the State. What do you say? Shall I put your name down?" + +Tom's friend did not give a direct reply to this question. He evaded it; +but when he had drawn away from Tom's side and reached another part of +the grounds (the mounted drill was still going on), he said to himself: + +"No, you need not put my name down. I'm going to be a regular soldier +and not a Home Guard. There must be some patriotic rich man in this +country who will do for me what Mr. Randolph promised to do, and I'm +going to see if I can find him. By gracious? I believe I'll try Mr. +Gray. They say he hasn't done much of anything for the company, but +perhaps he will if he's asked." + +No; Mr. Gray had not been buying votes for his son, for he did not +believe in doing business that way. According to his ideas of right and +wrong the company officers ought to go to those who were best qualified +to fill them; and he didn't want Rodney to have any position unless the +Rangers thought him worthy of it. But he was prompt to respond to all +appeals for aid, and so it came about that in less than a week Tom +Randolph's friends had all been received back into the company, and it +was reported that six of them were to be mounted and armed at Mr. Gray's +expense. + +"That's to pay 'em for voting Rodney in for first duty sergeant," +snapped Tom, when he heard the news. "I'd go without office before I +would have my father do things in that barefaced way. And as for those +who are willing to accept pay for their votes, they ought to be heartily +ashamed of themselves." + +"Never mind," said Mr. Randolph, soothingly. "There is no need that a +young man in your circumstances should go into the army as private, and +I don't mean that you shall do it. I'll make it my business to call on +the governor and see if he can't find a berth for you." + +"But remember that it must be a military appointment," said Tom. "No +clerkship or anything of that sort for me." + +While the Rangers were working hard to get themselves in shape for the +field, Captain Hubbard and his lieutenants had received their +commissions and been duly sworn into the State militia. Nothing was +said, however, about swearing in the company, and when Captain Hubbard +called the governor's attention to the omission the latter replied: + +"General Lacey is the man to look after such matters as that. He's in +New Orleans and you may be ordered to report to him there." + +"How about our uniforms?" asked the captain. + +"Do as you please about uniforms so long as you conform to the army +regulations. Of course your arms and equipments will be furnished you, +and the government will allow you sixty cents a day for the use of your +horses." + +The most of the Rangers thought this was all right, and Captain Hubbard +at once called a business meeting of the company to decide upon the +uniform they would wear when they went to New Orleans to be sworn in; +but there was one among them who did not take much interest in the +proceedings. He did not say a great deal during the meeting, but when he +went home that night he remarked to his father: + +"This partisan business is a humbug so far as this State is concerned." + +"What makes you say that?" inquired Mr. Gray. + +"Just this," answered Rodney. "Why didn't the governor swear us in +himself instead of telling us that we must wait for General Lacey to do +it? The General is a Confederate, not a State officer, and when he +musters us in it will be into the Confederate service." + +This was not a pleasing prospect for the restless, ambitious young +fellow, who had confidently looked for something better, but he had gone +too far to back out. He had told his comrades that he intended to share +then fortunes, whatever they might be, and this was the time to make +good his words. If he had worked his men hard before, he worked them +harder now, devoting extra time and attention to the officers in order +to get them in shape to command the grand drill and dress parade that +was to come off as soon as their uniforms arrived. + +In the meantime outside events were not overlooked. Everything pointed +to war, and news from all parts of the Confederacy bore evidence to the +fact that the seceded States were preparing for it, while the people of +the North stood with their hands in their pockets and looked on. Finally +the long-delayed explosion came, and the country was in an uproar from +one end to the other. Fort Sumter was fired upon and compelled to +surrender--fifty-one men against five thousand--and the Rangers shook +hands and patted one another on the back and declared that that was the +way they would serve the Yankees every time they met them. Then came +President Lincoln's War Proclamation, followed by the accession of four +States to the Confederacy, the blockade of the Southern sea-ports and +President Davis's offer to issue letters of marque and reprisal. All +this while the mails were regularly received, and Rodney Gray heard from +every one of the Barrington boys who had promised to enlist within +twenty-four hours after they reached home. They had all kept that +promise except Dixon, the tall Kentuckian, and he was getting ready as +fast as he could. + +"I have been between a hoot and a whistle ever since I have been home," +was what he wrote to Rodney Gray. "The State was divided against itself, +and I couldn't tell until the 15th, (April) which way she was going; but +now I know. When the Yankee President called for those seventy-five +thousand volunteers our Governor replied: 'I say emphatically that +Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subjugating +her sister Southern States. As Dick Graham used to say, 'That's me.' I +go with the government of my State. Now, then, what have you done? I +shall write the rest of the fellows to-day." + +Billings, the South Carolina boy, reached home too late to take part in +the bombardment of Fort Sumter. and he told Rodney that he was very +sorry for it. Every one of the gallant five thousand who had fought for +thirty-four hours to compel a handful of tired and hungry men to haul +down their flag was looked upon as a hero, and Billings said he might +have been a hero too, if he had only had sense enough to leave school a +month earlier. But he was all right now. He was a Confederate soldier +and ready to do and dare with the best of them. + +Dick Graham, whose home you will remember was in Missouri, wrote in much +the same strain that Dixon did. His State was in such a turmoil and +seemed to be so evenly divided between Union and disunion, that Dick +could not tell which way she was going until he saw Governor Jackson's +answer to Lincoln's call for volunteers. "There can be, I apprehend, no +doubt that these men are intended to make war upon the seceded States," +said the Governor. "Your requisition, in my judgment, is illegal, +unconstitutional and revolutionary in its objects, inhuman and +diabolical and cannot be complied with. Not one man will the State of +Missouri furnish to carry on such an unholy crusade." + +"When I read those burning words," Dick wrote, with enthusiasm, "my mind +was made up and I knew where I stood. I expected some such move on the +Governors part, for when he came into office in January, he declared +that Missouri must stand by the other slave States whatever course they +might pursue. I kept my promise and enlisted in a company of partisans +raised under the terms of the Military Bill, which makes every +able-bodied man in the State subject to military duty. Price is our +immediate commander, but we were required to take the oath to obey the +Governor alone." + +"There, now," exclaimed Rodney, when he read this. "What's the reason +our Governor can't swear the Rangers in as well as the Governor of +Missouri can swear his troops in? I believe he could if there wasn't +something back of it." + +"What do you think there is back of it?" inquired his father. + +"I can't imagine, unless there is some sort of an arrangement existing +between him and the Confederate authorities at New Orleans," replied +Rodney. "The Governor lets on that he is strongly in favor of +independent organizations, but he don't act as if he was." + +Rodney showed Dick's letter to Captain Hubbard, who posted off to Baton +Rouge with, it; but he got no satisfaction there. There had been no such +Military Bill passed in Louisiana, the Governor said, and there was no +need of it, the situation there and in Missouri was so different. The +latter State was exposed to "invasion" (by which he meant that Captain +Lyon's small company of regulars was likely to be reinforced), but +Louisiana was so protected on all sides that Lincoln's hirelings could +not get at her if they tried. + +"Then he wouldn't assume control of the company?" said Rodney. + +"No, he wouldn't. I had a personal interview with him at his own house +and did some of my best talking; but it was no use. He was +non-committal--that was the worst of it, and I--Say," added the captain, +in an undertone, "I have sorter suspected that he meant to turn us over +to the Confederacy." + +"That's what I have thought for a good while," said Rodney. + +"Yes," continued the captain. "So I thought I might as well give him to +understand that we were not going to allow ourselves to be turned over +as long as we remained free men. I showed him your friend's letter, and +hinted pretty strongly that if we could not swear obedience to the +Governor of our own State, the Governor of another State might be +willing to accept us, and you ought to have seen him open his eyes." + +"What did he say?" + +"He said he hoped that I wouldn't think of doing such a thing as that, +but if I did, he would have to revoke my commission." + +"Who cares if he does?" exclaimed Rodney. "Let him revoke it if he wants +to, and you can get another from Governor Jackson." + +"That's what I thought. Now, I'll tell you what we'll do--at least we'll +hold a secret meeting after drill and propose it to the boys. Suppose +you telegraph to your chum's father--you know where to find him and you +don't know where to find Dick Graham and ask him if General Price will +accept our services, leaving us our independent organization, provided +we will take the oath to obey the Governor of Missouri." + +"I'll do it," answered Rodney. "And if you will postpone the drill for +half an hour I will ride into town and attend to it at once. It's the +only thing we can do and keep out of the Confederate army. Dog-gone the +Confederacy. The State is the one I want to serve." + +Rodney rode into Mooreville at a gallop, wrote out the dispatch and +stood at the desk while Drummond, the operator, sent it off. Although +the latter looked surprised he did not say anything; but while Rodney +was on his way back to camp, a copy of his dispatch was on its way to +Baton Rouge. + +In accordance with Captain Hubbard's programme a secret meeting of the +company was held after the drill was over, but it turned out that the +members were not so strongly in favor of the captain's plan as he and +Rodney thought they were going to be. While the Rangers fully determined +to preserve their independent organization, they were not willing to +give their services to the governor of another State. There was a +dead-lock developed at once; and it was finally decided that the best +thing they could do would be to adjourn until Rodney had received a +reply to his dispatch. Perhaps General Price would not take them, and +that would end the matter. If he would, why then, they could call +another meeting and decide what they would do about it. + +The next day their uniforms came up from New Orleans, and on the +afternoon of the day following there was a grand drill and dress parade +commanded by Captain Hubbard in person. The spectators, if we except the +Randolph family, were delighted with it, and Rodney told his father +privately that he had seen many a worse one at the Barrington Academy. +Rodney didn't want to say so out loud, of course, for he was the +drill-master; but it was not long before he discovered that the Rangers +knew whom to thank for their proficiency, and that they fully +appreciated the patient and untiring efforts he had made to bring them +into military form. When the ranks had been broken after dress parade, +and the Rangers and their invited guests thronged into the grove behind +the tents to make an assault upon the well-loaded tables they found +there, the deputy sheriff, the man with the stentorian voice, who was a +private in the company, sprang upon the band-stand, commanded attention, +and afterward shouted for Sergeant Rodney Gray to come forward. As the +boy wonderingly obeyed, the Rangers and their guests closed about the +stand and hemmed it in on all sides. Captain Hubbard had taken up a +position there, and when Rodney halted in front of him and took off his +cap, the latter began a speech, thanking the young sergeant for what he +had done for the company, and begging him to accept a small token of +their respect and esteem. + +"Take it, friend Rodney," said the captain, in conclusion. "Keep it to +remind you of the pure gold of our friendship which shall never know +alloy. And while we sincerely trust that it may never be drawn except +upon peaceful occasions of ceremony, we are sure you will not permit it +to remain idle in its scabbard while the flag of our Young Republic is +in danger, or your good right arm retains the power to wield it." + +The captain stepped back, and the thoroughly astonished Rodney stood +holding in his hands an elegant cavalry sabre. He stared hard at it, and +then he looked at the expectant crowd around the band-stand. + +"Speech, speech!" yelled the Rangers. + +But the usually self-possessed Barrington boy was past speech-making +now. He managed to mumble a few words of thanks, got to the ground +somehow and mingled with the crowd as quickly as possible. + +"How very surprised he is," sneered Tom Randolph, who told himself +regretfully that a sword like that might have been presented to him if +he had only remained with the company. "I will bet my horse against his +that he knew a week ago that he was going to get it." + +Rodney waited four days before he received a reply to the dispatch he +sent to Dick Graham's father, and seeing that the authorities had +assumed control of the wires, and the operator at Mooreville was a +government spy, it was rather singular that he got it at all. It ran as +follows: + +"Price will accept. Company officers and independent organization to +remain the same." + +"I tell you Missouri is the best State yet," said Rodney, handing the +telegram over to Captain Hubbard. "This brings the matter squarely home +to the boys, and they've got to decide upon something this very night." + +And they did, but it was only after a stormy and even heated discussion. +The captain and Rodney carried their point but it was by a very small +majority of votes; and the former, believing it advisable to strike +while the iron was hot, took one of his lieutenants and started for New +Orleans to engage passage for his company to Little Rock. It was at this +juncture that Rodney wrote that letter to his cousin Marcy Gray, a +portion of which we gave to the reader in the first volume of this +series. You will remember that he spoke with enthusiasm of the "high old +times" he expected to have "running the Yankees out of Missouri." Well, +he had all the opportunities he wanted, but they were not brought about +just as he thought they were going to be. + +The captain and his lieutenant were gone two days, and came back to +report that the steamers were all so busy with government business that +it would be a week or more before they could get transportation; but the +captain had left instructions with his cotton-factor who would keep his +eyes open, and telegraph him when to expect a boat at Baton Rouge +landing. In the meantime the harder they worked the less they would have +to learn when they reached the Army of the West. That very afternoon +they had a great surprise. The Rangers were going through a mounted +drill, acquitting themselves very creditably they thought, when some one +in the ranks became aware that they had a distinguished visitor in the +person of the Governor of the State, who sat in a carriage looking on. +Beside him was a little, dried-up, cross-looking man in fatigue cap and +soiled linen duster, who kept making loud and unfavorable comments upon +the drill, although he did not look as though he knew anything about it. +As soon as Captain Hubbard learned that the Governor was among the +spectators, he brought the Rangers into line and rode up to the carriage +and saluted. + +"Well, captain," said the Governor, nodding in response to the salute. +"I am glad to see that you are hard at work and that your men are +rapidly improving. Have you a copy of your muster-roll handy?" + +The captain replied that he had and the Governor continued-- + +"Then be good enough to produce it and hand it to this officer who will +muster you in. I am not going to let such a body of men as you are go +out of the State if I can help it." + +"Shall I dismount the men, sir?" asked the captain, addressing the +cross-looking little man, who arose to his feet and shook himself +together as if he were getting ready for business. + +"No," was the surly reply. "We'll drive up in front of the company and I +can call the roll while standing in the carriage. It'll not take ten +minutes and then you can go on with your drill. I see you need it bad +enough." + +Captain Hubbard, who was so angry that he forgot to salute, wheeled his +horse and rode back to the company. + +"Orderly," said he, in an undertone. "Get a copy of your muster-roll and +give it to that old curmudgeon in the carriage. He's going to try to +muster us in but I doubt if he knows enough. I am glad to see him, +however, for when he gets through with us, we shall know right where we +stand." + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + A SCHEME THAT DIDN'T WORK. + +"Say," exclaimed Rodney Gray excitedly, as Captain Hubbard took his +place on the right of the company and the orderly galloped off to his +tent. "Who is that old party in the Governor's carriage?" + +"You can't prove it by me," answered the captain. "I never saw him +before, but I know he's a mighty cross-grained old chap." + +"May I leave the ranks a minute?" continued Rodney. + +"Of course not. What would the Governor think?" + +"I don't care a picayune what he thinks," replied Rodney, his excitement +increasing as the Governor's carriage began to circle around toward the +front and center of the company. "If that man in the fatigue cap and +duster isn't General Lacey, all the descriptions I have heard of him are +very much at fault." + +"And do you really believe," began the captain, who was profoundly +astonished. + +"I don't believe, I know that he means to muster us into the Confederate +service," interrupted Rodney. "Hold on a minute before you do a thing or +let a man answer to his name. My father knows him by sight." + +Without again asking permission to leave his place, Rodney put his horse +in motion and rode over to the tree under whose friendly shade Mr. Gray +was sitting while he watched the drill. + +"Father," said he, speaking rapidly and panting as if he had been +running instead of riding, "who is that in the carriage with the +Governor? Is it General Lacey?" + +Mr. Gray nodded and looked up at his son as if to ask him what he was +going to do about it. + +"Well, he has come here to muster us in, and the orderly has gone after +the roll-book," continued Rodney. "The general is a Confederate officer, +and if we let him muster us in, he will make Confederate soldiers of us, +won't he?" + +"That's the way it looks from where I sit," answered Mr. Gray. + +"It's the way it looks from where I sit too, and I just won't have any +such trick played upon me," said Rodney, hotly. "I know what I want and +what I want to do; and as long as I am a free man, nobody shall make me +do anything else." + +"Are you going to back out?" + +"I am. I'll not answer to my name when it is called. I'll go back and +put the other fellows on their guard, and then I'll fall out." + +So saying Rodney wheeled his horse and returned to his company, which he +found in a state of great excitement. The ranks were kept pretty well +aligned (the horses knew enough to look out for that now), but the men +were twisting about in their saddles, each one comparing notes with +every one else whose ears he could reach. When Rodney rode up they all +turned to look at him and listen to his report, regardless of the fact +that the little man in the brown ulster was standing up in the +Governor's carriage shouting "Attention!" at the top of his wheezy +little voice. + +"Mind what you are doing, boys," said Rodney, as he rode slowly along +the line behind the rear rank. "That's General Lacey. Don't answer to +your names unless you want to be sworn into the Confederate service." + +"But what shall we do?" inquired one or two of the timid members, who +thought they might be obliged to answer whether they wanted to or not. + +"Keep mum and say nothing," replied Rodney. "Watch me and do as I do. My +name is second on the roll." + +"Are you ever going to come to attention so that I can get through with +my business and go back where I belong?" yelled the general, as soon as +he could make himself heard. "A pretty lot of soldiers you are; but I +warn you that you will have to mind better than this when you reach the +camp of instruction, to which I shall immediately order you. Attention +to roll-call! George Warren!" + +"He--er--here!" replied the orderly, hesitatingly. + +The Rangers were amazed, and Captain Hubbard glared at the frightened +sergeant as though he had half a mind to knock him out of his saddle. +The captain had told the man in the most emphatic language not to answer +to his name, and yet he had gone and given away his liberty for the next +twelve months. It served him right for being so stupid. + +"You blockheads don't seem to understand what I want and what I am +trying to do," shouted the general, wrathfully. "All you who volunteer +for the Confederate service answer to your names, and speak up so that I +can hear you. I hope that is sufficiently plain. _George Warren!_" + +The Rangers, one and all, drew a long breath of relief and felt like +giving a hearty cheer. Their comrade had most unexpectedly been allowed +a chance for escape, and he was sharp enough to take advantage of it. He +kept his eyes straight to the front and said nothing. The general looked +surprised, but as he was in a great hurry he passed on to the next. + +"Rodney Gray!" + +This time there was no mistaking the answer. The sergeant moved from his +place on the left of the line, rode to the center of the company, came +to a front and saluted. The general opened his lips to tell him that he +needn't come to the front and center in order to answer to his name, but +the Barrington boy was too quick for him. + +"General," said he, while all the Rangers strained their ears to catch +his words. "I am ready at any time to be sworn into the service of my +State, but I do not wish to join the Confederate army. I am a Partisan +Ranger." + +"A--a--_what?_" vociferated the general, now thoroughly aroused. He was +a Mexican veteran, a thorough soldier as well as a martinet, and he had +never learned to recognize any organizations outside of the regular +service. + +"A Partisan Ranger," repeated Rodney, who was neither embarrassed nor +angered by the covert sneer contained in the general's words. + +"A Ranger!" exclaimed the general, raising his hands in the air and +turning his eyes toward the clouds. "Shade of the great and good +Washington! what are we coming to? A partisan! And are you all +partisans?" + +"Yes sir, we are; and until very recently we have been encouraged to +believe that we could preserve our independent organization." + +"You were, eh? Then you had better organize yourselves into Home Guards +at once and I will go back to New Orleans. Partisan Rangers!" said the +general, who seemed unable to get the obnoxious words out of his mind. +"There's your roll-book. Drive on, coachman." + +The general flung the book on the ground at the feet of Rodney's horse, +threw himself back in his seat and the carriage moved rapidly away. The +Rangers sat motionless in their saddles until it passed through the gate +and disappeared behind the trees in the grove, and then they turned and +looked at one another. + +"We know where we stand now at all events," said Captain Hubbard, riding +up in front of the line, and throwing his right leg over the horn of his +saddle in a position most unbecoming a commanding officer. "My +commission will be taken from me, and you fellows will be reduced to +plain, every-day citizens once more. We might as well quit this nonsense +now, and I say, let's pack up and go home." + +"I'll go, but I'll not promise to stay there," said Rodney. + +"Where will you go?" + +"Up to Missouri. I have set my heart on being a partisan, and if my own +State won't take me, I have a perfect right to offer my valuable +services to another. I shall start for Baton Rouge to-morrow, and I and +my horse will take passage on the first St. Louis boat that comes +along." + +"Hear, hear!" shouted some of the. Rangers. + +"Let's go in a body," said one. "We have the assurance that our services +will be accepted, that the officers we have elected will be retained, +that our plan of organization will not be interfered with, and what more +could we ask for?" + +"That won't suit me," another declared. "I don't want to leave my +State." + +"How are you going to help yourself?" demanded Rodney. "If you join the +Confederate army you are liable to be ordered up to Virginia or down to +Florida. And you know as well as I do what the people around here will +think of you if you make up your mind to stay at home." + +"Let's take the sense of the company on it," suggested Lieutenant +Percy. + +"All right," answered the captain. "Put the thing in the form of a +motion and I will." + +This was quickly done, and to Rodney's great disappointment, though not +much to his surprise, the proposition was defeated by a large majority. +The Rangers were opposed to deserting their State in a body and going +into another. + +"I'll not stay at home, and that's all there is about it," said one of +the Rangers who had voted with the minority. "Does anybody here know +what course we _do_ want to pursue? I have my doubts; and in order to +test the matter I move you, Mr. Commander, that we offer ourselves as a +company to the Confederate States." + +The motion was received with such a howl of dissent that if there was a +second to it the captain did not hear it. Some of the Rangers, to show +what they thought of the proposition, backed their horses out of the +ranks and rode away. Among them was Rodney, who returned to the tree +under which his father was sitting. + +"Isn't it rather unusual for a cavalry company to hold a business +meeting on horseback?" inquired the latter, as the boy swung himself +from his saddle. "There seems to be a big difference of opinion among +the members, and you look as though things hadn't gone to suit you. What +have you decided to do?" + +"Nothing as a company," replied Rodney. "In fact we are not a company +any longer. It is every one for himself now." + +"What do you mean by that? Have you disbanded?" + +Rodney explained the situation in a few words, adding that he thought he +might as well be riding toward home so as to spend all the time he could +with his mother, for he was going away bright and early on the following +morning. Mr. Gray looked very sober and thoughtful when he heard these +words. + +"I'd rather you would stay at home," said he. + +"And I would much prefer to stay, but I will not go into the service of +the Confederacy. This State is an independent Commonwealth now, and is +entitled to, and has a right to demand the best service I can give her; +but who cares for the Confederacy? I think less of it than I did this +morning, for one of its officers tried to rope us in without our +consent." + +That was Rodney's first experience with the duplicity and utter lack of +fair dealing that characterized all the actions of the Confederate +authorities, but it was by no means the last. We shall speak of this +again when we see him coming down the Arkansas River, bound for the Army +of the Center, a Confederate soldier in spite of himself. + +Having given his comrades plenty of time to vote upon the last +proposition submitted to them that they should offer themselves as a +company to the Confederate States Rodney got upon his horse again and +rode back to see if they had determined upon any particular course of +action, but from all he could learn the matter was far from being +settled. Some wanted to do one thing and some were in favor of doing +another; but finding at last that they could not agree, they began +drawing away by twos and threes, and finally Rodney Gray was left alone +with the commissioned officers. + +"I am at my wit's end," declared Captain Hubbard, whose face wore a most +dejected look. "We don't want to remain at home, and neither do we +desire to put ourselves under the control of such a man as General +Lacey; but there's nothing else we can do, unless we go up to Missouri. +Were you really in earnest when you said you intended to start oft +tomorrow?" he added, addressing himself to Rodney. "Your decision was +made on the spur of the moment, wasn't it?" + +"Well, no. I made up my mind some time ago that there was going to be a +hitch of some sort in our arrangements, and laid my plans accordingly." + +"How are you going to work it to reach Price's army?" inquired +Lieutenant Percy. "Don't you know that there have been rioting and +bloodshed in St. Louis, and that the Dutchmen have got control of the +city?" + +"Of course; but that's all over now. I shall telegraph to Dick Graham's +father that I am coming, and trust to luck when I reach St. Louis. +Perhaps he can make it convenient to meet me there; if not, I have a +tongue in my head and a good horse to ride, and I have no fears but that +I shall get through." + +"Well, I'll tell you what's a fact," said Lieutenant Odell. "You can go +alone for all of me. There's altogether too much danger in the step. +You'll never get through the lines without a pass, and how are you going +to get it? The first thing you know you will be arrested and shoved into +jail." + +"I have thought of that," answered Rodney, calmly, "but I'll take my +chances on it. It's go there or stay home, and I have decided to go. +Good-by, if I don't see you again, and if you hear any of the boys say +that they would like to go with me, send them up to the house." + +This was said in the most matter of fact way, as if Rodney were going to +ride to Baton Rouge one day and come back the next; but they all knew +that the parting was for a longer time than that, and each officer +thrust his hand into his pocket to find something that would do for a +keepsake. Odell handed over a big jack-knife with the remark that the +sergeant might find it useful in cutting bacon or breaking up his +hard-tack, so that he could crumb it into his coffee. Percy gave him a +ring which he drew from his own finger, and the captain presented him +with a twenty-dollar gold piece. Then they shook hands with him once +more and saw him ride away. + +"It's like parting from a younger brother," said the captain, +sorrowfully. "I don't see how his father can let him go. But he's got +nerve enough to carry him through any scrape he is likely to get into, +and besides he is going among friends." + +"But he's got the enemy's lines to pass before he can get among friends, +and that's one thing that worries me," observed the first lieutenant. +"What a determined fellow he is. He ought to make a good soldier." + +"Didn't I tell you that that company of Rangers would never amount to a +row of pins?" exclaimed Tom Randolph, when the members rode straggling +into town that afternoon, and reported that their organization had been +knocked into a cocked hat by General Lacey's attempt to muster it into +the service of the Confederacy. "I knew by the way the election went +that it would bust up sooner or later, and I am heartily glad of it. Now +they've got to go into the army, and if I get the second lieutenant's +commission I am working for, perhaps I shall be placed over some of the +fellows who voted against me. So Gray is going to Missouri, is he? Good +riddance. He'll have to go in as private, and that will bring him down a +peg or two." + +Yes, Rodney calculated to go in as private if he got in at all, but the +prospect did not in the least dampen his ardor. Contrary to his +expectations his mother did not say one word to turn him from his +purpose; but good Southerner that she was, she heartily condemned the +circumstances which, according to her way of thinking, made the parting +necessary. + +"I wish the _Mayflower_ had been sunk fathoms deep in the ocean before +she ever touched Plymouth Rock," she said to her husband. "The spirit of +intolerance those Puritans brought over here with them is what is taking +our boy from us now. No punishment that I can think of would be too +severe for them." + +Rodney lived in hopes that some of the company would ride out to see him +during the course of the evening, but midnight came without bringing any +of them, and the disappointed Barrington boy, giving his mother the last +good-night kiss he imprinted upon her lips for more than fifteen long +months, went to bed satisfied that he was to be left to work out his own +destiny, with no Mooreville friend to encourage or advise him. He slept +but little, but appeared at the breakfast table as fresh as a daisy +and--dressed in citizen's clothing. + +"This is a pill I don't like to swallow," said he, opening his coat and +looking down at himself. "I said I wouldn't take off my gray uniform +until the South had gained her independence; but I didn't know at the +time that I would find it necessary to pass through the enemy's lines. +Don't look so sober, mother. I just know I shall come out all right. +I'll surely write when I reach St. Louis, and again the very day I find +Dick Graham." + +That was not a cheerful breakfast table, although every one tried to +make it so. Before the meal was half over the family carriage, with +Rodney's small trunk inside and his horse hitched behind, drew up at the +door, and a crowd of weeping servants gathered about the foot of the +wide stone steps to bid "young moster" good-by. Rodney saw it all +through the window, and when he got ready to start stood not on the +order of going, but cut short the parting and went at once. He arose +from his chair before he had finished his second cup of coffee, put on +his hat and light overcoat and turned toward his mother. + +"Good-by, my dear boy," she said, in tones so firm and cheerful that +Rodney was astonished. "Whatever fate may have in store for me, I hope I +shall never hear that you failed to do your duty as a soldier." + +There were no tears in her eyes--she was past that now--but didn't she +suffer? + + "The mother who conceals her grief + While to her breast her son she presses, + Then breathes a few brave words and brief + Kissing the patriot brow she blesses, + With no one but her secret God + To know the pain that weighs upon her-- + Sheds holy blood as e'er the sod + Received on Freedom's field of honor!" + +How many such partings there were all over this fair land of ours, +brought about by the ambition of demagogues so few in number that we can +count them on our fingers! + +Rodney's heart was so full that he could not reply to his mother's brave +words. Now that the test had come he found that he had less fortitude +than she had. He gave her one kiss, gently disengaged himself from her +clinging arms and bolted for the door. + +"De good Lawd bless young moster an' bring him safe back," cried the +tearful blacks, when he appeared at the top of the steps. "Dem +babolitionists aint got no call to come down here an' take him away from +us. We-uns never done nuffin' to dem." + +"That's just what I say," answered Rodney. "And I am going to help lick +them for bringing on this trouble when we wanted peace. Good-by, one and +all. I'll be back as soon as we have run the Yankees out of Missouri, +and that will not take more than two or three months." + +Rodney tried to get into the carriage, but the black hands that were +extended to him from every side barred his way, and much against his +will he was obliged to linger long enough to give each of them a hasty +grasp and shake. The only one who stood aloof was the black boy who had +been Rodney's playmate when the two wore pinafores, and he leaned +against the corner of the house and howled piteously. Rodney felt +relieved when the coachman banged the door of the carriage and mounted +to his seat and drove off. His only traveling companion was his father, +who intended to remain in Baton Rouge until he had seen the boy start on +his way up the river. + +It was dark when they reached the city, and after Rodney's horse and his +trappings had been left at a stable (civilian trappings they were too, +for Rodney was afraid that a military saddle and bridle would attract +attention and lead to inquiries that he might not care to answer), the +coachman drove them to the house of a friend where they were to find +entertainment until a St. Louis boat appeared. + +"I am glad you did not go to a hotel," said their host, when he had +given them a cordial welcome. "I heard last night that your entire +company was going up the river, and that the authorities were thinking +strongly of putting the last one of you under arrest." + +Rodney and his father were speechless with astonishment. + +"What business would they have to put us in arrest?" exclaimed the +former, as soon as he found his tongue. + +"How did the authorities learn that the Rangers had any notion of going +up the river?" asked Mr. Gray. + +"I am sure I don't know," answered the host. "But it was currently +reported on the street yesterday afternoon that the Mooreville company +had mutinied, and that the Baton Rouge Rifles might have to go out there +and bring them to a sense of their duty." + +"Well, if that isn't the most outrageous falsehood that was ever +circulated about a lot of honest men I wouldn't say so," exclaimed +Rodney, who had never in his life been more amazed. "We didn't mutiny. +We simply refused to be sworn into the service of the Confederate +States, and that was something we had a right to do. I will tell you how +that story got abroad," he added, suddenly. "There's some one in +Mooreville who wants to get us into trouble, and I think I know who it +is." + +At this moment the door was softly opened and a darkey put his head into +the room to announce: + +"Da's a gentleman in de back pa'lor wants to see Moster Rodney." + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + A WARNING. + +"A gentleman to see me?" repeated Rodney, his surprise and indignation +giving place to a feeling of uneasiness. "Who is he? What's his name?" + +"I dunno, sah," replied the servant. "I never seen him round here +afore." + +Wondering who the visitor could be and how he knew where to find him, +seeing that he and his father had not been in that house more than half +an hour, the Harrington boy arose and followed the servant into the back +parlor. Whom he expected to meet when he got there it is hard to tell, +but it is certain that he felt greatly relieved when he found that the +visitor was a Mooreville boy--a "student" in the telegraph office. His +uneasy feelings vanished at once only to return with redoubled force +when Griffin--that was the visitor's name--said in a loud, earnest +whisper: + +"Shut the door tight and come up close so that you can hear every word I +say. I am liable to get myself into the worst kind of a scrape by trying +to befriend you." + +"The door is all right, and besides there are no eavesdroppers in this +house," answered Rodney. "What in the world is the matter, and why are +you likely to get yourself into trouble by coming here?" + +"Have you heard anything since you have been in town?" asked Griffin, in +reply. "I don't suppose any one will bother you, seeing that you are +alone, but if your whole company had tried to go, you might have been +stopped. If you hadn't, it wouldn't have been Randolph's fault." + +"There now," thought Rodney. "I said there was some one in Mooreville +who wanted to get us into trouble, and Tom Randolph was the very fellow +who came into my mind." + +But he said nothing aloud. How did he know that young Randolph was the +only enemy he had in Mooreville? He looked hard at Griffin and dropped +into the nearest chair. + +"Randolph is down on everybody who voted against him for second +lieutenant," continued Griffin, "and he declared when he came home after +the election that he would break up that company of Rangers if he could +find any way to do it." + +"He laid out a pretty big job for himself," said Rodney, when his +visitor paused. "How did he think he would go to work to accomplish +it?" + +"Any way and every way. He didn't care so long as he broke it up. You +can't imagine how tickled he was when he heard that you had mutinied and +refused to be sworn in." + +"Did Randolph start that ridiculous story about the mutiny?" inquired +Rodney. + +"I don't know whether he set it going or not, but he helped it along all +he could and had a good deal to say about it," answered Griffin. +"Yesterday afternoon I was in the office when he came in and wrote a +dispatch to the Governor; and as I have got so that I can read by sound, +I had no trouble in spelling it out when Drummond the operator sent it +off. I always do that for practice. Between you and me that Drummond is a +fellow who ought to be booted out of that position. He's just too mean +to be of any use." + +"What was in the dispatch?" asked Rodney. + +"It contained the information that the Rangers had mutinied and were +about to leave the State in a body." + +"That was a lie and Randolph knew it," said Rodney, hotly. "But even if +we had decided to leave the State in a body, is there any law to prevent +it? Such a thing was proposed, but it was voted down by a big majority, +and that is why I am obliged to go alone." + +"And that brings me to what I want to tell you," said the operator. "I +didn't pay very much attention to that dispatch, although Drummond said +that if you tried to go up the river you ought to be chucked into the +calaboose, the last one of you; but when Randolph came in again that +evening and sent off another dispatch that was all about _you_, I began +to open my ears and think it was time I was giving you a hint." + +"What could he have to say about me? It wasn't I who defeated him for +second lieutenant." + +"No, but you voted against him, and the company gave you the position +you wanted without making any fuss about it, and presented you with a +splendid sword, and all those things made Randolph pretty middling mad, +I can tell you." + +"Did he tell the Governor in his second dispatch that I was getting +ready to leave the State, and that he had better be on the lookout to +stop me?" + +"Eh? No. He didn't send the second dispatch to the Governor. He sent it +to his father's cotton-factor in St. Louis, who is a Yank so blue that +the blue will rub off." + +"The--mischief--he--did!" exclaimed Rodney, who began to feel blue +himself even if he didn't look so. "And what did he have to say to that +Yankee about me?" + +"He told him to watch the steamboats for a Confederate bearer of +dispatches--a young fellow, dark complexioned, slight mustache, dressed +in citizen's clothes and a roan colt for company." + +"It is his intention to have me arrested the minute I get into St. +Louis, is it?" cried Rodney, getting upon his feet and moving about the +room with long, angry strides. + +"It looked that way to me, and that's why I am here," replied Griffin. + +"I appreciate your friendship, and assure you that I shall always bear +it in mind," said Rodney, stopping long enough to give the operator's +hand a cordial gripe and shake. + +"That's all right," said the latter. "I haven't forgotten the winter +when I was down with the chills and couldn't work, and that mortgage of +ours liked to have worried my mother into a sick bed--" + +"That's all right too," Rodney interposed. "I was at school and had +nothing whatever to do with it." + +"No, but your father had something to do with it, and it's all in the +family. I know it is Randolph's intention to get you into trouble with +the Yankees if he can, for I heard him tell Drummond so. And he couldn't +have taken a better way or a better time to do it," continued Griffin. +"If all reports are true, things are in a bad way in St. Louis. You know +there are a good many Dutchmen there, and they are mostly strong for the +Union. During one of the riots they fired into their own ranks instead +of into the mob, and that made them so wild with rage that they are +ready to hang every Confederate they can get their hands on, without +judge or jury." + +"A bearer of dispatches," repeated Rodney, once more seating himself in +his chair. "And did Drummond send off that telegram when he knew there +wasn't a word of truth in it?" + +"Course. Don't I tell you that he's too mean for any use? He and +Randolph are and always have been cronies, and I heard them talking and +laughing over the dispatches as though they thought they were going to +get a big joke on you." + +"What other thing has Drummond done that's mean?" inquired Rodney. + +"Let's talk about something else," replied Griffin, evasively. + +"Just as you please," answered the Barrington boy. "But I shouldn't +think you would take the trouble to come to Baton Rouge and run the risk +of losing your position in the telegraph office, unless you are willing +to trust me entirely. I asked for information and not out of curiosity. +If Drummond attempts any foolishness with you, my father may be able to +checkmate him." + +"Well, then," said the operator, with some hesitation. "You musn't +betray me. Drummond has sent the names of all the Union men in and +around Mooreville to the Governor." + +"Why, I didn't suppose there were any Union men there," exclaimed +Rodney, who was greatly surprised. + +"Of course you didn't. You wouldn't expect one of them to make himself +known to as hot a Confederate as you are known to be, would you? There +are plenty of people at home who don't suspect such a thing, but I don't +mind telling you of it, for you are not mean enough to persecute a man +who differs from you in opinion." + +Rodney thrust both hands deep into his pockets, slid farther down in his +chair, and fastened his eyes on the carpet without saying a word. What +would his visitor think of him if he knew that he had been mean enough +to do just that very thing that in order to punish his cousin for his +Union sentiments and drive him away from the academy, he had written a +letter to Budd Goble which came within an ace of bringing Marcy Gray a +terrible beating? The matter came vividly to Rodney's recollection now, +and he would have given everything he ever hoped to possess if he could +have blotted out that one act. + +"Yes, there are Union men in Mooreville," continued Griffin, getting +upon his feet and buttoning up his coat, "and Randolph and his friend +Drummond are laying their plans to bring sorrow of some sort to them. +There was still another telegram which was sent to this place." + +"Was there anything in it about me?" inquired Rodney. + +"It was all about you. In it Drummond asked the operator here to keep an +eye on you if he could conveniently, and send word to Mooreville when +you went up the river and what boat you went on. Then he will send off +another dispatch to that St. Louis Yankee, who will know just when to +expect you." + +"He means to be revenged on me for voting as I did, doesn't he?" mused +Rodney. "I shall not have any dispatches about me, but I don't want to +be arrested. It would delay me just that much, and might make it +impossible for me to get out of the city." + +"Really I must be going," exclaimed Griffin, "or my cousin, who thinks I +came here on purpose to see him, will have his suspicions aroused. Can +you show me the way out? Remember I musn't be seen by anybody." + +The Barrington boy, who was as well acquainted in that house as he was +in his father's, led the way to the front door, and after again thanking +his visitor for the trouble he had taken and the friendship he had shown +in warning him of his danger, he ran down the steps to the sidewalk and +looked in both directions. There was no one in sight; and having made +sure of it Rodney motioned to Griffin, who quickly disappeared in the +darkness. Then Rodney went slowly back into the house and entered the +room in which he had left his father. He told him and their host +everything, even at the risk of hearing Mr. Gray declare that he should +not stir one step toward St. Louis. That was just what the boy thought +his father would say, and he was ready for it, having hit upon a plan +which he was sure would throw his enemies off the scent. + +Rodney's father was as angry at Randolph and Drummond as he was grateful +to young Griffin for the service he had rendered his son, but all he had +to say about it was that he would remember them all. And we may +anticipate events a little by saying that he kept his word so far as +Griffin was concerned. When the Confederate Congress passed that famous +conscription law "robbing the cradle and the grave," that is to say, +making every able-bodied man in the South between the ages of seventeen +and fifty subject to military duty, it did not neglect to provide for +the exemption of those who were able to pay for it, thus proving the +truth of the assertion that the war of the rebellion was a rich man's +war and a poor man's fight. The fact that young Griffin was the sole +support of a widowed mother made not the slightest difference to the +Confederate enrolling officers, who would have forced him into the army +if Rodney's father had not come to his relief. According to the terms of +the law there was one exempt on every plantation employing more than +fifteen slaves. Mr. Gray owned four such plantations and he gave young +Griffin charge of one of them, at the same time handing over the hundred +pounds of bacon and beef that Griffin would have been obliged to pay as +the price of his exemption. Of course this made Randolph angry, and the +burden of his complaint was: + +"Griffin is Union and I know it; and old Gray has no business to shield +him from the conscription in that fashion. My friend Drummond had to run +when the Yankees came here, and now he is starving in the Confederate +army; and is this Griffin any better than Drummond? _My_ exemption is +all right. My father is free by reason of his age, and I must look out +for the plantation; but Griffin ought to be made to light. I'd give +something handsome to know what made those Grays take such a shine to +him all of a sudden." + +The knowledge that he was watched, and that the telegraph was to be +brought into operation against him, did not keep Rodney Gray awake five +minutes after his head touched the pillow. He slept soundly, ate a +hearty breakfast, and in company with his father took his way to the +telegraph office and wrote a dispatch, addressing it to Dick Graham's +father at St. Louis. Mr. Graham did not live in the city. His home was +near Springfield; but Rodney knew from something Dick said in his letter +that his father was sojourning in St. Louis watching the progress of +events. His first telegram had reached Mr. Graham all right, and it was +likely this one would also. He made a great show of writing it, and even +read it to his father in a tone loud enough for the operator to hear +it. + +"'Will start for St. Louis by first steamer, and shall be glad to have +you meet me at the wharf-boat,'" was what he wrote in the dispatch. "Of +course Mr. Graham can easily find out what boats are due in the city, +and will know about what time to expect me. How much?" + +The operator, who seemed to take a deeper interest in this dispatch and +the sender than operators usually take in such things, named the price +and gazed curiously at Rodney as the latter brought out his purse and +looked for the money. + +"That's the fellow Drummond wants us to watch," said he to his +assistant, when Rodney and his father were out of hearing. "I wonder +what's up? Do you suppose he has been stealing anything? He's got a +handful of gold--big pieces, too." + +"So far so good," said Rodney, as he and his father went out upon the +street. "Now let that Yankee cotton-factor watch the St. Louis +wharf-boats if he wants to, and see how much he will make by it. I knew +I could throw them off the scent." + +"You may not have done it as completely as you think," replied Mr. Gray, +"I shall not draw an easy breath until I hear that you are safe under +Mr. Graham's roof. When you get aboard the steamer be careful what +acquaintances you make. Take warning by what Griffin told you last night +and take nobody into your confidence." + +That afternoon their host learned, through business channels, that the +steamer _Mollie Able_ was in New Orleans loading for St. Louis, and +might be expected to arrive at Baton Rouge bright and early on the +following morning, provided she was not impressed by the Confederate +quarter-master. She came on time, and Rodney afterward learned that he +was fortunate in securing passage on her, far she was one of the last +boats that went up the river. Navigation was closed soon after she +reached St. Louis, and all communication between the North and South was +cut off by the Confederate batteries that were erected along the +Mississippi. The telegraph lines, which up to this time had been used by +both Union men and rebels alike, were seized by the Government; and if +Rodney had been a week later, he would not have been able to get that +dispatch through to St. Louis. But that would not have interfered with +his arrangements, for he did not now expect to meet Dick's father in St. +Louis. He had used the telegram simply to deceive Tom Randolph and the +Baton Rouge operators. + +Rodney Gray and his father, as well as the roan colt and a goodly supply +of hay and grain that had been provided for him, were on the levee +waiting for the _Mollie Able_ when she turned in for the landing, and +Rodney did not fail to notice that in the crowd of lookers-on there was +one young fellow who made it a point to keep pretty close to him, +although he did not appear to do so intentionally. + +"It's one of the operators Randolph set to watch me," he whispered to +his father. "I hope he will follow us up to the clerk's office and stand +around within earshot while I buy my ticket." + +His wish was gratified, for that was just what the young operator had +been sent there for--to find out whether or not Rodney secured passage +to St. Louis. When the latter had seen his horse and forage disposed of +on the main deck he ascended to the office, and there was the spy, +standing with his hands behind his back and his gaze directed across the +river. He stood close to the rail, but still he could hear every word +that passed between Rodney and the clerk; and when the latter turned +away with his ticket in his hand, the spy ran down the stairs and +started for his office to tell Drummond the Moorville operator that he +had seen Rodney Gray pay his passage to St. Louis. + +"Good-by, my boy," said Mr. Gray, when the steamer's bell rang out the +warning that the gang-plank was about to be hauled in. + +"Write to us as often as you can, and remember your mother's parting +words. As often as I hear from you I shall expect to hear that you did +your duty. Remember too, that you are fighting in a just cause. The +North has forced this thing upon us, and we would be the veriest cowards +in the world if we did not defend ourselves. Good-by." + +A moment later Rodney Gray was standing alone on the boiler deck, waving +his handkerchief to his father, and the _Mollie Able's_ bow was swinging +rapidly away from the landing. Young as he was the boy had traveled a +good deal and was accustomed to being among strangers; but now he was +homesick, and when it was too late he began to wonder at the step he had +so hastily taken, and ask himself how he could possibly endure a whole +year's separation from his father and mother. + +"I've played a fool's part," thought he, bitterly, "and now I am going +to reap a fool's reward. Why didn't I stay with the company and share +its fortunes, as I said I was going to do, or why didn't father put his +foot down and tell me I couldn't go to Missouri? Heigh-ho! This is what +comes of being patriotic." + +Then Rodney tilted his chair back on its hind legs, placed his feet on +the top of the railing and fell to wondering what had become of the rest +of the boys in his class, and whether or not all the Union fellows had +been as true to their colors as his cousin Marcy Gray had tried to be. +Some of the Barrington students who were strong for the Union were from +Missouri, and they did not believe in neutrality as Dick Graham did. +They believed in keeping the rebellious States in the Union by force of +arms if they would not stay in peaceably. Had they joined Lyon's army, +and would he and Dick have to meet them on the field of battle? He hoped +not, but if he did, he would be careful to follow the advice Ed Billings +gave his cousin Marcy and shoot high. + +The journey up the river was an uneventful one. The tables were pretty +well filled at meal time, but Rodney could not have been more alone if +he had been stranded on some sandbar in the middle of the stream. His +horse was the only companion he had, and the animal seemed to be as +lonely and homesick as his master was. Rodney visited him a dozen times +a day to make sure that he did not want for anything, and the colt +always rubbed his head against the boy's shoulder and told him by other +signs, as plainly as a horse could tell it, that he was glad to see him. +There was an utter lack of that sociability and unrestrained intercourse +among the passengers that Rodney had always noticed during his trips up +and down the river. Some of them were solitary and alone like himself, +while others, having formed themselves into little groups, had nothing +to do with the rest of the passengers, but kept entirely on their own +side of the boiler deck. Rodney thought they acted as though they were +afraid of one another. This state of affairs continued until the _Mollie +Able_ reached Memphis, where the Confederates were building a fleet of +gunboats, and then a remark made by one of the passengers broke down all +reserve, and showed some of them, Rodney Gray among the rest, that they +had been keeping aloof from their friends. + +"When these boats are completed," Rodney heard the passenger say to one +of his companions, "you will see fun on this river. The first point of +assault will be Cairo, and then we'll go on up and take St. Louis away +from Lyon's Dutchmen. Those Missourians are a pretty set of cowards to +let a lot of ignorant foreigners take their city out of their hands." + +Well, they couldn't help it, and besides, the loyal Germans were by no +means as ignorant as some of the men who fought against them. They were +good soldiers and hard to whip; and it was owing to their patriotism and +courage that such fellows as Rodney Gray and Dick Graham did not succeed +in their efforts to "run the Yankees out of Missouri." And as for the +Confederate gunboats of which such great things were expected, they +were, with a single exception, destroyed in a fight of less than an +hour's duration by the Union fleet under the command of Flag Officer +Davis. The _Van Dorn_ alone escaped, and she was never heard of +afterward. + +When the _Mollie Able_ resumed her journey Rodney waited and watched for +an opportunity to question the outspoken Confederate, for he believed he +could trust him. As he had often told himself, he was "going it blind," +and a little information from some one who knew how things were going on +up the river, might be of the greatest use to him. The opportunity he +sought was presented the very next day. While he was feeding his horse +the Confederate sauntered along and stopped and looked at the colt with +the air of a man who knew a good thing when he saw it. + +"There ought to be some 'go' in that fellow," said he. + +"I think there is," replied Rodney. "But I have never tried him at his +best, and don't expect to unless the Yankees get after me." + +"Well, if you keep on up the river you will go right where the Yankees +are," said the gentleman, who looked a little surprised. "If you are on +our side what are you doing here?" + +"Pardon me, but I might ask you the same question," answered the boy +cautiously. + +"My business is no secret," was the smiling reply. "I am going up into +Ohio after my family. I want to get them home while I can. All our +highways will be shut up after a while." + +"Do you think there will be any fighting?" + +"Lots of it, and I have promised to help"; and as the man said this he +put his hand into his pocket and drew out an official envelope. He +looked around the deck to make sure that there was no one within +earshot, and then produced a printed document which he unfolded and +handed over for Rodney's inspection. "I knew you were a Southerner the +minute I saw you, and have several times been on the point of speaking +to you, for you seemed lonesome and downhearted," he continued "But when +one is about to beard the lion in his den as I am, it behooves him to be +careful whom he addresses." + +"That was the reason I kept to myself," answered Rodney, handing back +the paper which proved that his new acquaintance was a captain in the +Confederate army. "I should think you would be afraid to have that +commission about you. I left all my soldier things at home." + +"I reckon I am safe now, but I might not be a week hence," said the +captain. "Who are you any way, if it is a fair question, and where are +you going?" + +Rodney explained in a few hasty words, and was sorry to hear the captain +declare, as he shook his finger at him: + +"You are making a great mistake. The place for a young man with a +military education is in the regular army; not the volunteers, +understand, but the regulars, who will be continued in the service after +our independence has been acknowledged. I am surprised that your friends +didn't point that out to you." + +"I have gone too far along this road to back out now," replied Rodney. +"We'll get by Cairo all right, won't we?" + +"I think so. There have been no restrictions placed upon travel yet that +I have heard of." + +"How about Cape Girardeau?" + +"That place is garrisoned. You mustn't think of getting off there. How +would you get through the lines without a pass?" + +"Well, I must get off somewhere along the Missouri shore, for it +wouldn't be safe for me to go on to St. Louis." + +"Of course it wouldn't. That Union cotton-factor would have you arrested +the minute you put your foot on the levee. I'll tell you what I'll do," +said the captain, after thinking a moment. "The first clerk, with whom I +have a slight acquaintance, is solid, and I'll make it my business to +ask him if we are going to land anywhere on the Missouri side between +Cape Girardeau and St. Louis. If we are, I'll tip you the wink, and you +can be ready to go ashore." + +"Thank you, sir," said Rodney, gratefully. + +"That young chap has no idea what he is going into," said the captain, +after he had told Rodney's story to some of his friends on the boiler +deck. "It's neighbor against neighbor all through the southern and +western parts of Missouri, and for a week or two past there has been the +worst kind of a partisan warfare going on. How he is going to get +through I don't know, for if he meets an armed man on the way how is he +going to tell whether he is Union or Confederate?" + +There was but one opinion expressed when the captain finished his story, +and that was that Rodney Gray was a foolhardy young fellow. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + UNDER SUSPICION. + +From that time forward Rodney Gray had no reason to complain of being +lonely. Captain Howard--that was the name of his new acquaintance-- +introduced him to more than a dozen gentleman, all of whom were +enthusiastic rebels and firm in their belief that if the South did +not have a "walk over" she would have the next thing to it, for there +was no fight to speak of in the Northern people. They told Rodney that +while they gloried in his pluck, they were afraid he had undertaken more +than he could accomplish. + +It may seem strange to some of our readers that these enemies of the +government should have the audacity to show their faces among loyal men, +and that the authorities should permit them to go and come whenever they +felt like it, but stranger things than this were being done in the East, +and right under the noses of the President and his cabinet. Rebel agents +in Washington kept their friends in the South posted in all that was +said and done at the capital, and Commander (afterward Admiral) Semmes +had made a business trip through the Northern States, purchasing large +quantities of percussion caps which "were sent by express without any +disguise to Montgomery," making contracts for artillery, powder and +other munitions of war, as well as for a complete set of machinery for +rifling cannon, and had searched the harbor of New York in the hope of +finding a steamer or two that might be armed and used for coast defense. +None of these people were molested, and that was one thing that led the +Southerners to believe that the North would not fight. + +Cairo was reached in due time, but there was little in or around the +place to indicate that there was a war at hand except the outlines of a +small fort which was being thrown up to command the river and Bird's +Point on the Missouri shore. There were a few soldiers strolling about +on the levee, and at that time the garrison numbered six hundred and +fifty men. A few months later there was a much larger force in Cairo, +and among the blue coats there was one who was often seen walking along +the levee with his hands behind him and his eyes fastened thoughtfully +upon the ground. He generally wore an old linen duster, a black slouch +hat, and a pair of light blue pants thrust into the tops of heavy boots +which were seldom blacked, but often splashed with Cairo mud. But +everybody stepped respectfully aside to let him pass, and the spruce +young staff officers never failed to salute. It was General Grant. + +Once more the _Mollie Able_ swung out into the stream, and at the end of +half an hour rounded the point below the fort and resumed her journey up +the Mississippi. Now Rodney Gray began to show signs of excitement. +Every turn of the paddle wheels brought him nearer to the place where he +must leave the boat, and the new-made friends who had done so much to +cheer him up since they found out who and what he was, and set out alone +on a journey of nearly two hundred and fifty miles. + +"Being a born Southerner you are accustomed to the saddle, and the ride +itself would be nothing but a pleasure trip; but there are the people +you are likely to meet on the way," said Captain Howard, seating himself +by Rodney's side as the _Mollie Able_ rounded the point. "Are you +armed?" + +The boy replied that he had a revolver. + +"You may need it," continued the captain. "You see the pro-slavery men +and abolitionists are scattered all over the State, and I don't believe +you can find a town or village in it that is not divided into two +hostile camps. That's where I am afraid you are going to have trouble, +and you must be all things to all men until you find out who you are +talking to. Now here are two letters of introduction that one of my +friends gave me for you this morning, and they are addressed to parties +living near Springfield, one of whom is a Union man and the other a +Confederate. You must use them--" + +"Must I ask favors of a Union man and then turn about and fight him?" +exclaimed Rodney. + +The captain shrugged his shoulders. + +"You want to get through, don't you?" said he. "All's fair in war times, +and if I were in your place, and a reference to this Springfield Union +man would take me in safety through a community of Yankee sympathizers, +I should not hesitate to use his name. If you fall in with some of our +own people and they suspect your loyalty, why then you can use the name +of the Confederate. It's all right." + +The captain was called away at that moment, and Rodney, glancing at the +envelopes he held in his hand, was somewhat startled to find that one of +them was addressed to Erastus Percival. + +"I wonder if that can be Tom Percival's father," said he. "If I thought +it was, I wouldn't present this letter to him for all the money there is +in Missouri. He would turn me over to the Yankees at once." + +We have had occasion to speak of Tom Percival just once, and that was +during the sham fight which was started in the lower hall of the +Barrington Academy to give Dick Graham a chance to steal the Union flag +from the colonel's room. We then referred to the fact that Tom's father +had cast his vote against secession with one hand while holding a cocked +revolver in the other. Rodney, of course, was not sure that this letter +of introduction was addressed to this particular Percival, but still he +had no desire to make the gentleman's acquaintance if he could help it. +While he was turning the matter over in his mind, the captain of the +_Mollie Able_ stepped out of the clerk's office and tapped him on the +shoulder. + +"The very best thing I can do for you," said he, "is to set you ashore +at Cedar Bluff landing." + +Rodney was surprised, but it was clear to him that the captain knew who +he was and where he wanted to go. + +"There are only a few people who live there, and they are principally +wood-cutters," continued the skipper. "But they are true as steel, and +you can trust them with your life. I have bought wood of them for years +and know them like a book. I will go ashore with you and give you a good +send-off. We shall get there about ten o'clock to-night." + +Rodney opened his lips to thank the captain for his kindness, but he was +gone. The old steamboat-man sympathized with the South, and Captain +Howard and his friends had found it out, and induced him to do what he +could to help Rodney escape the expectant Yankee cotton-factor at St. +Louis. The boy laughed aloud when he thought how astonished and angry +Tom Randolph would be to learn that he had wasted time and telegrams to +no purpose. He passed the rest of the day in company with Captain Howard +and his friends, nearly all of whom held some position of trust under +the new government, and at nine o'clock, in obedience to a significant +wink and nod from the skipper, he went below and put the saddle and +bridle on his horse. Just then the whistle sounded for Cedar Bluff +landing, and some of the passengers came down to bid him good-by and see +him safely ashore. + +"A boy with your ability and pluck ought to make his mark in the +service, and I wish I could keep track of you," said Captain Howard, +giving Rodney's hand a cordial shake. "But I shall most likely be +ordered East, hundreds of miles away from here, and possibly I may never +hear of you again; but I shall often think of you. Good-by, and good +luck." + +This was the way in which all his new friends took leave of him, and if +good wishes were all that were needed to bring him safely through, +Rodney would have had no fears of the future. When the _Mollie Able's_ +bow touched the bank and a line had been thrown out, a gang-plank was +shoved ashore, and the skipper came down from the hurricane deck to give +his passenger a "send-off." The blazing torch, which one of the +deck-hands had placed in the steamer's bow, threw a flickering light +upon half a dozen long-haired, roughly dressed men who had been brought +to the bank by the sound of the whistle, and who gazed in surprise when +they saw a stout negro coming off with Rodney's trunk on his shoulder, +followed by Rodney himself, who was leading the roan colt. It wasn't +often that a passenger was landed in that out-of-the-way place. + +"Set the trunk down anywhere, Sam, and go aboard. A word with you, +Jeff," said the _Mollie Able's_ captain, beckoning to the tallest and +roughest looking man in the party. "Where's Price?" + +"Dunno. Jeff Thompson has just been round behind the Cape pulling up the +railroad, but some of the Yankee critter-fellers went out there and run +him off," replied the long-haired Missourian. "Last I heared of Price he +was down about the Arkansas line." + +(The "Cape" referred to was the town of Cape Girardeau, and the +"critter-fellers" were the Union cavalry which at that time garrisoned +the place. The "Arkansas line" was the southwestern part of Missouri +where Price raised his army, which grew in numbers the nearer he marched +with it to the Missouri River). + +"That's bad news for my young friend here," said the captain of the +_Mollie Able_. "Springfield is off in that direction, and that's right +where he wants to go. He is one of Price's men, and is anxious to find +his commander. Say, Jeff, you take care of him and see him safely on his +way, and I'll make it all right with you when I stop for my next load of +wood." + +"It's all right now, cap'n," answered Jeff. "He'll be safe as long as he +stays here, seeing that he's a friend of your'n, but when he gets back +in the country--I dunno; I dunno." + +The steamboat captain didn't know either, but he couldn't stop to talk +about it. He had done the best he could to keep Rodney out of the +clutches of that Yankee cotton-factor in St. Louis, and now the boy must +look out for himself. He gave the latter's hand a hasty shake, told him +to keep a stiff upper lip and give a good account of himself when he met +the Lincoln invaders in battle, and shouted to the deck-hands to "let go +and haul in." The steamer gave him a parting salute from her whistle as +she backed out into the river, Captain Howard and his friends on the +boiler deck waved their hands to him, and Rodney was left alone with the +wood-choppers. A Northern boy would not have been at all pleased with +the situation, for they were a rough looking set, and probably there was +not one among them who did not plume himself upon his skill as a +fighter; but Rodney was not afraid of them, for he had seen such men +before. + +"One of you fellers put that hoss under kiver, and stranger, you come +with me," said Jeff, raising Rodney's trunk from the ground and placing +it upon his shoulder. "It's little we've got to offer you, and you look +as though you might be used to good living; but you're welcome to such +as we've got, and we're glad to see you. Now we'd like to have you tell +us, if you can, what all this here furse is about," he went on, when he +had conducted his guest into a log cabin that stood at the top of the +bank, and deposited the trunk beside the open fire-place. "What made +them abolitionists come down here all of a sudden to take our niggers +away from us?" + +"Because they are envious--jealous of our prosperity," replied Rodney, +drawing up a nail keg and seating himself upon it. "They have to work +every day and we don't; and that's what's the matter with them. They +don't care a cent for the negroes. They used to own slaves themselves." + +All the wood-choppers, with the exception of the one who had taken it +upon himself to "put the hoss under kiver," had followed Jeff and Rodney +into the cabin, and they were profoundly astonished by the last words +that fell from the boy's lips. It was a matter of history that was quite +new to them. + +"Where be them slaves now?" asked Jeff. + +"They were given their freedom." + +"Well, I always knowed them Yankees was fules, but I don't for the life +of me see what they done that fur." + +"Oh, it wasn't because they were sorry for the negro," exclaimed Rodney. +"It was because they couldn't use him. They would have slaves to-day if +they could make a dollar by it. You let the Yanks alone for that. Why, +when these troubles began, we didn't have percussion caps enough to +fight a battle with, and Captain Semmes went up North and bought a big +supply; and the men of whom he bought them knew what he was going to do +with them, and offered to make contracts with him to send him all he +wanted and could pay for." + +"What's the reason they couldn't use the niggers up there?" asked one of +the woodchoppers. + +"Because their land is mostly mountains and rocks, and they can't work +it on as a big a scale as we do," replied Rodney, trying to use language +that his ignorant auditors could readily understand. "They gain their +living by catching codfish and herring, and by making things, such as +shoes for the niggers, and cloth and axes and machinery and--Oh, +everything. And the blacks couldn't do that sort of work so that their +owners could make anything out of them, and that's the reason they let +them go free." + +"And because they can't use the niggers do they say that we-uns musn't +use 'em nuther?" demanded Jeff, angrily. + +"That's it exactly," said Rodney. "They are dogs in the manger. They +can't eat the hay themselves and they won't let the critters eat it." + +Although the wood-choppers didn't quite understand this, it was plain +enough to the Barrington boy that they were impressed by his words. + +"And what are we-uns going to do about it?" inquired Jeff, after a +little pause. + +"We're going to dissolve partnership with them--break up the firm and go +into business for ourselves," replied Rodney, throwing so much +enthusiasm into his words that he succeeded in creating some excitement +among the wood-choppers. One, in particular, was so deeply interested +that he pulled his nail keg close in front of the speaker; but whether +he was listening to his words, or making a mental calculation of the +value of his gold watch chain, Rodney did not think to inquire. + +"And do they say that we-uns mustn't do it?" Jeff demanded. + +"You've hit it again," was Rodney's reply. "That is just what they do +say; and they say, further, that they won't give us our share of the +goods. See how they hung on to that fort in Charleston Harbor until our +gallant fellows made them give it up? That fort belonged to South +Carolina; but when she broke up the firm, by which I mean the Union, the +Yanks wouldn't give it up. Who ever heard of such impudence?" + +"I never," answered Jeff. "We did lick 'em sure enough, didn't we?" + +"Of course we did, and that isn't the worst of it. We're going to whip +them as often as we get a chance at them. But what am I talking about. +The Yankees won't fight." + +"Didn't they have a sorter rucus up in St. Louis?" + +"Those were not Yankees. They were Dutchmen--old country soldiers, who +don't know enough about war to keep them from shooting into their own +men. Who's afraid of such soldiers?" + +"We're mighty glad you stopped off here, stranger," said Jeff, at +length. "We didn't rightly know what all the furse was about, and there +wasn't nobody who could tell us, because the steamboat cap'ns who come +here for wood couldn't wait to talk about it. But we know now, and I do +think that some on us had oughter have a hand in making them Yankees +stay where they b'long. I'd go in a minute if it wasn't fur the ole +woman and the young ones." + +"I aint got none of them things to hold me back, and I'll go in your +place, Jeff," said one of the wood-cutters. It was the man who had drawn +his seat close in front of Rodney, and seemed to be so much interested +in the boy's watch chain. + +"Will you go with me and join Price?" asked the latter, eagerly. + +"I reckon I might as well," replied the man. + +"Do you know the country?" + +"Well, no; I can't say that I do. But I know where to look to find the +road that runs from Jackson to Hartsville, forty miles this side of +Springfield, and when you get there, mebbe you'll know where you are." + +"No, I won't," answered Rodney. "I have never been in this part of +Missouri before. I have been in St. Louis two or three times, but when I +got out of sight of the Planters' House I was lost completely." + +"Why, didn't the cap'n of the _Mollie Able_ tell Jeff that you was one +of Price's men? How could you have jined him if you haven't been where +he was?" + +Rodney did not at all like the tone in which this question was asked, +and it was right on the end of his tongue to tell the wood-cutter that +it was none of his business; but on second thought he decided that that +wouldn't do. The man talked and acted as if he suspected him of +something; and if the others suspected him too, they might make trouble +for him. The steamboat captain did say that he was one of Price's men, +and Rodney wished now that he hadn't done it. + +"I suppose I could arrange all that by letter or telegraph, couldn't I?" +was the answer he made, as he produced his note book and took from it +the dispatch he had received from Dick Graham's father, and one of the +letters of introduction that had been given to him by Captain Howard. +These he passed over to the suspicious wood-cutter, rightly believing +that the latter could not read a word of them. "You will see that that +telegram reads, 'Price will accept,'" continued Rodney. "I belong to a +company of Rangers that was raised down the river, and at my captain's +request I telegraphed to Price inquiring if he would take us and let us +operate on our own hook, and he said he would. Read it for yourself. +What are you afraid of?" + +"Nothing much." + +"You see," explained Jeff, who during this conversation had sat with his +elbows resting on his knees and his eyes fastened upon the floor, +"things is getting sorter ticklish down here in this neck of the woods +already. Nobody don't know who he can trust." + +"Don't you believe what the _Able's_ captain said about me?" inquired +Rodney, who had little dreamed that he would become an object of +suspicion almost as soon as he set his foot on Missouri soil. "He told +me you were true blue." + +"And so we are, when we know the feller we're talking to." said the man +who was sitting in front of him, and whom he afterward heard addressed +as Nels. "Now I want you to answer me a few questions: where did you +board the _Mollie Able?_" + +Rodney, who was not at all used to this sort of thing, began to grow red +in the face, but fortunately he did not hesitate an instant. + +"I got on at Baton Rouge," he said. + +"Is that place this side of Cairo?" + +"No; it is the other side." + +"Did you stop at Cairo on your way up?" + +"The _Able_ was there perhaps half an hour." + +"Then I can see through some of it as plain as daylight," exclaimed +Nels, straightening up on his nail keg and shaking his hand at Jeff. "He +was at Cairo long enough to change his clothes, swap hosses and have his +whiskers shaved off; but why he should have the cap'n of the _Able_ set +him ashore here at this landing, beats my time. Don't it your'n?" There +were signs of excitement in the cabin, and Rodney felt the cold chills +creeping over him. The wood-cutters were wofully ignorant, quite as open +to reason as so many wooden men would have been, and if they suspected +him of trying to play some trick upon them, Rodney could not imagine how +he should go to work to set them right. He glanced at their scowling +faces and told himself that he would not have been in greater danger if +he had been a prisoner in the hands of the Yankees. + +"I should like to know what you mean by this foolishness?" exclaimed +Rodney, growing excited in his turn. + +"Mebbe you'll find that there aint no great foolishness about it before +we've got through with you," answered Nels; and Rodney noticed that one +of the wood-cutters moved his seat so as to get between him and the +door. + +"I shall know more about that after you have told me who and what you +take me for," continued Rodney. "Do you think you ever saw me before?" + +"Well, as to your face and clothes we might be mistook," replied Nels, +slowly. "But you had oughter hid that watch chain before you come back +amongst we-uns." + +He reached out to lay hold of the article in question, but the angry boy +pushed his hand away. + +"This watch and chain were a birthday present from my mother four years +ago," said he, taking the watch from his pocket and unhooking the chain, +"and the fact is recorded on the inside of the case, if you have sense +enough to read it, which I begin to doubt. You are at liberty to look at +them, but you mustn't try to get out of the door with them." + +Nels took the articles in question and looked fixedly at Rodney, as if +he did not know whether to smile at him or get angry. He decided on the +former course when one of his companions said, in an audible whisper: + +"You sartingly be mistook, Nels. That abolition hoss-thief was a mighty +palavering sort of chap, but he didn't have no such grit." + +"Is that what you take me for," exclaimed Rodney,--"a horse-thief and an +abolitionist besides? You certainly are mistaken, for I haven't got that +low down in the world yet. Jeff, you are the only man in the party who +seems to have a level head on his shoulders, and I wish you would +explain this thing to me. Begin at the beginning so that I may know just +how the case stands." + +Before Jeff could reply to the request one of the small army of hunting +dogs which found shelter in the wood-cutters' camp set up a yelp, the +rest of the pack joined in, and for a minute or two there was a terrific +hubbub. When it lulled a little the hail rang out sharp and clear from +some place in the surrounding woods: + +"Hallo the house! Don't let your dogs bite!" + +The words brought all the wood-choppers to their feet and sent all +except two of them--Nels and the man who had taken his seat near the +door--out into the darkness. These remained behind in obedience to a +sign from Jeff, and Rodney knew that they meant to keep an eye on him. + +"Who's out there?" he inquired. + +"Don't you recognize his voice?" asked Nels in reply. "There's more'n +one of 'em, and they are the men who have been hunting for you for a +week past." + +"I am glad to hear it," said Rodney. "Perhaps they will be able to clear +away some of the ridiculous suspicions you seem to have got into your +heads concerning me." + +"Get out, ye whelps," shouted Jeff, when he stepped out of the door; +whereupon the dogs ceased their clamor and slunk away behind the cabin +to escape the clubs he threw among them to enforce obedience to his +order. "Come on, strangers. They won't pester you." + +Then came a tramping of hoofs, as if a small body of cavalry was making +its way through the bushes, and a minute afterward Rodney could look +through the open door and see half a dozen men dismounting from their +horses. He saw Jeff exchange a few hasty words with the tall, +black-whiskered man who was the first to touch the ground, and heard the +exclamations of surprise which the latter uttered as he listened to +them. He could not understand what the man said, but the woodcutter near +the door did, for he called out: + +"He's come back sure's you live, and Nels has got his watch to prove it. +He knowed him the minute he seed the chain that's fast to it." + +"Well, if that is the case, whom have we got here?" said the +black-whiskered man; and this time Rodney heard the words very plainly. +"Where is he? Let me have a look at him." + +Jeff waved his hand toward the door and the man stepped in and faced +Rodney, who arose to his feet and met his gaze without flinching. One +glance brought from him a sigh of relief. He had an intelligent man to +talk to now--one who could be reasoned with. + +"There's the watch that has brought suspicion upon me in a way I cannot +understand," said Rodney, nodding toward Nels, who promptly handed it +over. "Will you be kind enough to open it and read the inscription you +will find on the inside of the case." + +The man took the watch, and while he was opening it kept his eyes +fastened upon Rodney's face. He seemed both amused and angry. + +"Jeff," he exclaimed at length. "I never knew before that you were such +a blockhead. There is about as much resemblance between this young +gentleman and that horse-thief outside as there is between you and me." + +"But Mr. Westall, just look at the chain," protested Jeff. + +"But, Mr. West-all, just look at the chain," protested Jeff. + +"Well, look at the chain. You're a Jackson man, I suppose?" he added, +nodding at Rodney. + +"Every day in the week," replied the boy. "And that's what brought me up +here from Louisiana. I belong to a company of partisans; but our +Governor wouldn't take us the way we wanted to go, and here I am. I want +to find Price as soon as I can. Run your eye over that telegram, if you +please, and then read this letter." + +While the man, who had been addressed as Mr. Westall, was reading the +documents Rodney passed over to him, his four companions came into the +cabin bringing with them a fifth, at the sight of whom Rodney Gray +started as if he had been shot. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE EMERGENCY MEN. + +"Great Scott!" was Rodney Gray's mental ejaculation. "That is Tom +Percival if I ever saw him." + +If his own father had suddenly been brought into the cabin a prisoner in +the hands of armed men, the Barrington boy could not have been more +amazed. He winked hard and looked again, but his eyes had not deceived +him; and even if there had been the slightest doubt in his mind +regarding the identity of the prisoner who had been denounced as "an +abolition horse-thief," it would have vanished when he saw the +expression that came upon Tom's face the moment their eyes met. Tom was +one of Dick Graham's firm friends, but while a student at the Barrington +Academy he had often declared that if Dick ever so far forgot himself as +to enlist in the rebel army, he (Tom) would go into the Union service on +purpose to whip him back into a proper frame of mind; and his being +there a prisoner led Rodney to believe that he had kept his promise, so +far as enlisting was concerned. But there was one thing about it: Tom +might be a Union soldier, but he was neither an abolitionist nor a +horse-thief. + +"It is Percival, sure enough, but what in the name of sense and Tom +Walker is he doing here?" was the next question that came into Rodney's +mind. + +His first impulse was to seize his old schoolmate by the hand, proclaim +his friendship for him and assure Mr. Westall and the rest that they had +committed the worst kind of a blunder--that they had made as great a +mistake in arresting this boy for a horse-thief, as Nels and his fellow +wood-cutters had made in suspecting him of being Tom Percival, simply +because he happened to have in his possession a watch chain that +somewhat resembled Tom's. But two things restrained him; the first was +the reflection that by following this course he would put it entirely +out of his power to help Tom if the opportunity was offered, and the +second was the way in which Tom himself looked and acted. He didn't +appear to know Rodney at all. The expression of joy and surprise that +first overspread his countenance vanished as if by magic, and from that +time forward he gave as little attention to his old friend as he might +have given to an utter stranger. Rodney was quick to take the hint and +governed himself accordingly. + +"Percival always did have a level head on his shoulders," said the +latter, resuming his seat upon the nail keg and placing himself as far +as possible out of reach of Tom's gaze, "and he's got more pluck than +any other fellow I ever saw. He needs it, poor fellow, if Captain Howard +told the truth when he said that every little community in the State is +divided into two hostile camps. But his father owns slaves, and Tom +never stole a horse." + +It so happened that all the inmates of the cabin were too much +interested in what Mr. Westall was doing to notice the swift glance of +recognition that passed between the two boys when Tom Percival was +brought in. They were waiting to hear what he had to say regarding the +papers Rodney had given him to read. + +"I suppose you are acting is a sort of advance agent for your company to +see what arrangements you can make with General Price?" said Mr. Westall +at length. + +"No, sir. I am acting on my own hook, and without any regard to the +course the company may see fit to take," replied Rodney. "The members +don't want to be sworn into the service of the Confederate States, and +the proposition to leave Louisiana in a body and offer ourselves to +Price, was voted down. I do not know what the rest of the boys will do, +but I am going to join the Missouri State militia if they will take +me." + +"Oh, they'll take you fast enough," said Mr. Westall, with a laugh. +"They have already taken everybody they can get their hands on without +stopping to inquire what State he is from. We five are some of Jeff +Thompson's Emergency men." + +"I don't think I ever heard of such men," said Rodney doubtfully. + +"Probably not. You don't need them down in Louisiana, and we may not +have much use for them here; though, to judge from the exploits of this +young man Percival, we may be called out oftener than we expected to +be." + +Rodney hoped that Mr. Westall would go on to tell what his friend Tom +had been guilty of to get himself into such a scrape, and what they +intended doing with him now that they had got him into their power; but +in this he was disappointed. The man handed back Mr. Graham's telegram +with the remark that he had never heard of a person of that name, and +then proceeded to read the letter of introduction, which was addressed +to a well-known Confederate of the name of Perkins, who lived somewhere +in the neighborhood of Springfield. + +"I am acquainted with this man Perkins in a business way," said Mr. +Westall, after he had run his eye over the letter, "and know him to be +strong for Jeff Davis and the cause of Southern independence. He will +treat you as though you were one of the royal blood if you can only get +to him; but there's the trouble. He lives in the southwestern part of +the State, and that's a right smart piece from here." + +"I know it; but I have a good horse somewhere outside," answered +Rodney. + +"So I supposed; but you can't depend upon your horse to tell you whether +you are talking to a Yankee sympathizer or an honest Confederate, can +you? The ride won't amount to anything, but you have a tough bit of +country to go through. Your short experience right here among friends +will serve to show you how very suspicious everybody is. We don't trust +our nearest neighbors any more, and so you can imagine what we think of +a stranger, especially if he happens to own a watch chain that looks +something like one that is worn by a horse-thief," said Mr. Westall, +smiling at the boy as he handed his property back to him. "Now, Jeff, +how could you have made such a mistake? Can't you see that they don't at +all resemble each other?" + +"Now that I see them together I can," was Jeff's answer. "But don't he +look a trifle as that thief might look if his duds was changed and his +whiskers took off?" + +Rodney thought from the first that his old schoolmate did not look just +as he did the last time he saw him, and now he knew the reason. To a +very slight mustache Tom Percival, since leaving the Barrington Academy, +had added a pair of what the students would have called "side-boards;" +but they were so very scant that they could not by any possibility be +looked upon as a disguise. Mr. Westall laughed at the idea. + +"Jeff, you and your friends are too anxious to do something for the +cause," said he. "Of course that is better than being lukewarm, but you +don't want to be too brash or you may get yourselves into trouble. Can +you give us some supper? But first we want to put this prisoner where he +will be safe." + +"Couldn't you postpone that part of the programme until _I_ have had a +bite to eat, or do you think there's nobody hungry but yourselves?" +asked the prisoner, in the most unconcerned manner possible; and there +was no mistaking his voice. It was Tom Percival's voice. + +"I didn't think about you," answered Mr. Westall. "And perhaps if you +had your dues, you would be left to go hungry. But we are not savages, +even if we are down on your way of thinking and acting." + +"Better give him a sup of coffee to keep the cold out and then chuck him +in the old corncrib," suggested Jeff. "He can lay down on the shucks, +and I will give him a blanket to keep himself warm." + +"Will he be quite safe there?" asked the Emergency man. "No chance to +get out, is there? Or will we have to put a guard over him?" + +"There aint no call for nobody to lose sleep guarding on him," was +Jeff's confident reply. "There aint no winder to the corncrib, and the +door fastens with a bar outside. Some of the chinking has fell out +atween the logs, but he can't crawl through the cracks less'n he can +flatten himself out like a flying squirrel. Furthermore, there's the +dogs that will be on to him if he gives a loud wink." + +Rodney listened to every word of this conversation, and told himself +that his friend's chances for escape were very slim indeed. + +"Take a keg and sit down over there," said Mr. Westall, pointing to the +farthest chimney corner and addressing himself to the prisoner, while +Nels and one of the other wood-cutters began making preparations for +supper. "Now, if you have no objections, Mr. Gray, we should like to +hear the rest of your story. You must be set in your ways, or else you +never would have come up here simply to carry out your idea of becoming +a partisan. You will find plenty of them in these parts. Indeed, you +will find more of them than anything else." + +It did not take Rodney long to make Mr. Westall and his four companions +understand just how matters stood with him, for there was really little +to tell. He was careful not to let his auditors know that he had acted +as drill-sergeant, for Captain Hubbard's company of Rangers, for if he +touched upon that subject, Mr. Westall might ask him where he received +his military education; and if he answered that he got it at the +Barrington Academy, and Mr. Westall happened to know that his prisoner +had been a student at that very school, then what would happen? The fat +would all be in the fire at once, for the Emergency man would very +naturally want to know why the two boys had not given each other some +sign of recognition when they first met. That would never do; so Rodney +steered clear of these dangerous points, and Tom Percival sat in the +chimney corner with his elbows on his knees and listened to the story. +When it was finished and Mr. Westall and his companions had asked him a +few leading questions, Rodney ventured to inquire what an Emergency man +was. + +"He is a partisan in the truest sense of the word," was Mr. Westall's +answer. "He is a soldier who is liable to be called into the ranks in an +emergency, and at no other time; but that does not prevent him from +getting a few friends together and going off on an expedition of his own +as often as he feels like it." + +"An expedition of his own?" + +"Yes. If the Union men in one county get to make themselves too +promiscuous, and their immediate neighbors haven't the strength or the +inclination to deal with them themselves, the Emergency men in the next +county can slip in some dark night and run the obnoxious characters out. +See?" + +"And what does the Emergency man do when his services are not needed?" +inquired Rodney, who was profoundly astonished. + +"Why, he can stay quietly at home, if he wants to, and cultivate his +little crops while he watches the Union men in the settlement or acts as +spy for the troops, if there are any in the vicinity." + +"But suppose the Union men find it out and pop him over from the nearest +canebrake?" said Rodney. + +"He must look out for that, and so conduct himself while he is at home +that no one will suspect anything wrong of him," answered Mr. Westall +indifferently. "His fate is in his own hands, and if he doesn't know how +to take care of himself, he has no business to be an Emergency man. You +might call us a reserve to the State Guard, and that is what we really +are." + +"I think you are really freebooters. That is just the way the European +brigands act," were the words that sprang to the boy's lips. + +Although he was as wild a rebel as he ever had been, Rodney had a higher +sense of honor than when he wrote that mischievous letter to Bud Goble +for the purpose of getting his cousin Marcy Gray into trouble, and his +whole soul revolted at the idea of being such a soldier as Mr. Westall +described. If that was the way a partisan was expected to act, Rodney +wished he had not been so determined to become a partisan. Why didn't he +stay in his own State and follow the fortunes of the Mooreville Rangers, +as he had promised to do? Finally he said: + +"Are the State Guards the same as the Home Guards?" + +"Not much; any more than a good Confederate is the same as a sneaking +Yankee," replied Mr. Westall. "The Home Guards are known to all honest +men as Lyon's Dutchmen. There is hardly a native born citizen among +them, and yet they have the impudence to tell us Americans what kind of +a government we shall have over us." + +"Have you Emergency men had much to do yet?" + +"We haven't done any fighting, if that's what you mean, for there hasn't +been any to speak of outside of St. Louis; but we have been tolerable +busy making it hot for the Union men in and around the settlements where +we live. However--" + +Here Mr. Westall stopped and nodded in Tom Percival's direction, as if +to intimate that he did not care to say more on that subject while the +prisoner was within hearing. + +The conversation ran on in this channel during the half hour or more +that Nels and his helper spent in getting ready the corn-bread and +bacon, but Rodney, although he appeared to be listening closely, did not +hear much of it, or gain any great store of information regarding the +course he ought to pursue during his prospective ride from Cedar Bluff +landing to the city of Springfield. The thoughts that filled his mind to +the exclusion of everything else were: What had Tom Percival done to +bring upon him the wrath of the Emergency men, and how was he going to +help him out of the scrape? For of course he was bound to help him if he +could; that was a settled thing. Tom Percival was Union all through, and +Rodney had seen the day when he would have been glad to thrash him +soundly for the treasonable sentiments he had so often and fearlessly +uttered while they were at Barrington together; but that was all past +now. Tom was his schoolmate and he was in trouble. That was enough for +Rodney Gray, who would have fought until he dropped before he would have +seen a hair of Tom's head injured. + +"Now then, gentlemen, retch out and help yourselves," exclaimed Nels, +breaking in upon the boy's meditations. "We aint got much, but you're as +welcome as the flowers in May." + +The invitation was promptly accepted, the single room the cabin +contained being so small that the most of the hungry guests could reach +the viands that had been placed upon the table without moving their nail +kegs an inch. Rodney had eaten one good supper aboard the _Mollie Able_, +but that did not prevent him from falling to with the rest. Tom Percival +kept his seat in the chimney corner and a well-filled plate was passed +over to him, and his cup was replenished as often as he drained it. +Whatever else his captors intended to do to him they were not going to +starve him. Of course the talk was all about the war, which Mr. West-all +declared wasn't coming, and the high-handed action taken by the +Washington authorities in sending Captain Stokes across the river from +Illinois to seize ten thousand stand of arms that were stored in the St. +Louis Arsenal. Of course this was done to keep the weapons from falling +into the hands of the Confederates, who were already laying their plans +to capture them, but Mr. Westall looked upon it as an insult to his +State, and grew red in the face when he spoke of it. + +"That was what made the trouble here in Missouri," said he, with great +indignation. "Up to that time we were strong for the Union, and took +pains to say that the State had no call to sever her connection with it; +but at the same time we recommended, as a sure means of avoiding civil +war, that the Federal troops should be withdrawn from all points where +they were likely to come into collision with the citizens. How was that +recommendation received? With silent contempt, sir; with silent +contempt, and that is something we will not stand." + +Supper being over Mr. Westall, Nels and Jeff left the cabin, to shut Tom +Percival up in the corn-crib, the latter carrying upon his arm a +tattered blanket which the prisoner was to use "to keep himself warm." +It was with a heavy heart that Rodney saw him go, and as Tom did not +once look his way, the latter could not even give him a glance of +encouragement. When the three men returned at the end of ten minutes Mr. +Westall was saying: + +"It's a slimpsy place to shut a prisoner up in and I should be afraid to +trust it, if it were not for the dogs. He can't crawl out between the +logs, that much is certain; but the door is almost ready to drop from +its hinges, and has a good deal of play back and forth behind the bar. +If he had a thin, stout stick he could slip it through the crack, lift +the bar and take himself off." + +"But I tell you again that there aint the first thing in the crib that +he can stick through that there crack," exclaimed Jeff, earnestly. +"There aint nothing but corn ever been in there." + +"I reckon he's safe enough," said Mr, Westall. "At any rate we will take +our chances on it and try to get a good night's sleep. It might be well +for whoever gets up during the night to mend the fire, to step out arid +take a look at him. Now, Jeff, what about sleeping arrangements? There +are not bunks enough for all of us, and I reckon we'll have to tote this +table of yours out doors to make room for us to lie down on the floor, +won't we?" + +"Now that your prisoner is out of hearing, would you have any objection +to telling me what he has been doing?" inquired Rodney, as Jeff and Nels +pushed back their nail kegs and got up to act upon Mr. Westall's +suggestion. + +"No objection whatever, and it will not take me long to do it," replied +the latter. "He's Union." + +"But he doesn't look like a horse-thief," added Rodney. + +"Yes, he's Union the worst kind," repeated the Emergency man. "We've +been hearing about his father's doings ever since the election. We don't +know him personally for he doesn't live in our county; but we know of +him, and we've been told that he is a dangerous man. He owns a lot of +niggers, but last election he walked up to the polls, as brave as you +please, and voted for Abe Lincoln; and there wasn't a man who dared say +a word to him or lift a hand to stop him. What do you think of that?" + +"I admire his courage," replied Rodney, who had heard the story before. + +"So would I, if it had been shown in a good cause," said the Emergency +man. "But that's altogether too much cheek for a traitor, and I don't +see anything in it to admire. This son of his is more to be feared than +the old man, for he has been off somewhere and got a military education; +and the very first thing he did when he came home from school was to get +up a company of Home Guards, and send word to Captain Lyon that if he +wanted help all he had to do was to say so." + +Mr. Westall proceeded to light his pipe, which he had previously filled, +and during the operation he winked at Rodney and nodded as if to ask him +what he thought of _that_. The latter felt a thrill ran through every +nerve in him. He was glad to know that his old schoolmate was not +wanting in courage, even if he did sympathize with the Yankee invaders, +and we may add that this feeling was characteristic of the Barrington +boys all through the war. If they heard, as they occasionally did, that +some schoolfellow in the opposing ranks had done something that was +thought to be worthy of praise, they felt an honest pride in it. + +"I said that young Percival _sent_ word to Captain Lyon that he was +ready to help him, but that was not strictly correct," continued Mr. +Westall, taking a few puffs at his pipe to make sure that it was well +lighted. "He _took_ word to him personally to be certain he got it, +riding alone on horseback all the way from Springfield to St. Louis. +What passed between him and Lyon we don't know yet, for he won't open +his mouth; but we may find means to make him tell all we care to hear. +When he got through with his business at St. Louis he didn't go directly +home, and that is what got him into this difficulty. He came back by the +way of Pilot Knob, where he has a Union uncle living; but that's where I +and my friends live, too." + +"And was it there he stole the horse?" asked Rodney. + +"Well, between you and me and the gatepost, he never stole a horse," +replied Mr. Westall slowly, as if he were reluctant to make the +admission. + +Rodney Gray crossed his legs, clasped his hands around one knee and +settled back on his nail keg with an air that said, almost as plainly as +words: + +"I knew it all the time." + +"No, he never stole a horse or anything else that we know of," repeated +Mr. Westall. "But he rides a critter that is so near like one that was +stolen from a Confederate by a Union man of the name of Morehouse a few +days ago, that you could hardly tell them apart." + +"And I don't much blame Morehouse for stealing that horse, either," said +one of the Emergency men, who had not spoken before. "He had to get out +of the country, he couldn't do it without a horse to carry him, and so +he took the one that came first to his hand." + +"I don't know as I blame him, either," assented Mr. Westall. "But I do +blame him for holding the opinions he does." + +"Well, if another man stole the horse why do you lay it on to Percival?" +inquired Rodney, who could hardly keep from showing how angry he was. + +"You see the matter is just this way," replied the Emergency man, as if +he scarcely knew how to explain the situation! "If young Percival had +called upon his uncle for a visit, and gone away again without taking so +much interest in the affairs of the settlement, we wouldn't have done +any more than to give him warning that he wasn't wanted there; but when +we saw him and his uncle with their heads together, and learned from +some of our spies that Union men had been caught going to and from old +Percival's house at all hours of the day and night, we made up our minds +that there was something wrong about this young fellow; so we +telegraphed to Springfield, and found out that he was an officer in a +company of Home Guards who had offered their services to Lyon. Well, you +bet we were surprised to find that he was the son of the only man in his +county who dared to vote for Abe Lincoln, and it made us afraid of him. +too." + +"A whole settlement afraid of one boy?" exclaimed Rodney. + +"Exactly. We didn't know which way to turn for the Union men are in the +majority in our county, as they are all through the northern and eastern +parts of Missouri, and we didn't dare do anything openly for fear of +being bushwhacked. As good luck would have it we succeeded in scaring +Morehouse out of the country about that time, and when he went, he took +one of the best horses in the settlement with him. That gave us +something to work on, and we made it up among ourselves that we would +lay the theft on to young Percival, take him out of his bed that night +and serve him as the law directs." + +"Does that mean that you would have hung him?" asked Rodney, with a +shudder. + +"That's generally the way we do with horse-thieves up here," replied Mr. +Westall. "How do you serve them in your part of the country?" + +"We put them in jail when they have been proved guilty," answered +Rodney. "But you have said, in so many words, that this boy didn't steal +the horse--that he was stolen by a man who ran away with him." + +Before replying the Emergency man paused to relight his pipe which he +had allowed to go out. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + RODNEY PROVES HIS FRIENDSHIP. + +It seemed to take Mr. Westall a long time to get his pipe going to his +satisfaction, and when at last he spoke, it was easy to see that he was +angry at Rodney for inquiring so particularly into matters that did not +in any way concern him. + +"It is very strange that you fail to understand me after I have taken +such_ pains to go into details," said he, impatiently. "The fact that +young Percival didn't steal the horse doesn't matter. We were bound to +get rid of him before he could have time to raise and drill a company of +Home Guards in our settlement, and the only way we could do it was to +charge him with some crime that would make everybody, Union and +Confederate, mad at him. See? But somehow he got wind of our plans (that +shows how impossible it is to trust anybody these times), and dug out." + +"On his own horse?" asked Rodney. + +"Of course. We put after him, taking care to cut him off from the old +post-road which he would have to follow to reach Springfield, and making +him stay in the river counties among people who would do all in their +power to help us catch him. He's a sharp one, and there aint no better +critter than the one that has kept him ahead of us for nearly ten days. +He has ridden that one horse all the time, while we have had to change +now and then. He spent one night with Jeff in this cabin--" + +"And the way he did pull the wool over our eyes was a caution," Nels +interposed. "Why, if you could a heard him talk you would a thought, as +we did, that he had been gunning for Union men and living on 'em ever +since the furse began. He let on that he was in a great hurry to get +over the river to see about getting some guns for Price's men, and we +swallered every word he said." + +"Tom always could tell a slick story," was Rodney's mental comment. + +"He had a watch chain that was adzactly like your'n, and the minute I +seen it I said to myself that you was him," said Nels in conclusion. + +"We were close upon his heels," continued Mr. Westall. "We arrived here +the next morning, about four hours after he left, and when we told Jeff +and his friends what a neat trick had been played upon them, they became +not only angry but very suspicious." + +"Unreasonably suspicious," added Rodney, in a tone of disgust. "Does +Jeff or anybody else suppose for a moment that I would have come back to +this camp if I had been in Percival's place?" + +"That was what beat my time and I said so," answered Nels. "I never +would have suspicioned you if it hadn't been for that watch chain of +your'n, and the story you told about not knowing the country around +Springfield. The captain of the _Mollie Able_ said you was one of +Price's men, and we took it for granted that you had been riding with +him. But I am satisfied now." + +"I am glad to hear it," answered Rodney "But, Mr. Westall, it can't be +possible that you will stand by and see this young fellow punished, when +you know him to be innocent of the crime with which you have charged +him?" + +"No; I don't reckon I'll stand by and see it because I have sorter taken +a shine to him, even if he is a traitor," answered the Emergency man. +"There'll be enough to attend to the business without any of my help." + +"And he will be hung, I suppose?" + +"He'll never stick his meddlesome Union nose into our settlement again, +I'll bet you on that," replied Mr. Westall, knocking the ashes from his +pipe and showing quite plainly by his manner that he did not care to +answer any more questions. "I can't understand why the folks living down +Springfield way didn't attend to his case long ago, and save us the +trouble." + +So saying the Emergency man arose to his feet and went after his +blanket, which had been left outside the door with his saddle, and the +movement was taken by the others as a signal that it was time to go to +bed. Rodney's blankets were in his trunk, but he was not ready to take +them out just then. He followed Mr. Westall out of the door, believing +that the latter would be sure to visit Tom's prison before retiring for +the night. + +"I must find out where that corn-crib is, for I shall want to go to it +before morning," said Rodney to himself. "And then there are the dogs, +which I should like to have see and scent me before I go prowling around +among them. Tom's got to have help this very night or he is just as good +as a dead cadet." + +Mr. Westall undid the blanket which was strapped behind his saddle, +tossed it into the cabin and then stretched his arms and yawned as if he +were very tired and sleepy. + +"I am used to the saddle," said he, as Rodney came out of the cabin and +approached the place where he was standing, "but I must say that that +young fellow has given me a hard pull. He must be made of iron, for he +doesn't seem to mind it at all. Let's go and see how he is getting on. I +want to make sure that he is safe before I go to sleep." + +"Don't you think this is a cold-blooded, heartless way to treat a boy +who has never done you any harm?" inquired Rodney, stooping down to +caress first one and then another of the large pack of dogs which came +trooping up the minute the cabin door was opened. "Have you a son about +the same age?" + +"That's neither here nor there," replied Mr. Westall; and Rodney thought +from the nervous, jerky manner in which he faced about and started for +the corn-crib, that the words had touched him in a tender spot. +"Suppose I have; what then? If he so far forgets the training he has +received ever since he was old enough to know anything, let him take the +consequences." + +"You say that young Percival's father is strong for the Union," +continued Rodney. "If that is the case, didn't he train up his son in +the way he wanted him to go? No doubt he is just as honest in his +opinions as we are." + +"Honest!" repeated Mr. Westall, in a tone of contempt. "Can a man +honestly hold opinions that make him a traitor to his State? Percival is +on the wrong side, but that is no fault of ours. We can't and won't have +traitors in our midst preaching up their doctrines and organizing +military companies. Why, do you know that they have bushwhacked scores +of our men all over the State--called them to the door of their homes +and shot them down like dogs, or popped them over while they were riding +quietly along the road? You are a partisan, are you? You don't know the +meaning of the word; but if you will go home with me I will teach it to +you in less than a week." + +If Rodney had given utterance to his honest sentiments he would have +told Mr. Westall, in pretty plain language, that he would face about and +go to his own home again before he would be that kind of a partisan. +Shaking his fist under a Union boy's nose and fighting him on the parade +ground was one thing, and shooting him down in cold blood was another. +But he did not have time to make any reply, for just as Mr. Westall +ceased speaking they reached the corn-crib. + +"All right in there?" said the Emergency man, laying hold of the door +and giving it a shake; and as he did so, Rodney took note of the fact +that it opened as much as an inch and a half, so that if the prisoner on +the inside had anything with which he could reach through the crack and +throw the bar out of its place, he need not stay there a moment longer +than he wanted to. "Will one blanket be enough to keep you warm?" + +"I don't call this fish-net a blanket," replied Tom's voice. "I suppose +it will have to do, if you are so poor you can't give me anything +better. But this is a cold, cheerless place to shove a fellow into +without any fire or light." + +"It's plenty good enough for a traitor," answered Mr. Westall, with a +coarse laugh; and then he turned about and led the way back to the +cabin. + +Two of the Emergency men and all the wood-cutters had come out to "take +a look at the weather," and make up their minds whether or not the +steamer they heard coming up the river below the bend was going to stop +at the landing for fuel, and while Rodney listened to their conversation +he walked about with his hands in his pockets, and kicked listlessly at +the chips and sticks that were scattered around the log on which Jeff +and his men cut their fire-wood. Finally he picked up one of the sticks +and began cutting it with his knife; and a little later, when he thought +no one was observing his movements, he shoved the stick into the sleeve +of his coat. This much being done he was ready to make a demonstration +in Tom Percival's favor. + +"By the way, Jeff," said he, suddenly. "While you are waiting for that +steamer to make up her mind if she wants any wood or not, will you tell +me where I can find my horse? I always make it a point to say goodnight +to him before I go to bed." + +Resting one hand on the boy's shoulder Jeff pointed with the other, and +showed him the building in which the roan colt had been placed under +cover. + +"The dogs won't bother me, will they?" asked Rodney. + +"Oh, no. You've been round amongst 'em and they know you." + +Rodney posted off, and Jeff saw him disappear through the door of the +cabin that had been pointed out to him; but he was not looking, that way +when Rodney came out a moment later, and with noiseless steps and form +half bent directed his course toward Tom Percival's prison. His face +wore a determined look, and his right hand, which was thrust into the +pocket of his sack coat, firmly clutched his revolver. He knew that he +must succeed in what he was about to attempt or die in his tracks, for +if he were detected, he would stand as good a chance of being hanged as +Tom himself. But there were no signs of wavering or hesitation about +him. He drew a bee-line for the back of the corn-crib, and began looking +for the places where the chinking had fallen out. It did not take him +many minutes to find one, and then he set about attracting Tom's +attention by pulling the stick from his sleeve, and rubbing it back and +forth through one of the cracks. The movement was successful. There was +a slight rustling among the corn-husks inside the cabin, and a second +later the prisoner laid hold of the stick. + +"All right," whispered Tom. "I was looking for you, and I know what this +stick is for, Shake." + +The boys tried to bring their hands together, but the opening between +the logs was so narrow that the best they could do was to interlock some +of their fingers. + +"Here," whispered Rodney, pushing his revolver through the crack butt +first. '; Take this, you Yankee, and remember that you will surely be +hung if you don't get out of here before daylight." + +"I hope you are not disarming yourself," said Tom. + +"That's all right. This is for Dick Graham's sake and Barrington's; but +look out for me if I catch you outside, for I am one of Price's men." + +Tom said something in reply, but Rodney did not hear what it was, nor +did he think it safe to stop long enough to ask the prisoner to repeat +the words. He hastened away from the corn-crib, and when Jeff and Mr. +Westall next saw him, he was standing in the stable door pushing back +his horse which was trying to follow him out. He was doing more. He was +striving with all his will-power to subdue the feelings of excitement +and exultation that surged upon him when he thought of what he had done, +and what the consequences to him would be if anything happened to excite +the suspicions of the hot-headed Confederates who had him completely in +their power. + +"If they do anything to me and Tom finds it out, he will make some of +them suffer if he ever gets the chance," thought the Barrington boy, as +he closed the door of the stable and walked back to the wood pile. "But +what good will that do me when I am dead and gone? I declare I begin to +feel as Dick Graham did: Dog-gone State Rights anyhow." + +It was with no slight feelings of anxiety that Rodney Gray joined the +group of men around the wood yard; but fortunately there was no light in +the cabin other than that given out by the blaze in the fire-place, and +if his face bore any trace of excitement, as he was certain it did, +nobody noticed it. The steamer did not stop at the landing, and when she +passed on up the river, the wood-cutters and their guests went into the +cabin and closed the door. Then Rodney opened his trunk and brought out +his blankets, taking care to spread them as far from the door as he +could, so that when Tom's escape was discovered, no one could reasonably +suspect him of having slipped out during the night and set him free. + +"Good-night, everybody," said he cheerfully, as he laid himself upon his +hard couch. "I have made two mistakes--two big mistakes," he added, as +he drew his head under the blankets. "I forgot to warn Tom to look out +for the dogs (but being a Southerner he ought to know enough for that +without being told), and I ought not to have said so much in his favor +to Mr. Westall. Now that I think of it, that was a fearful blunder, and +it may be the means of bringing trouble to me. Well, I can't help it. I +detest Tom's principles and would be glad to see them thrashed out of +him; but when it comes to hanging him for something he didn't do--that's +carrying things just a little too far. There's not a wink of sleep for +me this night." + +But, contrary to his expectations, Rodney fell asleep in less than half +an hour and slumbered soundly until he was awakened by one of the +Emergency men, who made considerable noise in punching up the fire. Mr. +Westall was also aroused. Raising himself on his elbow he said, +drowsily: + +"That you, Harvey? Have you been out to look at that friend of ours in +the corn-crib?" + +"I have, and found him all right." + +"Did you simply speak to him, or did you go in where he was?" + +"I took a piece of fat wood from this fire and went in where he was," +replied Harvey. "He was covered up head and ears, but I saw his boots +sticking out from under the blanket." + +"What time is it?" + +"Two o'clock of a clear, starlight morning, and all's well," answered +Harvey; and this made it plain that if he was not a soldier he was +learning to be one, for he knew how to pass the sentry's call. + +"_Well_; of all the dunderheads _I_ ever heard of that Tom Percival is +the biggest," thought Rodney, who had never in his life been more +astounded. "Two o'clock in the morning and he lying fast asleep there in +the corn-crib when he ought to be miles away! If I had known he was +going to act like that, I would have seen him happy before I would have +risked my neck trying to save his." + +Rodney turned over on the other side with an angry flop and tried to go +to sleep again; but that was quite out of the question. He could do +nothing but rail at Tom for his stupidity, and wonder if the latter +would have sense enough to hide the revolver before Mr. Westall or some +other Emergency man went into his prison in the morning to bring him +out. Two other men got up and left the cabin before day-light, and the +Barrington boy knew they visited the corn-crib, for he heard their +footsteps as they were going and returning; but as they both brought a +few sticks of wood with them and mended the fire without saying a word, +Rodney was forced to the conclusion that Tom was still safe in his +prison. + +Jeff, who was an early riser, was stirring long before the first signs +of coming dawn could be seen through the numerous cracks in the walls of +the cabin, and when he got out of his bunk it was a signal to all his +men, who were prompt to follow his example. The Emergency men and Rodney +arose also, for of course it was useless to think of sleeping longer +with so many pairs of heavy boots pounding the dirt floor on which their +blankets were spread. One of the wood-cutters set off for the river with +a bucket in each hand to bring water for cooking and washing purposes, +others went to feed the stock, and Nels, at Mr. Westall's request, went +to arouse Tom Percival. + +"No doubt he will enjoy the fire after passing the night in that cold +corn-crib," said the Emergency man, spreading his hands over the +cheerful blaze upon the wide hearth. "But whether or not he will enjoy +the society into which he will be thrown before he has another chance to +sleep, is a different matter altogether." + +"And I think I should enjoy a little exercise," chimed in Rodney. "I am +not much of a chopper, but perhaps I can get up an appetite for +breakfast." + +So saying he went out into the wood yard and caught up an axe. His +object was not to get up an appetite (being in the best of health he +always had that), but to place himself where he could see his old +schoolmate when he was brought out of his prison. He would have given +something handsome if he could have had a chance to ask Tom what his +object was in staying in that corn-crib after he had been provided with +the means of getting out, and a revolver with which to defend himself, +but was obliged to content himself with the reflection that he had done +all he could, and that if Tom wanted help he would have to look for it +somewhere else. + +"I wonder if he thinks the Union men at Pilot Knob will rescue him when +he is brought there?" thought Rodney, as he swung the axe in the air. +"If he is depending upon them, why did he run away from the settlement +in the first place? What was the reason he--" + +Rodney, who had kept one eye on Nels, paused with his axe suspended in +the air and looked at the corn-crib. He saw the man throw down the bar +and open the door, and heard him when he shouted: + +"Come out of that and pay your lodging. We can't afford to keep a free +hotel when bacon is getting so scarce that we can't even steal it. Out +you come." + +[Illustration: AN ASTONISHING DISCOVERY.] + +Rodney listened but did not hear any answer. Neither did Nels. The +latter bent forward, stretched out his neck and seemed to be intently +regarding something on the inside of the cabin. Then he straightened up +and marched in with a vicious air, as if he was resolved that he would +not stand any more fooling. He was gone not more than a minute, and then +he came back with a jump and a whoop, holding Jeff's tattered blanket in +one hand and a pair of well-worn boots in the other. + +"Wake snakes!" yelled Nels, striking up a war-dance and frantically +flourishing the captured articles over his head. "He's skipped, that +hoss-thief has! He's lit out, I tell ye!" + +Almost at the same moment the wood-cutter who had gone out to attend to +the stock appeared at the door of the stable and called out to Rodney: + +"Say, you Louisanner fellar, where's your critter?" And then he stopped +and looked at Nels. "Do you say the prisoner has lit out?" he shouted. +"Then he's done took another hoss to holp him on his way." + +"If he has taken mine he has got the best horse in the State," exclaimed +Rodney, dropping his axe and starting posthaste for the stable. "You +might as well give up now, Mr. Westall, for the colt is Copper-bottom +stock and can travel for twenty-four hours at a stretch." + +Again Rodney told himself that he had never been more astonished. He was +delighted, too, to find that his friend had not forgotten the tricks he +had learned at the Barrington Military Academy. He had not only arranged +a "dummy" in the dark--making so good a job of it, too, that the man +Harvey, with the light of a pine knot to aid him, had not been able to +discover the cheat but he had left his boots sticking out from under the +blanket and gone off in his stocking feet. But why had he taken Rodney's +horse instead of his own? It was all right, of course, for a fair +exchange was no robbery, but Rodney would have liked to have had that +question answered. + +"It seems that Jeff's dogs are not worth the powder it would take to +blow them up," said he to Mr. Westall, who had followed close at his +heels. "Your man has gone off with my horse, and I don't believe you +have a nag in your party that can catch him. Now what's to be done?" + +"I was a plumb dunce for placing any dependence on those dogs," replied +the Emergency man, as soon as his surprise and anger would permit him to +speak. "I might have known that they would not pay the slightest +attention to Percival after they had seen him with us about the camp. +Nels, was there anything in or around the corn-crib to show how he got +out?" + +"Not the first that I could see," answered the wood-cutter. "The bar was +in its place, and when I opened the door I was as certain as I could be +that I saw him laying there on the shucks with his feet sticking out. +When I called and he didn't say nothing, I thought I would go in and +snatch him up off'n them shucks in a way that would learn him not to +play 'possum on me ary 'nother time; but when I snatched I didn't get +nothing but the blanket and empty boots." + +"Harvey, he must have been gone when you went in there with your light," +said Mr. Westall, reproachfully. "No doubt he threw the bar up with his +hand, and his object in closing the door after him was to hide his +escape as long as possible. If he went about midnight he has nearly six +hours the start of us, on a swift horse and along a road he knows like a +book. Let's go home, boys. We've done the best we could, but next time +we'll try and be a little sharper." + +While this conversation was going on Rodney had leisure to recover his +composure, and was not a little relieved to see that there were no +side-long glances cast toward himself. Mr. Westall seemed to think that +he alone was to blame for the prisoner's escape, his four companions +were quite willing that he should shoulder the responsibility, and no +one thought of suspecting Rodney Gray. + +"I am short a good horse by last night's work, and suppose I shall have +to take Percival's to replace him, won't I?" said the latter. "It's +that or go afoot, isn't it?" + +"I suppose it is," replied the Emergency man. + +"What sort of an animal is he and where is he?" continued Rodney. "I +should like to have a look at him." + +"He's out in the yard with the rest of the critters," said Nels. "I +thought it best to keep yours in the shed because, being a stranger, the +others might have fell to kicking him if they had all been turned in +together." + +"You did perfectly right," answered Rodney, who thought the man was +trying to excuse himself for having put the roan colt where he could be +so easily stolen. "And that's the reason Tom took him," he added, +mentally. "If he had gone into the yard after his own nag, the others +would have snorted and raised a fuss, and that would have started the +dogs and prevented his escape. It's all right, but I would rather have +my horse than that one." + +The steed that was pointed out to him as the property of the escaped +prisoner was a fine looking animal, and the fact that he had led his +pursuers so long a chase, proved that he was not only a "goer" but a +"stayer" as well; but for all that Rodney wished his friend Tom had +thought it safe to take him and leave the roan colt. + +"I have very serious objections to riding that horse through the +counties back of here," said he at length. "He is too well known; and +how do I know but that somebody will bounce me for a horse-thief?" + +"That's a most disagreeable fact," said Mr. Westall, reflectively. "We +gave a description of him to every man and boy we met along the road." + +"That is just what I was afraid of. Can't you give me a trade for him?" + +"I don't see how we can, for if we should take the horse back to the +settlement with us, the folks there would be sure to ask how we came to +get him without getting the thief, too; see?" + +"Well, could you give me a bill of sale of him?" asked the boy, after +thinking a moment. + +"When I don't own a dollar's worth of interest in him?" exclaimed the +Emergency man, opening his eyes. "Not much I couldn't. I tell you, young +fellow, a horse is a mighty ticklish piece of property to have in these +parts unless you can prove a clear claim to him." + +"I want some sort of a paper to show to our friends along the road, +don't I?" exclaimed Rodney, who began to think that his chances for +seeing Price's army were getting smaller all the time. + +"Oh, that's what you want, is it?" said Mr. Westall. "Well, I'll tell +you what we'll do: You ride with us as far as the road where we turn off +to go to Pilot Knob, and then I will give you a letter that will help +you if you happen to fall in with any of our side; but you must be +careful to know the men before you show the letter to them, for if you +should pull it on a Union man, you would get yourself into trouble. Now +let's get a bite to eat and start for home." + +This made it evident that the Emergency man had become discouraged with +his ill-luck, and did not intend to follow Tom Percival any farther. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + ON THE ROAD. + +The breakfast which Nels and his assistant placed upon the table in due +time was eaten almost in silence, for those who sat down to it had so +much thinking to do that they had no time for conversation. When Rodney +Gray had satisfied his appetite he opened his trunk and took from it a +pair of saddle-bags, which he proceeded to fill with a variety of useful +articles. His thoughtful mother had packed the trunk as full as it could +hold, and Rodney could not take a quarter of the things with him. He +knew he couldn't when he started; but the trunk was necessary to aid him +in the game of deception he played upon the Baton Rouge telegraph +operators. By taking it aboard the _Mollie Able_, together with a +liberal supply of hay and grain for his horse, he led them to believe +that he was really going on to St. Louis. After filling the saddle-bags, +he rolled his blankets into a compact bundle so that he could strap them +behind him on his horse. + +"I have left a good many things in there that I can't take with me," +said he, as he locked the trunk and handed the key to Jeff. "And if I +don't come back and claim them within a reasonable time, you are at +liberty to take them for your own. How much damage have I done your +commissary department since I have been here?" + +"How much damage have you done which?" exclaimed Jeff. + +"How much do you want for the fodder I and my horse and that Yankee's +horse have eaten?" repeated Rodney. + +"Oh; why didn't you say so? You and your horse are as welcome as the +flowers in May; and as for that thief's critter, I wouldn't let you pay +a cent for him any way. But I'm sorry you aint got your own boss to ride +to Springfield." + +"So am I. Mine is the better horse, and besides I don't at all like the +idea of having every man I meet take me for a thief. Have you a revolver +you would be willing to sell at your own price?" + +"What kind of a fellow are you, anyhow?" exclaimed Mr. Westall, who +stood by listening. "Do you mean to say that you have come up here, +intending to ride through these turbulent settlements, without bringing +along something to defend yourself with?" + +"That is the most dangerous article I have about me," answered Rodney, +putting his hand into his pocket and drawing out the big jack-knife +Lieutenant Odell had given him the day before he left home. At the same +time he wondered what the Emergency man would have said and done if he +had been aware that the boy to whom he was talking had brought a +revolver with him, and that he had given it to Tom Percival to defend +himself in case he was attacked. + +"I never heard of a more foolish piece of business," exclaimed Mr. +Westall, with an air which said very plainly that he had no patience +with such a fellow as Rodney Gray was. "What sort of people did you +think you were going to meet, I should like to know. I suppose you have +heard that there are Northern sympathizers in this State, and that they +are about the meanest folks you will find on top of the earth?" + +"I have heard all about it; but I supposed that I should find our own +people in the majority. This is a Southern State, isn't it?" + +"In some places they are in the majority and in some they are not," +replied Mr. Westall. "Of course this is a Southern State; but don't you +know that those Dutchmen in St. Louis have gone back on Governor +Jackson, and that he and the members of the legislature have had to run +for their lives? Why, boy, you may be called upon to defend yourself in +less than an hour after we leave you. Got a revolver to spare, Jeff?" + +"Aint got none of that sort," replied the wood-cutter. "There aint +nothing but rifles in the shanty." + +"Then I shall be obliged to let you have one of mine," said the +Emergency man, taking a belt down from a peg beside the door, and +drawing an ancient Colt from one of the holsters. "I may be able to +replace it some time or other; but whether I am or not, you mustn't +think of starting for Springfield without a weapon where you can put +your hand on it. It is rather large and heavy for your pocket and you +have no belt; so you will have to shove it into your boot leg. That's as +handy a place to carry it as any I know of." + +When both parties are willing to trade it does not take them long to +come to an understanding, and in a very short time some of Rodney's gold +went into Mr. Westall's pocket, and the revolver into the leg of the +boy's boot. In ten minutes more the horses had been brought out of the +yard and prepared for the journey, Rodney placing his own saddle and +bridle on his new steed, and leaving Tom's for Jeff to dispose of in any +way he saw proper. + +"I reckon I'm just that much ahead of the hounds," said the wood-cutter, +with a grin. "That hoss-thief won't never dare to come after his saddle, +and mebbe it'll bring me in a few dollars for tobacker. Farewell, and be +sure and drop in as often as you come this way. Look out for yourself, +you Louisanner feller." + +The path that ran through the woods to the big road leading from Cape +Girardeau to Lesterville, the place where Rodney's companions would take +leave of him and turn toward Ironton, was all of three miles long, and +so narrow that they were obliged to ride in a single file. Mr. Westall +remarked, with a careless laugh, that it was a good thing for them that +the people living in the vicinity were mostly Confederates, for the +woods on each side of the path were thick, and would afford the nicest +kind of cover for a bushwhacking party. + +"I suppose there are plenty of Union people between here and your +settlement?" observed Rodney. + +"Lots of 'em; and they are not only dead shots, but they know every hog +path in the woods and are as sneaking and sly as so many Indians. +They'll fight, too. We know that to be a fact, for we've got some of +them for near neighbors." + +"Then perhaps it is just as well that you have me instead of Percival +with you," said Rodney. "If you had taken him a prisoner to Pilot Knob, +what assurance have you that you would not have been bushwhacked on the +way?" + +"None whatever; but we would have been willing to take our chances on +it." + +The Emergency man spoke carelessly enough, but Rodney noticed that he +had not neglected to make preparations for a fight. The single revolver +his belt contained had been transferred to the night holster, and the +strap that usually passed over the hammer to keep the weapon in place, +had been unbuttoned so that the heavy Colt could be drawn in an instant. +This made Rodney feel rather uneasy. Perhaps he would not have been so +very frightened at the prospect of a fair stand-up fight, but the fear +that somebody might cut loose on him or some member of his party with a +double-barrel shotgun before any of them knew there was danger near, was +more than his nerves could stand. He was glad when they left the woods +behind and rode out into the highway; but it wasn't half an hour before +he had occasion to tell himself that when the Emergency men took leave +of him and turned off toward their own settlement, the woods would be +the safest place for him. They were riding along two abreast, Mr. +Westall and Rodney leading the way, when, as they came suddenly to a +narrow cross-road, they found themselves face to face with a +long-haired, unkempt native mounted on the leanest, hungriest mule +Rodney had ever seen. He rode bare-back, his spine bent almost in the +form of a half circle, his body swaying back and forth, and with every +step his beast took he pounded its sides with the heels of his +boots--not with the object of inducing the mule to quicken its pace, but +because the motion had become a habit with him. He was surprised and +startled when he found himself so close to the Emergency men, and partly +raised the muzzle of the heavy double-barrel shotgun he carried in front +of him; but a second glance seemed to relieve his fears, for he grinned +broadly, and waited for the horsemen to come up. + +"Wal, ye got him, didn't ye?" said he; and the words went far to confirm +the fear that had haunted Rodney Gray ever since he found that Tom +Percival had gone off with the roan colt, leaving his own +well-advertised horse behind him. This ignorant backwoodsman, who didn't +look as though he knew enough to go in when it rained, had recognized +the horse the moment he put his eyes on him. + +"Oh, this isn't the man at all, Mister--a--I declare I have +disremembered your name," exclaimed Mr. Westall. + +"I don't reckon ye ever knowed it, kase I never seed hide nor hair of +none of ye afore this day," replied the native, with another grin. "But +it's Swanson, if it will do ye any good to hear it. I live back here in +the bresh about a couple of milds." + +"How does it come that you are so prompt to recognize us if you never +saw us before?" inquired Rodney. + +"Oh, I hearn tell that there was some of Jeff Thompson's men riding +through the kentry looking for a hoss-thief, and I knowed the hoss when +I seen him. But ye say this aint the thief," answered the native, with +an inquiring glance at Mr. Westall. + +"That was what I said," replied the Emergency man. "He is a friend of +ours, belongs to Price, and you want to take a good look at him and the +horse too, so that you will know them again if you happen to meet them +anywhere on the road." + +And then Mr. Westall went on to tell who Tom Percival was and where he +lived, not forgetting to lay a good deal of stress on the statement that +he was not only a strong Union man, but a horse-thief as well. This made +Rodney angry, but of course he couldn't help himself. + +"You want to keep a bright lookout for a young fellow in his stocking +feet, riding a bareback roan colt," said the Emergency man, in +conclusion. "If you fall in with such a chap, you will make something by +bringing him to Pilot Knob settlement and asking for Mr. Westall." + +"I'll keep them words in mind," replied the native, urging the mule +forward by digging him in the ribs with his boot heels. + +"You'll have to look in the woods for him," observed the man Harvey. "It +isn't at all likely that he will keep the road in daylight when he +hasn't a thing to defend himself with." + +"I aint thinking about that any more'n I am about him having no boots +on," said the Missourian, looking back over his shoulder. "There's +plenty of mean folks in this kentry that'll give him we'pons and clothes +for the asking. If I can't get the drop on to him, I won't say a word to +him." + +"This is just what I was afraid of," Rodney remarked, when the man had +passed out of hearing. "Every one who meets me on the road will look +upon me with suspicion, and perhaps I had better take to the woods +myself." + +"Don't think of it," answered Mr. Westall, hastily. "You would be sure +to lose your way and stand a fine chance of being bushwhacked besides. +You will find that the boldest course is the best; and that's dangerous +enough, goodness knows," he added, in an undertone. + +When the party halted for dinner the scene we have just described was +re-enacted. Before any of them had a chance to say a word the planter at +whose gate they stopped began abusing Rodney in the strongest language +he could command; and he was such a rapid talker that he succeeded in +saying a good many harsh things before Mr. Westall and his companions +could stop him. When he was made to understand that he had committed a +blunder, and that the boy was as good a Confederate as he was himself, +the planter was profuse in his apologies. + +"Alight," said he, giving Rodney his hand and almost pulling him out of +his saddle. "I'm sorry for what I said, but that horse made me suspicion +you. I wouldn't ride him through the country for all the money there is +in Missoury. You'd best give up trying to find Price and jine in with +Thompson's men. You won't have to go so far to find 'em." + +Rodney had thought of that, but there was Dick Graham! He could not give +up the hope of finding his old schoolmate and serving out his year with +him. + +After the planter had given the Emergency men a good dinner he brought +out writing materials, and Mr. Westall proceeded to write the letter he +had promised to give Rodney, and which he hoped would be the means of +taking him safely through to Springfield. He and all his friends, the +planter included, signed it, and the boy tucked it into his boot leg. + +"You may be sure that I shall not show it to any Union man," said the +latter, with a smile. "It would hang me." + +When they passed through the little settlement of Lesterville about +three o'clock that afternoon, Rodney and the horse he rode attracted +attention on every hand. All the farmers in the country for miles around +seemed to have flocked into town to discuss the latest news, and the +streets were full of loungers, every one of whom stared at the party and +had something to say regarding the boy, who was supposed to be a +prisoner. On two or three occasions Mr. Westall thought it prudent to +stop and explain the situation; and every time he did so, the loungers +came running from all directions to hear about it. Some of them thought +that Tom Percival had played a regular Yankee trick on Rodney in running +off with the roan colt and leaving him a stolen horse to ride, and +advised him to look out for himself. The story that Mr. Westall and his +friends had circulated about Tom seemed to have made every one his +enemy. + +"I suppose you think every man we have been talking to is a Jackson man, +don't you?" said Mr. Westall, when they had left the settlement behind +and reached the open country once more. "Well, they aint. I saw some +Union men listening to what we said, and if they see a roan colt and a +boy without any boots on, they'll halt them and give them aid and +comfort." + +"I am very glad to hear that," said Rodney to himself. "Tom needs help, +if any one ever did, and I hope he will get it. It's going to be +ticklish business steering clear of Union men, is it not!" he said, +aloud. + +Mr. Westall thought it was, but still he did not have very much to say +about it, for since Rodney was resolved to go on, he did not want to +discourage him. As his journey progressed he would learn all about the +obstacles and dangers that lay in his course, and when they came, he +would have to surmount or get around them the best way he could. A mile +or so farther on they came to another crossroad, and there Mr. Westall +drew rein and held out his hand to Rodney. + +"Our course lies off that way," said he, "and we must bid you good-by. +You've got money and letters, and know as much about the road ahead of +you and the people who live on it as we know ourselves. Is there +anything we can do for you that you think of?" + +"Not a thing, thank you," replied the boy, as he shook hands with each +of the Emergency men. "You have been very kind, and I believe the advice +and information you have given me will take me safely through. Good-by; +and whenever you hear that Price has whipped the Yankees, you may know +that I was there to help him do it." + +"That's the right spirit, anyway. I like your pluck, and if we see you +again, we shall expect to see you wearing an officer's uniform." + +The Emergency men lifted their hats and galloped off down the +cross-road, and Rodney Gray was left alone in a strange country, and +with letters on "his person that would compromise him with any party of +men into whose company he chanced to fall. There was Tom's horse, too. +The animal was bound to bring his rider into trouble of some sort, for +of course a description of him had been carried through the country for +miles in advance. He felt savage toward the innocent beast which was +carrying him along in an easy foxtrot, and bitterly hostile toward Tom +Percival who had blundered into his way when he was least expecting to +see him. + +"Why didn't he stay in his own part of the State where he belonged?" +thought Rodney, spitefully. "I hope to goodness the Yankees--but after +all it was my own fault, for didn't I hand him that stick and give him +the only revolver I had? And he couldn't have got his own horse out of +that yard without arousing the dogs. It's all right, and I won't quarrel +with Tom Percival." + +To Rodney's great relief he did not meet a man that afternoon (no doubt +the farmers had all gone into town to talk politics with their +neighbors), but there were plenty of womenfolks in the houses along the +road, and they had their full share of curiosity. They flocked to the +doors and windows and looked closely at him as he passed, and Rodney +knew well enough that the men would hear all about him when they came +home at night. + +When darkness came on Rodney Gray began to realize the helplessness of +his position. It was time he was looking for a place to stay all night, +but what should he say to the farmer to whom he applied for supper and +lodging? If he told the truth and declared himself to be a Confederate, +and the farmer chanced to belong to the opposite side, or if he tried to +pass himself off for a Unionist and the farmer proved to be a red-hot +Jackson man: + +"Ay, there's the rub," thought Rodney, looking down at the ground in +deep perplexity. "There's where the difficulty comes in, and I don't +know how to decide it." + +He was not called upon to decide the matter that night, for while these +thoughts were passing through his mind, a voice a short distance in +advance of him began shouting: + +"Pig-g-e-e! pig-g-i-i! pig-g-o-o!" And a chorus of squeals and grunts, +followed by a rush in the bushes at the side of the road, told him that +the call had been heard, and that the farmer's hogs were making haste to +get their supper of corn. Before Rodney could make up his mind whether +to stop or keep on, his horse brought him from behind the bushes which +had covered his approach, and the boy found himself within less than +twenty feet of a man in his shirt-sleeves, who stopped his shouting and +stood with an ear of corn uplifted in his hand. + +"Evening," said Rodney, who saw that it was useless to retreat. + +"I'll be dog-gone!" said the man, throwing the ear of corn with unerring +aim at the head of the nearest porker and beckoning to Rodney with both +hands. "Come out of the road. Come up behind the bresh and be quick +about it." + +Rodney obeyed, lost in wonder; but as he rode across the shallow ditch +that ran between the road and the fence behind which the farmer stood, +he did not neglect to give his right leg a shake to loosen his revolver, +which during his long ride had worked its way down into his boot. Of +course the farmer had made a mistake of some kind, and Rodney was rather +anxious to learn what he would do when he found it out. + +"I have been a-hoping that you would come along and sorter looking for +it," continued the man, as Rodney drew up beside the fence. "But I +didn't dast to look for such a streak of luck as this. He's waiting for +you." + +"He? Who?" asked Rodney; and then he caught his breath and wondered if +he had done wrong in speaking before the man had opportunity to explain +his meaning. + +"Tain't worth while for you to play off on me," replied the farmer, +leading the way along the fence and motioning to Rodney to follow. "I +know the whole story from beginning to end, but I can't take you where +he is tonight. You'll have to stop with me till morning, but you and the +critter'll have to be hid in the bresh, kase Thompson's men aint gone +away yet." + +Here was one point settled, and it wasn't settled to the boy's +satisfaction, either. The man on the other side of the fence, who now +stopped and let down a pair of bars so that he could ride through into +the barnyard, was a Union man; and, to make matters worse he took Rodney +for the same. But what was that story he had heard from beginning to +end, and who was it that was waiting for him? Rodney dared not speak for +fear of saying something he ought not to say, and so he held his peace. +When he had followed his guide through the yard and into a small +building that looked as though it might have been fitted up for a +cow-stable, the latter continued, speaking now in his natural tone of +voice as if he were no longer in fear of being overheard: + +"He was looking for me all the time, and I knowed it the minute I set +eyes on to him." + +"Friend of yours?" said the boy, at a venture. + +"In a sartin way he are a friend, but I never see him till this +afternoon. I know his uncle up to Pilot Knob, and when I see him riding +by the house and looking at it as though he'd like to say something if +he wasn't afraid, I told him to 'light, and asked him wasn't he looking +for Merrick. That's me, you know. He said he was, and you might have +knocked me down with a straw when he told me he was kin to old Justus +Percival. Why don't you 'light?" + +The farmer might have knocked Rodney down with a straw too, if he had +had one handy, for the boy was very much surprised. He got off his horse +somehow and managed to inquire: + +"What did he tell you about me that made you know me as quick as you saw +me?" + +"He told me everything about you--how you had run away from Louisianner +kase your folks was all dead set agin the Union, and come up to Missoury +thinking to get amongst people of your own way of thinking, and run plum +into a nest of traitors before you knowed it." + +"That was at Cedar Bluff landing, was it?" said Rodney. + +"That's the place. And then he told me how you played off on them +wood-cutters till you made 'em think you was hot agin the Union, same as +they was, and so they give you a chance to holp him outen that corn-crib +and shove him a revolver to take care of himself with." + +"And how did he repay my kindness?" said Rodney. "By taking my colt and +leaving me a stolen horse to ride." + +"This critter wasn't stolen no more'n your'n was," replied the farmer, +in tones so earnest that Rodney began to fear he had stepped upon +dangerous ground. "That was a lie that man Westall and amongst 'em got +up to drive him outen his uncle's settlement. This is his hoss and he's +got your'n." + +"Where is he now?" + +Instead of answering the farmer gave Rodney's arm a severe gripe and +shake, and then seized the horse by the nose. A second later they heard +a body of men riding along the road in front of the cow-stable. + +"Don't give a loud wink," said the farmer, in a thrilling whisper. +"Them's some of Thompson's critter-fellers." + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + COMPARING NOTES. + +Rodney Gray held his breath and listened, and then he stepped close to +the side of the stable and looked through a crack between the logs. It +was almost dark by this time, but still there was light enough for him +to count the men who were riding by, and he made out that there were an +even dozen of them. They knew enough to move two abreast but not enough +to carry their guns, which were held over their shoulders at all angles, +and pointed in almost every direction. + +"Are they guerrillas?" he asked, at length. + +"Ger--which?" whispered the farmer. "Them's Thompson's men, and I don't +like to see 'em pointing t'wards the swamp the way they be." + +"What's down there?" inquired Rodney. + +"Why, he's down there," replied Merrick, in a surprised tone. "Tom +Percival, I mean." + +"Anybody with, him?" continued Rodney. + +"Half a dozen or so Union men, who had to clear out or be hung by +Thompson's men," replied the farmer. "If you knowed just how things +stand here in Missoury, and how sot every man is agin his nearest +neighbor, I don't reckon you'd ever tried to ride to Springfield." + +"I am quite sure I wouldn't," answered Rodney. "How do Thompson's men +happen to know that Percival is hiding down there in the swamp?" + +"I reckon Swanson must a told 'em; and he's the meanest man that was +ever let live, as you would say if you could have one look at his +face." + +"I met him to-day while I was riding in company with Mr. Westall and his +friends," replied Rodney. "They made him believe I was a good rebel, and +told him to look out for a boy in his stocking feet who was mounted on a +roan colt." + +"And that's just what he done. I reckon he must a ketched a glimpse of +Percival just before I fetched him into the house, for I had barely time +to hide the roan colt and get the boy into the kitchen before I seen +Swanson riding by. He didn't once look toward the house but that didn't +fool me, and I lost no time in taking Percival into the swamp where them +Union friends of mine is hid. Swanson went right on past, leaving word +at all the houses of the 'Mergency men that there was a Yankee +horse-thief loose in the kentry, and they've went out to ketch him. They +know where he is, and think to surround him and the rest of the Union +fellers and take 'em in in a lump; but they'll get fooled. There's some +sharp men in that party, and they won't allow themselves to be +surrounded." + +The farmer did not tell this story in a connected way as he would if +there had been no danger near. He kept moving from one side of the +stable to another, listening and peeping at all the cracks, and talked +only when he stopped to take the horse by the nose to prevent him from +calling to those that were passing along the road; but he said enough to +make Rodney very uneasy. Tom Percival had done him a great favor by +telling Merrick who he was, describing him and his horse so minutely +that the man knew them the instant he saw them, and Rodney was very +grateful to him for it; but that sort of thing must not on any account +be repeated. It must be stopped then and there if there was any way in +which it could be done. It would never do to let Tom keep ahead of him, +spreading a description of himself and his horse among the farmers who +lived along the old post-road, for he might, without knowing it, take a +Confederate into his confidence; and suppose Rodney should afterward +fall in with that same Confederate and show him the letter addressed to +Mr. Percival, and which was intended for the eyes of Union men only? The +Confederate would at once accuse him of sailing under false colors, and +trying to pass himself off for one of Price's soldiers when he was in +reality a Lincolnite. The boy shivered when he thought of the +consequences of such a mistake. + +"I'll tell you what's a fact," he said, to himself, stamping about the +stable with rather more noise than he ought to have made, seeing that +the guerrillas had barely had time to get out of hearing. "The farther I +go toward Springfield, the deeper I seem to get into trouble. I must +either find Tom and ride the rest of the way with him, or else I must +get ahead of him. If I don't do one or the other he will put me into a +scrape that I can't work out of." + +"Now you stay here and I will go out and snoop around a bit," said +Merrick, when the sound of the hoof-beats could be no longer heard. +"What I am afraid of is that they will leave some of their men to watch +the house." + +"Do your neighbors know that you are a Union man?" asked Rodney, as he +stepped up and took the horse by the bits. + +"They know I'm neutral, and that's just about as bad as though they knew +I was Union," was the reply. "They aint done nothing to me yet but I +know I'm watched, and so I have to mind what I am about. If the men who +just went by knew how I feel, I wouldn't dast to lift a hand to help +you. They'd have me hung to one of my shade trees before morning." + +As Merrick spoke he glided out into the darkness, and Rodney was left +alone to think over the situation; but Merrick had not been gone more +than five minutes when the horse indicated by his actions that there was +some one approaching the stable. Presently a twig snapped, a hand was +passed along the wall outside and a figure appeared in the doorway. It +wasn't tall enough for Merrick, and besides it had a coat on. Believing +that it was one of Thompson's men who had been left behind to watch the +house, Rodney drew his revolver from his boot leg and cocked it as he +raised it to a level with his eyes and covered the figure's head. + +"Don't shoot, Merrick," said the intruder, who had probably heard the +click of the hammer. "What's the good of helping a fellow one hour if +you are going to shoot him the next?" + +"Tom Percival!" exclaimed Rodney, in guarded tones. + +In an instant the figure sprang into the stable and seized Rodney in his +arms. + +"Did anybody ever hear of such luck?" said Tom, who was the first to +recover his power of speech. "Where are you going and what business have +you got up here in my State, you red-hot rebel?" + +"I never expected to be on such terms with a Yankee horse-thief," +answered Rodney, letting down the hammer of his revolver and putting the +weapon back in its place. + +"I knew just how much faith you would put in that outrageous story," +said Tom. "It was got up against me on purpose to induce the planters in +my uncle's settlement to run me out." + +"To hang you, you mean," corrected Rodney. "That's what they would have +done with you before to-morrow morning." + +"If it hadn't been for you," added Tom; and he did not talk like a boy +who had so narrowly escaped with his life. "I heard your story down +there in Jeff's cabin, and knew that you kept your promise and enlisted +within twenty-four hours after you reached home. And I know, too, that +your company didn't want to join the Confederate army or leave the +State. What did they want to do then? They're a pretty lot of soldiers. +Well, it's a good thing for them that they stayed at home, for you +rebels are going to get such a licking--" + +"Have you licked Dick Graham back into a proper frame of mind yet?" +interrupted Rodney. + +"No. Haven't had the chance. He helped raise the first company of +partisans that left the southwestern part of the Slate to join Price, +and I have scarcely heard of him since. I had a lively time dodging +Price's men when I went up to St. Louis to offer the services of my +company to Lyon, and when I heard you tell Westall that you were going +to undertake the same kind of a journey, I felt sorry for you. I am +overjoyed to see and have a chance to speak to you, Rodney, but I don't +know whether we ought to stick together or not. Of course Merrick took +you for a Union man," added Tom, in a suppressed whisper. + +"Certainly. I didn't have much to say to him until I found out who he +thought I was. Did you go it blind when you addressed him as a Union +man?" + +"Oh, no. I know the name of every man it will do to trust for twenty +miles ahead," replied Tom. "But I've got his name in my head. I haven't +a scrap of writing about me, and I am sorry to know that you have. Take +my advice and stick everything in the shape of a letter you have in your +pockets into the tire the first good chance you get." + +"I have been thinking about that all the afternoon. What if I should +fall in with a party strong enough to search me? I've got a letter +addressed to Erastus Percival." + +"Where in the world did you get it?" demanded Tom, who was greatly +astonished. "Man alive, he's my father." + +"So I supposed. It was given to me by Captain Howard whose acquaintance +I made aboard the _Mollie Able_, and he got it from a friend of his." + +"My limited knowledge of the English language will not permit me to do +this subject justice," declared Tom. He looked around for something to +sit down on, and then leaned against the wall for support. "My father +has heard of you and would have helped you at the risk of his life. He +wouldn't go back on a Barrington boy any more than I would; but if you +should be searched by rebels anywhere between here and Springfield, that +letter would hang you. Burn it before you take the road to-morrow." + +"If your father is so well known, I don't see why his neighbors haven't +hung him before this time," said Rodney. + +"It's safer to try the bushwhacking game, and he has been shot at three +times already. He doesn't expect to live to see the end of these +troubles, but he is like your cousin Marcy Gray--he doesn't haul in his +shingle one inch. Burn that letter, I tell you." + +"I didn't intend to present it unless I had to," replied Rodney. "Now, +then, what brought you here? I thought you were hidden in the swamp +along with some other refugees." + +"So I was; but I came back on purpose to see if Merrick had heard +anything from you. I was on my way to the house when I thought I would +stop and look in here. I was hidden in the bushes when those Emergency +men rode down the road. Of course they are going to the swamp, and I +don't know whether I can get back there to-night or not. I wonder how +they got on to my track so quick." + +Rodney said that Merrick thought it was through old man Swanson. Tom +replied that he had never heard of such a man, and Rodney went on to +tell of his accidental meeting with him at the cross-roads, adding: + +"Mr. Westall told him that I and my horse were all right, and not to be +interfered with, and that he would make something by keeping a bright +lookout for a boy without any boots on, and a roan colt. One of the +party also told him that you were unarmed, but Swanson didn't take much +stock in that. He declared that there were plenty of people in the +country who would be mean enough to give you clothes and weapons for the +asking, and I reckon he was about right. I gave you a revolver and I see +some one else has furnished you with a pair of boots. Now, didn't you +know, when you ran off with my horse, leaving yours for me to ride, that +every man I met would take me for you?" + +"That's a fact," replied Tom, "but I never thought of it before. But I +couldn't get my horse out of the yard without scaring the others, and so +I had to do the best I could. Now that I think of it, perhaps we had +better let the trade stand a little while longer." + +"Oh, do you?" exclaimed Rodney. "You have good cheek I must say." + +"It isn't cheek at all, but a desire to keep you out of trouble as long +as I can," answered Tom. + +"Making me ride a horse that has been advertised all through the country +as stolen property is a good way to keep me out of trouble, isn't it +now?" said Rodney. "I never should have thought of it if you hadn't +mentioned it." + +"Hold on a bit," replied Tom. "No one in this section is looking for you +now. You can take the road and keep it, and the horse you ride will not +bring you into trouble; but if that roan colt shows his nose where +anybody can see it, he'll be nabbed quicker'n a flash, and his rider +too. See? As I am a little more experienced in dodging about in the +bushes than you are, you had better let me take the risk." + +"I never could look a white man in the face again if I should do that," +answered Rodney. "Don't you know what will be done with you if you are +caught?" + +"I shan't run anymore risk than you did when you helped me get out of +that corncrib," said Tom, reaching for his schoolmate's hand in the dark +and giving it a hearty squeeze. "Don't you know what would be done to +_you_ if you were caught with that roan colt in your possession? You +would be taken back to Mr. Westall's settlement, and when he saw that +you were riding the same horse you rode when you came to Cedar Bluff +landing, wouldn't he want to know where you got him? Can you think of +any answers you could give that would satisfy him? I'll trade revolvers, +if you want yours back (I know you've got one, for I heard you cock it +when I came to the door), but I really think you had better let me keep +your horse a little while longer. I hear somebody coming," he added, +stepping to the nearest crack and looking out. "It's Merrick. I can see +his white shirt." + +A moment later the owner of the stable came in, and was not a little +surprised when he heard himself addressed by the boy whom he supposed to +be snugly hidden in the deepest and darkest nook of the swamp. Tom told +him why he had come back instead of keeping out of sight, and asked what +had become of the squad of men he saw riding along the road a while +before. + +"They kept on as far as I could hear 'em," replied the farmer, "and if +they left any one behind to watch the house, they were so sly about it +that I never seen it." + +"Of course it was broad daylight when Tom came to your house," said +Rodney. "Well, how do you know but that man Swanson saw him when he went +in?" + +"I don't know it," replied Merrick. "But even if he did see Percival go +in, these 'Mergency men won't never say a word to me about it, kase they +know well enough that if they should hurt a hair of my head, some of my +friends would bushwhack 'em to pay for it. They would send word over +into the next county, and some fellers from there would ride over some +dark night and set my buildings a-going, or pop me over as quick as they +would a squirrel, if they could get a chance at me. That's the way we do +business nowadays, and that's the reason we don't never go to the door +when somebody rides up and hails the house after dark." + +"Why, I wouldn't live in such a country," said Rodney. + +"What would you do, if everything you had in the world was right here +and you couldn't sell it and get out?" replied the farmer. "You'd stay +and look out for it, I reckon, and make it as hot as you could for any +one who tried to drive you away. But driving is a game two can play at," +added Merrick, with a low chuckle; and Rodney noticed that he ceased +speaking once in a while and turned his head on one side as if he were +listening for suspicious sounds. "I don't say I have rode around of +nights myself and I don't say I aint; but I do say for a fact that if +you go over into the next county, you won't find so many men there who +make a business of shooting Union folks as there used to be. Some parts +of the kentry t'other side the ridge looks as though they had been +struck by a harrycane that had blew away all the men and big boys." + +This was what Captain Howard must have meant when he warned Rodney that +every little community in the Southern part of the State was divided +into two hostile camps. This was partisan warfare, and Rodney wanted to +be a partisan. + +"Is that the sort of partisan you are, Tom?" he inquired, when Merrick +went out again to see if it would be safe for them to go into the +kitchen and get supper. "I wish I had had sense enough to stay at +home." + +"I wish to goodness you had," said Tom honestly. "Not but that you've +got as much sense as most boys of your age, but you know as well as I do +that the Barrington fellows used to say you didn't always know what you +were about. Why, when I heard you telling your story to Mr. Westall down +there in Jeff's shanty, it was all I could do to keep from saying, right +out loud, that such a piece of foolishness had never come under my +notice before." + +"Where would you be at this moment if I hadn't been in Jeff's cabin last +night?" retorted Rodney. + +"Well, that's a fact," said Tom thoughtfully. "About the time I felt +that stick and revolver in my hands, I was mighty glad you were around; +but as soon as I had used them, I wished from the bottom of my heart +that you were safe back in your own State. But since you are here, I am +going to do my level best for you; and that's the reason I am going to +keep your horse a little longer. If I don't give him back to you some +day, you can keep mine to remember me by." + +"And every time I look at him, I shall be reminded that I have been +taken for a horse-thief," added Rodney. + +"You are no more of a horse-thief than I am. Let that thought comfort +you. How is it, Merrick?" he went on, addressing himself to the farmer +who at that moment glided into the stable with noiseless footstep. "Can +we go in and get supper, or will it be safer for you to bring it out to +us?" + +"You are to come right in," was the farmer's welcome reply. "It'll be +safe, for I have cleared the kitchen of everybody except the old woman. +She's Secesh the very worst kind, but that needn't bother you none. She +knows how to get up a good supper." + +"That is a matter that has a deeper interest for us just now than her +politics," said Tom. "But what shall we do with the horse?" + +"As soon as I have showed you the way to the table I'll come back and +stay with him so't he won't whinny," answered Merrick. "If them +'Mergency men heard him calling they might think it was one of my own +critters and then agin they mightn't; so it's best to be on the safe +side." + +That the farmer was very much afraid that the horse might betray his +presence to the guerrillas was evident from the way he acted. He took +long, quick steps when he started for the house, gave the two boys a +hurried introduction to his wife, saw them seated at the table and then +ran out again. Mrs. Merrick remained in the room to wait upon them, and +that was an arrangement that Tom Percival did not like; for although she +proved to be a pleasant and agreeable hostess and never said a word +about politics, Tom did not think it safe to talk too freely in her +presence, and took the first opportunity that was offered to give Rodney +a friendly warning. + +"After you have been in this country a while, you will find that the +women are worse rebels than the men," said he, in an undertone. "I don't +suppose she would lead the Emergency men on to us, for that would get +Merrick into trouble; but such things have been done in the settlement +where I live. We can't do any more talking at present. Have another +piece of the toast?" + +"If I had passed through as many dangers as you have and had as narrow +an escape, I don't think I could eat as you do," said Rodney, who took +note of the fact that his friend had not lost any of his appetite since +he left Barrington. + +"I've had three good meals to-day, and a hearty lunch in the swamp; but +I don't know when I have been so hungry," replied Tom; and then seeing +that Rodney cast occasional glances toward the kitchen stove in which a +bright fire was burning, he continued, in an earnest whisper, "This is +as good a chance as you will have. Chuck 'em in, and you'll not regret +it; but if you have no objections, I should like to read them before you +do it. I'll keep mum." + +Rodney knew that, and forthwith produced the letters, which had been a +source of anxiety to him ever since they came into his possession, and +also Mr. Graham's last telegram. Tom said he did not know either of the +men whose names were signed to the letters that came through Captain +Howard, but he was better acquainted with Mr. Westall and his four +companions than he cared to be. + +"The man who wrote this letter to Erastus Percival, my father, must be +some one down the river who has had business dealings with him; but I +don't know the gentleman," said he, after he had run his eye over the +various documents. "Put the whole business right into the stove. You +don't want any such papers about you, for you don't know whom you are +going to meet on the road. Trust to luck; stare Fate in the face, and +your heart will be aisy if it's in the right place." + +If Mrs. Merrick was surprised or suspected anything when Rodney put the +letters into her stove and stood over them long enough to see them +reduced to ashes, she made no remark. As he was about to return to his +seat at the table there came a sound that arrested his steps, and +brought Tom Percival out of his chair in a twinkling. The doors and +windows were all closed (the curtains were pulled down as well, so that +no one on the outside could see into the room), but the words, which +were uttered in a muffled voice, came distinctly to their ears: + +"Hallo, the house!" + +"There they are," whispered Tom, thrusting his hand into his breast +pocket and glancing toward Rodney as if to assure himself that the +latter could be depended on in an emergency. + +"Sit down and keep perfectly quiet," said Mrs. Merrick, in a calm tone. +"They are ready to shoot, and you mustn't move about for fear of +throwing your shadow upon one of the window curtains." + +[Illustration: MRS. MERRICK STANDS GUARD.] + +"Are they looking for your husband?" Rodney managed to ask. + +"I suppose they are," answered the woman, who did not even change color. +"I will go to the door and find out." + +"You mustn't," protested Rodney. "Mr. Merrick said he didn't take any +notice of hails after dark." + +"He doesn't, but I do," replied the wife. "Somebody must answer, or we +couldn't live in this country a day longer." + +"Do you recognize the voice?" + +"Of course not," said Tom Percival. "They are strangers from some other +county." + +"Why can't we go with her and return their fire," exclaimed Rodney, as +Mrs. Merrick left the room and moved along the wide hall toward the +front door. "I'll not stay here like a bump on a log and let her be shot +at, now I--" + +"Come back here. Sit down and behave yourself or you'll play smash," +said Tom, earnestly. "They'll not harm her. It's her husband they are +after. Now listen." + +Rodney sat down in the nearest chair, rested the hand that held his +revolver on the table, and waited and listened with as much patience as +he could command. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + RODNEY MAKES A TRADE. + +"You are a pretty partisan, you are," whispered Tom Percival, while they +were waiting for Mrs. Merrick to open the front-door. "Those men outside +are friends of yours, and yet you stand ready to fight them." + +"I don't claim friendship with any cowardly bushwhacker," answered +Rodney hotly. "I don't collogue [associate] with any such." + +"Then you'll have to do one of two things," said Tom. "Go home and stay +there, or else join the Confederate army. Nearly every man in Missouri +is a bushwhacker. Now listen." + +Tom did not follow his own suggestion, for when he heard the front door +creak on its hinges, he laid down his revolver and covered his ears with +his hands. This made Rodney turn as white as a sheet and get upon his +feet again, fully expecting to hear the roar of a shotgun, followed by +the clatter of buckshot in the hall; but instead of that, there came the +calm, even tones of Mrs. Merrick's voice inquiring: + +"What is it?" + +"If I had that woman's pluck I'd be a general before this thing is +over," said Rodney, "I've always heard that a woman had more courage +than a man and now I know it." + +"Listen," repeated Tom, who had by this time taken his hands down from +his ears. + +There was no immediate response, for the party at the gate had looked +for somebody else to answer their hail. Presently the same muffled voice +inquired: + +"Is Mr. Merrick to home?" + +"He was a few minutes ago, but he is not in now," said his wife. "Have +you any word to leave for him?" + +"No, I don't reckon we have. We'll ketch--we'll see him some other +time." + +"Who shall I say called?" + +"It don't matter. We're friends of his'n who wanted to see him on +business. Goodnight." + +"Good-night," replied Mrs. Merrick, as if her suspicions had not been +roused in the slightest degree; and then she shut the door and came back +into the kitchen. She was pale now and trembling; and Rodney made haste +to offer her a chair while Tom poured out a glass of water. + +"I told you they wouldn't hurt her," he found opportunity to say to +Rodney. "But if Merrick had gone to the door he would have been full of +buckshot now." + +"They might as well shoot her as to scare her to death," replied Rodney. +"This is a terrible state of affairs." + +"I believe you. And we haven't seen the beginning of it yet. What have +they got against your husband any way, Mrs. Merrick?" + +The woman kept her eyes fastened upon Tom's face while she drank a +portion of the water he had poured out for her, and then she handed back +the glass with the remark: + +"Mr. Merrick is Union and so are you." + +"How do you know that?" demanded Tom. "Has he told you my story?" + +"He hasn't said a word; but I have been over to a neighbor's this +afternoon, and while I was there, I saw you and a roan horse go into our +cow-lot. A little while afterward old Swanson rode up and told us about +a Yankee horse-thief who was going through the country, trying to reach +Springfield. That shows how fast news travels these times. And that +isn't all I know," she added, nodding at Rodney. "You are as good a +Confederate as I am." + +"Then how does it come that I am colloguing with a Yankee horse-thief?" +exclaimed Rodney, who wanted to learn how much the woman really knew +about him and his friend. + +"That is something I do not pretend to understand," was the answer. "But +there must be some sort of an arrangement between you, for one is riding +the other's horse. Now perhaps you had better go. I will put up a bite +for you to eat during the night, and will try to get a breakfast to you +in the morning. I shall have to let you out of a side door, for you +would be seen if you went out of this well-lighted room; and if I were +to put out the lamp, it would arouse the suspicious of any one who may +happen to be on the watch." + +"This reminds me of the days I have read of, when the women fought side +by side with their husbands and sons in the block-houses," thought +Rodney, as he shoved his revolver into his boot leg and waited for the +lunch to be put up. "What a scout she would make." + +Mrs. Merrick probably knew that the boys would not devote much time to +sleeping that night, for the "bite" she put up for them was equal in +quantity to the hearty supper they had just eaten. She was aware, too, +that they would have to "lie out," and anxious to know if they had any +blankets to keep them warm. It might not be quite safe for them to build +a camp fire, and consequently they would need plenty of covering. There +was the lunch, and Tom needn't be so profuse in his thanks, for while +she believed in fighting the Lincoln government, since it was bound to +force a war upon the South, she did not believe in starving Union boys +on account of their principles. She hoped Tom would reach home in +safety, and advised him when he got there to turn over a new leaf and go +with his State. + +"Do you remember what that British colonel said to his commanding +officer, after he had visited General Marion in his camp and dined with +him on sweet potatoes?" inquired Rodney, after the two had been let out +at the side door and were stealing along the fence toward the cow-stable +where Mr. Merrick was patiently waiting for them. "The colonel said, +'You can't conquer such people;' and he was so impressed with the fact +that he threw up his commission and went home to England. That is what I +say to you, Tom Percival. The North can't conquer the South while we +have such women as Mrs. Merrick in it." + +"Now listen at you," replied Tom. "The North doesn't want to conquer the +South, and you don't show your usual common sense in hinting at such a +thing. The people--and when I say that, I mean the Union men both North +and South--say that you secessionists shall not break up this +government; and if you persist in your efforts, you are going to get +whipped, as you ought to be. Hallo, Mr. Merrick," he added, stopping in +the door of the stable and trying to peer through the darkness. "Did you +hear those gentlemen asking for you a while ago?" + +"I was listening," replied the farmer, with a chuckle. "But I +disremembered the voice. The feller talked as though he was holding a +handkercher or something over his mouth. How many of them was there? I +seen three." + +"We didn't see any, for Mrs. Merrick wouldn't let us go to the door," +replied Rodney. "She was the coolest one in the kitchen." + +"She's got tol'able grit, Nance has," replied the farmer, and there was +just a tinge of pride in his tones when he said it. "I may happen over +t'other side the ridge some night, and then the tables will be turned +t'other way. Now, if you are ready, we'll make tracks for the swamp. The +way is clear. Thompson's men have give it up as a bad job and gone +home." + +"Did they pass along the road?" exclaimed Rodney. "We never heard +them." + +"I did, and seen 'em too. There was a right smart passel of 'em--more'n +enough to have made pris'ners of all the Union fellers in the swamp, if +they hadn't been afraid to face the rifles that them same Union men know +how to shoot with tol'able sure aim." + +"Why is it necessary for them to hide out?" asked Rodney. "What have +they done?" + +"I don't rightly know as I can tell you," replied the farmer, in a tone +which led the boy to believe that he could tell all about it if he felt +so disposed. "But it seems that some high-up Secesh has disappeared and +nobody don't know what's went with 'em; and some folks do say that them +fellers in the swamp had a hand in their taking off. I dunno, kase I +wasn't thar." + +So saying, Merrick led the horse from the stable and the boys followed +without saying a word, for they were by no means sure that Thompson's +men had all gone away. They went through a wide field that had once been +planted to corn, and when they had passed a gap in the fence by which it +was surrounded, they found themselves in the edge of a thick wood. + +"I don't see how you ever found your way through here alone," said +Rodney to his friend. "It is as dark as pitch." + +"Oh, I wasn't alone. One of those Union men came with me as far as this +gap, and then I came on well enough," replied Tom. "It's a wonder those +horsemen didn't discover me. I threw myself flat on the ground between +the old corn-rows, and saw them quite distinctly. Mr. Hobson said he +would wait here for me." + +"And he has kept his word, although he began to think you were never +coming back," replied a voice from the darkness. "Is this the friend who +helped you last night? I can just make out that there are three of +you." + +If it had been daylight there is no telling how Rodney Gray would have +passed through the ordeal of shaking hands with a Union man who was +suspected of being concerned in the "taking off" of some prominent +secessionists in his settlement. It was a large, muscular hand that +grasped his own, and Rodney knew that there was a big man behind it. He +knew, too, that Mr. Hobson (that was the name by which the stranger was +introduced) had no reason for supposing that he was anything but what +Tom Percival represented him to be--a Union boy who had run away from +home and come up North because his relatives were all secessionists and +opposed to his Union principles. That was about the story Tom Percival +had told Merrick, and it was reasonable to suppose that he had told Mr. +Hobson and his fellow fugitives the same. Indeed he became sure of it a +moment later, for Mr. Hobson said, while he continued to hold fast to +Rodney's hand and shake it: + +"So it seems that we Missourians are not the only ones who have to stand +persecution because we believe in upholding the Stars and Stripes. I +have heard something of your history from our young friend Percival, and +assure you that I sympathize with you deeply. I want to compliment you +on the courage and skill you showed in helping him escape from those +guerrillas last night." + +"It is hardly worth speaking of," answered Rodney, as soon as he could +collect his wits. "Tom would have done the same for me." + +"I am sure he would, but it was none the less a brave act on your part. +Now let us go to camp. If I don't get back pretty soon my friends will +wonder what has become of me. By the way, didn't I hear a body of men +riding along the road going west, a short time since?" + +Merrick replied that they were some of Thompson's men, who probably +thought it safer to keep to the big road than it would be to attempt to +capture half a dozen well-armed Union men in a dark swamp. Hobson and +his party were not likely to be molested, but still Merrick thought it +would be best for them to remain concealed a while longer, and depend +upon him for their provisions and news. Merrick did not forget to tell +of the three men who had stopped at his gate and asked to see him "on +business." + +"I reckon I might as well leave you boys here," he added, placing the +bridle in Rodney's hand. + +"And what shall Tom and I do in the morning?" inquired the latter. "We +ought to make an early start, and do you think it would be safe for us +to keep together?" + +"Not by no means it wouldn't," replied Merrick, quickly. "Unless you can +induce somebody in Mr. Hobson's party to give you a trade for that roan +colt. You mustn't try to ride him to Springfield. You ought to get rid +of him as soon as you can." + +"Let's go to camp," repeated Mr. Hobson. "We can talk the matter over +after we get there. And in the meantime, you boys had better make up +your minds to stay with us until after Merrick brings us a breakfast. +Perhaps he will know by that time whether or not it will be safe for you +to continue your journey." + +Going to camp and spending the night with half a dozen strangers who +held opinions that were so very different from his own, and who might +"catch him up" when he wasn't looking for it, was what Rodney Gray +dreaded. He didn't like the idea of passing himself off for a Union boy +when he wasn't, and was afraid he might let fall some expression that +would betray him. That would be most unfortunate, for it would get Tom +Percival into trouble as well as himself. But there was no help for it, +and so he brought up the rear leading the horse, while Mr. Hobson and +Tom led the way along a blind path toward the camp. Presently the former +began whistling at intervals, and when at length an answer came from the +depths of the forest, Rodney knew that the camp was close at hand. Ten +minutes later he had been introduced to Mr. Hobson's companions, and was +listening in a dazed sort of way to their words of greeting and +sympathy. They knew just how he felt, they said, for they had been +obliged to leave home themselves on account of their opinions, and an +indorsement from Tom Percival, with whose uncle Justus they were well +acquainted, they assured him would bring all the aid and comfort they +could give him. + +"Tom always could tell a slick story--he was noted for that at school," +thought Rodney, as he motioned to his friend to set out the lunch that +Mrs. Merrick had put up for them. "And if he hasn't shut up the eyes of +these Union men I don't want a cent. If I hear this story many more +times I shall begin to believe I am Union without knowing it, and that I +left home because I had to." + +As the refugees never once suspected that Rodney was acting a part, and +that Tom Percival had deliberately deceived them, they asked no leading +questions, and the visitor was very thankful for that. Of course they +were anxious to know how matters stood in Louisiana, and Rodney could +truthfully say that the Union men were so very careful to keep their +opinions to themselves that they were known only to their most trusted +friends. He had heard that there were a good many of them in and around +Mooreville, but had never had the luck to meet any. If a man in his part +of the State had dared to hint that he was opposed to secession, he +would have stood a fine chance of being mobbed. Rodney was glad when the +lunch had been eaten, the last pipe smoked and the refugees stretched +themselves on their beds of boughs with their saddles for pillows, and +drew their blankets over them. Then he was at liberty to think over the +situation but denied the privilege of talking to Tom; and that was what +he most desired. While he was wondering what his next adventure was +going to be he fell asleep. + +"That's Merrick's signal," were the next words he heard. + +It didn't seem to Rodney that he had been asleep five minutes, but when +he opened his eyes he found that it was just getting daylight, and that +all the refugees were sitting up on their blankets stretching their arms +and yawning; while, faint and far off but quite distinct, he heard a +familiar voice shouting: + +"Pig-gee! Pig-gii! Pig-goo!" + +"That's breakfast," said Mr. Hobson. "Now, while we are waiting for it, +I suggest that we take a look at that roan colt and make up our minds +what we are going to do with him." + +"That's business," said Rodney. "I don't like to let him go, for he was +the last thing my father gave me." + +"Then your father must be for the Union," remarked one of the refugees. + +"He thinks just as I do," answered Rodney; and then he recollected that +he had never expressed an opinion. He had not been asked, for Tom +Percival had done it for him. He followed the men to the place where the +horses had been picketed, and listened while they talked and tried to +make up their minds whether it would be prudent to give him a trade. +There was not the slightest difference of opinion regarding the good +qualities of the roan colt, for they could be seen at a glance; but here +was where the trouble came in: They hoped to return to their homes at no +distant day, and what would their neighbors say to them when a horse +that was said to have been stolen was seen in their possession? It was +Mr. Westall's argument over again. + +"I would just as soon take Percival's horse to the settlement as to go +back there with this roan," said Mr. Hobson. "One is as dangerous to us +as the other. You see, everybody, Union as well as Secesh, is down on a +horse-thief, and the politics of the man who is caught with this horse +in his keeping will not save him. After all I don't know that I can be +in a much worse mess than I am now, and if you like, I will give you my +horse for him. It's a one-sided trade I admit, the roan is worth two of +mine, but see the risk I shall run?" + +"I'll do it," said Rodney quickly. "I shall be glad to see the last of +that colt, and hope he will not be the means of getting you into +difficulty. Now do you think Tom and I can ride together?" + +"I don't see why you can't, and I think it would be a good thing for +you, because Percival has a general knowledge of the roads ahead, and +knows a few people who can be trusted." + +This matter having been settled to the satisfaction of both the boys, +one of the refugees set up a peculiar whistle to let Merrick know that +the road to their camp was clear, and twenty minutes later he came into +sight, followed by a darkey. The latter was mounted on a mule and +carried a heavy basket on each arm. The first question that was asked, +"Have you seen or heard anything more of Thompson's men?" was answered +in the negative on both sides, and then the refugees and their guests +were ready for breakfast. Merrick seemed relieved to know that the boys +had succeeded in getting the roan colt off their hands, and told them +that he had brought the darkey along to act as their guide until they +were beyond the limits of his settlement. + +"After you went away last night, Nance said that there are some folks +about here who know I am harboring two chaps that I have took some pains +to keep out of sight, and so I thought you had best keep to the bresh +till you had got past them peoples' houses," said he; but there was one +thing his wife did not tell him, and that was that one of the two boys +he was harboring was as good a Confederate as any of the men who had +ridden along the road. That was a matter she kept to herself. + +Breakfast being over the only thing there was to detain the boys was to +saddle their horses. That did not take many minutes, and then they were +ready for the new dangers that lay along the road ahead of them. After +thanking Mr. Merrick for his kindness, not forgetting to send their best +regards to his wife, they shook hands with the refugees and told their +sable guide to go on. + +"I never saw things quite so badly mixed up as they are in this +country," said Rodney, when the camp and its occupants had been left out +of sight. "And neither did I dream that you were such an expert +story-teller. Suppose I had said or done something to arouse the +suspicions of the men we have just left; where would we be now?" + +"What else could I do?" demanded Tom. "You didn't expect me to say out +loud that you are a Confederate on your way to join a man who is getting +ready to fight against the government of the United States. You knew I +wouldn't do that, and so I had to put you in a false position. It isn't +my fault. You ought to have had sense enough to stay at home." + +"I can see it now," replied Rodney. "But what are we to do from this +time on?" + +"I am sure I don't know. We'll be Union all over for the next twenty +miles or so, and then perhaps you can show yourself in your true colors +while I do the deceiving; but you must be careful and not speak my name. +I declare I had no idea that the Percivals were so well known through +this neck of the woods. But I'll tell you what I honestly believe: +Price's cavalry is scouting all through the central and southern parts +of the State, shooting Union men and picking up recruits, and as soon as +we begin to hear of them, I think you had better desert me and join +them; that is, unless you have come to your senses, and made up your +mind that you had better cast your lot with the loyal people of the +nation." + +"Don't you know any better than to talk to me in that style?" exclaimed +Rodney. "Do you imagine that I have come up here just to have the fun of +going back on my principles?" + +"No; I don't suppose you have, but I think you ought to before it is too +late. However, let politics go. Have you heard from any of the +Harrington boys since we left school? Where is your cousin Marcy?" + +This was a more agreeable topic than the one they had been discussing, +but Rodney had little information to impart. He had written to Marcy but +had received no reply, and the reader knows the reason why. It was +because Marcy dare not write and tell Rodney how matters stood with him, +for fear that the letter might be stopped by some of his Secession +neighbors,--Captain Beardsley, for instance,--who would use it against +him. He told of the letters he had received from Dixon, Billings and +Dick Graham, and they were all in the army, or going as soon as they +could get there. He hadn't heard from any other Barrington fellow, but +he believed that Tom Percival was the one black sheep in the flock--that +the others had gone with their States. + +"I don't believe it," said Tom, with decided emphasis. "I am not the +only Union fellow there was in the academy, by a long shot, and I know +that those who opposed secession didn't do it to hear themselves talk. +Your cousin Marcy didn't go with his State, and there are others like +him scattered all over the country." + +"Say," exclaimed Rodney, bending forward in his saddle and speaking just +loud enough for Tom, who was riding in advance, to catch his words. "Do +you believe Merrick's darkey can be depended on?" + +"Of course," answered Tom. "Why not? What makes you ask the question?" + +"I don't like the way he has of looking over his shoulder and listening +to our conversation. You are all right, of course, but I am afraid I +have said too much. I was so glad to get a chance to talk to you that I +never thought of him." + +"Didn't you once assure your cousin Marcy that all the blacks in the +South would go with their masters against the abolitionists?" inquired +Tom. + +"Yes, I believe I did, and I think so yet. I don't think we have a +darkey on our place who would accept his freedom to-day if it were +offered to him." + +"There may not be one who would dare say so, because they know better; +but give the best of them the chance and see how quickly he would skip +over the border into abolition territory. If you think the darkies are +loyal to their masters, what are you afraid of? According to your idea, +if that darkey ahead betrays anybody, he ought to betray me, for I am +Union and he heard me tell his master so yesterday. But if you think he +can't be trusted to keep his mouth shut, we'll turn him to the +right-about in short order." + +"And lose the benefit of his knowledge?" said Rodney. "I wouldn't do +that. Let him stay as long as Merrick told him to, and in the mean time +I will talk as though I knew he would repeat every word I say." + +This thing of being obliged to place a curb upon their tongues when they +wanted to speak freely was annoying in the extreme; but it might have +saved them some trouble and anxiety if they had done it from the first. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + TWICE SURPRISED. + +During the whole of their journey through the woods, which did not come +to an end until long after four o'clock that afternoon, the negro guide +never once spoke to the boys unless he was first spoken to, nor did they +see any living' thing except a drove of half-wild hogs, which fled +precipitately at their approach. The plantation darkies, as a general +thing, were talkative and full of life, and this unwonted silence on the +part of their conductor finally produced an effect upon Tom Percival +who, when the noon halt was called, took occasion to give the man a good +looking over. He was not very well satisfied with the result of his +examination. + +"How much farther do you go with us, boy?" said he. + +"Not furder'n Mr. Truman's house, an' dat aint above ten mile from +hyar," was the answer. + +"Truman," repeated Tom. "He's all right. I was told to stop on the way +and call upon him for anything I might need. Hurry up and take us there; +and when you do," he added in a whisper, to Rodney, "we'll say good-by +to you. You were right; he's treacherous. He's a red-eyed nigger, and +when you see a nigger of that sort you want to look out for him." + +There was no need that they should "look out" for their guide now, +because there was no way in which he could betray them secretly. The +danger would arise when they stopped for the night or after they parted +from him the next morning. Then he would be at liberty to go where he +pleased, and as he was acquainted with every Union man for miles around, +it would not take him long to spread among them the report that there +was a Confederate stopping at Mr. Truman's house in company with a young +Missourian who did not want his name spoken where other folks could hear +it. If such a story as that should get wind, it would make trouble all +around--for Mr. Truman as well as for themselves; for Truman's neighbors +would want to know why he gave food and lodging to a Confederate when he +claimed to be a Union man himself. The longer Rodney thought of these +things, the more he wished himself safe back in Louisiana. + +At half-past four by Tom Percival's watch the negro stopped his mule +beside a rail fence running between the woods and an old field, on whose +farther side was a snug plantation house, nestled among the trees. That +was where Mr. Truman lived, and where Merrick had told them to stop for +the night. + +"And I suppose you will stay also, won't you?" said Tom, speaking to the +darkey who bent down from his mule and threw a few of the top rails off +the fence so that the boys could jump their horses over into the field. + +"Who? Me? Oh no, sar," answered the guide, with rather more earnestness +than the occasion seemed to demand. "Marse Merrick done tol' me to be +sure an' come home dis very night, an' I 'bleeged to mind him, sar." + +"I'll bet you don't mind him," thought Tom, as he and Rodney rode into +the field and waited for the negro to build up the fence again. "There's +a bug under that chip and I know it." + +The appearance of three horsemen riding up to the back door in this +unexpected way created something of a flutter among the female portion +of Mr. Truman's family, and even the farmer himself, who presently came +to the door of one of the outbuildings, seemed to be a little startled; +but when a second look showed him that one of Mr. Merrick's negroes was +of the number, he came up to the pump near which the boys had +dismounted. + +"This is Mr. Truman, I believe," said Tom. + +"Well, yes; that's my name, but I don't reckon I ever saw you before," +replied the man cautiously. + +"Do you know this boy who has been acting as our guide?" + +"Oh, yes. I know all of Merrick's boys, so it must be all right. But you +see in times like these--" + +"I understand," Tom interposed, for Mr. Truman talked so slowly that the +boy was afraid he might never get through with what he had to say. "In +times like these you don't know whom to trust. That's our fix, exactly; +and we shouldn't have thought of stopping here if Merrick and Hobson had +not told us who and what you are. Go on, boy, and tell Mr. Truman who +and what we are, where we came from, where we want to go, and all about +it." + +The negro was talkative enough now, and the boys had no fault to find +with the way in which he complied with Tom's request except in one +particular--he had too much to say regarding Rodney Gray's loyalty to +the Union, and his undying hostility toward everybody who was in favor +of secession. He dwelt so long upon this subject that Tom Percival, +fearing Mr. Truman's eyes would be opened to the real facts of the case, +thought it best to interrupt him. + +"Yes; we passed the night in company with Mr. Hobson and five of his +friends who have been compelled to go into hiding," said he, "and while +we were eating supper in Mr. Merrick's kitchen, some of Thompson's men +came to the gate and asked for him." + +"I reckon it's all right," said Mr. Truman, who did not believe that his +friend Merrick would have taken these two young fellows into his house +if he had not had the best of reasons for thinking that they could be +trusted. "What did you say your names might be?" he added, beckoning to +one of his darkies and indicating by a wave of his hand that the horses +were to be housed and fed. + +While the guide was telling his story he had not mentioned any names. He +had simply referred to the boys as "dese yer gentlemen." designating the +one of whom he happened to be speaking by a nod or a jerk of his thumb. +Tom waited until the horses were led away and then said, in a low tone: + +"My friend's name is Gray, and as you have already heard he is from +Louisiana. The Secesh were too thick there to suit him and so he came up +here, hoping to find everybody Union." + +"Humph!" said Mr. Truman. + +"He has found out his mistake," continued Tom. "Ever since he has been +in the State he has been dodging rebels, and has traveled more miles in +the woods than he has on the highway. Do you know Justus Percival?" + +"Do you?" asked Truman in reply. + +"I ought to. He's my uncle, and Percival is my name; but I wish you +wouldn't address me by it unless you know who is listening." + +"But when you left Cedar Bluff landing you were riding a roan colt and +had no boots on," said Mr. Truman, first looking all around to make sure +that there was no one near to catch his words. "I was sorter on the +watch for such a fellow, for I thought maybe he'd need help." + +"Great Scott!" said Rodney, who was very much surprised. "Has that man +Swanson been through here? It can't be possible. His crowbait of a mule +couldn't carry him so far." + +"I don't know anybody of that name, but I know about the roan colt that +wasn't stolen from Pilot Knob," replied the farmer. "Let's go in and see +if the women folks can't scare up a bite to eat." + +"One moment, please," Tom interposed. "Do you know anything about +Merrick's boy? Is he Union or Secesh?" + +"Union and nothing else. The niggers all are, but of course they are +afraid to say so." + +"That boy has got red eyes," said Tom. "And you know as well as I can +tell you that a darkey of that sort is always treacherous. We don't like +the way he has been listening to our talk ever since we left Hobson's +camp. Couldn't you make some excuse to keep him here till morning?" + +"Job!" yelled the farmer; and when he had succeeded in calling the +attention of the darkey who was attending to the horses, he went on to +say: "Tell Merrick's boy that he mustn't go off the place to-night. The +patrols are picking up everybody who shows his nose on the road after +dark, white as well as black, and Price's men burned two houses last +night not more'n five miles from here." + +"Is that a fact?" inquired Tom, who for the first time since Rodney met +him began to show signs of uneasiness. + +"It's the gospel truth, more's the pity, and we in this settlement don't +know how soon we may be called upon to defend our lives and property. +There are not many of us and we are not organized; but we're tolerable +active and know how to shoot. Now let's go in." + +As Rodney Gray afterward remarked, Mrs. Truman "seemed to know without +any telling just how the thing stood," for the welcome she gave them was +very cordial and friendly. + +"We can give you plenty to eat," she said, extending a hand to each, +"but I am not sure that you would be safe in accepting lodging if we +were to offer it to you. Mr. Truman has no doubt told you that Price's +men were quite close to us last night. We saw the fires they lighted +shining upon the clouds, and wondered how long it would be before some +of our friends would stand and watch our burning houses." + +Mrs. Truman continued to talk in this strain while the supper was being +made ready, and Tom Percival now and then glanced at his companion as if +to ask him if he thought Mr. Merrick's Secession wife was the only brave +woman there was in Missouri. The calmness with which she spoke of the +troublous times she saw coming upon the people of the nation, was in +direct contrast to the behavior of her excitable husband, who more than +once flew into a rage and paced up and down the floor shaking his fists +in the air. Rodney had often seen Confederates lash themselves into a +fury while denouncing the "Northern mudsills," but he had never before +seen a Union man act so while proclaiming against the demagogues who +were bent on destroying the government. It showed that one could be as +savage and vindictive as the other, and gave him a deeper insight into +the nature of the coming struggle than he had ever had before. Good +Confederate that he was, he began asking himself if it wouldn't be money +in the pockets of the Southern people if they would rise in a body and +hang Jefferson Davis and his advisers before they had time to do any +more mischief. In the days that followed, Rodney Gray was not the only +one who wished it had been done. + +When darkness came on there were no lamps lighted to point out the +position of the house to any roving band of marauders who might happen +to be in the vicinity. The front door was thrown open, and Mrs. Truman +sat just inside the room to which it gave entrance, so that she could +see the road in both directions. She explained to the boys that there +had once been shade trees in the yard and flowering shrubs growing along +the fence, but they had been cut away for fear that they would afford +concealment to some sneaking Secesh who might take it into his head to +creep up and shoot through the window. Mr. Truman had gone out to see +that everything was right about the place, and to shut up the boys' +horses, which had been turned loose in the stable-yard. He wanted the +animals where they could be easily caught when needed, for he did not +think it prudent for Tom and his companion to remain under his roof +during the night. They would have a better chance to take care of +themselves if they were camped in the woods. This was the way he +explained the situation when he came back to the house, and then he went +on to say: + +"There's something in the wind, and I wish I knew what it is. I don't +like the way Merrick's boy has acted. I told him positively not to leave +the place before morning, and now he's gone, mule and all." + +"_By_ gracious!" thought Rodney. "That means harm to me. I was afraid I +said too much in his hearing, and when I found that he had red eyes I +was sure of it. He is going to put some Union men on my trail before +daylight, and I must get out of here. He knew that if he spoke to Truman +he would have to face me, and that was something he was afraid to do." + +"How long has he been gone?" inquired Tom, who was as impatient to leave +the house and take to the woods as Rodney was. + +Mr. Truman couldn't say as to that; probably two hours at least. That +was long enough for him to tell a good many Union men that there was a +Confederate in Truman's house, and the boys began to be really alarmed. + +"This shows that there is no dependence whatever to be placed upon the +darkies," declared Tom. "They are divided in sentiment the same as the +whites. Some side with their masters and some don't. Of course I am not +sure that this boy's absence means anything, but still I think we had +better get out while we can." + +But they had already delayed their departure too long, as they +discovered a moment later. When Tom ceased speaking he got upon his +feet, and just then there was a slight commotion outside the house, and +Mrs. Truman uttered an ejaculation of surprise and alarm as a couple of +dark figures bounded up the steps and stood upon the gallery. At the +same instant a back door opened and heavy boots pounded the kitchen +floor. The house had been quietly surrounded, but by whom? It was too +dark to see. + +"Don't be frightened, Mrs. Truman," said one of the men at the door. +"You know us, and you know that we wouldn't harm you. We want a word or +two with those young fellows who have come here trying to impose upon +you and all of us." + +"Then why couldn't you come to the door and say so like a man, instead +of sneaking up like a cowardly Secession bushwhacker?" demanded Mr. +Truman, angrily. "Get out of the house and come in in the proper way." + +"Softly, softly," said one of the three men who had entered by the +kitchen door. "Harsh words butter no parsnips, and in times like these +one can't stand upon too much ceremony. We don't mean to intrude, but we +do mean to get hold of that Secesh and the other chap, who for some +reason of his own, is befriending him. Strike a light, please." + +"You have certainly made a mistake," said Mrs. Truman, going across the +room to a table to find a match. "Our guests are both Union." + +"Then there's no harm done," replied the man at the door. "We understand +that one of them claims to be some relation to old Justus Percival. If +he is, he can't have any objections to riding over to Pilot Knob with +some of us and proving his claim." + +The boys trembled when they heard these ominous works. A ride to Pilot +Knob meant death to Tom Percival at any rate, and perhaps to his friend +Rodney also. This was the darkest prospect yet, and it looked still +darker when the lamp had, been lighted, and its rays fell upon the set, +determined faces of the armed men who, with heavy shot-guns, covered all +the avenues of escape. Rodney thought they must be men who had suffered +at the hands of their secession neighbors, for they looked as savage as +Mr. Truman had acted a while before. + +"Which is the traitor?" demanded the largest man in the party, who +seemed to be the leader. + +"Neither one," replied Tom, settling back in the chair from which he had +arisen when the men first appeared. + +"Which one is Union then, if that suits you better?" was the next +question. + +"I say we both are," answered Tom. "I am Captain Percival, and I am now +on my way home after having offered the services of myself and company +to General Lyon. Justus Percival, of whom you spoke a moment since, is +my uncle." + +"And who is this friend of yours?" + +"He is a schoolmate who left his own State because things didn't go to +suit him, and who intends to enlist the first chance he gets." + +"On which side?" inquired the leader, squinting up both his eyes and +nodding at Tom as if to say that he had him there. + +"Do you imagine that he would make a journey of almost a thousand miles +for the sake of enlisting in the Confederate army when he might have +done that at home?" asked Tom, in reply. "You must be crazy." + +"Not so crazy as you may think," said the leader, who seemed to be sure +of his ground. "We have the best of evidence that he is secesh." + +"What sort of evidence?" + +"His own word." + +"Is the man who heard me say that outside?" asked Rodney, who thought by +the way Mr. Truman and his wife looked at him that it was high time he +was saying something for himself. "If he is, bring him in and let me +face him. You have no right to condemn me until you let me see who my +accuser is." + +"That's the idea," said Tom. "Fetch him in." + +The boys played their parts so well, in spite of the alarm they felt and +the danger they knew they were in, and looked so honest and truthful +that the leader was nonplussed, and Mr. Truman and his wife were firmly +convinced that their visitors had made a mistake. There were reasons why +the latter could not produce Rodney's accuser, and for a minute or two +some of them acted as though they might be willing to let the matter +drop right where it was. But there is always some "smart man" in every +party who thinks he knows a little more than anybody else, and it was so +in this case; and when he spoke, he "put his foot in it." + +"Didn't you say to-day in the presence of--of--" + +"Merrick's red-eyed nigger," Tom exclaimed, when the man paused and +looked about as if afraid that he might have said more than he ought. +"Why don't you speak it right out? What did I tell you, Mr. Truman? +Didn't I say that boy would bear watching? Now, what I want to know of +you is, are you going to take that darkey's word in preference to +mine?" + +This was bringing the matter right home to the visitors, every one of +whom was a slaveholder, and would have taken it as an insult if any one +had so much as hinted that their evidence was not as good as a black +man's. + +"Don't get huffy," said the smart man before alluded to. "We haven't +played our best card yet. One of you two was riding a roan colt when you +came to Merrick's, and there aint no such horse in Truman's stable." + +"Did Merrick's nigger tell you that?" asked Tom. + +His self-control was surprising. He sat up in his chair and boldly faced +his questioner, while Rodney, wishing that the floor might open and let +him down into the cellar, told himself more than once that he never +would hear the last of that roan colt the longest day he lived. + +"No matter who told us," was the reply. "We know it to be a fact. The +roan was taken into Merrick's woods, and he wasn't brought out this +morning. Did you make a trade with Merrick, or with some of Hobson's +friends?" + +"If you want to know you had better ask them," answered Tom. + +"That's what we intend to do; and we intend, further, that you shall +stay with us till we get to the bottom of this thing. There is something +about you that isn't just right and we mean to find out what it is." + +"I can tell you all about that horse," Rodney interposed. + +"It isn't worth while for you to waste your breath, and besides this is +a dangerous place to stay, with Price's men scouting around through the +neighborhood," said the leader, who now showed a disposition to resume +the management of affairs. "It won't take more than two or three days to +ride back to Merrick's and from there to Pilot Knob, and straighten +everything out in good shape." + +"But we are in a hurry. We don't want to go back," exclaimed Tom; and it +was plain to every one in the room that the bare proposition frightened +him. + +"I don't suppose you do want to go back," said the leader, in a +significant tone, "but we can't help that. It's time you Secesh were +taught that you can't go prowling about through the country imposing +upon Union men whenever you feel like it. We have stood enough from such +as you, and more than we ever will again, and I believe we should be +justified in dealing with you here and now. As for you," he added, +shaking his fist in Tom's face and fairly hissing out the words, "you +are no more the man you claim to be than I am. You're traitors, the pair +of you." + +The man was working himself into a passion, and it behooved the boys to +be careful what they said. He was in the right mood to do something +desperate, for when he ceased speaking and stepped back, breathing hard +from the excess of his fury, he worked the hammer of his gun back and +forth in a way that was enough to chill one's blood. + +"You'll be sorry for this and quite willing to acknowledge it," was what +Tom said in reply. "We don't want to go back for we have had trouble +enough getting here; but since we must, I hope--" + +Tom did not have time to say what, for while everybody's gaze was +directed toward him, and no one thought of giving a look outside to see +that all was right there, a couple of new actors appeared upon the +scene, glided into the room off the porch as quickly and almost as +silently as spirits. They were Confederate officers in full uniform, and +each one carried a drawn sword in his hand. At the same moment two +windows on opposite sides of the room were shivered into fragments, the +curtains were jerked down and the black muzzles of a dozen carbines were +thrust in. It was like a thunder-bolt from a clear sky, and it was all +done so quickly that no one had a chance to move. The five Union men +were as powerless for resistance as though they had held straws instead +of loaded guns in their hands. + +"Don't move an eye-lash," said the older of the two officers, lifting +his cap and bowing to Mrs. Truman. "No explanation is necessary, for we +understand the situation perfectly." And to the infinite amazement of +the two boys, though not much to the surprise of the other occupants of +the room, the speaker, when he put his cap on his head again, turned +toward Rodney and Tom and gave them a military salute. + +"What do you think of that, Mr. Truman?" said the leader of the Union +men, whose courage did not desert him even if his face did change color. +"Are you satisfied now that these are not the Union boys they pretended +to be?" + +"I am," answered Mr. Truman, while his wife looked daggers at them. "If +they are not Secesh, how does it come that their friends recognize them +so quickly? I suppose you are Price's men?" he added, turning to the +officer. + +"Lieutenant, send in two or three fellows to take these guns and sound +the prisoners. Yes, sir, we belong to Price." + +"And you came here expecting to find these two boys?" + +"Right again," answered the officer. "If we hadn't known they were here +we shouldn't have come." + +Of all the occupants of the room there were none so thoroughly +bewildered and dazed as Tom and Rodney were. Was the officer telling the +truth or cooking up a story for reasons of his own? If he really +expected to find them in that house, he was certainly mistaken in +supposing, as he evidently did, that they were both Confederates. Tom +had never set eyes on him before, and hoped from the bottom of his heart +that the officer did not know anybody in or around Springfield. He +hoped, too, and trembled while the thought flitted through his mind, +that no one in the room would speak his name, for it was his turn to +sail under false colors now. + +Having sent his subordinate after some soldiers to disarm the men of +whom he had spoken as prisoners, the officer dropped the point of his +sword to the floor, came to "parade rest," and looked about the room + + "With such a face of Christian satisfaction + As good men wear, who have done a virtuous action." + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + WITH PRICE'S MEN. + +In obedience to the order of his superior the lieutenant stepped upon +the porch and beckoned to some of his men, who at once came in and began +the work of disarming the citizens. Although the latter gave up their +weapons without a show of resistance, they scowled when they did it in a +way that impelled Tom to whisper to his friend: + +"Their looks prove how desperate and savage they are, and we are lucky +in getting out of their hands; but I don't know but I have jumped out of +the frying-pan into the fire. Bear in mind that from this minute I go by +my middle name--Barton. As you value my safety, don't say Percival once. +I am not sure that these Confederates ever heard the name, but I mustn't +run the slightest risk." + +"Of course not," replied Rodney. "But how in the world do you suppose +they found out that we were here?" + +"It will be your place to ask them about that. You must do the talking +now. Do you want our guns, lieutenant?" + +The latter stood by his men while they were disarming the citizens, and +in moving about the room came within reach of the two boys, who produced +their revolvers and held them so that he could see them; but when he +smiled and waved his hand as if to say "I don't want them," they put the +weapons back in their places. + +If it hadn't been for two things, Rodney Gray would have been as happy +as a boy ever gets to be. He was among friends, the very ones, too, he +wanted to find, and from that time on he could appear in his true +character; but he trembled for his friend and for the safety of Mr. +Truman's property. The latter, remembering the lights he had seen on the +clouds the night before, and knowing how deadly was the enmity that +existed between Union men and Confederates in his State, could hope for +nothing but the worst, and Rodney thought from the expression on his +face and his wife's, that they were endeavoring to nerve themselves for +a most trying ordeal. Would he have to stand by and see their buildings +go up in smoke? He hoped not, and when the officer commanding the squad +came up and shook hands with him and Tom, Rodney was ready to say +something in Mr. Truman's favor. + +"You have been insulted, boys," said the officer, in a tone which +implied that now was the time for them to take any revenge they wanted. +"When I was surrounding the house I heard one of these Yankee +sympathizers using rather strong language, and denouncing you as +Secessionists trying to impose upon Union men." + +"I don't hold that against him, for to tell you the truth, that's just +the way the thing stands," answered Rodney. "I have been playing Union +man ever since I left Mr. Westall and his squad of Emergency men near +Cedar Bluff landing. I had to, for somehow I didn't fall in with any but +people of that stamp." + +"That was all right," answered the officer. "You couldn't have got +through any other way." + +"So you see that Merrick's darkey told you nothing more than the plain +truth," he added, addressing the citizen who had shaken a fist under his +nose. + +"I was sure of it, and I am not sorry for what I did or said," replied +the Union man, boldly. "I am sorry that the thing happened in Truman's +house, and I wish to assure you that he is in no way to blame for our +being here. You've got the power on your side now, and I suppose you +will use it; but whatever you do to us, I hope you will not harm +Truman." + +"I say that a man who can talk like that when he is in danger himself, +has pluck," Rodney remarked, turning his back to the citizen and +speaking so that no one but the officer and Tom could catch his words. + +"Oh, they've all got pluck," replied the officer. "And they hang +together like a lot of brothers." + +"And I say further, that brave men ought not to be harmed when they are +perfectly helpless, as these men are now," continued Rodney. "You +haven't anything against them, have you, colonel?" + +"Captain," corrected the latter, pointing to the insignia on his collar. +"You'll soon learn how to tell one rank from another. N-o; I don't know +that I have anything against them, except their principles; but some of +their neighbors I saw to-night while I was coming here, declare that +they are villains of the very worst sort." + +"What else could you expect in a community like this where every man has +turned against his best friend?" exclaimed Tom. "You are a Missourian +and understand the situation as well as I do." + +"I have been urged to burn their houses; and as I was sent out to harass +the enemy as well as to pick up recruits, I don't know but I had better +do it," replied the captain; and the boys saw plainly enough that having +made up his mind to carry out his orders, he did not want to permit +himself to be turned from his purpose. + +"But Rodney and I have been well enough drilled in military law to know +that an officer on detached service is allowed considerable latitude," +chimed in Tom. "If you see any reason why you should not obey orders to +the very letter, you are not expected to do it." + +"And in this case I hope you won't do it," pleaded Rodney. "If those +cowardly neighbors, who tried to set out against these Union men, want +their property destroyed, let them do the dirty work themselves. I don't +believe in making war on people who don't think as I do." + +"I don't reckon there are any half-wild Unionists in your settlement," +said the captain, with a smile. + +"I know it. I am from Louisiana where Union men have to keep their +tongues to themselves," replied Rodney; and then seeing that the captain +looked surprised he hastened to add: "I came to Missouri to enlist under +Price because I couldn't join a partisan company where I lived; and I +was encouraged to come by a telegram I received from Dick Graham's +father. Dick is one of Price's men and perhaps you know him." + +"Do you?" inquired the lieutenant, who stood by listening. + +"I ought to, and so had Tom, for we went to school with him, and +belonged to his class and company." + +"Where was that?" + +"At the Barrington Military Academy. I am Rodney Gray and my friend is +Tom Barton." + +Rodney said all this at a venture and was overjoyed to hear the +lieutenant say, as he thrust out his hand: + +"Shake. I ought to know Rodney Gray, for I have often heard the sergeant +speak of him as the hottest rebel in school; but I don't remember that I +ever heard him mention Barton's name." + +"He wasn't as intimate with Tom as he was with me," Rodney explained. +"There was a difference in their politics." + +"That accounts for it. Graham was neutral until his State moved, and +Barton here was an ardent Secessionist from the start. That's just the +way my captain and I stand now. I began shouting for Southern rights as +soon as Carolina went out, and he didn't." + +"No, Dick held back," said Tom, "but Rodney did not. He was the first +academy boy to hoist the Stars and Bars. But now, captain, say that you +will not harm these folks. They haven't done anything, and as for the +strong language they used toward us a while ago--we don't mind that." + +"Who's your authority for saying that they haven't done anything?" +demanded the captain. "You seem to think that they are the most +innocent, inoffensive people in the world; but I know that is not +characteristic of Unionists in this part of the country. How do you know +but that they have ambushed scores of Confederates?" + +"We don't know it; and seeing that you don't know it either, why not +give them the benefit of the doubt and let their neighbors see that they +get their deserts? Why not be satisfied with what you have already done? +You burned two houses last night." + +"I am aware of it. The men to whom they belonged are noted bushwhackers, +and I went miles out of my way to teach them that they had better let +our people alone--that burning and shooting are games that two can play +at. But I have no heart for more work of that sort, and so I'll not +trouble these men since you seem to be so tender-hearted toward them." + +"Thank you, sir; thank you," replied Rodney, heartily. "Now will you +pass us out, and send some men to the stable with us to get our +horses?" + +"I'll go with you myself," said the lieutenant; but as he was about to +lead the way out of the house he stopped to hear what his captain had to +say to Mr. and Mrs. Truman. + +"We shall not touch your property, and you may thank these two +'traitors' for it," said the officer; and when he said "traitor," he +waved his hand toward Rodney and Tom and paused to note the effect of +his words. + +The men, after the first shock of surprise had passed, seemed ready to +drop, Mr. Truman leaned heavily against the nearest wall, and his wife, +who had borne up as bravely as the best of them, behaved as women +usually do under such circumstances. She buried her face in her +handkerchief and sobbed violently. + +"I hope you gentlemen will remember my forbearance and be equally +lenient toward any Confederate who may chance to fall into your power," +continued the captain, whose calm, steady voice had grown husky all on a +sudden. "We are not a bad lot, but we are going to govern this State as +we please, and you will save yourselves trouble if you will stop +fighting against us. You'll have to do it sooner or later. Of course I +shall be obliged to deprive you of your guns, for you might be tempted +to shoot them at some loyal Jackson man when we are not here to protect +him. I have saved these young gentlemen from your clutches, and as that +was what I came for, I will bid you good-evening." + +Rodney Gray did not hear much of this polite address for a new fear had +taken possession of him, and he took the opportunity to say to his +friend Tom: + +"You go with the lieutenant after the horses, and I will stay with the +captain to say a word in your defense in case any of these Union people +happen to speak your name, or let out anything else you would rather +keep hidden." + +Tom thought this a good suggestion. It would certainly be disagreeable, +and perhaps dangerous, to have the captain tell him when he returned +with the horses that he wasn't Tom Barton at all--that his real name was +Percival, that he was the commander of a company of Union men who had +offered to help Lyon at St. Louis, and all that. While Tom did not think +the captain would believe such a story if it were told him, it might +suggest to him some leading questions that the boys would find it hard +to answer. So he left Rodney to act as a sort of rear guard, and went +off to the stable with the lieutenant. + +"Did you really know that we were in the house?" Tom asked, when he was +alone with the officer. "If you did, it can't be that Merrick's boy told +you." + +"Of course he didn't. He would have kept it from us if he could, but all +the same the information came from him in the first place. The blacks in +these parts are all Union--no one need waste his breath telling me +different--and that scamp of a boy lost no time in spreading it among +the Union men in the neighborhood that there were a couple of 'disguised +rebels,' as he called you and Gray, putting up at Truman's house. That +was the way those five fellows came to get on your trail; but, as good +luck would have it, the darkey told the story to too many. Not being as +well acquainted in this settlement as he probably is in his own, he told +it to a Jackson man, who rode to our camp and told us of it. If it +hadn't been for that we should be miles away now; but of course we +couldn't think of going off and leaving some of our own people in the +hands of the enemy." + +"You rendered us a most important service," replied Tom; and he told +nothing but the truth when he said it. "It is necessary that I should go +home on business, but Rodney Gray wants to enlist in an independent +command as soon as he can get the chance. Didn't you speak of Dick +Graham as a sergeant?" + +"May be so. That's what he is." + +"Does he belong to your company?" + +"No; but he belongs to our regiment, and that's how I came to get +acquainted with him. He's got more friends than any other fellow I know +of, and he will be glad to see an old schoolmate once more. I have heard +him tell of Rodney Gray and the scrapes he got into by speaking his mind +so freely, and I am not the only one in the regiment who thinks that the +Barrington Military Academy is a disgrace to the town and State in which +it is located. The citizens ought to have turned out some night and torn +it up root and branch." + +"They would have had a good time trying it," said Tom. "The boys punched +one another's head on the parade ground now and then, but it wasn't safe +for an outsider to interfere with our private affairs." + +"Why, the Confederates wouldn't fight for the Union boys, would they?" +exclaimed the lieutenant. "That's a little the strangest thing I ever +heard of. We don't do business that way in Missouri, and I could see +that our boys didn't like it when you and Gray stuck up for those Yankee +sympathizers back there in the house." + +Perhaps they wouldn't have liked it either, if they had known how Tom +and Rodney had "stuck up" for each other ever since they met at Cedar +Bluff landing. But that was a piece of news that Tom did not touch upon. +He intended to reserve it for Dick Graham's private ear. + +"And in the meantime I mustn't neglect to ascertain just when and where +the lieutenant expects to rejoin his regiment, so that I can take the +first chance that offers to get away and strike out for home," thought +Tom. "Dick wouldn't expect to see me in Rodney Gray's company, and might +betray me before he knew what he was doing." + +Having saddled and bridled the horses Tom and the lieutenant returned to +the house, the former somewhat anxious to know if anything had been said +during his absence that could be brought up against him. But a glance +and a reassuring smile from Rodney were enough to show him that he had +nothing to fear on that score. The guards stood at the windows watching +the party inside, the horses had been brought into the yard in readiness +for the squad to mount, and Rodney and the captain were sitting on the +front steps. The prisoners, if such they could be called, were too +sullen to exchange a word with the Confederates, and the captain thought +it beneath his dignity to talk to Union men; and Rodney was glad to have +it so. + +"Bring in the guards and get a-going," was the order the captain gave +when his lieutenant came up; and this made it evident to the +well-drilled Barrington boys that Captain Hubbard's company of Rangers +were not the only Confederates who had a good deal to learn before they +could call themselves soldiers. But his men understood the order, and it +was the work of but a few minutes for them to get into their saddles and +set off down the road, and they did it without paying any more attention +to the men in the house. Rodney rode beside the captain at the head of +the column, Tom and the lieutenant coming next in line. The former +thought it was a good evening's work all around, and that Merrick's +red-eyed darkey could not have done him a greater service if he had been +a friend to him instead of an enemy. He had had a narrow escape from +being taken into the presence of men he hoped he might never see again, +but he was all right now. So was Tom, for if he wasn't already beyond +the danger of betrayal, he certainly would be by the time daylight +came. + +"No; we shall not march all night," said the captain, in response to an +inquiry from Rodney. "We have been in the saddle pretty steadily for the +last week, and both men and horses are in need of rest. But I shall take +good care to get out of this settlement before going into camp. I don't +want to be ambushed." + +"I don't think those men back there would do such a thing," replied +Rodney. "They seemed very grateful to you for letting them off so +easily." + +"Ha!" exclaimed the captain. "They would do it in a minute if they +thought they could escape the consequences. You don't know how bitter +everybody is against everybody else who doesn't train with his crowd, +and you'll have to live among us a while before you can understand it." + +"When shall I have the pleasure of shaking Dick Graham by the hand?" +inquired Rodney. "Does he stand up for State Rights as strongly as he +used?" + +"Yes; and I am with him. You see, when the election was held in '60, our +people, by a vote of one hundred and thirty-five thousand to thirty +thousand, decided against the extreme rule-or-ruin party of the South, +and declared that Missouri ought to stay in the Union; but at the same +time they didn't deny that she had a perfect right to go out if she +wanted to. If she decided to go with South Carolina and the other cotton +States, the government at Washington had no business to send soldiers +here to stop her; neither had those troops from Illinois any business to +come across the Mississippi and steal our guns out of the St. Louis +arsenal. That was an act of invasion, and we had a right to get mad +about it. We decided to remain neutral, and our General Price made an +agreement with the Federal General Harney to that effect; but that did +not suit the abolitionists who want war and nothing else. They took +Harney's command away from him and gave it to Lyon, who at once +proceeded to do everything he could to drive us to desperation. He drove +us out of Jefferson City and Booneville, and now he has sent that +Dutchman Siegel to Springfield to see what damage he can do there." + +"But what was the reason Siegel was sent to Springfield?" inquired Tom, +who, riding close behind the captain, heard every word he said. "Wasn't +it to repel the _invasion_ of McCulloch, who was coming from Arkansas +with eight hundred bandits he called Texan Rangers? Has he any right to +ride rough-shod through our State, when some of our own citizens are not +permitted to stick their heads out of doors?" + +"Hallo!" exclaimed the captain, turning about in his saddle to face Tom, +while Rodney began to fear that his friend's tongue would get them both +into trouble. "You are about the same kind of a Confederate I am, only I +don't blurt out my opinions in that style, and you hadn't better do it, +either. To be consistent I am obliged to say that those Texans had no +business to come over the Missouri line, but circumstances alter cases. +We are in trouble, we can't stand against the power of the abolition +government, and I shall be glad to see that man McCulloch." + +"I understand that there had been no fighting to speak of, and yet you +say we have been driven out of two places," said Rodney. + +"Oh, we were not ready and the Yankees were," answered the captain. "We +had just lighting enough to give us a chance to learn how gunpowder +smells. We are waiting for McCulloch now, and when he comes, we'll +assume the offensive and drive Lyon out of the State." + +"That's the very thing I came here for, and I am glad to know that I +shall be in time to help," said Rodney gleefully. "But are you a +partisan and is Dick Graham one, also?" + +"Yes, to both your questions; but of course we are sworn into the +service of the State." + +"You couldn't be ordered out of the State, could you?" + +"Not by a long shot, and we wouldn't go if we were ordered out. If other +States desire independence, let them win it without calling upon their +neighbors for help. That's what we intend to do." + +"And that was another thing I wanted to know," said Rodney, with a sigh +of relief. "I am satisfied now, and wish my company was here with me. +Some of the members seemed willing and even anxious to come, but when +the thing was brought before them in the form of a resolution, they +voted against it." + +And then he went on to tell the captain how it happened that he came to +Missouri alone, not forgetting to mention how he had fooled the +telegraph operators at Baton Rouge and Mooreville. + +"Those operators told that St. Louis cotton-factor I was a Confederate +bearer of dispatches," said he, in winding up his story. "But I haven't +a scrap of writing about me." + +"You are a great deal safer without any," replied the officer. "Suppose +those Union men at Truman's house had searched you and found a letter of +introduction to some well-known Confederate living in these parts! They +might have strung you up before we had time to go to your relief. But +how did you fall in with your old schoolmate, Barton? You couldn't have +expected to meet him at the landing?" + +This was a question that Rodney Gray had been dreading, for you will +remember that he had had no opportunity to hold a private consultation +with Tom and ask him what sort of a reply he should make when this +inquiry was propounded, as it was sure to be sooner or later. He turned +about in his saddle and rode sideway so that Tom could hear every word +he said. + +"He was the last person in the world I expected to see when I left the +steamer at Cedar Bluff landing to get ahead of the Yankee cotton-factor +in St. Louis," said Rodney. "Tom had been over Cape Girardeau way on +business, and got a trifle out of his reckoning when Mr. Westall and his +party of Emergency men picked him up and brought him to the +wood-cutters' camp. We slept there that night and came out together in +the morning." + +This was a desperate story to tell, seeing that they were not yet out of +reach of men who could easily prove that there was quite as much +falsehood as truth in it, but Rodney did not know what else to say. He +rested his hopes of safety upon the supposition that the Confederate +captain had done all his scouting on interior lines, and that he had not +been into the river counties until he came to Truman's house to rescue +him and Tom from the power of the Union men; and there was where his +good luck stood him in hand. More than that, Dick Graham was one of the +best known members of his regiment, and it would have taken a pretty +good talker to make the captain believe that there could be anything +wrong with one of Dick's friends. + +While this conversation was going on Rodney noticed that the captain was +constantly on his guard, and that as often as they reached a place where +the woods came down close to the road on each side, his men closed up +the ranks without waiting for orders. Every house they passed was as +dark as a dungeon, and no sounds of music and dancing came from the +negro quarters. The people, white and black, had gone into their houses +and barred their doors to wait until these unwelcome visitors in gray +had taken themselves out of the neighborhood. + +Before the captain went into camp, which he did about midnight, Tom +Percival, as we shall continue to call him, had ample time to question +the lieutenant and find out where his regiment was stationed and when he +expected to join it. The last question, however, was one that the young +officer could not answer with any degree of accuracy. + +"You see we have some men with us who are not in uniform, do you not?" +said he. "Well, they are the recruits we have picked up since we have +been out on this scout. They have been terribly persecuted by the Union +men in their settlement, and want us to stop on our way back long enough +to burn those Union men out. If we do, it will delay us a day or two; if +we don't, and keep lumbering right along, we shall be with the rest of +the boys in less than forty-eight hours." + +This was what Tom wanted to know; and he decided that when the squad +reached the old post-rode and turned up toward the place at which the +regiment was stationed, he would go south toward Springfield, and so +avoid the risk of meeting Dick Graham. + +"I suppose you know your own business best," said the lieutenant, when +Tom announced his decision. "But I'll never go piking off through the +country alone so long as I know what I am doing. There's too much danger +in it. When you get ready to go into the service, remember that our +regiment is one of the very best, and that we are ready to welcome all +volunteers with open arms." + +The two boys slept under the same blankets that night, but the talking +they did was intended for the benefit for those who were lying near +them, rather than for each other. Tom sent numberless messages to Dick +Graham, and wanted Rodney to be sure and tell him that he (Tom) would be +a member of his company before its next battle with the Yankees; all of +which Rodney promised to bear in mind. The squad broke their fast next +morning on provisions which they had "foraged" from the Union men whose +buildings they had destroyed two nights before, and at eight o'clock +arrived at the old post-road where the Barrington boys were to take +leave of each other, to meet again perhaps under hostile flags and with +deadly weapons in their hands. But there was one thing about it: They +might be enemies in name, but they never would in spirit. + +"There goes one of the bravest and best fellows that ever lived," said +Rodney, facing about in his saddle to take a last look at his friend who +rode away with a heavy heart. + +"Don't be so solemn over it," said the captain. "Didn't he say he would +come back as soon as he could?" + +Yes, that was what Tom said; but the trouble was, that when he came +again he might come in such a way that Rodney could not shake hands with +him. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + "HURRAH FOR BULL RUN!" + +Having decided that he would waste too much time if he turned from his +course to punish the Union men who had persecuted his recruits, the +captain "kept lumbering right along," and on the afternoon of the next +day came within sight of the town in which his regiment had been +encamped when he left it to start on his scout; but there was not a +tent, a wagon or a soldier to be seen about the place now, and a citizen +who came out to meet him, brought the information that the regiment had +moved South to join Rains and Jackson, who were marching toward Neosho, +a short distance from Springfield: and at the same time he gave the +captain a written order from his colonel to join his command with all +haste. + +"If we had known this before, we might have kept company with your +friend Tom," said the captain, as he faced the squad about after a +fashion of his own and started them on the back track. "Both sides +seemed to be concentrating in the southwestern part of the State, and +there's where the battle-ground is going to be." + +"Not all the time, I hope," said Rodney. + +"Of course not. We'll drive the enemy back on St. Louis, and wind up by +taking that city. General Pillow will march up from New Madrid to +co-operate with us, and perhaps he will stop on the way to take Cairo. I +hope he will, to pay those Illinois chaps for robbing the St. Louis +armory." + +This was a very pretty programme but the captain thought it could be +easily carried out, and the very next day he heard a piece of news which +caused him to make several additions to it. As the squad was moving past +a plantation house an excited man, who was in too great a hurry to get +his hat, rushed down to the gate flourishing a paper over his head and +shouted, at the top of his voice: + +"Hurrah for Jeff Davis! Hurrah for Johnston! Hurrah for Bull Run and all +the rest of 'em!" + +"What's up?" inquired the captain, reining in his horse. + +"Here's something that one of Price's men slung at me yesterday while he +was riding along," replied the planter, opening the gate and placing the +paper in the officer's eager palm. "Aint we walking over 'em roughshod +though, and didn't I say all the while that we were bound to do it? A +Northern mechanic has got no business alongside a Southern gentleman." + +"Have we had a fight?" asked the captain. "I wonder if my regiment was +in it." + +"No, I don't reckon it was," answered the man, with a laugh. "You see it +happened out in Virginny, a few miles from Washington. I wish I might +get a later paper'n that, for I calculate to read in it that our boys +are in Washington dictating--" + +"Hey--youp!" yelled the captain, who began to understand the matter +now. + +"Price's men whooped and yelled worse'n that when they went by +yesterday," said the man, jumping up and knocking his heels together +like a boy who had just been turned loose from school. "That's Davis's +dispatch right there. He went out from Richmond to watch the fight, and +got there just in time to see the Yankees running." + +The officer, who was worked up to such a pitch of excitement that the +paper rustled in his trembling hands, glanced over the black headlines +to which the planter directed his attention, and then read the dispatch +aloud so that his men could hear it. It ran as follows: + +"Night has closed upon a hard-fought field. Our forces were victorious. +The battle was fought mainly on our left. Our forces were fifteen +thousand; that of the enemy estimated at thirty-five thousand." + +"And when the Yankees got a-going," chimed in the planter, clapping his +hands and swaying his body back and forth after the manner of a negro +who had been carried away by some sudden enthusiasm, "they never +stopped. It was such a stampede that their officers couldn't do nothing +with 'em. The soldiers who were running away from the battle met the +civilians who were riding out from Washington to see it, and the two +living streams of humanity, one going one way and t'other going t'other +way, got all mixed up together; and all the while there were our +batteries playing onto 'em and our cavalry riding through 'em and +sabering first one and then another, till--Hey--youp! I'll be doggone if +I can seem to get it through my head, although I have read it more'n a +hundred times." + +This astounding intelligence almost took away the breath of the men who +listened to it. Of course they had known all the while that whipping the +North was going to be as easy as falling off a log, but to have their +opinions confirmed in this unexpected way almost overwhelmed them. They +knew it was bound to come, but they hadn't looked for it so soon. They +gazed at one another in silence for a moment or two, and then the shout +they set up would have done credit to a larger squad than theirs. The +planter, who really acted as though he had taken leave of his senses, +joined in, laughing and shaking his head and slapping his knees in a way +that set Rodney Gray in a roar. It was a long time before the captain +could bring his squad to "attention." + +"There's a good deal more in this paper," said he, "and if you will let +me have it, I should like to read it to the boys when we go into camp. +We belong to Price, and want to catch up with the men who went by here +yesterday." + +"Then you'll have to skip along right peart," replied the man. "That's +the way they were going stopped long enough to drink my well 'most dry, +and then went off in a lope. As for the paper, take it along. You don't +reckon there's any chance for a mistake, do you?" + +"Not the slightest. President Davis knew what he was doing when he sent +that telegram to Richmond." + +"But fifteen thousand against thirty-five thousand," said the planter, +whose excitement had not driven all his common sense out of his head. +"That's big odds, and it kinder sticks in my crop. Well, good-by, if you +must be going, and good luck to you." + +"It doesn't stick in my crop," replied the captain. "I knew we could do +it, and we'll whip bigger odds than that, if they keep forcing war upon +us. Don't you know that the man who looks for a fight generally gets +more than he wants? Forward! Trot!" + +Never before had Rodney Gray been thrown into the company of so wild a +set of men. If such a thing were possible, they were wilder than those +his Cousin Marcy found on his train when he boarded it at Barrington on +his way home. The first rational thought that came into his mind was: +What a lucky thing that Tom Percival was well out of the way when this +news came! Tom would have betrayed himself sure, for he never could have +pulled off his hat and shouted and whooped with any enthusiasm when he +heard that the cause in which he believed, and for which he was willing +to risk his life, had met with disaster. At length the captain, who +appeared to have been awed into silence, said slowly: + +"I, too, would like to see a later paper than this. If it is true that +the Federals were utterly routed and thrown into such confusion that +their officers could do nothing with them, our victorious troops must +have followed them into Washington, and I shouldn't wonder if they were +there at this moment, dictating terms of peace to the Lincoln +government." + +The paper that had been given him, proved to be a copy of the _Mobile +Register_. As the captain talked he ran his eye rapidly over its +columns, and finally found an editorial containing a piece of news that +caused him to halt his squad and face his horse about. + +"Here's something I want to read to you," said he. "Come up close on all +sides so that you can hear every word of it. You know that our governor +proposed that Missouri should remain neutral, and that a conference was +held at the Planter's House in St. Louis to talk the matter over. This +is what General Lyon said in reply to the governor's proposition, Now +listen, so that you may know who is to blame for the troubles that have +come upon us: + +"'Rather than concede to the State of Missouri the right to demand that +government shall not enlist troops within her limits, or bring troops +into the State whenever it please, or move its troops at its own will, I +would see every man, woman and child in the State dead and buried. This +means war.' + +"What do you boys say to that?" continued the captain. + +"I say that if the Yankees want war we'll give them more than they'll +care to have," answered one of the squad; and all his comrades yelled +their approval. "Now while you're reading, captain, suppose you read +about that big battle. Let's hear just how bad our fifteen thousand +whipped the Yankee thirty-five thousand." + +The officer complied and read an account of the battle of Bull Run, +which was so highly sensational and so utterly unreasonable, that Rodney +Gray's common sense would not let him believe, more than half of it. He +hoped and believed that the Southern soldiers had gained a glorious +victory over the Lincoln hirelings; but that there could have been so +great a difference in the size of the contending armies, did not look +reasonable. But the captain put implicit faith in the story. + +"It seems that the Federal success in the beginning of the fight was +owing to their overwhelming numbers," said he. "But the men on our side +were gentlemen who could not be driven by a rabble, and of course they +were bound to win in the end. But here is an article that may be of more +interest to us. It is entitled. 'The Situation in Missouri.' You know +that Governor Jackson went to Jefferson City and issued a proclamation +calling the people to arms, and that Lyon came up the river on +steamboats and routed him from there and from Booneville, too. You know +all about it, because you were there and so was I. Well, the Northern +papers think that that was a blow that secured Missouri to the Union, +and that thousands, who have been hesitating which side to take, will +now enlist to put down the rebellion. _Rebellion!_ Remember the word. +That's what the Lincoln hirelings call the efforts of a free people to +maintain their freedom. But listen to what the _Register_ has to say on +this point: + +"The Northern soldiers prefer enlisting to starvation. But they are not +soldiers, least of all to meet the hot-blooded, thorough-bred, impetuous +men of the South. They are trencher-soldiers who enlisted to make war +upon rations, not upon men. They are such as marched through Baltimore, +squalid, wretched, ragged, half-naked, as the newspapers of that city +report them; fellows who do not know the breech of a musket from its +muzzle; white slaves, peddling watches; small-change knaves and +vagrants. These are the levied forces which Lincoln arrays as candidates +for the honor of being slaughtered by gentlemen such as Mobile sends to +battle. Let them come South and we will put our negroes to the dirty +work of killing them. But they will not come South. Not a wretch of them +will live on this side of the border longer than it will take us to +reach the ground and drive them off.' + +"Can we at the front be whipped while our friends at home keep up such +heart as that?" cried the excited captain, pulling off his cap and +flourishing it over his head with one hand, while he shook the paper at +his men with the other. "Three cheers for brave old Missouri, and +confusion to everybody who wants to keep her down." + +"Everybody except Tom Percival," thought Rodney, as he threw up his cap +and joined in to help increase the almost deafening noise that arose +when the officer ceased speaking. "Whatever happens to anybody else I +want Tom to come out all right." + +After this short delay the squad rode on again, and along every mile of +the road they traversed they found people to cheer them and hurrah for +the great victory at Bull Run. There were no signs of Union men anywhere +along the route, but the blackened ruins they passed now and then +pointed out the sites of the dwellings in which some of them had +formerly lived. Those ruins had been left there by some of Price's men +scouting parties like the one with which he was now riding. Rodney had +always thought he should like to be a scout, but if that was the sort of +work scouts were expected to do, he decided that he would rather be a +regular soldier. He wouldn't mind facing men who had weapons in their +hands, because that was what soldiers enlisted for; but the idea of +turning women and children out into the weather, by burning their houses +over their heads, was repugnant to him. There was one piece of news he +and the captain did not get, although they asked everybody for it. No +one could tell them for certain that the victorious Confederates had +gone into Washington and dictated terms of peace to the Lincoln +government. There were plenty who were sure it had been done, but they +had received no positive information of it. The only news they heard on +which they could place reliance was that Price had withdrawn from +Neosho, and effected a junction with Jackson and Rains at Carthage. That +was a point in the captain's favor, for instead of being obliged to make +a wide detour to the east and south of Springfield, he turned squarely +to the west toward Carthage, and saved more than a hundred miles of +travel, as well as the risk of being captured by a scouting party of +Yankee cavalry. + +The squad reached Carthage without seeing any signs of Siegel's +troopers, who were supposed to be raiding through the country in all +directions, and when Rodney rode into the camp, which was pitched upon a +little rise of ground a short distance from the town, he remarked that +he had never seen a stranger sight. The camp itself was all right. The +tents were properly pitched, the wagons and artillery parked after the +most approved military rules, and all this was to be expected, since the +commanding general was a veteran of the Mexican war; but the men looked +more like a mob than they did like soldiers. There were eight thousand +of them, and not one in ten was provided with a uniform of any sort. The +guard who challenged them carried a double-barrel shotgun, and the only +thing military there was about him, was a rooster's feather stuck in the +band of his hat. + +"They're a good deal better than they look," said the captain, when +Rodney called his attention to the fact that the sentry "slouched" +rather than walked over his beat, and that he didn't know how to hold +his gun. "They are not very well drilled yet, but they'll fight, and +that is the main thing. Think of Washington and his ragamuffins at +Valley Forge the next time you feel disposed to criticise the boys." + +"Where is the enemy?" inquired Rodney. + +"He is supposed to be concentrating twenty thousand men at Springfield, +thirty-five miles east of here." replied the captain. "When McCulloch +gets up from Arkansas we'll have a little more than fifteen thousand. +But that's enough. We'll be in St. Louis in less than a month. That +victory at Bull Run will nerve our boys to do good work when they get at +it. Now where shall I go to find my regiment? The colonel is the man I +want to report to." + +While the captain was looking around to find an officer of whom he could +make inquiries, there was a loud clatter of hoofs behind, and a moment +afterward a spruce young fellow, handsomely mounted and wearing a +uniform that Rodney Gray would have recognized anywhere, dashed by and +held on his way without once looking in their direction. + +"There he is now," exclaimed the captain, before Rodney had time to +speak. "Oh, sergeant!" + +The horseman drew up and turned about just as Rodney's hand was placed +upon his shoulder. The greeting was just such a one as any two boys +would extend to each other under similar circumstances, and so we need +not say any more about it. Rodney and Dick Graham were shaking hands at +last, and two brothers could not have been more delighted. + +"How in the world did you get through St. Louis without being put in +jail, and where did you pick him up, captain?" were the questions Dick +asked when he recovered from his surprise. "Lyon is between us and St. +Louis, but we manage to get our mail pretty regularly--Heard about Bull +Run? Wasn't that a victory though? Fifteen thousand against thirty-five +thousand! When we were at school, captain--" + +"Where's the regiment?" interrupted the latter. "I am ordered to report +to the colonel at once." + +"Over there," replied Dick, sweeping his right arm around the horizon so +as to include the whole camp on that side of the street. "Come on, and I +will show you the way. When we were at school the Union boys made sport +of us rebels because we shouted ourselves hoarse over the victory in +Charleston Harbor, and declared that we ought to be ashamed of ourselves +for it. Five thousand men against fifty-one was not a thing to be proud +of. But they couldn't say that now if they were here. We won a fair +fight on the field of Bull Run, although the enemy outnumbered us more +than two to one. I say we are going to repeat the good work right here +in Missouri." + +"Are you Confederate?" inquired Rodney. + +"Not much. I'm State Rights. That's me." + +"And you'll not be ordered out of your State?" + +"I may be ordered but I won't go. That's me. Seen Jeff Thompson's last +proclamation? In it he calls Lyon's Dutchmen Hessians and Tories, and +says our first hard work must be to drive them from the State. After +that has been done, then we'll decide whether or not we want to join the +Confederacy." + +"If the Governor of Louisiana had talked that way I would not be here +now," said Rodney. "He tried to swear us into the Confederate service +against our will, and that broke up the company. I have as much to tell +you as you have to tell me, and I propose that we postpone our talking +until we can sit down somewhere and have it out with no fear of +interruption. Do you suppose I can get into your company?" + +"I suppose you can," replied Dick, with a laugh. "When the captain sees +your writing he will make you orderly so quick you will never know it." + +"Then he'll never see any of my writing," said Rodney, earnestly. "If +you so much as hint to him that I know a pen-point from a pen-holder, +I'll never forgive you. Captain Hubbard's men wanted to make me company +clerk, but I couldn't see the beauty of it, and so they elected me +sergeant. But I don't want any office now. I want to remain a private so +that I will have a chance to go with you if you are sent out on a scout. +But bear one thing in mind," he added, in a lower tone, "you needn't +order me to burn any houses, for I'll not do it." + +"I am down on all such lighting myself," replied Dick, with emphasis. +"If we ever go out together I will show you as many as half-a-dozen +houses that would be ashes now if it hadn't been for me, and one of them +covers the head of one Thomas Percival--when he is at home." + +Dick thought Rodney would be much surprised at this, but he wasn't. All +he said was: + +"Does Tom know it?" + +"I don't suppose he does, or his father, either; but I have the +satisfaction of knowing that I have done something to strengthen the +friendship that existed between Tom and myself while we were at +Barrington. You will know how hard a time I had in doing any thing for +the Percivals when I tell you that Tom is suspected of belonging to a +company of Home Guards." + +"Suspected, is he?" said Rodney, with a knowing wink. "Is that all you +know about him? He's captain of a company he raised himself, and rode +all the way alone to St. Louis to ask Lyon if he could join him. He was +afraid to trust the mails. He told me that the Vigilance Committees had +a way of opening letters from suspected persons, and he didn't want to +run any risks." + +"Well now, I am beat," said Dick, who had listened to this revelation +with a look of the profoundest astonishment on his face. "But how does +it come that you know so much more about him than I do? Have you been +corresponding with him?" + +"I never heard a word from him from the time I left Barrington until I +met him at Cedar Bluff landing in a nest of Confederates. Tom was a +prisoner, was known to be Union, accused of being a horse-thief and in a +fair way of being hung; but he got out of the scrape somehow, and I hope +is safe at home by this time." + +"Well, well," repeated Dick, growing more and more amazed. "So do I hope +he is safe at home, and if he got within a hundred miles of Springfield +I reckon he is. The country is full of Federal cavalry, and how your +squad came through without being molested is more than I can understand. +You will find the colonel in this tent, captain," said he, dismounting +and drawing some papers from his pocket. "I must report too, for I have +been on an errand for him. I'll be out in a minute, Rodney." + +Dick followed, the captain into the colonel's tent, and Rodney sat on +his horse and looked around while he awaited his return. He thought of +what the captain had said regarding the Continentals at Valley Forge, +but did not see that there could be any comparison drawn between the two +armies. Price's men seemed to be well clothed, provisions were plenty, +and as for their arms, they had an abundance of them such as they were, +and a charging enemy would find their double-barrel shotguns bad things +to face at close quarters. But a few months later the comparison was a +good one. During the "little Moscow retreat," after the battle of Pea +Ridge (which Van Dorn's ambition led him to fight contrary to orders), +along a route where there were neither roads nor bridges, through a +region from which the inhabitants had all fled, leaving the country "so +poor that a turkey buzzard would not fly over it," with no train of +wagons, or provisions to put in them if there had been, and no tents to +shelter them from the cold, biting winds and sleet and snow--when Rodney +Gray found himself and companions in this situation he thought of the +Continentals, and wondered at the patriotism that kept them in the +ranks. But it wasn't patriotism that kept Price's men together. It was +_fear_ and nothing else. + +But this dark picture was hidden from Rodney's view as he sat there on +his horse waiting for his friend Dick Graham to come out of the +colonel's tent. The martial scenes around him, the military order that +everywhere prevailed, the companies and regiments drilling in the fields +close by, the inspiriting music that came to his ears--these sights and +sounds filled him with enthusiasm; and if any one had told him that the +time would come when he would think seriously of deserting the army and +turning his back upon the cause he had espoused, Rodney Gray would have +been thunder struck. But the time came. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + A FULL-FLEDGED PARTISAN. + +Having transacted his business with the colonel, Dick Graham came out of +the tent and mounted his horse. + +"Of course I had to wait until the captain had made his report," said +he, in a suppressed whisper, "and in that way I happened to hear a +little about yourself and Tom Barton. I knew enough to keep still in the +presence of my superiors, but I did want to ask the captain to say more +about Tom Barton. Was it Percival?" + +Rodney winked first one eye and then the other and Dick was answered. + +"It's the strangest thing I ever heard of, and I am in a hurry to know +all about it, Come on; our company is up at the end of the street. We +occupy the post of honor on the right of the line, because we are the +only company in the regiment that is fully uniformed. We'll leave our +horses at the stable line, and Captain Jones will make a State Guard of +you before you know it." + +Not to dwell too long upon matters that have little bearing upon our +story, it will be enough to say that Rodney was duly presented to +Captain Jones, who was informed that he had come all the way from +Louisiana to join a partisan company. He was a Barrington boy, well up +in military matters, and desired to be sworn into the State service +without the loss of time. Dick was careful not to say too much for fear +that he should let out some secrets that Rodney had not yet had +opportunity to tell him. Of course the captain was delighted to see the +recruit from Louisiana, shook him by the hand as if he had been a +younger brother, and sent for an officer to take his descriptive list. +He was not required to pass the surgeon, and the oath he took was to the +effect that he would obey Governor Jackson and nobody else. This being +done Dick took him off to introduce him to the members of his mess. + +"But before I do that," said Dick, halting just outside the captain's +tent and drawing Rodney off on one side, "I want to know just where you +stand, and whether or not you have had any reason to change your +politics since I last saw you. Are you as good a rebel as you used to +be?" + +"I never was a rebel," exclaimed Rodney, with some heat. "I am ready to +fight for my State at any time; but I deny the right of my Governor to +compel me to obey such a man as General Lacey. I didn't want to be sworn +into the Confederate army, and that was what sent me up here." + +"That's all right," replied Dick. "I'm glad things turned out that way; +otherwise you wouldn't be in my company now. But you don't seem to be as +red-hot as you used to be. You say you don't believe in burning out +Union men." + +"I certainly do not. I believe in fighting the men, but not in abusing +the women and children." + +"The Union women are like our own--worse than the men," answered Dick. +"That is what I was trying to get at, and I must warn you to be careful +how you talk to anybody but me; and I, being an officer of the State +Guard, can't stand too much treasonable nonsense," he added, drawing +himself up to his full height and scowling fiercely at his friend. + +"I suppose not; but I don't see that there is anything treasonable in my +saying that I don't believe in making war upon those who cannot defend +themselves." + +"If some of those defenseless persons had been the means of getting you +bushwhacked and your buildings destroyed, you might think differently. +But come on, and I will make you acquainted with some of the best among +the boys." + +There were only two "boys" in the tent into which he was conducted, and +they were almost old enough to be gray-headed; and as they were getting +ready to go on post, Rodney had little more than time to say he was glad +to know them. Then Dick said he had some writing to do for the captain +that would keep him busy for half an hour, and in the meantime Rodney +would have to look out for himself. + +"Here's a late copy of the _Richmond Whig_, if you would like to see +it," said one of his new messmates, who having thrown a powder horn and +bullet pouch over his shoulder, stood holding a long squirrel rifle in +one hand while he extended the paper with the other. "There's an +editorial on the inside that may interest you. If the man who wrote it +had been trying to express the sentiments of this mess he could not have +come nearer to them. Good-by for a couple of hours." + +When he was left alone in the tent Rodney hunted up the editorial in +question and read as follows: + +"We are not enough in the secrets of our authorities to specify the day +on which Jeff Davis will dine at the White House, and Ben McCulloch take +his siesta in General Siegel's gilded tent. We should dislike to produce +any disappointment by naming too soon or too early a day; but it will +save trouble if the gentlemen will keep themselves in readiness to +dislodge at a moment's notice. If they are not smitten, however, with +more than judicial blindness, they do not need this warning at our +hands. They must know that the measure of their iniquities is fall, and +the patience of outraged freedom is exhausted. Among all the brave men +from the Rio Grande to the Potomac, and stretching over into insulted, +indignant and infuriated Maryland, there is but one word on every lip +'Washington'; and one sentiment in every heart vengeance on the tyrants +who pollute the capital of the Republic!" + +The paper was full of such idle vaporings as these, but they fired +Rodney Gray's Southern heart to such an extent that he was almost ready +to quarrel with Dick Graham when the latter came into the tent an hour +later, and began discussing the situation in his cool, level-headed +way. + +"Yes; I have seen the article," said he, when Rodney asked him what he +thought of it, "and it is nothing but the veriest bosh." + +"Dick Graham, how dare you?" exclaimed Rodney. + +"Oh, I have heard such talk as that before, and right here in this tent +from boys who have known me ever since I was knee-high to a duck," +replied Dick. "'The tyrants who pollute the capital of the Republic!' +The men who are there, are there because they got the most votes; and in +this country the majority rules. That's me. Now mark what I tell you: +The majority of the people will say that this Union shall not be broken +up." + +"Then you believe that might makes right, do you?" + +"I don't know whether I do or not. If we have the power, we have the +right to rise up and shake off the existing form of government and form +one that will suit us better. Abe Lincoln said so in one of his +speeches, and that's his language almost word for word. But whether the +Northern people, having the power, have the right to make us stay in the +Union when we don't want to, is a question that is a little too deep for +me." + +"They have neither the power nor the right," said Rodney angrily. "But +you always were as obstinate as a mule, and we can't agree if we talk +till doomsday. Now listen while I tell you what I have been through +since I said good-by to you in the Barrington depot." + +To repeat what he said would be to write a good portion of this book +over again. He told the story pretty nearly as we have tried to tell it, +with this difference: He touched very lightly upon the courage he had +displayed and the risk he had run in helping Tom Percival out of the +corn-crib in the wood-cutters' camp, although he was loud in his praises +of Tom's coolness and bravery. Dick Graham found it hard to believe some +parts of the narrative. + +"So Tom wasn't satisfied with risking his neck by going to St. Louis to +see Lyon, but had to come back through Iron and St. Francois counties +and try to raise another company of Home Guards there. He's either all +pluck or else plum crazy." + +"He's got a straight head on his shoulders; I'll bear witness to that," +replied Rodney. "What do you suppose he will do at home? Where's his +company?" + +"When the hunter blows his horn his puppies will howl," answered Dick. +"His men are scattered here and there and everywhere; but he knows where +to find them, and if we ever meet those troops that are concentrating at +Springfield, we'll meet Tom Percival. You did a neighborly act when you +shoved him your revolver. I wouldn't have given much for you if +that--man what's his name?--Westall had found it out. Those Emergency +men are nothing but robbers and murderers." + +"That was about the idea I formed of them, and I say they ought to be +put down if this war is going to be conducted on civilized principles. +Where were you when Lyon captured that camp at St. Louis?" + +"I was getting ready to go to Booneville. I was in that scrimmage and +have smelled powder on half-a-dozen occasions." + +"Was that a Secession camp or not?" + +"Not as anybody knows of," replied Dick. "It was composed of the State +militia which the Governor had ordered out for drill. Under the law he +had a right to call them out." + +"Now what's the use of your trying any of your jokes on me?" demanded +Rodney. "You don't believe a word you have said, and I know it. Be +honest now, and have done with your nonsense." + +"Well, General Frost, who commanded the camp, assured Captain Lyon that +he was not hostile to the government," answered Dick. "But when Lyon got +hold of it, he found that the two main streets were named Davis and +Beauregard; that a good portion of the men were in rebel uniform; and +that they were mostly armed with government muskets which you Louisiana +fellows stole out of the Baton Rouge arsenal. Lyon's action in that +matter was what caused the riots. I'll say one thing in your private +ear: The old flag floats over St. Louis and it's going to stay there." + +"I'm not going to get into any argument with you, but you will see that +you are wrong. We must have that city in order to command the +Mississippi to the Gulf. Wasn't Jackson's proposition and Price's, that +the State should remain neutral, a fair one?" + +"That's a question that will be settled when this war is over, and not +before." + +"How do you make that out?" + +"If there is such a thing as State Rights, it was a fair proposition; if +there isn't, it wasn't. It implies the right of a State to make terms +with the government; and that is the very point we are wrangling over. +There's but one way to decide it, and that is by force of arms." + +"Do you still think we are going to be whipped?" + +"I am sure of it." + +"And if we are, will you give up the doctrine of State Rights?" + +"I'll have to. I can't do anything else. But such talk will lead us into +argument, and you say you don't want to argue. I have been in a fever of +suspense ever since you sent that second telegram to my father in St. +Louis. In it you said, in effect, that you would start up the river on +the first boat; and father wrote me that when he got it, he was ready to +dance." + +"With delight?" asked Rodney. + +"Not much. With apprehension. He supposed you were coming up with your +whole company. You asked him, for the company, if Price would accept +you, and he met Price on the street and showed him the dispatch. Price +said he would be glad to do it; and when you sent word that you were +coming, father thought, of course, that you were all coming, and he knew +that if you did, Lyon would make prisoners of the last one of you the +moment you touched the levee." + +"Your father didn't give us credit for much sense, did he?" said Rodney, +with some disgust in his tones. "The boys wouldn't come and so I had to +come alone. I hope that second dispatch did not put your father to any +trouble, but I was obliged to send it to throw those telegraph operators +off my track and blind them to my real intentions. I suppose that St. +Louis cotton-factor was on the watch?" + +"Of course; and the minute he put his eyes on that roan colt, he would +have pointed you and him out to the soldiers. Your second dispatch +frightened father, but it did not put him to any trouble. About that +time he received a hint that he was being watched, that he was believed +to be hanging about the city for the purpose of picking up information +that would do us rebels some good, and so he dug out. He's at home now; +and if we get a chance, we'll ride down there some dark night. I should +like to have you acquainted." + +"Thank you. I'll go any time you say the word; but why do you persist in +speaking of our side as 'rebels'? I say we are not. We simply desire to +resume the powers which our forefathers were foolish enough to delegate +to the general government. Why, the great State of New York, in adopting +the Federal Constitution, reserved the right to withdraw from the Union +in case things were not run to suit her." + +"Yes; but the great State of New York isn't foolish enough to try any +such game as that. She'd be whipped so quick that it would make her head +swim; and that's just what is going to happen to South Carolina. But you +always was as obstinate as a mule, and. I don't care to get into any +argument with you." + +Rodney Gray was now a full-fledged partisan; but the company to which he +was attached was more like mounted infantry than cavalry, for with the +exception of the commissioned officers, there was scarcely one among the +men who was provided with a saber. The most of Price's men were armed +with shotguns and hunting rifles, and in some respects were superior to +cavalry. They could move rapidly, fight as infantry, and if worsted in +the engagement, jump on their horses and make a quick retreat. Their +uniform was cadet gray with light blue slashings, and so nearly like the +one that had been worn by the Barrington students, that all Dick Graham +had to do to pass muster on dress parade was to add a sergeant's +_chevrons_ to the old uniform he had worn at school. Rodney Gray was an +"odd sheep in the flock," but Dick had two suits of clothes, one of +which his friend Rodney always wore when he was on duty, for Captain +Jones was somewhat particular, and wanted his men to appear well on post +and when they were ordered out for drill. The mail-carrier who took +Rodney's first letter to his father from the camp, took also an order +for a full outfit which was addressed to a merchant tailor in Little +Rock. Being shut off from St. Louis by Lyon's advancing troops, all the +mail, with the exception of some secret correspondence which was kept up +during the whole of the war, was sent by courier to Little Rock and New +Madrid, and from these places forwarded to its destination in the +South. + +Rodney Gray arrived at Price's camp during the latter part of June; and +almost immediately became aware that preparations were being made for an +event of some importance. There was much scouting going on, although he +and Dick took no part in it, much to their regret, and now and then +there was a skirmish reported. The junction of Price's forces with those +of Jackson and Rains, which Siegel hoped to prevent by a rapid march +upon Neosho, took place at Carthage, as we have said; but in spite of +this Siegel resolved to attack. He left Neosho on the 4th of July, and +on the 6th, fought the battle of Carthage against a greatly superior +force. Rodney's regiment was in the thickest of it. It tried to outflank +Siegel in order to seize his wagon train, but could not stand against +the terrible cross-fire of the Union artillery, which mowed them down +like blades of grass. The first man killed in Rodney's company was the +one who had given him that copy of the _Richmond Whig_. While charging +at Rodney's side he was struck in the breast by a piece of shell, and in +falling almost knocked the Barrington boy out of his saddle. There was +no time to be frightened or to think of lending a helping hand to his +injured comrade, for the line in the rear was coming on, yelling like +mad, and anything that opposed its progress would have been run down; +anything, perhaps, except that well-managed battery on their right, +whose steady, merciless fire was more than living men could endure. They +broke and fled, and were not called into action again that day; for when +Siegel, finding that he could not take the town, withdrew from the field +for the purpose of effecting a junction with another Union force +stationed at Mount Vernon, midway between Carthage and Springfield, the +road he followed led through thick woods in which mounted troops could +not operate. Here the Union commander, aided by his superior artillery +and long range rifles, held his own until darkness came on and the +Confederates retreated. It was a drawn battle. The Confederates did not +dare renew the attack, and Siegel was afraid to hold the field long +enough to give his weary troops a chance to rest. He marched all night +and reached his destination the next day. + +[Illustration: THE CHARGE OF THE RANGERS.] + +When the orderly sergeant of Rodney's company came to make out his +report, he found that there were six men missing out of seventy-three. +One out of twelve was not a severe loss for an hour's fight (when +Picket's five thousand made their useless charge at Gettysburg they lost +seven men out of every nine), but it was enough to show Rodney that +there was a dread reality in war. He told Dick Graham that as long as he +lived he would never forget the expression that came upon the face of +the comrade who fell at his side, the first man he had ever seen killed. +He did not want to go to sleep that night, for fear that he would see +that face again in his dreams. + +"They say a fellow gets over feeling so after a while," was the way in +which Dick sought to comfort and encourage him. "But I'll tell you +what's a fact: I don't believe that a man in full possession of his +senses can ever go into action without being afraid." + +General Lyon's advance troops having been forced to retreat, the boys +began to wonder what was to be the next thing on the programme, and it +was not long before they found out. Notwithstanding the confident +prediction of the captain who commanded the scouting party that had +rescued him from the power of the Union men at Truman's house (that +fifteen thousand Confederates would be enough to meet and whip the +twenty thousand Federals that Lyon was supposed to be concentrating at +Springfield), Price began falling back toward Cassville, striving as he +went to increase his force by fair means or foul. His mounted troopers +carried things with a high hand. If a citizen, listening to their +patriotic appeals, shouldered his gun, mounted his horse and went with +them, he was a good fellow, a brave man, and his property was safe; but +if he showed the least reluctance about "falling in," he was at once +accused of being a Union man and treated accordingly. Price wanted fifty +thousand men; but, as he afterward told the people of Missouri, less +than five thousand, out of a male population of more than two hundred +thousand, responded to his calls for help. It may or may not be a fact +that that small number comprised all the men that were sworn into the +State service; but it is a fact that he commanded more than eight +thousand men at the battle of Carthage, and more than twenty thousand at +the siege of Lexington. Price's object in falling back toward Cassville +was to meet McCulloch with his seven thousand four hundred men who were +coming up from Arkansas to reinforce him, and to draw Lyon as far as +possible from his base of supplies. These forces met at Crane Creek, and +almost immediately there began a conflict of authority between Price and +McCulloch, the former urging and the latter opposing an attack upon the +Union troops at Springfield. The dispute was finally settled by General +Polk, who sent an order all the way from Columbus, Kentucky, commanding +McCulloch to advance at once. Observe that he did not include Price in +the order, for at this period of the war the Confederate authorities +respected State Rights after a fashion of their own (they did not even +remove their capital from Montgomery to Richmond until Virginia had +given them her gracious permission to do so), and gave no signs of a +leaning toward the despotism which they established in less than twelve +months. + +Meanwhile General Lyon, whose position was one of the greatest danger, +could not wait to be attacked. He had weakened his army by garrisoning +all the places he seized during his advance and now he had only seven +thousand troops left. Even this small force was rapidly growing less, +for as fast as their terms of enlistment expired, they were permitted to +return to their homes; provisions were getting scarce; and General +Fremont, who had lately assumed command of the Western Department, could +not send him any reinforcements from St. Louis. So the only thing the +Union commander could do to stop the Confederate advance and extricate +himself from the dangers with which he was surrounded, was to assume the +offensive. + +The historian tells us that there was something sublime in that bold +march of Lyon on the night of the 9th of August, with a force of five +thousand men, to Wilson's Creek, to meet in the morning an army +numbering anywhere between fifteen and twenty thousand. His only hope of +success lay in a surprise; but there was where he was disappointed, for +it so happened that at the time he made his advance, the enemy was +making preparations to attack him on four sides at once; but while they +were thinking about it, they were assailed by two columns, one in front +and the other on the flank. This brought about the battle of Wilson's +Creek, which, next to Bull Run, was the severest engagement of the year. +General Lyon was killed while leading a bayonet charge at the head of an +Iowa regiment. Major Sturgis, on whom the command devolved, ordered a +retreat after six hours of useless fighting, and the Confederates were +too badly cut up to prevent his leisurely withdrawal. But, after all, +that battle was a Union victory, for it "interposed a check against the +combined armies of the Confederacy from which they could not readily +recover." This one fight taught the "dashing Texan Ranger" McCulloch +that there was a bit of difference between meeting a sterling Union +soldier like Lyon, and a traitor like Twiggs who would surrender on +demand, and a short time afterward he withdrew into Arkansas, leaving +Price to continue the campaign, or disband his State troops and go home, +just as he pleased. At least that is what history says about it; but +when Rodney and Dick asked their captain why it was that the two armies +separated after going to so much trouble to get together, the reason +given was: + +"We're waiting for orders from the War Department at Richmond. It will +take a good while for them to get here, and in the meantime we don't +want to impoverish the country. Price will stay here to watch the enemy, +who have retreated toward Rolla, which is a hundred miles from here, and +McCulloch will go into Arkansas to recruit his army. When the orders +arrive we shall know what we are going to do next." + +Of course it goes without saying that Rodney and Dick did soldiers' duty +during the light at Wilson's Creek and in the subsequent movements of +Price's troops, which resulted in the siege and capture of Lexington; +but they did not see Tom Percival or hear of him, nor did they find +opportunity to visit Dick Graham's home. + +While General Fremont was fortifying St. Louis so that he could hold it +with a small force, and use the greater portion of his army in the +movements he was planning against Price, the latter heard a piece of +news that sent him Northward by rapid marches. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + THE CONSCRIPTION ACT. + +Price's men had not been long on the march before Dick Graham, who +seemed to have a way of finding out things that were hidden from almost +everybody else, told Rodney, confidentially, that their objective point +was Warrensburg, and that Price's motive in going there was to capture +money to the amount of a hundred thousand dollars, which was being +conveyed by a detachment of Federal troops to Lexington. The prospect of +securing so valuable a prize was an incentive, and men who were so weary +that the near approach of an enemy would not have kept them from falling +out of the ranks, marched night and day without a murmur of complaint. +Some of the way they moved at double-quick; but they might as well have +spared themselves the pains, for when they reached Warrensburg they +found the place deserted. + +"This shows how impossible it is to trust anybody these times," said +Rodney, in deep disgust. + +Their regiment having gone into camp, the two friends were strolling +about the town to see what they could find, and the first thing they +discovered was not at all calculated to allay the indignation they felt +at being outwitted by the vigilant Federals. It was a rough charcoal +sketch on the wall of a building they passed during their walk. It +represented a lean, long-haired, ragged rebel dancing in an ecstacy of +rage over an empty money-box. The soldier who drew the sketch was an +artist of no mean order, and the picture told its story as plainly as +words. + +"It proves that the Yankees knew we were coming and what we were coming +for," continued Rodney. "It's an insult, and I hope we will not go back +until we have thrashed them for it most soundly." + +The army rested for two days at Warrensburg, and then moved upon +Lexington, whither the money had been conveyed; but Rodney and Dick had +no hopes of wearing the new uniforms and wrapping themselves in the warm +blankets that their share of the hundred thousand would purchase for +them, if they had it. They were afraid they wouldn't get any of it, and +this fear was confirmed when their advance guard was severely repulsed +by less than half a regiment of Home Guards who were found strongly +entrenched at Lexington. The attack, which was renewed on the 12th of +September, after Colonel Mulligan arrived with his Irish brigade, +bringing the strength of the garrison up to twenty-five hundred men, was +even more disastrous than the first, and Price retired to wait until his +supplies of ammunition could be brought up. He waited six days, and +during that time not a soldier was thrown into the garrison, while Price +saw his own army growing daily. Every man in the country for miles +around, and every boy, too, who was strong enough to handle a gun, +"rushed to Lexington to take part in the victory to which Price invited +them." The few Union men there were left in that part of the State came +with the rest, because it was the only thing they could do to save +themselves and their property from the vengeance of the rebels. The real +battle began on the 18th, and on the afternoon of the 20th, after +fifty-two hours of constant fighting, when his ammunition and provisions +were almost exhausted and his supply of water entirely cut off, the +brave colonel, who afterward died on the field of Winchester + + "And dying--'Lay me down + And save the flag!' he cried," + +gave up the struggle, and surrendered a worn-out garrison of two +thousand five hundred men to an army of more than twenty thousand. It +was a grand victory--almost as grand as the one Beauregard won over +Anderson at Fort Sumter. By it Price secured "a great number of stands +of arms, a considerable quantity of ammunition, a vast amount of +commissary stores, and nine hundred thousand dollars in hard cash." He +did not abuse his power but paid tribute to the courage of the men who +had so long resisted him by releasing the soldiers on parole, and +keeping the officers only as prisoners. + +Having accomplished his object and rallied to his standard all the +scattered bands of partisans in Northern Missouri, and hearing that +Fremont was advancing upon him, while Hardee, who was to support him by +moving up the river from New Madrid, had been driven back, Price turned +and ran, sending his mounted troopers to threaten several points at +once, misleading the Federals who had hastily assembled to harass his +rear, and thus securing an almost unobstructed road for his retreat. +These advance troopers had a few engagements, and Rodney and Dick took +part in the most of them, but Price could neither be overtaken nor +stopped. The two friends were among the first to ride into Neosho, a +little town in the southwestern part of the State, toward which the +march had been directed, and the first man they met gave them some +information that struck them dumb with surprise and indignation. He was +a farmer who had just sold a load of provisions to the soldiers, and he +drove his empty wagon out of the road to let the regiment pass. + +"We're into the mud now as deep as the rest of 'em," said he, as +Rodney's company rode by. "If Caroliny gets stretched up by the neck, +we-uns will have to be stretched, too." + +"What do you mean by that?" inquired Captain Jones. + +"The Legislator is over there in that house," replied the farmer, "and +they've just give out some kind of a paper saying that this State of +Missoury don't belong to the old Union no more, but is one of the +Confedrit States of Ameriky." + +"Do you mean that the State has seceded?" cried the captain, while his +men looked at him and at one another as if they could not understand +what the farmer was trying to tell them. "There's cheek for you. Why, +the whole of the State, except this part of it right around here, is +over-run with Yankees." + +"I don't know nothing about that," replied the farmer; and he was +obliged to turn around on his seat and shout the words, for Rodney's +company had been riding straight ahead all the time. "It's only what I +heard. Mebbe you'll find somebody up the street that can tell you all +about it." + +The story was so improbable that the boys could not make up their minds +to believe it. The Legislature, which had run almost as far as it could +get without going over the line into Arkansas, had no authority over the +State, three-fourths of whose territory was under the control of the +Union forces, and level-headed Dick Graham did not hesitate to say, in +the presence and hearing of his captain, that if the Legislature had +passed an Act of Secession, they were idiots, the last one of them. But +the Confederate authorities Were given to doing foolish things. Read the +proclamation Jefferson Davis issued from Danville while he was running +for his life! + +"If that is true we are in a pretty fix," said Rodney, as soon as he +could speak. "I came up here to keep out of the Confederate army, and +now I am made a Confederate in spite of myself. And so are you. You are +under control of the government at Richmond now, and next week you may +be ordered to Virginia." + +"But I'll not go," exclaimed Dick. "I'll serve right where I am until my +time is out, and then I'll go home. But look here. The Richmond +government can't order me out of Missouri without violating the very +principle we are fighting for--State Rights. They can _ask_ me to go, +but just see how utterly inconsistent they will be if they try to compel +me to go." + +"I hope you are right, but I wouldn't be afraid to bet anything I've got +that you are wrong," answered Rodney; and his friend's words did not in +the least encourage him. "That would be the right way to do things, but +you ought to see that it wouldn't be sensible. What's the use of having +Confederate soldiers if they are not to obey the orders of the +Confederate government? If it suits them to do it, those fellows in +Richmond will ride rough-shod over State Rights." + +"Oh, they won't do that," exclaimed Dick, waving his hands up and down +in the air. "They can't do it. Their government will fall to pieces like +a rope of sand if they try it." + +The boys wondered what their general would think of the situation, and +when the artillery came into town they found out. A few sections of it +wheeled into line at a gallop, and celebrated the secession of the State +by firing one hundred guns. Rodney and Dick were intensely disgusted. +They listened in a half mutinous way when the adjutant read the act the +next day on dress parade, and tossed up their caps and shouted with the +rest; but they did these things for the same reasons that impelled +hundreds of others in camp to do them--because they knew it would not be +safe to show any lack of enthusiasm. + +The fact that they were no longer State troops but full-fledged +Confederates was not fully impressed upon Rodney and his fellow soldiers +until some months later, when the Richmond government was all ready to +put its despotic plans into execution. Probably the general commanding +saw that there was much dissatisfaction among his men, and did not think +it prudent to draw the reins too tight. He drilled his troops a little +oftener and a little harder, and was rather more particular about +granting furloughs, and this gave the boys no ground for complaint; but +they were constantly harassed by the fear that the future had something +ominous in store for them. + +Price retreated as Fremont advanced, and a second battle was fought at +Wilson's Creek, during which the commander of the Union forces made a +cavalry charge that is still spoken of as one of the most brilliant +episodes of the war. But when Fremont was displaced by Hunter, the +latter fell back toward Rolla, thus allowing Price to recover the ground +from which he had just been driven. He was prompt to take advantage of +the opportunity, this time directing his columns toward Kansas, with the +intention of getting supplies for his troops, and cutting the State off +from all communication with St. Louis. But Halleck succeeded Hunter on +the 18th of November, and before a month had passed away Price in turn +was compelled to retreat, his men being captured by the thousand, +together with large quantities of arms and supplies of ammunition and +provisions. It began to look now, to quote from Dick Graham, as though +the boot was on the other foot. Instead of running the Yankees out of +Missouri, the Yankees had run them out, fairly and squarely, for when +Price went into camp it was over the line in the State of Arkansas. +Every one of the plans that the Confederates had made for keeping the +State in their possession and capturing St. Louis, had been broken up by +the strategy of the Union generals. The battle of Belmont, which took +place in the month of November, has been called a Confederate victory, +but it was not so in reality. General Grant didn't fight that engagement +because he cared a cent for Belmont, for he knew he could not hold it if +he got it. All he wanted was to keep the Confederates from sending +troops from Columbus, Kentucky, to co-operate with Price in Missouri. He +accomplished his object by keeping Polk busy at home, and Price was +driven into Arkansas. + +"And we are here with him," said Dick to his friend Rodney, as the two +lay beside their camp-fire at Cove Creek, talking over the situation. +"We said we never would go out of Missouri." + +"That is what you said," replied Rodney. "After the farce those old +women went through up there at Neosho, taking the State out of the Union +when they had no authority over it, I knew we were going to see trouble. +And mark my words: we have only seen the beginning of it." + +Either General Halleck's army was not as strong as he would like to have +had it, or else he over-estimated the strength of the enemy, for he fell +back and the Confederates went into winter quarters, Price at +Springfield and McCulloch just over the line into Arkansas. Now the two +friends had time and opportunity for visiting, but there was no one for +them to visit. Dick showed Rodney where his father's house and Mr. +Percival's had once stood, but there was nothing left of them but +blackened ruins. The rebels had "done the business" for one, and Union +men had "cleaned out" the other. Dick fully expected to find it so, for +he had often seen such evidence of vandalism and hatred during his long +marches through the State. The boys afterward learned that Dick's father +and mother had taken refuge with friends in Little Rock, while Mr. +Percival's family had, in some mysterious way, succeeded in reaching St. +Louis. Rodney was depressed by the sight of the ruins, and thanked his +lucky stars that his father and mother lived in a State in which such +things never could be done. The few Union men there were in and around +Mooreville would never dare trouble his folks, and the Yankees would not +be able to penetrate so far into the Confederacy. + +Garrison duty, as the boys called their life in winter quarters, was +most distasteful to them, and it was with great delight that they +listened to the rumors which early in February came up from McCulloch's +camp, to the effect that the two armies were to take the field again at +once, but that their campaign was to be in a different direction. These +rumors did not say that the Richmond government had decided to give up +the struggle in Missouri and turn its attention to more important +points, but the men, who talked freely in the presence of their +officers, declared that that was what the new move would amount to. They +were to proceed to New Madrid to operate with the Army of the Center in +checking the advance of the Federals, who were threatening Island No. +10. + +For once rumor told the truth and the move was made, though not in the +way Rodney and Dick thought it would be. One Sunday morning there was a +terrible uproar made by a scouting party which came tearing into camp +with the information that General Curtis's army, forty thousand strong, +was close upon Springfield and more coming. This rumor was also true; +and "Old Pap Price," as his men had learned to call him, who was not +much of a fighter but a "master hand at running," made haste to get his +wagon-train out of the way. To quote once more from Dick Graham, it was +hardly worth the trouble, for the oxen were so lean and weak that they +could scarcely walk, and the wagons, which were fit for nothing but +fire-wood, were loaded with a lot of rubbish that was of little value. +But "Old Pap" was bent on saving everything he had, and could not have +worked harder to take this train to a place of security if it had been +freighted with the money he captured at Lexington. The retreat soon +became a rout. The whole country was thrown into a state of alarm, and +people came flocking from all directions, bringing with them the few +household effects that the different raiding parties had left them. +Price kept up a running fight until some of McCulloch's troops came up, +and then the Federal advance was checked. + +If General Curtis intended this sudden movement for a surprise he could +not have selected a better time for it, and if he had kept his two +columns together, instead of sending Siegel off with thirteen thousand +men to operate in another quarter, Price's army would have "been +eliminated from the problem of war," and the battle of Pea Ridge would +not have been fought. McCulloch's army was divided, and McCulloch +himself was away in another direction surveying a route for the march to +New Madrid; and Price, relying upon the inhabitants to keep him posted +in regard to the movements of our forces, as well as upon the supposed +impassable condition of the roads in his front, was whipped before he +knew there was an enemy anywhere within reach of him. Then followed a +disastrous retreat of an army without provisions or tents, along a muddy +road, through a snow storm so blinding that one could scarcely see ten +feet ahead of him, and it went on until it was stopped by a telegram +from General Van Dorn, who had been appointed to command the Confederate +Army of the West because Price and McCulloch could not agree. The new +general, who declared that "all retrograde movements must be stopped at +once," and that "henceforth the army must press on to victory," arrived +on the 2d of March, drove Siegel out of Bentonville on the 5th, and on +Friday and Saturday fought the battle of Pea Ridge--a thing that he +might as well have let alone, for he did not do what he set out to do. +He retreated one way, while General Curtis went another and settled down +to await reinforcements. Van Dorn gave his men to understand that he was +not beaten, but he couldn't stop to pursue Curtis, because his orders +compelled him to at once proceed with all his available force to join +the Army of the Center on the Mississippi. + +Then came that dreary march to Van Buren of which we have spoken, and +which was a little ahead of anything Rodney had ever dreamed of. The +weary and hungry soldiers had long since ceased to expect anything from +the commissary department, which had disappeared as completely as though +it had never existed, and provisions of every sort were so scarce that +the different regiments and companies were obliged to break into little +squads and forage on their own account, the only instructions they +received being to the effect that they were to get to Van Buren as soon +as they could. As Dick and Rodney had the reputation of being excellent +foragers, and were known to be well supplied with gold, they had no +difficulty in keeping the members of their mess together. The gold +brought them corn bread, chickens and milk when Confederate scrip would +have failed, and when they came to compare notes with the rest of the +regiment at Van Buren, they found that they had fared very well. The +bulk of Price's army had passed on ahead of them, going down into +cellars and up into garrets, and poking about in hay-mows and stacks in +search of provender that had been hastily concealed by the anxious +citizens, and Rodney often wondered how McCulloch's men, who brought up +the rear, managed to keep body and soul together. + +It was a dreary time taken all around, but their troubles did not end +when they arrived at Van Buren, as they hoped they would. It is true +they again came within sight of a commissary department with an +abundance of provisions, a quartermaster's department with a lot of +mixed-up baggage and camp equipage, blankets and overcoats that had been +thrown off and left at different places along the route, and here they +were allowed to rest until the stragglers came up and reported; but +their march was not ended. Their destination was Pocahontas, which was +nearly two hundred miles farther on. + +It was while they were enjoying a much needed rest in camp at Van Buren +that they heard one piece of news that raised them to the highest pitch +of excitement, and two others that brought their spirits down to zero. +The first was brought to camp by a member of Dick's mess who had somehow +managed to get hold of a paper containing a greatly exaggerated account +of the first day's fight at Pittsburg Landing. + +"Listen to this, boys," he shouted, as the mess gathered around him and +the soldiers came running from all directions to see what the excitement +was about. "'If we've been worsted here in the West, our friends in the +East have made up for it by sweeping everything before them. Grant, the +Yankee general, has been surprised at Shiloh, his army driven pell-mell +through their camp and down under the bank of the river, where their +gunboats saved them. Johnston lived long enough to see the Yankees in +full flight and then he was killed; but Beauregard, who took his place, +telegraphs that "certain destruction awaits the enemy on the morrow."' +That would be--let me see. Why, this paper is two weeks old," he added, +in a disappointed tone, glancing at the date. + +"No matter; we whipped them," exclaimed Rodney; and when some one +proposed three cheers for the Army of the Center, he pulled off his cap +and joined in with a will. + +Captain Jones, who brought with him a longer face than any of his +company had ever seen him wear before, sauntered up while the cheering +was going on, and asked what it was all about. When he learned that they +were happy over the glorious news from Shiloh, he said, as he drew a +couple of papers from his pocket: + +"You fellows are away behind the times. That news is old, and Beauregard +hollered before he was out of the woods. Read this later account," he +continued, handing one of the papers to Dick, and placing a finger upon +the column to which he wished to draw attention. "And after you have +read that, take the other paper and see what it says about +conscription." + +The captain turned on his heel and walked away, but looked back with an +expression of astonishment on his face when he heard one of his men +exclaim: + +"Has the Richmond government really passed a Conscription Act? Then I +say bully for the Richmond government. There are lots of sneaks in our +town who shouted 'sick 'em,' to us, but who were too cowardly to put on +a uniform themselves. If they have got to come in whether they want to +or not, I am a Confederate from this minute. Read about the battle +first, sergeant, and then we'll hear about the conscription law." + +Dick complied, and before he got through there were some angry and +astonished men standing around him. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + RODNEY MEETS A FRIEND. + +Sergeant Graham first read aloud the account of the second day's +fighting at Pittsburg Landing; but of course the fact that Beauregard +had sustained a crushing defeat and been forced to retire from Corinth, +was carefully concealed. It was to be expected, the paper said, that +twenty-five thousand fresh men would turn the tide of battle in favor of +the enemy, but even against these overwhelming odds the Confederates had +held their own until noon, and then left the field in good order. + +"I don't see anything to feel bad over in that account," said Rodney, +whose war-like spirit arose every time he heard a glowing story of a +fight. "We knew when we went into this thing that the Yankees could +raise more men than we could, and we expected to fight against big odds. +Now for the conscripts," and when Rodney said this, he thought of Tom +Randolph, and hoped that he would be the first Mooreville citizen to +"draw a prize." + +He thought he could imagine how Tom would look and feel after he had +made a campaign with a foot or more of mud under his feet, dripping +storm-clouds over his head and not so much as a crumb of corn bread in +his haversack, and laughed silently as he pictured him at a smoking +camp-fire with a lot of veterans "poking fun" at him. His own term of +service would soon expire, and he hoped he should reach home in time to +see Tom march out with the first squad of conscripts that left +Mooreville; but as Dick proceeded to read the abstract of the Act as it +appeared in the paper, all the while pushing the sheet farther and +farther from him as his amazement and anger increased, Rodney found that +the situation was not quite so amusing as he thought, and that he, +Rodney Gray, was in a worse box than his friend, Tom Randolph. It was +the first general conscription law of the Confederacy, and "it withdrew +every non-exempt citizen, between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, +from State control, and placed him absolutely at the disposal of the +President during the war." When Dick had read this far he looked at his +comrades to see what they thought of it. + +"Why, it's--it's--the Czar of Russia couldn't do worse," exclaimed the +first one who recovered control of his tongue. "It's a fraud--a despotic +act. Where are our State Rights now, I should like to know?" + +"Go on," said Captain Jones, who stood on the outskirts of the group but +within hearing distance. "There's worse to come." + +Dick Graham, who did not see how anything could be worse, went on with +his reading and found that the Act "annulled all contracts made with +volunteers for short terms, holding them to service for two years +additional, should the war continue so long; and all twelve months' +recruits, below eighteen and over thirty-five years, who would otherwise +have been exempted by this law, were to be retained in service for +ninety days after their term expired." + +"Hey--youp!" yelled Dick, dancing about like one demented. "Our own +government is ten times worse than the one we are fighting against, and +every one of us was a fool for ever putting on a gray jacket. Why didn't +they tell us all this in the first place, so that we might know what +there was before us? It's a fraud and a cheat and a swindle and a--and +a--what are you about?" he added, turning almost fiercely upon his +captain, who elbowed his way through the excited group and tried to take +the paper from his hand. "I'll not obey the orders of the Richmond +government, and that's all there is about it." + +"I was going to direct your attention to something else," replied the +captain, paying no heed to the sergeant's rudeness. "But since you are +so nearly beside yourself I don't suppose you can read it, and so I had +better tell you what it is. You say you will not obey the orders of the +Richmond government?" + +"That is what I said, and I will stick to it," exclaimed Dick. "They +have no right--" + +"Hold on a bit," the captain interposed. + +"They may not have the right but they have the power, and you will have +to give in. They offer you inducements to re-enlist for two years. You +will be regarded as volunteers, and be allowed the privilege of changing +your officers and electing new ones." + +This was a big inducement indeed. The men laughed derisively when they +heard it. + +"If you don't volunteer, but insist on leaving the army when your term +of service expires, you will never get out of the camp," continued the +captain. "You will be conscripted." + +"I don't care if I am," answered Dick, indignantly. "I'll not do duty." + +"Then you will be treated as a mutineer and run the risk of being shot +without the benefit of a drum-head court-martial," said the captain; +whereupon the men backed off, thrust their hands into their pockets and +looked at him and at one another. "I tell you, boys, this is no time for +foolishness," the captain went on, earnestly. "Ever since Bull Run the +Northern people have been showing the mettle that's in them. That defeat +got their blood up and they mean business. They have more volunteers +than they want. Their armies are growing stronger every day, while ours +are growing weaker every hour. To be honest, there isn't half the +patriotism now there was among us when these troubles first begun. +Desertions are alarmingly frequent, and voluntary enlistments are almost +entirely suspended. We must have men to fight our battles, or else +surrender our cherished liberties to such Hessians and Tories as Curtis +brought against us at Pea Ridge." + +"And whipped us with," added one of the men; and the captain couldn't +contradict him, for it was the truth. He could only look at him +reproachfully. + +"'Is Sparta dead in your veins?'" exclaimed the captain, quoting from +the speech of Spartacus to his fellow gladiators. "Are you willing to +give up whipped and permit a lot of Regicides and Roundheads to put +their feet on your necks?" + +Taking this for his text the officer spoke earnestly for ten minutes, +drawing largely from the fiery editorials of the Southern papers, which +he had read so often that he had them by heart, and trying his best to +infuse a little of his own spirit into the angry, scowling men who had +crowded around him, but without any very flattering success. There was +but one thought in their minds--they had been duped by the Richmond +government, which had so suddenly developed into a despotism that it was +plain the machinery for it had been prepared long before. They could not +go home even for a short time to visit their friends after their term of +service had expired, and it is no wonder that they felt sore over it. +Seeing that he could not arouse their patriotism, the captain next tried +to arouse their combativeness. + +"On the same day that the battle of Shiloh was decided against us, there +was another struggle settled a hundred miles nearer to us," said he. +"That too went against us. Island No. 10, the stronghold that was to +have kept the enemy from going down the Mississippi, has fallen, and the +way is open to Memphis." + +"But the Yankees will never get there," exclaimed Rodney. "When I came +up the river on the _Mollie Able_, I heard a man say we had a fleet +building there that would eventually take Cairo and St. Louis too." + +"I certainly hope he was right, but things don't seem to point that way +now," replied the captain. + +"That is good news for us in one respect," Dick Graham remarked. "New +Madrid must have fallen too, and if that is the case, we'll not be +ordered there. It's too late. We'll stay in our own State." + +The captain shook his head, and his men knew by the expression on his +face that he had something yet to tell them. + +"There's where you are wrong," said he. "We are going to Memphis as +quick as we can get there, and from Memphis we shall go to Corinth to +join the army under Beauregard. I am sorry you boys feel so about it, +but I really don't see how you are going to help yourselves. Now brace +up and do your duty like men, as you always have done it. I don't want +to see any of you get into trouble, but you certainly will if you kick +over the traces." + +This last announcement was altogether too much for the men, who turned +away in a body, muttering the heaviest kind of adjectives, "not loud but +deep." When the two boys were left alone with the captain the latter +inquired: + +"How old are you?" + +"Seventeen," growled Rodney. + +"Well, you will have to stay in ninety days after your term expires. +Will that make you eighteen?" + +"No, it wouldn't; and if it did they would be careful not to say so." + +"Then I don't see what reason you have to get huffy over a thing that +can't be helped," continued the officer. "We must have men, and if they +will not come in willingly, they must be dragged in. We can't be +subdued; we never will consent to be slaves. But you two will get out +all right." + +"We knew it all the while; at least I thought of it," replied Dick, "but +I didn't want to mention it while the rest of the boys were around. They +are mad already, and it might make them worse to know that we two are +better off than they are." + +"But I want to tell you that you will make a big mistake if you accept +your discharges," the captain went on to say. "You ought by all means to +stay in until this thing is settled and the invaders driven from our +soil. You'll wish you had when you see the boys come home covered with +glory. And then think of the possibilities before you! You are bound to +be promoted, and that rapidly. If I had your military education I would +not be satisfied with anything short of a colonelcy." + +"Well, you may have it, and since you want it, I hope you will get it; +but I wouldn't accept it if it were offered to me," answered Dick, +turning on his heel. "I'll not serve under such a fraud of a government +as this has turned out to be a day longer than I can help. I'll take my +discharge as soon as they will condescend to give it to me, and then +they can hunt somebody to fill my place. I'll never volunteer again, and +sooner than be conscripted I'll take to the woods." + +"Now, sergeant, you know you wouldn't do any such thing," said the +captain. + +"Yes, I would," Dick insisted. "There is a principle at the bottom of +this whole thing that is most contemptible; but what more could you +expect of men who induced us to enlist by holding out the promise of an +easy victory? 'The North won't fight!' This looks like it. We're whipped +already." + +These were the sentiments of thousands of men who wore gray jackets in +the beginning of 1862, but it wasn't every one who dared express them as +boldly as Dick Graham did, nor was it every officer who would have +listened as quietly as did Captain Jones. Everything went to show that +the officers had been drilled in the parts they were expected to perform +long before the men dreamed that such a thing as a Conscription Act was +thought of; for, as a rule, all discussion regarding the policy of the +Richmond government was "choked off" with a strong hand. In some armies, +Bragg's especially, the men were treated "worse than their niggers ever +were." They dared not speak above a whisper for fear of being shoved +into the guard-house; and "when some regiments hesitated to avail +themselves of this permission (to volunteer) they were treated as +seditious, and the most refractory soldiers, on the point of being shot, +only saved their lives by the prompt signature of their comrades to the +compact of a new enlistment." Things were not quite as bad as this in +Price's army, but still Captain Jones thought it best to tell his men, +especially the out-spoken Dick Graham, that they had better be a little +more guarded in their language, unless they were well acquainted with +those to whom they were talking. They went to Memphis, as the captain +said they would, marching over a horrible road and leaving some of their +artillery stuck in the mud at Desarc on White River, and from Memphis +they went to Corinth forty miles farther on, packed in box cars like +sheep, and on top like so much useless rubbish. Their train was rushed +through at such a rate of speed that the men on top shouted to the +engineer: + +"Go it. Let out two or three more sections of that throttle. Run us off +into the ditch and kill us if you want to. There are plenty more men +where we came from." + +Rodney Gray afterward declared that he had never seen a grander sight +than Beauregard's camp presented when the troops from the West marched +through it, greeted everywhere by the most vociferous cheering, to take +their positions on the right. Their arrival brought the strength of the +army up to more than a hundred thousand men, and, somewhat to their +surprise, they were introduced to their new comrades as "Invincibles." +At any rate that was what General Bragg called them in an address which +he issued to his soldiers a few days afterward: + +"The slight reverses we have met on the sea-board have worked us good as +well as evil," was what he said in the vain hope of blinding his troops +to the real magnitude of the disaster that had recently befallen the +Confederacy. "The brave troops so long retained there have hastened to +swell your numbers, while the gallant Van Dorn and invincible Price, +with the ever-successful Army of the West, are now in your midst, with +numbers almost equaling the Army of Shiloh." + +The "slight reverses" to which the general so gingerly referred were the +passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip by Farragut's fleet, the +annihilation of the Confederate gunboats and the capture of New Orleans; +and these "slight reverses" were almost immediately followed by the +defeat of the gunboats that had been building at Memphis, and of which +the Confederates expected such great things. But the rank and file of +the army were not so easily deceived. They knew well enough that the +accounts that came to them through the papers were "doctored" on purpose +for them, and were fully sensible of the fact that the loss of these +important points, Memphis and New Orleans, were disasters most +discouraging. When they were in the presence of those to whom they knew +they could speak freely, they sneered at the efforts made by their +superiors to belittle the Union victories, and laughed to scorn Mayor +Monroe and the "city fathers" for the attitude they had seen fit to +assume while Farragut's powerful fleet held the Crescent city under its +guns. If the pompous little mayor, by folding his arms and standing in +front of that loaded howitzer when the marines came ashore to hoist the +Stars and Stripes over the Custom House, desired to show the people of +New Orleans and the country at large what a brave man he was, he failed +of his object, for the men who had faced cannon on the field of battle +had nothing but contempt for him and his antics. + +"He has made himself a laughing-stock for all time to come," was what +Rodney Gray thought about it. "That was all done for effect, for there +was not the slightest danger that the Yankees would fire that howitzer +at him while he was going through his monkey-shines. If he is such an +awful brave man, why didn't he follow that naval officer to the roof of +the Custom House and jerk the Union flag down the minute it was hauled +up?" + +"Or why doesn't he shoulder a musket and fall in with us?" chimed in +Dick. "One short campaign through Missouri mud would take some of that +nonsense out of him." + +There were a good many in the army who thought that the constant +maneuvering and skirmishing that followed during the next few weeks were +not kept up because a great battle was expected, but for the purpose of +giving the men so much to do that they could not get together and talk +over the discouraging news they had recently heard. There was one +engagement fought, that of Farmington, which resulted in a victory for +the Confederates, and taught them at the same time that they were +mistaken in supposing that our troops would not venture so far into the +country that they would be out of the reach of help from the gunboats, +which had rendered them such important service at the battle of +Pittsburg Landing. Of course Rodney and Dick marched and skirmished and +fought with the rest, but they didn't care much whether they whipped or +got whipped, for the feelings that took them away from home and friends +and into the army, had long since given place to others of an entirely +different character. They didn't care as much for State Rights and +Southern independence as they did once, and if they ever got home again +the Richmond government might go to smash for all they could do to save +it. Two questions engrossed their minds, and formed the principal +subjects of their conversation: Would they be permitted to leave the +service when the year for which they enlisted expired; and if so, how +was Dick Graham going to get across the river into Missouri now that +Memphis had fallen, and the Mississippi as far down as Vicksburg was in +possession of the Federals? + +In regard to the first question--there was one thing which the boys were +afraid would work against them. While nearly all the line officers of +the regiment remained with them, the field officers who had come with +them from the West had disappeared, some being promoted, some discharged +and others being sent to the hospital, new ones had taken their places +and a new staff had been appointed. + +"And a lovely staff it is," said Dick, expressing the sentiments of +every man in his company. "I can see now why that Conscription Act was +passed. It was to make room for a lot of government pets, who are too +fine to go into the ranks, but who are allowed to come here and shove +out veterans when they cannot tell the difference between 'countermarch +by file right' and 'right by twos.' Our new colonel doesn't know who we +are or what we have done, and cares less; and when we go to him for our +discharges, he will throw so much red-tape in our way that we can't get +out. That's what I am afraid of." + +As to the other question--how Dick Graham was to get over the +river--that was something that could be settled when they had their +discharges in their pockets. First and foremost Dick would go home with +Rodney; and after he had taken a good long rest, and learned all about +the means of communication between the two shores (they were positive +there must be some regular means of communication, because Dick had +received two letters from home since he had joined the Army of the +Center), Rodney would take his chances of seeing him safely across the +river. But their discharges must be their first care, and they came much +easier than they dared hope for. One day Rodney was detailed to act as +guard at brigade headquarters, and the first officer to whom he +presented arms was one whose face was strangely familiar to him. It was +his new brigade commander, and a wild hope sprung up in Rodney's breast. +The energetic, soldier-like manner in which he handled his piece +attracted the notice of the general, who seemed to be in good humor, and +who unbent from his dignity long enough to remark: + +"You have been well drilled, sentry." + +"Yes, sir; at Barrington Military Academy," replied Rodney, with a good +deal of emphasis on the last words. + +This had just the effect the boy meant it should have. The general +stopped and looked curiously at him, and Rodney, instead of keeping his +eyes "straight to the front and striking the ground at the distance of +fifteen paces," returned his superior's gaze with interest. + +"Haven't I seen you before?" the latter asked at length. + +"Yes, sir; aboard the steamer _Mollie Able_, going up the river a year +ago," answered Rodney. "You were Captain Howard then." + +The boy had no business to say all this, and no one in the army knew it +better than he did. It was his place to wait and be questioned; but he +couldn't do it. There was too much at stake--his discharge and Dick's. +The general did riot appear to notice this breach of military etiquette. +On the contrary he smiled and said, pleasantly: + +"I remember you perfectly. You were on your way to join Price, and your +presence here proves that you found him. When you are relieved I want to +see you." + +"Very good, sir," replied Rodney, bringing his piece to a shoulder and +resuming his walk. "If that man's word is worth anything," he added, +mentally, when the general disappeared in his tent, "Dick Graham and I +will be free men when our year and three months are up, and you just say +that much to your folks and tell 'em it's confidential. He as good as +said that he would do something for me if he could, and now I will try +him on; but there's one thing I'll not promise to do: I won't re-enlist +until I get a good ready, and if I can help myself, that time will never +come." + +Rodney walked his beat as if he were treading on air, and wished his +friend Dick would happen along about the time he was relieved, so that +he might tell him that he believed he had found a powerful friend in +their new brigade commander. At the end of two hours, having been +relieved from post and obtained the necessary permission from the +officer of the guard, Rodney presented himself at the door of General +Howard's tent, and sent his name in by the orderly. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + CONCLUSION. + +General Howard did not look or act like a man who was very badly +overworked, nor did he seem to be at all anxious over the result of the +heavy firing that was going on on the left of the line. He had pulled +off his coat and riding boots, and when the orderly entered to tell him +that Private Rodney Gray of the --th Missouri Cavalry had come there to +see him by his orders, he was tilling his pipe preparatory to indulging +in a smoke. He greeted Rodney pleasantly, and pointed with the stem of +his pipe to an empty cracker box. + +"Turn that up and sit down," said he; whereupon the orderly opened his +eyes in wonder. There was a much wider gulf between the officers and +privates in the rebel army than there was in our own, especially after +the war had been going on for about a year. The sons of rich men, who +had shouldered a musket at the beginning, began working their way out of +the ranks, leaving behind them only those who were too poor or too low +in the social scale to command the influence that was necessary to bring +them a commission. As a rule rich people in the South did not think much +of poor white trash. The latter were good enough to fight and obey +orders, but scarcely good enough to be treated with civility; so when +General Howard told his visitor to turn up the cracker box and sit down +on it, the orderly straightway made up his mind that Rodney Gray was a +little better than the common run of folks, even if he was a private +soldier. + +"I don't suppose you have thought of me once since I bid you good-by at +that woodcutters' camp," said the general, throwing himself upon a rude +couch and propping his head up with his hand. "But I have often thought +of you, and a few months ago I was down Mooreville way on a scout. I +passed right by your father's plantation, and finding out who he was, +and being a trifle hungry besides, I dropped in and invited myself to +dinner with him and your mother." + +Rodney was delighted to hear this, but all he said was that he hoped the +general had enjoyed his visit. + +"I assure you I did, and the dinner too," was the smiling reply. "And +during the hour I passed there I learned a good deal concerning your +life in Missouri, and heard some portions of your letters read. Your +parents were much surprised to know that I met you on your way up the +river, and I renewed to them the promise I believe I made you on the +steamer that if I could ever do you a fatherly kindness I would. I am +glad to see you in my brigade, but I don't quite understand how it comes +that you are still a private. Haven't you done your duty, or wouldn't +your officers push you?" + +"The fault is my own, sir," answered Rodney. "I might have gone higher +but I didn't care to." + +Then he went on to tell the general about Dick Graham. The latter was a +Barrington boy too, he said, and they had made it up between them that +it wouldn't be worth while for them to accept promotion, for they had +only a year to serve, and besides they did not want to run the risk of +being separated. + +"Oh, as to that, you mustn't expect to stick together all the time," +replied the general. "The exigencies of the service will not admit of +it; you know that yourself. Still I will try to do something for your +friend too, if I find upon inquiry of your regimental and company +officers that he is worthy. I lost four of my staff at the battle of +Farmington, and, if you like, will order you and Sergeant Graham to +present yourselves for examination." + +Rodney fairly gasped for breath, and wished that the general had not +taken quite so deep an interest in him. The crisis was coming now, and +he nerved himself for it. + +"I am very much obliged, general," he faltered. "But my time will be up +in about two weeks, and I should like to go home and see my folks."' + +Rodney expected that his superior would be surprised to hear this, and +his actions showed that he certainly was, and a little angry, as well. +He arose to a sitting posture on the couch, and jammed the tobacco down +in his pipe with a spiteful motion as he said, rather curtly: + +"You must give up all such nonsense. I am not going to deplete my +brigade, at this most critical time, by letting everybody go home who +takes a fool's notion into his head that he wants to. According to law I +am obliged to discharge all one year's men when their term of service +expires; but they shall never get out of my lines. I'll conscript them +as fast as a provost guard can catch them." + +The general settled back on his elbow again and looked at his visitor as +if to inquire what he thought of the situation. Rodney thought it was +dark enough, and showed what he thought by the gloomy expression that +came upon his face. He gazed down at the cap he was twirling in his +hands and said nothing. The general relented. + +"I don't want to be hard on you, Rodney," said he, speaking in much the +same tone that a kind and indulgent father might use in reproving an +erring son, "but can't you see for yourself what would happen to us and +our government if we should weaken our armies by discharging troops at +this juncture? The enemy has a hundred and forty thousand men in our +front at this minute, and more coming. Memphis is taken, New Orleans has +fallen, the railroads, except those that run south of us, are in +Halleck's possession, and if the enemy along the river moves quickly, +the troops we have sent to fortify Vicksburg will not have time to lift +a shovel full of dirt before the Mississippi clear to the Gulf will be +lost to us. I tell you the situation is critical in the extreme, and if +we don't look out, and fight as men never fought before, the Lincoln +government will have us in the dust in less than two months. I'll not +let a man of you go, and that's all there is about it." + +The general puffed vigorously at his pipe and looked as though he meant +every word he said. Was this the man who had promised on two different +occasions that he would lend Rodney a helping hand if the opportunity +was ever presented? Discouraged and perplexed as he was, the boy could +still think clearly enough to draw a contrast between this arbitrary +action of a so-called government, which claimed to be fighting for the +rights of its people, to do as they pleased and the course pursued by +the Union General Lyon at the battle of Wilson's Creek. Rodney learned +through some prisoners his regiment captured (and history to-day +confirms the story) that Lyon had seven thousand men when he reached +Springfield; two thousand short-term men demanded their release and got +it; and the Union commander went on and fought the battle with five +thousand. Perhaps the old government was not quite so bad after all. + +"But you see, sir," said Rodney, after a moment's reflection, "my +comrade and I do not come under the terms of the Conscription Act. We +are not yet eighteen years of age." + +The surprised look that came over the general's face showed very plainly +that that was a point that had slipped his mind entirely. The boy had +him there, and he hardly knew whether to laugh or get angry over it. + +"And do you intend to take advantage of that provision of the Act?" he +inquired. + +"We'd like to, sir," was all Rodney thought it prudent to say in reply. +His superior was nettled, and the boy wanted to leave him in good humor +and get out of his presence as soon as possible. + +"That settles it," said the general, getting upon his feet and knocking +the ashes from his pipe in a manner which seemed to say that the +interview was at an end. "I'll take pains to see your colonel, but I do +hope there are not many in my command whose ages are under eighteen or +over thirty-five. However, I may be able to infuse a little patriotism +into them, and shall have something to say about it in a general +order." + +"I thank you, sir, for the assurance," replied Rodney. + +He made his best salute and retired, but during the rest of the day he +was not as jubilant as he had been when he came off post; and when he +went back that night to do duty at the general's tent, he took note of +the fact that his commander paid no more attention to him than he would +have paid to an entire stranger. Rodney felt hurt at that, and as soon +as he could do so, after guard-mount the next morning, he hunted up his +friend Dick and told him the whole story. He wanted sympathy and +encouragement and got both. + +"You did perfectly right," said Dick, emphatically. "We could have +passed the examination easy enough, and in a week or two might have been +galloping around camp covered with gold lace, and looking as sweet as +two government pets; but we don't care half as much for staff office as +we do for our discharges. You made the general mad and I am sorry for +that; but after all it's natural, for the commander who discharges the +smallest number of men will stand highest in the good graces of his +superiors. See? So long as he keeps his troops in the service, it +doesn't make a particle of difference whether he keeps them in by +promises or threats. He's a bully fellow, and the despots at Richmond +will reward him." + +Some of the sergeant's words were confirmed that very afternoon, and in +a most startling manner. For days it had been whispered about among the +men that there was trouble brewing in General Bragg's corps, and on this +particular day it was brought to a head by the mutiny of a Tennessee +regiment, who stacked arms and refused to do duty. The twelve months for +which they volunteered had expired and they wanted to go home. Before +entering the service they made provision for their families for just one +year, and since that time their State had been over-ran with raiding +parties from both armies, their crops had been destroyed, their stock +killed, their buildings given to the flames, and their wives and +children turned out into the weather. They wanted to see these helpless +ones taken to places of security, and then they would return to a man, +and stand by their comrades until the last Yankee invader had been +driven into the Ohio river. But Bragg said they shouldn't go, and fixed +things so they couldn't. He did just what Beauregard did when Hindman's +Arkansas troops prepared to return to their State to repel the +"invasion" of General Curtis. He told them that if they didn't pick up +those guns in less than five minutes he would have the last one of them +shot, and they picked them up; but in an hour's time it was whispered +through the ramp that all the service old Daddy Bragg would get out of +those Tennesseans wouldn't amount to much. We shall presently see how +much truth there was in the report. + +A few days after this the order of which General Howard had spoken was +issued, and read to those regiments in the brigade whose term of service +was about to expire. They were informed that they would now come under +the Conscript Act, and that every man of them who was subject to service +under that Act would be summarily conscripted unless he chose to +re-enlist. The regiments to whom the order was addressed had all +performed gallant service and gained imperishable honors, and the +general hoped they would preserve both their name and organization by +volunteering in a body to serve for two years, or until the end of the +war. If they did, they would have the privilege of electing their own +officers, and would be placed on the same footing as the other volunteer +regiments; and those of their number who, by reason of age, were not +subject to conscription, would serve until the 15th of July, when they +would be discharged. + +The order concluded with a fierce denunciation of General Butler's rule +in New Orleans and a glowing appeal to their patriotism, all of which +the men cheered lustily; but when the ranks were broken and the +different "cliques" got together, they did not try to keep up any show +of spirit. So far as Rodney Gray could learn, there was not a man in his +regiment who would have volunteered if he had seen a fair chance to +desert and get across the river. Desertion was a thing that had never +been talked of before among Price's men. As volunteers, they would have +died rather than think of such a cowardly way of getting out of the +army, but it was different now. Even, if they re-enlisted under the +provisions of the Conscript Act, how much better would they be than +conscripts while bearing the name of volunteers? They would be forced +into the army against their will, wouldn't they and wouldn't that make +them conscripts? They appeared to submit because they could not help +themselves; but desertions took place every day. Some got safely off, +but those who were caught in the act were shot without any trial at all. +The men were sullen, talked mutiny among themselves, and Rodney Gray +looked for nothing else but to see them rise in a body, kill their +tyrannical officers, and disperse to their homes. It was a terrible +state of affairs, the nearest approach to anarchy there ever was or ever +will be in this country, and during those troublous days and the +subsequent retreat to Tupelo, General Halleck received into his lines no +less than fifteen thousand deserters. + +The farce of electing new officers and reorganizing the various +companies and regiments in the brigade took place in due time, and once +more Dick Graham found himself in the ranks. He was not a candidate for +any office and neither was Rodney, although they might have had +commissions if they had chosen to accept them. They did not so much as +hint that they had been offered something better than the company or +regiment could give them--a position on the general's staff--for they +did not think it would be policy to do it. There were plenty of mean men +in their regiment, as there were in every one in the service, and since +they could not get discharges themselves, they would have been glad if +they could have kept Rodney and Dick from getting them; and if they had +suspected that Rodney had a friend in the general of the brigade, they +would have reported him every chance they got, no matter whether he had +done anything wrong or not. After this the two friends waited with as +much patience as they could for the time to come around when they would +be free once more. + +During this time almost constant fighting had been going on somewhere +along the line, and although Rodney and Dick could not see the use of +it, those in authority could, for they were quietly making preparations +to withdraw from a place which was no longer of use to them. On the +26th, 27th, and 28th of the month, the fighting was very severe, and +Rodney's regiment, which was at the front, was badly cut up. Although +Dick Graham was now a private he was called upon at times to do duty as +a sergeant, and on the afternoon of the 28th, he was sent with a small +squad, one of whom was Rodney Gray, to take charge of an advanced post. +It was much nearer our lines than were the trenches in which the +regiment was fighting, but it was also much safer, for the shells from +both sides went high over their heads. Here they remained in perfect +security, talking, laughing and telling stories while the roar of battle +was going on all around them, and waiting for their relief, which was to +come at six o'clock. It did not come, however, until after nine, and by +that time it had grown so dark that it was only after infinite trouble +and bother that they succeeded in finding their way back to the main +line, only to learn after they arrived there, that their regiment had +been withdrawn three hours before, and nobody could tell where it was +now. Dick Graham didn't care much where it was, for he had no intention +of going to it that night. It was more than three miles to camp, and +Dick saw, when he passed that way three days before, that the road was +blocked with wagons, artillery trains and stable-lines, and to these +obstructions were now added sleeping men, who would not be over civil to +any one who chanced to stumble against them in the dark. So Dick drew +his squad off into the woods out of the way and went into camp; that is +to say, he ate the little piece of hard tack he found in his haversack, +washed it down with a drink of warm water from his canteen, rolled +himself up in his blanket and went to sleep. + +"There goes reveille," exclaimed Rodney, hitting him a poke in the ribs +the next morning about daylight. "But it's in the enemy's camp, and I +don't think we'll pay much attention to it. I am going to sleep again." + +"Say," said one of the men, "I reckon we'd best be toddling along, for +if I didn't hear wagons and troops moving all night, I dreamed it. Let's +get up and go as far as the diggings any way, and get a bite to eat." + +The "diggings" referred to was a pile of hard-tack which, when Rodney +first saw it, was almost as long and high as the railroad depot. There +were several thousand boxes in the pile, and there they had been beside +the road, exposed to all sorts of weather, ever since they arrived in +Corinth. Why they were not served out to the men instead of lying there +to waste no one knew or cared to ask; but every squad that passed that +way made it a point to stop long enough to break open a few boxes and +fill their haversacks. Toward these "diggings" Dick and his men bent +their steps, and before they were fairly out of the woods in which they +had slept, they became aware that they had been deserted. There was not +a man in sight, and the guns which looked threateningly at them over the +top of the nearest redoubt, they found on inspection to be logs of +wood. + +"Beauregard's whole army has fallen back, and done it so silently that +they never awoke us," said Dick. "Let us hurry on and get into our lines +before some of the enemy's cavalry come along and gobble us up. What do +you see, Rodney?" + +"I am afraid we are gobbled already," was the answer, "I saw some men +dodging about in the woods over there. If they are not the enemy's +pickets they must be our rear guard, and as we can't get away we had +better go over and make ourselves square with them." + +This proposition met with the approval of his comrades, but it did not +seem to suit the men in the woods, for Dick's squad had not gone many +steps in their direction when some one called out: + +"By the right flank, march!" and the command was emphasized by the +sudden appearance of half a dozen muskets which were pointed straight at +them. + +"Who are you, and what are you doing there?" demanded Dick. + +"Who are you, and what do you want of us?" asked one of the men in +reply. "Are you from Tennessee?" + +"No; Missouri." + +"By the right flank, then, and toddle right along. You want no truck +with us; but if you meet old Daddy Bragg tell him to come and see us. +We've got something for him." + +"All right," answered Dick, as he and his squad faced to the right and +marched away. "Good-by, and good luck to you. I don't think old Bragg +will come out," he added, when the men had been left out of hearing. +"They'd shoot him as quick as they would any other varmint. There must +be two or three hundred in that party, and they straggled out of the +ranks last night in the dark. They'll stay there until the enemy's +advance passes, and then they'll come out and give themselves up. Slick +scheme, but I'd die before I would do it myself." + +The squad halted at the "diggings" long enough to fill their haversacks, +and then kept on after the army, marching with a quick step and keeping +a good look-out for the Federal cavalry, which they knew would be sent +out to pick up stragglers as soon as Beauregard's retreat became known +to Halleck. They were in no hurry to overtake their comrades, for they +were doing very well by themselves, and neither did they want to be +picked up and treated as deserters by their own rear guard. But if there +_was_ any rear guard they never saw it, although they ran into another +body of Tennesseans, more than a thousand of them this time, who told +them that the army gone on toward Tupelo, thirty-five miles from +Corinth. No one seemed to know why Corinth had been abandoned, and it +turned out afterward that the Richmond government disapproved of it, for +the command was taken from Beauregard and given to Bragg, the man whom +all his soldiers feared and hated, and who, a few months later, said to +the people of Kentucky, "I am here with an army which numbers not less +than sixty thousand men. I bring you the olive-branch which you refuse +at your peril." But proclamations and threats did not take Kentucky out +of the Union. + +It took the boys five days to cover the thirty-five miles that lay +between Corinth and Tupelo, and they were by no means the last of the +stragglers to come in. The men who had been left behind, and who had no +intention of deserting, were nevertheless bound to enjoy their liberty +while they had the chance, and some of them did not arrive for two +weeks. + +In process of time the descriptive list and discharges of those who came +under the exemption clause of the Conscription Act were made out, but +there was so much red tape to be gone through with before all the +provisions of the Act could be carried out, that the two friends were in +a fever of suspense for fear that something might happen at the last +minute to blast their hopes. Their officers did not want to let them go, +and the slightest hitch in the proceedings would have made conscripts of +them. But in their case everything worked smoothly, and finally all they +had to do was to go to the paymaster and get their Confederate scrip. +Being provided with passes which would take them as far as the lines of +the Confederacy extended, they took leave of their friends, not without +a feeling of regret it must be confessed, and boarded the cars for Camp +Pinckney, which was located a hundred miles from New Orleans. After they +left the camp their passes would be of no use to them, for it was said +that the country between there and Mooreville, forty miles east of Baton +Rouge, was over-run with Federal cavalry. They reached the camp without +any mishap, ran the guard in order to get out of it (but that was not a +difficult thing to do, for nearly all the soldiers in camp were +conscripts who had not had time to learn their business), and before +they had gone ten miles on their way toward Mooreville, came plump upon +a small squad of Union cavalry, who covered them with their carbines and +told them to "come in out of the rain." It was hard to be "gobbled up" +within two days' walk of home, but the boys put a bold face on the +matter. The corporal and his three men seemed to be a jolly, +good-natured lot, and the ex-Confederates knew they would be sure of +kind treatment as long as they remained in their hands. + +"You've got us easy enough," said Dick. "Now what are you going to do +with us?" + +"Take you down to Baton Rouge and put you where you'll not have a chance +to shoot any more Yanks," replied the corporal. "Where's your +regiment?" + +"We don't know; and not wishing to give you a short answer, we don't +care. We never shot any Yanks, and neither do we mean to go where they +are again if we can help it. We've got our discharges in our pockets." + +"Seeing is believing. Hand 'em out." + +The boys complied, and as they did so Rodney remarked that if they had +known that the corporal was as white a man as they had found him, they +wouldn't have "come in out of the rain" so readily. They would have +taken to their heels and trusted to his forbearance. + +"I am glad you didn't try it," replied the corporal, reading the +discharges one after the other and passing them over to his men. "A +gray-back streaking it through the bushes would be a mighty tempting +target, even to fellows like ourselves who don't shoot only when we have +to. Have you got enough of the service?" + +"More than we want," answered Dick. + +"Well, you can't be forced into the army until you are of the right age, +and in the meantime I don't suppose you will do us any great damage. +What do you say, boys?" + +"I say let 'em go home and see their mammies," replied one of the squad; +and the others nodding assent, the corporal jerked his thumb over his +shoulder and told them to "git." + +"It is no more than we expected of you, but we thank you all the same," +said Rodney, gratefully. "I live down this way, three miles from +Mooreville, and if you ever come along our road, drop in and we'll treat +you right. The mouse did the lion a favor once, and who knows but that a +boy who is not old enough to be conscripted, may be able to do something +for one of Uncle Sam's men?" + +"Good for you, Johnny. You're no reb. Any up this way?" + +"None nearer than Camp Pinckney. If there are we did not see them." + +With hearts full of thankfulness the boys resumed their journey, and on +the afternoon of the second day following, came within sight of Rodney's +home. It set his eyes to streaming, and gave such elasticity to his step +that Dick could scarcely keep pace with him. As he led his friend up the +wide front steps he recalled to mind the parting that had taken place +there more than fifteen months before, and the confident words he had +uttered about "driving the Yankees out of Missouri." He and his friends +had been driven out instead, and there was no hope that Missouri would +ever belong to the Confederacy. + +"Alabama--here we rest," exclaimed Rodney, pushing Dick into an easy +chair in the parlor, which they found to be unoccupied. "Stay there till +I find somebody." + +"I don't look fit," began Dick, glancing down at his dusty uniform; but +just then a door opened, a lady came in, and the words "Mother!" and +"Oh, my son, my son!" told Dick that "somebody" had found Rodney. + +If ever a boy appreciated home and its comforts it was Rodney Gray, no +longer a wild, unreasoning partisan, but sober and thoughtful beyond his +years. Here we will leave him until the time comes for us to tell how +Dick Graham got across the river, and take up the history of the +adventures and exploits of our Union hero, Marcy Gray, whom we left in +his home in North Carolina. Marcy's "_Secret Enemies_" and his +determination to be "_True to his Colors_" brought him into difficulty +more than once; and what those difficulties were, and how he came +through them, shall be told in the third volume of this series, which +will be entitled "MARCY, THE BLOCKADE-RUNNER." + + + + THE END. + + + +THE + +FAMOUS + +CASTLEMON + +BOOKS. + +BY + +HARRY + +CASTLEMON. + +[Illustration: Specimen Cover of the Gunboat Series.] + +No author of the present day has become a greater favorite with boys +than "Harry Castlemon;" every book by him is sure to meet with hearty +reception by young readers generally. His naturalness and vivacity lead +his readers from page to page with breathless interest, and when one +volume is finished the fascinated reader, like Oliver Twist, asks "for +more." + +** Any volume sold separately. + + ---- + +GUNBOAT SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $7 50 + +Frank, the Young Naturalist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank in the Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank on the Prairie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank on a Gunboat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank before Vicksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank on the Lower Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +GO AHEAD SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $3 75 + +Go Ahead; or, The Fisher Boy's Motto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +No Moss; or, The Career of a Rolling Stone . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Tom Newcombe; or, The Boy of Bad Habits. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank among the Rancheros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank in the Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Sportsman's Club Afloat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Sportsman's Club among the Trappers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +FRANK NELSON SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +Snowed Up; or, The Sportsman's Club in the Mts . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Frank Nelson in the Forecastle; or, The Sportsman's Club among the +Whalers 1 25 + +The Boy Traders; or, The Sportsman's Club among the Boers. . . . 1 25 + +BOY TRAPPER SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +The Buried Treasure; or, Old Jordan's "Haunt". . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Boy Trapper; or, How Dave Filled the Order . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Mail Carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +ROUGHING IT SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +George in Camp; or, Life on the Plains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +George at the Wheel; or, Life in a Pilot House. . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +George at the Fort; or, Life Among the Soldiers. . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +ROD AND GUN SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +Don Gordon's Shooting Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Rod and Gun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Young Wild Fowlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +FOREST AND STREAM SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +Joe Wayring at Home; or, Story of a Fly Rod. . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Snagged and Sunk; or, The Adventures of a Canvas Canoe . . . . . 1 25 + +Steel Horse; or, The Rambles of a Bicycle. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +"WAR SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 00 + +True to his Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Rodney, the Partisan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Marcy, the Blockade Runner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Marcy, the Refugee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +OUR FELLOWS; or, Skirmishes with the Swamp Dragoons. By Harry Castlemon. +16mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + + + +ALGER'S + +RENOWNED + +BOOKS. + +BY + +HORATIO + +ALGER, JR. + +[Illustration: Specimen Cover of the Ragged Dick Series.] + +Horatio Alger, Jr., has attained distinction as one of the most popular +writers of books for boys, and the following list comprises all of his +best books. + +Any volume sold separately. + + ---- + +RAGGED DICK SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $7 50 + +Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Fame and Fortune; or, The Progress of Richard Hunter . . . . . . 1 25 + +Mark, the Match Boy; or, Richard Hunter's Ward . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Rough and Ready; or, Life among the New York Newsboys. . . . . . 1 25 + +Ben, the Luggage Boy; or, Among the Wharves. . . . . . . . . . .. 1 25 + +Rufus and Rose; or, the Fortunes of Rough and Ready. . . . . . . 1 25 + +TATTERED TOM SERIES. (FIRST SERIES.) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., +12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $5 00 + +Tattered Tom; or, The Story of a Street Arab . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Paul, the Peddler; or, The Adventures of a Young Street Merchant 1 25 + +Phil, the Fiddler; or, The Young Street Musician . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Slow and Sure; or, From the Sidewalk to the Shop . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +TATTERED TOM SERIES. (SECOND SERIES.) 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 00 + +Julius; or the Street Boy Out West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Young Outlaw; or, Adrift in the World. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Sam's Chance and How He Improved it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Telegraph Boy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES. (FIRST SERIES.) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., +12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $5 00 + +Luck and Pluck; or John Oakley's Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Sink or Swim; or, Harry Raymond's Resolve. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Strong and Steady; or, Paddle Your Own Canoe . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Strive and Succeed; or, The Progress of Walter Conrad. . . . . . 1 25 + +LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES. (SECOND SERIES.) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 3 vols., +12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $5 00 + +Try and Trust; or, The Story of a Bound Boy. . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Bound to Rise; or Harry Walton's Motto . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Risen from the Ranks; or, Harry Walton's Success . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Herbert Carter's Legacy; or, The Inventor's Son. . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +CAMPAIGN SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $3 75 + +Prank's Campaign; or, The Farm and the Camp. . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Paul Prescott's Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Charlie Codman's Cruise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $5 00 + +Brave and Bold; or, The Story of a Factory Boy . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Jack's Ward; or, The Boy Guardian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Shifting for Himself; or, Gilbert Greyson's Fortunes . . . . . . 1 25 + +Wait and Hope; or, Ben Bradford's Motto. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +PACIFIC SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols. 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 00 + +The Young Adventurer; or, Tom's Trip Across the Plains . . . . . 1 25 + +The Young Miner; or, Tom Nelson in California. . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Young Explorer; or, Among the Sierras. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Ben's Nugget; or, A Boy's Search for Fortune. A Story of the Pacific +Coast 1 25 + +ATLANTIC SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 00 + +The Young Circus Rider; or, The Mystery of Robert Rudd . . . . . 1 25 + +Do and Dare; or, A Brave Boy's Fight for Fortune . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Hector's Inheritance; or, Boys of Smith Institute . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Helping Himself; or, Grant Thornton's Ambition . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +WAY TO SUCCESS SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $5 00 + +Bob Burton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Store Boy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Luke Walton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Struggling Upward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + + ---- + + NEW BOOK BY ALGER. + +DIGGING FOR GOLD. By Horatio Alger, Jr. + +Illustrated 12mo. Cloth, black, red and gold . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + + + +A + +New Series + +of Books. + +Indian Life + +and + +Character + +Founded on + +Historical + +Facts. + + + +[Illustration: Specimen Cover of the Wyoming Series.] + + + + By Edward S. Ellis. + +Any volume sold separately. + + ---- + +BOY PIONEER SERIES. By Edward S. Ellis. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . $3 75 + +Ned in the Block House; or, Life on the Frontier . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Ned in the Woods. A Tale of the Early Days in the West . . . . . 1 25 + +Ned on the River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +DEERFOOT SERIES. By Edward S. Ellis. In box containing the following. 3 +vols,, 12mo. Illustrated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3 75 + +Hunters of the Ozark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Camp in the Mountains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +The Last War Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +LOG CABIN SERIES. By Edward S. Ellis. 3 vols.. 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $3 75 + +Lost Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1 25 + +Camp-Fire and Wigwam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Footprints in the Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +WYOMING SERIES. By Edward S. Ellis. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $3 75 + +Wyoming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Storm Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Cabin in the Clearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + + ---- + + NEW BOOKS BY EDWARD S. ELLIS. + +Through Forest and Fire. 12mo. Cloth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +On the Trail of the Moose. 12mo. Cloth . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + + By C. A. Stephens. + + ---- + +Rare books for boys bright, breezy, wholesome and instructive; full of +adventure and incident, and information upon natural history. They blend +instruction with amusement contain much useful and valuable information +upon the habits of animals, and plenty of adventure, fun and jollity. + +CAMPING OUT SERIES. By C. A. Stephens. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box . . . . . . . . . . . . $7 50 + +Camping Out. As recorded by "Kit". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Left on Labrador; or The Cruise of the Schooner Yacht "Curfew." As +recorded by "Wash" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Off to the Geysers; or, The Young Yachters in Iceland. +As recorded by "Wade". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +Lynx Hunting. From Notes by the author of "Camping Out". . . . . 1 25 + +Fox Hunting. As recorded by "Raed" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 25 + +On the Amazon; or, The Cruise of the "Rambler." As recorded by "Wash" 1 +25 + + ---- + + By J. T. Trowbridge. + + ---- + +These stories will rank among the best of Mr. Trowbridge's books for the +young and he has written some of the best of our juvenile literature. + +JACK HAZARD SERIES. By J. T. Trowbridge. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully +Illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. 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