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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4ade31 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #54049 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54049) diff --git a/old/54049-0.txt b/old/54049-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ff9a1da..0000000 --- a/old/54049-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9769 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sailor Jack, The Trader, by Harry Castlemon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Sailor Jack, The Trader - -Author: Harry Castlemon - -Illustrator: Geo. G. White - -Release Date: January 24, 2017 [EBook #54049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. - -Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are -referenced. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - -[Illustration: THE LAST OF THE “LOUISIANA.”] - - _CASTLEMON’S WAR SERIES._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER - - BY - - HARRY CASTLEMON, - - AUTHOR OF “GUNBOAT SERIES,” “ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES,” - “FOREST AND STREAM SERIES,” ETC., ETC. - - - - - _Four Illustrations by Geo. G. White._ - - -[Illustration: colophon] - - - PHILADELPHIA: - PORTER & COATES. - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1893, - - BY - - PORTER & COATES - - - - - CONTENTS. - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. TOM RANDOLPH, CONSCRIPT, 1 - II. LAMBERT’S SIGNAL-FIRE, 29 - III. MR. RANDOLPH CARRIES TALES, 59 - IV. THE PHANTOM BUSHWHACKERS, 86 - V. THE COTTON THIEVES, 114 - VI. THE MAN HE WANTED TO SEE, 141 - VII. SAILOR JACK IN ACTION, 168 - VIII. BAD NEWS FROM MARCY, 195 - IX. RODNEY IS ASTONISHED, 222 - X. MARK GOODWIN’S PLAN, 247 - XI. BEN MAKES A FAILURE, 273 - XII. SURPRISED AND CAPTURED, 302 - XIII. IN WILLIAMSTON JAIL, 326 - XIV. THE PRISON PEN, 350 - XV. ON ACCOUNT OF THE DEAD LINE, 375 - XVI. SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER, 403 - XVII. CONCLUSION, 435 - - - - - SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - TOM RANDOLPH, CONSCRIPT. - - -“Well, by gum! Am I dreamin’? Is this Tom Randolph or his hant?” - -“I don’t wonder that you are surprised. It’s Tom Randolph easy enough, -though I can hardly believe it myself when I look in the glass. There -isn’t a nigger in the settlement that isn’t better clad and better -mounted than I am.” - -“Well, I have seen you when you looked a trifle pearter, that’s a fact.” - -“And what brought me to this? The Yankees and their cowardly -sympathizers. I don’t blame the boys in blue so much, for brave soldiers -always respect one another, even though their sense of duty compels them -to fight under different flags; but the traitors we have right here -among us are too mean to be of any use. And the meanest one among them -is Rodney Gray.” - -The first speaker was Lieutenant Lambert, who, by his zealous efforts to -serve the cause of the South, brought about the bombardment of Baton -Rouge, and the person whom he addressed was the redoubtable Captain Tom -himself, who had just returned to Mooreville after undergoing two -months’ military discipline at Camp Pinckney. - -The last time we saw these two worthies was shortly after the -Confederate General Breckenridge made his unsuccessful attempt to -capture Baton Rouge, and the conscripting officer, Captain Roach, -disappeared so completely that no one had ever heard a word of him -since, and the veteran Major Morgan, backed by fifty soldiers who hated -all Home Guards and other skulkers as cordially as they hated the -Yankees, came to take his place. Knowing that Captain Roach had been -very remiss in his duty, that he had spent more time in visiting and -eating good dinners than he had in sending conscripts to the army, Major -Morgan hardly gave himself time to take possession of the office in -Kimberley’s store before he declared that that sort of work was going to -cease entirely, and that everyone in his district who was liable to -military duty, Home Guards as well as civilians, must start for the camp -of instruction at once or be taken there by force. The news spread -rapidly, and in a very few hours everyone in the settlement had heard -it. The wounded and disabled veterans of the Army of the Centre, of whom -there were a goodly number in the neighborhood, were overjoyed to learn -that at last there was a man in the conscripting office who could not be -trifled with, and some of the civilians, who came under the exemption -clause of the Conscription Act, secretly cherished the hope that Captain -Tom and his first lieutenant might be sent to serve under Bragg, who did -not scruple to shoot his soldiers for the most trivial offences. - -As to Tom and his Home Guards, they did not at first pay much attention -to the major’s threats. It was right that civilians should be forced to -shoulder muskets, since they would not do it of their own free will, but -as for them, they were State troops, and the government at Richmond -could not order them around as it pleased. Besides, they had great -confidence in Mrs. Randolph’s powers of persuasion. She would never -permit her son to go into the army, and having managed Captain Roach -pretty near as she pleased, the Home Guards did not see why she could -not manage Major Morgan as well; but when it became noised abroad that -the latter had curtly refused Mrs. Randolph’s invitation to dinner, -intimating that he was not ordered to Mooreville to waste his time in -visiting and nonsense, they were terribly frightened, and demanded that -Captain Tom should “see them through.” When they enlisted in his -company, he promised to stand between them and the Confederate -authorities, and now was the time for him to make that promise good; but -Tom was as badly frightened as they were, and did not know what to do. -When his mother suggested that it might be well for him to put his -commission in his pocket, and ride to Mooreville and talk the matter -over with the major, Tom almost went frantic. - -“Go down there and face that despot alone,” he exclaimed, “while he has -fifty veterans at his back to obey his slightest wish? I’d about as soon -be shot and have done with it. Besides, what have I got to ride? The -Yankees have stolen me afoot.” - -Captain Tom knew well enough that he was not telling the truth. It -wasn’t Yankees who “stole him afoot,” but men who wore the same kind of -uniform he did. You will remember that we compared the short visit of -Breckenridge’s army to a plague of locusts. Everything in the shape of -eatables in and around Mooreville, as well as some articles of value, -disappeared and were never heard of afterward; and among those articles -of value were several fine horses, Tom Randolph’s being one of the first -to turn up missing. His expensive saddle and bridle disappeared at the -same time, and now, if Tom wanted to go anywhere, he was obliged to walk -or ride a plough mule bare-back, which was harrowing to his feelings. He -wouldn’t appear before a Confederate officer of rank in any such style -as that, he said, and that was all there was about it. But, as it -happened, the conscripting officer had a word to say on that point. On -the morning following his arrival in the village a couple of strange -troopers galloped into Mr. Randolph’s front yard and drew up at the -steps with a jerk. Captain Tom’s heart sank when he saw them coming, for -something told him that they were after him and nobody else; and paying -no heed to the earnest entreaties of his mother, who assured him that he -might as well face them one time as another, for he could not save -himself by flight, he disappeared like a shot through the nearest door, -leaving her to explain his absence in any way she thought proper. But -after taking a second look at the unwelcome visitors, Mrs. Randolph knew -it would be of no use to try to shield the timid Home Guard. The trooper -who ascended the steps, leaving his comrade to hold his horse, was a -rough-looking fellow, as well he might be, for he had seen hard service. -The little pieces of metal on his huge Texas spurs tinkled musically, -his heavy cavalry sabre clanked against his heels as he walked, and Mrs. -Randolph thought there was something threatening in the sound. He lifted -his cap respectfully, but said in a brisk business tone: - -“I’d like to see Tom Randolph, if you please.” - -“Do you mean Captain Randolph?” corrected the lady. - -“No, ma’am. He was given to me as plain Tom Randolph, and that is the -only name I know him by. I’d like to see him, if you please.” - -“Will you step in while I go and find him?” - -“Thank you, no. I have no time to sit down. I am in a great hurry.” - -“You can spare a moment to tell me, his mother, what you are going to do -with him, can you not?” - -“All I can say is that the major wants to see him at once,” was the -short answer. - -“Do you know what the major wants of him, so that I can explain——” - -“Pardon me if I say that no explanations are necessary. It is enough for -him to know that Major Morgan wants to see him without a moment’s -delay.” - -The tone in which the words were spoken satisfied Mrs. Randolph that the -impatient trooper could not be put off any longer, so she turned about -and went into the house. She knew that Tom had gone straight to her -room, and when she tried the door she found that he had locked himself -in. - -“Who’s there?” demanded a husky voice from the inside. - -“It is I, my dear, and I am alone,” was the reply. “Let me in at once. -Now, call all your courage to your aid, and show yourself the brave -soldier you were on the night you knocked that Yankee sentinel down with -the butt of a musket and escaped being sent to a Northern prison-pen,” -she continued, as she slipped through the half open door, which was -quickly closed and locked behind her. “Major Morgan wants to see you at -his office, and, my dear, you had better go at once. The man at the door -will not wait much longer.” - -“I don’t care if he won’t,” shouted Captain Tom, who was terribly -alarmed. “If he gets tired of standing there, let him go back where he -came from and tell that major that I—what business has that fellow got -out there?” - -Tom chanced to look through the window while he was talking, and when he -saw one of the troopers ride down the carriage-way as if he were going -to the rear of the house, it flashed upon him that the man was going -there to watch the back door. At the same moment the jingling of spurs -and the rattling of a sabre were heard in the next room, the door knob -was tried by a strong hand, and something that might have been the toe -of a heavy boot was propelled with considerable force against the door -itself. - -“Open up here,” commanded a stern voice on the other side. “Do it at -once, or I shall be obliged to force an entrance.” - -This threat brought Captain Tom to his senses. In a second the door was -unlocked and opened, and the soldier stepped into the room. - -“By what right does Major Morgan——” began Tom. - -“I don’t know a thing about it,” was the quick reply. “It is no part of -my duty to inquire into my superior’s private affairs. All I can say is -that I am commanded to bring Tom Randolph before him without loss of -time. You are Tom Randolph, I take it. Then saddle up and come with me.” - -“But the Yankees stole my horse and I have nothing to ride except a -mule,” whined Tom. - -“Then ride the mule or come afoot. Make up your mind to something, for I -am going to start in half a minute by the watch.” - -“You will give my son time to exchange his citizen’s clothes for his -captain’s uniform, of course,” ventured Mrs. Randolph. - -“Sorry I haven’t an instant to wait, but the color of his clothes will -make no sort of difference to Major Morgan,” was the reply. “Now then, -will you order up that mule, or walk, or ride double with my man?” - -“Are you an officer?” faltered Tom. - -“Not much of one—only a captain.” - -“Well, that puts a different look on the matter entirely,” said Tom, who -up to this time thought he was being ordered around by a private -soldier. “Since you are an officer I expect to receive an officer’s -treatment from you, and I don’t wish to be addressed——” - -“That’s all right. But hurry up, for the time is precious.” - -Being satisfied at last that his meeting with the dreaded conscript -officer could not be delayed any longer, Captain Tom hastened to his -room after his commission, while his mother sent a darky to the -stable-yard to bring up the solitary mule that had been left there when -the few remaining field-hands went to work in the morning. And a very -sorry-looking beast it proved to be when it was led to the door—too -decrepit to work, and so weak with age that it fairly staggered as Tom -threw his weight upon the sheepskin which the thoughtful darky had -placed on the animal’s back to serve in lieu of a saddle. A sorry -picture Captain Tom made, too, when he was mounted; but he had no choice -between going that way and riding double with a private, and that was a -thing he could not bring himself to do. - -While they were on their way to town Captain Tom made several fruitless -attempts to induce his captors—for that was just what they were—to give -him some idea of what he might expect when he presented himself before -the major; but although he could not prevail upon them to say a word on -that subject, he was able to make a pretty shrewd guess as to the nature -of the business in hand, and if he had known that he was going to prison -for a long term of years he could not have felt so utterly wretched and -disheartened. - -“If I were going to jail I might have a chance to get pardoned out,” -thought Tom, “but the only way to get out of the army is to be killed or -have an arm or leg shot off. I’d be perfectly willing to go if Jeff -Davis and all his Cabinet could be compelled to go too. I’m afraid I am -in for trouble this time, sure.” - -If Captain Tom had any lingering doubts on this point they were -dispelled in less than half a minute after he entered the enrolling -office. He had never before met the grizzly veteran who sat at Captain -Roach’s desk with a multitude of papers before him, and when their short -interview was ended Captain Tom hoped from the bottom of his heart that -he might never meet him again. He proved to be just what he looked—a -thorough soldier, who had come there with the determination to perform -his disagreeable duty without fear or favor. Every man in the office was -a stranger to Tom. There were stacks of carbines and cavalry sabres in -all the corners, horses saddled and bridled were hitched to the rack in -front of the door, and there were a few tanned and weather-beaten -soldiers standing around ready to start at the word, but there was not a -Home Guard to be seen. - -“This is Tom Randolph, sir,” was the way in which one of the guards -brought the new-comer to the notice of the conscript officer. “Don’t sit -down,” he added a moment later, as Tom drew a chair toward him. “Take -off your hat.” - -Captain Randolph was amazed, for this was not the way he had always been -treated in that office. Hitherto he had been a privileged character, and -had had as much to say as Captain Roach himself; but now things were -changed, and for the first time in his life Tom was made to see that he -was not of so much importance in the world as he had supposed himself to -be. He took off his hat, but noticed that the soldiers in the room did -not remove theirs, and that nettled him. So did the manner in which the -major acknowledged the introduction, if such it could be called. He did -not offer to shake hands as Tom thought he would, but merely looked over -the top of his spectacles for a moment. Then he pulled a sheet of paper -toward him, ran his finger down the list of names written on it until he -had found the one he wanted, and made a short entry opposite to it; -after which he pushed away the paper and said: - -“Report at one o’clock this afternoon. That’s all.” - -“But, major,” Tom almost gasped, “what am I to report for?” - -“What for? Why, marching orders, of course.” - -“Well, will you tell me where I am to march?” - -“Along the road that leads to the camp of instruction. Where else should -a recruit march to, I’d like to know. You’re conscripted.” - -“But, major,” protested Tom, drawing forth an official envelope with -hands that trembled so violently that he could scarcely control them, “I -really don’t see how you can conscript me. I am a captain in the State -troops, and there’s my commission from the governor.” - -“It isn’t worth straws,” answered the major, snapping his fingers in the -air. “Don’t want to see it. Besides, you have resigned.” - -“But my resignation has not been accepted.” - -“That doesn’t matter. It will be, for there are no such things as State -troops now, I am happy to say. You’re liable to military duty easy -enough, and—that’s all.” - -“I retain my rank, don’t I, sir?” said Tom. - -It was astonishing what an effect this simple question had upon the -occupants of the room. Some quickly turned their faces to the wall, -others tiptoed through the nearest doors, and all shook with suppressed -merriment. The major jerked his spectacles off his nose, looked hard at -Tom to see if he were really in earnest, and cleared his throat before -he replied: - -“No, sir; you will begin as Private Randolph, but will be given every -opportunity to show what you are made of, and to win a commission that -is worth something more than the paper it happens to be written on. -Don’t worry about that. Well, sergeant, where are the men I ordered you -to bring before me?” - -Hardly able to tell whether he was awake or dreaming, Tom Randolph -yielded to the friendly hand that was laid upon his arm, and suffered -himself to be led away from the desk, his place being immediately filled -by four brawny soldiers, who raised their hands with a military salute. -The first words one of them spoke aroused Tom from his stupor and -interested him. - -“We didn’t find Lambert and Moseley to home, sir. They must have had -warnin’, I reckon, for they’ve took to the bresh.” - -“They needn’t think to escape me by resorting to any such trick as -that,” said the major grimly. “They owe a duty to their country in this -hour of her peril, and they’ve got to do it. I’ll have a detail watch -their houses night and day till they come back.” - -Tom Randolph could hardly believe that the soldier who laid his hand -upon his arm and conducted him to a remote corner of the room, so that -they could talk without danger of being overheard, was the same captain -who had been so impatient and peremptory with him and his mother a short -time before, but such was the fact. Having performed his duty and -brought his prisoner to the office, as he had been told to do, the -captain had thrown off his soldier airs and was as jolly and friendly a -fellow as one would care to meet. - -“You see you are going to have good company while you are in camp,” said -he. - -“I don’t know what you call good company,” snarled Tom. “Lambert is -nothing more than a common overseer, while Moseley is a chicken and hog -thief. Good company, indeed!” - -“But we heard that they are officers in your company of Home Guards,” -said the captain in a surprised tone. - -“They were chosen against my earnest protest,” replied Tom, “but they -have never been commissioned by the governor. Their election was not -legal, and so I didn’t report it. But, captain, I don’t think your major -has any authority to ride over the governor in this rough way.” - -“Hasn’t he a right to conscript everyone who does not come under the -exemption clause?” answered the captain. “If you have read that act I -will venture to say that you did not see the words ‘Home Guards’ in it. -Come now.” - -“But I am my father’s overseer,” said Tom, switching off on another -track. - -“Since when?” - -“Since long before Breckenridge made his attack on Baton Rouge.” - -“Where are you employed?” - -“On the home plantation.” - -“Your father doesn’t need two overseers on the home plantation, does he? -He has claimed exemption for—what’s his name?—Larkin.” - -“And didn’t he say a word about me?” - -“The records of the office don’t show it. Now let me tell you something. -If your father wants to claim exemption for you instead of Larkin no -doubt he can manage it with General Ruggles, who is in command at Camp -Pinckney. Major Morgan has no authority to act in such cases. Just now -your duty is to go home and make ready to report at one o’clock sharp. -Don’t be a second behind time unless you want to get the rough side of -the major’s tongue.” - -“What shall I do to get ready?” - -“Why, pack up a suit or two of your strongest clothes, an extra pair of -shoes and stockings, and a few blankets, which I assure you will come -handy for shelter tents when you take the field.” - -“And you don’t think of any way in which I can get out of it?” said Tom -in a choking voice. - -“Oh, no. _That’s_ a dead open and shut. You’ve got to go to camp and -stay there while your friends are working to get you out, if that is -what you want them to do. But I wouldn’t let them make any move in that -direction if I were you. Why don’t you go with us and make a man of -yourself? We are whipping the Yankees right along, and you will have -plenty of chances to distinguish yourself. We’re bound to gain our -independence, and don’t you want to be able to say that you had a hand -in it?” - -The captain’s earnest words did not send any thrill of patriotism into -the heart of Tom Randolph, who just then wished that the Yankees would -sweep through Mooreville in irresistible numbers, put an end to the war -in a moment, and so keep him from going to Camp Pinckney. He turned -sorrowfully away from the captain, who had really tried to befriend him -by giving what he thought to be good advice, mounted his aged mule, and -set out for home. His mother’s face brightened when he dismounted at the -foot of the steps, but fell instantly when Tom told her that she had -better take a good long look at him while she had the chance, for after -that day was past she would never see him again. Of course there was -mourning in that house when he told his story, and the gloom that rested -there was but partially dispelled by Mr. Randolph’s promise to discharge -Larkin without loss of time and claim exemption for Tom in his stead. - -“If you could do it this minute it would not keep me from going to the -camp of instruction,” whined Tom, “for the major has no authority to do -anything but conscript everybody he can get his hands on.” - -“Has he warned Ned Griffin and Rodney Gray?” inquired Mrs. Randolph. - -“That’s so,” exclaimed Tom angrily. “What a dunce I was not to speak to -the captain about those fellows! But I was so taken up with my own -affairs that I never once thought of it. However, I’ll think of it when -I go down to the office at one o’clock, I bet you. And, father, if you -get on the track of Lambert and Moseley, don’t fail to let the major -know it. If I’ve got to be disgraced I want them to keep me company.” - -“I will bear it in mind,” answered Mr. Randolph. “And since one o’clock -isn’t so very far off, hadn’t you better get ready?” - -The conscript thought this a very heartless suggestion and so did his -mother; but they could not deny that there was reason in it, and so -preparations for Tom’s departure were made at once. The parting which -took place an hour or so later was a tearful one on Tom’s part as well -as his mother’s, but there was not very much sorrow exhibited by the -black servants who crowded into the dining-room to shake his hand, as -they were in duty bound to do, and Tom made the mental resolution that, -when he returned from Camp Pinckney to take his place as overseer on the -plantation, he would see them well paid for their indifference. He rode -in his mother’s carriage this time, accompanied by his father and a -bundle of things that would have filled a soldier’s knapsack to -overflowing. When the carriage turned into the street that ran past -Kimberley’s store, Tom thrust his head out of the window, but instantly -pulled it in again to say, while tears of vexation filled his eyes and -ran down his cheeks: - -“There’s a bigger crowd of people in front of the office than I ever saw -before. No doubt some of them will be glad to know I have been -conscripted; but if you have the luck I am sure you will have, I shall -be back to turn the laugh on them before many days have passed over my -head. Just look, father, and remember the name of every one who has a -slighting word or glance for me, so that I may settle with him at some -future time. I hope Rodney and Ned Griffin are there.” - -“You’ve got your wish,” replied Mr. Randolph, after he had run his eye -over the crowd, which extended clear across the street to the -hitching-rack. “Rodney and Ned are there, but they seem to be standing -on the outskirts.” - -Tom mastered up courage enough to look again, and then he saw what his -father meant by “the outskirts.” There were three distinct classes of -people in that gathering. In the middle of the crowd and in front of the -office stood two score conscripts, who were closely guarded by half as -many of Major Morgan’s veterans. Some of the conscripts seemed resolved -to make the best of the situation, and joked and laughed with their -friends and relatives who had assembled to see them off, and who formed -the third class that stood outside the guards; but Tom noticed that most -of their number looked very unhappy indeed. Tom did not see Rodney and -Ned, but he discovered several disabled veterans of Bragg’s army with -whom he had a speaking acquaintance, and they in turn discovered him and -sent up a shout of welcome. - -“Hey-youp! Here comes another, and I do think in my soul it’s Captain -Tommy Randolph,” exclaimed one. “It’s him, for I know that there -kerridge.” - -“An’ they tell me that you might jest as well be in the army to onct as -to be in that camp,” chimed in a second veteran. “There aint no sich -thing as gettin’ away when they get a grip onto you.” - -“Not by no means,” cried a third. “Kase why, don’t you know that they -keep a pack of nigger hound dogs there that aint got nothin’ in the wide -world to do but jest chase deserters?” - -The tone in which the taunting words were uttered was highly -exasperating to Tom, whose face grew red with anger. - -“I wouldn’t mind them,” said his father soothingly. “That’s only -soldiers’ fun. They don’t mean anything by it.” - -“I’ll try not to mind them now, but I’ll get even with every one of them -when I come back,” said Tom savagely. - -Stepping out of the carriage, and showing himself to that little mob of -laughing, jeering soldiers, was one of the most trying ordeals that Tom -Randolph ever passed through, but there was no way to escape it. As he -hurried through their ranks toward the guards, who stood aside to let -him pass, they sent a few more words of advice and encouragement after -him. - -“Where’s all your purty clothes, Tommy?” inquired one. “Go home to onct -an’ get ’em. If you don’t, them fule Yanks will think you are nothin’ -but a dog-gone private.” - -“Don’t listen to him, Tommy,” said another. “The Yanks always pick for -officers in battle, an’ they’re dead shots, I tell you.” - -“You’re mighty right,” chorused a dozen voices. “I never did see anybody -who could shoot like them Yanks. I’m glad I aint got to face ’em agin, -tell your folks. I wouldn’t do it for all the money the Confedrit -gov’ment is worth.” - -“It’s a disgrace the way those fellows are allowed to go on,” said Tom -to the first soldier he met when he entered the office, and who turned -out to be the captain whose acquaintance he had made that morning. “Why -don’t you put a stop to it?” - -“Aw! They want some sport, don’t they?” was the answer. “Let them go -ahead with it until they get tired, and then they will stop. Besides, -you might as well get used to such talk one time as another, for you -will hear plenty of it in the army.” - -“But you mustn’t permit them to force me into the army,” whispered Tom -to his father. “If you do, you will always be sorry for it, because you -will never see me again.” - -In a dazed sort of way Tom reported to the major, and then tried to hide -himself in a corner of the office where he would be out of sight of his -tormentors, but he was quickly routed from there by one of the major’s -men, who told him to go outside where he would be under the eye of the -guard. Of course his appearance was the signal for another outburst from -the veterans, but he wisely tried to drown their gibes by entering into -conversation with a conscript who looked as disconsolate and wretched as -Tom himself felt. His father had given the bundle into his keeping, and -taken his place outside the guards with the rest of the exempts, and Tom -began to realize how it seemed to be alone in a crowd. Rodney and Ned -did not come near him, and that made him angry and threaten vengeance. -They might at least shake hands with him and assure him of their -sympathy, Tom thought, but if they had been foolish enough to attempt -it, it is more than probable that he would have turned his back upon -them. More than that, Rodney Gray was not a hypocrite. Having had the -most to do with the breaking up of Tom’s company of Home Guards, he -would have uttered a deliberate untruth if he had said he was sorry to -see him conscripted. He wasn’t; he would have been sorry to see him stay -at home. - -“And when he reaches the camp of instruction I hope some strict -drill-sergeant will put him through an extra course of sprouts to pay -him for the mean trick he tried to play on Dick Graham,” said Rodney to -his friend Ned. “I could have told things that would have got all the -Pinckney guards down on him if I had been so disposed, and now I am glad -I didn’t do it. There he goes. Good-by, Tom Randolph.” - -“Fall in!” shouted a stentorian voice. “Not off there, but here, with -the right resting where I stand. Haven’t you Home Guards been drilled -enough to learn how to fall in in two ranks? Face out that way toward -the hitching-rack. Now listen to roll-call!” - -In ten minutes more the conscripts had answered to their names and were -headed toward Camp Pinckney, marching in a crooked straggling line with -their bundles on their shoulders and armed guards on each side of them. -There were forty-five in all, and two-thirds of them were Home Guards. -There were many sober and tearful faces among the spectators when they -moved away, and even the discharged veterans must have taken the matter -seriously, for they did not utter one taunting word. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - LAMBERT’S SIGNAL-FIRE. - -A few of Tom Randolph’s fellow-sufferers had repeatedly declared in his -hearing that they never would be taken to Camp Pinckney alive; but when -the roll was called inside the stockade at sunset the following day, -their dreary, toilsome march having been completed by that time, every -one of them answered to his name. Not one of their number had made his -escape, and indeed it would have been foolhardy to attempt it, for the -guards were alert and watchful, and it was whispered along the line that -they had strict orders to shoot down the first man who tried to break -away. - -Not to dwell too long upon this part of our story, it will be enough to -say that Tom Randolph remained in the camp of instruction for two solid -months, during which time he suffered more than he thought it possible -for mortal man to endure. He was given plenty to eat, such as it was, -but scarcely a night passed that he was not aroused from a sound sleep -to go on post or to repel an assault that was never made, and during the -day-time he was drilled in the school of the soldier and company, and in -the manual of arms, until all the muscles in him ached so that he could -not lie still after he went to bed. Every hour in the day indignities -were put upon him that caused his blood to boil, and he made matters -worse by resenting them on the spot, the result being that he did more -police duty than any other man in camp. Time and again he sought an -interview with the commandant, intending to complain of his treatment -and ask when he might look for his release, but he never saw the general -except from a distance, and then was not permitted to approach him. All -this while his father, who visited him at irregular intervals, bringing -news from the outside world, was doing his best; but there were so many -difficulties in his way, and so much red tape to be gone through, that -he found himself balked at every point, and it is a wonder he was not -tempted to give it up as a task beyond his powers. - -“You see Roach’s books show that I claimed exemption for Larkin, and I’m -afraid that’s against us,” he said to Tom one day, after talking the -matter over with General Ruggles. - -“But you have as much right to change your mind as other folks, I -suppose,” replied Tom. - -“Of course I have, but that isn’t the point. If Larkin were here to take -your place in camp the work might be easier; but you see he isn’t. He -has skipped.” - -“Skipped where?” - -“Out in the woods, to keep company with Lambert and Moseley, I suppose. -And when he went he left word with some of the neighbors that if -anything happened to my buildings during the next few weeks, I might -thank him for it. He put out as soon as I told him that I couldn’t pay -the beef and bacon the government demanded as the price of his -exemption.” - -“Did you tell Major Morgan that you wouldn’t pay it?” - -“Certainly, and I told General Ruggles so; but that didn’t scare them at -all. If they want beef and bacon they’ll just take it.” - -“Well, now, if that isn’t a pretty way for a common overseer to treat a -gentleman I wouldn’t say so,” declared Tom, who really thought that -Larkin ought to have stayed at home and been conscripted in his place. -“What difference does one man make in the size of an army, anyway? The -general could let me go as well as not.” - -“But he won’t, unless certain forms are complied with. Be as patient as -you can, and remember that I shall leave no stone unturned.” - -“Get an honorable discharge while you are about it, so that I shall not -be called upon to go through with this performance a second time,” said -Tom. - -It is true that a single recruit made no great difference in the -strength of an army, but for some reason that no one but General Ruggles -could have explained it made all the difference in the world so far as -Tom Randolph’s release from military duty was concerned. One day, about -six weeks after the conversation above recorded, Mr. Randolph walked -into camp and told Tom that he was a free man—or rather that he would be -in a few hours, for Larkin had been captured by Major Morgan’s scouts, -and was now on his way to camp to take Tom’s place. - -“And am I to have an honorable discharge?” inquired Tom, who was so -overjoyed that he could hardly speak. - -“No; and I was foolish to ask for it,” said his father in disgust. “The -general laughed in my face and said you hadn’t done anything worthy of -it. Don’t say a word about it, but thank your lucky stars that you have -escaped being ordered to the front.” - -When the man Larkin and a few other conscripts were brought in under -guard, Tom Randolph was standing as near the big gate as the camp -regulations would allow him to get, waiting impatiently for somebody to -come out of the commandant’s office and tell him he could go home. He -was mean enough to try to attract Larkin’s attention when the latter -tramped wearily into the stockade, but the man was so wrapped up in his -troubles that he could hardly have recognized his best friend, if he had -had one among the curious crowd that was gathered about the gate. Tom -was a little disappointed, but quickly dismissed Larkin from his mind -when he saw his father approaching with an expression on his face that -was full of good news. - -“Come right along,” said he. “It’s all settled now. There stands the -officer who has orders to pass us out.” - -“So the general has consented to do me justice at last, has he?” -exclaimed Tom, who was not half as grateful as he ought to have been. -“And he kept me here all these weary days and allowed me to be insulted -and abused on account of that man Larkin, did he? Thank him for nothing. -But I’ll fix some others who are as much to blame for my being here as -General Ruggles is. I haven’t wasted all my time since I have been in -jail, I tell you.” - -“I brought a mule for you to ride,” continued his father. “But don’t you -think we had better bunk with the guard to-night? It will be as dark as -a pocket in an hour, and besides it is going to rain.” - -“I don’t care if it rains pitchforks. I’ll face them rather than remain -in this dreary hole a moment longer,” declared the liberated conscript. -“And I am not going to the barracks after my clothes or blankets. I will -them to the first man who can put his hands on them.” - -Tom reached home in due time in spite of the rain and other discomforts -that attended him on his journey, and it is scarcely necessary to say -that his mother welcomed him as one risen from the dead. Her husband had -told her doleful stories of Tom’s life in camp, and she was afraid that -he would sink under his many hardships before his release could be -effected. But Tom was not as badly off as he pretended to be. A few -days’ rest made him as uneasy and full of meanness as he had ever been -in his life; but it is fair to say that his uneasiness was due to an -unaccountable delay in the carrying out of a certain little programme -which he had arranged while living in the stockade. This was what he -meant when he told his father that he had not wasted his time since he -had been in jail. - -During the month of September it became known to the guards and -conscripts at Camp Pinckney that a meeting of cotton and tobacco -planters had been held in Richmond “to consider the expediency of the -purchase by the Confederacy, or of a voluntary destruction of the entire -cotton and tobacco crop,” to keep it from falling into the hands of the -Union forces. It is hard to tell why the news was so long in coming down -to Louisiana, for the meeting, which was described as “one of the -largest, wealthiest, and most intelligent that had ever assembled in the -city,” was held as early as February. Among the other resolutions acted -upon by this patriotic assemblage was one calling upon the Southern -people to destroy all their property in advance of the invading armies, -even to their homes, so that the conquest of the United States should be -a barren one. Of course this resolution met the hearty approval of those -of the Camp Pinckney guards and conscripts who had no property worth -speaking of, and some of them declared that if General Ruggles would let -them have their own way for twenty-four hours they would destroy -thousands of bales of cotton which the owners would never burn -themselves so long as they saw a prospect of selling them to the -Yankees. This set Tom Randolph to thinking, and with the aid of some of -the Pearl River Home Guards who were still on duty at the camp, he made -up a nice little plan to revenge himself on several of the Mooreville -people who had incurred his enmity. It might have been successful, too, -if Tom had not allowed his unruly tongue to upset it. As soon as he -reached home he began waiting and watching for some signs of activity on -the part of the Pearl River vagabonds, but up to this time the clouds -that hung over the swamp, and which he watched every night with anxious -eyes, had not been lighted by any signal-fires. - -The life that Tom Randolph now led was dreary and monotonous in the -extreme; no healthy boy could have endured it for a week. Did he take -Larkin’s place as overseer and do his work? Well, hardly; and he never -had any intention of doing it. The field-hands did the work as well as -the overseeing, and Tom spent his time in loafing or in riding about the -country on a bare-back mule. It is true that Major Morgan’s “drag-net” -had not cleared the neighborhood of everyone who was subject to military -duty, for a few of the desperate ones, like Lambert and Moseley, had -taken to the woods, and a few others had joined the Yankees in Baton -Rouge, where they were safe from pursuit; but it had caught the most of -the able-bodied men and boys of Tom’s acquaintance, and now he found -himself almost alone. He saw Rodney and Ned now and then, but never -spoke to them if he could help it, or visited them on their plantations; -for since they, with Mrs. Griffin’s aid, kept him from being sent to a -Northern prison, he disliked them more than he did before. He had never -got over being surprised at Mr. Gray’s action in standing between Ned -and the conscript officer, while he permitted the other telegraph -operator, Drummond, to take his chances. Mr. Gray must be Union at heart -or else he would not have done that; and if he was Union he ought to be -driven out of the country. Tom found a world of consolation in the -reflection that he would soon be even with him. - -It was while the returned conscript was taking his usual morning ride on -his mule, with a gunny-sack for a saddle, that he met his old first -lieutenant, as described at the beginning of the last chapter. He knew -that the man was living in the woods, otherwise he would have had him -for company at Camp Pinckney, and he was surprised to find him riding -along a public road in broad daylight. Lambert was also mounted on a -mule, the property of his late employer, which he had appropriated to -his own use without troubling himself to ask permission. He remembered -that Tom had once drawn a sword upon him, and flattered himself that in -Camp Pinckney his tyrannical captain was being well paid for that and -other indignities he had put upon his Home Guards; consequently he was -not a little astonished and vexed to find him breathing the air of -freedom on this particular morning. - -“How did you manage to get away from them fellers, anyhow?” inquired -Lambert, nodding in the direction of the camp. - -“I have influence with the governor,” replied Tom loftily. “I did not -want to stay, and consequently I didn’t.” - -“Afeared of the Yanks, was you!” continued Lambert with something like a -sneer. - -“No more afraid than yourself. You took to your heels and are in danger -every moment of being caught and sent to camp, while I faced the music -at once and will never have to do it again. I am discharged from -military service for all time to come.” - -“Well, by gum! I won’t do none,” said Lambert fiercely; and Tom noticed -that every time he spoke he looked behind and on both sides as if he -were in constant fear that Major Morgan’s men might steal a march upon -him. “I say let them that brung the war on do the fightin’. I didn’t -have no hand in it, an’ nuther am I goin’ to holp ’em out. Yes, I’m -livin’ in the woods now, me an’—an’ some other fellers; but I have to -come out once in a while to get grub an’ things, you know.” - -“Then why don’t you come at night?” asked Tom. - -“Kase it suits me better to come in the daytime. I aint a-skeared. -There’s plenty kiver handy.” - -“But if you dismount and take to your heels you’ll lose your mule.” - -“Who keers? ’Tain’t my mu-el, an’ if they take him I can easy get -another. What you drivin’ at now?” - -“I am my father’s overseer.” - -“Shucks! You couldn’t tell, to save your life if a corn row was laid off -straight or not.” - -“No matter for that,” said Tom sharply. “As long as I hold the position -I can live at home and show myself openly; and that’s more than you can -do. Have you seen that converted Confederate and his Yankee friend -lately?” - -“Who’s them?” inquired Lambert. - -“Why, Ned Griffin and Rodney Gray.” - -“Oh, yes; I see ’em every day ’most. They’re livin’ down there snug as -you please, an’ as often as I——” - -“Go on,” said Tom, when the man paused suddenly. “As often as you what?” - -“As often as I want to see ’em I see ’em,” added Lambert. - -“That isn’t what you were about to say at first,” replied Tom. “I hope -you are not a friend of theirs?” - -“Look a-here, cap’n, wasn’t I first leftenant of the Home Guards?” - -“You were, and a very good officer you made, except when you took it -upon yourself to act without waiting for orders from me; and then you -always brought yourself into trouble. Can you be trusted?” - -“If I can’t, what’s the reason I was ’lected to that office?” asked -Lambert in reply. “What do you want of me?” - -“The members of the Randolph family are not quite as poor as some people -seem to think, I want you to understand,” said Tom in a mysterious -whisper. “We have several little articles hidden away that our neighbors -know nothing about, and next week we shall have some store tea and -coffee and salt to hand around to those who need them. Your shoes are -full of holes, too. You ought to have a new pair.” - -If Lambert had given utterance to the thoughts that were in his mind, he -would have said that his old commander would miss it if he hoped to -bribe him in this way. There were few people in the settlement who did -not stand in need of the articles Tom mentioned, but Lambert knew where -he could get them for the asking. Still he wanted to know what Tom -wished him to do, and said so. - -“You fought the conscript officers offen me long’s as you could, an’ I -aint likely to disremember it,” he replied. - -“I kept you out of the army for more than a year, and now is the time -for you to pay me for it,” replied Tom impressively. “Now listen while I -tell you something. You know that our government has ordered every -planter who owns cotton to burn it so that it will not fall into the -hands of the Yankees, don’t you?” - -“No!” answered Lambert. He was surprised, for this was news to him; but -he saw what Tom was trying to get at. - -“Well, it is the truth, and those who do not comply with the order will -be punished in some way, and their property destroyed by our own -soldiers. Now there’s old man Gray; he has cotton.” - -“And he won’t never burn it,” exclaimed Lambert. - -“That’s the idea exactly. He’d rather sell it to the Yankees for sixty -cents a pound; and so far as I can see there is nothing to hinder him -from doing it.” - -“Less’n some of our fellers slip up an’ burn it for him,” put in -Lambert. - -“You’ve hit it again,” exclaimed Tom, who told himself that he wasn’t -going to have any trouble at all in bringing the man to do the work he -had suddenly laid out for him. “He can sell his cotton if nobody stops -him, but my father can’t sell his because he is known to be a loyal -Confederate. Do you think that’s fair or right?” - -“I know it aint,” answered Lambert. “Gray is Union, and oughter be sent -amongst the Yanks where he b’longs; but your paw is Confedrit and so am -I. Do you want me to tech off that cotton?” - -“Well, no; not exactly that. You know where it is, I suppose?” - -“There aint much of anything in the woods in this country that I don’t -know something about,” said Lambert with a grin. “I reckon I might find -it if I took a notion.” - -“That is what I thought, and now I come to the point. While I was in -camp I learned that a squad of our soldiers is coming here some day to -look after the very cotton we are talking about,” said Tom, who did not -think it would be just the thing to say that he had proposed the -expedition himself, and accurately described the bayou in which Mr. -Gray’s four hundred bales could be found. “Now if you happen to see that -squad while you are riding about the country——” - -“I’ll take leg-bail mighty sudden, I bet you,” interrupted Lambert. - -“Without offering to show them where the cotton is hidden?” cried Tom. - -“You bet! I aint got no call to go philanderin’ about the woods with a -passel of soldiers, an’ if you was the friend you pertend to be you -wouldn’t ask sich a thing of me.” - -“Why, man alive, they are Home Guards,” began Tom. - -“Then I wouldn’t trust none of ’em as fur as I could sling a church -house,” replied Lambert. - -“And besides, they don’t know that you have been conscripted, for they -belong to the Pearl River bottoms, miles away from here.” - -“No odds; Major Morgan’s men can give me all the dodgin’ I want to do, -an’ if them Pearl River fellers don’t find that cotton till I show it to -’em they’ll never find it. I jest aint goin’ to run no fule chances on -bein’ tooken to that camp.” - -Tom Randolph wished now that he hadn’t broached the subject to Lambert -at all, for what assurance had he that the man, whom he knew to be -vindictive and untrustworthy, would not go straight to Mr. Gray and tell -him all about it? - -“I thought you were a friend of mine, but since you are not it’s all -right,” said Tom, intimating by a wave of his hand that Lambert’s -refusal was a matter of no moment whatever. “But come with me to the -house, and let me see if I can’t find something for you.” And as he -spoke he looked down at the man’s broken shoes and bare, sunbrowned -ankles. - -“Shucks!” exclaimed Lambert. “I don’t need to go beggin’ shoes an’ -stockin’s of nobody; an’ as for the salt an’ store tea that you’ve been -talkin’ about, I have them in the woods every day.” - -“I don’t believe it,” said Tom bluntly. - -“It don’t make no odds to me whether you do or not, but it’s a fact.” - -“Where do you get them? You haven’t the cheek to go to Baton Rouge, -after the part you played in having the place bombarded by the Union -fleet. You wouldn’t dare show your face there, and I don’t believe you -have any friends to bring goods through the lines for you. I haven’t -forgotten that old man Gray wanted that mob to thrash me as if I were a -nigger, and I hope you remember that he was strongly in favor of hanging -you. Ned Griffin warned you, and you jumped out of bed and ran for your -life.” - -“Do you reckon I’ve disremembered all the things that happened that -night?” said Lambert with a scowl. “I aint, I bet you, an’ mebbe you’ll -find it out some of those days. I aint nobody’s coward, an’ I dast do a -good many things when I make up my mind to it. You jest watch, an’ -you’ll see fire some of those nights. But when you see it you may know -that no Pearl River Home Guards didn’t have a hand in it.” - -“Will you do it yourself?” said Tom gleefully. - -“I aint a-sayin’ who’ll do it, but it’ll be done. I’ve been mistreated -an’ used like a dog all along of this war, an’ I’m a-goin’ to even up -with somebody to pay for it.” - -“And when the work is done come to my house; ask for anything I’ve got -and I will give it to you. Where are you going now?” asked Tom, as the -man began digging his heels into his mule’s sides and tugging at one of -the reins in the effort to turn the beast around. - -“I reckon I’d best be joggin’ along back. I’ve been out from under kiver -’most long enough. You watch out an’ you’ll see that fire; that’s every -word I’ve got to say about it.” - -The two separated and rode off in different directions—the one in a -brown study, and the other shaking his head and muttering angry words to -himself. Lambert was very well satisfied with the result of the -interview, for it had suggested something to him that he never would -have thought of himself, but Tom could not drive away the thought that -perhaps it would have been better for him if he had turned his mule’s -head down the road instead of up when he left his father’s gate that -morning. - -“I know that Lambert was awfully angry at me because I shook my sword in -his face, but what else could I do when he acted as if he were about to -rush up the steps and lay violent hands upon me in mother’s presence?” -soliloquized Tom. “Perhaps I talked too much and at the wrong time; but -if Lambert plays me false, I’ll put every Yankee scouting party that -comes along on his trail. I’ll keep a bright lookout for that fire, as -he told me, but I shall not draw an easy breath until I see it. Then I -shall feel safe, for of course if he fires that cotton he will not tell -on himself.” - -Tom went up to his room at his usual hour for retiring, but instead of -going to bed he drew a big rocking-chair in front of a window that -looked out toward Rodney Gray’s plantation, and seated himself in it to -watch for Lambert’s signal fire—the light on the clouds which would tell -him that one of Mooreville’s most respected citizens was being punished -because he, Tom Randolph, didn’t like him. He had no assurance from -Lambert that he would see the blaze that night, but he hoped he would, -and he resolved that he would sit at that window for six months, if -necessary, rather than miss the sight and the gratification it would -afford him. - -“Lambert’s face grew as black as a thunder-cloud when I reminded him -that Mr. Gray was one of the mob who wanted to hang him for bringing -about the bombardment of Baton Rouge,” thought Tom, “and I know he will -have revenge for that if he gets half a chance.” - -Tom had not yet made up for the sleep he lost at Camp Pinckney, and in -less than half an hour he was slumbering heavily. It was long after -midnight when he awoke with a start and a feeling that there was -something unusual going on. His eyes rested on the window when they were -opened, and the sight he saw through the panes sent a thrill all through -him and brought him to his feet in an instant. The glare on the sky told -him there was a fire raging somewhere in the depths of the forest, and -that it must be a big one, for the whole heavens in that direction were -illuminated by it. - -“He’s done it; as sure as the world he’s done it,” said Tom, who was -highly excited. “It’s all the proof I want that I am not so much of a -nobody as some people make me out to be. But I had no idea that baled -cotton would give out such a blaze as that. However, four hundred bales, -if they were all in one place, would make a pretty good-sized pile.” - -Tom’s first impulse was to rush downstairs and tell his mother the good -news, but he was afraid she might not keep it to herself. She would be -likely to call his father’s attention to the light in the sky, and that -was a thing Tom did not care to have her do. Mr. Randolph had changed -wonderfully of late—ever since he missed salt from his table and learned -that cotton was worth sixty cents a pound in Northern markets—and Tom -had not failed to notice it. He wasn’t half as good a Confederate as he -used to be, and even showed a desire to be friendly with Mr. Gray and -Rodney, who belonged to that unpatriotic class of planters spoken of by -the Southern historian who “were known to buy every article of their -consumption in Yankee markets,” that is to say, in Baton Rouge. This -being the case Tom did not go downstairs and tell what was going on in -the swamp for fear his father might have something sharp and unpleasant -to say about it. He sat in his chair and watched the light until it -began to fade away before the stronger light of the rising sun, and then -went to bed, happy in the reflection that there was one traitor in the -neighborhood who would not make a fortune out of the unholy war that had -been forced upon the South by Lincoln’s hirelings. - -It was almost noon when he opened his eyes again, and the first move he -made was for the window that looked toward the swamp that inclosed -Rodney Gray’s plantation on three sides. Of course all signs of the -conflagration had long since disappeared, but it had left gloom and -anxiety in the house below, as Tom found when he went down to eat the -late breakfast that had been kept warm for him. His mother seemed to -have grown a dozen years older since he last saw her. - -“What is the matter?” he demanded. “Your face is as long as my arm.” - -“O Tommy, did you see it last night?” she asked in reply. - -“See what last night?” faltered Tom, who began to have a faint suspicion -that it would be a wise thing for him to make his mother believe, if he -could, that he had slept soundly through it all. - -“Why, the fire. Someone’s cotton has been destroyed. Mr. Walker, who -lives on the plantation below, saw the light and came up this morning -and told your father about it, and together they have gone to the swamp -to look into the matter.” - -“Oh! the swamp,” repeated Tom with a chuckle. “That’s all right, and -father need not have troubled himself to ride so far without his -breakfast. Please tell the girl to give me a bite of something. Old man -Gray has some cotton in there, I believe.” - -“But, my dear, we have two hundred bales in there, too.” - -The tone in which the words were uttered struck Tom dumb and motionless -for a moment. Then he groped blindly for the nearest chair and dropped -into it. It was true that his father had a fortune hidden not more than -half a mile from the bayou in which Mr. Gray’s four hundred bales were -concealed, and up to that moment he had forgotten all about it. It was -also true that all the cotton that had been run into the swamp was -plainly marked with the initials of the owners’ names, but Tom didn’t -know whether Lambert could read or not. He had never thought to ask him, -and now he blamed himself for his stupidity. If it was the Pearl River -vagabonds, and not Lambert, who applied the torch, there was the same -trouble to be feared. Tom took particular pains to tell the men with -whom he conspired to destroy Mr. Gray’s property that every bale of it -was marked R. W. G., but he now remembered, with a sinking at his heart -that almost drove him crazy, that these Home Guards were as ignorant as -the mules and horses they rode on their plundering expeditions, and -perhaps there was not one among them who knew one letter from another. -The fear that the wrong pile might have been committed to the flames -threw him into a terrible state of mind. - -“I don’t wonder that you are sadly troubled,” said his mother, in a -sympathizing tone. “But I suppose it is about what we can look for in -times like these. I never did expect to save that cotton. I was sure -that if the Yankees did not steal it the rebels would destroy it.” - -(Mrs. Randolph called them “rebels” now. A few months before she would -have spoken of them as “Confederates” or “our own brave soldiers.”) - -“Take it away,” yelled Tom, addressing the girl, who just then brought -his breakfast in from the kitchen. “I don’t want anything to eat. I -never want anything more as long as I live. How many thousand dollars -was that cotton worth?” - -“You’ll fret yourself sick if you give way to your feelings like this,” -protested his mother. “We are not sure that anyone has troubled our -cotton; we only fear it.” - -“It would be on a par with the luck that has attended me all through -this miserable war if every pound of it was gone up in smoke,” said Tom -in a discouraged voice. “It’s some consolation to know that we are all -poor together, for of course the men who knew where to find our cotton -knew where to find Gray’s and Walker’s also.” - -With these words Tom snatched his hat from the rack in the hall, and -went down the steps and out to the gate to watch for his father’s -return. The latter was a long time coming, and his face wore so dejected -a look when he rode up and passed into the yard, that Tom could not find -it in his heart to speak to him. He simply turned about and went into -the house to wait, with as much fortitude as he could command, for his -father to come in and tell the terrible news that was so plainly written -on his face. His wife, who met him at the door, did not say a word until -he had seated himself in the chair he usually occupied by the front -window, and then she whispered the question: - -“Is it all gone, George?” - -“Every bale,” replied Mr. Randolph with a groan. “In the first place, -nearly three hundred thousand dollars’ worth of niggers ran away and -left us with barely a handful to do our work for us, and now the cotton -I was depending on to start me afresh when the war ended has run away -too; or gone up in the elements, which amounts to the same thing.” - -“Of course Mr. Gray’s cotton——” stammered Tom. - -“Wasn’t touched,” said Mr. Randolph, finishing the sentence for him. -“You may believe it or not, but it is a fact that our cotton alone was -destroyed. Walker and I found Mr. Gray and Rodney and Griffin and a -dozen or so others in the swamp when we got there, and they had been -trying to drag some of my bales out of reach of the flames; but they -didn’t go there until morning, and of course were too late to be of any -use.” - -“The cowards!” exclaimed Tom bitterly. “If they saw the fire when it was -burning, why didn’t they go at once?” - -“Would you have done it?” replied his father. “They thought the fire had -been set by soldiers and were afraid to go out in the dark; but if the -soldiers had had a hand in it they would have burned other cotton. It -was the work of someone who has a spite against us, and he has made -beggars of us. I haven’t a dollar of good money, or a thing that can be -turned into money; and even if I had, you and your Home Guards have made -yourselves so obnoxious to the Baton Rouge people that I wouldn’t dare -go there to trade. Oh, yes; we’re fit candidates for the poorhouse if -there was one in the county.” - -Tom Randolph covered his face with his hands and trembled violently. He -could not speak, but told himself that the world would not have held -half so much trouble for him if that man Lambert had never been born -into it. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - MR. RANDOLPH CARRIES TALES. - -When Tom Randolph and the man Lambert brought their interview to a close -and rode away in different directions, as we have recorded, the latter -turned into the first lane he came to, and finally disappeared in the -woods. For three or four miles or more he rode along the fence that -separated a wide corn-field from the timber, passed in the rear of Mr. -Gray’s extensive home plantation, and at last came out into the road -again opposite the house in which Ned Griffin and his mother now lived. -Having made sure that there were none of Major Morgan’s men in sight (he -feared them and the Baton Rouge people more than he did the boys in -blue) Lambert crossed the road and threw down the bars that gave -entrance into the door-yard. The noise aroused Ned’s hounds, whose -sonorous yelping quickly brought their master to the porch. - -“Oh, it’s you, is it?” said Ned, when he saw who his visitor was. “I -don’t know how to explain it, but I have been looking for you all day. -Have you done anything for your country since I seen you last?” - -Ned’s manner would have made Tom Randolph open his eyes, and might, -perhaps, have aroused his suspicions, there was so much unbecoming -familiarity in it. More than that, his words seemed to imply that there -was some sort of an understanding between him and the ex-Home Guard. The -latter seated himself on the end of the porch, pulled his cob pipe from -his pocket and tapped his thumb-nail with the inverted bowl to show that -it was empty, whereupon Ned went into the house and presently came out -again with a plug of navy tobacco in his hand. The sight of it made -Lambert’s eyes glisten. - -“I aint seen the like very often since the war come onto us,” said he, -as he proceeded to cut off enough of the weed to fill his pipe; “an’ -this here nigger-heel that we uns have to put up with nowadays aint -fitten for a white man to use. Do you know, I think Rodney Gray is jest -one of the smartest fellers there is a-goin’?” - -“I’ve always thought and said so,” replied Ned. “But what has he done -lately that is so very bright?” - -“Hirin’ me to watch that cotton of his’n so that I could tell him if I -see anybody castin’ ugly eyes at it,” said Lambert, settling back at his -ease on the gallery so that he could enjoy his smoke to the best -advantage. “When you told me that Rodney would take it as a friendly act -on my part if I would do that much for him, I didn’t think there was the -least bit of use in it, but now I know there is. I run up agin somebody -a while ago, an’ who do you think it was?” - -“I’m sure I don’t know, but I hope it wasn’t anyone who had designs on -that cotton.” - -“It was that Tom Randolph,” answered Lambert. - -“You must be dreaming!” exclaimed Ned. - -“Them’s the very same words I axed myself when I first see Tom comin’ -t’wards me on his mu-el, kase I couldn’t b’lieve it was him till I -listened to him talk; then I knowed it was Tom, for almost the first -thing he said was meanness. He’s made it up with some of the Home Guards -at Camp Pinckney.” - -“Gracious!” cried Ned, becoming frightened. “They’re the worst lot of -ruffians in the world. They shoot their prisoners.” - -“So I’ve heerd tell,” said Lambert indifferently. “Well, them’s the fine -chaps that Tom has made it up with to burn old man Gray’s cotton, an’ he -wanted to know if I would sorter guide them to the place where it was, -an’ I told him I wouldn’t, kase I aint going to take no chances on bein’ -tooken to that camp. I’m scared of them Pearl River chaps.” - -“You’d better be, for they would just as soon shoot you as anybody else, -simply to keep their hands in. Now, how are we going to keep them from -finding that cotton?” - -“That’s the very thing that’s been a-pesterin’ of me ever since Tom -spoke to me about it,” answered Lambert. - -“If you don’t act as their guide they can easily find somebody else who -will do it rather than be shot,” said Ned in an anxious tone. “I don’t -believe Rodney has enjoyed a night’s sound sleep since he had his first -talk with the Federal provost marshal at Baton Rouge. But he is bound to -save his father’s property if he can, and you must do all in your power -to help him.” - -“Do you remember what you said on the night you rid up to my door an’ -warned me that the citizens allowed to hang me for what I done down the -river?” replied Lambert. “You said that old man Gray was tryin’ to talk -’em out of it by tellin’ ’em that if they done it they would be sorry in -the mornin’, didn’t you? Well, I don’t forget a man who does me a good -turn any more’n I forget one who does me a mean one.” And when he said -this he scowled fiercely, for he was thinking of Tom Randolph. - -“Well, have you any plan in your head?” continued Ned. - -“Nary plan. I jest rid down to get some good tobacker an’ to tell you to -warn Rodney to look out for breakers. What’s the reason you don’t want -me to go nigh his house for a few days?” - -“That’s my business—and Rodney’s,” said Ned shortly. - -“’Taint mine,” laughed Lambert, “but if you asked me to make a rough -guess——” - -“But I don’t ask you to make a rough guess,” interrupted Ned. “Or a -smooth one either. Did Tom Randolph tell you how he got out of Camp -Pinckney?” - -“——a rough guess, I should say that Rodney’s got one of two things in -hidin’ down there; either a deserter from our side, or a Yankee pris’ner -that he is waitin’ for a chance to send to Baton Rouge. But ’taint none -of my business, an’ I won’t tell,” said Lambert with good-natured -persistence. And then he stopped, for when he looked up into Ned’s face -he saw that it had suddenly grown very pale. “I aint said a word about -it to nobody, an’ aint goin’ to; but you tell Rodney that when he wants -friends, as most likely he will, they’ll be around. Me an’ Moseley an’ -the rest didn’t want to go into the army, an’ we’re bound we won’t; but -for all that we’re not the cowards that some folks take us to be.” - -“You have something on your mind, and I am sure of it,” said Ned, as the -man touched a match to his pipe and arose from his seat on the porch. -“If you will tell me what it is, so that I can carry it to Rodney, I’ll -give you a pair of shoes for yourself and Moseley.” - -“Them’s jest the things that Tom Randolph offered to give me if I would -guide them Home Guards to Mr. Gray’s cotton,” said Lambert with a grin -,“an’ now I’m goin’ to get’em without goin’ to all that trouble an’ -risk. Beats me how Rodney can fight the Yanks the best he knows how for -fifteen months, an’ then turn square around an’ buy shoes an’ salt an’ -things of ’em. Looks to me as though the Yanks would ’a’ shot him the -first thing they done.” - -“They are not savages, to shoot a man after he quits fighting,” said Ned -impatiently. “It takes Confederate Home Guards to do that. What do you -say? Do you want the shoes or not?” - -“Bring ’em out, an’ I will tell you all I had in my head when I rid into -this yard,” was the answer, and Ned turned about and went into the -house. When he returned he brought the shoes, which Lambert received -with the remark that he knew some planters in the neighborhood who had -willingly paid fifty dollars for footwear that wasn’t half as good. - -“But if they had had greenbacks instead of rebel scrip they could have -got their shoes for a good deal less,” replied Ned. “There isn’t a -Confederate in the country loyal enough to refuse Yankee money when it -is offered to him. Major Morgan wouldn’t do it. Now, what are your -plans?” - -“The only thoughts I had in my head when I rid into the yard, was that I -would come here an’ get a bit of good tobacker, an’ tell you an’ Rodney -that Tom Randolph was tryin’ to have your cotton burned,” replied -Lambert, placing the shoes under his arm, and backing away as if he -feared Ned might try to snatch them. “That’s all, honest Injun.” - -“And haven’t you hit upon any plan to head those Home Guards off?” - -“Nary plan, kase they aint found the cotton yet. When they do, like as -not I’ll think up somethin’.” - -“Then it will be too late to save the cotton,” said Ned in disgust. “If -you are going to do anything, you want to move before they get into the -swamp.” - -“They’ll be some cotton burned, most likely; I aint sayin’ there won’t,” -observed Lambert, placing one hand on his mule’s neck and vaulting -lightly upon his back. “But you can tell Rodney that his paw’s will stay -on the ground as long as anybody’s. That’s the onliest plan I’ve got in -my head. When I get time to think up somethin’ else I’ll let you know.” - -Lambert rode out of the yard, stopping on the way to put up the bars -behind him, and Ned Griffin went in to his unfinished supper. His -mother, who had overheard every word that passed between him and his -visitor, looked frightened. - -“I can’t imagine how the thing got wind,” said Ned in reply to her -inquiring glances, “but Lambert seems to know all about it. I am not -afraid that he will lisp it, but I _am_ afraid it will get to the -knowledge of some enemy who will set Morgan after us.” - -“O Ned, that would be dreadful,” said Mrs. Griffin with a perceptible -shudder. - -“I believe you. I don’t know what the penalty is for helping a deserter, -but I believe the major would send us to the front to pay us for it.” - -“I think you ought to tell Rodney,” said Mrs. Griffin. - -“He knows it as well as I do and is quite as anxious; but the man can’t -walk or ride, and how are we going to get him inside the Yankee lines? -We can’t take him there in a carriage, for the roads are too closely -watched. Of course I shall stand Rodney’s friend, but my ‘rough guess’ -is that we’ll wish that friend of ours had gone somewhere else for the -help he needed.” - -That night Ned Griffin was aroused from a sound sleep by his mother, who -rapped upon the door of his room, and told him in a trembling, excited -voice that either Lambert had proved himself a traitor, or else the -Pearl River ruffians had stumbled upon some enemy of Mr. Gray who was -willing to act as guide, for they had certainly found the cotton and -fired it. Ned was thunderstruck. He hurried on the few clothes he could -find in the dark conveniently, and ran out to the porch; but when he had -taken one look at the bright spot on the sky, which seemed to be growing -brighter and larger every moment, and compared its bearings with those -of well-known landmarks in the range of his vision, he drew a long -breath of relief. - -“I almost knew that Lambert did not tell the truth when he assured me he -had nothing on his mind,” said Ned to his frightened mother, who had -followed him to the porch. “Go back and sleep easy. That isn’t Mr. -Gray’s cotton.” - -“Are you quite sure of it? How do you know?” inquired Mrs. Griffin. “It -must be cotton, for there is no house in that direction.” - -“Stand here in front of me and I will show you why I know it is not Mr. -Gray’s,” answered Ned. “Now, squint along the side of that post that -stands on the edge of the gallery, and bring your eye to bear on that -low place in the timber-line. Do you see it? Well, there’s where Mr. -Gray’s cotton is. The pile that’s burning is half a mile farther off and -a mile farther to the right.” - -“Do you know who owns it?” - -“It belongs to Mr. Randolph, who has nobody to thank for it but his -dutiful son Tom.” - -“Ned, do you know what you are saying?” said his mother somewhat -sharply. - -“I am quite sure on that point. Tom was too handy with his sword in the -first place, and with his tongue in the second. He ought to have had -better sense than to put such an idea into Lambert’s head. That man can -do as much damage of this sort as he likes, and those who don’t know any -better will blame the rebel guerillas or the Yankee cavalry for it.” - -“Do you think Lambert started that fire?” - -“I am as well satisfied of it as though I had stood by and seen him -strike the match that set it going. Half an hour more will tell the -story at any rate. Now you run back to bed, and I will stay here and -watch that low place in the trees I showed you a moment ago. If no blaze -appears in that direction I shall know that this is Lambert’s work.” - -Mrs. Griffin retired, and Ned sat there on the porch with the hounds for -company, and looked first at the bright glow on the sky and then at the -low place in the timber, until day dawned and Mr. Gray and two or three -of his neighbors rode up to the bars and accosted him. - -“Have you been in there?” asked his employer anxiously. - -“No, sir,” replied Ned emphatically. “I saw the fire, but not knowing -what sort of men I might find around it I thought it best to keep away -from it. But I don’t think it was your cotton.” - -He did not say that he was as certain as he wanted to be that the loss -was Mr. Randolph’s, and that it had been brought upon him by Tom’s -insane desire to be revenged upon some members of the Gray family, for -he knew there were one or two men in the party who would not rest easy -until they had seen Tom severely punished. So he awaited an opportunity -to say a word to Mr. Gray in private. - -“I am sorry it was anybody’s cotton, but of course I should be glad to -know it was not mine,” said Ned’s employer, with an effort to smile and -look as cheerful as usual. “But if mine didn’t go last night it may go -next week, so I don’t know that it makes much difference. Between -Yankees and Confederates we planters stand a poor show of selling a -pound of this almost priceless commodity.” - -“Sixty cents a pound!” groaned one of Mr. Gray’s companions. “Good -money, too, worth a hundred cents on a dollar, and now it has vanished -in flames and smoke.” - -“It wasn’t your cotton either, Mr. Randall,” Ned hastened to assure him. -“Rodney and I have spent two weeks locating the cotton hidden in our -swamp, and we can tell within two points of the compass the direction in -which every planter’s property lies from his gallery and mine. The pile -that was burned last night was half-way between yours and Mr. Gray’s.” - -“Whose was it, then?” - -“Mr. Randolph’s.” - -“I am very sorry to hear it,” said Mr. Gray earnestly. “If it is the -truth, Mr. Randolph will be left in very bad shape.” - -“Not worse than the rest of us, I reckon,” said Randall impatiently. “He -did all he could to help on the war, and now he’s afraid to go to the -front and help fight it out. It serves him right.” - -Mr. Gray might have retorted that there were others in the same -boat—that Mr. Randall himself had been a fierce secessionist when the -war first broke out and the Union armies and gunboats were far away, but -now professed to be a strong Union man because he was anxious to save -his cotton from being confiscated; but he said not a word in reply. He -turned away from the bars, and Ned Griffin hastened to the stable-yard -to put the saddle on his horse. His riding nag and Rodney’s were among -the few that had been left to their owners when Breckenridge’s army -retreated after the battle of Baton Rouge, and the reason they were left -was because the boys had done so much hospital duty both before and -after the fight. The rebel soldiers repaid their kindness by doing as -little stealing as possible under the circumstances; but when the -rear-guard disappeared from view the two friends could not find any -bacon and meal for breakfast. But their flocks of chickens and the few -scrub cows that were relied on to supply the plantations with milk and -butter were not molested, and Ned and Rodney were thankful for that. The -former came up with Mr. Gray and his party before they had gone very -far, and when they reached Rodney’s place they were joined by Rodney -himself, who seemed to be on the watch for them. He waved his hat in the -air when he saw his father and Ned approaching, but put it on his head -quickly when he discovered that they were not alone. In a moment more he -would have said something to be sorry for, because he knew whose cotton -had been burned and who was responsible for it. After greeting his -father and exchanging opinions with him and his friends, he fell back to -the rear and rode by Ned’s side, but could find no opportunity to -compare notes with him. However, each understood what the other would -have said if he could. - -Half an hour’s riding brought them to the pile of smoking cinders and -ashes that covered the spot where Mr. Randolph’s cotton had been -concealed inside a dense thicket of trees and bushes whose interior had -been cleared away to receive it. The road made by the heavy four-mule -wagons in passing in and out of the woods had been so carefully filled -with logs and tree-tops that scarcely a trace of it could be seen now, -and its owner had indulged in the hope that, with the exception of a few -neighbors and faithful servants, no one knew the hiding-place of all -that was left of his once abundant wealth; but some enemy had found it -out, and he was a ruined man. This was the opinion expressed by every -one of Mr. Gray’s party, for when they came to examine the ground, which -they did immediately upon their arrival, they did not find a single -hoof-print save those that had been made by their own riding horses. - -“There’s no cavalry been in here,” said Mr. Randall, who was the first -to give utterance to the thoughts that were in the minds of all, “and, -according to my way of thinking, that proves something.” - -There were a few half-consumed bales on the outside of the smoking pile, -and it was while the party was engaged in pulling these farther out of -reach of the fire that Mr. Randolph and his neighbor appeared on the -scene. Mr. Walker looked somewhat relieved, but remarked in an undertone -that there might have been more than one fire even if he didn’t see it, -and rode away at a rapid pace to assure himself of the safety of his own -cotton, while Mr. Randolph sat on his mule and gazed mournfully at the -blackened pile before him. There was no one who could say a word to -comfort him, for by this time the planters were all satisfied in their -own minds that someone with whom they were well acquainted had done the -work; and if that was the case, it might not be a great while before -their own cotton would disappear in the same way. They gradually drew -away and left him to his gloomy reflections, and then it was that Rodney -and Ned had a chance to compare notes and say a word to Mr. Gray in -private. When the latter had listened to Ned’s story, all he had to say -was that it would have been better for the community if Mr. Randolph had -not been so persistent in his efforts to have Tom released from military -duty. Of course he and the boys did not fail to satisfy themselves that -the cotton in which they were most interested was still safe in its -place of concealment, and Mr. Randolph did the same; that is, he spent -all the forenoon in visiting the different localities in which his -neighbors’ cotton had been hidden, and when he found, as he had -suspected from the first, that he was the only sufferer, his thoughts -were bitter and revengeful indeed. To make matters worse Mr. Walker said -to him while they were on their way home: - -“If you were the only Confederate in the settlement I could easily -explain this business; but why you should be singled out among so many -is something I can’t understand, unless it is because your son Tom has -served the cause with too much zeal.” - -“Tom hasn’t done any more than others, nor as much,” replied Mr. -Randolph. “Rodney Gray served fifteen months in the army, and here he is -living in perfect security and entirely unmolested by our conscript -officers, although he is known to be hand-and-glove with the enemies of -his country. I believe he has assisted escaped Yankee prisoners, even if -others do not.” - -“Perhaps he has,” said Mr. Walker, who was one of those disbelieving -ones who laughed the loudest when Tom told of his desperate fight with -“Uncle Sam’s Lost Boys,” who had been chased by bloodhounds while they -were terrorizing the country between Camp Pinckney and Mooreville. Mr. -Walker knew, of course, that there were four escaped prisoners somewhere -in the woods, who ran when they could, and killed their pursuers as -often as a fight was forced upon them, but he did not believe that Tom -Randolph had been a captive in their hands as he pretended, or that he -had escaped by knocking his guard on the head with the butt of a musket. -He knew Tom too well to put faith in any such story. He did not believe, -either, that Rodney Gray would go back on his record as a loyal -Confederate by helping runaway Yankees inside the lines at Baton Rouge. - -“Perhaps he has, though it is a hard tale for me to swallow,” continued -Mr. Walker. “But if you’d said that Rodney was given to helping -deserters I’d believe you. He’s got one in hiding this very minute.” - -“How do you know that?” demanded Mr. Randolph, now beginning to show -some interest in what his companion was saying. - -“You can’t keep anything from the niggers these times, and yesterday I -overheard two of my house servants talking about it when they thought -they were alone,” answered Mr. Walker. “It seems that Rodney and young -Griffin found the man in the woods half dead from wounds and hunger and -exhaustion, and took him home to nurse him back to health. There -wouldn’t be anything so very bad about that, and I don’t suppose Major -Morgan would object to it if he knew it; _but_ the man doesn’t want to -go back to camp, and as soon as he is able to travel Rodney allows to -take him to the river. There’s something wrong in that, I reckon.” - -“I should say there was,” exclaimed Mr. Randolph, who told himself that -now was the time to make his more fortunate neighbor suffer as keenly as -he was suffering himself in losing his valuable store of cotton. “Such -work as that must be against the law, and the conscript officer ought to -do something about it.” - -“That’s what I think,” said Mr. Walker; and then the two relapsed into -silence, for neither was willing to speak the thoughts that were passing -through his mind. - -When they reached the cross-roads they separated, Mr. Walker keeping on -toward home, while Tom’s father, believing it to be a good plan to -strike while the iron was hot, turned his mule in the direction of -Kimberley’s store. He found Major Morgan there; in fact he was always -there, for it was his place of business, and wasted not a moment in -conveying to him the startling information he had received from his -friend Walker: but to his unbounded surprise the major took it very -coolly. He listened until Mr. Randolph had told his story and then broke -out almost fiercely: - -“Do you for a moment imagine that I would have been ordered here if I -had not been thought capable of attending to affairs in my district? -That news is old. I knew all about it a week ago.” - -“Then why didn’t you arrest Rodney Gray a week ago?” said Mr. Randolph -hotly. - -“Because I am tired of working on evidence that is furnished me by -tale-bearers. You’ve got something against that young Gray or you would -not tell me this. I am satisfied to let that deserter stay where he is -for the present. He’s getting well there; he would die at Camp -Pinckney.” - -“You ought to be inside the Yankee lines,” declared Mr. Randolph, his -rage getting the better of his prudence. “There’s where you belong.” - -“And there’s where you will start for if you don’t leave my office this -instant,” roared the major, rising to his feet and upsetting his chair -in the act. “Captain!” - -But Mr. Randolph did not linger for the captain to present himself. He -hastened through the door, glancing nervously at the soldiers he passed -on the way for fear they might stop him, swung himself upon his mule, -and started for home, lost in wonder. It seemed that in some very -mysterious manner Rodney had gained an influence with the crusty -conscript officer equal to that which he exercised with the Federals in -Baton Rouge. Well, he had; but there was no mystery about it, only a -little strategy. Rodney had been intrusted by the major with a few gold -pieces which he had exchanged in Baton Rouge for greenbacks, and it -wasn’t likely that the officer was going to be hard on the boy who kept -his pocket filled with good money. Even inside the Confederate lines -greenbacks passed at par, and would buy more than rebel scrip, on which -there was a heavy discount. But Rodney did not carry news; that is to -say, neither side could wring from him a word of information concerning -the doings of the other side. The Federal provost marshal knew this and -so did Major Morgan, and the consequence was they were both willing to -trust him. To quote Rodney’s own language, he had fought for fame and -didn’t get it, and now he was working for money. All he had in prospect -was wrapped up in his father’s cotton, which was the source of no little -anxiety and trouble to him. - -Rodney was not aware that the major knew he was harboring a rebel -deserter, who had been badly wounded while escaping from the stockade at -Camp Pinckney, and was careful to keep the fact from the knowledge of -all except those who could be trusted. He did not care to receive -callers, for fear there might be a spy or mischief-maker among them, and -relied upon his hounds to give him warning when anyone rode up to the -front bars. They acted so savagely when they rushed in a body down the -walk to meet a stranger, that the latter, whoever he might be, usually -thought it prudent to hail the house before venturing to dismount, thus -giving Rodney time to get the deserter into some inner room where he -would be out of sight. But one morning, about two weeks after the -occurrence of the events we have just recorded, he had visitors so many -in number that they stood in no fear of the hounds, nor did they hail -the house. They simply threw down one or two of the top bars, jumped -their horses over the rest, and came up on a gallop, their leader -drawing rein in front of the open door, just in time to catch a -momentary glimpse of the deserter as he vanished into a back room. -Rodney’s heart sank. He had had all his work and worry for nothing. Of -course his unwelcome visitors, who were Federal cavalrymen, would take -the deserter to Baton Rouge when they went and ship him off to a -Northern prison. The officer in command of the squad, which was a much -larger one than Rodney had ever seen scouting through the country -before, proved to be a captain whose acquaintance he had formed during -one of his visits to the provost marshal’s office, and he walked out on -the porch and faced him as if he had nothing to conceal. - -“Good-morning,” said he, with a military salute. “What brought you out -here in such a hurry and so far from your base?” - -The captain waved his hand toward the back-yard as if to say to his men -that they were at liberty to break ranks and quench their thirst at the -well, and then he answered Rodney’s question. - -“We came out to pay our respects to the conscript officer in Mooreville, -but he was uncivil enough to light out before we could exchange a word -with him,” said the captain. “We didn’t want to ride all the way out -here for nothing, and so we changed our scouting party into a -cotton-burning expedition. I don’t suppose you would know a bale of -cotton if you ran against it, would you?” - -The words were spoken in jest, but Rodney knew there was a good deal of -truth in them, for he looked over the captain’s shoulder and saw a negro -standing at the bars under guard. He was one of Mr. Randall’s -field-hands, who had assisted in hauling his master’s cotton into the -swamp. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - THE PHANTOM BUSHWHACKERS. - -“I am not exactly on a cotton-burning expedition either,” continued the -captain, after he had drained the gourd which one of his men brought -him, filled with water fresh from the well, “but I am ordered to look -around and find it, so that I can tell whether or not it will pay the -government to send out wagons to haul it in. But if it is in such a bad -place that we can’t get it out, of course we shall have to burn it to -keep the enemy from profiting by it. I understand that there is a good -deal of cotton hidden about here somewhere, but I hope yours is where -nobody will find it.” - -“I haven’t a bale to bless myself with,” replied Rodney. - -“Perhaps not, but your father has; several of them,” said the officer -with a smile. “But I tell you it will go against the grain for us to -touch anything that belongs to you, after what you did for some of our -escaped prisoners.” - -“Then why can’t you give us a chance to take it inside your lines and -sell it?” inquired Rodney. “If it is the policy of the Federal -government to drain the South of cotton, don’t you see that every bale -we put into your hands will be one bale less for the Confederates?” - -“I understand that very well, but you see your rebel record is dead -against you. You fought us like fury for more than a year, and now, when -you find that you are in a fair way to get soundly whipped, you want to -turn around and make money out of us. That plan won’t work, Johnny. If -you could blot out your war record, or if you knew some solid Union man -you could trust to sell your cotton for you, why then——” - -“There isn’t a man, Union or rebel, in Louisiana that I would trust to -do work of that kind,” declared Rodney with emphasis. “I don’t say -whether my father has any cotton or not; but if he has he would tell you -Yanks to burn it and welcome before he would give any friend of his a -chance to cheat him out of it. Who buys cotton in the city—the -government?” - -“No; speculators. The government grabs it without so much as saying ‘by -your leave.’” - -“Do you give those speculators military protection?” - -“Not yet. They take their own chances, and protect themselves if they go -outside the pickets. But they are working for protection, and some day -they’ll get it.” - -“Do they pay in gold?” - -“Not as anybody has ever heard of,” replied the captain with a laugh. -“Confederate scrip for one thing, and——” - -“I wouldn’t look at it,” exclaimed Rodney. “I wouldn’t give a bale of -good cotton for a cart-load of Confederate scrip.” - -“A fine loyal grayback you are to talk that way about your country’s -shinplasters,” said the captain with another hearty laugh. “If all rebel -soldiers are like you, I don’t see why your armies didn’t fall to pieces -long ago.” - -“It is because they are held together by discipline that would drive -Union soldiers into mutiny in less than a week,” said Rodney bitterly. -“I’ll take to the woods with the rest of the outlaws before they shall -ever have an opportunity to try it on me again, and I know hundreds of -others who feel the same way. But I wish you would tell a sorry rebel -how to change cotton into money. If you will, I may become a trader -myself.” - -“If by _money_ you mean something besides Confederate rags, I must tell -you that it is what you will not see until every rebel has laid down his -arms and quit fighting the government, because all cotton brought within -our lines has to be purchased on contracts for payment at the close of -the war——” - -“Then go ahead with your burning expedition,” said Rodney, who thought -he had never heard anything quite so preposterous. “You’ll get mighty -little cotton about here on those terms.” - -“——at the close of the war,” continued the captain, paying no heed to -the interruption, “because, if paid for in coin or green-backs, the -money would be sure, sooner or later, to find its way into the rebel -treasury. Your authorities will not steal their own money, for they know -how worthless it is; but they’ll steal ours, and use it too, every -chance they get. I suppose that darky out there at the bars can show me -where the cotton is concealed?” - -“He knows where every bale of it is,” answered Rodney. “He helped hide -it.” - -“He declares he don’t want to go to Baton Rouge with us, but if he acts -as my guide I shall have to take him along, or you fellows who lose -cotton will kill him.” - -“And no doubt you will kill him if he refuses to act as your guide, so -he is bound to be killed any way you fix it,” said Rodney in disgust. -“He’ll not be harmed if he stays at home after you leave, and nobody -knows it better than he does. Ask him and see.” - -“Prepare to mount!” shouted the captain, thinking his men had wasted -time enough at the well. “By the way,” he added, in a lower tone, “who’s -your company, and why did he dig out in such haste when I rode up to the -door? He’s a reb, I know it by the cut of his jib.” - -“He’s a conscript I know, but he’s a deserter as well, and as good a -Union man as you are. He was in pretty bad shape when I found him -running from the hounds, but he is able to travel now, and if you will -leave him here a few days longer he will be glad to take refuge inside -your lines,” whispered Rodney, believing that the surest way for his -patient to escape trouble was to give the captain opportunity to parole -him then and there. “He hasn’t done any fighting, and never means to if -he can help it.” - -“Then he can stay and welcome, for all I care,” replied the captain. “I -never run a man in as a prisoner unless I have reason to think he is -dangerous.” - -“Where did you find Mr. Randall’s black man, and how did you come to -pick him up for a guide?” inquired Rodney. - -“I don’t know that I ought to tell you, but didn’t one of your neighbors -lose some cotton a while ago? His name is Randolph, and he wants us to -look out for a worthless fellow named Lambert, who, he thinks, burned -the cotton for him. He told me to go quietly up to Randall’s and ask for -Mose, and I would find in him a good guide; but I was in no case to -speak Randolph’s name in anybody’s hearing, and you see what pains I -have taken not to do it. But I don’t care. It’s spite work on Randolph’s -part.” - -“Of course it is,” answered Rodney, who was so discouraged that he had -half a mind to say that he would return to the army, and stay there -until one side or the other was whipped into submission. “Mr. Randolph -will work against everyone in the settlement now.” - -“Very likely. Misery loves company, you know; and perhaps there are more -men working against you than you think for. Do you know this Lambert, -and has he any cause to be down on you?” - -“I do know him, but he hasn’t the shadow of an excuse to be at enmity -with me or any of my family,” said Rodney in surprise. And then it was -on the end of his tongue to add that Lambert was working for -him—standing guard over his cotton to see that no one troubled it, but -he afterward had reason to be glad that he did not say it. - -“Then he is jealous, or I should say envious, of you, because you are -rich and he is poor,” said the captain, reining his horse about in -readiness to follow his men, who were now riding toward the bars. “If he -and his friends can sell your cotton so that they can pocket the money -they’ll do it——” - -“But they can’t. He shan’t,” exclaimed Rodney, who was utterly -confounded. “He hasn’t brains enough to carry out such a bare-faced -cheat, nor the power, either; though no doubt his will is good enough.” - -“Randolph says it is; and he says further, that when Lambert finds that -he can’t make anything out of that cotton, he’ll burn it. But I must be -riding along. I’ll be back before dark, and if this deserter of yours -would be glad of my escort, I’ll take him to Baton Rouge with me. What -would your Home Guards do to you if they should jump down on you and -find him here under your roof?” - -“It’s a matter I don’t like to think of,” answered Rodney, “and I shall -feel safer if you take him away. Good-by; but I can’t wish you good -luck. I wish I had never seen you,” he added under his breath, “for you -have robbed me of all my peace of mind. So Lambert is a traitor, is he? -and my plan for gaining his good will hasn’t amounted to shucks. I’ll -tell father about it the first thing in the morning, and would do it -to-day if I didn’t want to see that captain when he returns.” - -The deserter came out of his hiding-place when summoned, and eagerly -promised to be on hand to accompany the Federal soldiers to Baton Rouge. -He didn’t know what he would do for a living when he got there, he said, -but it would be a great comfort to know that he would not be forced into -the army to fight against the old flag. Rodney was too down-hearted to -say anything encouraging, but he gave him a short note to Mr. Martin, -who would see that he did not suffer while he was looking for -employment. Then he walked out on the porch, for he wanted to be alone, -and at that moment Ned Griffin rode into the yard. - -“O Rodney!” he exclaimed. “Did that cotton-burning expedition stop here, -and do you know that there’s the very mischief to pay? That nigger of -Randall’s will never show them where his master’s cotton is hidden, but -he’ll take them as straight as he can to yours and Walker’s. I tell you -that cotton is gone up unless we do something.” - -“Have you any suggestions to make?” asked Rodney. - -“Let’s engage all the teams we can rake and scrape and haul it somewhere -else,” said Ned at a venture. - -“What good will that do? It’s in as fine a hiding-place now as there is -in the country, and where are the wagons to come from? And the harness? -It is all I can do to find gears for eight plough-mules.” - -Ned rode away to turn his horse into the stable-yard, spent a long time -in taking a drink at the well, and finally came back and sat down on the -porch. - -“What do you think of that scoundrel Lambert, anyway?” he inquired. - -“That my plan for getting on his blind side did not work as well as we -thought it was going to. He has got even with Tom Randolph for drawing a -sword on him, and now he intends to get square with my father for -threatening him with a nigger’s punishment.” - -“I was with the mob that night,” said the young overseer angrily, “heard -every word that was said, and know that your father never threatened -Lambert with anything. He defended him and Tom as well, and sent me to -warn them that they had better clear out while the way was open to them. -And the last time I saw Lambert he pretended to be grateful to Mr. Gray -for what he said and did that night. Oh, the villain!” - -But it did no good to rail at Lambert for his perfidy, nor yet to -discuss the situation, for the one was safely out of their reach, and -talking and planning only served to show them how very gloomy and -perplexing the other was. It was simply exasperating to know that they -were utterly helpless, but that was the conclusion at which they finally -arrived. Time might make all things right, or it might reduce Mr. Gray -to poverty; and all they could do was to wait and see what it had in -store for them. - -Ned Griffin had been in Rodney’s company about two hours when one of the -hounds suddenly gave tongue, and the whole pack went racing down to the -bars. There was no one in sight, but after listening a moment the boys -heard the tramping of a multitude of hoofs up the road in the direction -in which the Federal soldiers had disappeared with Mr. Randall’s -field-hand for a guide. As the boys arose to their feet the leading -fours of the column came into view. - -“Sure’s you live that’s them,” whispered Ned. “But what brought them -back so soon?” - -Rodney hadn’t the least idea, but suggested that possibly the negro -guide had missed his way. - -“If he did he missed it on purpose; but that’s a thing he could not be -hired to do for fear the Yankees would shoot him,” replied Ned. “He may -have given them the slip.” - -“Never in this world,” answered Rodney emphatically. “When that darky -left my bars he was riding double with one of the troopers, and there -was a guard on each side of him. If he tried to run, he is dead enough -now.” - -The boys ran to the bars to wait for the captain, who rode at the head -of the column, to approach within speaking distance, and when he did the -words he addressed to them almost knocked them over. He appeared to be -as pleasant and good-natured as usual, but some of the men behind him -looked ugly. - -“Why didn’t you tell me that that cotton down there in the swamp is -guarded by a battalion of phantom bushwhackers?” said he. - -“A battalion of what?” exclaimed Rodney, as soon as he could speak. - -“Bushwhackers. Sharpshooters,” replied the captain. - -“Home Guards?” inquired Ned. - -“I don’t know about that, but I judge that they have your cotton under -their protection, for all they tried to do was to kill the darky so that -he couldn’t show us where it was. The men who rode in the rear of the -line never heard the whistle of a bullet, although they sung around me -and the nig pretty lively; and when the nig dropped they ceased firing -on the instant. We charged the woods in every direction, but never saw -one of them, nor did they make the least attempt to ambush us, as they -could have done if they had felt like it.” - -Rodney Gray had seldom been so astonished. He looked hard at the captain -and did not know what to say. The whole thing was a mystery he could not -explain on the spur of the moment. The captain sat on his horse in front -of the bars while he talked, but the line passed on until the rear fours -came up and halted. Then the boys saw that there was a rude litter slung -between two of the horses, and that the form of Mr. Randall’s -unfortunate field-hand was stretched upon it. Rodney walked up to the -litter at once, but Ned timidly held back. There was a crimson stain on -the bandage the negro wore about his head, and Ned could not endure the -sight of blood. - -“Oh, he isn’t dead,” said the captain, “but he’s too badly hurt to go -any farther just now. Besides, we can’t move as rapidly as we would like -as long as we have him with us, and I would take it as a favor if you -will care for him until his master can be sent for.” - -“Throw down those bars, Ned,” said Rodney, looking back over his -shoulder as he started on a run for the house. “Bring him along and I -will have a place fixed for him. Phantom bushwhackers!” he said to -himself. “Now who do you suppose they were? Not Lambert and his gang -certainly, for they haven’t the pluck to do such a thing; but I can -think of no others who would be likely to turn bushwhackers. Now’s your -chance for freedom and safety,” he added, pausing long enough to shake -hands with the deserter and help him down from the porch. “Be ready to -mount behind one of those Yanks when you get the word, and good luck to -you.” - -Rodney’s first care was to see that the wounded guide was made as -comfortable as circumstances would permit, and his second to send one of -his own field-hands to bring Mr. Randall and a doctor. After that, when -he had answered a farewell signal from the deserter, and the last of the -Federal column had disappeared down the road, he and Ned went back to -the porch, and sat down to talk the matter over. - -“I am as frightened now as I ever was in the army,” said Rodney -honestly. “I never could stand a mystery.” - -“There’s no mystery about this business,” replied Ned. “The Yanks lost -their guide, and had sense enough to give up the search and come back. -That’s all there is of it.” - -“But who shot him?” - -“Lambert and his crowd, and nobody else,” answered Ned positively. “If -they were Home Guards, why were they so careful that their bullets -should miss everyone except the darky? They didn’t want to hurt the -soldiers; they only wanted to send them back, and they took the only -method they could to do it.” - -“Well, if it was Lambert, and he is determined to protect that cotton -for his own profit, how am I going to haul it from the swamp myself if I -ever have a chance to move it?” demanded Rodney. “Will he not be likely -to bushwhack me too?” - -“By gracious!” gasped Ned, sinking back in his chair, “this is a very -pretty mess, I must say. I never once thought of such a thing; but if -that’s his game, he’ll bushwhack you or anybody else who tries to move -that cotton. However,” he added a moment later, his face brightening as -a cheering thought passed through his mind, “what’s the odds? We are not -ready to move the cotton yet, and until we are let’s take comfort in the -thought that no one who wants to steal it, be he Union or rebel, will -dare venture near it. Perhaps by the time you are ready to sell it, -Lambert will have been bushwhacked himself. How do you intend to treat -him from this time on?” - -“As an enemy with whom I cannot afford to be at outs,” replied Rodney. -“If he does any work for me I shall pay him for it; and although I shall -not try to put any soldiers on his trail, I’ll go into the woods myself -and hunt him down like a wild hog the minute I become satisfied that he -is trying to play me false. I came to this plantation on purpose to -watch father’s cotton, and I really wonder if Lambert imagines he can -spirit it away without my knowing anything about it.” - -“It’s the greatest scheme I ever heard of,” said Ned. “But it cannot be -carried out. We’ve got to go to work in earnest now to put up the bacon -and beef your father promised to give as the price of my exemption, and -while we are doing it, it will be no trouble for us to keep an eye on -that cotton.” - -Rodney Gray afterward declared that work and plenty of it was all that -kept him alive during the next three months, and it is a fact that as -the year drew to a close, with anything but encouraging prospects for -the ultimate success of the Union forces in the field, Rodney’s spirits -fell to zero. Although he never confessed it to Ned Griffin, the latter -knew, as well as he knew anything, that all Rodney’s hopes and his -father’s were centred on the speedy putting down of the rebellion, but -just now it looked as though that was going to be a hard, if not an -impossible, thing to do. “Burnside’s repulse at Fredericksburg in the -East had its Western counterpart in Sherman’s defeat on the Yazoo, and -indeed the whole year presented no grand results in favor of the -national armies except the capture of New Orleans.” But if Rodney had -only known it, some things, many of which took place hundreds of miles -away and on deep water, were slowly but surely working together for his -good. He knew that General Banks had relieved General Butler in command -of the Department of the Gulf; that he had an army of thirty thousand -men and a fleet of fifty-one vessels under his command; that his object -in coming was to “regulate the civil government of Louisiana, to direct -the military movements against the rebellion in that State and in Texas, -and to co-operate in the opening of the Mississippi by the reduction of -Port Hudson,” which was on the east bank of the river twenty-five miles -above Baton Rouge. As he straightway made the latter place his base of -operations, and gradually brought there an army of twenty-five thousand -men, Mooreville and all the surrounding country came within his grasp. -Major Morgan and his fifty veterans took a hasty leave, Camp Pinckney -was abandoned, and Confederate scouting parties were seldom seen at -Rodney’s plantation and Ned’s, although it was an everyday occurrence -for companies of blue-coats to stop at one place or the other and make -inquiries about the “Johnnies” that were supposed to be lurking in the -neighborhood. They never said “cotton” once, and this led Ned Griffin to -remark that perhaps the new general had driven the speculators away from -Baton Rouge and did not intend to allow any trading in his department. - -“Don’t say that out loud, or you will give me the blues again!” -exclaimed Rodney. “If it gets to Lambert’s ears, good-by cotton.” - -“I didn’t think of that,” answered Ned, frightened at the bare -suggestion of such a misfortune. “It will be much more to our interest -to make Lambert believe, if we can, that traders will be thicker than -dewberries the minute Port Hudson and Vicksburg are taken. That will -make him hold his hand if anything will.” - -As to Lambert, he “showed up” as often as he stood in need of any -supplies, and sometimes loitered about for half a day, as if waiting for -the boys to question him concerning a matter that, for reasons of his -own, he did not care to touch upon himself. He would have given -something to know what they thought of the “phantom bushwhackers” and -their methods, but Rodney and Ned never said a word to him about it. The -negro guide, who was more frightened than hurt, quickly recovered from -his injuries, and within a day or two after he was taken to his master’s -house ran away to the freedom he knew was awaiting him in Baton Rouge, -and that made one less to tell where the cotton was concealed. - -“I suppose the next bushwhacker will be a fellow about my size,” was -what Rodney often said to himself. “I have half a mind to pounce on -Lambert the next time he comes here and take him to Baton Rouge, but I -don’t know whether that would be the best thing to do or not, and my -father can’t advise me.” Then he would recall the Iron Duke’s famous -ejaculation, and adapt it to his own circumstances by adding, “Oh, that -a Union man or the end would come!” - -Since he was so positive that a Union man was the friend he needed, it -would seem that Rodney ought not to have been at a loss to find him -right there in the settlement. If there were any faith to be put in what -he saw and heard every time he went to Mooreville and Baton Rouge, there -were no other sort of men in the country—not one who had ever been a -Confederate or expressed the least sympathy for those who openly -advocated secession. According to their own story, scraps of which came -to Rodney’s ears now and then, Mr. Randolph and Tom had done little but -talk down secession and stand up for the Union ever since Fort Sumter -was fired upon, and Mr. Biglin, the red-hot rebel who put the -bloodhounds on the trail of the escaped prisoners Rodney was guiding to -the river, declared that his well-known love for the old flag had nearly -cost him his life. He was glad to see Banks’ army in Baton Rouge, he -said, for now he could speak his honest sentiments without having his -sleep disturbed by the fear that his rebel neighbors would break into -his house before morning and hang him to the plates of his own gallery. -The country was full of cowardly, hypocritical men like these, and what -troubled Rodney and Ned more than anything else was the fact that they -seemed to have more influence and be on closer terms with the Federals -than did the honest rebels who had ceased to fight because they knew -they were whipped. Rodney’s friend, Mr. Martin, who lived in Baton Rouge -and kept a sharp eye on these “converted rebels,” whose hatred for the -Union and everybody who believed in it was as intense and bitter as it -had ever been, told him that Mr. Biglin and others like him were using -every means in their power and making all sorts of false affidavits to -secure trade permits, and seemed in a fair way to get them too. Indeed, -so certain were they that they would succeed in their efforts, that they -were going out some day to look at the cotton in the Mooreville -district, and see what the prospects were for hauling it out. They were -even engaging teams to do the work. They were not to have military -protection, Mr. Martin said, but that was scarcely necessary, for the -Union cavalry had swept the country of Home Guards and conscript -soldiers for a hundred miles around. - -“But the Union cavalry hasn’t cleared the country of the bushwhackers -who shot Mr. Randall’s nigger,” said Ned Griffin, who always had a -cheering word to say when Rodney was the most disheartened. “If Mr. -Martin’s story is true, I hope Biglin will come himself and give them a -fair chance at him.” - -And Mr. Biglin did come himself, although Rodney thought he was too much -of a coward to venture so far into the country. He and half a dozen -other civilians rode into the yard one day and asked Rodney for a drink -of water, but that was only done to give them a chance to draw from him -a little information about cotton. Rodney greeted them in as friendly a -manner as he thought the occasion called for, and conducted them around -the house to the well. - -“I tell you it seems good to get out in the fresh air once more, and to -know that while here I am in no danger of being gobbled up by a -conscript officer and hustled away to fight under a flag I have always -despised,” said Mr. Biglin, putting his hands into his pockets and -walking up and down in front of the well. “So you have turned overseer, -have you, Rodney?” - -“I believe that was what I told you on the day I saw you in Mr. -Turnbull’s front yard,” was the answer. “I mean just before that darky -of yours came up——” - -“Yes, yes; I remember all about it now,” said Mr. Biglin hastily. And -then he tried to turn the conversation into another channel, for fear -that Rodney would go on to tell that the information that darky brought -was what caused Mr. Biglin to put the hounds on the trail of the escaped -Union prisoners. “Fine place you have here. A little rough, of course, -but it’s new yet. And I presume it suits you, for, if I remember -rightly, you always were fond of shooting and riding to the hounds. Have -you any cotton?” - -“Not a bale. Not a pound.” - -Mr. Biglin looked surprised, and so did his companions. The former -looked hard at the boy for a moment, and then changed the form of his -inquiry. - -“Oh, ah!” said he. “Has your father got any?” - -“Perhaps you had better go and ask him,” replied Rodney. - -“That’s just what we did not more than an hour ago, but he wouldn’t give -us any satisfaction.” - -“Then you have good cheek to come here expecting me to give you any,” -said the young overseer, growing angry. “My father is quite competent to -attend to his own business.” - -“I suppose he is. Why, yes; of course; but what’s the use of cutting off -your nose to spite your face? We know you have cotton and plenty of it; -and since you can’t sell it yourselves——” - -“Why can’t we?” interposed Rodney. - -Mr. Biglin acted as though he had no patience with one who could ask so -foolish a question. - -“Because of your secession record,” said he. “You were in the Southern -army, and your father is a rebel.” - -“So are you,” said Rodney bluntly. - -“I may have appeared to be at times in order to save my life, but I -never was a secessionist at heart,” said Mr. Biglin loftily. “I don’t -care who hears me say it, I am for the Union now and forever, one -and—and undivided. And General Banks’ provost marshal, or whatever you -call him, knows it.” - -“If he believes it, he is the biggest dunderhead in the world and isn’t -fit for the position he holds,” exclaimed Rodney. “I know you to be a -vindictive, red-hot rebel, and since things have turned out as they -have, I am sorry I did not tell the —th Michigan’s boys that you put the -hounds on——” - -“I never did it in this wide world,” protested Mr. Biglin, trying to -look astonished, but turning white instead. - -“Never did what?” inquired Rodney. - -“Put hounds on anybody’s trail. You had better be careful what you say.” - -“You don’t show your usual good sense in talking that way,” said one of -the civilians. “Our friend has influence enough to make you suffer for -it if he feels so inclined.” - -“And I had influence enough to make his house a heap of ashes long ago -if I had felt like it,” retorted Rodney. “I can prove every word I say -any day and shall be glad of the chance.” And then he wondered what he -would do if his visitors should take him at his word. He knew that he -could not prove his assertions without mentioning the name of Mrs. -Turnbull, and that was something he could not be made to do until he had -her full and free consent. - -“You are quite at liberty to tell what you know about me and my record -during this war,” observed Mr. Biglin, as he swung himself upon his -horse and turned the animal’s head toward the bars, “and you may _have_ -to tell it, whether you want to or not.” - -With this parting shot, which he hoped would leave Rodney in a very -uncomfortable frame of mind, Mr. Biglin rode away, followed by his -friends, and passing through the bars turned up the road leading toward -the swamp in which Mr. Gray’s cotton was concealed. No sooner had they -disappeared than Ned Griffin, who was always on the watch and knew when -Rodney had visitors he did not want to see, threw down the bars and rode -into the yard. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE COTTON THIEVES. - -“Who are those men, and what did they want?” inquired Ned, as he got off -his horse at the foot of the steps. “Are they cotton traders?” - -“I wish I hadn’t gone at them quite so rough,” replied Rodney. “You know -what a red-hot rebel Biglin has always been, don’t you?” - -“I should say so. If he could have his way he’d hang every Union man in -the country.” - -“Well, he had the impudence to declare in my presence, not more than -five minutes ago, that he’d always been strong for the Union and dead -against secession, and it made me so indignant that I said things which -drove him away before he had time to make his business known. But he -told me he had questioned my father about cotton and got no -satisfaction.” - -“And did he think you would give it to him when your father would not?” -demanded Ned. - -“He and his friends seemed to think so, but I gave them to -understand—Great Scott!” - -“Hallo! What’s come over you all on a sudden?” exclaimed Ned, as Rodney -jumped to his feet and gazed anxiously up the road in the direction in -which Mr. Biglin and his party had just disappeared. - -“Who knows but I have let them go to their death?” answered Rodney. -“They don’t know that one party who tried to find that cotton was fired -upon in the woods, and I was so provoked at Biglin that I forgot to tell -them.” - -“W-h-e-w!” whistled Ned. “I never thought of it either. Well, let them -go on and find it out for themselves. They wouldn’t have believed you if -you had told them. They would have said right away that you were trying -to keep them out of the woods, and that would have made them all the -more determined to go in. I should be sorry to see any of them shot, but -now that I am here I’m going to stay with you and see the thing out.” - -Nothing could have suited Rodney Gray better. He was lonely and -depressed and felt the need of cheerful company, so he went with Ned -when the latter turned his horse into the stable-yard, and repeated to -him every word of the conversation that took place while Mr. Biglin and -his friends were at the well. - -“There’s just one thing about it,” said Ned, when he had heard the -story. “If Biglin hasn’t already got a permit to trade he is certain as -he can be that he’s going to have it, and that’s what brought him out -here. But I can’t imagine what he meant when he said you might be -obliged to tell what you know about him and his record.” - -“No more can I, but I should be glad to do it if it were not for -bringing Mrs. Turnbull’s name into the muss. Has Biglin got any money, -do you think, or does he intend to pay for his cotton in promises? If I -were in father’s place I would not take his note for a picayune, for -there’s no telling where Biglin will be at the close of the war.” - -“That’s so,” assented Ned. “But we’ll not worry about money until we see -some in prospect, will we? We haven’t lost the cotton yet.” - -And they didn’t lose it that day and neither did Mr. Biglin and his -party find it, for the very thing happened that Rodney was afraid of. He -and Ned sat on the porch for an hour or more, conversing in low tones -and waiting for and dreading something, they could scarcely have told -what, when the clatter of hoofs up the road set the hounds’ tongues in -motion and took them out to the bars in a body. It took Rodney and Ned -out there too, and when they gained the middle of the road they saw -three horses bearing down upon them with their bridles and stirrups -flying loose in the wind and their saddles empty. A little farther up -the highway were a couple of mounted men, who were bending low over the -pommels of their saddles, plying their whips as rapidly as they could -make their arms move up and down, and a few rods behind them were two -more riderless horses. Both men and animals appeared to be frightened -out of their senses. The leading horses would not stop, but dashed -frantically into the bushes by the roadside rather than permit the two -boys to capture them, and the men, as well as the horses that brought up -the rear, went by like the wind, and without in the least slackening -their headlong flight. - -“Well, I do think in my soul! What’s up?” whispered Ned, who had dodged -nimbly out of the road to escape being run down. - -“There were seven in the party, and only two have returned,” murmured -Rodney. - -“They must have seen something dreadful in there,” faltered Ned. - -“Beyond a doubt they have been fired upon, but I don’t believe they saw -anything,” answered Rodney. “They heard the whistle of bullets and -buckshot, most likely, and it scared them half to death. Come on. Let’s -hurry.” - -“Where are you going?” demanded Ned, as Rodney turned about and ran -toward the house. - -“After my horse. There are five men missing, and it may be that some of -them were shot. And even if they were unhorsed and not hurt at all, they -need help if they are as badly frightened as the two that just went by.” - -Not being a soldier, Ned Griffin was in no haste to ride into a dark -swamp to brave an invisible bushwhacker, who might be as ready to shoot -him as anybody else, but when Rodney broke into a run and started for -the stable-yard, he kept close at his heels. The two saddled their -horses with all haste, and with the eager and excited hounds for a -body-guard, rode through the bars just in time to meet the two survivors -of Mr. Biglin’s party, who had at last found courage enough to stop -their frantic steeds and come back. - -“O Rodney; this is an awful day for us!” cried one of the frightened -men. “I wish we had never heard of that cotton.” - -“The cotton is all right if you will keep your thievish hands off from -it,” replied Rodney. “What’s the matter with you, and where are Mr. -Biglin and the rest?” - -“Dead or prisoners, the last one of them. There’s a whole regiment in -there, and they opened on us before we had left the road half a mile -behind.” - -“A whole regiment of what?” - -“Indians, judging by the way they yelled, though I suppose they were -Yankee soldiers out on a scout.” - -“Not much!” exclaimed Rodney. - -“How do you know what they were? You didn’t see them.” - -“Did you?” - -“Well, no; but I heard them yell, and I heard their bullets singing, -too. The swamp is full of them.” - -“If they were Federal scouts you would have seen them,” said Rodney. -“They would have closed around you before you had a chance to draw the -revolver I see sticking out of your coat pocket.” - -“It’s empty,” said the man, producing the weapon. “I never was in a -fight before and never want to be again; but I tried to give them as -good as they sent.” - -“If you did not see any of the attacking party, what did you shoot at?” - -“I fired in the direction from which the yells sounded, and so did all -of us. As for the bullets, you couldn’t tell which way they came from, -for they clipped the trees on all sides. Where are you and Griffin -going?” - -“Into the swamp to see if we can be of use to anybody.” - -“I really wish you would, for I wouldn’t dare go back there myself. If -they were not Yankees, who were they?” - -“Didn’t you just tell me that I wasn’t there?” asked Rodney. - -“But all the same you have a pretty good idea who they were, and you -don’t want to bring yourself into trouble by shielding them.” - -“I am not trying to shield anybody,” answered Rodney. - -“Do you think they were citizens who tried to kill us because they -didn’t want us to find their cotton?” inquired the second man, who had -not spoken before. - -“If you had a fortune hidden out there in the woods, would you let -anybody steal it from you if you could help it?” asked Rodney in reply. -“I don’t think you would.” - -“But we expect every day to get a permit to trade in cotton,” said the -first speaker, “and that will give us license to take it wherever we can -find it.” - -“I reckon not,” said the boy hotly. “General Banks has a right to order -his soldiers to take cotton or anything else for the benefit of his -government or to cripple the Confederacy, but he has no shadow of a -right to license stealing by civilians, and I don’t think he will do it. -If he does, there will be some of the liveliest fighting around here he -ever heard of.” - -“If I thought those villains in there were citizens I’d——” - -“You’d what?” said Rodney, when the man paused and looked at his -companion. “Do you want to kick up another civil war right here in your -own neighborhood? Both of you own property, and if you desire to save it -you will take care what you do. If you will go into the house and sit -down for an hour or two we may be back with news of your friends.” - -“I’ll not do it,” replied the man, who had not yet recovered from his -fright, “for there’s no telling how soon those ruffians may come this -way. I will ride into Baton Rouge and send some soldiers out here.” - -So saying he and his companion wheeled their horses and galloped away, -and the two boys rode on toward the swamp. - -“Now look at you!” said Ned, when they were once more alone. “You have -paved the way for the neatest kind of a fuss. Did you notice what Mr. -Louden said about sending soldiers out here?” - -“I did; but when he tries it I think he’ll find he has not been hired to -take the command of the Department of the Gulf out of the hands of -General Banks. If Banks is anything like the generals I have served -under he’ll not take suggestions from anybody, much less a civilian. I -told the truth when I hinted that that cotton might have been protected -by citizens, for that is what Lambert and his gang are.” - -“But Louden thought you meant planters,” urged Ned. - -“I can’t help what he thought; and I noticed, too, that he suspected me -of shielding the bushwhackers, because I would not tell who they were. -Oh, I know we shall see fun before we hear the last of that cotton, but -we’ll hold fast to it as long as we can.” - -The boys rode rapidly while they talked, and in a few minutes turned off -the road and plunged into the tangled recesses of as gloomy a piece of -timber as could have been found anywhere—just the finest place in the -world for an ambuscade, as Rodney remarked when he led the way into it. -They could not see ten feet in any direction, but they heard something -before they had gone a mile into the swamp. The hounds gave tongue -savagely and dashed away in a body, a wild shriek of terror arose from a -thicket close in front of Rodney’s horse, and in the next instant up -bobbed Mr. Biglin. But he didn’t show any of the courage of which he had -boasted. His face was very white, and his empty hands were held high -above his head. He had as fair a view of Rodney’s face as he ever had in -his life, but was so badly frightened that he did not recognize him. - -“Don’t you see that I surrender?” he yelled. “Call off your -bloodhounds.” - -[Illustration: MR. BIGLIN SURRENDERS.] - -“All right,” said the boy, who rather enjoyed the spectacle. “The dogs -won’t hurt you. Come out of the bushes and tell us all about it.” - -“O Rodney, is that you?” exclaimed Mr. Biglin, but he wasn’t quite sure -of it, and didn’t think it safe to lower his uplifted hands. “Where are -they? They have been beating the woods in every direction to find me.” - -“They? Who?” - -“I am sure I don’t know, but there’s a regiment of them. They shot down -every horse in the party before we knew there was danger near, and then -set out to hunt us at their leisure. Have you seen them? Where are they -now?” - -“Come out and tell us where the other four are,” said Rodney, who had by -this time satisfied himself that Mr. Biglin had escaped uninjured. “Your -horses are all right, and so are Miles and Louden. Ned and I had a short -talk with them not more than an hour ago.” - -“I am surprised to hear it,” said Mr. Biglin, with a long-drawn sigh of -relief. “I was sure they had all been killed.” He put down his hands and -came out of his concealment as he spoke, but he stepped cautiously as if -afraid of making a noise, and cast timid glances on all sides of him. -“It’s just awful to be shot at in that cold-blooded way, isn’t it? I -don’t see how you stood it so long in the army.” - -“Do you imagine that I stayed there and let the Yanks pop at me because -I thought it was funny?” demanded Rodney. “I stayed so long for the -reason that I couldn’t help myself. Miles and Louden have gone on to the -city, and I reckon your horses must be there by this time if they kept -on running.” - -“And did the horses escape also?” said Mr. Biglin, who looked as though -he didn’t know whether to believe it or not. “It’s really wonderful how -any of us came out alive.” - -Instead of replying Rodney threw back his head and shouted “Hey-youp!” -so loudly that the woods rang with the sound. - -“What made you do that?” said Mr. Biglin in a frightened whisper, at the -same time backing toward the thicket from which he had just emerged. “Do -you want to show the enemy where we are?” - -“No; but I want to let your four friends know where we are.” - -He raised his war-whoop a second time, following it up by calling out -the names of the missing men and telling them to come on, for there was -nothing to be afraid of. There was a long silence—so long that Rodney -began to fear the party had become widely separated during the hurried -stampede of its members; but after a while a faint answering shout came -to his ears, then another and another, and finally he could hear the -missing men making their way through the bushes in his direction. When -they came up it was found that not one of them had been injured by the -shower of bullets which had whistled about their ears thicker than any -hailstones _they_ ever saw, but they were all pale and nervous, and -begged Rodney and Ned to take them out of the woods by the shortest and -easiest route. Seeing that two of them were almost ready to drop with -fear or exhaustion, the boys gave them their horses and led the way on -foot. Not a word was said until they found themselves safe in the road, -and then Mr. Biglin recovered his courage and the use of his tongue. - -“Quite a thrilling experience for men who do not claim to be fighters,” -said he, taking off his hat and wiping away the sweat which stood on his -forehead in big drops. “And a most wonderful escape for all of us. If -I’d had the least suspicion that such a thing was going to happen, you -wouldn’t have caught me going into that swamp. But the men who fired on -us, whoever they are, must be punished for their audacity. They couldn’t -have been Union troops, for as soon as we recovered from the -astonishment and panic into which we were thrown by their first volley, -we shouted to them that we had a permit from General Banks, but it -didn’t do any good.” - -“It did harm, though,” remarked one of his companions, “for I am -positive that their yells grew louder and that the bullets came much -thicker than before. Have you boys any idea who they were?” - -This was a question that neither of them intended to answer if he could -help it. If they said what they thought, Mr. Biglin would carry their -story straight to the Federal provost marshal, or to someone else in -authority in Baton Rouge, and it might lead to something that would end -in bloodshed. Lambert’s actions said as plainly as words that if he -couldn’t profit by the sale of that cotton himself, nobody else should -lay hands upon it, and having driven away two parties who had tried to -discover its hiding-place, it was barely possible that he might have -gained courage enough to resist soldiers, if any were sent into the -swamp to drive him out. Lambert was showing himself a good friend just -now, however disagreeable and dangerous he might prove to be by and by, -and Rodney did not want General Banks to send troopers after him. When -the Union man he was waiting for “turned up,” the general might rid the -settlement of Lambert’s presence as soon as he pleased. - -“If I didn’t know that Tom Randolph’s company of Home Guards was broken -up, I should blame them for this day’s work,” said one of Mr. Biglin’s -companions. - -“How do you know the company was broken up?” inquired Rodney. - -“Why, I heard they were all conscripted long ago.” - -“That may be; but they didn’t all go to Camp Pinckney. Some of them took -to the woods.” - -“But even if they would fire upon their old friends and neighbors, which -isn’t probable, they have no interest in protecting the cotton in the -swamp, for they don’t own a dollar’s worth of it.” - -“I don’t care who they are,” said Mr. Biglin. “They will find that the -arm of our government is long enough to reach them wherever they hide -themselves.” - -“_Our_ government!” repeated Rodney. “Which one do you mean?” - -“There is but one, young man, and you rebels can’t break it up, try as -hard as you will.” - -It made Rodney angry to hear Mr. Biglin talk in this strain, but before -he could frame a suitable rejoinder the planter switched him off on -another track by inquiring: - -“Now, how are we to get to the city?” - -“I am sure I don’t know unless you walk,” answered Rodney. - -“Can’t you raise five saddle nags on your place?” - -“No, sir. And if I could, I wouldn’t let them go inside the Yankee -lines. I’d never see them again.” - -“I give you my word that I will take the best of care of them.” - -“You couldn’t take any sort of care of them. In less than five minutes -after you reached the city my horses would be gone, and when you found -them again, if you ever did, they would have some company’s brand on -them. I know what I am talking about, for I have been a cavalryman -myself. I have known regiments in the same brigade to steal from one -another.” - -“In that case wouldn’t the brand show where the horse belonged?” - -“It might if it was let alone, but it is easy to change it. I stole a -horse from company _I_ once, and when he was found in my possession a -week or two afterward, there was my company letter _D_ on his flank as -plain as the nose on your face.” - -“And didn’t you have to give him up to his rightful owner?” - -“Course not. I said if he wasn’t my horse, how came that letter _D_ -branded on him, and that settled it. Won’t you go in and rest a few -minutes?” - -As Rodney said this he waved his hand toward the house, whose front door -stood invitingly open, but Mr. Biglin replied that he did not care to -sit down until he was out of sight of the swamp, and beyond the reach of -the terrible Home Guards who made their hiding-place there. So he and -his companions walked on, and Rodney and Ned turned into the yard. - -“_Our_ government!” Rodney said over and over again while they were at -the well watering their horses. “He’d give everything he’s got if he -could see it broken up this minute.” - -“Of course he would, but he and his kind stand higher with the Federals -than you do,” replied Ned. “Now, all we can do is to possess our souls -in patience and wait for the next act on the programme. Let’s see if Mr. -Biglin’s government will send soldiers to protect him in his -cotton-stealing.” - -It was very easy for Ned to talk of waiting patiently, but it was a hard -thing to do. He and Rodney looked anxiously for the appearance of the -cavalry that Mr. Biglin and one of his friends had threatened to send -against the men who had driven them from the swamp, but they never came. -They saw and talked with a good many troopers, who drank all the milk -they could find and asked about the Johnnies that were supposed to be -“snooping around” in that part of the country, but to the boys’ great -relief they did not say a word about cotton or Home Guards, and Rodney -hoped he had seen the last of Mr. Biglin. He was ready to make terms -with a genuine Yankee who would offer him sixty cents a pound for his -father’s cotton, but he wanted nothing to do with converted rebels. He -and Ned made several trips to the city, bringing out each time some -things that were not contraband of war, and some others that would have -caused the prompt confiscation of his whole wagon load if they had been -discovered, but his friend Mr. Martin, on whom he relied for information -of every sort, could not give him any advice on the subject that was -nearest to his heart. - -“The city is full of men who are working their level best to get -permits,” said he, “but I am told it takes lots of influence and a clean -record to get them.” - -“Then Biglin will never have the handling of my father’s cotton,” said -Rodney with a sigh of satisfaction. “His record is as bad as mine.” - -“Much worse,” answered Mr. Martin, “for you never went back on your -friends and became a spy and informer. That is just what that man Biglin -has done, but I have reason to think he isn’t making much at it. Someone -has been telling true stories about him, and the provost marshal knows -his history like a book. O Rodney, why didn’t you keep out of the rebel -army and proclaim yourself a Union man at the start, no matter whether -you were or not. You would have plain sailing now.” - -Rodney laughed and said it was too late to think of that; and besides, -why didn’t Mr. Martin proclaim himself a Union man at the start? Perhaps -he wouldn’t have been so closely watched. - -Rodney saw and talked with Lambert about three times a week, but the -ex-Home Guard did not volunteer any information regarding his doings in -the swamp, and the boy took care not to ask him for any. He never -inquired how or where the man lived, how many companions he had, whether -or not they ever held communication with their friends in Mooreville—in -fact, Lambert more than once complained to Ned Griffin that Rodney did -not seem to care any more for the conscripts who were watching night and -day to protect his father’s cotton than he did for the wild hogs he was -shooting for his winter’s supply of bacon. When Rodney first began -hunting these hogs it was with the expectation that every pound of meat -he secured would have to be turned over to the agents of the Confederate -government as the price of Ned Griffin’s exemption; but when General -Banks began massing his army at Baton Rouge with a view of operating -against Port Hudson, and the country roundabout had been cleared of -rebel soldiers and conscript officers, Rodney hadn’t troubled himself -much about the exemption bacon. He was glad to believe he would not be -called on to pay it. - -Affairs went on in a very unsatisfactory way until the middle of -February before any event that was either exciting or interesting -occurred to break the monotony, if we except one single thing—the -Emancipation Proclamation. Of course the news that the slaves had been -freed created something of an excitement at first, especially among such -men as Lambert and his outlaws who never had the price of a pickaninny -in their pockets, but it had little effect upon Rodney Gray and his -father, because they had been looking for it for six months. In -September President Lincoln told the Southern people very plainly that -if they did not lay down their arms and return to their allegiance he -would declare their slaves free, and now he had kept his promise. Rodney -remembered how he had laughed at his cousin Marcy, and how angry he was -at him when the latter declared that if the South tried to break up the -government she would lose all her negroes, but now he saw that Marcy was -right. More than that, he knew that the North had the power and the will -to enforce the proclamation. Mr. Martin gave him a copy of it and he -took it home with him, intending to read it to his negroes; but the news -reached the plantation before he did, and he found the field-hands -gathered about the kitchen waiting for him. - -“Is Moster Linkum done sot we black ones all free?” they demanded in -chorus, as Rodney rode among them. - -“Who told you anything about it?” he asked, in reply. - -“De cutes’ little catbird you ebber see done sot hisself up dar on de -ridge-pole, an’ sung it to we black ones,” answered the driver; and then -they all shouted and laughed at the top of their voices. “Is we free -sure ’nough?” added the driver. - -“That depends upon whether you are or not,” answered Rodney, taking the -proclamation from his pocket and holding it aloft so that all could see -it. “In the first place, who owns this part of Louisiana right around -here? In whose possession is it?” - -“De Yankees, bress the Lawd,” said the negroes, with one voice. - -“Then you are not free, and Mr. Lincoln says so.” - -“Why, Moss Rodney, please sar, how come dat?” stammered the driver, and -all the black faces around him took on a look of deep disappointment and -sorrow. - -“I have Mr. Lincoln’s own words for it,” replied Rodney. “This paper -says, in effect, that the slaves are free in all States in rebellion, -except in such parts as are held by the armies of the United States. Do -the Yankees around here belong to the armies of the United States, and -are they holding this country—this part of the State? Then you will not -be free until the rebels come in and drive them out.” - -“O Lawd! O Lawd!” moaned the driver. “Den we uns won’t nebber be free. -Dem rebels won’t luf us go.” - -“That’s what I think, so you had better dig out while you have the -chance. You are bound to have your freedom some day, and you might as -well take it now. Don’t go off like thieves in the night, but come up -here boldly and shake hands with me as you would if you were going back -to the home plantation. And when you get sick of the Yankees and their -ways, come back, and I will treat you as well as I ever did. Bob, you -had better go for one. You don’t earn your salt here.” - -This was all Rodney had to say regarding the Emancipation Proclamation, -but it was more than his darkies bargained for. While they were glad to -know that they were free men and women, they were not glad to see Rodney -so perfectly willing to let them go. He didn’t care a snap whether they -went or stayed, and that made them all the more anxious to stay where -they were sure of getting plenty to eat and clothes to wear. Bob and one -other worthless negro took Rodney at his word, and left the plantation -that very afternoon, but they did not go to the house to bid him -good-by. They packed their bundles in secret, and slipped away “like -thieves in the night”; but, before they had been gone two hours, Lambert -marched them back to the bars at the muzzle of his rifle. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - THE MAN HE WANTED TO SEE. - -“What in the world did you bring those useless fellows back here for?” -was the way in which Rodney Gray welcomed Lambert when he marched the -two negroes up to the porch where he was sitting. “I was in hopes I had -seen the last of them.” - -“Why, dog-gone it, they’re yourn, an’ I jest want to see if what they -have been tellin’ me is the truth,” said Lambert in a surprised tone. “I -found ’em pikin’ along the highway with them packs onto their backs an’ -no passes into their pockets——” - -“Don’t need no passes no mo’,” interrupted Bob in a surly voice. “I am -jes as free as you be, Mistah Lambert.” - -“Jest listen at the nigger’s imperdence!” cried Lambert, astonished and -angry because Rodney did not at once take Bob to task for his freedom of -speech. “This is what comes of havin’ so many Yankees prowlin’ about the -country.” - -“That’s about the size of it. Bob is as free as you or I, and here is -the paper that says so,” declared Rodney, taking a printed copy of the -proclamation from his pocket. - -“Who writ that there paper, an’ where did you get it?” - -“The city is flooded with copies of it, and the first scouting party -that rides through here will scatter it right and left among the -negroes. President Lincoln wrote it.” - -“What right’s he got to do anything of the sort? The niggers don’t -belong to him.” - -“Well, he’s done it, any way, and you and your friends will have to come -out of the swamp and go to work if you hope to get anything to eat. My -father says we can’t help ourselves, and that’s why I talked to Bob and -the rest the way I did a while ago.” - -“But I aint agreein’ to no such arrangement,” replied Lambert, who could -scarcely have felt more aggrieved and insulted if he had been the -largest slaveholder in the State. - -“Nobody asked my father if he would agree to it, either; but he’ll have -to take war as it comes, and so will you and all of us. The blacks are -lost to us and you will have to go to work; I don’t see any way out of -it. You might as well turn your prisoners loose and let them go among -the Yanks if they want to.” - -The ignorant Lambert could not yet understand the situation, for it took -him a long time to get new things through his head, and this was the -first he had heard of the Emancipation Proclamation. He looked hard at -Rodney to see if he was in earnest, then swung his clubbed rifle in the -air and shouted “Git!” at the top of his voice; whereupon the frightened -darkies took to their heels and disappeared in an instant. But they did -not retreat in the direction of the road. They made the best of their -way to their cabins in the quarter and hid themselves there. When they -were out of sight Lambert put his rifle under his arm and pulled out his -cob pipe. - -“I’m more of a secessioner now nor I ever was before,” said he. “We uns -have just got to whop in this war, kase if we don’t our niggers will be -gone, an’ where’ll I get a job of overseein’?” - -“You’ll never be an overseer again,” answered Rodney. “You will have to -go into the field and hoe cotton and cane yourself.” - -“Not by no means I won’t,” said Lambert fiercely. “That there is -nigger’s work, an’ I can’t seem to stoop to it. It don’t make no sort of -difference to rich folks like you how the war ends, kase you’ve got -cotton, an’ cotton is money these times. I aint got nary thing.” - -Lambert watched Rodney out of the corners of his eyes while he was -applying a lighted match to the tobacco with which he had filled his -pipe, but the boy had nothing to say. He thought there was a threat -hidden under Lambert’s last words. - -“There’s one thing about it,” the latter continued after a little pause, -“if we get whopped I won’t be the only poor man there is in Louisiany, -tell your folks.” - -With this parting shot he turned his mule about and rode out of the -yard. And Rodney, angry as he was, let him go. He knew now just what he -had to expect from the ex-Home Guard and made the mental resolution -that, if his father would consent, he would be prepared to make a -prisoner of Lambert the next time he met him. - -“Something of the sort must be done, and before long, too,” thought -Rodney when he went to bed that night, “or the first thing we know our -cotton will go the way Mr. Randolph’s did. If the cotton was mine I -would promise to hand Lambert a few hundred dollars as soon as it was -sold, but then he is so treacherous I couldn’t put any faith in his -promises. I wish he had kept away from here to-day. His visit worried me -more than Lincoln’s proclamation.” - -Rodney intended to go home and lay the matter before his father as soon -as he had seen the hands fairly at work in the morning; but just as he -arose from his breakfast Mr. Gray rode into the yard, accompanied by a -stranger whose appearance and actions attracted Rodney’s attention at -once and amused him not a little. He sat on a bare-back mule (Mr. Gray’s -fine horses and saddles had disappeared with Breckenridge’s men), with -his shoulders humped up, his head drawn down between them, his arms -stiffened and his hands braced firmly against the mule’s withers, and -his broad back bent in the form of an arch. He wore a blue flannel suit, -a black slouch hat, a flowing neck-handkerchief tied low on his breast, -and finer shoes and stockings than Rodney himself had been in the habit -of wearing of late. He had a sharp blue eye, a bronzed face, a heavy -blond mustache, and gazed about him with the air of one who might know a -thing or two, even if he didn’t know how to ride a mule bare-back. -Rodney hastened down the steps to welcome his father, and then looked -inquiringly at the young man in blue, who placed his clenched hands on -his hips and stared hard at Rodney. - - “De oberseer he gib us trouble, - An’ he dribe us round a spell; - We’ll lock him up in de smokehouse cellar, - Wid de key frown in de well. - De whip is los’, de hand-cuff broken, - An’ ole moster’ll have his pay; - He’s ole ’nough, big ’nough, an’ oughter knowed better - Dan to went an’ run away,” - -sang the stranger in a melodious tenor voice. “Hallo, Johnny!” - -“Hallo, yourself,” replied Rodney. He was so astonished at this strange -greeting that he did not know what else to say. He gazed earnestly at -the singer, but there was no smile of recognition under the blond -mustache, though the blue eyes twinkled merrily. Then he looked toward -his father for an explanation, but that gentleman, who had by this time -dismounted, stood with his folded arms resting on his mule’s back, and -had not a word of explanation to offer. - -“You are a very nice-looking rebel, I must say,” were the visitor’s next -words. - -“I am aware of it,” returned Rodney; “but they are the best I’ve got to -my back.” - -“I was speaking of you and not of your clothes,” said the stranger -hastily. “My good mother away up in North Carolina long ago taught me——” - -“Jack! O Jack!” shouted Rodney joyfully. With one jump he reached his -cousin’s side, and seizing his outstretched hand in both his own, fairly -dragged him to the ground. - -“Easy, easy!” cautioned Mr. Gray. “That’s Jack, but he isn’t quite as -sound as he was the last time you met him.” - -“I am overjoyed to see you after so long a separation,” said Rodney, in -some degree moderating the energy of his hand-shaking. “How did you -leave Marcy and his mother? and has Marcy always been true to his -colors, as he so often declared he would be, no matter what happened? -How came you here when nobody dreamed of seeing you, and where have you -been to get hurt?” - -“I have been offsetting your work,” replied Jack, rolling alongside -Rodney, sailor fashion, as the latter slipped an arm through his own and -led him to the porch. “You worked fifteen months to make this unholy -rebellion successful, and I worked sixteen months and more to put it -down; so you might as well have stayed at home with your mother.” - -“Then you have been at sea?” exclaimed Rodney. - -“Correct. There’s where I belong, you know. And I heard in a roundabout -way that Marcy has had a brief experience, also. He was pilot on one of -our gunboats during the fights at Roanoke Island, but where he is now I -haven’t the least idea. It is a long time since I got a word from home,” -said the sailor sadly. “I am on my way there now, and figuring to make -some money by the trip. I am dead broke.” - -“Haven’t you a discharge?” - -“A sort of one, but nary cent of cash.” - -“How does that come? Why didn’t your paymaster settle with you when he -handed over your discharge?” - -“Well, the first one couldn’t very handily, because he was captured, -together with his money and accounts; and the second one couldn’t do it -either, for he was captured too, and his money and books went to the -bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, or into the hands of that pirate Semmes, -which amounts to the same thing.” - -“Why, Jack, what do you mean? You must have been in a fight.” - -“That was what I thought when I found myself stranded on the deck of a -strange ship without a bag or hammock to bless myself with, and no mess -number,” said Jack, with a laugh. “My first vessel, the _Harriet Lane_, -was captured at Galveston on New Year’s Day, and my second, the -_Hatteras_, was sunk on the night of the 11th by the _Alabama_. Yes, I -have been in two or three fights.” - -“Of course we heard about the two you mention, but never once thought of -your being there,” said Rodney. “Were you shot?” - -“Oh, no. I was struck on the shoulder by something, don’t know what, -when the gunboat _Westfield_ was blown up by her crew to keep her from -falling into the hands of the rebels. If I hadn’t been a good swimmer I -should now be rusticating at Tyler, Texas, or some other Southern -watering-place.” - -“Well, now, take this big chair—you have grown to be a pretty good-sized -fellow since I last saw you—and settle back at your ease and tell us all -about it,” said Rodney. “What do you mean when you say you are figuring -on making some money this trip? And if you are dead broke, where did you -get that blue suit? They don’t issue that style of clothes to the -foremast hands in the navy, do they? Or are you an officer?” - -“One at a time,” replied Jack. “One at a time, and your questions will -last a heap longer. I am a trader.” - -“O Jack,” exclaimed Rodney, who was all excitement in a moment. “Then -you are just the man we are looking for. Have you a permit?” - -“Well, I—you see—that is to say, no; I haven’t.” - -“Then you are not the man we want to see at all,” said Rodney in a -disappointed tone. “You can’t trade without it.” - -“I am painfully aware of the fact. And perhaps you wonder how I am going -to buy cotton when I am dead broke, don’t you? I have influential -friends; and thereby hangs a tale as long as a yardarm.” - -“Suppose you leave off bothering your cousin now and go home with us,” -suggested Mr. Gray, when he saw that Rodney was settling himself to -listen to a lengthy story. “We haven’t seen you at the house very often -of late, and you are almost as much of a stranger to your mother as you -would be if you lived in Vicksburg. We haven’t heard all Jack’s war -history yet, and perhaps he will give it to us to-night after supper.” - -Rodney was glad to agree to the proposition, and at his request Ned -Griffin was invited to make one of the party, for he was sure to be one -of the most interested listeners. In fact the Grays had come to look -upon Ned as one of the family. Jack’s story was not a long one, and you -ought to hear it, in order to know how he happened to “turn up” there in -Mooreville when, as Rodney said, no one dreamed of seeing him, and we -will tell it in our own way, leaving out a good deal of what Jack called -“sailor lingo.” - -The last time we saw Jack Gray was so long ago that you have perhaps -forgotten that we ever mentioned his name. Instead of following in the -footsteps of his father and becoming a planter, Jack had sailed the blue -water from his earliest boyhood, and was the elder brother of our Union -hero, Marcy Gray, who was taken from his home at dead of night by a -party of blue-jackets to serve as pilot on Captain Benton’s gunboat -during the fight at Roanoke Island. Jack was Union all over, and, even -when it was dangerous for him to do so, could hardly refrain from -expressing his contempt for those who were trying to break up the -government. When we first brought him to your notice he had already had -some thrilling experience with the enemies of the flag under which he -had sailed all over the world, his vessel, the brig _Sabine_, having -been one of the first to fall into the power of the Confederate cruiser -_Sumter_. - -If you have read “Marcy, the Blockade-Runner,” you will remember that -the _Sabine_ was under the command of men who did not intend to remain -prisoners a minute longer than they were obliged to; that the rebel -banner had no sooner been hoisted at the peak in the place of their own -flag, than they began laying plans to haul it down again, and that the -captured brig was in the hands of the prize crew not more than twelve -hours. Captain Semmes could not burn her as he would have been glad to -do, for it so happened that she had a neutral cargo on board. The sugar -and molasses with which her hold was filled were consigned to an English -port in the island of Jamaica, and if he had destroyed it by applying -the torch to the _Sabine_, the rebel commander would surely have brought -his government into trouble with England. That was something he could -not afford to do, so he determined to take his prize into the nearest -Cuban port, in the hope that the Spanish authorities would permit him to -land the cargo and sell the brig for the benefit of the Confederate -government. There is every reason to believe that he would have been -disappointed, for Spain was too friendly to the United States to give -aid and comfort to her enemies; but before the matter could be put to -the test the _Sabine’s_ men, with Jack Gray at their head, quietly -overpowered the rebel prize crew that had been put aboard of her and -filled away for Key West, which was the nearest Federal naval station. -When they arrived there they turned their five prisoners over to the -commandant and set sail for Boston, taking with them the valuable cargo -that ought to have gone to Jamaica. When off the coast of North Carolina -they had a short but rather exciting race with Captain Beardsley’s -privateer _Osprey_, on which Marcy Gray, Sailor Jack’s brother, was -serving as pilot; but the _Sabine_ was too swift to be overhauled, and -her skipper too wide-awake to be deceived by the sight of the friendly -flag which their pursuers gave to the breeze in the hope of alluring the -defenceless merchantman to her destruction. - -How the brig’s owners accounted for the cargo of molasses and sugar they -so unexpectedly found on their hands Jack Gray neither knew nor cared, -for his first and only thought was to reach home and see how his mother -and Marcy were getting on. In this the master of the _Sabine_ stood his -friend by securing for him a berth as second officer on board the fleet -schooner _West Wind_, which, while claiming to be an honest coaster, was -really engaged in a contraband trade that would have made her a lawful -prize to the first Federal blockader that happened to overhaul and -search her. Jack knew all about it and understood the risk he was -taking; but he accepted the position when it was offered, because he -could not see that there was any other way for him to get home. Although -the schooner’s cargo was consigned to a well-known American firm in -Havana, the owners did not mean that it should go there at all. They -intended that it should be run through the blockade and sold at Newbern. -Captain Frazier explained all this to Jack, and though the latter did -not believe in giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the Old Flag, he -not only accepted the position of second mate and pilot of the _West -Wind_, but also invested two-thirds of his hard-earned wages in quinine, -calomel, and other medicines of which the Confederacy stood much in -need, and sold them in Newbern so as to clear about twelve hundred -dollars. But it wasn’t money that Jack Gray cared for just then. He -wanted to see his mother and Marcy. - -The enterprise was successful. Captain Frazier ran down the coast -without falling in with any of the blockaders, Sailor Jack took the -schooner through Oregon Inlet without the least trouble, the -Confederates were ready to pay gold for her cargo, and then Captain -Frazier loaded with cotton for Bermuda, while his pilot, with one of the -_West Wind’s_ foremast hands for company, set out for home on foot. We -have told how he came like a thief in the night and aroused his brother -by tossing pebbles against his bedroom window, and what he did during -the short time he remained under his mother’s roof. We have also -described some of the exciting incidents that happened when Marcy took -him out to the blockading fleet in the _Fairy Belle_—how they ran foul -of Captain Beardsley’s schooner as they were passing through Crooked -Inlet, and were afterward hailed by a steam launch, whose commanding -officer would have given everything he possessed if he could have -brought that same schooner within range of his howitzer for about two -minutes—but they found one of the cruisers, the _Harriet Lane_, without -much trouble and Sailor Jack remained aboard of her, while Marcy filled -away for home. And we may add that the latter never heard from his -brother again until he read in the papers that his vessel had been -captured at Galveston. - -Bright and early the next morning, after a short interview with Captain -Wainwright, the commander of the _Harriet Lane_, Jack Gray was shipped -with due formality and rated as “seaman” on the books of the paymaster, -who ordered his steward to serve him two suits of clothes and the -necessary small stores. Ten minutes afterward, having rigged himself out -in blue and tossed his citizen’s suit through one of the ports into the -sea, Jack was working with the crew as handily as though he had been -attached to that particular vessel all his life. Of course he had never -been drilled with small-arms or in handling big guns; but being quick to -learn, his mates never had reason to call him a lubber, nor was he ever -sent to the mast for awkwardness or neglect of duty. - -The _Harriet Lane_ had been built for the revenue service, and was -considered to be the finest vessel in it. She was small, not more than -five hundred tons burden, but she was swift; and if a suspicious craft -appeared in the offing, the _Lane_, oftener than any other steamer, was -sent out to see who she was and what business she had there. -Consequently the life Jack led aboard of her was as full of excitement -and active duty as he could have wished it to be. Much to Marcy’s regret -she took no part in the fight at Roanoke Island. Not being intended for -so heavy work, she remained outside to watch for blockade runners, and -so Marcy never had a chance to see how his brother looked in a blue -uniform. - -Not long after that they were still farther separated. For weeks there -had been rumors that the government intended to make an effort to -recapture some of the ports on the Gulf of Mexico that had been seized -by the Confederates; but whether New Orleans, Galveston, or Mobile was -to be taken first, or whether the _Lane_ was to have a hand in it, -nobody knew. The last question was answered when all the vessels that -could be spared from the Atlantic blockading fleet, Jack’s among the -number, were ordered to report to Flag-officer Farragut at Ship Island -in the Gulf of Mexico. On the way they picked up a large fleet of mortar -schooners which had been ordered to rendezvous at Key West, and reached -their destination six weeks in advance of the army of General Butler, -which was to co-operate with them in the capture of New Orleans. But the -time was not passed in idleness. They ran down to the mouths of the -Mississippi, and worked a full month to get their vessels over the bar -into the river. They found but fifteen feet of water there, while many -of the fleet drew from three to seven feet more, so that, when they had -been lightened almost to the bare hull, the tugs had to pull them -through a foot or more of mud. It was tiresome and discouraging work, -but the same patience, determination, and skill that carried -Flag-officer Goldsborough safely through the gale at Hatteras enabled -Farragut to overcome the obstructions at the mouths of the Mississippi, -and on the 8th of April five powerful steam sloops, two large sailing -vessels, seventeen gunboats, and twenty-one mortar schooners were fairly -over the bar and ready for business. But three more weary weeks passed -before active operations were begun, during which Farragut and Butler -met at Ship Island and decided upon a plan of operations, and the river -up to the forts was carefully surveyed, so that the Union commanders, by -simply looking at the compasses in their binnacles, could tell how far -off and in what direction each fort and battery lay, and how they ought -to elevate and train their guns in order to reach them. Of course the -rebels were not idle while these surveys were being made, and protested -against them with every cannon they could bring to bear upon the boats -and men engaged in the work; but “in spite of all dangers and -difficulties the surveys were accomplished and maps prepared showing the -bearing and distance from every point on the river to the flagstaffs in -the forts.” - -On the morning of the 17th the rebels began the fight in earnest by -sending down a fire-raft that had been saturated with tar and -turpentine; but a boat which put off from the _Iroquois_ towed the raft -ashore, where it burned itself out, doing no harm to anybody. Then the -mortar schooners took a hand and pounded Fort Jackson with their -thirteen-inch shells until they set it on fire and destroyed all the -clothing and commissary stores it contained. Then the barrier which -extended straight across the river from Fort Jackson, and was formed of -dismantled vessels securely anchored and bound together with heavy -chains, was cut, and Farragut was ready to perform the feat that made -him famous the world over and placed him where he rightfully belonged—at -the head of our navy. He ran by the forts with the loss of but a single -vessel, the _Varuna_, which was the swiftest and weakest in the -squadron. Having been built for a merchantman she was not intended for -such work as Farragut put upon her, but she won the honors of the fight -before she went down, having helped sink or disable six of the rebel -fleet, any one of which was fairly her match. - -The _Lane_ took no part in this fight, but remained behind to guard -Porter’s mortar schooners, which dropped down the river as soon as -Farragut’s boats had passed the forts and closed with the Confederate -fleet which came gallantly down the river to meet them. - -“But our position was one of great danger, and we knew it,” said Sailor -Jack at this point in his narrative. “There were at least fifteen -vessels in the rebel fleet, two of which, the _Louisiana_ and -_Manassas_, the former mounting sixteen heavy guns, were the main -reliance of the enemy, and supposed to be able to deal with us as the -_Merrimac_ dealt with the _Cumberland_ in Hampton Roads. But we never -saw the _Louisiana_ until the thing was over, although we afterward -learned that she had been assigned an important position in the fight. -The other iron-clad was on hand, and began operations by shoving a -fire-raft against the flagship, which ran aground in trying to escape -from her. But instead of coming on down the river and destroying our -mortar fleet, as she could have done very easily, for such wooden boats -as the _Lane_ could not have stood against her five minutes, she rounded -to and went back after Farragut, who ordered the _Mississippi_ to sink -her. She didn’t succeed in doing that, but she riddled the _Manassas_ -with a couple of broadsides, set her on fire, and let her float down the -river with the current. I tell you I was frightened when I saw that -ugly-looking thing bearing down on us. We opened fire on her, and in a -few minutes she blew up and went down out of sight.” - -Shortly after this, Jack went on to relate, one of the most important -and impressive incidents of the seven days’ fight took place on board -the _Harriet Lane_. When Porter received a note from Flag-officer -Farragut stating that he had passed the forts in safety, destroying the -Confederate flotilla on the way, and was on the point of starting for -New Orleans, and suggesting that possibly the forts might surrender if -summoned to do so, Porter sent a boat ashore to see what the rebels -thought about it; and the answer was that they didn’t acknowledge that -they had been whipped yet. Although the forts had been battered out of -shape by the shower of heavy shells that had been rained into them, the -garrisons could still find shelter in the bomb-proofs, and if it was all -the same to Porter they would hold out a while longer. But the men who -had to fight the guns did not look at it that way. They were ready to -give up, for they knew they would have to do it sooner or later; and -when Porter began another bombardment, which he did without loss of -time, the men began deserting by scores, and the next day the rebel -commander hauled down his flag. - -“These battles were all won by the navy,” said Jack proudly, “and -everything on and along the river was destroyed by or surrendered to the -navy, for the soldiers didn’t come up till the trouble was all over. We -went up with our little fleet and anchored abreast of Fort Jackson. A -boat was sent ashore, and when it came back it brought General Duncan -and two or three other high-up rebel officers, who did not act at all -like badly beaten men, and they were received aboard the _Lane_ and -taken into the cabin, where the terms of capitulation were to be drawn -up and signed. They hadn’t been gone more than five minutes when some of -the crew happened to look up the river, and there was that big -iron-clad, the _Louisiana_, bearing down on us, a mass of flames. Then I -was frightened again, I tell you. Mounting, as she did, sixteen heavy -guns, she must have had all of twenty thousand pounds of powder in her -magazine, and what would become of us if she blew up in the midst of our -fleet? There wouldn’t be many of us left to tell the story. It was an -act of treachery on the part of the rebel naval officers which Farragut -was prompt to punish by sending them North as close prisoners, while the -army officers were given their freedom under parole.” - -“Did she do any damage when she blew up?” asked Rodney, who was deeply -interested in the story. - -“Not any to speak of,” replied Jack, “because the explosion took place -before she got among us. Of course word was sent below as soon as we -caught sight of her, and the order was promptly signalled to every -vessel in sight to play out her cable to the bitter end, and stand by to -sheer as wide as possible from the blazing iron-clad as she drifted -down; but we had hardly set to work to obey the order when there was a -wave in the air, which I felt as plainly as I ever felt a wave of water -pass over my head; the _Lane_ heeled over two streaks, everything loose -on deck was jostled about, and then there was a rumbling sound, not half -as loud as you would think it ought to be, and the danger was over. The -_Louisiana_ blew up before she got to us, and that was a lucky thing for -the _Harriet Lane_.” - -And Jack might have added that it was a lucky thing for the whole -country, for the commander, Porter, who was in the _Lane’s_ cabin with -the rebel officers, was afterward the fighting Admiral Porter, who -commanded the Mississippi squadron. His death at that crisis would have -been a national loss. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - SAILOR JACK IN ACTION. - -The city of New Orleans surrendered to Flag-officer Farragut, who held -it under his guns until General Butler came up with his soldiers to take -it off his hands; and then he kept on up the river with a portion of his -victorious fleet to effect a junction with the Mississippi squadron at -Vicksburg, while the remainder of his vessels, one of which was the -_Harriet Lane_, sailed away to hoist the flag of the Union over the port -of Galveston, and break up the blockade running that was going on there. -This force appeared before Galveston in May, but no earnest efforts were -made to compel a surrender until October; and even then no serious -attempt was made to take and hold the city. The commanding naval officer -was content to establish a close blockade of the port, and nothing could -have suited Jack Gray better. Galveston was a noted place for blockade -runners, and it was seldom indeed that one escaped when the _Lane_ -sighted and started in pursuit of her. Every capture meant prize money. - -“We made the most of the money that was made off that port last summer, -but of course we didn’t get it all ourselves,” explained Jack. "If you -are cruising by yourself and make a capture while another ship is within -signalling distance of you, the law says you must divide with that ship, -although she may not have done a thing to help you take the prize; but -if you belong to a squadron, every vessel in it has a share in every -prize you make. Fortunately for us there were but four ships in our -squadron off Galveston, and every time we took a prize somebody would -sing: - - “‘Here’s enough for four of us; - Thank Heaven there’s no more of us— - God save the king.’” - -Things went on in this satisfactory way until General Banks took command -at New Orleans in December, and sent a regiment to assist the naval -forces at Galveston, it being a part of his duty to “direct the military -movements against the rebellion in the State of Texas.” Not more than a -third of the regiment had arrived, the rest being on its way, when the -rebel general Magruder, who had just been appointed to the chief command -in Texas, formed a bold plan for the recapture of the city, and carried -it out successfully on New Year’s morning. He had six thousand men and -several cotton-clad vessels to help him, and of course the battle could -end in but one way. - -Galveston stands upon a long, narrow island in the bay, and is connected -with the mainland by a bridge two miles in length, built upon piles. -This bridge ought to have been destroyed, but it wasn’t, and when -Magruder charged across it with his six regiments, he confidently -expected to sweep away like so many cobwebs the little handful of -Federals standing at the other end; but he didn’t. Aided by a hot fire -from the _Harriet Lane_ and _Westfield_, they repulsed every charge he -made, and no doubt would have continued to do so if two of his best -vessels, the _Neptune_ and _Bayou City_, protected by cotton bales piled -twenty feet high upon their low decks, so that at a distance they looked -like common cotton transports, and manned by a regiment of -sharpshooters, had not hastened to his aid. - -“We had our own way with the troops on the bridge until those two boats -came dashing down at us, and then things began to look squally,” said -Jack. “We steamed up to meet them, but it wasn’t long before we wished -we hadn’t done it. We didn’t disable them with our bow-guns as we hoped -to do, and, indeed, it was as much as a man’s life was worth to handle -the guns at all, for the sharpshooters behind the cotton bales sent -their bullets over our deck like hailstones. One time I grabbed hold of -a train tackle with four other men to help run out the No. 2 gun, and -the next I knew I was standing there alone. The four had been shot dead, -but I wasn’t touched. All this while the rebel boats were coming at us -full speed, and the next thing I knew they struck us with terrible -force, bow on, one on each side. But,” added Jack, with a chuckle of -satisfaction, “one of them got hurt worse than we did. The _Neptune_ was -disabled by the shock, and grounded in shoal water; but the men on her -were game to the last. They fought to win and shot to kill; for, no -matter which way I looked, I saw somebody drop every minute.” - -“And what became of the other boat?” inquired Rodney. - -“The _Bayou City_? Oh, she drifted away, but rounded-to and came at us -again, hitting us pretty near in the same place; but the second time she -didn’t drift away. She made fast to and boarded us. When I saw those -graybacks swarming over the hammock nettings, and heard that Captain -Wainwright and most of the other officers had been killed, I knew I had -to do something or go to prison; so I just took a header overboard -through the nearest port and struck out for the _Westfield_, which was a -mile or so astern, and trying to come to our aid.” - -Jack was not quite correct when he said he “struck out,” after taking a -header through the port. He turned on his back and floated, for he was -afraid that if he showed any signs of life he would be discovered and -picked off by some sharpshooter. He permitted the current to whirl him -around now and then, so that he could keep his bearings and hold a -straight course for the _Westfield_, but before he had floated half a -mile, he discovered that he was making straight for as hot a place as -that from which he had just escaped. The flagship _Westfield_ had run -hard and fast aground within easy range of a battery which the rebels -had planted on the shore, and although two other gunboats came up and -tried to drag her into deep water, she was being literally cut to pieces -before Jack Gray’s eyes; and more than that, her commander was making -preparations to abandon her to her fate. - -“Then I began to look wild again, and took a sheer off to give the -flagship plenty of room to blow up in,” said Jack. “Captain Renshaw, her -commandant, was a regular, and I knew well enough that he would not -leave his vessel in such shape that the rebels could fix her up and use -her against us, though I was not prepared for what happened a few -minutes later. While I was moving along with the current, not daring to -swim lest I should attract the notice of some wide-awake sharpshooter, I -saw Renshaw send off his men by the boat-load until at last there were -but two boats left alongside the _Westfield_. One of these put off -loaded to the water’s edge, but the other remained, and I knew it was -waiting for Renshaw to fire the train he had laid to the magazine; and -that made me sheer off a little farther, although I began swimming the -best I knew how in the hope that one of the boats would wait for me to -catch on behind. In a minute or two more Captain Renshaw came out, and -that was the first and last I ever saw of him. He stepped into his boat, -but before it had moved twenty feet away the flagship blew up, smashing -the two small boats into kindling-wood and sending every man in them to -kingdom come.” - -No one else who was as close to the _Westfield_ as Jack Gray was at that -moment escaped with his life, and he did not come off unscathed. While -he was gazing around him in a dazed sort of way, gasping for breath and -utterly unable to realize what had happened, a piece of the -_Westfield’s_ wreck which had been blown high in air descended with -frightful velocity, and barely missing his head struck him a glancing -blow on the shoulder and shot down into the water out of sight. And it -was but one of a score of such dangerous missiles which rained upon him -during the next few seconds. They plunged into the water perilously near -to him and splashed it in his face from all directions. The most of them -were no bigger than the head they threatened to break, while others were -as large as a barn door. At first Jack thought the safest place would be -nearer the bottom of the river; but when he saw how some of the heaviest -pieces of the wreck dove out of sight when they struck the water, he -decided that he could not go deep enough to escape them, and that the -best plan would be to look upward and try to dodge them when he saw that -they were coming too close; but by the time he came to this conclusion -and turned upon his back, the storm was over and the air above him was -clear. It was the narrowest escape he had ever had, and Jack Gray had -been in some tight places. - -Having satisfied himself that he was no longer in danger of being -knocked senseless by falling wreckage, Jack turned upon his face and -struck out for the nearest gunboat, or rather tried to; for his right -arm was almost useless. He could thrust it through the water in front of -him, but when he endeavored to swim with it, it dropped to his side like -a piece of lead. - -“And that’s the way it felt for three or four days, although I was under -good care all the time,” continued Jack. “I was picked up after I had -floated and swum with one hand a distance of three miles, reported the -loss of my vessel, and told what little I knew about the blowing up of -the _Westfield_, and then I was glad to go into the hands of the doctor, -for I found that I was worse hurt than I thought I was. But you may be -sure I didn’t say so. If there is anything that is despised aboard ship -it is a sojer, which is the name we give to men who can work and won’t, -and so I kept on doing duty when I ought by rights to have been in my -hammock. I pulled twenty miles on the night of the 11th of January to -escape capture, and of course the exertion gave me a big set-back; but I -haven’t got to that part of my story yet.” - -Jack Gray watched and waited anxiously to hear from some of his -shipmates, but not a word did he get from anybody; and this led him to -believe that he was the only one of the _Harriet Lane’s_ crew who -escaped death or capture. The direct results of the fight were that the -rebels, with very small loss to themselves, captured the _Lane_, caused -the destruction of the flagship of the squadron, secured possession of -two coal barges that were lying at the wharf and nearly four hundred -prisoners; but “the indirect results were still more important.” The -whole State of Texas came back under their flag, and blockade running -went on as though it had never been interfered with at all. It was done -principally by small schooners like Captain Beardsley’s _Hattie_, which -took out cotton and brought back medicines, guns, ammunition, and cloth -that was afterward made into uniforms for the Confederate soldiers. And -the worst of it was that it was kept up to the end of the war. Of course -word was sent to New Orleans at once, and Commodore Bell came down with -a small fleet to shut up the port; but he brought no soldiers with him -to hold the city, for General Banks couldn’t spare a single regiment. He -had made up his mind to capture Port Hudson, and needed all the men he -could get. - -Among the vessels that came down with Commodore Bell was the _Hatteras_, -the slowest old tub in the fleet, and much to his disgust Jack Gray was -ordered aboard of her. The badge he wore on his arm showed that he had -been a quartermaster on board the _Lane_, but he was transferred without -any rating at all, it being optional with Captain Blake, the commander -of the _Hatteras_, whether he would continue him as a quartermaster or -put him before the mast. Jack had already served four months beyond the -year for which he enlisted, but he made no complaint, although he had -firmly resisted all efforts on the part of the _Lane’s_ officers to -induce him to re-enlist for three years or during the war. - -“I might have had a commission as well as not,” said Jack, “for there -wasn’t a watch officer aboard the _Lane_ who could have passed a better -examination than I could. Indeed, I hadn’t been aboard of her -twenty-four hours before I found that I knew more about a ship than most -of the men who commanded me. But as often as I thought of staying in the -service, something told me I had better get out; and that was the reason -why I refused to re-enlist or accept a commission.” - -The fact was that, so long as the speedy _Lane_ was capturing a valuable -blockade runner or two every week, and money was coming into his pockets -faster than he could have earned it in any other business, Jack Gray was -quite willing to remain a quartermaster, and so he said nothing to -Captain Wainwright concerning the honorable discharge that rightfully -belonged to him; but now the case was different, and Jack wanted to go -home and see how his mother and Marcy were getting on. He had been -ordered aboard a vessel that couldn’t catch a mud-turtle in a stern -chase, and consequently there was no more excitement or prize money for -him. The paymaster who ought to have paid him off and given him his -discharge had been captured with all his money and books, and Jack knew -that his accounts would have to be settled in Washington; and there was -so much red tape in Washington that there was no telling whether or not -they would ever be settled. After thinking the matter over, Jack wrote a -letter to Commodore Bell, telling him how the matter stood and asking -for his discharge, and gave it into the hands of the captain of the -_Hatteras_ to be forwarded. The first result was about what he thought -it would be. He had to pull off his petty officer’s badge and go before -the mast. He was also assigned to an oar in the first cutter, and that -was one of the best things that ever happened to Jack Gray. - -Nowhere else in the world is life such a burden as aboard a vessel lying -on a station with nothing but routine work to do. Jack found it so and -chafed and fretted under it, but not for long. One day, about an hour -after the dinner pennant had been hauled down, the lounging, lazy crew -of the _Hatteras_ were startled by the cry of “Sail ho!” from the -lookout. Signal was at once made to the _Brooklyn_, Commodore Bell’s -flagship, and the answer that came back was an order for the _Hatteras_ -to run out and see who and what the visitor was. Of course the crew were -glad to be afloat once more, and some of them began talking about prize -money; but others declared that if the stranger had any speed at all and -desired to keep out of the way, the _Hatteras_ would never get nearer to -her than she was at that moment. But the sequel proved that the stranger -did not want to keep out of the way, although at first she acted like -it. She rounded to and turned her head out to sea as if she were fleeing -from pursuit; but all the while the war ship came nearer and nearer to -her, until the officer at the masthead made out that the chase was a -large steamer under sail. This fact was duly communicated to the -flagship by signal, and then the old _Hatteras_ seemed to wake up and -try to show a little speed; but Captain Blake became suspicious and -ordered his ship cleared for action, with everything in readiness for a -determined attack or a vigorous defense. - -The pursuit continued for twenty miles, and finally night set in with no -moon but plenty of starlight. Jack Gray, who had stood at one of the -broadside guns until he was tired, had just given utterance to the hope -that the chase would improve the opportunity to run out of sight or else -come about and give them battle, just as she pleased, when an officer at -the masthead sent down the startling information that the stranger had -rounded-to and was coming back. Beyond a doubt that meant that something -was going to happen. She hove in sight almost immediately, and in less -time than it takes to tell it stopped her engines within a hundred -yards, the captain of the blockader ringing his stopping bell at the -same instant. - -“What ship is that?” shouted the Union commander, from his place on the -bridge. - -“Her Britannic Majesty’s steamer _Vixen_!” was the reply. “What ship is -that?” - -“This is the United States ship _Hatteras_,” answered Captain Blake. “I -will send a boat aboard of you.” - -“When we heard this conversation,” said Jack, “we made up our minds that -we had been chasing an English ship. Mind you, I don’t say a friendly -ship, for England never was and never will be friendly to the United -States. She would be glad to see us broken up to-morrow, and is doing -all she dares to help the rebels along. Of course it was our captain’s -duty to find out whether or not the other captain had told him the -truth, and the only way he could do it was by sending an officer off to -examine his papers. He had the first cutter called away, and, as that -was the boat to which I belonged, I lost no time in taking off my -side-arms and tumbling into her. And that was all that saved me from -falling into Semmes’ power a second time.” - -Jack then went on to say that, as soon as the officer had taken his -place in the stern-sheets, the cutter was shoved off from the _Hatteras_ -and pulled around her stern; but just as she began swinging around with -her bow toward the supposed English ship a most exciting and unexpected -thing happened. A voice came from the latter’s deck, so clear and strong -that the cutter’s crew could hear every word: - -“This is the Confederate steamer _Alabama_!” And before the astonished -blue-jackets had time to realize that they had been trapped the roar of -a broadside rent the air, and shells and solid shot went crashing into -the wooden walls of the doomed _Hatteras_. Semmes afterward took great -credit to himself because he did not strike the Federal ship in -disguise, but gave her “fair warning.” How long was it after he gave -warning that he fired his broadside into her? Not two seconds. He took -all the advantage he could, and yet there was no one who protested -louder or had more to say about trickery and cowardice when the Federal -officers took advantage of him. He made a great fuss because Captain -Winslow protected the machinery and boilers of the _Kearsarge_ with -chains, as Admiral Farragut protected _his_ vessels when he ran past the -forts at New Orleans. - -The roar of the Confederate steamer’s guns had scarcely ceased before an -answering broadside came from the Union war ship. Without the loss of a -moment both vessels were put under steam and the action became a running -fight, the blue-jackets standing bravely to their guns and giving their -powerful antagonist as good as she sent. The cutter’s crew tried in vain -to return to their vessel. They rowed hard, but every turn of her huge -paddle-wheels left them farther behind, and finally they gave up in -despair and laid on their oars and watched the conflict. It was -desperate but short. In just thirteen minutes from the time it began the -_Hatteras_ hoisted a white light at her masthead and fired an off-gun to -show that she had been beaten. - -“Fortune of war,” sighed the officer who was sitting in the cutter’s -stern-sheets beside the coxswain. “But I tell you, men, I hate to see -our old ship surrendered to that pirate. Back, port; give way, -starboard! We haven’t surrendered, and we want to get away from here -before they catch sight of us.” - -No cutter’s crew ever pulled harder than Jack Gray and his shipmates -pulled in obedience to this order. Jack forgot that he had a crippled -arm, and when the cutter came about and pointed her head toward the -shore more than twenty miles away, he rowed as strong an oar as he ever -did in his life. He listened anxiously for the hail that would tell him -the cutter had been discovered, but heard none; but he saw and reported -something that sent an exultant thrill through the heart of every one of -his companions. - -“Mr. Porter,” said he, in tones which intense excitement rendered husky. -“Our old tub has been surrendered, but she’ll never do the rebels any -good. She’s sinking, sir.” - -“Thank Heaven!” murmured the officer, whirling around as if he had been -shot. - -He couldn’t see anything through the darkness except the white light -that the blockader had hoisted at her masthead in token of surrender, -and which was swaying about in a way that would have been unaccountable -to a landsman; but the blue-jackets knew she was going to the bottom. -She went rapidly, too, for Captain Blake afterward reported that in two -minutes from the time he left her the _Hatteras_ disappeared, bow first. -Then Jack thought that Mr. Porter would order the cutter back to assist -in picking up the crew, but he didn’t do it. They would have reached the -sinking vessel too late to be of any service, and besides Mr. Porter -thought it his duty to report to the Flag-officer at once, believing -that if the _Brooklyn_ were promptly warned she could capture or sink -the _Alabama_ before she had time to get very far away. But the fleet -had already been warned by the sound of the guns that the _Hatteras_ had -encountered an armed enemy of some description, and several steamers -were hastening to the rescue; scattering widely in the pursuit, to cover -as much space as possible and increase their chances of falling in with -the enemy. The cutter passed these vessels at so great a distance that -she could not attract the attention of any of them, and it was not until -they had pulled all the way to Galveston, and boarded one of the -blockading fleet which remained behind, that the particulars of the -fight became known. None of the pursuing steamers ever saw the -_Alabama_, which sailed away for the coast of Yucatan; but as one of -them was returning to her anchorage the next morning, baffled and beaten -in the chase, she fell in with the sunken _Hatteras_, whose royal masts -were just above water. The night pennant floating from one of them told -the melancholy story; but if Jack Gray and his shipmates had not escaped -just as they did, it might have been a long time before Commodore Bell -would have known that the dreaded _Alabama_ had been in his immediate -vicinity. But her day was coming. The first time she met a Union war -ship that was anywhere near her match she was sent to the bottom. - -Once more Jack was without a vessel, and had no clothes “to bless -himself with” except those he stood in; but that didn’t trouble him half -as much as did the discharge he was anxious to get. He and the rest of -the cutter’s men were sent aboard the flagship when she returned to her -anchorage, and that suited him, for it gave him a fair chance to gain -the commodore’s ear—a task he set himself to accomplish as soon as the -excitement had somewhat died away. But the Flag-officer was a regular, -and like all regulars he moved in ruts of opinion so deep that a yoke of -oxen could not have pulled him out. He couldn’t give Jack a discharge, -he said, because he didn’t know when or where he enlisted, for how long, -or anything about it. He couldn’t give him any money, either, for his -name was not borne on the paymaster’s books. He could give him a paper -stating that he had done service in the Union navy and let him go home, -and that was all he could do for him. - -“And that’s the kind of a discharge I got,” said Jack with a laugh. “But -it proved to be good enough and strong enough to take me through the -provost guards in New Orleans and get me a pass to come up here. I have -not drawn a cent from Uncle Sam, so he owes me a year’s wages and -better, as well as a lot of prize money. The commodore dispatched a -vessel to New Orleans with his report of the loss of the _Hatteras_, and -I was permitted to take passage on her.” - -“How did you feel when you found yourself in a strange city with no -money in your pocket and no friends to go to?” inquired Ned Griffin. - -“I didn’t think much about it, because I never let a little thing like -that worry me,” said Jack with another laugh. “I did not by any means -intend to go hungry, or sleep on the Levee, if my pockets were empty. -There were several of our vessels in the river, and I knew I could ship -whenever I felt like it; but I had made up my mind that I would not go -afloat again until I had said ‘hello!’ to my relatives up here in -Mooreville.” - -The first boat that left the dispatch steamer took Jack ashore and -landed him on the Levee among some river craft that belonged to the -quartermaster’s department of Banks’ army. Being a deep-water man he did -not bestow more than a passing glance upon them, but turned his face -toward the docks above at which a large fleet of sea-going vessels was -moored; and as he walked he kept a bright lookout for two things—a -sailorman who could tell him what had happened in the world since he -left it (being on the blockade Jack thought was almost as bad as being -out of the world), and a soldier who could direct him to the office of -the provost marshal. As he stepped from the Levee to the nearest dock -his gaze became riveted upon a rakish looking fore-and-aft schooner that -lay there discharging a miscellaneous cargo. She looked familiar to him. -She was painted white with a green stripe at her water-line, and bore -the name “_Hyperion_, Portland,” on her stern; but Jack Gray was -positive that he had known and sailed on her when she was painted black -with a red stripe at the water-line, and went by a very different name. -He dodged up the after gang-plank to the deck and took another look. He -had had charge of that deck more than once. Everything on and about it -was familiar to him, not excepting the face of the lank Yankee skipper, -whose head and shoulders at that moment emerged from the companion-way. -Jack turned about and approached him with a comical smile on his -countenance. - -“Want a pilot this trip, Captain Frazier?” said he. - -“No, I don’t,” was the surly reply. He looked searchingly into Jack’s -face, but could not remember that he had ever seen him before. - -“No offence, I hope,” continued the latter. “But I served you so well -before that I think you might give me a lift when you see me stranded -here without a shot in the locker. I took the _West Wind_ through Oregon -Inlet when——” - -“Mr. Gray—Jack!” said the captain, in an excited whisper. “Sh! Not -another word out of you; not a whimper. Come below with me.” - -Shaking all over with suppressed merriment Jack Gray followed the -skipper down the stairs and into the cabin, the door of which was -quickly but softly closed and locked. - -“Sit down,” continued the captain. “And if you care a cent for me don’t -speak above your breath. Where have you been? That uniform says you -belong to the navy.” - -“I did, but I don’t belong now,” replied Jack. “Shortly after I made -that trip with you I shipped for a year, but have been kept over my -time. I have been on the blockade, and have helped capture many a fine -craft like this one.” - -“Sh! Don’t speak so loud,” whispered Captain Frazier, for it was he. -“But you couldn’t do harm to this craft now, for she is engaged in -honest business.” - -“No private ventures stowed away among her cargo?” said Jack. - -“Nary venture. There’s no need of it, for I make money hand over fist in -an honest way. I am a cotton trader. Got a permit and everything all -square. And cotton will be worth a dollar a pound by the time I get back -to New York.” - -“What do you pay for it here?” - -“That depends on the man I am dealing with. If he is a Union man I give -him from seven to ten cents in greenbacks, which will buy eighty per -cent. more stuff than Confederate scrip. If he is a good rebel, or if he -is surrounded by rebel neighbors who are keeping an eye on his -movements, I give him ten cents in rebel money.” - -“Where do you get rebel money?” asked Jack. - -“Anywhere—everywhere. I can get all I want for thirty cents on a dollar, -and have bought some as low as twenty. It will be lower than that in -less than a month. But, mind you, no one around here knows that I have -been a blockade runner. And I am not at the head of this business. My -Boston owners are doing it all and I am simply their agent. But are you -really aground?” - -“I never told a straighter story in my life,” answered Jack, who went on -to describe how he happened to be in that condition. When his hasty -narrative was finished Captain Frazier said: - -“There’s always room aboard my schooner for such a sailorman as I know -you to be, and if you want to sign with me as my chief officer I shall -be glad to have you. And you must let me advance you money enough to -provide for your immediate wants.” - -When Jack reached this part of his story Rodney knew where that blue -suit came from. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - BAD NEWS FROM MARCY. - -Sailor Jack and his old commander spent two hours locked in the -_Hyperion’s_ cabin, and if a stranger could have seen how very cordial -and friendly they were, or had heard the peals of laughter that arose -when one or the other described some amusing scene through which he had -passed since they last met, he never would have dreamed that one had -risked life and liberty in doing what he could to put down the -rebellion, while the other had run an equal risk in bringing aid and -comfort to it. - -Captain Frazier had been a daring and successful blockade runner as long -as his Boston owners could make money by it, and there were not many -cruisers on the Atlantic coast that had not, at one time or another, -sighted and given chase to the fleet _West Wind_, nor were there very -many officers and sailormen who could not recognize her as far as they -could see her. When light swift steamers were added to the blockading -fleet the business became too uncertain and dangerous to be longer -followed, and Captain Frazier was honest enough to say that he was glad -to stop it, for, being a Yankee, he had never had any heart for it any -way. - -When the Mississippi was cleared as far as Port Hudson, and all that -immense cotton country on both sides the river was thrown open to -traffic, Captain Frazier’s owners saw an opportunity to do business in -an honest way and were prompt to improve it. Armed with a pocketful of -credentials one of the firm hastened to New Orleans to obtain a permit -to trade in cotton, and the _West Wind_ was ordered to a neutral port -“for repairs.” When she again appeared on the high seas she did not look -at all like herself, and even her name had been changed. She went to -Portland, Me., and stayed there long enough to get a charter, and then -sailed to Boston and loaded up with commissary stores for Banks’ army. -On the way down she was boarded by more than one officer who had chased -her when she was a blockade runner, and now she was in New Orleans -(safe, too, although surrounded by Federal war ships) and making ready -to take a cargo of cotton to New York. - -“I grew ten years older during the twelve months I was engaged in -running the blockade,” said Captain Frazier, in concluding his story, -“but I had lots of fun and saw no end of excitement. And now to come -back to business. Didn’t I hear you say, while you were serving as pilot -and second mate of the _West Wind_, that you have relatives here in -Louisiana and that they raise cotton? I thought so. Well, now, have they -got any that they want to sell?” - -“I don’t know; but I can find out. I did not intend to leave this -country without seeing them. How far is Baton Rouge above here?” - -“Not far; a hundred and fifty miles, I should say.” - -“Well, if I can get there and obtain a pass that will take me through -the lines as far as Mooreville, I can easily find them.” - -“You can get there, and I’ll see that you have a bushel of passes if you -need them. If they’ve got any cotton I want it.” - -“You can’t have it, captain, for any such price as you have been paying -others. I’ll not stand by and see my uncle gouged in any such way as -that. And I shall hold out for greenbacks, too.” - -“Certainly; of course. That’s all right; but as for the price, I guess -you will take what I please to——” - -Captain Frazier stopped and looked hard at Jack, who gazed fixedly at -him in return. Each knew what the other was thinking of. - -“I don’t know that my uncle Rodney has any cotton,” continued Jack. “But -if he has, you can afford to give him at least twenty-five cents a -pound, greenback money, for it. He is bound to lose his niggers, and, if -he is robbed of his cotton, what will he have to start on when the war -is over?” - -“Judging by the way you look out for the pennies you’re as much of a -Yankee as I am,” said Captain Frazier with a laugh. “You’ll swamp my -owners at this rate; but seeing it’s you, I suppose I shall have to -submit to be robbed myself. Now listen while I tell you something. -General Banks came here on purpose to take Port Hudson, Grant is coming -down to capture Vicksburg, and when the Mississippi is open from Memphis -to the sea there’ll be a fortune for the first man who is lucky enough -to get a permit to trade in cotton on the river. My agent, who has an -office ashore and to whom I will introduce you this afternoon, has heard -enough to satisfy him that there are half a million bales concealed in -the woods and swamps along the river, and that the owners, both Union -and rebel, are eager to sell before the Confederate government has a -chance to destroy it; and they would rather sell it for a small sum in -good money than for ten times the amount in such money as they grind out -at Richmond. Now, my idea is to charter a river steamer—a light-draught -one—so that she can run up any small tributary, and put a man with a -business head on board of her with instructions to buy every pound of -cotton he can hear of between this port and Memphis. How would you like -the berth?” - -“That depends on whether or not I can be of any service to my uncle and -his friends,” replied Jack. “What is there in it?” - -“A big commission or a salary, just as you please.” - -The matter wasn’t settled either one way or the other at this interview. -Jack took dinner with Captain Frazier and went ashore with him in the -afternoon to be introduced to the “agent,” who wasn’t an agent at all, -but the head of a branch house which the enterprising Boston firm had -established in New Orleans. He might properly have been called a cotton -factor. When the captain told him who and what Jack was, and what he had -done to make the firm’s first venture in contraband goods successful, -adding that he was going up to Baton Rouge to see whether or not there -was any cotton to be had at or near that place, the agent became -interested, and promised to assist Jack by every means in his power. - -“I didn’t see how a civilian could help me along with the military -authorities,” said Jack, in concluding his interesting narrative, “but I -wasn’t long in finding out. The agent, as I shall always speak of him, -gave me a letter to the provost marshal in New Orleans and another to -the officer holding the same position in Baton Rouge, and those letters -made things smooth for me. I supposed, of course, that I should have to -foot it from the city to Mooreville, but the marshal kindly furnished me -with a horse to ride, the only condition imposed being that I should -send it back the first good chance I got. Captain Frazier advanced me -money to buy a citizen’s outfit and pay travelling expenses, and here I -am.” - -“And right glad I am to see you,” said Rodney, as Jack settled back in -his chair with an air which seemed to say that he had finished his story -at last. “But you are a slick one.” - -“No more so than some other folks,” retorted Jack. “It’s a wonder you -have not brought yourself into serious trouble by your smuggling and -giving aid to escaped prisoners.” - -“But, Jack, I assure you that we were in sore need of the things I have -smuggled through the lines,” said Rodney earnestly. “We couldn’t -possibly get along without them.” - -“And neither can I get along without making this war refund to my mother -every dollar she is likely to lose by it,” answered his cousin. “The -whole South is going to be impoverished before this thing is over. My -folks had no hand in bringing these troubles upon us, and I don’t mean -that they shall suffer through the folly of a few fanatics, if I can -help it.” - -“But, Jack, you will take up with the agent’s offer and put a trading -boat on the river, will you not?” said Rodney. - -“Port Hudson and Vicksburg have not been captured yet,” suggested Mrs. -Gray. - -“No, but they’re going to be,” said Jack confidently. “And until that -happens I might better be at home than anywhere else, for I can’t do -anything here. If I find that mother and Marcy are getting on all right, -you have my promise that I will return and do my best to get your four -hundred bales to market.” - -“Bully for you,” exclaimed Rodney joyfully. “You _are_ just the man we -wanted to see after all. I wish you could take the cotton to-night, -don’t you, father?” - -“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I will speak to the agent and Captain -Frazier about it, and see if I can induce them to send a boat after your -cotton, so that the _Hyperion_ can take it out on her next trip. I might -have made some such arrangement before I left New Orleans, but I didn’t -know whether or not you had any cotton. What’s become of those -bushwhackers of whom Uncle Rodney has given me an interesting account?” - -“Do you mean Lambert and his men? I suppose they are still hiding in the -swamp.” - -“Protecting your cotton?” added Jack. “Well, they’ll have to be -‘neutralized,’ as McClellan said of the _Merrimac_. As I understand it, -those bushwhackers don’t mean that you or anybody else shall touch that -cotton unless they can make something by it. It’s a little the queerest -thing I ever heard of, but so far they seem to have been your best -friends.” - -“I have been studying about that a good deal,” answered Rodney. “And the -conclusion I have come to is that when we get ready to take charge of -our property, and not before, we’ll have to get rid of Lambert in some -manner. He is the leader, and if he were out of the way I think his men -would scatter. I’ll make a prisoner of him if father will consent.” - -“O Rodney, you must not attempt it,” exclaimed his mother. “Lambert has -the reputation of being a dangerous man.” - -“I don’t know where or how he came by that reputation,” said the boy -with a smile. “I know he is treacherous, and if I should make the -attempt and fail, I should have to look out for him. He’d as soon -bushwhack me as anybody else. But I don’t intend to fail.” - -Sailor Jack’s time was so short, and there were so many other things to -be talked about, that this matter was presently dropped, to be taken up -again and settled at some future day. When Jack started for Baton Rouge -the next morning, with his uncle and cousin for company, the only -conclusion they had been able to reach was that Mr. Gray should hold -fast to his cotton, if he could, until he heard from Jack, who would -forward his letter under cover to the provost marshal in Baton Rouge so -that it would be sure to reach its destination. If it were sent to the -care of Rodney’s Confederate friend, Mr. Martin, the Federal authorities -might not take the trouble to deliver it. - -The next step was to obtain the provost marshal’s consent to the -arrangement, and that was easily done. He knew that Jack had risked his -life for the Union, and that his cousin lent a helping hand to escaped -prisoners as often as the opportunity was presented; so he readily -promised to take charge of all the letters that came from the North -addressed to Rodney Gray, and hand them over without reading them. He -gave Jack a pass authorizing him to leave the city on business, and a -note to the quartermaster which brought him a permit to take passage for -New Orleans on one of the steamers attached to the quartermaster’s -department. Rodney and his father saw him off and then turned their -faces toward the hospitable home of Mr. Martin, where they were to -remain until morning. - -“It was just no visit at all,” said Rodney in a discouraged tone. “When -Jack said he was a trader and that he had influential friends, I -wouldn’t have taken anything I can think of now for our chances of -getting that cotton off our hands. As the matter stands, everything -depends on ‘ifs.’ _If_ Marcy and his mother are getting on all right, -and _if_ Jack decides to come back and take up with Captain Frazier’s -offer, we shall have a show; otherwise not.” - -This state of affairs was galling to Rodney Gray, who could not bear to -be kept in suspense; but exciting events were transpiring up the river -every day, and in trying to keep track of them Rodney lost sight of his -troubles for a brief season. General Grant, who had taken command of the -army that was operating against Vicksburg, had gone to work as if he -were thoroughly in earnest, and there wasn’t a soldier under him who was -more anxious for his complete triumph than was this ex-Confederate hero -of ours. Rodney was soldier enough to know that neither Vicksburg nor -Port Hudson could be taken by assault, and that they could not be -starved into surrender so long as supplies of every sort could be run -into them from the Red River country. They must be surrounded on the -river side as well as on the land side, and Rodney was impatient to -learn what General Grant was going to do about it. Fortunately the -latter had an able assistant in David D. Porter, who had commanded -Farragut’s mortar schooners at New Orleans. He was now an acting rear -admiral and commanded the Mississippi squadron, and most loyally did he -second General Grant in his efforts to capture the rebel stronghold. - -The very first move Porter made excited Rodney’s unbounded admiration -and made his heart beat high with hope. He ordered the ram _Queen of the -West_ to run the batteries and destroy the transports that were engaged -in bringing supplies to Vicksburg. Owing to some trouble with her -steering gear it was broad daylight when the ram started on her -dangerous mission, and she was a fair target for the hundred heavy guns -which the rebels had mounted on the bluffs. But she went through, -stopping on the way long enough to make a desperate attempt to sink the -steamer _Vicksburg_, which the rebels, after General Sherman’s defeat at -Chickasaw Bayou, had brought down from the Yazoo to be made into a -gunboat. She failed in that, but ran by the batteries without receiving -much injury, and began operations by capturing a steamer which she kept -with her as tender, and burning three others that were loaded with -provisions. - -“If she keeps that up Vicksburg is a goner,” said Rodney to his friend -Ned Griffin. - -“One would think you are glad of it,” said the latter. “That’s a pretty -way for a rebel soldier to talk.” - -“Rebel soldier no longer,” replied Rodney. “I know when I have had -enough. I’m whipped, and now I want the war to end. It’s bound to come -some of these days, and I wish it might come this minute.” - -But unfortunately the _Queen_ did not “keep it up” as Rodney hoped she -would. As long as her commander obeyed orders and devoted his attention -to transports, he was successful; but when he got it into his head that -he could whip a fort with his single wooden vessel, he ruined himself -just as Semmes did when he thought he could beat a war ship in a fair -fight, because he had sunk one weak blockader and burned sixty-five -defenceless merchantmen. Colonel Ellet, who commanded the _Queen_, ran -up Red River, where he captured the _New Era_ with a squad of Texas -soldiers, twenty-eight thousand dollars in Confederate money, and five -thousand bushels of corn; and flushed with victory ran up twenty miles -farther to the fort—and lost his vessel. He escaped with a few of his -men, but the ram fell into the hands of the enemy, who repaired her in -time to assist the _Webb_ in sinking the _Indianola_—a fine new -iron-clad that had run the Vicksburg batteries without receiving a -scratch. Then all the rebels in Rodney’s vicinity were jubilant, and -Rodney himself was correspondingly depressed. On the day the unwelcome -news came Lambert rode into the yard on his way home from Mooreville. He -wasn’t afraid to go there now that there was no conscript officer to -trouble him. - -“I heered about it,” he said, in answer to an inquiry from the anxious -Rodney. “We allow to raise that there fine iron-clad, an’ show the Yanks -what sort of fighting she can do when she’s in the hands of men. That’ll -make three good ships we’ll have, an’ with them we can easy clean out -the Yankee fleet at Vicksburg.” - -That was just what Rodney knew the rebels would try to do, and their -exploit with the _Arkansas_ proved that they were at all times ready to -take desperate chances. Lambert never would have thought of such a thing -himself, so he must have been talking with someone who was pretty well -informed. - -“What do you mean by _we_?” asked Rodney. - -“I heered Tom Randolph an’ others among ’em discussin’ the projec’ down -to the store,” replied Lambert. - -“Tom Randolph! He’s a pretty fellow to talk of cleaning anybody out.” - -“That’s what I thought. He never had no pluck ’ceptin’ on the day he -drawed his sword on me. An’ he never would ’a’ done it if his maw hadn’t -been right there to his elbow. I aint likely to disremember him for -that.” - -“But you took an ample revenge by burning his father’s cotton, did you -not? Lambert, that was a cowardly thing for you to do.” - -Rodney’s tone was so positive that the ex-Home Guard did not attempt to -deny the accusation. “Who’s been a-carryin’ tales on me?” he demanded. -“I want you to understand that nobody can’t draw a sword on me an’ shake -it in my face too, like Tom Randolph done. I just dropped in to see if -you could let me have a side of bacon this evenin’.” - -Without making any reply Rodney arose from his chair and led the way -toward the smoke-house. While he was taking down the bacon Lambert kept -up an incessant talking to prevent him from saying more about Mr. -Randolph’s cotton, and when Rodney handed the meat out of the door he -wheeled his mule and rode quickly away; but he had said enough to make -the boy very uneasy. How long would it be before he would avenge some -fancied insult by touching a match to Mr. Gray’s cotton? - -During the next few days Rodney did not do much overseer’s work on his -plantation, and neither did Ned Griffin. To quote from the latter they -became first-class all-around loafers; and so anxious were they to miss -no item of news which might have come down from Vicksburg that they -visited every man in the neighborhood who was known to have made a -recent trip to Baton Rouge or have a late paper in his possession, and -the information they picked up during their rides was far from -encouraging. There was a heavy force of men at work upon the sunken -iron-clad, as well as upon the _Webb_, which had been seriously injured -during her fight with the _Indianola_, and when the latter was raised -and the other fully repaired, the control of the river below Vicksburg -would be fairly within the grasp of the Confederates. If Porter sent a -few more boats below the batteries to be captured, the rebels would soon -have a powerful and almost irresistible fleet; but in this hope they -were destined to be disappointed, as they had been in many others. - -It so happened that the next boat to pass under the iron hail of -Vicksburg’s guns was very different from the _Indianola_. The papers -described her as a “turreted monster—the most formidable thing in the -shape of an iron-clad that had ever been seen in the Western waters.” It -was just daylight when the Confederate gunners discovered her moving -slowly down with the current, and the fire that was poured upon her by -almost eighteen miles of batteries ought, by rights, to have sunk -anything in the form of a gunboat that ever floated; but the monster, -with the heavy black smoke rolling from her chimneys, passed safely on -through the whole of it without firing a single gun in reply, and -disappeared from view. Then there was excitement in Vicksburg and in -Richmond too, for the news went to the capital as quickly as the -telegraph could take it. The _Queen of the West_, which now floated the -Confederate flag and had come up to Warrenton to see how her friends -were getting on, turned and took to her heels, and orders were sent down -the river to have the _Indianola_ blown up without delay, so that she -might not be recaptured by this new enemy. The order was obeyed, and the -powerful iron-clad which might have given a better account of herself in -rebel hands than she did while in possession of her lawful owners, was -once more sent to the bottom. - -Meanwhile the turreted monster held silently on her way, moving as -rapidly as a five-mile current could take her, and at last grounded on a -sand-bar. Not till then did the rebels awake to the fact that they had -been deceived. When they found courage enough to go aboard of her they -saw, to their amazement and chagrin, that she was not a gunboat at all, -but a coal-barge that had been fitted up to represent one. She had been -set afloat for the purpose of bringing out the whole fire of the -batteries, so that Admiral Porter and General Grant, who had decided to -effect a lodgement below the city, might know just how severe would be -the cannonade that their vessels would be subjected to. Of course the -Confederates were angry over the loss of the _Indianola_, but the -soldiers of Grant’s army, who had thronged the bank on the Louisiana -side and shouted and laughed to see the fun, looked upon the whole -affair as the best kind of a joke. In speaking of it in his report -Admiral Porter said: “An old coal-barge picked up in the river was the -foundation we had to build on. The casemates were made of old boards in -twelve hours, with empty pork-barrels on top of each other for -smoke-stacks and two old canoes for quarter-boats. Her furnaces were -built of mud, and were only intended to make black smoke instead of -steam.” This was the contrivance which frightened the rebels into -destroying the finest gunboat that ever fell into their hands, and which -is known to history as “Porter’s dummy.” The enemy’s chances for getting -control of the river were farther off than before, and Rodney said he -would surely see the day when his cousin’s trading boat would be making -regular trips up and down the Mississippi. - -“But do you suppose the rebels will throw no obstacles in your way?” -demanded Ned Griffin. “Do you imagine that they will let you run off -cotton at your pleasure? When Vicksburg and Port Hudson fall the river -will be lined with guerillas, and some day they will burn your trading -boat.” - -Taken in connection with what happened afterward these words of Ned’s -seemed almost prophetic. - -Having become satisfied that the rebels were not going to build up a -navy in the river as they fondly hoped to do, Rodney began to think more -about his absent cousin and the letters he had promised to write. The -first one that came through the hands of the provost marshal was mailed -at New Orleans and did not contain a word that was encouraging. Captain -Frazier’s agent could not put a boat on the river just now for three -reasons: He couldn’t get a permit, it wouldn’t be a safe venture at this -stage of the game, and he had as much cotton on hand already as he could -attend to. - -“That hope is knocked in the head,” said Rodney. - -“It is no more than I expected,” replied Mr. Gray, after he had read the -letter. “Saving that cotton is going to be the hardest task you ever set -for yourself. Others have been ruined by this terrible and utterly -useless war, and why should we think to escape? Let us keep our many -blessings constantly in mind, and spend less time in worrying over the -troubles that may come upon us in the future. None of our family have -been killed or sent to prison, and isn’t that something to be thankful -for?” - -And Mr. Gray might have added that another thing to be grateful for was -the fact that the family had not become bitter enemies, as was the case -with some whose members had fought under the opposing flags. Jack and -Marcy were strong for the Union, and Rodney had been the hottest kind of -a rebel; but that made no sort of change in the affectionate regard they -had always cherished for one another. Some Union men bushwhacked their -rebel neighbors, and some Confederate guerillas relentlessly persecuted -their Union relatives; but there was no such feeling in the family whose -boys have been the heroes of this series of books. Consequently, when -the next letter came from Jack, written at his home in far-away North -Carolina, and containing the startling intelligence that Marcy Gray had -been forced into the rebel army in spite of all his efforts to keep out -of it, Rodney was as angry a boy as you ever saw, while his father and -mother could hardly have expressed more sorrow if they had heard that -Marcy had been killed. The paragraph in Jack’s letter which contained -the bad news read as follows: - -"I almost wish I hadn’t been so anxious to see home and friends once -more, for no news at all is better than the crushing words mother said -to me as soon as I got into the house. I wished I had stayed in the -service; and if I ever go back you may rest assured that I shall fight -harder than I did before to put down this rebellion. Poor Marcy wasn’t -here to welcome me. He was surprised and captured in mother’s presence, -thrust into the common jail at Williamston, and finally shipped south -with a lot of other conscripts, to act as guard at that horrible -prison-pen at Millen, Ga. For months Marcy had been a refugee, living in -the swamp with a few other Union men and boys who hid there to escape -being forced into the army, and until a few weeks ago he beat Beardsley, -Shelby, Dillon, and the rest at every job they tried to put up on him; -but he was caught napping at last, and I never expect to see or hear of -him again. Mother is almost broken-hearted, but being a woman she bears -up under it better than I do. But hasn’t there been a time here since -Marcy was dragged away! The work was done by strange soldiers, but -Marcy’s friends knew who was to blame for it, and took vengeance -immediately. The three men whose names I have mentioned were burned out -so completely that they didn’t have even a nigger cabin to go into, and -two pestiferous little snipes, Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin by name, -whose tongues have kept the settlement in a constant turmoil, were -bushwhacked. - -“I will write you fuller particulars after a while, but just now I am -rather ‘shuck up.’ Of course this upsets all my plans; my place is at -home with mother. I inclose Captain Frazier’s card, to which I have -appended his New Orleans address. I told him all about your cotton, and -he and the agent will be only too glad to help you get it to market as -soon as they think it safe to make the attempt. You can trust them, but -be sure and hold out for twenty-five cents, greenback money. Captain -Frazier promised me he would give it.” - - -The rest of the page was filled with loving messages from Marcy’s -sorrowing mother, and at the bottom was a hasty scrawl that stood for -Sailor Jack’s name. - -Mr. Gray brought this letter from Baton Rouge, and finding Rodney at -home with his mother, gave it to him to read aloud. The boy’s voice -became husky before he read half a dozen lines, and Mrs. Gray’s eyes -were filled with tears. When it was finished Rodney handed it back to -his father with the remark: - -“I am a good deal of Jack’s opinion that we shall never see or hear of -Marcy again. I know by experience that the petty tyrants we call -officers make the service so hard that a volunteer can scarcely stand -it, and how much mercy do you think they will have on a conscript? They -would as soon kill him as to look at him. No better fellow than Marcy -ever lived, and to think that I—I deserve killing myself.” - -Rodney arose hastily from his chair, staggered up to the room he still -called his own, threw himself upon the bed and buried his tear-stained -face in his hands. He had not forgotten, he never would forget, that -episode at the Barrington Military Academy in which Bud Goble and his -minute-men bore prominent parts. Marcy had freely forgiven him for what -he did to bring it about, but it was always fresh in Rodney’s mind. How -terribly the memory of it tortured him now! - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - RODNEY IS ASTONISHED. - -Rodney Gray had promised himself no end of pleasurable excitement when -his sailor cousin returned to take command of a trading boat on the -river, for he had made up his mind that he would accompany Jack wherever -he went. He was as well satisfied as Ned Griffin was that the fall of -Vicksburg and Port Hudson would be the signal for instant and increased -activity among the guerillas who infested the country as far up as New -Madrid, and that picking up cotton along the river with an unarmed boat -would be a hazardous undertaking. - -The Mississippi is the most tortuous of rivers, and there is none in the -world better adapted to guerilla warfare. Frequently the distance a -steamer has to traverse in going around a bend is from twelve to thirty -times greater than it is in a direct line across the country. The great -bend at Napoleon is a notable example. A steamboat has to run fifteen -miles to get around it, while the neck of land that makes the bend is -but a mile wide. This was a famous guerilla station during the war until -Commander Selfridge cut a ditch across the neck and turned the -Mississippi into a new channel. A band of guerillas, with a howitzer or -two mounted in wagons, would fire into a transport at the upper end of -the bend (they seldom troubled armed steamers), and failing to sink or -disable her there, would travel leisurely across the country and be -ready to try it again when the steamboat arrived at the lower end. What -made this sort of warfare particularly exasperating was the fact that -the guerillas did not live along the river, but came from remote points, -fifty or a hundred miles back in the country. If a gunboat hove in sight -they would take to their heels; and if the gunboat landed a company or -two of small-arm men and burned the nearest dwellings, as all gunboats -were ordered to do in cases like the one we are supposing, the chances -were that they punished people who were no more to blame for what the -guerillas did than you or your chum. - -The majority of the men who carried on this style of fighting were -worthless fellows, like Lambert and Moseley, who had everything to make -and nothing to lose by it; and we may anticipate events a little by -saying that they came to look upon trading boats as their legitimate -prey. If there was a fortune for the man who was lucky enough to get a -permit to trade in cotton, there was also plenty of danger for him. -Rodney would have entered upon this adventurous life with the same -enthusiasm he exhibited when he set out for the North to aid in “driving -the Yankees out of Missouri,” but there was little prospect that he -would ever see any of it now that Jack had decided to remain at home -with his mother. To do him justice he did not mourn over his -disappointment, or the possible loss of his father’s cotton, as he did -over the dire misfortune that had befallen his cousin Marcy. - -“I wish I stood in his shoes this minute, and that he stood in mine,” -Rodney said to his mother more than once. “I could stand the hard knocks -he is likely to receive, but Marcy can’t.” - -Remembering that Jack had promised to send “fuller particulars” when he -felt more in the humor for writing, Rodney spent more time in riding to -and from the provost marshal’s office than he did in managing his -plantation, but that official had received no letters for him. In the -meantime the situation at Vicksburg grew more encouraging every day. -Severe battles had been fought and the soldiers of the Union, always -victorious, had gained a footing below Vicksburg where there was no -water to interfere with their movements, as there was in the inundated -Yazoo country, and Colonel Grierson, at the head of seventeen hundred -cavalry, was raiding through the State in the direction of Baton Rouge, -stealing nothing but fresh horses and food for his men, but thrashing -the rebels whenever he met them (except on one occasion when he lost -seven hundred men in a single engagement), cutting railroads and -telegraph lines in every direction, and destroying commissary trains and -depots by the score. It was this famous raid which first “demonstrated -that the Confederacy was but a shell, strong on the outside by reason of -its organized armies, but hollow within and destitute of resources to -sustain, or of strength to recruit these armies.” - -“They say he’s coming sure enough,” remarked Ned Griffin one day, -“although in some places he has had to ride over wide stretches of -country where the water stood six feet deep on a level. That’s pluck. -What are you going to do with our exemption bacon?” - -“And our horses,” added Rodney. “If the Yanks are hungry when they reach -this plantation, they can take the exemption bacon and welcome. I’d much -rather they should have it than it should go to feed rebels. But our -horses they can’t have; or at least they’ll have to hunt for them before -they get them. Where is Grierson now?” - -“They’ve got the report in Mooreville that he was last heard from up -about Port Hudson,” replied Ned. - -“Then we’ve no time to lose,” said Rodney. “His scouts, of course, are a -long way ahead of him, and may be here any hour. Let’s take care of the -horses the first thing we do. There’s nothing else on your place or mine -worth stealing, unless it is the bacon.” - -The boys were none too soon in looking out for their riding nags, for -the expected scouts arrived the next morning about breakfast time, and -although Rodney had seen some dusty, dirty, and ragged soldiers in his -day, he told himself that these rough-riding Yankees, who threw down his -bars and rode into the yard as though they had a perfect right there, -would bear off the palm. They were a jovial, good-natured lot, however, -and well they might be; for their long raid from La Grange, Tenn., was -nearly finished. Another night would see them safely quartered among -their friends in Baton Rouge. - -“Hallo, Johnny,” was the way in which the foremost soldier greeted -Rodney, who advanced to meet the raiders. “Where’s your well or spring -or whatever it is you get drinking water from? Any graybacks around -here? Trot out your guns and things of that sort, and save us the -trouble of looking for them.” - -“The well is around there,” replied Rodney, jerking his thumb over his -shoulder. “And there’s nothing in the house more dangerous than a -case-knife. If you don’t believe it, look and see.” - -This invitation was quite superfluous, for some of the raiders, who had -ridden around to the well and dismounted, were in the house almost -before Rodney ceased speaking. He heard their heavy footsteps in the -hall in which his black housekeeper had just finished laying the -breakfast, and when he turned about they had cleared the table of the -victuals they found on it, and one was in the act of draining the -coffee-pot. - -“Where are all your horses, Johnny?” asked the latter, as he put down -his empty cup. “Mine’s played out, and I must have another.” - -“You’ll not find him on this plantation,” was the reply. “General -Breckenridge’s men passed through here not long ago, and that means that -there are few horses in the country. If yours has given out you will -have to take a mule or walk.” - -“How does it come that you are not in the army?” inquired another, with -his mouth full of bacon and corn pone. - -“I’ve been there, but you Yanks whipped me so bad I was glad to get -home.” - -By this time the lieutenant in command of the troopers had made himself -known, and to him Rodney presented his papers, which included his -discharge, standing pass from the provost marshal, and his permit to -trade within the Union lines. As he handed the papers to the officer his -attention was drawn to two persons near him, who were by far the most -dilapidated specimens of humanity Rodney had ever seen. Every line of -their faces was indicative of exposure and suffering, and their -clothing, what little they wore, looked as though it might fall in -pieces at any moment. They were plainly fit candidates for the hospital, -and it was a mystery to Rodney how they managed to keep the heavy -infantry muskets which rested across their saddles from slipping out of -their grasp. By the time he made these observations the lieutenant had -read the first line of the pass, which happened to be the first paper he -opened, and when he saw the name it bore he looked at one of the -dilapidated specimens of whom we have spoken and said, with a grin: - -“If you have been telling a straight story, Johnny, how does it come -that you don’t recognize your cousin when you see him standing before -your face and eyes?” - -Rodney Gray was utterly confounded. He looked at the officer and then at -the person to whom the words were addressed, but he could not speak -until he heard the reply given in a familiar voice: - -“I have told you nothing but the truth, sir, and if that is Rodney Gray -he will bear me out in everything I have said.” - -The sick and exhausted stranger reeled about on his mule for an instant, -his musket fell to the ground, and he would have followed headlong if -Rodney had not sprung forward and received him in his arms. He eased him -tenderly to the ground, supported his head on one knee, and looked up at -the lieutenant. - -“Who is it?” he asked in a husky voice. - -“He says his name is Marcy Gray, that he lives in North Carolina, and is -an escaped conscript,” was the answer. “That’s all I know about him. -Captain Forbes picked him and his partner up somewhere about Enterprise, -and they’ve been with us ever since.” - -Rodney took one more glance at the white face on his knee, and then -raised the limp, almost lifeless form in his arms, carried it into the -house, and laid it on his own bed. - -“I said you could never stand the hard knocks that would be given to a -conscript, and I reckon you’ve found it out, haven’t you?” were the -first words he spoke. - -But Marcy—Rodney began to believe now that it was really his cousin -Marcy who had come to him in this strange way, though he never would -have suspected it if the officer had not told him so—did not even -whisper a reply. He never moved a finger, but lay motionless where -Rodney had placed him. He was so still, his face was so white, and his -faint breath came at so long intervals that Rodney feared he was already -past such help as he could give him; and it was not until half a bucket -of water had been dashed into his face, a cupful at a time, that he -began showing any signs of life. Then he put his arms around his -cousin’s neck and drew the latter’s tanned face close to his own white -one; but it was very little strength he could put into the embrace. - -“O Rodney, I am so tired,” he said, in a scarcely audible whisper. - -“It’s a wonder you are not dead,” replied his cousin in a choking voice. -“I never thought to see you again, but you are all right now. Every Yank -in this country is my friend.” - -“Then look out for Charley, and don’t let them hurt him,” whispered -Marcy, for he was too weak to talk. “They haven’t been very civil to us, -for they think we are spies sent out to draw them into ambush.” - -“You look like it, I must say,” exclaimed Rodney. “But who is Charley?” - -“Charley Bowen, my partner; the man who escaped when I did, and who has -stuck to me like a brother through it all. He knows the country, and if -it hadn’t been for him I wouldn’t have got ten miles from the stockade. -Give me a big drink of water, and then go out and say a good word for -him. Bring him in if they will let you.” - -After Marcy had drained the cup that was held to his lips Rodney -hastened out to see what he could do for Charley, and to secure his -papers, which were worth more than their weight in gold to him. He found -them on the gallery where the lieutenant had left them, and the -lieutenant himself was in the back yard looking on while one of the -soldiers shifted his saddle from his broken-down beast to the back of -one of Rodney’s plough-mules, all of which had been brought in from the -field. - -“A fair exchange is no robbery, Johnny,” said the officer, as Rodney -approached him. “And besides, you get the butt end of this trade. My -mule is bigger than yours, and will be better and stronger after he has -had a rest and a chance to fill out.” - -“What are you going to do with those conscripts?” inquired Rodney. - -“I haven’t orders to do anything with them,” answered the lieutenant. -“But of course I am expected to take them to Baton Rouge and turn them -over to the provost marshal.” - -“Why can’t you leave them here with me? I will look out for them.” - -“And you a discharged rebel? You’re a cool one, Johnny.” - -“But that boy in the house is my cousin, and as strong for the Union as -you or any man in your squad. Besides, he is ill and can’t go any -farther, and he wants his partner to stay with him. If the provost -marshal doesn’t tell you that I am all right with the authorities in -Baton Rouge, you can come back here and get him.” - -“You are very kind; but we are not making any excursions into the -country just for the fun of the thing. We have ridden far enough -already. What’s the matter out there, Allen?” - -“Big dust up the road, sir,” replied the soldier who had been left at -the bars. “Coming fast too, sir.” - -“Boots and saddles!” exclaimed the lieutenant, throwing himself on the -back of Rodney’s plough-mule. “Sergeant, form skirmish-line among the -trees to the right of the house.” - -“You’re taking trouble for nothing,” said Rodney. “There are no rebs -about here. That’s a Yankee scouting party from Baton Rouge.” - -The lieutenant didn’t know whether it was or not, and so, like a good -soldier, he made ready to fight, and to send word to his superior in the -rear if he found himself confronted by a force of the enemy too strong -for him to withstand. He kept his eye on the sentry, who had faced his -horse toward the bars in readiness to dash through them and join his -comrades if the rapidly approaching squad proved to be rebels, but he -did not retreat, nor did he discharge his carbine, which he held at -“arms port.” He stuck to his post until the foremost of the squad rode -into view around a turn in the road and then called out: - -“Who comes there?” - -Rodney did not hear the reply, and the challenged parties were concealed -from his sight by trees and bushes; but he knew they were Federal -troopers when he heard the sentry continue: - -“Halt! Dismount! Advance one friend and give an account of yourself.” -Then he waved his hand toward the house as a signal for some officer to -come out and receive the report. - -The lieutenant answered the signal and Rodney went with him; and when he -reached the bars whom should he see standing in the road talking to the -sentry but the corporal of the —th Michigan cavalry, who seemed to have -a way of turning up most opportunely. He shook hands with Rodney, and -told the lieutenant that he had been sent out with a few men to see if -he could learn anything about Colonel Grierson, who ought to have been -safe in Baton Rouge two or three days ago. - -“Judging by their looks, and the way they eat and trade mules, these are -some of Grierson’s men,” said Rodney. - -The lieutenant corroborated the statement, and said that the reason they -had been so long delayed was because they were obliged to pass through -miles of bottom land where the water was almost swimming deep. The -colonel was but a short distance in the rear, and might be expected to -come along any moment. Then he plied the corporal with questions as to -what Grant and Porter were doing at Vicksburg, and it was not until his -patience was well-nigh exhausted that Rodney saw opportunity to say a -word for himself. The instant there was a pause in the conversation he -broke in with: - -“Now, corporal, be kind enough to tell the lieutenant how I stand with -the provost marshal.” - -“All right in every spot and place,” replied the soldier quickly. -“What’s the matter? Have these raiders been stealing something?” - -“Oh, I don’t mind the little grub they ate, or the mules they took in -exchange for their crow-baits,” answered Rodney. “They’re welcome to -everything on the place if they will only leave my cousin with me. Is my -word good when I say that I will be responsible for his safe keeping?” - -“Your word is always good,” said the corporal, who was much astonished. -“But how came your cousin back here? I thought he went to New Orleans to -ship on a cotton boat.” - -“But this is another one—his brother Marcy, who came here with these -Yanks. They’ll kill him if they try to take him any farther, and I want -him left here with me. His partner, too.” - -“Well, if this isn’t a little ahead of anything I ever heard of I -wouldn’t say so,” exclaimed the corporal. “Where did you pick him up, -lieutenant?” - -The latter explained briefly, as we shall do presently, adding that he -didn’t think he had any right to grant Rodney’s request. - -“I didn’t really suppose you had, sir,” said the corporal. “But I was -going to make a suggestion. I will ride on until I meet the colonel—that -is what my orders oblige me to do—and when I see a chance I’ll say—have -you got any grub in the house?” - -“Plenty of it, such as it is,” answered Rodney. - -“It’s good enough for a hungry soldier, I’ll be bound. Tell your -housekeeper to dish up enough for the colonel and three or four of his -staff, and I’ll ride on and ask him if he’s hungry. He can’t well help -it after such a raid as he has made, and then I’ll tell him that I know -where he can get a good breakfast and bring him right here to your -house. After he has eaten his fill he’ll be good-natured, and then you -and I will talk to him about your cousin.” - -The lieutenant laughed heartily as he listened to this programme. “It’s -a very ingenious arrangement, corporal,” said he, as the -non-commissioned officer beckoned to his men, who were still waiting at -the place where they had been halted by the sentry. “And I think it -ought to succeed. But as I can’t wait for the colonel without disobeying -my orders, which are to scout on ahead, what shall I do with the -conscripts?” - -“Leave a guard with them,” suggested Rodney. - -“I suppose I might do that, and since the colonel is a volunteer like -myself, I’ll risk it. If he were a regular I wouldn’t think of it for a -moment.” - -“Another cousin!” muttered the corporal, as he swung himself into his -saddle. “How many more of your family are going to fall down on you out -of the clouds? It’s the strangest thing I ever heard of.” - -“And you’ll never hear the like again,” answered Rodney. “But I do not -look for any more. Two cousins are all I have.” - -The corporal laughed and rode on up the road to meet the expected -raiders, and the lieutenant told his sergeant to call in the men who -were still holding their positions on the skirmish-line which had been -formed when that warning dust was seen rising above the tree-tops. He -told Charley Bowen that he could remain behind to receive orders from -Colonel Grierson when he arrived, and detailed two troopers to keep -watch on him and Marcy Gray. - -“This isn’t at all regular; I ought to take those conscripts to Baton -Rouge, and I am soldier enough to know it,” said the lieutenant, -addressing himself to Rodney. “But you seem to be all right with that -corporal, and if you and he can make it all right with Colonel Grierson -I shall be glad of it. I have heard your cousin’s story and should be -glad to listen to the additions I know you can make to it, but haven’t -time just now.” - -“It confirms one’s faith in human nature to meet a kind-hearted soldier -now and then,” said Rodney, who knew that the lieutenant could have -compelled the conscripts to go on with him if he had been so disposed. -“I am very grateful to you, and will do you a good turn if I get half a -chance. Whenever you scout through this country drop in and have a bowl -of milk. I can’t offer you any to-day, for your men have made away with -all I had. Good-by. This is what I get by befriending escaped -prisoners,” he added mentally, as he started on a run for the house. “If -I hadn’t taken so much trouble to help that corporal where would Marcy -be now?” - -As it was, he was lying at his ease on Rodney’s bed instead of riding -along the dusty road toward Baton Rouge, reeling in his seat from very -weakness. Charley Bowen sat close by holding his hand, and the two -troopers who had been detailed to guard them were lounging on the -gallery just outside the window. The hand that rested in Bowen’s palm -was not white like its owner’s face, but very much swollen and -discolored, and Rodney noticed it at once. - -“What’s the matter?” he inquired. “How did you get hurt?” - -“He was triced up by the thumbs till he fainted,” replied Bowen, -speaking for his comrade. - -Rodney’s face turned all sorts of colors. - -“General Lee himself couldn’t make me believe that the punishment was -deserved,” said he through his teeth. “That boy drilled alongside of me -for almost four years at the Barrington Military Academy, and a better -soldier never shouldered a musket. He knows more than the man who triced -him up. What was it done for?” - -“Because Marcy didn’t shoot a Yankee prisoner whose hand was inside the -deadline,” replied Bowen. - -“And his hand wasn’t inside the deadline,” said Marcy in a faint voice. -“It was under the rail which marked the line, and the poor fellow was -trying to get hold of an old tin cup that someone had thrown there, so -that he could dig a hole in the ground to protect him from the weather. -If I had been a volunteer and had shot that man, I would have received a -month’s leave of absence.” - -Rodney sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at the two troopers -who were leaning half-way through the window, listening. His face showed -that he could hardly believe the story even if his cousin did tell it. - -“There’s a man in our company who escaped from Andersonville, and he -declares that such things really happened,” said one of the soldiers. -“Besides being starved to death our fellows are shot without any -provocation at all.” - -“And because you wouldn’t murder that Yankee somebody triced you up by -the thumbs,” said Rodney in a voice that was choked with anger. “Who -reported you?” - -“The sentry in the next box, who saw it all,” replied Marcy. “He tried -to get a shot at the man himself, but the prisoner’s friends closed -around him and hustled him out of sight; and that made the sentry so -angry that he reported me before we were relieved from post.” - -“How can the rebels hope to win in this war when they torture their own -men for not committing murder?” exclaimed Rodney hotly. - -“Why, I thought you were a rebel,” said one of the soldiers at the -window. - -“So I was,” answered Rodney honestly. “But, as I have said a hundred -times before, I know when I have had enough. When I was whipped I quit.” - -Both the troopers extended their hands, and after Rodney had shaken them -cordially he walked over and shook hands with Charley Bowen, and tried -to thank him for what he had done for Marcy; but his voice grew husky -and finally broke, and so he gave it up as a task beyond his powers. - -“I am a Georgia cracker,” said Bowen, “and the boys used to call me -‘goober-grabbler’; but I know a good fellow when I see him, and I don’t -want any thanks for doing for your cousin what I am sure he would have -done for me if he had known the country as well as I do. He assured me -that we could find friends if I would guide him to Baton Rouge, and I -was doing the best I could at it when we fell in with Captain Forbes.” - -“I know I should never have seen Marcy again if it hadn’t been for you, -because he told me so, and you are more than welcome to a share in -everything the war has left us. Now I must tear myself away for a few -minutes, for I have work to do. Don’t let Marcy talk; he is too weak.” - -So saying Rodney hastened from the room to order Colonel Grierson’s -breakfast, and to write a short note to his mother, requesting that the -only doctor in the country for miles around who had been able to keep -out of the army might be sent to his plantation as soon as he could be -found, to prescribe for Marcy Gray, who had come to him in a most -remarkable manner. He didn’t stop to explain how, for he hadn’t time; -but he made his mother understand that Marcy was in need of prompt -medical attention. Rodney knew that his father would at once answer the -note in person, and when he arrived he could tell him as much of his -cousin’s story as he knew himself. - -The note was sent off by one of the negroes, who was quickly summoned -from the field to take it; and after Rodney had satisfied himself that -the colonel’s breakfast was coming on as well as he could desire, and -had given instructions regarding a second meal that was to be made ready -for the conscripts and their guards, he went back to Marcy. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - MARK GOODWIN’S PLAN. - -Matters could not have worked more to Rodney Gray’s satisfaction if he -had had the planning of them himself. The hasty note he wrote to his -mother brought Mr. Gray to the plantation within an hour, and with him -came the doctor, who, for a wonder, was found at home by the messenger -whom Mrs. Gray had despatched to bring him. He lanced Marcy’s hands, -which had not received the least medical attention since the day they -were wounded by the cruel cord that held him suspended in the air so -that his toes barely touched the ground, bandaged them in good shape, -and gave him some medicine; and all the time Mr. Gray stood in an -adjoining room listening, while his eyes grew moist, to Rodney’s hurried -description of the events of the morning. Before he had time to ask many -questions the bars rattled again, and the hounds gave tongue as Colonel -Grierson and two or three of his officers rode into the yard. His weary, -travel-stained soldiers were close behind, but the most of them kept on -down the road, while only a small body-guard remained to watch over the -safety of the commanding officer. Rodney’s friend the corporal came into -the yard with the colonel, and winked and nodded in a way that was very -encouraging. Rodney stood on the veranda and saluted, while the two -troopers seized their carbines and presented arms. - -“Come right in, sir,” said the boy. “I have been waiting for you.” - -“Thank you. The corporal promised us a breakfast if we would stop here, -and so we thought it advisable to stop. I hope you’ll not object if we -sit down just as we are,” said the colonel, who was as dirty and ragged -as any of his men, “for we have scant time to stand on ceremony. Are -these the guards that were left with the conscripts? Forbes, step in and -see if they are the ones you picked up at Enterprise.” - -Forbes was the captain who had been sent with a squad of thirty-five men -to perform the perilous duty of cutting the telegraph-wires north of -Macon, and the gallant and daring exploit by which he saved his small -force from falling into the clutches of three thousand rebels we have -yet to describe. He recognized Marcy and his friend Bowen as the -conscripts who had surrendered themselves to him at Enterprise, shook -hands with one, patted the other on the head and said he guessed it was -all right, and that they could remain with Rodney as long as they -pleased. - -“There,” said the doctor. “Those words will do the patient more good -than all the medicine I could give him. Homesickness is what troubles -him more than anything else, but now that he is safe among his relatives -he will soon get over that.” - -Captain Forbes replied that he hoped so, and went out to join the -colonel at the table, while Rodney made haste to serve up the breakfast -that had been prepared for the two conscripts and their guards. Of -course the corporal was not forgotten, and he said he had been living on -army bacon and hard-tack just long enough to give him a sharp appetite -for the chicken and corn bread with which his plate was filled. When -Rodney went into the hall to see if his other guests were well served, -Captain Forbes cheered his heart by remarking that, as the conscripts -were not prisoners, they were at liberty to do as they pleased about -going or staying. - -In twenty minutes more the colonel had galloped away with his -body-guard, the plantation house was quiet, Marcy was sleeping the sleep -of exhaustion, and Charley Bowen was sitting on the porch with Mr. Gray -and Rodney, who listened with deep interest while he told of the -adventures that had befallen him and his partner since they took leave -of the stockade at Millen, which was as much of a prison to the -conscript guards as it was to the unhappy Union soldiers who were -confined on the inside. Their food was of rather better quality, and -they had more of it; but that was about all the difference there was -between them. Bowen’s short narrative prepared them to hear something -interesting when Marcy awoke; but that did not happen for eighteen -hours, and during that time the doctor made a second visit and Mr. Gray -went home and brought his wife, who shed tears abundantly when she saw -the thin, wan face on the pillow. But his long refreshing sleep and the -knowledge that he was among friends, and that the dreaded stockade with -all its harrowing associations was miles away, never to come before him -again except in his dreams, did wonders for Marcy Gray. When he awoke -his eye was as bright as ever, and the strong voice in which he called -out: “If there is a good Samaritan in this house I wish he would bring -me a drink of water,” was delightful to hear. Rodney, who had just -arisen from the lounge on which he had passed the night in an adjoining -room, lost no time in bringing the water, and his cousin’s hearty -greeting reminded him of the good old days at Barrington before the war -came with its attendant horrors, and set the boys of the family to -fighting under different flags. - -“The only thing I have had enough of since I left home is water,” said -Marcy; and Rodney was glad to see that he was strong enough to sit up in -bed and hold the cup with his own hand. “This isn’t all a dream, is it? -If it is, I hope I shall never wake up.” - -“It is not a dream,” Rodney assured him. “Look at your hands. Do you -dream that it hurts you to move them? And do you dream that you see your -aunt?” he added, making way for Mrs. Gray, who at that moment came into -the room and bent over the couch. - -Another good sign was that Marcy awoke hungry. He did not say so, for it -was too early in the morning for breakfast and Marcy never made trouble -if he could help it; but Rodney suspected it, and in a few minutes the -banging of stove-lids bore testimony that he was busy in the kitchen, -where he was soon joined by Charley Bowen, who said he was the best cook -in Georgia. The latter had been given a room to himself, but finding the -shuck mattress too soft and warm for comfort, he went out on the gallery -during the night and slept there, with Rodney’s hounds for company. -While these two worked in the kitchen, Mrs. Gray sat by Marcy’s bedside -and told him of Sailor Jack’s visit, and of the letters that had since -been received from him, so he could understand that, although his sudden -appearance was a great surprise to his friends, it was not quite as -bewildering as it would have been had they not been aware that he was -doing guard duty at Millen. She was going on to tell of Jack’s plans, -which had been upset by Marcy’s arrest, when Rodney, who stood in the -door listening, broke in with: - -“What will you put up against my roll of Confederate scrip that we don’t -see Jack in this country again in less than a month? I wrote him -yesterday, and it was a letter that will bring him as quickly as he can -come; that is, if he thinks it safe to leave his mother. And, Marcy, -you’ll have to stay, for you can’t go back among those rebels without -running the risk of being dragged off again; and I know what I am -talking about when I say that in our army desertion means death.” - -“What sort of a fellow are you to talk about ‘rebels’ and ‘our army’ in -the same breath?” demanded Marcy. - -“I am as strong for the Union as General Grant, and wish I could do as -much for it as he is doing to-day,” replied Rodney earnestly. “You never -expected to hear me utter such sentiments, did you? Well, I am honest. I -want peace, and so does everybody except Jeff Davis and a few others -high in authority. I’ll bring Jack here if I can, and then we’ll become -traders, all of us. We want to save what we can from the wreck.” - -By the time breakfast was served and eaten, and the conscripts had -exchanged their rags for whole suits of clothing, Mr. Gray and Ned -Griffin came to swell their number, and to hear Marcy tell how he and -his comrade managed to escape from Millen and to elude their pursuers -afterward. Marcy protested that he wasn’t going to lie abed when there -was no need of it, so he was propped up with pillows in the biggest -rocking-chair the house afforded, and pulled out to the porch, where the -family assembled to listen to his story, which ran about as follows: - -When we took leave of Marcy Gray to resume the history of his cousin -Rodney’s adventures and exploits, he was a refugee from home and living -in the woods in company with a small party of men and boys who had fled -there to avoid the enrolling officers, as well as to escape persecution -at the hands of their rebel neighbors. By a bold piece of strategy Marcy -had relieved his mother of the presence of her overseer, Hanson by name, -who had managed to keep her in constant trouble and anxiety ever since -the first gun was fired from Sumter. Hanson made it his business to keep -informed on all matters that related to the private life of the -occupants of the great house; in fact it was suspected that Beardsley, -Shelby, and some other wealthy rebels paid him to do it. It was rumored -that Mrs. Gray had a large sum of money hidden somewhere about her -premises, and if that was a fact, these enemies, who were all the while -working against her in secret, desired above all things to know it. They -wanted the money themselves if it could be found, and even went so far -as to bring four ruffians from a distant point to break into the house -at night and steal it. If they failed to line their own pockets, it was -their intention to induce the Richmond authorities to interest -themselves in the matter. A law enacted by the Confederate Congress at -the breaking out of the war provided that all debts owing to Northern -men should be repudiated, and the amount of those debts turned into the -Confederate treasury. Marcy often declared that his mother did not owe -anybody a red cent; but it would have been easy for such men as -Beardsley and Shelby to swear that she did, and that, instead of -complying with the law, she was hoarding the money for her own use. If -this could be proved against her, Mrs. Gray would have to surrender her -gold or go to jail; but somehow Marcy was always in the way whenever her -secret enemies tried to collect evidence against her. Being always on -his guard he never could be made to acknowledge that there was a dollar -in or around the great house, and Beardsley undertook to remove him so -that he and his fellow-conspirators could have a clear field for their -operations; and he did it by taking Marcy to sea with him as pilot on -his privateer and blockade runner. - -But for a long time nothing worked to Beardsley’s satisfaction. His fine -dwelling was burned while he was at sea, and the Federal cruisers drove -his blockade runner into port and kept her there until Marcy set fire to -her as she lay at her moorings. This he did on the night he left home to -join the refugees in the swamp. He had a narrow escape that night, and -would certainly have been packed off to Williamston jail before morning -if it had not been for the black boy Julius, who loyally risked his own -life to give Marcy warning. Beardsley and Shelby were finally “gobbled -up” by Union cavalry and taken to Plymouth, which had been captured by -some of Goldsborough’s gunboats and garrisoned by the army; but, -unfortunately for Marcy, they did not remain prisoners for any length of -time. If Beardsley had any luck at all it showed itself in the easy way -he had of slipping through the hands of the Yankees. He was captured by -Captain Benton, who commanded the vessel on which Marcy did duty as -pilot during the battles of Roanoke Island, and in the end was turned -over to General Burnside, who made the mistake of parolling him with the -captured garrison. That was the plea that Beardsley set up when he and -his companions, of whom there were about a dozen, were taken into the -presence of the Federal commander at Plymouth. - -“I’ve been parolled,” said he, “me and all the fellers you see with me. -We promised, honor bright, that we wouldn’t never take up arms agin the -United States, and we’ve kept that promise. So what makes you snatch us -away from our peaceful homes and firesides, and bring us here to shut us -up, when we aint never done the least thing?” - -“But all the same you belong to the Home Guards who were organized for -the purpose of persecuting Union people,” said the colonel. - -“Never heered of no Home Guards,” replied Beardsley, looking astonished. -“There aint no such things in our country, is there, boys?” - -Of course Beardsley’s companions bore willing testimony to the truth of -the statement, and when he and Shelby boldly declared that they would -prove their sincerity by taking the oath then and there, if the colonel -would administer it to them, it settled the matter so far as they were -concerned. Their companions were willing to follow their example rather -than suffer themselves to be sent to a Northern prison, and the result -was that in less than forty-eight hours after Marcy Gray received the -gratifying intelligence that he had seen the last of Beardsley and -Shelby, for a while at least, they were at home again and eager to take -vengeance on the boy whom they blamed more than anyone else for their -short captivity. - -“How did the Yankees get onto our trail so easy, and know all about that -Home Guard business, if Marcy Gray didn’t tell ’em?” said Beardsley, -when he and his friends found themselves safe outside the trenches at -Plymouth and well on their way homeward. “When Marcy made a pris’ner of -his mother’s overseer and took him among the Yankees he give ’em our -names, told ’em where we lived and all about it; and I say he shan’t -stay in the settlement no longer. I’ll land him in Williamston jail -before I am two days older; and when he gets there he won’t come back in -a hurry. I’ll see if I can’t have him sent to some regiment down on the -Gulf coast; then, if he runs away, as he is likely to do the first -chance he sees, he can’t get home.” - -“Be you goin’ to keep that oath, cap’n?” inquired one of Beardsley’s -companions. - -“Listen at the fule! Course I’m going to keep it. I didn’t promise -nothin’ but that I wouldn’t never bear arms agin the Yankee government, -nor lend aid and comfort to its enemies, without any mental observation, -did I? What do you reckon that means, Shelby?” - -“Mental reservation,” corrected Colonel Shelby, who did not like to be -addressed with so much familiarity. “It means that you did not swear to -one thing while you were thinking about another.” - -“Then I took the oath honest, ’cause I wasn’t thinkin’ about Marcy Gray -at all while the colonel was readin’ it to me; but I am thinkin’ of him -now. I didn’t promise that I wouldn’t square yards with him for settin’ -the Yanks onto me, and I’ll perceed to do it before I sleep sound.” - -Beardsley was as good as his word, or tried to be; but it took him -longer than two days to land Marcy Gray in Williamston jail. He laid a -good many plans to capture him, but somehow they were put into operation -just too late to be successful. And what exasperated Beardsley and -Shelby almost beyond endurance, and drove Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin -almost frantic, was the fact that Marcy did not keep himself in hiding -as closely as he used to do. He rode to Nashville whenever he felt like -it, and went in and out of the post-office as boldly as he ever did; but -he was always accompanied by Ben Hawkins and three or four other -parolled rebels, and no one dared lay a hand on him. Ben Hawkins, you -will remember, was the man who created something of a sensation by -making a defiant speech in the post-office shortly after he had been -released on parole by General Burnside. He declared that he had had all -the fighting he wanted and did not intend to go back to the army; and -when that blatant young rebel Tom Allison, who had never shouldered a -musket and did not mean to, so far forgot his prudence as to call -Hawkins a coward, the latter flew into a rage and threatened to “twist” -Tom’s neck for him. - -“Did Hawkins and his parolled comrades know that you served on a Union -gunboat during the fight at Roanoke Island?” asked Rodney, when his -cousin reached this point in his narrative. - -“Of course they knew it; and they knew, too, that Jack was serving on -one of the blockading fleet, but it didn’t seem to make the least -difference in their friendship for me. Hawkins was the man who helped me -get that treacherous overseer out of mother’s way, and he and the other -parolled prisoners who found a home in our refugee camp had relatives in -the settlement; and those relatives found means to warn us whenever a -cavalry raid was expected out from Williamston.” - -“You must have led an exciting life,” observed Rodney. - -Marcy replied that he found some excitement in dodging the rebel cavalry -and in listening to the sounds of the skirmishes that frequently took -place between them and the Union troopers that scouted through the -country from Plymouth; but there wasn’t a bit to be seen during the -weary days he passed on the island, afraid to show his head above the -brush wind-break lest some lurking Confederate should send a bullet into -it. Nor was there any pleasure in the lonely night trips he made to and -from his mother’s house whenever it came his turn to forage for his -companions. Keeping the camp supplied with provisions was a dangerous -duty, and he had to do his share of it. It was always performed under -cover of the darkness, for if any of their number had been seen carrying -supplies away from a house during the daytime, it would have been -reported to the first squad of rebel cavalry that rode through the -settlement, and that house would have been burned to the ground. To make -matters worse the refugees learned, to their great consternation and -anger, that there was an enemy among them; that one who ate salt with -them every day and slept under the same trees at night, who took part in -their councils, heard all the reports, good and bad, that were brought -in, and knew the camp routine so well that he could tell beforehand what -particular refugee would go foraging on a certain night, and name the -houses he would visit during his absence—someone who knew all these -things was holding regular communication with enemies in the settlement, -who made such good use of the information given them by this treacherous -refugee that they brought untold suffering to Marcy Gray and his mother, -and severe and well-merited punishment upon themselves. In order that -you may understand how it was brought about we must describe some things -that Marcy did not include in his narrative, for the very good reason -that he knew nothing of them. - -We have said that Tom Allison and his friend and crony Mark Goodwin were -angry when they saw Marcy Gray and his body-guard riding about the -country, holding their heads high as though they had never done anything -to be ashamed of. Tom and Mark were together all the time, and their -principal business in life was to bring trouble to some good Union -family as often as they saw opportunity to do so without danger to -themselves. The burning of Beardsley’s fine schooner had opened their -eyes to the fact that Marcy and his fellow-refugees could not be trifled -with, that there was a limit to their patience, and that it was the -height of folly to crowd them too far. - -“There’s somebody in this neighborhood who ought to be driven out of -it,” declared Mark Goodwin, while he and Tom Allison were riding toward -Nashville one morning, trying to make up their minds how and where to -pass the long day before them. “Don’t it beat you how Marcy and his -body-guard dodge in and out of the woods when there are no Confederate -soldiers around, and how close they keep themselves at all other times?” - -“Marcy knows what’s going on in the settlement as well as he did when he -lived here,” answered Tom. “He’s got friends, and plenty of them.” - -“Everything goes to prove it,” said Mark, “and those friends ought to be -driven away from here.” - -“That’s what I say; but who are they? Name a few of them.” - -“We’ll never be able to call any of them by name until we put a spy in -the camp of those refugees to keep us posted on all.” - -“Mark,” exclaimed Tom, riding closer to his companion and laying his -riding whip lightly on his shoulder, “you’ve hit it, and I wonder we did -not think of it before. Every general sends out spies to bring him -information which he could not get in any other way, and although we are -not generals we are good and loyal Confederates, and what’s the reason -we can’t do the same? Have you thought of anybody?” - -“There’s Kelsey, for one.” - -“Great Scott, man! He won’t do. Beardsley, Shelby, and a few others -offered Kelsey money to find out whether Marcy and his mother were Union -or Confederate, and tried to have him employed on that plantation as -overseer after Hanson was spirited away, so that he could find out if -there was any money in the house; and Marcy knows all about it.” - -“There’s mighty little goes on that he doesn’t know about, and I can’t -for the life of me see how he keeps so well posted,” observed Mark. - -“Then Beardsley and Shelby tried to induce Kelsey to burn Mrs. Gray’s -house, and Marcy knows about that, too,” continued Tom. “Wouldn’t he be -a plum dunce to let such a man as that come into camp to spy on him? -Besides, Kelsey is too big a coward to undertake the job.” - -“And he couldn’t make the refugees believe that he had turned his coat -and become Union all on a sudden,” assented Mark. “No, Kelsey won’t do. -We ought to make a bargain with somebody who is already in the camp and -who is supposed to be Marcy’s friend. How does Buffum strike you?” - -“Have you any reason to believe that he is not Marcy’s friend?” - -“No; but I believe that a man who is on the make as he is would do -almost anything for gain. He’s no more Union than I am. He kept out of -the army because he was afraid he would be killed if he went in; and -besides, he knew that Beardsley’s promise, to look out for the wants of -his family while he was gone, wasn’t good for anything. By taking up -with the refugees he made sure of getting enough to eat, but,” added -Mark, sinking his voice to a whisper, “he didn’t make sure of anything -else—any money, I mean.” - -“Whew!” whistled Tom. “Perhaps there is something in it. Let’s ride over -and see what Beardsley thinks about it. You are not afraid to trust -him.” - -No, Mark wasn’t afraid to take Captain Beardsley or any other good -Confederate into his confidence, and showed it by turning his horse -around and putting him into a lope. They talked earnestly as they rode, -and the conclusion they came to was that Mark had hit upon a fine plan -for punishing a boy who had never done them the least harm, and that the -lazy, worthless Buffum was just the man to help them carry it out -successfully. Captain Beardsley thought so too, after the scheme had -been unfolded to him. They found him with his coat off and a hoe in his -hands working with his negroes; but he was quite ready to come to the -fence when they intimated that they had something to say to him in -private. Beardsley’s field-hands had disappeared rapidly since the flag -which they knew to be the emblem of their freedom had been given to the -breeze at Plymouth, and those who remained were the aged and crippled, -who were wise enough to know that they could not earn their living among -strangers, and the vicious and shiftless (and Beardsley owned more of -this sort of help than any other planter in the State), who were afraid -that the Yankees would work them too hard. The “invaders” believed that -those who wouldn’t work couldn’t eat, and lived up to their principles -by putting some implement of labor into the hands of the contrabands as -fast as they came inside the lines. - -“They’re a sorry lookin’ lot,” said Captain Beardsley, as he came up to -the fence, rested his elbow on the top rail, and glanced back at his -negroes, “and I am gettin’ tol’able tired of the way things is goin’, -now I tell you. Sixty thousand dollars’ wuth of niggers has slipped -through my fingers sence this war was brung on us, dog-gone the luck, -and that’s what I get for bein’ a Confedrit. If I’d been Union like them -Grays, I’d ’a’ had most of my hands with me yet.” - -“I have a plan for getting even with those Grays, if you’ve got time to -listen to it,” said Mark. - -“I’ve got time to listen to anybody who will show me how to square yards -with the feller who sneaked up like a thief in the night and set fire to -my schooner,” replied Beardsley fiercely. - -“But when Marcy did that wasn’t you trying to make a prisoner of him?” -said Tom. - -“Course I was. And I had a right to, ’cause aint he Union? If he aint, -why didn’t he run Captain Benton’s ship aground when the fight was goin’ -on down there to the Island? He had chances enough.” - -“The Yankees would have hung him if he’d done that.” - -“S’pos’n they did; aint better men than Marcy Gray been hung durin’ this -war, I’d like to know? I wish one of our big shells had hit that gunboat -’twixt wind and water and sent her to the bottom with every soul on -board; but it didn’t happen so, and Marcy was let come home to burn the -only thing I had left in this wide world to make my bread and butter -with. Why, boys, everything I’ve got that schooner made for me on the -high seas—niggers, plantation, and all; and now she has been tooken from -me, dog-gone the luck. How is it you’re thinkin’ of gettin’ even with -him?” - -Mark Goodwin had not proceeded very far with his explanation before he -became satisfied that he had hit upon something which met the captain’s -hearty approval, for the latter rested his bearded chin on his breast, -wagged his head from side to side as he always did when he was very much -pleased and wanted to laugh, and pounded the top rail with his clenched -hand. He let Mark explain without interruption, and when the boy ceased -speaking he backed away from the fence, rested his hands on his knees, -and gave vent to a single shout of merriment. - -“It’ll work; I just know it’ll work,” said he, as soon as he could -speak, “and you couldn’t have picked out a better man for the job than -that sneak Buffum. He’s beholden to me and wants money. Go down and tell -him I want to see him directly.” - -Then Beardsley rested his folded arms on the fence and fell to shaking -his head again. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - BEN MAKES A FAILURE. - -“But, captain,” said Tom Allison, who was delighted by this prompt and -emphatic indorsement of his friend’s plan, “are you sure the thing can -be done without bringing suspicion upon any of us? You have a lot of -property that will burn, and so has Mark’s father’s and mine. Remember -that. Are you positive that Buffum can be trusted, and has he courage -enough to take him through?” - -“Nobody aint a-going to get into no trouble if you uns do like I tell -you and go and send Buffum up here to me,” replied Beardsley. “Am I -likely to disremember that I’ve got a lot of things left that will burn -as easy as my dwellin’ house did? and do you reckon I’d take a hand in -the business if I wasn’t sure it would work? Your Uncle Lon has got a -little sense left yet. And I’ll pertect you uns too, if you will keep -still tongues into your heads and let me do all the talkin’. You’ll find -Buffum down to his house if you go right now. I seen him pikin’ -that-a-way acrosst the fields when I rode up from Nashville not more’n -two hours ago. Tell him I want to see him directly, and then watch out. -Somethin’s goin’ to happen this very night.” - -“Who do you think will be captured first?” asked Mark. - -“Marcy Gray, of course,” replied Tom. “He must be first, or at least one -of the first, for by the time two or three foragers have been captured -on two or three different nights, the rest of the refugees will become -suspicious and change their way of sending out foragers.” - -“S’pos’n they do,” exclaimed Beardsley. “Won’t Buffum be right there in -their camp, to take notus of every change that is made, and as often as -he comes home can’t he slip up here and post me? Now, you hurry up and -tell Buffum I want to see him directly.” - -As Beardsley emphasized his words by turning away from the fence and -hastening toward the place where he had dropped his hoe, the boys did -not linger to ask any more questions, but jumped their horses over the -ditch and started in a lope for Buffum’s cabin. - -“I almost wish we had gone straight to Buffum’s in the first place and -kept away from Beardsley,” said Mark as they galloped along. “It is -bound to end in the breaking up of that band of refugees, and when it is -done, Beardsley will claim all the honor, and perhaps declare that the -plan originated in his own head.” - -“And he’ll have to stand the brunt of it if things don’t work as we hope -they will,” added Tom. “If he lisps it in his daughter’s presence it -will get all over the State in twenty-four hours, and then there’ll be -some hot work around here.” - -Half an hour’s riding brought the boys to Buffum’s cabin, which stood in -the middle of a ten-acre field that had been planted to corn, and so -rapidly did they approach it that they caught the owner in the act of -dodging out of the door with a heavy shot-gun in his hands. Believing -that he had been fairly surprised and was about to fall into the hands -of Confederate troopers, the man’s cowardly nature showed itself. He -leaned his gun against the cabin and raised both hands above his head in -token of surrender; but when he had taken a second look and discovered -that he had been frightened without good reason, he snatched up his gun -again and aimed it at Tom Allison’s head. - -“Halt!” he shouted. “I’ll die before I will be tooken.” - -“Why didn’t you talk that way before you saw who we were?” demanded Tom. -“You can’t get up a reputation for courage by any such actions. Captain -Beardsley wants to see you at his house.” - -“What do you reckon he wants of me?” inquired the man, letting down the -hammers of his gun and seating himself on the doorstep. “Aint nary -soldier behind you, is they?” - -“We haven’t seen a soldier for a week,” replied Tom. “We haven’t come -here to get you into trouble——” - -“But to put you in the way of making some money,” chimed in Mark. - -“Well, you couldn’t have come to a man who needs money wuss than I do,” -said Buffum, becoming interested. “What do you want me to do?” - -“We want you to break up that camp of refugees down there in the swamp.” - -“Then you’ve come to the wrong pusson,” said Buffum, shaking his head in -a very decided way. “Don’t you know that I’m livin’ in that camp, and -that I don’t never come out ’ceptin’ when I know there aint no rebel -soldiers scoutin’ around?” - -“How does it happen that you know when there are no rebel scouts in the -settlement?” inquired Mark. “Somebody must keep you posted.” - -“I’ve got friends, and good ones, too.” - -“So I supposed,” continued Mark. “And you know on what nights Marcy Gray -goes to his mother’s house after grub, don’t you? I thought so. Well, if -you will let us know when he expects to go there again it will be money -in your pocket.” - -“How much money?” asked Buffum; and his tone and manner encouraged the -boys to believe that, if sufficient inducement were held out, he might -be depended on to supply the desired information. He picked up a twig -that lay near him, and broke it in pieces with fingers that trembled -visibly. - -“You can set your own price,” replied Mark. “And bear in mind that you -will not run the slightest risk. Who is going to suspect you if you take -pains to remain in camp on the night Marcy is captured? Now will you go -down and talk to Beardsley about it?” - -“You’re sure you didn’t see nary soldier while you was comin’ up here?” -said the man doubtfully. - -“We didn’t, and neither did we hear of any. You don’t want to follow the -road, for you will save time and distance by going through the woods. -You will find Beardsley in the field north of where his house used to -stand. You’ll go, won’t you?” - -Buffum said he would think about it, and the boys rode away, satisfied -that he would start as soon as they were out of sight. - -“So far so good, with one exception,” said Tom, as they rode out of the -field into the road. “We talked too much, and Beardsley told us -particularly to keep still.” - -“I don’t care if he did,” answered Mark spitefully. “This is my plan, -and if it works I want, and mean to have, the honor of it. I hope it -will get to Marcy’s ears, for when he is in the army I want him to know -that I put him there.” - -“He’ll know it,” said Tom with a laugh. “Buffum’s wife was in the cabin, -and heard every word we said.” - -While Tom and Mark were spending their time in this congenial way, Marcy -Gray and his fellow-refugees were finding what little enjoyment they -could in acting as camp-keepers, or visiting their friends and relatives -in the settlement. Just now there was little scouting done by either -side. The Confederates at Williamston had lost about as many men as they -could afford to lose in skirmishes with the Federals, who were always -strong enough to drive them and to take a few prisoners besides, and had -grown weary of searching for a camp of refugees which they began to -believe was a myth. - -“It’s always stillest jest before a storm,” Ben Hawkins had been heard -to say, “and this here quiet is goin’ to make all we uns so careless -that the first thing we know some of us will turn up missin’.” - -And on the night following the day during which Tom Allison and Mark -Goodwin paid their visit to Buffum’s cabin, Ben came very near making -his words true by turning up missing himself. The camp regulations -required that every member should report at sunset, unless he had -received permission to remain away longer, and especially were the -foragers expected to be on hand to make preparations to go out again as -soon as night fell. Ben Hawkins was one of three who went out on the -night of which we write, and he came back shortly before daylight to -report that he had barely escaped surprise and capture in his father’s -house. - -“But I’ve got the grub all the same,” said he, placing a couple of -well-filled bags upon the ground near the tree under which he slept in -good weather. “I was bound I wouldn’t come without it, and that’s what -made me so late.” - -“Did you see them?” asked the refugees in concert. “Were they soldiers -from Williamston?” - -“Naw!” replied Hawkins in a tone of disgust. “They were some of Shelby’s -pesky Home Guards. Leastwise the two I saw were Home Guards, but I -wasn’t clost enough to recognize their faces. Now I want you all to -listen and ask questions next time you go out, and find, if you can, who -all is missin’ in the settlement. I had a tol’able fair crack at them -two, and I don’t reckon they’ll never pester any more of we uns.” - -The man Buffum was there and listening to every word, and he had so -little self-control that it was a wonder he did not betray himself. -Probably he would if it had not been that all the refugees showed more -or less agitation. - -“Didn’t I say that we uns would get too careless for our own good?” -continued Hawkins. “I’ve got so used to goin’ and comin’ without bein’ -pestered that I didn’t pay no attention to what I was doin’, and ’lowed -myself to be fairly ketched in the house. I’d ’a’ been took, easy as you -please, if I’d ’a’ had soldiers to deal with.” - -“Where are the two foragers who went out with you?” inquired Marcy. - -“Aint they got back yet?” exclaimed Hawkins, a shade of anxiety settling -on his bronzed features. “I aint seed ’em sence I left ’em up there at -the turn of the road, like I always do when we go after grub. They went -their ways and I went mine, and I aint seed ’em sence. What will you bet -that they aint tooken?” - -The refugees talked the matter over while they were eating breakfast and -anxiously awaiting the appearance of the missing foragers, and asked one -another if Mr. Hawkins would be likely to lose any buildings because Ben -had been detected in the act of carrying two bags of provisions from his -house. Ben said cheerfully that he did not look for anything else, and -that he expected to spend a good many nights in setting bonfires in -different parts of the settlement. No one hinted that this sudden -activity on the part of the Home Guards might be the result of a -conspiracy, and, so far as he knew, Marcy Gray was the only one who -suspected it. The houses toward which the foragers bent their steps, -when they separated at the turn, stood at least three miles apart and in -different directions, and it seemed strange to Marcy that those -particular houses should have been watched on that particular night. He -thought the matter would bear investigation, and with this thought in -his mind he set out immediately after breakfast, with the black boy -Julius for company, to see if any of the Home Guards had paid an -unwelcome visit to his mother since he took leave of her the day before. -On his way he passed through the field in which the overseer Hanson had -been taken into custody and marched off to Plymouth, and the negroes who -were at work there at once gathered around to tell him the news. Early -as it was, they had had ample time to learn all about it. - -“Did the Home Guards trouble my mother?” asked Marcy after listening to -their story. - -“No, sah; dey didn’t. But dey gobble up two of dem refugees so quick dey -couldn’t fight, but dey don’t git Moster Hawkins kase he too mighty -handy wid his gun.” - -“Do you know whether or not he shot any of them?” - -“We’s sorry to be ’bleeged to say he didn’t,” was the reply. “You want -to watch out, Marse Mahcy, an’ don’t luf nobody round hyar know when you -comin’ home nex’ time.” - -Marcy had already decided to follow this course, but he did not say -anything to the talkative darkies about it. If he had decided at the -same time that he wouldn’t mention it in camp, it would have been better -for him. - -While Marcy was visiting his mother (and all the while he was in her -presence there were four trusty negroes outside, watching the house), -Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin were trying to learn what had become of the -two refugees who had fallen into the hands of the Home Guards; and when -they found that both Beardsley and Shelby were absent from home on -business, they thought they knew. - -“They have been taken to jail,” said Mark, who was delighted over the -success of his plan, but angry at Beardsley because the latter did not -wait a few nights and make sure of Marcy Gray, instead of capturing two -men who were of no consequence one way or the other. “But between you -and me, I don’t envy the Home Guards the task they have set for -themselves. If all the refugees are like Hawkins somebody is going to -get hurt.” - -While Mark talked in this way he and Tom were riding toward Beardsley’s -plantation, and now they turned through his gate, passed the ruins of -his dwelling, and finally drew rein in front of the house in which the -overseer lived when Beardsley thought he could afford to hire one, but -which was now occupied by his own family. His daughter came to the door, -and the boys saw at once that she knew all about it. - -“Paw and Shelby has took them two fellers to Williamston,” she said in -her ordinary tone of voice, as though there was nothing secret in it. -“And they’re goin’ to bring some of our soldiers back with ’em, kase he -’lows, paw does, that it wouldn’t be safe for him and Shelby to fool -with Mahcy Gray. He’s got too many friends, and paw ’lows that he aint -got no more houses to lose.” - -Tom and Mark turned away without making any reply or asking any -questions. They did not want to hear any more. Beardsley had cautioned -them not to say a word about it, and here he had gone and told it to his -daughter, which was the same as though he had written out a full -description of Mark’s plan and put it on the bulletin-board in the -post-office. When Tom looked into his companion’s face he was surprised -to see how white it was. - -“Mark,” said he in a low whisper, “we’re in the worst scrape of our -lives, and if we come safely out of it I’ll promise that I will never -again try to interfere with Marcy Gray. He can go into the army or stay -out of it, just as he pleases. If he ever finds out what we have been up -to what will become of us?” - -“If he hasn’t found it out already it is his own fault,” replied Mark, -who had never before been so badly frightened. “Everybody in the -settlement knows it, and some enemy of ours will be sure to tell him. -Tom, I wish we had let him alone.” - -But Mark’s repentance came too late. The mischief had been done, and -Marcy Gray was industriously collecting evidence against him and his -companion in guilt. He had already heard enough to satisfy him on three -points: that the plan for capturing the refugees in detail originated -with Tom and Mark, that Captain Beardsley had undertaken to do the work, -and that at least one of the refugees was a traitor. But unfortunately -he shot wide of the mark when he began casting about for someone on whom -to lay the blame. He suspected one of Ben Hawkins’ comrades who had been -captured and parolled at Roanoke Island. There were seven of them, and -one of their number, beyond a doubt, had furnished the information that -enabled the Home Guards to capture the two men who had been taken to -Williamston. He never once suspected the man Buffum. If he had, he would -have dismissed the suspicion with a laugh, for everyone knew that Buffum -was too big a coward to take the slightest risk. - -When Marcy took leave of his mother he rode straight to Beardsley’s, and -was not very much surprised to learn that the captain had left home -early that morning to “’tend to some business over Williamston way.” His -ignorant daughter tried to be very secretive, and succeeded so well that -Marcy would have been stupid indeed if he hadn’t been able to tell what -business it was that took her father “over Williamston way.” Then he -changed the subject and surprised her into giving him some other -information. - -“Hawkins made a lively fight for the Home Guards last night, did he -not?” said Marcy. “How many of them did he kill?” - -“Nary one. Didn’t hit nary one, nuther,” answered the girl. “Paw ’lowed -that if Ben had had a gun he’d ’a’ hurt somebody; but he popped away -with a little dissolver, and you can’t hit nothin’ with a dissolver. -Mind you, I don’t know nothin’ about it only jest what the niggers told -me.” - -“Some folks might believe that story, but I don’t,” said Marcy to -himself, as he wheeled his horse and rode from the yard. “When the -darkies get hold of any news they don’t go to you with it.” - -From Beardsley’s Marcy went to Nashville, stopping as often as he met -anyone willing to talk to him, and going out of his way to visit the -homes of the two refugees who had been captured the night before, and -everywhere picking up little scraps of evidence against Tom, Mark, and -Beardsley; but everyone was so positive that there could not be a -traitor in the camp of the refugees, that Marcy himself began to have -doubts on that point. Ben Hawkins’ father and mother took him into the -house and showed him the chair in which Ben was sitting when four masked -men rushed into the room, two through each door, and tried to capture -him. - -“But my Ben, he aint a-skeered of no Home Guards,” said Mr. Hawkins -proudly. “Before you could say ‘Gen’ral Jackson’ with your mouth open, -he riz, an’ when he riz he was shootin’. An’ it would ’a’ done you good -to see the way them masked men humped themselves. They jest nacherly -fell over each other in tryin’ to get to the doors, an’ Ben, he made a -grab fur the nighest, thinkin’ to pull off the cloth that was over his -face, so’t we all could see who it was; but he couldn’t get clost -enough. Then Ben, he run too; but he come back after the grub. He said -he had been sent fur it an’ was goin’ to have it. Ben ’lowed that, if -they had been soldiers instead of Home Guards, we wouldn’t never seen -him no more.” - -“And I am afraid that we shall have to deal with soldiers from this time -on,” replied Marcy. “You wait and see if Beardsley doesn’t bring some -from Williamston when he comes back.” - -“That there man is buildin’ a bresh shanty over his head as fast as he -can,” said Mr. Hawkins. “He won’t have nary nigger cabin if this thing -can be proved on him.” - -“But there is going to be the trouble. We can’t prove it; and if some of -the Home Guards could be frightened into making a confession, Beardsley -would have no trouble in proving by his folks that he wasn’t outside of -his house last night.” - -It was five o’clock that afternoon when Marcy returned to camp and made -his report. He found there several refugees who had spent the day in the -settlement, and the stories they had to tell differed but little from -his own; but Marcy noticed that there wasn’t one who ventured to hint -that there was a spy and informer in the camp. Consequently he said -nothing about it himself, but quietly announced that he had concluded to -change his night for foraging. He did not hesitate to speak freely, for -he noticed that there was not a single parolled prisoner present. But -Buffum was there and heard every word. - -“It’s my turn to skirmish to-morrow night,” said he. “But with the -consent of all hands I think I will put it off until Monday night.” - -“You must have some reason for wanting to do that,” said Mr. Webster, -who you will remember was the man who guided Marcy to the camp on the -night Captain Beardsley’s schooner was burned. - -“I have a very good reason for it,” replied Marcy. “The prime movers in -this matter—Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin who got up the scheme, and -Beardsley who is carrying it out—are enemies of mine, and they would -rather see me forced into the army than anybody else.” And Marcy might -have added that they were after him and nobody else, and that when they -captured him the rest of the refugees would be permitted to live in -peace. - -“If that is the case, you ought not to go foraging at all,” said Mr. -Webster. - -“When I cast my lot with you I expected to share in all your dangers,” -said Marcy quietly. “It wouldn’t be right, but it would be cowardly for -me to remain safe in camp eating grub that others foraged at the risk of -being captured or shot, and I’ll not do it. I will do my part as I have -always tried to do, but I claim the right to bother my enemies all I can -by choosing my own time.” - -“That’s nothin’ more’n fair,” observed Buffum. “I’ll go in your place -to-morrer night an’ you can go in mine on Monday.” - -“All right,” said Marcy. “But don’t go near my mother’s house to-morrow. -It might be as dangerous for you as for me.” - -When all the refugees reported at sundown, as the camp regulations -required them to do, Marcy’s plan for escaping capture at the hands of -the Home Guards was explained to them, and it resulted, as Tom Allison -said it would, in a complete change in the camp routine. The plan -promised to work admirably. The three men composing the new detail which -went foraging that night made their way to their homes in safety, -visited a while with their families, and returned with a supply of -provisions without having seen any signs of the enemy; but the old -detail would surely have been captured, for their houses were watched -all night long, not by Home Guards, but by Confederate veterans who had -been sent from Williamston at Beardsley’s suggestion and Shelby’s. On -the night following Mrs. Gray’s house was not only watched but searched -from cellar to garret; but that was done simply to throw Marcy off his -guard, and we are sorry to say that it had the desired effect. The -Confederate soldiers knew they would not find Marcy that night, for -Captain Beardsley told them so; and Beardsley himself had been warned by -his faithful spy, Buffum, that Marcy would not go foraging again until -Monday night. By this time all the refugees became aware that there was -someone among them who could not be trusted, and the knowledge -exasperated them almost beyond the bounds of endurance. The danger was -that they might do harm to an innocent man, for they declared that the -smallest scrap of evidence against one of their number would be enough -to hang him to the nearest tree. - -“I can find that spy and will, too, if this thing goes on any longer,” -said Ben Hawkins, when he and Marcy and Mr. Webster were talking the -matter over one day. - -“Then why don’t you do it?” demanded Marcy. “It has gone on long enough -already.” - -“I’ll do it to-morrow night if you two will stand by me,” said Ben, and -Marcy had never heard him talk so savagely, not even when he threatened -to “twist” Tom Allison’s neck for calling him a coward. - -“We’ll stand by you,” said Mr. Webster; and although he did not show so -much anger, he was just as determined that the man who was trying to -betray them into the power of the Confederates should be severely -punished. “What are you going to do?” - -“I am going to pull that Tom Allison out of his bed by the neck, and say -to him that he can take his choice between givin’ me the name of that -traitor, an’ bein’ hung up to the plates of his paw’s gallery,” replied -Ben. - -“That’ll be the way to do it,” said Buffum, who happened to come up in -time to overhear a portion of this conversation. In fact Buffum was -always listening. He showed so great a desire to be everywhere at once, -and to know all that was going on, that it was a wonder he was not -suspected. But perhaps he took the best course to avoid suspicion. For a -man who was known to be lacking in courage, he displayed a good deal of -nerve in carrying out the dangerous part of Mark Goodwin’s programme -that had been assigned to him. - -“Will you help?” inquired Hawkins. - -“Well, no; I don’t know’s I want to help, kase you all might run agin -some rebels when you’re goin’ up to Allison’s house,” replied Buffum. -“I’d a heap ruther stay in camp. I never was wuth much at fightin’, but -I can forage as much grub as the next man.” - -There was another thing Buffum could do as well as the next man, but he -did not speak of it. He could slip away from camp after everybody else -was asleep or had gone out foraging, make his way through the woods to -Beardsley’s house, remain with him long enough to give the captain an -idea of what had been going on among the refugees during the day, and -return to his blanket in time to have a refreshing nap and get up with -the others; he had done it repeatedly, and no one was the wiser for it. -He slipped away that night after listening to Ben Hawkins’ threat to -hang Tom Allison to the plates of his father’s gallery, and perhaps we -shall see what came of it. - -Under the new rule it was Ben’s turn to go foraging that night, and he -went prepared for a fight. He was armed with three revolvers, Marcy’s -pair besides his own, and took with him two soldier comrades who could -be depended on in any emergency. They did not separate and give the -rebels opportunity to overpower them singly, but kept together, ready to -shoot or run as circumstances might require. They were not molested for -the simple reason that the Confederates, as we have said, were watching -other houses, knowing nothing of the new regulation that was in force. -They returned with an ample supply of food, and reported that Marcy’s -plan had thrown the enemy off the trail completely. - -The next day was Sunday, and Ben devoted a good portion of it to making -up for the sleep he had lost the night before, and the rest to selecting -and instructing the men that were to accompany him to Mr. Allison’s -house. There were nine of them, and with the exception of Mr. Webster -and Marcy they were all Confederate soldiers. This made it plain to -Marcy that Ben did not expect to find the traitor among the men who wore -gray jackets. They set out as soon as night fell, marching along the -road in military order, trusting to darkness to conceal their movements, -and moving at quick step, for Mr. Allison’s house was nearly eight miles -away. They had covered more than three-fourths of the distance, and Ben -was explaining to Marcy how the house was to be surrounded by a -right-and-left oblique movement, which was to begin as soon as the -little column was fairly inside Mr. Allison’s gate, when their steps -were arrested by a faint, tremulous hail which came from the bushes by -the roadside. In a second more half a dozen cocked revolvers were -pointed at the spot from which the voice sounded. - -“Out of that!” commanded Ben. “Out you come with a jump.” - -“Dat you, Moss’ Hawkins?” came in husky tones from the bushes. - -“It’s me; but I don’t know who you are, an’ you want to be in a hurry -about showin’ yourself. One—two——” - -“Hol’—hol’ on, if you please, sah. Ise comin’,” answered the voice, and -the next minute a badly frightened black man showed himself. “Say, Moss’ -Hawkins,” he continued, “whar’s you all gwine?” - -“I don’t know as that is any of your business,” answered Ben. - -“Dat I knows mighty well,” the darky hastened to say. “Black ones aint -got no truck wid white folkses business; but you all don’t want to go -nigher to Mistah Allison’s. Da’s a whole passel rebels up da’. I done -see ’em.” - -“What are they doin’ up there?” inquired Ben, who was very much -surprised to hear it. - -The black man replied that they were not doing anything in particular -the last time he saw them, only just loitering about as if they were -waiting for something or somebody. They hadn’t come to the house by the -road, but through the fields and out of the woods; and the care they -showed to keep out of sight of anyone who might chance to ride along the -highway, taken in connection with the fact that both Beardsley and -Shelby had been there talking to them, and had afterward left by the way -of a narrow lane that led to a piece of thick timber at the rear of the -plantation—all these things made the darkies believe that the rebels -were there for no good purpose, and so some of their number had left the -quarter as soon as it grew dark, to warn any Union people they might -meet to keep away from Mr. Allison’s house. - -“Well, boy, you’ve done us a favor,” said Ben, when the darky ceased -speaking, “and if I had a quarter in good money I would give it to you. -But there’s a bill of some sort in rebel money. It’s too dark to see the -size of it, but mebbe it will get you half a plug of tobacco. How many -rebs are there in the party?” - -“Sarvant, sah. Thank you kindly, sah,” said the black boy, as he took -the bill. “Da’s more’n twenty of ’em in de congregation, an’ all ole -soldiers. A mighty rough-lookin’ set dey is too.” - -“That’s the way all rebs look,” said Ben. “I know, for I have been one -of ’em. What do you s’pose brought the soldiers there?” - -The darky replied that he couldn’t make out why they came to the house; -but he knew that the officer in command had said something to Tom, in -the presence of his father and mother, that threw them all into a state -of great agitation. Tom especially was terribly frightened, and wanted -to ride over and pass the night with Mark Goodwin; but his father -wouldn’t let him go for fear something would happen to him on the road. - -“Well, Timothy——” began Ben. - -“Jake, if you please, sah,” corrected the negro. - -“Well, Jake, if you keep still about meetin’ us nobody will ever hear of -it. Off you go, now. The jig’s up, boys, an’ we might as well strike for -camp.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - SURPRISED AND CAPTURED. - -“I haven’t the least doubt but what the nigger told the truth,” -continued Ben Hawkins, as Mr. Allison’s black boy disappeared in the -darkness and his men gathered about him to hear what else he had to say. -“Everything goes to prove that we uns talked our plans over in the -presence of somebody who went straight to Beardsley an’ Shelby with it; -an’ them two went to work an’ brung soldiers enough up to Allison’s -house to scoop us all in the minute we got there. But we uns aint goin’ -to be scooped this night, thanks to that nigger. Twenty, or even six -veterans is too many fur we uns to tackle, ’specially sence some of us -aint never smelled much powder, an’ so we’re goin’ home. Now, who’s the -traitor, do you reckon?” - -There was no answer to this question. If the refugees suspected anybody, -they did not speak his name. It was a serious matter to accuse one of -their number, none of them were willing to take the responsibility, and -so they wisely held their peace. - -“We aint got no proof agin anybody,” continued Ben, “an’ I don’t know’s -I blame you all fur not wantin’ to speak out. But mind this: I shall -have an eye on everybody in camp—everybody, I said—an’ the fust one who -crooks his finger will have to tell a tol’able straight story to keep -out of trouble. Fall in, and counter-march by file, left. Quick time -now, an’ keep your guns in your hands, kase when them rebs up to the -house find that we uns aint goin’ to run into their trap, they may try -to head us off.” - -The return march was made in silence, each member of the squad being -engrossed with his own thoughts. Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin were -uppermost in their minds, and there was not one of the refugees who did -not tell himself that it would be better for the settlement if those two -mischief-makers were well out of it. They reached camp without any -trouble and reported their failure and talked about it as freely as -though they never suspected that there was somebody in their midst who -was to blame for it. Acting on the hint Ben Hawkins gave them the -parolled Confederates watched everybody, their comrades as well as the -civilians, and talked incessantly in the hope that the guilty one might -be led to betray himself by an inadvertent word or gesture; but they -paid the least attention to the man who could have told them the most -about it. Ben Hawkins would have suspected himself almost as soon as he -would have suspected Buffum. - -Monday evening came all too soon for Marcy Gray, who, with a feeling of -depression he had never before experienced, made ready to take his turn -at foraging. He announced that it was his intention to go to his -mother’s house alone, because one person might be able to approach the -dwelling unobserved, while three could not make a successful fight if -the enemy were on the watch. No one offered objection to this -arrangement, if we except the boy Julius, who positively refused to be -left behind, declaring that if his master would not take him to the -main-land in his boat, he would swim the bayou and follow him anyhow. - -When the time came for Marcy to start he shook hands with all the -refugees, Buffum included, and pushed off from the island alone. He -concealed his canoe when he reached the other shore and was about to -plunge into the woods, when a slight splashing in the water and the -sound of suppressed conversation came from the bank he had just left. At -least two or three persons were shoving off from the island to follow -him, and Marcy, believing that he could call them by name, waited for -them to come up. The night was so dark and the bushes so thick that his -friendly pursuers did not see him until the bow of their boat touched -the shore and they began to step out. - -“Now, Ben,” said Marcy reproachfully, “I shall feel much more at my ease -if you will turn around and go back.” - -“Oh, hursh, honey!” replied Julius. “We uns gwine fight de rebels, too.” - -“Don’t you know that if you and your friends are captured you will be -treated as deserters?” continued Marcy, addressing himself to Hawkins -and paying no attention to Julius. “You have been ordered to report for -duty and haven’t done it, and I suppose you know what that means.” - -“A heap better’n you do at this time, but not better’n you will if you -are tooken an’ packed off to Williamston,” answered Ben. “You’d die in -less’n a month if you was forced into the army, kase you aint the right -build to stand the hard knocks you’ll get. But we uns don’t ’low to be -took pris’ner or let you be took, either.” - -“I appreciate your kindness——” began Marcy. - -“You needn’t say no more, kase we uns has made it up to go with you, an’ -we aint goin’ to turn back,” interrupted Ben. “We uns will stay outside -the house an’ watch, an’ you can go in an’ get the grub. Pull the boat -ashore, boys, an’ shove her into the bresh out of sight.” - -There is no use in saying that Marcy did not feel relieved to know that -he would have four friends at his back if he got into trouble, because -he did. There were three Confederate veterans, and Julius made the -fourth friend; but Julius counted, for he had already proved that he was -worth something in an emergency. Marcy made no further effort to turn -them back, but shook them all warmly by the hand and led the way toward -his mother’s plantation. It took them two hours to reach it, for they -kept under cover of the woods as long as they could, and followed blind -ditches and brush-lined fences when it became necessary for them to -cross open fields, and so cautious were they in their movements that -when Ben came to a halt behind a rose-bush in full view of the great -house, he gave it as his opinion that an owl would not have seen or -heard them, if there had been one on the watch. - -“An’ although we uns aint seen no rebels, that don’t by no means prove -that there aint none around,” added Ben. “Marcy, you stay here, an’ the -rest of us will kinder sneak around t’other side the house an’ take a -look at things. Julius, you come with me, kase you know the lay of the -land an’ I don’t. You two boys go that-a-way; an’ if you run onto -anything don’t stop to ask questions, but shoot to kill. It’s a matter -of life an’ death with all of we uns, except the nigger.” - -Marcy’s friends moved away in different directions, and, when they were -out of sight and hearing, he walked around the rose-bush and sat down on -the ground so close to the house that he could recognize the servants -who passed in and out of the open door, through which a light streamed -into the darkness. He longed to call one of them to his hiding-place and -send a comforting message to the anxious mother, who he knew was waiting -for him in the sitting room, but he was afraid to do it. There wasn’t a -negro on the place who could be trusted as far as that. If he tried to -attract the notice of one of them, the darky would be sure to shriek out -with terror and seek safety in flight, and Marcy did not want to -frighten his mother. So he sat still and waited for Ben Hawkins, who, -after half an hour’s absence, returned with the gratifying intelligence -that the coast was clear, and Marcy could go ahead with his foraging as -soon as he pleased. - -“If there’s ary reb in this here garding he must be hid in the ground, -or else some of we uns would surely have stepped onto him,” said Ben. -“Beardsley didn’t look fur you to come to-night, an’ that’s all the -proof I want that we uns has got ahead of that traitor of ourn fur once, -dog-gone his pictur’.” - -“Where are the rest of the boys?” whispered Marcy. - -“They’re gardin’ three sides of the house, an’ when you go in I’ll stay -here an’ guard the fourth,” answered Ben. “Off you go, now. Crawl up.” - -Marcy lingered a moment to shake Ben’s hand, and then arose to his feet -and walked toward the house. If Ben’s report was correct there was no -need of concealment. He stopped on the way to speak to the darkies in -the kitchen, and his sudden appearance at the door threw them into the -wildest commotion. They made a simultaneous rush for the rear window, -intending to crawl through and take to their heels; but the sound of his -familiar voice reassured them. Raising his hand to silence their cries -of alarm Marcy said impressively: - -“Do you black ones want to see me captured by the rebels? Or do you want -to frighten my mother to death? If you don’t, keep still.” - -“Moss’ Mahcy,” protested the cook, who was the first to recover from her -fright, “dey aint no rebels round hyar. I aint seed none dis whole -blessed——” - -“For all that there may be some concealed in the garden and ready to -jump on me at any moment,” interrupted Marcy. “Now, don’t go to prowling -about. If you do you will be frightened again, for I have friends out -there in the bushes and you might run upon them in the dark.” - -So saying Marcy turned from the kitchen and went into the house, passing -on the way two large baskets which had been filled with food and placed -in the hall ready to his hand, so that there would be nothing to detain -him in so dangerous a place as his mother’s house was known to be. Mrs. -Gray came from the sitting room to meet him, for she heard his step the -moment he crossed the threshold. - -“O Marcy! I am so glad to see you, but I am almost sorry you came,” was -the way in which she greeted him. - -“Seen anything alarming?” inquired the boy. - -“No; and that very circumstance excites my suspicion. There are -Confederate soldiers in the neighborhood, for Morris saw several of them -in Nashville this morning. I shall never become accustomed to this -terrible way of living.” - -“No more shall I, but the only way to put a stop to it is to—what in the -world is that?” exclaimed Marcy; for just then a smothered cry of -astonishment and alarm, that was suddenly cut short in the middle, -sounded in the direction of the kitchen, followed by an indescribable -commotion such as might have been made by the shuffling feet of men who -were engaged in a hand-to-hand contest. A second afterward -pistol-shots—not one or a dozen, but a volley of them rattled around the -house, telling Marcy in plain terms that Ben Hawkins and his comrades -had been assailed on all sides. - -“O Marcy, they’ve got you!” cried Mrs. Gray; and forgetful of herself, -and thinking only of his safety, she flung her arms about his neck and -threw herself between him and the open door, protecting his person with -her own. - -“Not yet,” replied the boy between his clenched teeth. “I might as well -die here as in the army.” - -[Illustration: MARCY CAPTURED AT LAST.] - -Tightening his grasp on his mother’s waist Marcy swung her behind him -with one arm, at the same time reaching for the revolver whose heavy -butt protruded from the leg of his right boot; but before he could -straighten up with the weapon in his hand, two men in Confederate -uniform rushed into the room from the hall, and two cocked revolvers -were pointed at his head. Resistance would have been madness. The men -had him covered, their ready fingers were resting on the triggers, and -an effort on Marcy’s part to level his own weapon would have been the -signal for his death. These things happened in much less time than we -have taken to describe them, and all the while a regular fight, a sharp -one, too, had been going on outside the house, and with the rattle of -carbines and revolvers were mingled the screams of the terrified -negroes; but Marcy Gray and his mother did not know it. Their minds were -filled with but one thought, and that was that Beardsley had got the -upper hand of them at last. - -“If you move an eyelid you are a dead conscript,” said the foremost of -the two rebels at the door, and whom Marcy afterward knew as Captain -Fletcher. As he spoke he came into the room and took the revolver from -Marcy’s hand. - -“Captain, I see the mate to that sticking out of his boot,” said the -other soldier; and not until the captain had taken possession of that -revolver also did his comrade think it safe to put up his weapon. - -At this moment the firing outside ceased as suddenly as it had begun. -Captain Fletcher noticed it if Marcy did not, and ordered his man to “go -out and take a look and come in and report.” Then Marcy led his mother -to the sofa and sat down beside her, while the captain stood in the -middle of the room with his revolver in his hand and looked at him. - -“You’ve got me easy enough,” said Marcy, trying to put a bold face on -the matter. “And now I should like to know what you intend to do with -me.” - -“My orders are to take you to Williamston,” replied the captain, who -seemed to be a good fellow at heart. “I am sorry, but you would have -saved yourself and me some trouble if you had gone there the minute you -were conscripted.” - -“I never knew before that I had been conscripted,” answered Marcy. - -“Every man and boy in the Confederacy who is able to do duty must go -into the army,” said the captain slowly and impressively. “If he will -not go willingly he’ll be forced in.” - -“There are so many men and boys in the Confederacy who do not want to go -into the service that I should think it would take half your army to -hunt them up.” - -“It’s a heap of bother,” admitted the captain, “and it takes men we -cannot afford to spare from the front just now. Perhaps you had better -take a few clothes and a blanket with you; but I shall have to ask your -mother to get them, for I want you where I can keep an eye on you. -Captain Beardsley says——” - -“Go on,” said Marcy, when the captain paused and caught his breath. “You -can’t tell me anything about Beardsley that I don’t know already. He and -Shelby are at the bottom of this, and I am well aware of it. I don’t see -why you don’t hang those men. They have taken the oath of allegiance to -the United States Government.” - -“I don’t approve of anything like that, but all’s fair in war,” replied -the captain, who seemed to know all about it. “A loyal soldier wouldn’t -have done it, but Beardsley and Shelby are civilians and the Yanks -frightened them into it. However, they are working for our side as hard -as they ever did, and that’s about all we care for.” - -When the captain ceased speaking Mrs. Gray arose from the sofa and went -to Marcy’s room to pack a valise for him. There were no traces of tears -on her white, set face, and her step was as firm as it ever was. She was -bearing up bravely, for she had long schooled herself for just such a -scene as this. When she left the room the captain slipped his revolver -into its holster, took possession of an easy-chair, and leaned back in -it with a long-drawn sigh. - -“I’d rather face a dozen Yanks than one woman,” said he. “I hope she’ll -not break down when she bids you good-by.” - -“You need have no fears on that score,” answered Marcy. “I judge you -don’t like the unpleasant work you are engaged in any too well, and my -mother will do nothing to make it harder for you.” - -“You’re mighty right, I don’t like it,” said the captain emphatically. -“Any place in the world but an invalid corps. They have all the dirty -work to do. It suits some cowards, but I’d rather be at the front, and -there I hope to go next week. Well, corporal?” he added, turning to the -man he had sent out of the room a few minutes before. “How many of them -were there?” - -“A dozen or so, sir, judging by the fight they made and the work they -did,” replied the soldier. - -“Are you speaking of my friends?” inquired Marcy, who now remembered -that there had been something of a commotion outside the house. “Well, -there were just three of them, not counting an unarmed negro boy.” - -“Do you want me to believe that three conscripts could stand off twenty -old soldiers?” demanded the corporal. - -“Great Scott!” exclaimed Marcy, who was really surprised. “Did you bring -twenty men here to capture me? You are a brave lot.” - -“Braver than you who took to the woods to keep from going into the -army,” answered the angry corporal. “We can’t find hair nor hide of -them, sir,” he added, turning to his officer. “But they left us four -dead men to remember them by, and nary one wounded.” - -Marcy was horrified. Ben Hawkins had followed his own advice and shot to -kill. He was glad to hear the corporal say that his friends had managed -to escape in the darkness, but what effect would the gallant fight they -made have upon his own prospects? He was glad, too, that there was a -commissioned officer among his captors, for he did not like the way the -corporal glared at him. And finally, would his capture bring Tom Allison -and Mark Goodwin into trouble with the refugees? - -“It certainly did bring them into trouble,” interrupted Rodney. “They -were bushwhacked.” - -“How do you know?” demanded Marcy, starting up in his chair. - -“Jack said so in his last letter. And he said, further, that your good -friends Beardsley and Shelby, and one other whose name I have forgotten, -were burned out so clean that they didn’t have a nigger cabin left to -shelter them.” - -“Were Tom and Mark killed?” - -“I suppose they were, but Jack wasn’t explicit on that point. You would -be sorry to hear it, of course.” - -“I certainly would, for I used to be good friends with those boys before -a few crazy men kicked up this war and set us together by the ears,” -said Marcy sadly. “But they could blame no one but themselves. I wonder -that Beardsley wasn’t bushwhacked also.” - -Then Marcy settled back in his chair and went on with his story. He told -how he listened to the conclusion of the corporal’s report, during which -he learned, what he had all along more than half suspected, that the -Confederates had surrounded the house and were lying concealed in the -garden when he and his companions arrived. They saw Marcy’s friends -reconnoiter the premises, but made no effort to capture them for the -reason that they had received strict orders not to move until Captain -Fletcher gave the signal, which he did as soon as he saw Marcy enter the -house. He and the corporal lost no time in following and coming to close -quarters with him, for they knew they would find the boy armed, and that -it would be dangerous to give him a chance to defend himself. When they -left their place of concealment and ran around the kitchen, they -encountered Aunt Martha the cook, who saw and recognized their uniforms -as they passed her window, and started at the top of her speed for the -house, hoping to warn her young master so that he could escape through -the cellar, as he had done once before. But the corporal seized her, -promptly choked off the warning cry that arose to her lips, and then -began that furious struggle that had attracted Marcy’s attention. - -“She was strong and savage,” said the captain with a laugh, “and for a -time it looked as though she would get the better of both of us. If she -didn’t do that, I was afraid she would make such a fight that you would -hear it and dig out; but fortunately two of my men came to our aid just -in the nick of time.” - -“I hope you didn’t hurt her,” said Marcy. - -“I choked her into silence, you bet,” replied the corporal, who then -stated that the firing began when the Confederates rose to their feet -and tried to capture Marcy’s friends. They got more bullets than -captives, however, and the captain had four less men under his command -now than he had when the fight commenced. - -“You have wagons on the place, I suppose?” said the captain to Marcy, -when the corporal intimated by a salute that his report was ended. “Very -well. We’ll have to borrow one of them to take the bodies to -Williamston. I did intend to visit two other houses to-night, but I -shouldn’t make anything by it now, for of course the whole settlement -has been alarmed by the firing. Go and see about that wagon, corporal.” - -As the non-commissioned officer disappeared through one door Marcy’s -mother came in at another, carrying a well-filled valise in her hand. It -was not locked, and she opened and presented it for the captain’s -inspection. - -“There is nothing in it except a few articles which I know will be -useful to my boy while he is in the army,” said she. - -“That assurance is sufficient,” replied the captain. “Now, as soon as -the corporal reports that wagon ready, we will rid your house of our -unwelcome presence. I am sorry indeed that I had this work to do, but -the Yankees are to blame for it. If they hadn’t shot me almost to death -in the last battle I was in, I should now be at the front where I -belong. I wish your son might have got away, but I was ordered to take -him and I was obliged to do it.” - -“We have seen enough of this war to know that a soldier’s business is to -do as he is told, no matter who gets hurt by it,” said Marcy, speaking -for his mother, who seated herself on the sofa by his side and looked at -him as though she never expected to see him again. “I don’t mind telling -you, captain, that if I could have had my own way, I should have been -fighting under the Old Flag long ago.” - -“So I have heard; and there are a good many men in our army who think as -much of the Union as Abe Lincoln does,” answered the captain truthfully. -“But don’t say that again unless you know who you are talking to.” - -“Have you any idea where Marcy will be sent?” asked Mrs. Gray, speaking -with an effort. - -“Of course I don’t know for certain, but my impression is that he will -have to do guard duty somewhere. The authorities used to send conscripts -from this State to fill out North Carolina regiments in the field, but -they don’t trouble themselves to do it now. They put them on guard duty -wherever they want them, and send volunteers to the front.” - -“Let that ease your mind, mother,” said Marcy, with an attempt at -cheerfulness. “If I am to stay in the rear I shan’t have such a very -hard time of it.” - -The captain opened his eyes, smiled incredulously, and once or twice -acted as if he were on the point of speaking; but he thought better of -it, and just then the corporal returned to report that the men had been -called in and the wagon was waiting at the door. Captain Fletcher went -into the hall while Marcy took leave of his mother, and this gave the -latter opportunity to whisper in his ear, as her head rested on his -shoulder: - -“Be careful of that valise, and the first chance you get take the money -out of it. You will find one vest in there, and the gold is in the -right-hand pocket. O Marcy, this blow will kill me.” - -“You mustn’t let it. I shall surely return, and when I do I want you and -Jack here to welcome me.” - -The leave-taking was not prolonged,—it would have been torture to both -of them,—and when Captain Fletcher reached the carriage porch, where the -corporal stood holding three horses by the bridle, Marcy was at his -side. - -“Mount that horse and come on,” said the captain. “When we overtake the -wagon you can put your valise in it.” - -But that valise was much too valuable to be placed in the wagon, or -anywhere else that a thieving Confederate could get his hands on it, so -Marcy replied that if it was all the same to the captain he would tie it -to the horn of his saddle, where he could keep an eye on it. He mounted -the horse that was pointed out to him, kissed his hand to his mother, -said a cheery good-by to the weeping blacks, who had at last found -courage to come into the house, and rode on after the wagon, which had -by this time passed through the front gate into the road. Marcy was the -only prisoner the Confederates captured that night, and he had cost them -the lives of four men. The soldier who had once owned the horse he was -riding was one of the unfortunates. Marcy would have given much, to know -whether Ben Hawkins and his comrades escaped unscathed, but that was -something he never expected to hear, for he was by no means as sure that -he would come back to his home as he pretended to be. Others had been -killed, and what right had he to assume that he would escape? - -“This scout hasn’t amounted to a row of pins,” observed Captain -Fletcher, when he and Marcy came up with the wagon and rode behind it. -“I expected to find the country alive with Yankee cavalry and to fight -my way against a small army of refugees, who would ambush me from the -time I left Williamston till I got back. That is the reason I brought so -large a squad with me. I have been out four days, and what have I to -show for my trouble? Four dead men and three prisoners. I don’t like -such work, and shall get back to Virginia as soon as I can.” - -The captain relapsed into silence, and during the rest of the journey -Marcy was at liberty to commune undisturbed with his own gloomy -thoughts. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - IN WILLIAMSTON JAIL. - -“Fresh fish! where did you come from? Are you a deserter or a -conscript?” - -It was about two o’clock in the afternoon. Marcy Gray was in Williamston -jail at last, and this was the way he was welcomed when the heavy grated -door clanged behind him. Much to his relief he was not thrust into a -cell as he thought he would be, but into a large room which was already -so crowded that it did not seem as though there could be space for one -more. The inmates gathered eagerly about him, all asking questions at -once, and although some of them affected to look upon their capture and -confinement as a huge joke, Marcy saw at a glance that the majority were -as miserable as he was himself. While he told his story in as few words -as possible he looked around for the two foragers who had been captured -on the night that Ben Hawkins was surprised in his father’s house, and -failing to discover them he shouted out their names. They had had a few -days’ experience as prisoners, and could perhaps give him some needed -advice. - -“Oh, they’re gone,” said one. - -“Gone where?” inquired Marcy. - -“Nobody knows. This room was cleaned out on the very day they were -brought in, and your two friends went with the rest to do guard duty -somewhere down South. All of us you see here have been captured during -the last two or three days.” - -“How long do you think it will be before we will be shipped off?” - -“It won’t be long,” said the prisoner, “for this room is about as full -as it will hold. What are you anyway? Union or secesh?” - -Before Marcy could make any reply to this unexpected question, someone -who stood behind him gave him a gentle poke in the ribs. He took it for -a warning, as indeed it was intended to be, and turned away without -saying a word. The incident frightened him, for it proved that there -were some among the prisoners whom their companions in misery were -afraid to trust. He began to wonder how it would be possible for him to -secure possession of the gold pieces which his thoughtful mother had -placed in his vest pocket. There were some hard-looking fellows among -the prisoners, men of the Kelsey and Hanson stamp, and Marcy was not far -wrong when he told himself it would never do to let them know or suspect -that he was well supplied with good money. Holding fast to his blanket -and valise he freed himself from the crowd as soon as he could, and -taking his stand by an open grated window, began looking about in search -of a face whose owner seemed to him worthy of confidence; for Marcy felt -the need of a friend now as he had never felt it before. As good fortune -would have it, the first man who attracted his notice was Charley Bowen, -and he turned out to be the one who had given him the warning poke in -the ribs. His was an honest face if there ever was one, and Marcy liked -the way the man conducted himself. He took no part in the joking and -laughing. He looked as serious as Marcy felt, but did not seem to be -utterly cast down, as many of the prisoners were, because he knew he was -going to be forced into the army. When he saw that Marcy’s eyes were -fixed upon him with an inquiring look, he gradually worked his way out -of the crowd and came up to the window. - -“You look as though you had been used to better quarters than these and -better company, too,” was the way he began the conversation. - -“And so do you,” replied Marcy. - -“I never was shut up in jail before, if that is what you mean. You see I -don’t belong in this part of the country. I got this far on my way up -from Georgia, intending to get outside the Confederate lines if I could, -but I was gobbled at last, and within sight of the Union flag at -Plymouth.” - -“That was hard luck indeed,” answered Marcy. “You earned your freedom -and ought to have had it. Why, you must have travelled four or five -hundred miles. What excuse did the rebels make for arresting you?” - -“Don’t use that word here,” said the man hastily. “It’s dangerous. We -have the best of reasons for believing that there are spies among us -searching for deserters, and they will go straight to the guards with -every word you say. The man who asked if you are Union or secesh is one -of them.” - -“Why are they so anxious to find deserters?” asked Marcy. - -“To make an example of them, I suppose. At any rate the guards took a -deserter out of this room on the day I came, and we’ve never seen him -since. The men who captured me did not make any excuse for holding me, -if that was the question you were going to ask. They simply said that I -couldn’t be of any use to the Yanks in Plymouth, but could be of a good -deal of use in the Confederate army, and so they brought me along. Who -are you? and what’s your name?” - -Marcy had not talked with the man very long before he made up his mind -that he had found the friend he needed; but still he was afraid to trust -him too far on short acquaintance. He told Bowen that he was neither a -deserter nor a conscript, but a refugee, and owed his capture to -personal enemies, who would be sure to suffer for it sooner or later; -but he did not say that he intended to escape if his captors gave him -half a chance, or that he had some good money in his valise. -Consequently he was not a little surprised and alarmed when Bowen turned -his back to the rest of the prisoners, and said in an earnest whisper: - -“Have you been searched?” - -“No,” answered Marcy. “What will I have to be searched for? My mother -presented my valise for Captain Fletcher’s inspection, but he was -gentleman enough to say he wouldn’t look into it.” - -“Well, you’ll be searched, and that too just as soon as old Wilkins -learns something of the circumstances under which you were captured,” -continued Bowen in the same earnest whisper. “It don’t stand to reason -that your mother would have packed your carpetbag without slipping in a -little money, if she had any, and Wilkins is hot after money.” - -“Who is Wilkins, anyhow?” - -“The Confederate captain who commands here, and he’s a robber. He goes -through every man who comes into the jail, and you will not escape. Why, -he was mean enough to take three dollars in scrip from me. He said I -would have no use for money, for the government would furnish me with -grub and clothes. If you’ve got anything you want to save you’d better -let me have it.” - -“But how do I know that it will be any safer with you than it is with -me?” demanded Marcy. “What assurance have I that you will give it back -when I want it?” - -“You haven’t any. You’ll have to take my word for it.” - -This was honest at any rate, and something prompted Marcy to take out -the key of his valise and slip it into Bowen’s hand. - -“Look for my vest and feel in the right-hand pocket,” he whispered; and -then he turned around to engage the nearest of the prisoners in -conversation and draw their attention away from Bowen if he could. It -looked like a hopeless task. The room was so full that it did not seem -possible that any of its inmates could make a move without being seen by -somebody; but as soon as he showed a disposition to talk he found plenty -ready and eager to listen, for he was the last arrival and brought the -latest news from the outside world. He kept as many as could crowd -around him interested for perhaps five minutes, and then his narrative -was brought to a close by a commotion in the farther end of the room and -the entrance of a Confederate corporal, who elbowed his way into the -crowd, calling for Marcy Gray. - -“Here!” replied the owner of that name. “What do you suppose he wants of -me?” he added in an undertone. - -“Most likely he wants to take your descriptive list,” said one of the -prisoners, with a wink at his companions. - -“But that was done when I came in,” said Marcy. - -“Did old Wilkins do it?” said the conscript. “I don’t reckon he did, for -he has been off somewhere since morning. If he’s got back he will want -to see you himself.” - -That somebody wanted to see him was made plain to Marcy in a very few -seconds, for the corporal worked his way through the crowd until he -caught sight of the new prisoner, who was ordered to pick up his plunder -and “come along down to the office”; and, what was more, the corporal -watched him to see that he did not leave any of his “plunder” behind. - -“That proves that the descriptive list of your valise hasn’t been -taken,” whispered one of the prisoners, as Marcy followed the corporal -toward the door. - -When he picked up his valise he noticed that the key was in the lock, -and of course Bowen must have put it there; but whether he had had time -to examine the vest and find the precious gold pieces was a question -that could not be answered now. “Old Wilkins” would no doubt answer it -in about five minutes, was what Marcy said to himself, as he followed -his guide down a flight of stairs into a wide hall, which was paved with -brick and lined on both sides with dark, narrow cells. Marcy shuddered -when he glanced at the pale, hollow-eyed captives on the other side of -the grated doors, who crowded up to look at him as he passed along the -hall. - -“Who are these?” he whispered to his conductor. - -“Deserters and the meanest kind of Yankee sympathizers,” was the answer. -“Men who give aid and comfort to the enemy while honest soldiers are -risking their lives at the front.” - -“What’s going to be done with them, do you know?” - -“The deserters will be shot, most likely, and every one of the rest -ought to be hung. That’s what would be done with them if I had my way.” - -Marcy’s heart sank within him. If the corporal could have his way what -would be done with _him_? was the question that came into his mind. He -had not only given aid and comfort to the Federals but had served on one -of their gunboats; and how did he know but that the commander of the -prison would order him into one of those crowded cells after he had -taken the descriptive list of his valise, or, in plain English, had -robbed it of everything of value? While Marcy was thinking about it the -corporal pushed open a door and ushered him into the presence of Captain -Wilkins, who sat tilted back in a chair, with his feet on the office -table and a cob pipe in his mouth. Although he was resplendent in a -brand-new uniform he did not look like a soldier, and Marcy afterward -learned that he wasn’t. He was a Home Guard, and would have been a -deserter if he had seen the least prospect before him of being ordered -to the front. - -“Private Gray, sir,” said the corporal, waving his hand in Marcy’s -direction. - -His interview with Captain Wilkins, of whom he had already learned to -stand in fear, was not a long one, but it did much to satisfy Marcy that -the man was not as well acquainted with his history as he was afraid he -might be. His first words, however, showed that he knew all about the -fight that had taken place in Mrs. Gray’s door-yard when the boy was -captured. - -“So you are the chap who cost the lives of some of my best men, are -you?” said he, after he had given Marcy a good looking over. “Do you -know what I have a notion to do with you?” - -Marcy replied that he did not, being careful to address the captain as -“sir,” for he knew it would be folly to irritate such a man as he was. -He expected to hear him declare that he would put him into the dungeon -and keep him there on bread and water as long as he remained in the -jail; but instead of that the captain said: - -“I would like to send you to the field without an hour’s delay, so that -the Yankees could have a chance at you. There’s where such cowards as -you belong. Why didn’t you come in when you knew you had been -conscripted and save me the trouble of sending for you?” - -“I didn’t know it, sir,” replied Marcy. - -“Well, it was your business to know that every able-bodied man in the -Confederacy has been placed absolutely under control of our President -while the war lasts,” continued the captain. “You were mighty good to -yourself to stay at home living on the fat of the land, while your -betters are fighting and dying for the flag, but I’ll put you where you -will see service; do you hear? How many more men are there in that camp -of refugees up there?” - -“About twenty, sir,” answered Marcy. - -“Twenty more cowards shirking duty!” exclaimed the captain, taking his -feet off the table and banging his fist upon it. “But I’ll have them out -of there if it takes every man I’ve got; do you hear? I say I’ll have -them out of that camp and into the army, where they will be food for -powder. Let me see your baggage.” - -As Captain Wilkins said this he nodded to the corporal, who seized -Marcy’s valise and turned its contents upon the floor. There were not -many things brought to light—only an extra suit of clothes, two or three -handkerchiefs, as many shirts and pairs of stockings, and a pair of -shoes; but each of these articles was carefully examined by the -corporal, who went about his work as though he was used to it, as indeed -he was. He had examined a good deal of luggage for the captain, who had -nothing to say when he saw him confiscate any article of clothing that -struck his fancy, or which he thought he could sell or trade to his -comrades of the Home Guards. Marcy caught his breath when he saw the -corporal run his fingers into the right-hand pocket of the vest in which -his mother had placed the gold pieces, and felt much relieved when the -soldier did not pull out anything. Then his blanket, which Marcy had -rolled up and tied with strings so that he could sling it over his -shoulder, soldier fashion, was shaken out, but there was not a thing in -it to reward the corporal’s search. The latter looked disappointed and -so did Captain Wilkins, who commanded Marcy to turn all his pockets -inside out. He did so, but there was nothing in them but a broken -jack-knife that was not worth stealing. - -“You must be poor folks up your way,” said the captain. “Where’s your -scrip?” - -“I haven’t a dollar’s worth of scrip, sir,” said Marcy truthfully. “In -fact I’ve seen little of it during the war.” - -It never occurred to Captain Wilkins to ask if Marcy had seen any other -sort of money, for gold was something he had not taken from the pockets -of a single conscript. He put his feet on the table again, touched a -lighted match to his pipe, and told Marcy that he could go back -upstairs. Glad to escape so easily the boy tumbled his clothing into his -valise, gathered up his blanket, and went; and the sentry who stood in -the hall at the head of the stairs opened the door for him. - -“What did you have? What did you lose?” were the questions that arose on -all sides when he entered the room he had left a few minutes before. - -“Not a thing,” answered Marcy, glancing at Charley Bowen, who stood -among the prisoners, looking as innocent and unconcerned as a man could -who had almost a hundred dollars in gold in his pocket. “And they gave -my things a good overhauling, too.” - -“What did you do with your scrip, anyway? Put it in your shoe?” - -“I didn’t have any,” said Marcy. “If I had the corporal would have found -it sure, for he turned everything inside out.” - -Marcy elbowed his way to the nearest window to roll up his blanket and -repack his valise, and after a while Bowen came up. - -“If it hadn’t been for you they would have stolen me poor,” Marcy found -an opportunity to whisper to him. “They are nothing but robbers.” - -“What did I tell you?” replied Bowen. “Put your hand into my -coat-pocket, and you will find it safe; but I warn you that you will -lose it if you don’t watch out. There are some among the prisoners who -would steal it in a minute if they got a good chance. What do you intend -to do with it anyway?” he added, after Marcy had transferred the gold -coins to his own pocket without attracting anybody’s attention. “The -first time you try to spend any of it, someone will rob you.” - -“It may come handy some day,” whispered Marcy. “Since you have showed -yourself to be a true friend I don’t mind telling you that I don’t mean -to serve under the rebel flag a day longer than I am obliged to.” - -“Are you going to make a break?” said Bowen eagerly. - -“I am, if I see the ghost of a show.” - -“You’re a boy after my own heart, and if you want good company I will go -with you.” - -Nothing could have suited Marcy Gray better. The fact that Bowen had -travelled hundreds of miles through a country that was in full -possession of the enemy, and had even come within sight of the Union -lines before he was captured, proved that he was not only a brave and -persevering man, but that he was skilled in woodcraft as well; and such -a man would be an invaluable companion if they could only manage to -escape at the same time. Bowen said it would be impossible for them to -escape from the jail, for in addition to the sentry, who stood in the -hall and could look through the grated door into the room and see every -move that was made among the prisoners, the building was surrounded by -guards every night. It would be folly for them to make the attempt until -they were certain of success, for no man in the rebel army ever deserted -more than once. - -“But whether we escape in one month or two we’ll have something to think -about and live for, so that our minds will not be constantly dwelling -upon our misfortunes; and that’s a great thing in a case like this, I -tell you,” said Bowen. “We must keep up a brave heart by thinking about -pleasant things, or else it will not be long before we shall be moping -like those poor fellows over there in the corner. They’re all the time -worrying, and the first they know they will be down sick.” - -“I suppose that is the right way to do, but it is awful hard for a -conscript to be jolly,” said Marcy, who was thinking of his mother and -of Jack, whom he might never see again. - -“I know it; but it is the only way for us to do if we want to keep on -our feet.” - -When five o’clock came and the long table which occupied the middle of -the room had been cleared of the men who had been sitting and lying upon -it, and the supper was brought in, Marcy Gray began to realize that -being shut up in jail meant something. While Bowen talked he had been -slowly working his way through the crowd toward the table, and now Marcy -saw what his object was in doing it. The supper, which consisted of bean -soup and corn bread, was brought in in small wooden tubs which were -placed upon the table, together with a sufficient number of pans and -spoons to accommodate about half the prisoners at once. No sooner had -these pans and spoons been set on the table than Bowen seized two of -them as quick as a flash, and filled the pans with soup with one hand, -while he passed Marcy a generous piece of corn bread with the other. - -“Now get over there by the window before somebody jostles you and spills -it all,” said he; and although Marcy, acting upon the suggestion, -succeeded in reaching the window without losing his supper, it was not -owing to any consideration that was shown him by the prisoners, who made -a regular charge upon the table, pushing and crowding, and acting -altogether like men who were more than half famished. Marcy said, in a -tone of disgust, that they reminded him of a lot of pigs. - -“I don’t know’s I blame them,” said Bowen, swallowing a spoonful of his -soup with the remark that it was somewhat better than common. “You will -soon learn to push and shove with the rest.” - -“I hope not,” replied Marcy. - -“Then you’ll have to eat out of a dirty dish; that’s all.” - -“Do you mean to say that someone will have to use this pan and spoon -after I get through with them?” - -“That’s just what I mean. You see there are not more than half enough to -go around.” - -“Well, why don’t they wash them?” - -“Too much trouble, I suppose. And besides, anything is good enough for a -conscript.” - -Marcy did not in the least enjoy his supper. The soup was so badly -smoked that it was not fit to eat, and the corn bread was not more than -half baked. More than that, one of the prisoners urged him to make haste -and “get away with that soup,” for he wanted the pan as soon as he could -have it. - -“Don’t mind him,” said Bowen. “Take your time. That’s the way they will -all serve you when you get left.” - -Up to this time Marcy Gray had not been troubled very much with the -pangs of home-sickness. One seldom is when the bright sun is shining and -he can see what is going on around him. It is when the quiet of night -comes and everybody else is asleep that the young soldier thinks of home -and the friends he has left behind him. It was so with Marcy Gray at any -rate. When the supper dishes had been removed, and somebody had touched -a match to a couple of sputtering candles which threw out just light -enough to show how desolate and cheerless the big room really was, and -the prisoners began arranging their blankets and quilts, and the joking -and laughing ceased, then it was that Marcy’s fortitude was put to the -test. He thought of his mother, of Jack, and Ben Hawkins, who had proved -so stanch a friend to him, and told himself that he would never see them -again. He had heard that nostalgia (that is the name the doctors give to -homesickness) killed people sometimes, and he was sure it would kill him -before the month was ended. - -“What are you doing at that window?” demanded Bowen, breaking in upon -his revery. - -“I am watching the sentry in the yard below,” answered Marcy. “I wish I -was in his place. It wouldn’t take me long to slip away in the darkness -and draw a bee-line for home.” - -“Well, you just let that sentry alone and come here and lie down,” said -Bowen. - -“What’s the use? I can’t go to sleep.” - -“You can and you must. Sleep and eat all you can, hold your thoughts -under control, and so keep up your strength. Come here and lie down.” - -Marcy knew that Bowen’s advice was good, but it was hard to follow it. -Reluctantly he stretched himself upon the man’s blanket,—there was no -room on the floor for him to spread his own,—pulled his valise under his -head for a pillow, and listened while Bowen told of some exciting and -amusing incidents that had fallen under his observation while he was -trying to reach the Union lines. On three occasions, he said, he had -acted as guide to small parties of escaped Federals who were slowly -working their way out of Dixie, but somehow he never could induce them -to remain very long in his company. - -“They had the impudence to tell me that I didn’t know anything about the -geography of my own State,” said Bowen in an injured tone. - -“That’s what I think myself,” replied Marcy. “Whatever put it into your -head to come away up here to North Carolina, when you might have taken a -short cut to the coast?” - -“There you go just like the rest of them,” said Bowen. “It shows how -much you know of the situation down South. The Confederacy is like an -empty egg-shell. There’s nothing on the inside—no soldiers to be afraid -of—nothing but niggers, who are only too glad to feed and shelter a -Union man. You’re safe while you stay on the inside, but the minute you -try to get out is when the danger begins, for there’s the shell in the -shape of the armies by which the Confederacy is surrounded. There was no -need of my being captured, and that’s what provokes me. When I caught -sight of the Union flag in Plymouth I thought I was safe and so, instead -of keeping to the woods, I came out and followed the road; and here I -am. If I had held to the course that I followed all through my long -journey, I’d have been among the boys in blue now instead of being shut -up in jail.” - -“Did old Wilkins conscript you?” - -“The minute I struck the jail. He took my descriptive list, robbed me of -the little money I had left, and told me I could make up my mind to -fight until the Confederates gained their independence.” - -“You’ll die of old age before that day comes,” said Marcy. - -“That’s what I think, and it’s what more than half the people down South -think. There are men and boys in the Confederate army who are as strong -for the Union as Abe Lincoln is; but if they said so, or if they shirked -their duty, they would be shot before they saw another sun rise. Now, if -they put you and me on guard duty at one of their prison pens we’ll not -stay there any longer than we feel like it.” - -Bowen continued to whisper in this encouraging strain until long after -the rest of the prisoners were wrapped in slumber; and finally Marcy’s -eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep himself. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - THE PRISON PEN. - -When Marcy Gray awoke the next morning he made the mental resolution -that from that time forward, no matter what happened or how homesick he -might be, he would follow Bowen’s advice and example to the letter, eat -and sleep all he could and keep up a brave heart, so as to be in -readiness to improve the first opportunity for escape that presented -itself. Fortunately some things occurred that made it comparatively easy -for him to hold to his resolve for a few days at least. After some more -smoked bean soup and half-baked corn bread had been served for breakfast -(and this time Marcy did just what Bowen said he would, and pushed and -crowded with the rest in order to get a clean pan to eat from), the -grated door that led into the hall was thrown open and the commander of -the prison appeared on the threshold with Captain Fletcher at his side. -The latter held in his hand the book in which Marcy had seen his name -and descriptive list entered the day before. A hush of expectancy fell -upon the prisoners, who surged toward the door in a body. Something out -of the ordinary was about to happen, and they were impatient to know -what it was. - -“Get back there!” shouted Captain Wilkins. “You seem to be in a mighty -hurry to leave these good quarters, but some of you will wish yourselves -back here before many days have passed over your heads.” - -These words had a depressing effect upon some of the prisoners, but they -were very cheering to Marcy Gray and his friend Bowen. The captain made -it plain that they were to be sent off in some direction, and anything -was better than being shut up in that gloomy jail. - -“As fast as your names are called pick up your plunder and go down into -the yard and fall in for a march of seventy-five miles,” continued the -captain. “That will be your first taste of a soldier’s life.” - -“Seventy-five miles,” repeated Marcy. “We must be going to Raleigh, and -from there it is about a hundred miles by rail to Salisbury. By -gracious, Bowen, if they send us there I’ll not be much over two hundred -miles from home.” - -“I hope they’ll not separate us,” was the reply. “That’s what I am -afraid of now.” - -Captain Fletcher called off the names as they were written in his book, -and the prisoners one after another disappeared down the stairs. Some -responded with a cheerful “here,” and walked as briskly as though they -were going home instead of into the army, while others answered in -scarcely audible tones and moved with slow and reluctant steps. When -Bowen’s name was called he lingered long enough to give Marcy’s hand a -friendly squeeze, and when he passed through the door out of sight he -seemed to have taken all the boy’s courage with him; but when his own -name was called a few minutes later, Marcy was himself again. He went -into the jail yard and fell into the line that was being formed there -under command of an officer he had not seen before. On the opposite side -of the yard was a company of soldiers, veterans on the face of them, who -were standing at “parade rest,” and Marcy straightway concluded that -they were the men who were to guard the prisoners during the march. -Marcy hoped they would continue to act in that capacity as long as an -escort was needed. He wasn’t afraid of veterans, but he did not want any -Home Guards put over him. - -“What have you got in your grip?” inquired the officer, as Marcy fell -into his place in line. - -“Clothing, sir,” answered the boy, holding out the valise as if he -thought the officer wished to inspect it. - -“I am willing to take your word for it,” said the latter, who no doubt -knew that Captain Wilkins had given the valise a thorough examination. -“I was going to suggest that you had better wrap its contents in your -blanket and leave the grip behind. It will only be in your way, and you -don’t want too much luggage on the march.” - -Marcy thought the suggestion a good one, and with the officer’s -permission he fell out long enough to act upon it. By the time he took -his place in line again the prisoners who were to be sent away were all -assembled in the yard, and the commander and Captain Fletcher had come -out of the jail. The few unfortunates who remained behind were suspected -of being deserters, and they were to be detained until their record -could be investigated. Captain Fletcher handed his book to the strange -officer, who proceeded to call the roll a second time, for he had to -receipt for the men committed to his care as if they had been so many -bags of corn. When this had been done the prisoners were marched through -the gate into one of Williamston’s principal streets, the guards with -loaded muskets on their shoulders fell in on both sides of them, and -their weary journey, which was to end at a point more than three hundred -miles away, was fairly begun. - -They were nearly three weeks on the road, and during that time not an -incident happened that was worthy of record. Marcy afterward said that -all he could remember was that he was hungry all the time, and too tired -and sleepy to think of escape, even if it had been safe to attempt it. -Their veteran guards, who accompanied them no farther than Raleigh, told -them that from that point they would travel by rail, and so they did as -far as the rails went; but miles of the road-bed had to be traversed on -foot because the road itself had been torn up by raiding parties of -Union cavalry, who, after heating the rails red-hot, had wrapped them -around trees or twisted them into such fantastic shapes that nothing but -a rolling-mill could have straightened them out again. - -At Raleigh a company of militia took charge of the conscripts (that was -what everyone called them and what they called themselves now), and then -their sufferings began. Their new guards were absolutely without -feeling. The commanding officer either could not or would not keep them -supplied with food, nor would he permit them to leave the ranks long -enough to get a drink of water. Marcy, who found it hard to keep up -under such circumstances, wanted to try what power there might be in one -of his gold pieces, but Bowen would not listen to it. - -“Not for the world would I have these ruffians know that you have good -money in your pocket,” said he earnestly. “They would make some excuse -to shoot you in order to get it. Hold fast to every dollar of it, for -you will see the time when you will need it worse than you think you do -now.” - -It was not until they arrived within a few miles of their destination -that Marcy and his companions learned where they were going, and what -they were expected to do when they got there. Some of the militia who -were doing guard duty at the Millen prison pen had been ordered to -Savannah, and the conscripts were to take their places; but beyond the -fact that Millen was situated somewhere in the eastern part of Georgia, -a few miles south of Waynesborough, their ignorant guards could not tell -them a thing about it. - -“It must be pretty close to the coast, and that’s the way we’ll go when -we get ready to make a break,” said Marcy. - -“And what would we do if we succeeded in reaching the coast?” demanded -Bowen. “It would be the worst move we could make, for it would take us -right into danger. There are no Union war ships stationed off the -Georgia coast, and even if there were, how could we get out to them? No, -sir. We’ll go the other way and strike for the Mississippi.” - -“And cross three States?” exclaimed Marcy, astounded at the proposition. -“Why, it must be four or five hundred miles in a straight line.” - -“No matter if it’s a thousand,” said Bowen obstinately. “We’ll be safe -if we go that way, and we’ll be captured and shot if we go the other. If -we can only pass Macon I’ll be among friends.” - -“And if we can strike the Mississippi about Baton Rouge _I_ would be -among friends,” said Marcy. “But across three States that are no doubt -infested with Home Guards and bloodhounds! Bowen, you’re crazy.” - -“Not so crazy as you will show yourself to be if you try to reach the -coast,” was the reply. “But we haven’t started yet, and you will have -plenty of time to think it over and decide if you will go with me or -strike out by yourself.” - -This conversation had a disheartening effect upon Marcy, who knew that -if his clear-headed companion left him to take care of himself, his -chances for seeing home and friends again were very slim indeed. While -he was thinking about it, and trying to grasp the full meaning of the -words “across three States infested with Home Guards and bloodhounds,” -the train stopped at Millen Junction and the conscripts were ordered to -disembark. As fast as they left the cars they were drawn up in line near -the depot, which was afterward burned by Sherman’s cavalry, and the roll -was called. After that they were formally turned over to the commander -of the prison, who was there to receive them, and marched out to the -stockade. Marcy had just time to note that it was a gloomy looking place -and that a deep silence brooded over it, before he was marched into the -fort, whose cannon commanded the prison at all points. There they were -divided into messes and assigned to quarters, with the understanding -that they were to go on duty the next morning at guard-mount. The -barracks were crowded when Marcy first went into them, but some of the -militia were ordered to Savannah that afternoon, and when they were gone -he and Bowen were able to find a bunk. They had managed to be put into -the same mess, and that was something to be thankful for. - -So far the conscripts had nothing to complain of. Their supper was -abundant and passably well cooked, and it was delightful to know that -they could get a drink of water when they wanted it, without asking -permission of some petty tyrant who was quite as likely to refuse as he -was to grant the request. But Marcy looked forward with some misgivings -to guard-mount the next morning. The idea of putting raw recruits -through that complicated ceremony was a novel one to him, and although -he had no fears for himself, he was afraid that the awkwardness of some -of his companions would bring upon them the wrath of the adjutant; that -is, if the latter was at all strict, and liked to see things done in -military form. Before he went to his bunk, however, he found that he had -little to fear on that score. A sergeant came into the barracks with a -paper in his hand, and began warning the recruits for guard duty the -next day, ordering them to fall in line in front of him as fast as their -names were called. Marcy’s was one of the first on the list, and when it -was read off he stepped promptly to his place, dressed to the right, and -came to a front. The sergeant, who knew a well-drilled man when he saw -him, was surprised. He looked curiously at Marcy for a moment, and then -went on calling off the names of the guard. - -“I’ll bet I made a mistake in showing off that way,” thought Marcy. “As -soon as this company is organized they will take me out of the ranks and -make me a corporal or something, and that would be a misfortune, for I -shouldn’t have half the chance to talk to Bowen that I’ve got now.” - -There were forty recruits warned for duty, and when they were all -standing before him the sergeant said that when they heard the bugle -sound the adjutant’s call at nine o’clock in the morning, they would be -expected to assemble on the parade ground, and when they got there they -would be armed and told what to do. Then, having performed his duty, the -sergeant faced them to the right and broke ranks, at the same time -looking hard at Marcy and jerking his head over his shoulder toward the -door. Marcy followed him when he left the barracks, and when they were -out of hearing of everybody the sergeant said: - -“Where have you been drilled?” - -“At the Barrington Military Academy. I was there almost four years. But -don’t say anything about it, will you?” - -“You’re sure you’re not a deserter?” continued the sergeant. - -“No!” gasped Marcy. “I am a refugee. I haven’t even been conscripted. I -was arrested in my mother’s presence and shoved into Williamston jail; -and if I were a deserter, don’t you suppose Captain Wilkins would have -known it? What put that into your head?” - -“Oh, I saw you had been drilled somewhere, and I didn’t know but it was -in the army. If that was the case you would be in a bad row of stumps -among these Home Guards. If one of them could prove that you are a -deserter he would get a thirty days’ furlough.” - -“And what would be done with me?” - -“I am sure I don’t know, but nobody would ever see you again after -General Winder got his hands on you.” - -“Who is General Winder?” inquired Marcy. - -“He is the officer who has charge of all the Southern prisons, and it is -owing to him that the Yanks are starving and dying by scores right here -in this stockade,” said the sergeant bitterly. - -“Starving and dying by scores!” ejaculated Marcy, who had never heard of -such a thing before. - -“That’s what I said. There were twenty-three bodies brought through that -gate yesterday, and eighteen this morning.” - -“Why, that’s brutal! it’s downright heathenish!” exclaimed Marcy. - -“Well, we can’t give them what we haven’t got, can we?” demanded the -sergeant. “Winder could send us grub if he wanted to——” - -“I know he could,” interrupted Marcy. “There’s plenty of it along the -road between here and Raleigh. I saw it.” - -“But as long as he doesn’t see fit to forward it we can’t issue it to -the prisoners,” added the sergeant. “You don’t want some Home Guard to -report to him that you are a deserter, do you?” - -“I should say not,” exclaimed Marcy. “If that’s the sort of a brute he -is, I would stand no show at all with him. But no one can prove that I -have ever been in the army before.” - -“They might put you to some trouble to prove that you haven’t, and my -object in bringing you out here was to warn you that you’d better not -throw on any military airs while you stay in this camp.” - -“I am very grateful to you,” replied Marcy, who did not expect to find a -sympathizing friend in a rebel non-commissioned officer. “You are not a -Home Guard?” - -“Not much. I was one of the first men in our county to volunteer, but I -couldn’t stand hard campaigning, and so I asked to be put on light duty, -and I had influence enough to carry my point. But I would have stayed in -the army till I died if I had dreamed that I would be sent to help guard -a slaughterhouse; for that is just what this stockade is. The commander -is nothing but a Home Guard, but he hates conscripts as bad as he does -Yankees, and you want to watch out and do nothing to incur his -displeasure.” - -“I don’t know how to thank you——” began Marcy. - -“That’s all right. I knew as soon as I looked at you that you are as -much out of place here as I am, and I don’t want to see you get into -trouble. Of course you won’t repeat what I have said to you.” - -“Not by a long shot. You have done me too great a favor.” - -The two separated, and Marcy went into the barracks and sought his bunk, -feeling as if he were in some way to blame for the sufferings of the -Union soldiers who were confined within the stockade. That they should -be allowed to perish for want of food, when there was an abundance of it -scattered along the line of the railroad within easy reach of the -prison, seemed so terrible to Marcy that he could not dismiss it from -his mind so that he could go to sleep. He did not then know that the -Confederate commissary was the worst managed branch of the army, and -that General Bragg’s men had been on short rations while in Corinth -there was a pile of hard tack as long and high as the railroad depot -that was going to waste. Our starving boys in Libby prison could look -through the grated windows upon the fertile fields of Manchester, -“waving with grain and alive with flocks and herds,” and General Lee -wrote that there were supplies enough in the country, and if the proper -means were taken to procure them there would not be so many desertions -from his army. Every Union soldier who died for want of food in Southern -prison pens was deliberately murdered, and the Richmond papers declared -that General Winder was to blame for it. If the latter had not been -summoned by death to answer before a higher tribunal, there is no doubt -but that he would have been hanged by sentence of court martial as -Captain Wirz was. - -Marcy Gray scarcely closed his eyes in slumber that night, and when he -did, his sleep was disturbed by horrible dreams in which starving -prisoners and unfeeling Confederate officers bore prominent parts. He -arose from his bunk as weary and dispirited as he was when he got into -it, breakfasted on a cup of sweet potato coffee and a small piece of -corn bread, and when the adjutant’s call sounded was one of the first to -appear on the parade ground; but he did not take as much pains to fall -in like a soldier as he did the day before. On the contrary he seemed to -be the greenest one among the conscripts, for when he was commanded to -“dress up a little on the right centre” he did not move until the -adjutant shook his sword at him and asked if he were hard of hearing. - -In only one particular did this guard-mount resemble those in which -Marcy had often taken part at the Barrington Academy. The guard, which -was composed of an equal number of Home Guards and conscripts, was -divided into two platoons with an officer of the guard in command of -each, and an officer of the day in command of the whole, and there all -attempts to follow the tactics ceased except when the adjutant saluted -the new officer of the day and reported, “Sir, the guard is formed.” -There was no band to sound off and no marching in review. Instead of -that the officer of the day said to one of his lieutenants, “Go ahead, -Billy, and fill up the boxes,” and in obedience to the order, the same -sergeant who had warned the conscripts for duty the night before placed -himself at the head of the first platoon, to which Marcy belonged, and -marched them to the commander’s headquarters, where they were supplied -with old-fashioned muskets and cartridge-boxes. - -“Give me that gun!” shouted the sergeant, who was out of all patience -when he saw that some of the conscripts held their pieces at trail arms, -and that others placed them on their shoulders as they might have done -if they had been going to hunt squirrels in the woods. “Now watch me. -This is shoulder arms. Put your guns that way, all of you, and keep them -there.” - -So saying he marched the platoon away to relieve the sentries on post. -Marcy was No. 6, and this brought him to a station about the middle of -the eastern side of the stockade. When his number was called he followed -the sergeant up a ladder and into a box from which a grizzly Home Guard -had been keeping watch during the morning hours. The latter, instead of -bringing his musket to arms port, as he ought to have done when passing -his orders, dropped the butt of it to the floor and rested his chin on -his hands, which he clasped over the muzzle. - -“There aint nothing much to do but jest loaf here and keep an eye on -them abolitionists,” said he, jerking his head toward the stockade. “Do -you see that dead-line down there? Well, if you see one of ’em trying to -get over or under it shoot him down; and don’t stop to ask him no -questions, neither. I’d like mighty well to get a chance to do it, kase -I want thirty days home. I reckon that’s all, aint it, sard?” - -The sergeant said he reckoned it was, and when the two went down the -ladder Marcy stepped to the side of his box and took his first view of -the inside of a Southern prison pen. He had seen a picture of Camp -Douglas in an illustrated paper which Captain Burrows gave him one day -when he was in Plymouth, and had taken note that the Confederate -prisoners there confined were provided with comfortable quarters, into -which they could retreat in stormy weather, and where they could find -shade when the sun grew too hot for them; but there was nothing of the -kind inside this stockade. There was no shelter from sun or rain except -such as the prisoners had been able to provide for themselves. There -were multitudes of little tents made of blankets, which were hardly high -enough for a man to crawl into, and scattered among them were mounds of -earth that looked so much like graves that Marcy was startled when he -saw a ragged, emaciated apparition, which had once been an able-bodied -Union soldier, slowly emerge from one of them and throw himself down -upon the ground as if he didn’t care whether he ever got up again or -not. The stockade was crowded with just such pitiful objects, who -dragged their skeleton forms wearily over the sun-baked earth or lay as -motionless as dead men under the shelter of their little tents. It was a -spectacle to which no language could do justice, and Marcy turned from -it sick at heart to make an examination of the stockade itself. It was -built of pine logs set upright in the ground and scored on each side so -that they would stand closely together, and they were held in place by -heavy planks which were spiked across them on the outside near the top. -Built upon little platforms, located at regular intervals around the top -of the stockade, were sentry boxes like the one Marcy now occupied, to -which access was gained by ladders leading from the ground outside. On -the inside of the stockade, about fifteen feet from it and running -parallel to it all the way around, was a railing three feet high made by -nailing strips of boards to posts that had been firmly set in the -ground. It was an innocent looking thing, but it had sent into eternity -more than one brave man who had incautiously approached it. It was the -dead-line. - -“But it will never be the death of anybody while I am on post,” thought -Marcy, wondering how any man could want a furlough bad enough to shoot a -fellow being down in cold blood. “I never could look my mother or Jack -in the face if I should do a deed like that, and I’d never have a good -night’s rest. Heaven will never smile upon a cause upheld by men who are -as cruel as these rebels are. They ought to be whipped.” - -Long before the time arrived for him to be relieved Marcy became so -affected by the sight of the misery and suffering he had no power to -alleviate that he wanted to drop his musket and take to his heels; and -he would have welcomed a cyclone or an earthquake, or any other -convulsion of nature, that would have shut it out from his view forever. -On several occasions some of the thirsty wretches approached within a -few feet of the dead-line, with battered, smoke-begrimed cups or pieces -of bent tin in their hands, to drink from the sluggish stream that -flowed through the pen—for the water was clearer there than it was -anywhere else—and then it was that the fiendish nature of the sentry in -the next box on the right showed itself. As often as a prisoner drew -near to the stream with a dish in his hand, this man would cock his -musket, bring it to a ready, and crane his long neck eagerly forward, as -if he hoped that the soldier might forget himself and approach close -enough to the fatal line to give him an excuse for shooting. Once or -twice Marcy was on the point of warning the boys in blue to keep farther -away, but he remembered in time that he had been told to ask no -questions, and that was the same as an order forbidding him to speak to -the prisoners. To his great joy the sentry who was so anxious to have a -furlough did not earn it that day. At length Marcy saw the relief -approaching, and then he took the first long, easy breath he had drawn -for four miserable hours. He passed his orders in as few words as -possible and hurried down the ladder, feeling as if he had just been -released from prison himself. He marched around the stockade with the -relief, and was surprised to see how extensive it was. It was not -crowded like Andersonville, nor were the sanitary conditions quite so -bad; but they were bad enough, and the mortality was just as great in -proportion to the number of prisoners confined in it. When they reached -the barracks the platoon to which he belonged was drilled for half an -hour at stacking arms, and it was not until the movement was -accomplished to his satisfaction that the officer of the guard allowed -them to break ranks and go to dinner. - -“You look as though you had had a spell of sickness,” were the first -words his friend Bowen said to him, when the two found opportunity to -exchange a few words in private. “What’s the matter?” - -“Wait until you have stood in one of those boxes for four hours, and see -if you don’t feel as bad as I look,” answered Marcy. “It’s awful, and I -don’t see how I can go there again. Why, Charley, the sentry who stood -next to me fairly ached to shoot one of those poor fellows. I never saw -a quail hunter more eager to get a shot than he was.” - -“Did the prisoner come near the dead-line?” - -“There must have been fifty or more of them who came to the bayou to get -a drink; but they were not within ten feet of the dead-line.” - -“And what did you do?” - -“I? I didn’t do anything.” - -“Well, the next time that thing happens, I would make a little -demonstration, if I were in your place,” said Bowen. “You can act as if -you were going to shoot, but of course you needn’t unless you have to.” - -“Do you want me to understand that I will be reported if I don’t?” - -“That’s what I mean. I have had a talk with some of these Home Guards -this morning, and have found out what sort of chaps they are. If you are -too easy with the prisoners you’ll get them down on you, and then -they’ll tell on you whether you do anything wrong or not. And you want -to keep out of the clutches of the captain, for he’s a heathen.” - -Marcy afterward had occasion to remember this warning. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - ON ACCOUNT OF THE DEAD-LINE. - -The life that Marcy Gray led during the next three weeks can be compared -to nothing but a nightmare. His duties were not heavy, but the trouble -was that when he tried to go to sleep he saw the inside of the prison -pen as plainly as he did while he was standing in his box. He saw long -lines of dead men carried out, too, and tumbled unceremoniously into the -trenches outside the stockade, where they were left without a head-board -to show who they were or where they came from. All this while he was -losing flesh and strength as well as courage, and Bowen declared that, -if they did not “make a break” very soon, Marcy would have to go into -the hospital. - -“I feel as though I ought to go there now,” said the latter wearily. “To -tell the honest truth, I haven’t pluck enough to make a break for -liberty; we are too closely watched. When I am on post after dark, I -notice that an officer or a corporal comes around every hour to see if -the guard is all right.” - -“That happens only on pleasant nights; but I have noticed that on stormy -nights the officer of the guard hugs his comfortable quarters as closely -as we do our boxes,” replied Bowen. “You’ll pick up and be yourself -again as soon as we are out of reach of this place, and you mustn’t give -way to your gloomy feelings. The next rainy night that we are on post -together we’ll skip. I have been making inquiries about the country west -of here, and know just how to travel in order to reach my home. All -you’ve got to do is to be ready to move when I say the word, and I will -take you safely through.” - -It would have been very comforting to hear Bowen talk in this confident -way, if Marcy had only been able to believe that the man could keep his -promise; but unfortunately he could not get up any enthusiasm. The -spiritless prisoners inside the stockade were not more indifferent to -their fate than he was to his. There had been no attempts at escape that -Marcy knew anything about, but two unfinished tunnels had been -discovered and filled up, and the pack of “nigger dogs” that the -commander used in tracking fugitives had been brought into the pen and -exhibited to the prisoners, so that they might know what they had to -expect in case they succeeded in getting outside the stockade. But Bowen -declared that the hounds would not bother him and Marcy. If they escaped -during a storm the rain would wash away the scent so that they could not -be tracked. - -It was while Marcy was in this unfortunate frame of mind that something -occurred to arouse him from his lethargy and drive him almost to -desperation. It was on the morning following the day on which a fresh -lot of prisoners had been received into the pen. Marcy stood near the -gate when they went in, and noticed that there were not more than half a -dozen blankets in the party, that some of them were barefooted, and -others destitute of coats and hats. - -“Them Yanks haint got nothin’ to trade,” said a Home Guard who stood -near him. - -“Whose fault is it?” replied Marcy. “They never looked that way when -they were captured.” - -“No, I don’t reckon they did. Them fellars up the country have went -through ’em good fashion. But I don’t blame ’em for that. I only wish I -could get the first pull at a Yank who has a good coat or a pair of -number ten shoes onto his feet. I wouldn’t be goin’ around ragged like I -am now, I bet you.” - -It was one of these fresh prisoners who caused Marcy Gray to fall into -the clutches of the commander of the prison, whom Bowen had denounced as -a “heathen.” He went on post at twelve o’clock the next day, Bowen -occupying the box on his right, while the Home Guard who said he would -like to have a chance to steal a coat and a pair of shoes stood guard in -the one on his left. The new prisoners had had time to take in the -situation, and to learn that if they preferred a shelter of some sort to -the bare ground, or cooked rations instead of raw ones, they were at -liberty to provide themselves with these luxuries if they could, for -their captors would not furnish them. But how could they be expected to -build dug-outs when they did not have even pocket knives to dig with? -and how could they bake corn bread when every flat stone and piece of -board that could be found was in the possession of someone who would not -part with it for love or money? There was a treasure lying on the ground -in front of Marcy’s box, and directly under the strip of board that -marked the inner edge of the dead-line. It was a battered tin cup. How -it came there, and why someone had not tried to obtain possession of it, -was a mystery; but it had been discovered by a party of new-comers, -perhaps a dozen of them in all, who looked at the cup with longing eyes -and then glanced apprehensively at Marcy, who leaned on his musket and -looked down on them. One of the most daring of the party seemed -determined to make an effort to secure the cup, but as often as he bent -forward as if he were about to make a dash for it, his comrades seized -him and pulled him back. - -“Poor fellow,” thought Marcy, who admired the prisoner’s courage. “He -little knows how glad I would be to tell him to come and get it. The cup -isn’t inside the dead-line anyway, and if he makes a grab for it he can -have it for all I will do to stop him.” - -The result of this mental resolution was the same as though Marcy had -announced it in words. As quick as thought the daring soldier made a -jump for the dead-line, snatched the cup from the ground, and in a -second more was back among his comrades, who closed around him in a -body, effectually covering him from the three muskets, Marcy’s, Bowen’s, -and the Home Guard’s, that were pointed in his direction. They ran among -the tents and dug-outs and mingled with the other prisoners, so that it -would have been impossible for the guards to identify a single one of -them. - -“Good for the Yank!” thought Marcy. “That’s what I call pluck. He’ll -have something to dig with at any rate, and perhaps he can straighten -that cup out so that he can cook his corn meal in it.” - -If Marcy and Bowen had fired at the man it would have been with the -intention of missing him, but not so with the Home Guard on the left, -who would have drawn a fine bead in the hope of winning a thirty days’ -furlough. The latter was fighting mad. He shook his fist at Marcy and -shouted in stentorian tones: - -“Corporal of the guard, number ’leven!” - -“By gracious!” gasped Marcy. “He’s going to report it.” - -He glanced toward Bowen’s box, and knew by the way his friend shook his -head at him that there was trouble in store for somebody; but how could -he be blamed more than anyone else? than the Home Guard, for instance, -who had as fair a chance to shoot as any blood-thirsty rebel could ask -for? The corporal came promptly and went into the Home Guard’s box, and -Marcy could see the angry man pointing out the position of the cup and -flourishing his clenched hand in the air to give emphasis to something -he was saying. After the corporal had heard his story he descended the -ladder and came into Marcy’s box. - -“Sentry, what were you put here for, anyway?” were the first words he -spoke. “Why didn’t you shoot that man?” - -“There were two reasons why I didn’t do it,” answered Marcy. “My orders -are to shoot if I see a prisoner trying to get over or under the -dead-line, but that man didn’t try to get over or under, for the cup -wasn’t inside. It was under that strip of board.” - -“No matter. It was _at_ the dead-line, and it was your business to pop -him over,” said the corporal. “I am afraid the old man will give you a -taste of military discipline when you come off post.” - -“Why should he? I haven’t disobeyed any order. And the other reason why -I didn’t shoot was because I didn’t have time. That Yank was as swift as -a bird on the wing, and before you could wink twice he was back among -his friends, and I couldn’t see him.” - -“Then why didn’t you shoot into the crowd?” demanded the corporal. - -“And kill or wound somebody who hadn’t done a thing?” exclaimed Marcy. - -“Why, what’s the matter with you? I shall begin to think pretty soon -that you are a Yank yourself. Of course you ought to have fired into the -crowd and made an example of somebody. What’s one Yank more or less, -anyway? I believe in shooting everyone who comes down here.” - -“Why didn’t that man in the next box shoot?” inquired Marcy. “He had the -same chance I had, and is as much to blame because that Yank made a dash -to the dead-line and got the cup.” - -“Not much he aint. The thing happened directly in front of your post, it -was your duty to kill that man, you disobeyed orders by not doing it, -and of course I shall have to report you.” - -“If I get into trouble by it I shall shoot at the next man who comes -within twenty feet of the dead-line,” said Marcy. - -“You’ll be sorry you didn’t make that resolution long ago,” replied the -corporal, as he backed down the ladder. He went into Bowen’s box to hear -what he had to say about it, and then went back to headquarters; and two -hours later the relief came around. - -“If I had been in your box I would have been on my way home by this time -to-morrow,” said the Home Guard, as he and Marcy and Bowen fell into -their places in the rear of the line. “You’ll never have another chance -like that to earn a furlough. Why didn’t you shoot that there Yank?” - -“Why didn’t you?” retorted Marcy. “You had as good a show as I.” - -“Not much, I didn’t. He was closter to you nor he was to me, and besides -I didn’t have time.” - -“Neither did I. I never could hit a moving object with a single bullet.” - -“You could have showed your good will if you had been a mind to. That’s -what I think, and less’n the old man has changed mightily sense I jined -his comp’ny, it’s what he’ll think about it, too.” - -The unhappy Marcy had made up his mind that he would have to stand -punishment of some sort for permitting a prisoner to put his hand under -the dead-line; and his worst fears were confirmed when he came within -sight of the barracks and saw all the officers of the guard and the -commander of the prison standing there, and three Home Guards stationed -close by, with muskets in their hands. When the platoon was halted -before the door and brought to a front, the captain said: - -“No. 12, step out here.” - -As that was the number of the post from which Marcy had just been -relieved, he moved one pace to the front and saluted. - -“So you are the low-down conscript who presumes to set my orders at -defiance, are you?” continued the captain. “What were you put in that -box for? Why did you allow that prisoner to come to the line?” - -“Sir, my orders were——” began Marcy. - -“Shut up!” shouted the captain, growing red in the face. “If you talk -back to me I’ll put a gag in your mouth. Trice him up, and leave him -that way till he learns who’s boss of this camp.” - -Without saying a word, one of the three Home Guards before spoken of -took Marcy’s musket from his hand, while another unbuckled the belt that -held his cartridge-box. Then they laid hold of his arms, and with the -officer of the guard marching in front and the third soldier bringing up -the rear, led him to a tree that stood before the door of the captain’s -quarters. It did not take them more than two minutes to do their cruel -work, and when it was over and the officer of the guard moved away with -two of his men, leaving the other to keep watch over the culprit with a -loaded musket, Marcy Gray was standing on his toes, and his arms were -drawn high above his head by a strong cord which had been tied around -his thumbs and thrown over a limb of the tree. The pain was intense, but -the boy shut his teeth hard and gave no sign of suffering till his head -fell over on his shoulder and he fainted dead away. When he came to -himself he was lying in his bunk, his wounded hands were resting in a -basin of hot water which Bowen was holding for him, and another -good-hearted conscript was keeping his head and face wet with water he -had just drawn from the well. Their countenances were full of sympathy, -and there were signs of rage to be seen as well. - -“This is rough on me, boys,” groaned Marcy. - -“While you were hanging to that tree I asked some questions about -Captain Denning,” whispered Bowen, “and now I know who he is, and where -he hails from. He owns a fine plantation about twenty miles from where I -live when I am at home, and we shall pass it on our way to the river.” - -“O Charley, let’s go to-night,” murmured Marcy. “I shall die if I stay -here any longer.” - -“That’s what I have thought all along, and I am with you when we go on -post at twelve o’clock. It’s going to rain like smoke in less than half -an hour, and when it begins it will keep it up for a day or two. I am -glad if you have been waked up, but sorry it had to be done in this -way.” - -“Captain Denning will be sorry for it, too,” said Marcy. - -In spite of the agony he was in, but one thought filled Marcy Gray’s -mind, and that was that under no circumstances would he pass another day -alive in that camp. No matter how great the danger might be, he would -escape that very night. He would go with a musket in his hand and a box -of cartridges by his side, and if he were recaptured, it would be after -every bullet in those cartridges had found a lodgement in the body of -some Home Guard. He did not have very much to say, but Bowen knew by the -expression on his face that Marcy was thoroughly aroused at last. - -Marcy did not want any supper, but managed to eat a little, and to slip -a generous piece of corn bread in his pocket for the lunch he knew he -would need before morning. The storm did not come in half an hour, as -Bowen had predicted, but it came a little later, and when the two went -on post at twelve o’clock, the night was as dark as a pocket, and the -rain was falling in torrents. - -“Splendid weather,” Bowen found opportunity to whisper to Marcy. “It -couldn’t be better. Listen for my signal, for we must start as soon as -the guard is out of the way.” - -“You’ll take your gun?” said Marcy. - -“Of course, and I’ll use it too, before I will allow myself to be -brought back here.” - -If it was a splendid night for their purpose it was a terrible one for -the prisoners, especially for the new-comers who had not had time to -finish their dug-outs. To make matters worse for them there had been a -sudden and noticeable change in the temperature. It was almost freezing -cold, and protected as he was by the walls of his box, and by his warm -blanket, which he had tied over his shoulders like a cloak, Marcy -shivered as he stood with his musket in the hollow of his arm and his -aching, bandaged hands clasped in front of him. He stood thus for ten -minutes when he heard a gentle tapping at the foot of his ladder. That -was the signal agreed upon between him and Bowen, and without a moment’s -hesitation Marcy wheeled around and backed to the ground. - -“Is this you, Charley?” he whispered. “I can’t see a thing.” - -“No more can I,” was the answer, “but I know where we are and which way -we want to go, and that’s enough. Grab hold of the tail of my blanket -and I will pilot you to the railroad track. Mark my words: We’ll never -hear a hound-dog on our trail. They’ll think we have struck for the -coast, and that’s the way they’ll go to find us.” - -If we were to write a full history of the long tramp these two fugitives -made before they found themselves safe at Rodney Gray’s home, as we have -described in a former chapter, it would be to repeat the experience of -hundreds of escaped Union prisoners whose thrilling stories have already -been given to the world. Captain Denning’s “nigger dogs” never once gave -tongue on their trail, and at no time were they in serious danger of -falling into the hands of their enemies. Of course there were other Home -Guards and other dogs in Alabama and Mississippi, and more than once -they were pursued by them; but every negro they met on the road was -their friend, and, believing Marcy and Bowen to be escaped Federals, -took big risks to help them on their way. During the three days they -rested at Bowen’s home in Georgia they were in more danger than at any -other time, for Bowen’s neighbors were all rebels. They knew that he had -been forced into the army, and if they had suspected that he was hiding -in the loft of his father’s cotton gin, they would have left no stone -unturned to effect his capture. But outside of Bowen’s family no one -knew it except one or two faithful blacks, who could be trusted, and -after they had made up for the sleep they had lost, and some of Marcy’s -money had been expended for clothing, shoes, and blankets, the fugitives -set out to pay their respects to the commander of the prison from which -they had escaped. They remained on his plantation a part of one night, -and when they left, everything that would burn was in flames. It was a -high-handed proceeding, and many a soldier not wanting in courage would -have hesitated about taking chances so desperate; but fortunately -another rain storm washed out their trail and if they were pursued they -never knew it. - -“There’s one thing I am sorry for,” said Marcy, as he and Bowen halted -for a moment on the summit of a little rise of ground from which they -had a fair view of the destructive work that was going on on the -plantation they had just left. “I am not revengeful, but I do think -Captain Denning ought to be punished for giving me these hands that I -may not be able to use for months, and I wish he could know that I had a -hand in starting that fire.” - -Marcy’s hands certainly were in a bad way. They needed medical -attention, but if there was a surgeon in the country they had not been -able to find it out. Bowen gave them the best care he could, but Marcy -was so nearly helpless that he could not even carry his musket. He took -no note of time or of the progress they made, but left everything to his -friend Bowen, who could always tell him where they were, how many miles -they had made that day, and how far they would have to travel before -they could get something to eat. If he sometimes drew on his -imagination, and shortened the distance to the Mississippi by a hundred -miles or so, who can blame him? He knew that everything depended on -keeping up Marcy’s courage. - -At last, when the homesick boy became so weary and foot-sore that he -could scarcely drag himself along the dusty road, he noticed with a -thrill of hope that the negroes who befriended him and Bowen no longer -spoke of “Alabam’” but had a good deal to say about “Mississipp’”; and -this made it plain to Marcy that they were slowly drawing near to the -end of their journey, and that his companion had been deceiving him. - -“If you are as well acquainted with the country as you pretend to be, -how does it come that you didn’t know when we passed the boundary line -into the State of Mississippi?” said he. “But I don’t care. I remember -enough of geography to know about where we are now, and that we will -save time and distance if we strike a straight south-east course, for -that is the way Baton Rouge lies from here.” - -Bowen, who had long been out of his reckoning, was quite willing to -resign the leadership, and it was a fortunate thing for them that he -was; for the course Marcy marked out brought them in due time to the -Ohio and Mobile Railroad a few miles north of Enterprise. A night or two -before they got there (they always traveled at night and slept during -the daytime), they were kept busy dodging small bodies of Confederate -soldiers who were journeying along the same road and in the same -direction with themselves. They were evidently concentrating at some -point in advance, but where and for what purpose the fugitives could not -determine until some negroes, to whom they appealed for assistance, told -them of Grierson’s raid. - -“Dat Yankee come down hyar from some place up de country, an’ he whop -an’ he burn an’ he steal eberyting he see,” said one of the blacks -gleefully. “But de rebels gwine cotch him at Enterprise, an’ you two -best not go da’.” - -This glorious news infused wonderful life and strength into Marcy Gray. -He forgot his aching hands and feet, and from that time carried his own -musket and moved as if he were set on springs. He would hardly consent -to halt long enough to take needed rest, for he was anxious to intercept -Grierson if possible, and warn him that the rebels were concentrating to -resist his further advance. But as it happened Colonel Grierson was -miles away, and it was Captain Forbes, with a squad of thirty-five men, -who had been detached from the main body to cut the telegraph north of -Macon, that the fugitives found and warned. They ran upon them by -accident, and at first thought they had fallen into the hands of the -rebels. One bright moonlight night they were hurrying along a road which -ran through a piece of thick timber, when all on a sudden they were -brought to a standstill by four men, who stepped from the shade of the -trees and covered them with their guns before they said a word. They -were soldiers, for their brass buttons showed plainly in the dim light; -but whether they wore the blue or the gray was a momentous question that -the fugitives could not answer. When one of them spoke it was in a -subdued voice. - -“Who comes there?” he demanded. - -“Friends,” replied Marcy in tones just loud enough to be heard and -understood. Then, believing that the truth would hold its own anywhere, -he added desperately; “We are escaped conscripts on our way to the -Mississippi, and we want to see Grierson.” - -“Advance, friends, but be careful how you take them guns from your -shoulders,” was the next order; and when Marcy drew nearer and saw that -the speaker wore the yellow _chevrons_ of a corporal of cavalry on his -arms, his joy knew no bounds. When he and Bowen had been relieved of -their muskets and cartridge-boxes the corporal inquired: - -“Where are the rest of you?” - -“There are no more of us,” answered Marcy. “We are alone.” - -“Mebbe you are and mebbe you aint,” said the corporal. “Jones, you take -’em down to the captain and hurry back as quick as you can, for we may -need you here.” - -The corporal was suspicious and in bad humor about something, and so was -the captain when they found him. He had been riding hard all day, and -had halted in the woods to give his jaded men and horses an hour or two -of rest. He knew that he had been led into a trap by false information, -and by a treacherous guide who managed to escape amid a shower of -bullets that was rained upon him as soon as his treachery was -discovered; and while his men slept the captain rolled restlessly about -on the ground, trying to think up some plan by which he could save his -small command from falling into the hands of the Confederates, who were -making every effort to cut him off from Grierson’s column. He had been -assured that the way to Enterprise was clear, and that if he went in any -other direction he would have to fight his way through, and now came -these two escaped conscripts with a different story. It was little -wonder that Captain Forbes did not put much faith in what they had to -say, or that he spoke sharply when he addressed them. - -“How do you know that the Confederate troops you say you saw along the -road were striking for Enterprise?” he inquired. - -“Because the negroes told us so, and during our journey we have always -found that the negroes told us the truth,” answered Marcy, who did most -of the talking. - -“And you say you have come from Millen?” - -“Yes, sir. We were on post there when we escaped.” - -“Do you know where Millen is?” - -“Of course we know where it is.” - -“Well, now, what I want to know is this: Why did you take such a long -tramp through the country when you were within less than a hundred miles -of the coast?” - -Bowen answered this question, giving their reasons as we have given them -to the reader, but the captain acted as though he did not believe a word -of it. Marcy tried to help him out by telling of the relatives he -expected to meet when he reached the Mississippi River, and the story -was so improbable that the captain told them bluntly that he believed -they were spies, that they had come into his camp to see how many men he -had under his command, and that they hoped to escape to their friends -with the information. Marcy was surprised and hurt to find himself -suspected by the officer he wanted to help. - -“I assure you, sir——” he began. - -“I’ve had that trick played on me twice during this scout, and if it is -played on me again it will be my own fault,” interrupted the captain. -“Consider yourselves in arrest.” - -He ordered a sentry to be placed over them at once, and we may add that -Marcy and his friend were under suspicion all the time, and under guard -most of the time they remained with Grierson’s men. - -The next morning at daylight Captain Forbes resumed his rapid march, and -in two hours’ time arrived within sight of Enterprise, which, to his -amazement and alarm, he found to be filled with rebel soldiers. There -were three thousand of them. They were in motion too, and that proved -that they were aware of his coming and making ready to attack him. A -fight meant annihilation or capture, and there was but one way to -prevent it. Halting his men in the edge of a piece of woods out of sight -of the enemy, Captain Forbes called a single officer to his side and -galloped boldly toward the town. He was gone half an hour, and when he -returned he placed himself at the head of his squad and led it in a -headlong retreat, which did not end until the captain reported to -Colonel Grierson at Pearl River. In speaking of this dashing exploit -history says: “The captain, understanding his danger, tried to bluff the -enemy and succeeded. He rode boldly up to the town and demanded the -instant surrender of the place to Colonel Grierson. Colonel Goodwin, -commanding the Confederate force, asked an hour to consider the -proposition, to which request Forbes was only too willing to accede. -That hour, with rapid riding, delivered his little company from its -embarrassing situation.” - -That rapid retreat was about as much as Marcy and Bowen could stand -after their long walk across the country. They were given broken-down -plough-mules to ride, and these delightful beasts, which took every step -under protest and “bucked” viciously when pressed too hard, had -well-nigh jolted the breath out of them by the time they reached the -main column at Pearl River. But they journeyed more leisurely after -that, all the most dangerous places along their line of march having -been left behind, and when the fugitives learned that they were within -forty-eight hours’ ride of Baton Rouge, and that the column would pass -through Mooreville on the following day, they asked and obtained -permission to accompany the scouts that were sent on ahead the next -morning. That was the way they came to ride into Rodney Gray’s dooryard -as we have recorded. - -“You have heard my story,” concluded Marcy, settling contentedly back -among the pillows. “Now, who is going to give me a drink of water?” - -“How you must have suffered,” said his aunt, with tears in her eyes. - -“It’s all over now,” replied the young hero cheerfully, “and I am -anxious to send word to mother. I wish one of you would write to her at -Plymouth, care of Captain Burrows, and I am sure he will have the letter -delivered.” - -“Do you know that you slept for eighteen straight hours?” replied -Rodney. “Well, that gave me time to write the letter and take it to -Baton Rouge and mail it to the address Jack gave me before he went home. -Now that you are safe I don’t see what there is to hinder Jack from -carrying out his plan of becoming a cotton trader. If he wants to pay -back to his mother every dollar she is likely to lose by this war, I -don’t know any better thing for him to do.” - -“Did you say as much in your letter?” - -“I said all that and more. I am sure he will come, if it is only to see -you.” - -“Rodney, you’re a brick,” exclaimed Marcy. “But I wish you could tell me -more about Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin.” - -But Rodney couldn’t, for the very good reason that all Jack said about -it was that they had been bushwhacked; and with this meagre information -Marcy was obliged to be satisfied. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER. - -It was a long time before Marcy Gray could bring himself to believe that -he was not dreaming, and that he would awake to find himself a conscript -guard at the Millen prison pen, but this uncertainty did not prevent him -from making long strides toward recovery. His faithful friend Bowen -declared that he could see him getting well. In less than a week he was -strong enough to ride to Baton Rouge with Rodney. He reported to the -provost marshal, who listened in amazement to his story, and gave him -and Bowen a standing pass in and out of the Union lines. At the end of -two weeks he began to wonder why he did not hear from Jack, and at the -end of three that wished-for individual presented himself in person, -much to the delight of all his relatives. He rode into Rodney’s yard in -company with Mr. Gray, as he had done on a former occasion, and no -sooner did his eyes rest upon Marcy, who sprang down the steps to meet -him, than he began quoting something. - - “This accident and flood of fortune - So far exceed all instance, all discourse, - That I am ready to distrust mine eyes, - And wrangle with my reason that persuades me - To any other trust,” - -exclaimed Jack, as he swung himself from his mule and clasped his strong -arms about the brother he had never thought to see again. “How are you, -conscript?” - -“O Jack!” was all Marcy could say in reply. - -“She’s pretty well,” said the sailor, who knew that Marcy would have -asked about his mother if his heart hadn’t been so full, “and has grown -ten years younger since she heard you were safe among friends.” - -He shook hands with Rodney, whom he addressed as “Johnny,” and then -walked up to Bowen and fairly doubled him up with one of his sailor -grips. - -“You are the man I have to thank for saving my brother’s life, are you?” -said he in a trembling voice. “I don’t know that I shall ever have a -chance to show how grateful I am to you, but if you ever need a friend -you will always find him in Jack Gray.” - -It was a happy meeting altogether, and if one might judge by the way he -acted, Sailor Jack himself didn’t know whether he was awake or dreaming. -Marcy’s hands still showed the effect of his unmerited punishment, and -when his big brother looked at them, an expression came upon his face -that might have made Captain Denning a trifle uneasy if he had been -there to see it. - -“My orders are to bring you home with me, young man,” said he. “And, -Bowen, you must go, too.” - -“Don’t you think it would be dangerous?” inquired Rodney, who had -somehow got it into his head that Marcy would have to live with him as -long as the war continued. - -“Union people are safer in our country now than they ever were before,” -answered Jack. “There’s been some shooting done up there since I wrote -to you.” - -“O Jack!” exclaimed Marcy. “Were Tom and Mark very badly hurt?” - -“Hurt!” repeated the sailor. “Well, I reckon so. They were killed -deader’n herrings, and so were Beardsley, Shelby, and Dillon. Buffum, -the spy who was the means of getting you captured, was hanged, and so -was mother’s old overseer, Hanson. I tell you, Rodney, the country is -full of Union men, and they have been carrying things with a high hand -since Marcy went away.” - -“I should think they had,” said the latter, who had never been more -astounded. “I am sorry to hear about Tom and Mark.” - -“Well, then, why didn’t they mind their own business? If they’d had a -grain of common sense they would have known that they were bound to get -paid off sooner or later. They brought it on themselves, and it is a -wonder to me that they were not dealt with long before.” - -“Jack,” said Marcy suddenly. “You had no hand in it?” - -“Not a hand. Not a finger, though there’s no telling what I might have -done if Captain Denning had been there, and I had known that he triced -you up for nothing. Your friends, the refugees, didn’t need any help -from me. There are eighty or a hundred of them now, and they have become -regular guerillas. They are well armed, and when I came away were -talking of raiding Williamston and burning the jail. I think you will be -safe at home, for rebel cavalry don’t scout through our section any -more.” - -“How soon do you expect to go?” inquired Rodney. - -“Just as soon as I can fill up the _Hyperion’s_ hold,” replied Jack. -“She is due in New Orleans week after next, and I want a boatload of -cotton ready for her when she pulls in to the wharf. So you can trot out -your four hundred bales as soon as you get ready, and I will give you -twenty-five cents greenback money for it. I was dead broke when I was -here before, but I’m wealthy now,” added Jack, pulling from his pocket a -roll of bills that was almost as big as his wrist. “Marcy, that’s -mother’s money.” - -“I am overjoyed to hear it,” said the boy. - -“And she was overjoyed to get rid of it, for it has been nothing but a -botheration to her ever since she drew it from the bank. Old Morris -showed me where you and he buried it on the night you dug it out of the -cellar wall, and I brought it to New Orleans and exchanged it for -greenbacks at a premium that made me open my eyes. I am first officer of -the _Hyperion_, and in partnership with her owners. I do not expect to -have time to make more than two or three trips on her before the -Mississippi is opened, and then I hope to come back here and run a -trading boat on the river.” - -“Where will I be while you are doing that?” inquired Marcy. - -“At home with your mother, where all good boys ought to be. You will get -not less than a dollar for your cotton,” said Jack, turning to Rodney, -“perhaps a dollar ten, minus the freight——” - -“You don’t mean it!” Rodney almost gasped; for Jack’s matter-of-fact way -of speaking of the fortune that seemed about to drop into his father’s -hands took his breath away. - -“What’s the reason I don’t mean it? I hope you don’t imagine that I am -going to let anyone speculate with your property!” exclaimed the sailor. -“Whatever the market price is when your cotton is landed in New York, -that you will get, less the freight the _Hyperion_ will charge you for -taking it there. The twenty-five cents I am authorized to offer you is -business; what you will receive over and above that will be owing to -kinship. Your father and mine were brothers. Now what shall we do with -that man Lambert; send him North for a guerilla or what?” - -“I am perfectly willing to buy him off,” said Mr. Gray. “I can afford to -be liberal, for I really believe we would have lost our cotton if it -hadn’t been for him and his ’phantom bushwhackers.’” - -“I am afraid he’ll not let you buy him off for any reasonable sum,” said -Rodney. - -“You might try him the first chance you get and find out what he is -willing to do,” suggested Jack. “Any way to get rid of him, so that he -will not bushwhack the teamsters we shall send into the woods after the -cotton.” - -“I suppose you have a permit this time,” observed Rodney. - -“Right from headquarters. We didn’t ask for military protection, and it -isn’t likely that we would have got it if we had; but we are at liberty -to take as many bales of cotton through the lines as we can buy. General -Banks’ signature is on our permit, and he is supreme in this -Department.” - -Before Mr. Gray and Jack went home that night a plan of operations had -been decided upon. The former were to engage all the wagons and mules -that could be found in the neighborhood to haul Mr. Gray’s four hundred -bales to Baton Rouge, while Rodney was to seek an interview with Lambert -and “buy him off” if he could. Rodney declared that he had the hardest -part of the work to do, and he set about it, not by going into the woods -to hunt up the ex-Home Guard, but by riding to the city to ask the -advice and assistance of the provost marshal. As he was about to mount -his horse he said to Marcy: - -“If that man Lambert comes here while I am gone, please tell him to come -again to-morrow morning, for I want to see him on important business. If -you question him a little, no doubt you will be surprised at the extent -of his information. There’s little goes on in the settlement that he -doesn’t know all about.” - -Rodney’s interview with the marshal must have been in the highest degree -satisfactory, for when he came back at night he was laughing all over; -but his cousin Marcy looked troubled. - -“He’s been here,” said the latter, without waiting to be questioned, -“and he was as impudent as you please.” - -“It’s no more than I expected,” replied Rodney. “What did he say?” - -“That them fellers might jest as well give up hirin’ teams to haul out -that cotton till after you had made some sort of a bargain with him,” -answered Marcy. - -“That’s all right. Did he say he’d come to-morrow?” - -“Yes, he said he would be here to listen to what you have to say, and if -you don’t talk to suit him he’ll start another bonfire.” - -“That’s all right,” said Rodney again. “I was afraid he might take it -into his head to start it to-night, in which case I should be under the -disagreeable necessity of bushwhacking him before I slept. But if he -puts it off till to-morrow, he’ll never set any more bonfires. Did you -ever hear of such impudence before?” - -For some reason or other Rodney Gray was in excellent spirits that -evening. He did not go to bed until long after midnight, and when he -did, he could not sleep for more than ten minutes at a time. But when -morning came he sobered down, and his face took on the determined -expression that Marcy had so often seen there during those exciting days -at the Barrington Academy, when Dick Graham stole the flag and the -Minute-men burned Unionists out of house and home. Just as they arose -from the breakfast table Ned Griffin threw down the bars and rode into -the yard, and that made four resolute fellows, counting in Charley -Bowen, who were ready to see Lambert and talk to him about Mr. Gray’s -cotton. They all wore sack coats, and in each of the outside pockets was -a loaded revolver. - -“I am afraid Lambert will weaken when he sees this crowd,” said Ned. -“Perhaps he’ll not come into the yard at all. Wouldn’t it be a good -scheme for a couple of us to go into the house out of sight?” - -“I don’t think it would,” answered Rodney. “Lambert knows how many there -are of us, and if he doesn’t find us all on the porch when he comes his -suspicions will be aroused. He’ll not come alone, you may be certain of -that.” - -And sure enough he didn’t. When he rode up to the bars half an hour -later he had two companions with him, and they all carried guns on their -shoulders. There was something aggressive in the way they jerked out the -bars and dropped them on the ground, and Rodney noticed that Lambert did -not take the trouble to put them up behind him as he usually did. This -was the way he took of showing Rodney that he held some power in his -hands, and that he intended to use it for his own personal ends. - -“What did I tell you?” said the young master of the plantation, who was -angry in an instant. “He’s brought Moseley and another long-haired chap, -whose name I do not now recall, and thinks he’s going to ride over me -rough-shod. Of course he will demand a private interview, and I will -grant it. All you’ve got to do is to come when you hear me shoot. I’ll -show him that I am in no humor to put up with any more of his nonsense.” - -“Don’t run any risks,” cautioned Marcy. “Your mother says that Lambert -is a dangerous man.” - -“I’ll prove to you, before this thing is over, that he is the biggest -coward in the Confederacy,” replied Rodney. - -The near approach of Lambert and his friends cut short the conversation. -They did not get off their mules, but rode straight up to the porch; and -then Rodney knew why they left the bars down behind them. Their bearing -was insolent, and the first words Lambert uttered were still more so. - -“Look a-here, Rodney Gray,” said he, “I’d like to know what them fellers -mean by goin’ round the settlement hirin’ teams to haul that cotton -outen the swamp without sayin’ a word to me about it.” - -“I don’t know why you should be consulted,” was the quiet reply. “Since -when has that cotton belonged to you?” - -“I’ve had an intrust in it ever sence I began watchin’ it for you an’ -your paw,” said Lambert. - -“You never had an interest in it, but my father is willing to pay you -for keeping an eye on it, if we can agree upon terms.” - -“That’s what I call business,” said Lambert, his face brightening. “How -much you willin’ to give?” - -“What are you willing to take?” - -“I can’t set no figures till I know how much the cotton is wuth to you,” -said Lambert. “How much you goin’ to get for it?” - -“I can’t tell until it is sold in New York,” answered Rodney, -controlling his rising anger with an effort. - -“Are you tryin’ to make me b’lieve that you are goin’ to let some -abolitionist run that cotton outen the country without payin’ you a cent -down for it!” shouted Lambert. “I don’t b’lieve a word of it.” - -“You needn’t yell so. I am not deaf.” - -“Then if you aint you can hear what I’ve got to tell you,” said the man, -raising his voice a full octave higher. “I won’t have no more foolin’. -How much you goin’ to get for that cotton?” - -“It’s none of your business. You understand that, I suppose?” - -By this time Lambert had succeeded in working himself into a furious -passion, but if he had possessed ordinary common sense he never would -have done it. He thought he could frighten Rodney, but should have known -better. The boy sat tilted back in his chair, with his feet on the -gallery railing and his thumbs hooked in the armholes of his vest, and -his very attitude ought to have warned the ex-Home Guard that he was -treading on dangerous ground, and that there was a point beyond which -Rodney would not be driven. The latter’s reply to his insolent question -capped the climax. - -“Whoop!” yelled Lambert, flourishing his rifle above his head. “It aint -none of my business, aint it? I’ll make it my business to make a beggar -of you this very night. I’ll send that cotton of yourn where I sent -Randolph’s to pay that no-account boy of his’n for shakin’ his sword at -me.” - -“You have fully made up your mind to burn my father’s cotton, have you?” -said Rodney. - -“Yes, I have. It shan’t never be hauled outen them woods less’n I get -fifty cents a pound, cash in hand, for it. That Yankee cousin of yourn -is goin’ to run it up North an’ get a dollar for it. I heered all about -it an’ you needn’t think to fool me. Will you give it or not?” - -“I certainly will not.” - -“You hearn what he says, boys,” said Lambert to his companions. “I -always said that this was a rich man’s war an’ a poor man’s fight, -didn’t I; an’ now you see it for yourselves, don’t you? Let’s go right -back to the woods an’ set her a-goin’.” - -“Bang!” said one of Rodney’s revolvers, and to Marcy’s inexpressible -horror Lambert dropped his rifle and fell headlong from his mule, which -set up a sonorous bray and started for the bars at top speed. “Bang!” -said the other revolver an instant later, and Moseley let go his hold -upon his gun and clung to his mule with both hands. The result of the -next shot was still more terrifying. The third man made a frantic effort -to turn his beast toward the bars; but before he could put him in motion -a bullet passed through the mule’s head, and he and his rider came to -the ground together. It was done in much less time than it takes to tell -it. Rodney’s companions jumped to their feet, but before they could draw -their weapons it was all over. - -“Rodney, Rodney, what have you done?” cried Marcy in great alarm. - -“I have simply proved my words,” replied his cousin, walking leisurely -down the steps, pushing his revolver into his pocket as he went. “Did I -not say,” he added, picking up the three guns, one after the other, and -firing their contents into the air, “that I would show Lambert to be the -biggest coward in the Confederacy? Get up, here. It’s my turn to be -sassy now. Moseley, dismount.” - -[Illustration: RODNEY SURPRISES LAMBERT.] - -Moseley obeyed with alacrity, and at the same time Lambert raised -himself on his elbow and gazed about him with a bewildered air. Then he -felt of his head, and examined his hand to see if there was blood upon -it. The third man could not move without assistance, for the mule had -fallen upon his leg and pinned him to the ground. - -“Get up,” repeated Rodney, taking Lambert by the arm and helping him -rather roughly to his feet. “Now you and Moseley sit down on the steps -till I am ready to talk to you. Lend a hand here, a couple of you.” - -Hardly able to realize what had taken place before their eyes, Rodney’s -companions hastened down the steps to roll the dead mule off his rider, -so that the man could get up. When he was placed upon his feet he was -found to be so weak from fright that he could scarcely stand; so Marcy -and Ned helped him to a seat on the steps. Then they stood back and -looked closely at Lambert and Moseley. Their faces were very white, and -Lambert was covered with dust from head to foot, but there wasn’t the -sign of a wound on either of them. It was bewildering. - -“Mister Rodney,” ventured Lambert, when he had made sure that he was -still alive and had the use of his tongue, “I hope you don’t bear me no -grudge for them words I spoke to you a while ago.” - -“Oh, no,” replied Rodney cheerfully. “But you have had your say, and I -can’t waste any more time with you now. Moseley, I believe you would be -a harmless sort of rebel if you were out of Lambert’s company.” - -“Yes, I would, sah,” whimpered the hog thief. “Every bit of meanness I -have done was all owin’ to him, sah.” - -“Jest listen at the fule!” exclaimed Lambert. - -“Consequently I think I will let you and your friend here—what’s his -name?” - -“Longworth, sah; Joe Longworth,” replied the owner of the name. - -“Ah, yes! I know you now. I believe I will let you two off on one -condition. Wait until I get through!” cried Rodney, turning fiercely -upon Lambert, who had made several attempts to interrupt him. “You did -lots of talking a little while back, and now it’s my turn. That -condition is, Moseley, that you take your gang out of the woods and keep -it out from this time on, unless I tell you to take it back.” - -“I’ll do it, sah,” said Moseley earnestly. “Sure’s you live——” - -“He can’t, Mister Rodney,” exclaimed Lambert. “There aint nobody but me -can do that, kase I’m the captain of ’em.” - -“You’re not the captain of them any longer. They will have to elect -someone to take your place, for you are going to start for Baton Rouge -in less than fifteen minutes.” - -When Lambert heard this he almost fell off the step on which he was -sitting. Without giving him time to recover himself sufficiently to -utter a protest, Rodney again addressed ex-Lieutenant Moseley. - -“If you will do that, you can go to my father after our cotton has been -shipped, and he will give each of you some money,” said Rodney. “I don’t -know how much, but it will be a larger sum than you ever owned before at -one time. It will be good money, too.” - -“Say, Mister Rodney,” faltered Lambert, “what’s the reason I can’t have -a share?” - -“But if you don’t do it,” continued Rodney, “if you interfere in any way -with the teamsters who will go into the swamp to-morrow to haul that -cotton out, the last one of you will be hunted down and shot, or sent to -a Northern prison to keep company with Lambert. How many did you leave -behind when you came here?” - -“Four, sah,” replied Moseley. - -“Only seven of you altogether!” exclaimed Rodney. “Well, I think I can -promise you a hundred dollars apiece in greenbacks, and that will be -equal to six or eight hundred dollars in Confederate scrip.” - -Moseley’s eyes glistened and so did Longworth’s; but Lambert’s grew dim -with tears, and his face was a sight to behold. The man had less courage -than Rodney gave him credit for, and the boy wondered what his mother -would think of this “dangerous” person if she could see him now. He -couldn’t even talk, and Rodney was glad of it, for he wanted to finish -his instructions to Moseley and take down the names of his companions -without being interrupted. - -“Longworth, is that your beast?” said Rodney, with a nod toward the dead -mule. “I am sorry I had to shoot him, and I shouldn’t have done it if -you hadn’t tried to run off. When you are ready to come out of the woods -and put in a crop, I will give you another and better one to take his -place; but I’ll not furnish you anything to ride as long as you are -playing bushwhacker.” - -After a little more conversation, and before Lambert had recovered from -the stupor into which he had been thrown by Rodney’s ominous words, -Moseley and Longworth started for the swamp to spread consternation -among their companions by telling what a desperate fighter the young -overseer was when aroused, and what terrible things he had threatened to -do if his demands were not complied with, while Rodney and his cousin -went into the house, leaving Ned and Bowen to watch the prisoner. - -“I don’t see how you could bring yourself to do it,” said Marcy. - -“Do it! Do what?” replied Rodney innocently. - -“I thought sure you had killed Lambert and wounded Moseley, and when I -saw Longworth come to the ground as if he had been struck by -lightning——” - -“That’s nothing,” laughed Rodney. “If you could see a platoon of cavalry -floored as quickly as he was, perhaps you would open your eyes. As to -Lambert, I didn’t shoot within a foot of his head, although I shoved my -revolver so close to his face that the smoke went into his eyes and -blinded him for a minute or two. I shot even wider of the mark when I -pulled on Moseley, and no doubt he dropped his gun because Lambert did. -It was not my intention to touch either one of them. I thought it would -be a good plan to let them understand who they were fooling with and -what I could do if I set about it. But I meant to hit that mule. Now, -will you ride to Baton Rouge with me?” - -“Of course I will; but you are not going to send Lambert up North?” - -“That is a matter with which I have nothing to do, but beyond a doubt -it’s where Lambert will bring up before he is many weeks older. As soon -as it becomes known that he is in the hands of the Yanks, the Union -people he persecuted so outrageously, while Tom Randolph was captain of -the Home Guards, will prefer charges against him, and that will be bad -for Lambert.” - -“I wish you thought it safe to let him go,” said Marcy, who could not -bear to see anyone in trouble. - -“But I don’t, you see. Of course he would make all sorts of promises, -but he’d burn that cotton of ours as soon as he could get to it.” - -When the events we have just described became known in the settlement, -they created almost as much excitement as did the news of the firing -upon Sumter, but of course it was a different sort of excitement. The -Union men whom Lambert had robbed and abused went into the city by -dozens to bear testimony against him, and then hastened home to repair -their wagons and harness so that they could earn the four dollars a day, -“greenback money,” that Sailor Jack offered them for hauling out his -uncle’s cotton. Everyone who had cotton to sell and teams for hire, with -one exception, was happy; and that exception was Mr. Randolph, who was -the most miserable man in the State. He had not only lost the most of -his cotton (he had about twenty bales that Jack said he would buy), but -since Lambert’s arrest he had learned why he lost it. That was a matter -which Tom desired above all things to keep from his father’s knowledge; -but Lambert had told all he knew about him in the hope that, if he were -sent to prison, his old captain would have to go with him. Tom himself -had some fears on this score, but thus far no one in the settlement had -thought it worth while to trouble him. Such treatment as that made Tom -angry. - -“Nobody pays any more attention to me than if I was a stump-tailed -yellow dog,” he complained to his mother, who was the only friend he had -in the world. “Father will scarcely speak when I am around, and when I -go to town, the men who used to go out of their way to salute me and say -‘Good-morning, Captain Randolph,’ won’t look at me. It wasn’t so when we -were rich.” - -“That is true,” assented his mother. “I have always heard it said that -one’s pocket-book is one’s best friend, and I believe it. Tommy, don’t -you think, if you could fix up a wagon and earn a little money, it would -be better than idling away your time doing nothing?” - -“And drive crow-bait mules and work for Rodney Gray?” exclaimed Tom. -“Mother, I am surprised at you. Think what a comedown that would be for -one who has been a captain in the Confederate service!” - -Mrs. Randolph did not say that it would have been a good thing for the -captain if he had been content to remain a civilian, but she thought so. - -There were others in the neighborhood who had never performed any manual -labor, rich planters before the war, who had nothing to do but spend the -money their slaves made for them, but they did not talk as Tom did. They -took off their coats and went to work, and never stopped to see whether -the shoulder that was under the opposite side of a cotton bale belonged -to a white man or a negro. Rodney Gray, who superintended the work while -Sailor Jack went to New Orleans to charter a river steamer, paid them -their greenbacks every night, and the planters took them home and hid -them for fear that a squad of rebel cavalry might make a night raid into -the settlement and steal them. Jack did not ask for military protection, -but he had it, for every day or two a company of Federal troopers -galloped through the country, ready to do battle with any “Johnnies” who -might try to interfere with the work. Rodney was always glad to see -them. He knew that the Confederate authorities would not permit that -cotton to be shipped if they could prevent it, and he never left it -unguarded. Moseley and his five companions were in his pay, and earned -two dollars a night by holding themselves ready at all times to drive -off any marauders who might try to burn it. On one memorable night they -proved their worth and earned five times that amount. Moseley, who -seemed to have grown several inches taller since Rodney last saw him, -proudly reported that he had had a regular pitched battle about three -o’clock that morning, and that he had driven the enemy from the field in -such confusion that they left their wounded behind them. And, what was -more to the point, he produced three injured rebels to show that he told -nothing but the truth. - -By the time Sailor Jack returned with the steamer he had chartered, Mr. -Gray’s cotton was all on the levee at Baton Rouge awaiting shipment to -New Orleans, and Rodney’s teams were hard at work hauling in Mr. -Walker’s. By this time, too, everyone in the southwestern part of the -State knew what was going on at Mooreville, and Union men and rebels, -living as far away as the Pearl River bottoms, came to Jack and begged, -with tears in their eyes, that he would take their cotton also and save -them from utter ruin. Jack assured them that he would be glad to buy -every bale, provided they would put it where he could get hold of it -without running the risk of being bushwhacked; but there was the -trouble. The guerillas became very active all on a sudden, and almost -every morning someone would report to Rodney that he “seen a light on -the clouds over that-a-way, and jedged that some poor chap had been -losin’ cotton the night afore.” On one or two occasions Rodney saw such -lights on the sky, and if his heart was filled with sympathy for the -planter who was being ruined by the wanton destruction of his property, -there was still room enough in it for gratitude to his sailor cousin, -through whose manœuvring his father had been saved from a similar -fate. - -Jack Gray was a “hustler,” and he “hustled” his men to such good purpose -that in ten days more his chartered steamer was loaded to her guards, -and Mr. Gray and a few of his neighbors were rich and happy, while -Rodney was very miserable and unhappy, for his cousin and Charley Bowen -were going away. Jack had been told to take Marcy home with him, and -Jack’s rule was to obey orders if he broke owners. Anxious to remain -with Marcy as long as he could, Rodney accompanied him to New Orleans -and saw his father’s cotton loaded into the _Hyperion’s_ hold. A few -days afterward he waved his farewell to Marcy as the swift vessel bore -him down the river, and then turned his face homeward to wait for Grant -and Banks to open the Mississippi. But his patience was sadly tested, -for it was not until July 4 that Grant’s army marched into Vicksburg. -After an active campaign of eighty days the modest man who afterward -commanded all the Union armies “gained one of the most important and -stupendous victories of the war,” inflicting upon the enemy a loss of -ten thousand in killed and wounded, capturing twenty-seven thousand -prisoners, two hundred guns, and small arms and munitions of war -sufficient for an army of sixty thousand men. General Banks took -possession of Port Hudson on the 9th, and no Northern boy shouted louder -than Rodney Gray did when he heard of it. The river was open at last, -and Jack Gray and his trading boat could make their appearance as soon -as they pleased. - -But this was not all the glorious news that Rodney heard about that -time. On the 3d of July, at Cemetery Ridge in far-off Pennsylvania, -there had been a desperate charge of fifteen thousand men and a bloody -repulse that “marked the culmination of the Confederate power.” When -General Lee saw Pickett’s lines and Anderson’s fading away before the -terrible fire of the Union infantry, he also saw “the fading away of all -hope of recognition by the government of Great Britain. The iron-clad -war vessels, constructed with Confederate money by British ship-builders -and intended for the dispersion of the Union fleets blockading -Wilmington and Charleston, and which were supposed to be powerful enough -to send the monitors, one by one, to the bottom of the sea, were -prevented from leaving English ports by order of the British -government”; but if Pickett’s charge had been successful, those -iron-clads would have sailed in less than a week, and France and -England, who were waiting to see what would come of the invasion of -Pennsylvania, would have recognized the Confederacy. It is no wonder -that General Lee’s soldiers fought hard for victory when they knew there -was so much depending upon it. The boys in blue who whipped them at -Cemetery Ridge are deserving of all honor. - -We must not forget to say that before these things happened Sailor Jack -ran up from New Orleans to tell what he had done with Marcy, and to make -a settlement with his uncle. - -“I’ve made a successful trip,” said he gleefully, “and, Uncle Rodney, -you have that much to your credit in the Chemical Bank of New York.” - -As he said this he handed Mr. Gray a certificate of deposit calling for -a sum of money so large that Rodney opened his eyes in amazement. - -“Of course I had to take Marcy to New York with me,” continued Jack, -“but two days after we got there Captain Frazier found a Union storeship -that was about to sail with provisions for the blockading fleet; and as -she had a lot of mail and stuff aboard for Captain Flusser, whom I knew -to be serving on the _Miami_ in Albemarle Sound, I managed to obtain -permission for Marcy to take passage on her, believing that if he could -reach the _Miami_ he could also reach Plymouth, and from there it would -be easy for him to get home. I expect to find a letter from him when I -return to New York, and he also promised to write you in care of the -provost marshal at Baton Rouge.” - -There was one thing Jack did before he went back to New Orleans that at -first disgusted Rodney Gray, though he was afterward very glad of it. He -paid over to Mr. Randolph every dollar his twenty bales sold for in New -York, not even deducting the _Hyperion’s_ freight bill, so that -unfortunate gentleman was not quite as badly off as he thought. He had a -little money with which to make a new start when the war ended. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - CONCLUSION. - -One of the most soul-stirring scenes that Rodney Gray ever witnessed -occurred a short time subsequent to the fall of Vicksburg. He and his -father and Ned Griffin stood on the Baton Rouge levee and saw the -steamer _Imperial_ dash by on her way to New Orleans. The swift vessel, -which came from St. Louis, moved as if she were a living thing and knew -that she was speaking not only to the Confederacy, but to the world. To -the Confederates she said that the last vestige of their power and -authority had disappeared from the Mississippi forever; that its waters -were free to the commerce of the great West, which should nevermore be -interrupted. And to France and England, who had been hoping and plotting -for our downfall, she said that “thenceforth the country was to be one -nation, under one flag, with Liberty and Union forever.” - -Exciting and interesting events happened rapidly after that, but we can -touch upon but few of them, for our “War Series” ought to end with the -war record of the characters that have appeared in it. Rodney, who was -waiting impatiently for Sailor Jack to make his appearance, spent the -most of his time on the Baton Rouge levee, so as to be the first to -welcome him when he came up with his trading boat. On one memorable -night he reached home after dark, as he usually did, put his horse into -the stable-yard, and went into the house; and there, just as we found -him on a former occasion, seated in Rodney’s own rocking-chair, with his -feet resting upon the back of another and a book in his hand, was Dick -Graham. When Rodney entered the room Dick merely turned his head -slightly and looked at him as he might have done if they had parted an -hour or two before. - -“I always knew you had cheek,” exclaimed Rodney, as soon as he could -speak. “Dick, old boy, how are you?” - -“Pretty and well, thank you,” answered Dick, dropping the book and -jumping to his feet. - -We shall not attempt to describe that meeting, for we could not do it -justice. Just consider that they have got through gushing over each -other, and that they are sitting down quietly, talking like veterans who -have seen fifteen months of the hardest kind of service. - -“I don’t know how I missed seeing you,” said Rodney, “for I was on the -levee almost all day yesterday, and saw every boat that came in. How did -you get home? and where did you leave your folks?” - -“I got home easy enough, and left the folks in St. Louis. My discharge -from Bragg’s army put me on the right side of both rebs and Yanks, and -the money you so generously provided brought me all the grub I wanted. I -found the folks at home, but they didn’t remain there long after I -joined them, for there was almost too much guerilla warfare going on in -Kansas and western Missouri to make it pleasant for non-combatants. So -we dug out for St. Louis, and we’ve been there ever since. I couldn’t -get a letter to you, but I knew I could come myself as soon as the river -was opened, and here I am. A pass from the provost marshal took me -through the lines, and Mr. Turnbull was kind enough to hitch up a team -and bring me to your father’s house, where I stopped last night. I heard -some astonishing stories about Marcy and that sailor brother of his, and -am sorry indeed that Marcy has gone home to stay. I should like much to -see him.” - -“And he would be delighted to see you, but I don’t look for him until -this trouble is all over. Sailor Jack is liable to come along any day; -and Dick, we’ll go with him and help him buy cotton.” - -“Oh, you needn’t think that you and Jack are going to have a picnic,” -replied Dick with a smile. “I talked with some of the officers of the -boat on my way down, and they seemed to think that Uncle Sam’s tin-clads -will have all they can do to keep the river clear of guerillas. They’ll -not let traders take cotton out of the country if they can help it.” - -It goes without saying that in Dick Graham’s company Rodney was almost -as happy as he desired to be. He was blessed with perfect health, his -family had in a great measure escaped the horrors of war which fell to -the lot of so many others, there was no cotton in the woods for him to -worry over, the man Lambert, who was a thorn in his side for so many -months, had been sent to Camp Douglas for his merciless persecution of -the Union people in the settlement, his father’s check was good at the -bank for a larger amount than it had ever been before, and one of the -few things Rodney had to wish for now was that the war might end with -the battle of Gettysburg. Many brave soldiers on both sides declared -that would have been the result of the fight if the arrogance of Jeff -Davis had not stood in the way. He continued to slaughter men and -desolate homes in the vain effort to make himself the head of a new -nation. Great battles were yet to be fought to satisfy one man’s -ambition and desire for power. Hood’s army of forty-five thousand men -was to be annihilated at Nashville, and Sherman’s march to the sea -accomplished before the “day of Appomattox” dawned upon the country. And -Sailor Jack was to try his hand at being a trader. - -He made his appearance about a week after Dick Graham did, and quite as -unexpectedly, and so the boys were not on the levee to meet him. He -secured a pass from the provost marshal, borrowed a horse, and rode out -to his uncle’s plantation. Dick Graham had never seen him before, but -when he got through shaking hands he was willing to believe that the -sailor was glad to make his acquaintance. - -“If I do say it myself I think I am well equipped for the business,” -said Jack in response to Rodney’s inquiries. “My boat is the _Venango_, -which is guaranteed to carry a full deck-load on a heavy dew, my -officers are all river men and my deck-hands whites; for I wasn’t going -to take darkies among the rebels to be captured and sent back into -slavery.” - -“Why, Jack,” said Mrs. Gray, “you talk as if you were going into -danger.” - -“Well, I am not as sanguine of keeping out of it as I was a few weeks -ago,” said the sailor. “If I can hold fast to the _Venango_ until I can -load up the _Hyperion_ twice, I shall think myself lucky. And I shall -make a good thing out of it besides.” - -Mr. Gray did not raise any objections when Rodney and Dick made ready to -accompany Jack to Baton Rouge on the following morning, for he knew that -if he were a boy he would want to go himself. He went with them to the -city, and stood on the levee when the _Venango_ backed away from it and -turned her head up the river. When the boys could no longer distinguish -him among the crowd which had assembled to see them off, they went into -the cabin that Jack occupied in common with the river captain whom he -had hired to run the vessel, and sat down to wait for dinner. - -“This looks to me like hunting for a needle in a haystack,” said Rodney. -“How are you going to manage? Do you intend to keep on up the river -until someone hails you with the information that he has cotton to -sell?” - -“Not precisely,” laughed Jack. “We don’t do business in that uncertain -way. My first landing will be at a plantation ten miles above Bayou -Sara, if you know where that is, and there I hope to find cotton enough -to load this boat about four times.” - -“Why, how did you hear of it?” - -“I received my orders from our agent in New Orleans, if that is what you -mean; but how he heard of it I don’t know, and didn’t think to inquire. -I wish this steamer was four times bigger than she is.” - -“Why didn’t you charter a large one while you were about it?” - -“I couldn’t, for their owners were too anxious to have them go back to -their regular trade, which has so long been interrupted by the blockade -at Vicksburg. They can make more money at it.” - -After dinner had been served and eaten in what had once been the -_Venango’s_ passenger cabin, but which was now given over to the use of -the officers of the boat, the boys walked out on the boiler-deck and saw -a stern-wheeler coming toward them with a big bone in her teeth. She was -painted a sort of dirt color that did not show very plainly against the -background of the high bank she was passing, and it was a long time -before the boys could make her out; but they told each other that she -was the oddest looking craft they had ever seen. She had no “Texas” -(that is the name given to the cabin in which the officers sleep), and -her pilot house stood on the roof of her passenger cabin. Her main deck -was not open like the _Venango’s_, but was inclosed with casemates -provided with port-holes, two in the bow and three on the side that was -turned toward them. She was following the channel in the right of the -bend while the light-draft trading boat was holding across the point of -the bar on the opposite side, so that there was the width of the river -between them; but when they came abreast of each other, the stranger’s -bow began swinging around, and in a few minutes she was running back up -the Mississippi in company with the _Venango_, and only a few rods -astern. - -“She must be one of the mosquito fleet—a tin-clad,” exclaimed Dick. -“They say the river is full of them, but I didn’t happen to see one on -my way down. She and her kind are intended to fight guerillas.” - -“That’s what she is,” said Jack. “And she’s the first I ever saw.” - -“But what is she following us for?” asked Rodney. “Perhaps she wants to -see your papers.” - -“Then why doesn’t she whistle five times to let me know that she wants -to communicate?” answered Jack. “She is giving us a convoy.” - -“It’s very kind of Admiral Porter, or whoever it was told her to do it,” -said Rodney. “If we are to be protected in this way we shall never have -anything to fear from guerillas. She has six broadside guns, two -bow-chasers, and a field howitzer on her roof, nine in all. She ought to -make a good fight.” - -“Oh, she will do well enough for guerillas,” said Jack, “but how long do -you imagine she would stay above water if a battery should open on her?” - -Jack Gray was not the only one who had little faith in tin-clads, but -some of the most desperate engagements that were fought in Western -waters were fought by these very vessels. If they wanted to go anywhere -they did not stop because there was a battery in their way. Take one -exploit of the _Juliet_ as a fair specimen of what they could do as -often as the exigencies of the service demanded it. When this fleet -little gunboat was commanded by Harry Gorringe, the man who afterward -brought over the Egyptian obelisk that now stands in Central Park, New -York, she carried Admiral Porter past a long line of Confederate -batteries, which poured upon her a fire so accurate and rapid that -thirty-five shells were exploded inside her casemates in less than three -minutes. The engineer on watch was killed with his hand on the throttle, -but her machinery was not touched; and finding that she had come through -the ordeal safe if not sound, she rounded to and went back to help a -vessel which had not been so fortunate as herself. The _Venango’s_ -escort kept company with her until she turned in to the plantation where -Jack hoped to obtain his first load of cotton, and then turned about and -went down the river again, Jack and the boys waving their thanks to the -officers who stood on her boiler-deck, and the _Venango’s_ pilot wishing -her good luck and warning the master of the plantation at the same time -by giving a long blast on his whistle. - -Sailor Jack began his trading at a fortunate time and under the most -favorable conditions. Not only was he one of the first to enter the -field after Vicksburg fell, but the men with whom his mother’s thirty -thousand dollars enabled him to form partnership were so influential and -shrewd, and had so many ways of finding out things which no one inside -the Union lines was supposed to know anything about, that Jack never -left port without knowing right where to find his next cargo of cotton. -That is to say, he knew it on every occasion except one, and then he was -ordered into a trap which he would have kept out of if he had been left -to himself. - -The cotton he found above Bayou Sara was on what was known as the -Stratton plantation, and there was so much of it that he had to make -four trips to carry it to New Orleans, where it was loaded into the -_Hyperion’s_ hold. One day when his own deck-hands and all the -plantation darkies were busy loading for the last run, Jack was -approached by three men in butternut, who wanted to know what he was -giving for cotton, whether he paid in greenbacks or Confederate scrip, -and if he would be willing to run up the river two hundred miles farther -and get a thousand bales that several citizens up there were anxious to -sell. - -“Which side of the river is the cotton on?” asked Jack. - -“Over there,” said one of the men, pointing toward the opposite shore. - -“Too many rebs,” said Jack shortly. - -“Thar haint been ary reb in our country fur more’n six months, dog-gone -if thar has,” replied the man earnestly. - -“Well, I can’t make any promises. The matter does not rest with me, but -with the agent in New Orleans.” - -“I suppose you pay cash on delivery?” - -“Hardly. I don’t carry enough money to make it an object for prowling -guerillas to rob me.” - -“What’s Stratton got to show fur the cotton of his’n you have tooken -down the river?” - -“Due-bills, which will be cashed on sight.” - -“But he’ll have to go to New Orleans to have ’em cashed, an’ me an’ my -neighbors dassent go thar. We’ve been in the Confedrit army.” - -“Is there no Union man up there whom you can trust to do business for -you?” - -“Thar aint one of that sort within forty mile of us.” - -“Then you are in a bad way, and I don’t know how you will work it to get -greenbacks for your cotton.” - -“Couldn’t you run up there an’ buy it out an’ out if we gin you a little -somethin’ for your trouble?” - -“No, I couldn’t. I am not the only trader there is on the river, and if -you watch out you may find somebody willing to take the risk. I am not -willing.” - -“They gave up mighty easy,” observed Rodney, as the three men turned -away and walked slowly up the bank. - -“Don’t you know the reason?” replied Jack. “They had no use for me when -they found that I don’t carry a large sum of money with me. They haven’t -a bale of cotton, and I doubt if they have been in the rebel army. They -are guerillas and robbers like those in Missouri that Dick told us -about. No doubt I shall have to go up into that country after this lower -river has been cleared of cotton, but I’ll tell the captain to keep as -far from the Arkansaw shore as the channel will let him go.” - -This little incident reminded the boys that the war was not yet ended, -and that they might hear more about it at any time. They heard more -about it when they arrived at New Orleans and found the steamer _Von -Phul_ lying at the levee with her cabin shot full of holes. She had been -fired into by a battery of field-pieces twenty miles below Memphis, but -her captain was brave, as most of the river men were, and could not be -stopped as long as his engines were in working order. He reported the -matter to the captain of the first gunboat he met, and the latter -hastened up and shelled the woods until he set them on fire; but the -battery that did the mischief was probably a dozen miles away. - -“There’s no telling how long it will be before we shall come here with -our boat looking just like that,” said Jack. “And the worst of it is, we -shall have to take whatever the rebs please to give us without firing a -shot in reply. I don’t like that pretty well.” - -But for a long time the _Venango_ was a lucky vessel. She was not -obliged to go very far out of reach of a gunboat to find her cargoes, -for the planters who owned cotton took pains to place it on the river at -points where it would be under Federal protection. But the supply was -exhausted after a while, and then Jack was ordered into the dreaded -Arkansas region, where guerillas were plenty and gunboats and soldiers -stationed far apart. Then their troubles began, and Rodney and Dick -smelled powder again. On one trip the _Venango_ was fired into at three -different points, but owing to her speed and the width of the river, -which was almost bank full, she escaped without a scratch. On another -occasion the rebels shot with better aim, and sent a shell through one -of her smoke-stacks and two more through her cabin; but little damage -was done, for the missiles did not explode until they passed through the -steamer and struck the bank on the opposite side. After that it was -seldom that Jack reported to his agent without adding: “Of course I was -fired into on the way down,” and sometimes he was obliged to say that he -had had men killed or wounded. But that was to be expected. A wooden -boat couldn’t make a business of running batteries at regular intervals -without losing men once in a while. - -The winter passed in this way, Rodney and Dick never missing a trip, and -all the while the agent was besieged by planters living along the -Arkansas shore who had cotton to sell, who had permits to ship it and -papers to prove that they had always been loyal to the government, and -who were ready to stake their reputation as gentlemen upon the truth of -the statement that the trading boat that came to their landings would -not run the slightest risk of falling into the hands of guerillas. When -the agent spoke to Jack about it the latter said: - -“If you want to take the responsibility, why, all right. If you order me -to go after that cotton I’ll go; but before you do it, I’d like to have -you recall the fact that the trading boats _Tacoma_ and _George -Williams_ were all right and made money until they were sent to the -Arkansas shore, and then they went up in smoke. And every shot that has -been fired at my boat came from the west bank of the river.” - -“This cotton is at Horseshoe Bend opposite Friar’s Point,” continued the -agent, “and you will have five or six gunboats within less than a dozen -miles of you.” - -“What of that?” replied Jack. “A party of half a dozen men could set -fire to the boat and ride away to Texas before the gunboats would know -anything about it. They might as well be a hundred miles away.” - -“And more,” the agent went on, “two of the planters who own this cotton -are willing to remain here as hostages, and they say that if anything -happens to you or your boat we can do what we please with them.” - -“What of that?” repeated Jack. “If the _Venango_ is burned, who is going -to punish those hostages? We have no right to do it, and you do not for -a moment suppose that General Banks would interest himself in the -matter? He’s got government business to attend to, and don’t care a cent -what happens to us or any other civilians. I’ll go after the cotton if -you say so, but you’ll never see the _Venango_ again, and the firm will -have to pay for her.” - -This frightened the agent for a while, and he told Jack to stay on the -safe side of the river and let the Arkansaw people get their cotton to -market the best way they could. These orders remained in force about -three months, and then came a fateful day when the only cotton the agent -knew anything about was on the Arkansas side, eight miles above -Skipwith’s Landing. - -“I really think it will be a safe undertaking,” said the agent, “for you -will be within plain sight of two iron-clads and the ram _Samson_, which -are lying at Skipwith’s.” - -“I wouldn’t give that for all the help I’ll get from the whole of them,” -declared Jack, snapping his fingers in the air. “They’ll not know that -trouble has come to me till they see my boat in flames, and how long -will it take one of those tubs of iron-clads to get up steam and run -eight miles against the current of the Mississippi? The _Venango_ will -be in ashes before one of them will come within shelling distance of -us.” - -“But there’s the _Samson_. She can run seventeen miles an hour against a -four-mile current.” - -“And what is the _Samson_ but a carpenter shop, with no guns and a crew -of darkies? Do you want me to go there or not?” - -The agent did what Longstreet is said to have done when General Lee told -him to order Pickett’s useless charge at Gettysburg; he looked down at -the ground and evaded a direct answer. - -“We want cotton enough to fill out the _Hyperion’s_ cargo,” said he, -“and that’s the only batch on the river that I have been able to hear -of.” - -“Then I’ll start after it in less than an hour; but whether or not I’ll -get it is another and a deeper question. Good-by.” - -Jack walked off whistling, for trouble sat lightly on his broad -shoulders, but the moment he stepped on the _Venango’s_ boiler-deck and -faced the two boys sitting there, they knew what had happened as well as -they did when it was explained to them. - -“I can see Arkansas written all over you,” exclaimed Rodney. - -“And can you see that I want you two to be ready to leave the boat at -Baton Rouge?” replied Jack. “We’ll not make a landing, but just run -close enough to give you a chance to jump.” - -“I never could jump worth a cent,” said Dick. - -“Look here, Jack, we’re not little boys to be disposed of in any such -way as you propose. We have seen as much service as you have, and if it -is all the same to you we’ll stay here. I am not going home to worry my -folks with the report that you are going into such danger that you -thought it best to drop us overboard,” chimed in Rodney. - -“If the guerillas catch us they’ll only put us afoot,” observed Dick. -“That’s what they did with the _Tacoma’s_ crew.” - -Good-natured Jack turned on his heel and walked away, showing by his -actions that he did not expect his order to be obeyed. In an hour’s time -the _Venango_ was on her way up the river. She passed Skipwith’s Landing -the next night after dark, running close enough in to give the boys an -indistinct view of the long black hull of the ram _Samson_, lying -alongside the repair shops, and the battle-scarred iron-clads at anchor -a short distance farther up, and in due time she was whistling for the -landing on the Arkansas shore eight miles above. It was dark there, and -the boys could see nothing but a dense forest outlined against the sky, -and not the first sign of a clearing; but that there was somebody on the -watch was made evident a few minutes later, for an iron torch basket -filled with blazing “fat wood,” such as steamers use when making a -landing or coaling at night, was planted upon the levee, and the pilot -steered in by the aid of the light it threw out. There were three men on -the levee and a few bales of cotton near by. - -“Is that all you have?” demanded Jack, as the _Venango’s_ bow touched -the bank and a couple of deck-hands sprang ashore with a line. - -“What boat is that?” asked one of the men. - -Jack gave her name, adding the information that he had been sent there -for cotton, and there wasn’t enough in sight to load a skiff. - -“Oh, we’ve got plenty more back there in the woods,” was the answer. - -“But I don’t want it back there in the woods,” shouted Jack, from his -perch on the roof. “I want it on the levee where I can get at it.” - -“We’ve got teams enough to haul it out faster than you can load it. It’s -all right, cap’n. I had a long talk with your agent only a few days -ago.” - -“It’s all wrong, and you may depend upon it,” said Rodney in a low tone. - -Jack Gray was of the same opinion, and if he had not been afraid that -the men with whom he was associated in business would accuse him of -cowardice, he would have cut the bow-line, which had by this time been -made fast to a tree on the bank, and backed away with all possible -speed. Instead of doing that, he descended the stairs and walked down -the gang-plank, while Rodney and Dick drew off to one side to compare -notes. - -“If it’s all right, what’s the reason they didn’t have the cotton ready -for us?” said the latter. - -“That’s what I’d be pleased to know,” said Rodney. “Do you believe -there’s any cotton here?” - -“Not a bale except the few you see on the levee, and which were put -there for a blind. Your cousin believes he’s in a trap or else his face -told a wrong story.” - -“That’s my opinion, too. Now don’t you think it would be a good plan for -us to put the skiff into the water and go down and tell those gunboats -about it?” - -“It might, but what shall we tell them? There’s been nothing done yet,” -replied Dick, as he followed Rodney to the main-deck. - -That was true, but there was something done by the time they got the -skiff overboard. It was lying bottom up on the guard just abaft the door -that gave entrance into the engine-room on the port side, that is, the -side away from the bank, and the oars that belonged to it were stowed -under the thwarts. Jack was ashore, the mates were on the forecastle, -the deck-hands busy with the breast and stern lines, the captain was at -his post on the roof, the engineer was at the throttle, slowly turning -the wheel to work the boat broadside to the bank, and there was no one -to observe their movements. Noiselessly they pushed the skiff into the -water, then stepped in and shipped the oars and pulled toward the -steamer’s bow, edging away a little into the darkness so that they could -not be seen by anyone on shore. A subdued exclamation of surprise and -alarm burst from their lips when they pulled far enough ahead so that -they could look over the bow toward the cotton-bales on the bank. There -were a score of men there now, and with the exception of the three who -were there when the boat touched the bank, they were all armed and wore -spurs. - -“Guerillas?” whispered Dick. - -“Do you think we will have anything to tell the gunboats?” asked Rodney. -“Turn her around and pull the best you know how.” - -“It looks cowardly to run away and leave Jack,” replied Dick, laying out -all his strength on his oar. - -“We wouldn’t do it if we could help him in any other way. But they won’t -hurt him. It’s the boat they’re after,” said Rodney; but even while the -words were on his lips he could not help wondering if the guerillas did -not expect to find a large sum of money on the boat, and whether their -disappointment would not make them so angry that they would take -vengeance on somebody. But there was no way in which he could stop it -except by bringing a gunboat to the rescue, and with this object in view -he “pulled the best he knew how.” He and Dick kept the skiff in the -channel in order to get the benefit of the current, and in less time -than they thought to do so, brought themselves within hailing distance -of one of the iron-clads. - -“Boat ahoy!” shouted a hoarse voice from her deck. - -“Trading boat _Venango_!” responded Rodney, hoping to give the officer -of the deck some idea of the nature of their business. - -The latter must have heard and understood, for he told them to come -alongside; and when the order had been obeyed, not without a good deal -of difficulty, for the current ran like a mill sluice, and the officer -of the deck had listened to their hasty story, he went below to speak to -the captain, who, after a long delay, sent word for them to be brought -into the cabin. But the sequel proved that he had done something in the -meantime. He had told the ensign on watch to arouse the executive, to -have two companies of small-arm men called away, and to send word to the -_Samson_ to raise steam immediately. Being a regular, the captain lost -no time. After listening to what the boys had to say, he gave them -permission to go aboard the _Samson_ with the small-arm men, and in ten -minutes more the boat that could run seventeen miles an hour against a -four-mile current was ploughing her way up the river at an astonishing -rate of speed. But the guerillas hadn’t wasted any time either. Before -the ram had left the iron-clads a mile astern, a small, bright light, -which grew larger and brighter every instant, shone through the darkness -ahead, and presently the _Venango_ came floating down with the current, -a mass of flame. After robbing her of everything of value, the guerillas -had applied the torch and turned her adrift. But where were Jack Gray -and her crew? This question was answered at day-light the next morning -when Rodney and Dick pulled the skiff back to the landing, where they -found Jack sitting on a cotton-bale, and whittling a stick as composedly -as though such a thing as a guerilla had never been heard of. His crew -were asleep behind the levee, and Jack was keeping watch for a steamer -bound down. The guerillas hadn’t bothered him any to speak of, he said, -although they did swear a little when they learned that he had no money. -They affirmed that if they couldn’t make a dollar a pound out of their -cotton, the Yankees shouldn’t do it, and they would burn every trading -boat that Jack or anybody else put on the river. But they never burned -another boat for Jack. A steamer which came along that afternoon took -him and his crew to New Orleans, and there he took leave of the boys, -who did not see him again for a long time. But before they parted, -however, he showed them a letter from Marcy, in which the latter stated -that Charley Bowen had shipped on a Union gunboat at Plymouth. Being a -deserter from the rebel army, he was afraid to enlist in the land -forces, for if he were captured and recognized he would certainly be -shot to death. He thought there would be little danger of that if he -went to sea. - -The trading business having been broken up Rodney was anxious to see his -home once more, and that was where he and Dick started for as soon as -they had seen the _Hyperion_ drop down the river with Jack Gray on -board. Rodney’s father and mother had heard of the loss of the -_Venango_, but they did not know what had become of her company, and the -boys’ return was an occasion for rejoicing. At the end of the month Dick -Graham also went home, and then Rodney was lonely indeed. If he hadn’t -had plenty of work and energy enough to go at it, it is hard to tell -what he would have done with himself. For want of some better way of -passing his leisure moments he made an effort to learn what had become -of Billings, Cole, Dixon, and all the other Barrington boys who had -promised, with him, to enlist in the Confederate army within twenty-four -hours after they reached home. He knew their several addresses, but the -only one he heard from was Dixon, the tall Kentuckian who, good rebel as -he was, always interfered whenever the hot heads among the academy boys -tried to haul down the Old Flag and run the Stars and Bars up in its -place. And the reply he received did not come from Dixon himself but -from his sister, who told Rodney that her brother had been killed at the -head of his regiment while gallantly leading a charge upon a Federal -battery. He went into the Confederate army a private and died a colonel. - -“Bully for Dixon,” said Rodney, with tears in his eyes. “He always was a -brave boy.” - -At last Atlanta fell, Sherman marched to the sea, the battle of Five -Forks was fought, the grand result of which was to reduce General Lee’s -army of seventy-six thousand to less than twenty-nine thousand men, and -then came the surrender at Appomattox. A short time afterward came also -a joyous letter from Marcy Gray, in which he said that although Plymouth -had once been recaptured by the rebels, aided by their formidable -iron-clad, the _Albemarle_, which had worsted the Union gunboats every -time they met her, the city did not remain in the hands of the enemy any -longer than it took Lieutenant Cushing to blow up the iron-clad with his -torpedo; and then, their main-stay being gone, the rebels again -surrendered. He and his mother had not been troubled in any way since -the night Captain Fletcher took him to Williamston jail. If it had not -been for the papers that occasionally came into their hands, they would -not have known that dreadful battles were being fought in the next -State. There had been peace and quiet in the settlement since Allison, -Goodwin, and Beardsley were bushwhacked. It was a terrible thing for -Christians to do, but the refugees had been driven to it, and through no -fault of their own. The two foragers who were captured on the night that -Ben Hawkins was surprised in his father’s house, and who were sent South -to act as guards at the Andersonville prison pen, had escaped after a -few months’ service, and were now at home with their families. So were -Hawkins and all the rest of the prisoners who were captured and paroled -at Roanoke Island, and they had never been molested. No word had been -received from Charley Bowen since he shipped in the Union Navy, but -Marcy hoped to see him again at no distant day, for he never could -forget that Charley saved his life. Sailor Jack had made a “good thing” -out of his trading, and had promised his mother that he would not go to -sea any more. As a family they were prosperous and hoped to be happy, -now that the cause of the war was dead and the war itself ended. Marcy -concluded his interesting letter by saying: - -“While I write, the flag my Barrington girl gave me is waving from the -house-top, and there is not a rebel banner floating to taint the breeze -that kisses it. May it ever be so—one flag, one country, one destiny.” - -“Amen,” said Rodney Gray solemnly. - - - - - - - - - THE END OF THE SERIES. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - 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 $7 50 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =Frank, the Young Naturalist= 1 25 - - =Frank in the Woods= 1 25 - - =Frank on the Prairie= 1 25 - - =Frank on a Gunboat= 1 25 - - =Prank before Vicksburg= 1 25 - - =Frank on the Lower Mississippi= 1 25 - - =GO AHEAD SERIES.= By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully $3 75 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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., $3 75 - 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. - In box - - =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. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =Snowed Up=; or, The Sportsman’s Club in the Mts 1 25 - - =Frank Nelson in the Forecastle=; or, The Sportsman’s Club 1 25 - among the Whalers - - =The Boy Traders=; or, The Sportsman’s Club among the Boers 1 25 - - =BOY TRAPPER SERIES.= By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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., $3 75 - 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. - In box - - =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 5 00 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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 1 25 - Harry Castlemon. 16mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra - - 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. $7 50 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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. 5 00 - 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in - colors. In box - - =Tattered Tom=; or, The Story of a Street Arab 1 25 - - =Paul, the Peddler=; or, The Adventures of a Young Street 1 25 - Merchant - - =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 $5 00 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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, $5 00 - Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, - printed in colors. In box - - =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, $5 00 - Jr. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, - printed in colors. In box - - =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. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In - box. - - =Frank’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., $5 00 - 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. - In box - - =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 $5 00 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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 1 25 - the Pacific Coast - - =ATLANTIC SERIES.= By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. $5 00 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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., $5 00 - 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. - In box - - =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. 1 25 - Cloth, black, red and gold - - 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. $3 75 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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 $3 75 - following. 3 vols., 12mo. Illustrated - - =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 $3 75 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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 $3 75 - illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =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. $7 50 - Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box - - =Camping Out.= As recorded by “Kit” 1 25 - - =Left on Labrador=; or The Cruise of the Schooner Yacht 1 25 - “Curfew.” As recorded by “Wash” - - =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 1 25 - recorded by “Wash” - - ---------- - - 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 $7 50 - vols., 12mo. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, extra, - printed in colors. In box - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. -The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions. - - 167.11 would have bee[e]n a national loss. Removed. - - 183.11 I lost no time in tak[ing] off my side-arms Added. Line - break error. - - 204.1 when we get ready [to ]take charge Added. Page - break error. - - 437.17 the money you so gener[er]ously provided Removed. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Sailor Jack, The Trader, by Harry Castlemon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER *** - -***** This file should be named 54049-0.txt or 54049-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/0/4/54049/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Sailor Jack, The Trader - -Author: Harry Castlemon - -Illustrator: Geo. G. White - -Release Date: January 24, 2017 [EBook #54049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s Note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are -linked for ease of reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s <a href='#endnote'>note</a> at the end of this text -for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered -during its preparation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The cover image has been created, based on title page information, and -is added to the public domain.</p> -<div class='htmlonly'> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='sc'>The last of the “Louisiana.”</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>CASTLEMON’S WAR SERIES.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c002' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xlarge'><span class='sc'>Sailor Jack, the Trader</span></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'>BY</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'>HARRY CASTLEMON</span>,</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'>AUTHOR OF “GUNBOAT SERIES,” “ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES,”</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>“FOREST AND STREAM SERIES,” ETC., ETC.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><i>Four Illustrations by Geo. G. White.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/titlepage.jpg' alt='colophon' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div>PHILADELPHIA:</div> - <div><span class='large'>PORTER & COATES.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='sc'>Copyright</span>, 1893,</div> - <div class='c000'>BY</div> - <div class='c000'>PORTER & COATES</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_iii'>iii</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='71%' /> -<col width='17%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c007'><span class='small'>CHAPTER</span></td> - <td class='c008'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>I.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Tom Randolph, Conscript</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>II.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Lambert’s Signal-Fire</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_29'>29</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>III.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Mr. Randolph Carries Tales</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_59'>59</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>IV.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Phantom Bushwhackers</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_86'>86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>V.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Cotton Thieves</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_114'>114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>VI.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Man He Wanted to See</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_141'>141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>VII.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Sailor Jack in Action</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_168'>168</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>VIII.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Bad News from Marcy</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_195'>195</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>IX.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Rodney is Astonished</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_222'>222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>X.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Mark Goodwin’s Plan</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_247'>247</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XI.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Ben Makes a Failure</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_273'>273</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XII.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Surprised and Captured</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_302'>302</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XIII.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>In Williamston Jail</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_326'>326</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XIV.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>The Prison Pen</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_350'>350</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XV.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>On Account of the Dead Line</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_375'>375</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XVI.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Sailor Jack, the Trader</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_403'>403</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>XVII.</td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Conclusion</span>,</td> - <td class='c008'><a href='#Page_435'>435</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> - <h1 class='c009'>SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER.</h1> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER I. <br /> <span class='small'>TOM RANDOLPH, CONSCRIPT.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, by gum! Am I dreamin’? Is -this Tom Randolph or his hant?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t wonder that you are surprised. -It’s Tom Randolph easy enough, though I -can hardly believe it myself when I look in -the glass. There isn’t a nigger in the settlement -that isn’t better clad and better mounted -than I am.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I have seen you when you looked a -trifle pearter, that’s a fact.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what brought me to this? The Yankees -and their cowardly sympathizers. I don’t -blame the boys in blue so much, for brave soldiers -always respect one another, even though -their sense of duty compels them to fight -under different flags; but the traitors we have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>right here among us are too mean to be of any -use. And the meanest one among them is -Rodney Gray.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first speaker was Lieutenant Lambert, -who, by his zealous efforts to serve the cause -of the South, brought about the bombardment -of Baton Rouge, and the person whom he -addressed was the redoubtable Captain Tom -himself, who had just returned to Mooreville -after undergoing two months’ military discipline -at Camp Pinckney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The last time we saw these two worthies was -shortly after the Confederate General Breckenridge -made his unsuccessful attempt to -capture Baton Rouge, and the conscripting -officer, Captain Roach, disappeared so completely -that no one had ever heard a word of -him since, and the veteran Major Morgan, -backed by fifty soldiers who hated all Home -Guards and other skulkers as cordially as they -hated the Yankees, came to take his place. -Knowing that Captain Roach had been very -remiss in his duty, that he had spent more time -in visiting and eating good dinners than he -had in sending conscripts to the army, Major -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>Morgan hardly gave himself time to take possession -of the office in Kimberley’s store before -he declared that that sort of work was going -to cease entirely, and that everyone in his district -who was liable to military duty, Home -Guards as well as civilians, must start for the -camp of instruction at once or be taken there -by force. The news spread rapidly, and in a -very few hours everyone in the settlement had -heard it. The wounded and disabled veterans -of the Army of the Centre, of whom there -were a goodly number in the neighborhood, -were overjoyed to learn that at last there was -a man in the conscripting office who could not -be trifled with, and some of the civilians, who -came under the exemption clause of the Conscription -Act, secretly cherished the hope that -Captain Tom and his first lieutenant might be -sent to serve under Bragg, who did not scruple -to shoot his soldiers for the most trivial offences.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As to Tom and his Home Guards, they did -not at first pay much attention to the major’s -threats. It was right that civilians should be -forced to shoulder muskets, since they would -not do it of their own free will, but as for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>them, they were State troops, and the government -at Richmond could not order them -around as it pleased. Besides, they had great -confidence in Mrs. Randolph’s powers of persuasion. -She would never permit her son to -go into the army, and having managed Captain -Roach pretty near as she pleased, the Home -Guards did not see why she could not manage -Major Morgan as well; but when it became -noised abroad that the latter had curtly refused -Mrs. Randolph’s invitation to dinner, intimating -that he was not ordered to Mooreville to -waste his time in visiting and nonsense, they -were terribly frightened, and demanded that -Captain Tom should “see them through.” -When they enlisted in his company, he promised -to stand between them and the Confederate -authorities, and now was the time for him -to make that promise good; but Tom was as -badly frightened as they were, and did not -know what to do. When his mother suggested -that it might be well for him to put his commission -in his pocket, and ride to Mooreville -and talk the matter over with the major, Tom -almost went frantic.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>“Go down there and face that despot -alone,” he exclaimed, “while he has fifty -veterans at his back to obey his slightest -wish? I’d about as soon be shot and have -done with it. Besides, what have I got to -ride? The Yankees have stolen me afoot.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Tom knew well enough that he was -not telling the truth. It wasn’t Yankees who -“stole him afoot,” but men who wore the -same kind of uniform he did. You will remember -that we compared the short visit of -Breckenridge’s army to a plague of locusts. -Everything in the shape of eatables in and -around Mooreville, as well as some articles of -value, disappeared and were never heard of -afterward; and among those articles of value -were several fine horses, Tom Randolph’s -being one of the first to turn up missing. His -expensive saddle and bridle disappeared at -the same time, and now, if Tom wanted to go -anywhere, he was obliged to walk or ride a -plough mule bare-back, which was harrowing -to his feelings. He wouldn’t appear before a -Confederate officer of rank in any such style -as that, he said, and that was all there was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>about it. But, as it happened, the conscripting -officer had a word to say on that point. -On the morning following his arrival in the -village a couple of strange troopers galloped -into Mr. Randolph’s front yard and drew up -at the steps with a jerk. Captain Tom’s heart -sank when he saw them coming, for something -told him that they were after him and nobody -else; and paying no heed to the earnest entreaties -of his mother, who assured him that -he might as well face them one time as another, -for he could not save himself by flight, he disappeared -like a shot through the nearest door, -leaving her to explain his absence in any way -she thought proper. But after taking a -second look at the unwelcome visitors, Mrs. -Randolph knew it would be of no use to try -to shield the timid Home Guard. The trooper -who ascended the steps, leaving his comrade to -hold his horse, was a rough-looking fellow, as -well he might be, for he had seen hard service. -The little pieces of metal on his huge Texas -spurs tinkled musically, his heavy cavalry sabre -clanked against his heels as he walked, and -Mrs. Randolph thought there was something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>threatening in the sound. He lifted his cap -respectfully, but said in a brisk business tone:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’d like to see Tom Randolph, if you -please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you mean Captain Randolph?” corrected -the lady.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, ma’am. He was given to me as plain -Tom Randolph, and that is the only name I -know him by. I’d like to see him, if you -please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you step in while I go and find -him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, no. I have no time to sit -down. I am in a great hurry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can spare a moment to tell me, his -mother, what you are going to do with him, -can you not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All I can say is that the major wants to -see him at once,” was the short answer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know what the major wants of him, -so that I can explain——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pardon me if I say that no explanations -are necessary. It is enough for him to know -that Major Morgan wants to see him without -a moment’s delay.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>The tone in which the words were spoken -satisfied Mrs. Randolph that the impatient -trooper could not be put off any longer, so she -turned about and went into the house. She -knew that Tom had gone straight to her room, -and when she tried the door she found that he -had locked himself in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who’s there?” demanded a husky voice -from the inside.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is I, my dear, and I am alone,” was the -reply. “Let me in at once. Now, call all -your courage to your aid, and show yourself -the brave soldier you were on the night you -knocked that Yankee sentinel down with the -butt of a musket and escaped being sent to -a Northern prison-pen,” she continued, as she -slipped through the half open door, which was -quickly closed and locked behind her. “Major -Morgan wants to see you at his office, and, my -dear, you had better go at once. The man at -the door will not wait much longer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t care if he won’t,” shouted Captain -Tom, who was terribly alarmed. “If he gets -tired of standing there, let him go back -where he came from and tell that major that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>I—what business has that fellow got out -there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom chanced to look through the window -while he was talking, and when he saw one of -the troopers ride down the carriage-way as if -he were going to the rear of the house, it -flashed upon him that the man was going there -to watch the back door. At the same moment -the jingling of spurs and the rattling of a -sabre were heard in the next room, the door -knob was tried by a strong hand, and something -that might have been the toe of a heavy -boot was propelled with considerable force -against the door itself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Open up here,” commanded a stern voice -on the other side. “Do it at once, or I shall -be obliged to force an entrance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This threat brought Captain Tom to his -senses. In a second the door was unlocked -and opened, and the soldier stepped into the -room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By what right does Major Morgan——” -began Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know a thing about it,” was the -quick reply. “It is no part of my duty to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>inquire into my superior’s private affairs. All -I can say is that I am commanded to bring -Tom Randolph before him without loss of -time. You are Tom Randolph, I take it. -Then saddle up and come with me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the Yankees stole my horse and I -have nothing to ride except a mule,” whined -Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then ride the mule or come afoot. Make -up your mind to something, for I am going to -start in half a minute by the watch.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You will give my son time to exchange -his citizen’s clothes for his captain’s uniform, -of course,” ventured Mrs. Randolph.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sorry I haven’t an instant to wait, but the -color of his clothes will make no sort of difference -to Major Morgan,” was the reply. “Now -then, will you order up that mule, or walk, or -ride double with my man?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you an officer?” faltered Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not much of one—only a captain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, that puts a different look on the -matter entirely,” said Tom, who up to this -time thought he was being ordered around by -a private soldier. “Since you are an officer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>I expect to receive an officer’s treatment from -you, and I don’t wish to be addressed——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s all right. But hurry up, for the -time is precious.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Being satisfied at last that his meeting with -the dreaded conscript officer could not be delayed -any longer, Captain Tom hastened to -his room after his commission, while his -mother sent a darky to the stable-yard to -bring up the solitary mule that had been left -there when the few remaining field-hands -went to work in the morning. And a very -sorry-looking beast it proved to be when it -was led to the door—too decrepit to work, and -so weak with age that it fairly staggered as -Tom threw his weight upon the sheepskin -which the thoughtful darky had placed on -the animal’s back to serve in lieu of a saddle. -A sorry picture Captain Tom made, too, -when he was mounted; but he had no choice -between going that way and riding double -with a private, and that was a thing he could -not bring himself to do.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While they were on their way to town Captain -Tom made several fruitless attempts to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>induce his captors—for that was just what they -were—to give him some idea of what he might -expect when he presented himself before the -major; but although he could not prevail -upon them to say a word on that subject, he -was able to make a pretty shrewd guess as to -the nature of the business in hand, and if he -had known that he was going to prison for a -long term of years he could not have felt so -utterly wretched and disheartened.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I were going to jail I might have a chance -to get pardoned out,” thought Tom, “but the -only way to get out of the army is to be killed -or have an arm or leg shot off. I’d be perfectly -willing to go if Jeff Davis and all his -Cabinet could be compelled to go too. I’m -afraid I am in for trouble this time, sure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>If Captain Tom had any lingering doubts on -this point they were dispelled in less than half -a minute after he entered the enrolling office. -He had never before met the grizzly veteran -who sat at Captain Roach’s desk with a multitude -of papers before him, and when their -short interview was ended Captain Tom hoped -from the bottom of his heart that he might -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>never meet him again. He proved to be just -what he looked—a thorough soldier, who had -come there with the determination to perform -his disagreeable duty without fear or favor. -Every man in the office was a stranger to Tom. -There were stacks of carbines and cavalry -sabres in all the corners, horses saddled and -bridled were hitched to the rack in front of -the door, and there were a few tanned and -weather-beaten soldiers standing around ready -to start at the word, but there was not a Home -Guard to be seen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is Tom Randolph, sir,” was the way -in which one of the guards brought the new-comer -to the notice of the conscript officer. -“Don’t sit down,” he added a moment later, -as Tom drew a chair toward him. “Take -off your hat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Randolph was amazed, for this was -not the way he had always been treated in -that office. Hitherto he had been a privileged -character, and had had as much to say -as Captain Roach himself; but now things -were changed, and for the first time in his -life Tom was made to see that he was not of so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>much importance in the world as he had supposed -himself to be. He took off his hat, but -noticed that the soldiers in the room did not -remove theirs, and that nettled him. So did -the manner in which the major acknowledged -the introduction, if such it could be called. -He did not offer to shake hands as Tom thought -he would, but merely looked over the top of -his spectacles for a moment. Then he pulled -a sheet of paper toward him, ran his finger -down the list of names written on it until he -had found the one he wanted, and made a short -entry opposite to it; after which he pushed -away the paper and said:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Report at one o’clock this afternoon. -That’s all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, major,” Tom almost gasped, “what -am I to report for?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What for? Why, marching orders, of -course.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, will you tell me where I am to -march?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Along the road that leads to the camp of instruction. -Where else should a recruit march -to, I’d like to know. You’re conscripted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>“But, major,” protested Tom, drawing forth -an official envelope with hands that trembled -so violently that he could scarcely control -them, “I really don’t see how you can conscript -me. I am a captain in the State troops, -and there’s my commission from the governor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It isn’t worth straws,” answered the major, -snapping his fingers in the air. “Don’t want -to see it. Besides, you have resigned.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But my resignation has not been accepted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That doesn’t matter. It will be, for there -are no such things as State troops now, I am -happy to say. You’re liable to military duty -easy enough, and—that’s all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I retain my rank, don’t I, sir?” said Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was astonishing what an effect this simple -question had upon the occupants of the room. -Some quickly turned their faces to the wall, -others tiptoed through the nearest doors, and -all shook with suppressed merriment. The -major jerked his spectacles off his nose, looked -hard at Tom to see if he were really in earnest, -and cleared his throat before he replied:</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>“No, sir; you will begin as Private Randolph, -but will be given every opportunity to -show what you are made of, and to win a commission -that is worth something more than the -paper it happens to be written on. Don’t -worry about that. Well, sergeant, where are -the men I ordered you to bring before me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hardly able to tell whether he was awake -or dreaming, Tom Randolph yielded to the -friendly hand that was laid upon his arm, and -suffered himself to be led away from the desk, -his place being immediately filled by four -brawny soldiers, who raised their hands with a -military salute. The first words one of them -spoke aroused Tom from his stupor and interested -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We didn’t find Lambert and Moseley to -home, sir. They must have had warnin’, I -reckon, for they’ve took to the bresh.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They needn’t think to escape me by resorting -to any such trick as that,” said the -major grimly. “They owe a duty to their -country in this hour of her peril, and they’ve -got to do it. I’ll have a detail watch their -houses night and day till they come back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>Tom Randolph could hardly believe that the -soldier who laid his hand upon his arm and -conducted him to a remote corner of the room, -so that they could talk without danger of being -overheard, was the same captain who had -been so impatient and peremptory with him -and his mother a short time before, but such -was the fact. Having performed his duty and -brought his prisoner to the office, as he had -been told to do, the captain had thrown off his -soldier airs and was as jolly and friendly a -fellow as one would care to meet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You see you are going to have good company -while you are in camp,” said he.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know what you call good company,” -snarled Tom. “Lambert is nothing -more than a common overseer, while Moseley -is a chicken and hog thief. Good company, -indeed!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But we heard that they are officers in your -company of Home Guards,” said the captain -in a surprised tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They were chosen against my earnest protest,” -replied Tom, “but they have never been -commissioned by the governor. Their election -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>was not legal, and so I didn’t report it. But, -captain, I don’t think your major has any -authority to ride over the governor in this -rough way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hasn’t he a right to conscript everyone -who does not come under the exemption -clause?” answered the captain. “If you have -read that act I will venture to say that you -did not see the words ‘Home Guards’ in it. -Come now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I am my father’s overseer,” said Tom, -switching off on another track.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Since when?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Since long before Breckenridge made his -attack on Baton Rouge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are you employed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the home plantation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your father doesn’t need two overseers on -the home plantation, does he? He has claimed -exemption for—what’s his name?—Larkin.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And didn’t he say a word about me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The records of the office don’t show it. -Now let me tell you something. If your father -wants to claim exemption for you instead of -Larkin no doubt he can manage it with General -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>Ruggles, who is in command at Camp -Pinckney. Major Morgan has no authority to -act in such cases. Just now your duty is to -go home and make ready to report at one -o’clock sharp. Don’t be a second behind time -unless you want to get the rough side of the -major’s tongue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What shall I do to get ready?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, pack up a suit or two of your strongest -clothes, an extra pair of shoes and stockings, -and a few blankets, which I assure you -will come handy for shelter tents when you -take the field.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And you don’t think of any way in which -I can get out of it?” said Tom in a choking -voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, no. <i>That’s</i> a dead open and shut. -You’ve got to go to camp and stay there while -your friends are working to get you out, if -that is what you want them to do. But I -wouldn’t let them make any move in that -direction if I were you. Why don’t you go -with us and make a man of yourself? We are -whipping the Yankees right along, and you -will have plenty of chances to distinguish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>yourself. We’re bound to gain our independence, -and don’t you want to be able to -say that you had a hand in it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The captain’s earnest words did not send any -thrill of patriotism into the heart of Tom Randolph, -who just then wished that the Yankees -would sweep through Mooreville in irresistible -numbers, put an end to the war in a moment, -and so keep him from going to Camp Pinckney. -He turned sorrowfully away from the -captain, who had really tried to befriend him -by giving what he thought to be good advice, -mounted his aged mule, and set out for home. -His mother’s face brightened when he dismounted -at the foot of the steps, but fell -instantly when Tom told her that she had better -take a good long look at him while she had -the chance, for after that day was past she -would never see him again. Of course there -was mourning in that house when he told his -story, and the gloom that rested there was but -partially dispelled by Mr. Randolph’s promise -to discharge Larkin without loss of time and -claim exemption for Tom in his stead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you could do it this minute it would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>not keep me from going to the camp of instruction,” -whined Tom, “for the major has no -authority to do anything but conscript everybody -he can get his hands on.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has he warned Ned Griffin and Rodney -Gray?” inquired Mrs. Randolph.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s so,” exclaimed Tom angrily. -“What a dunce I was not to speak to the -captain about those fellows! But I was so -taken up with my own affairs that I never -once thought of it. However, I’ll think of it -when I go down to the office at one o’clock, I -bet you. And, father, if you get on the track -of Lambert and Moseley, don’t fail to let the -major know it. If I’ve got to be disgraced -I want them to keep me company.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will bear it in mind,” answered Mr. -Randolph. “And since one o’clock isn’t so -very far off, hadn’t you better get ready?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The conscript thought this a very heartless -suggestion and so did his mother; but they -could not deny that there was reason in it, and -so preparations for Tom’s departure were -made at once. The parting which took place -an hour or so later was a tearful one on Tom’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>part as well as his mother’s, but there was not -very much sorrow exhibited by the black -servants who crowded into the dining-room to -shake his hand, as they were in duty bound to -do, and Tom made the mental resolution that, -when he returned from Camp Pinckney to take -his place as overseer on the plantation, he -would see them well paid for their indifference. -He rode in his mother’s carriage this time, -accompanied by his father and a bundle of -things that would have filled a soldier’s knapsack -to overflowing. When the carriage turned -into the street that ran past Kimberley’s store, -Tom thrust his head out of the window, but -instantly pulled it in again to say, while tears -of vexation filled his eyes and ran down his -cheeks:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s a bigger crowd of people in front -of the office than I ever saw before. No doubt -some of them will be glad to know I have been -conscripted; but if you have the luck I am -sure you will have, I shall be back to turn the -laugh on them before many days have passed -over my head. Just look, father, and remember -the name of every one who has a slighting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>word or glance for me, so that I may settle with -him at some future time. I hope Rodney and -Ned Griffin are there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ve got your wish,” replied Mr. -Randolph, after he had run his eye over the -crowd, which extended clear across the street -to the hitching-rack. “Rodney and Ned are -there, but they seem to be standing on the -outskirts.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom mastered up courage enough to look -again, and then he saw what his father meant -by “the outskirts.” There were three distinct -classes of people in that gathering. In -the middle of the crowd and in front of the -office stood two score conscripts, who were -closely guarded by half as many of Major -Morgan’s veterans. Some of the conscripts -seemed resolved to make the best of the situation, -and joked and laughed with their friends -and relatives who had assembled to see them -off, and who formed the third class that stood -outside the guards; but Tom noticed that -most of their number looked very unhappy -indeed. Tom did not see Rodney and Ned, -but he discovered several disabled veterans of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>Bragg’s army with whom he had a speaking -acquaintance, and they in turn discovered him -and sent up a shout of welcome.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hey-youp! Here comes another, and I do -think in my soul it’s Captain Tommy Randolph,” -exclaimed one. “It’s him, for I know -that there kerridge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An’ they tell me that you might jest as well -be in the army to onct as to be in that camp,” -chimed in a second veteran. “There aint no -sich thing as gettin’ away when they get a grip -onto you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not by no means,” cried a third. “Kase -why, don’t you know that they keep a pack of -nigger hound dogs there that aint got nothin’ in -the wide world to do but jest chase deserters?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The tone in which the taunting words were -uttered was highly exasperating to Tom, whose -face grew red with anger.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wouldn’t mind them,” said his father -soothingly. “That’s only soldiers’ fun. They -don’t mean anything by it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll try not to mind them now, but I’ll get -even with every one of them when I come -back,” said Tom savagely.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>Stepping out of the carriage, and showing -himself to that little mob of laughing, jeering -soldiers, was one of the most trying ordeals -that Tom Randolph ever passed through, but -there was no way to escape it. As he hurried -through their ranks toward the guards, who -stood aside to let him pass, they sent a few -more words of advice and encouragement after -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where’s all your purty clothes, Tommy?” -inquired one. “Go home to onct an’ get ’em. -If you don’t, them fule Yanks will think you -are nothin’ but a dog-gone private.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t listen to him, Tommy,” said another. -“The Yanks always pick for officers in battle, -an’ they’re dead shots, I tell you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re mighty right,” chorused a dozen -voices. “I never did see anybody who could -shoot like them Yanks. I’m glad I aint got -to face ’em agin, tell your folks. I wouldn’t -do it for all the money the Confedrit gov’ment -is worth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s a disgrace the way those fellows are -allowed to go on,” said Tom to the first soldier -he met when he entered the office, and who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>turned out to be the captain whose acquaintance -he had made that morning. “Why don’t -you put a stop to it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Aw! They want some sport, don’t they?” -was the answer. “Let them go ahead with it -until they get tired, and then they will stop. -Besides, you might as well get used to such -talk one time as another, for you will hear -plenty of it in the army.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you mustn’t permit them to force me -into the army,” whispered Tom to his father. -“If you do, you will always be sorry for it, -because you will never see me again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In a dazed sort of way Tom reported to the -major, and then tried to hide himself in a -corner of the office where he would be out of -sight of his tormentors, but he was quickly -routed from there by one of the major’s men, -who told him to go outside where he would be -under the eye of the guard. Of course his -appearance was the signal for another outburst -from the veterans, but he wisely tried to drown -their gibes by entering into conversation with -a conscript who looked as disconsolate and -wretched as Tom himself felt. His father had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>given the bundle into his keeping, and taken -his place outside the guards with the rest of -the exempts, and Tom began to realize how it -seemed to be alone in a crowd. Rodney and -Ned did not come near him, and that made him -angry and threaten vengeance. They might at -least shake hands with him and assure him of -their sympathy, Tom thought, but if they had -been foolish enough to attempt it, it is more -than probable that he would have turned his -back upon them. More than that, Rodney -Gray was not a hypocrite. Having had the -most to do with the breaking up of Tom’s -company of Home Guards, he would have -uttered a deliberate untruth if he had said he -was sorry to see him conscripted. He wasn’t; -he would have been sorry to see him stay at -home.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And when he reaches the camp of instruction -I hope some strict drill-sergeant will put -him through an extra course of sprouts to pay -him for the mean trick he tried to play on -Dick Graham,” said Rodney to his friend Ned. -“I could have told things that would have got -all the Pinckney guards down on him if I had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>been so disposed, and now I am glad I didn’t -do it. There he goes. Good-by, Tom Randolph.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fall in!” shouted a stentorian voice. -“Not off there, but here, with the right resting -where I stand. Haven’t you Home Guards -been drilled enough to learn how to fall in in -two ranks? Face out that way toward the -hitching-rack. Now listen to roll-call!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In ten minutes more the conscripts had -answered to their names and were headed -toward Camp Pinckney, marching in a crooked -straggling line with their bundles on their -shoulders and armed guards on each side of -them. There were forty-five in all, and two-thirds -of them were Home Guards. There -were many sober and tearful faces among the -spectators when they moved away, and even -the discharged veterans must have taken the -matter seriously, for they did not utter one -taunting word.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER II. <br /> <span class='small'>LAMBERT’S SIGNAL-FIRE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>A few of Tom Randolph’s fellow-sufferers -had repeatedly declared in his hearing -that they never would be taken to Camp -Pinckney alive; but when the roll was called -inside the stockade at sunset the following -day, their dreary, toilsome march having been -completed by that time, every one of them -answered to his name. Not one of their number -had made his escape, and indeed it would -have been foolhardy to attempt it, for the -guards were alert and watchful, and it was -whispered along the line that they had strict -orders to shoot down the first man who tried -to break away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not to dwell too long upon this part of our -story, it will be enough to say that Tom Randolph -remained in the camp of instruction for -two solid months, during which time he suffered -more than he thought it possible for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>mortal man to endure. He was given plenty -to eat, such as it was, but scarcely a night -passed that he was not aroused from a sound -sleep to go on post or to repel an assault that -was never made, and during the day-time he -was drilled in the school of the soldier and -company, and in the manual of arms, until all -the muscles in him ached so that he could not -lie still after he went to bed. Every hour in -the day indignities were put upon him that -caused his blood to boil, and he made matters -worse by resenting them on the spot, the result -being that he did more police duty than any -other man in camp. Time and again he -sought an interview with the commandant, -intending to complain of his treatment and -ask when he might look for his release, but -he never saw the general except from a distance, -and then was not permitted to approach -him. All this while his father, who visited -him at irregular intervals, bringing news from -the outside world, was doing his best; but -there were so many difficulties in his way, and -so much red tape to be gone through, that he -found himself balked at every point, and it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>a wonder he was not tempted to give it up as -a task beyond his powers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You see Roach’s books show that I claimed -exemption for Larkin, and I’m afraid that’s -against us,” he said to Tom one day, after -talking the matter over with General Ruggles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you have as much right to change -your mind as other folks, I suppose,” replied -Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I have, but that isn’t the point. -If Larkin were here to take your place in camp -the work might be easier; but you see he isn’t. -He has skipped.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Skipped where?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Out in the woods, to keep company with -Lambert and Moseley, I suppose. And when -he went he left word with some of the neighbors -that if anything happened to my buildings -during the next few weeks, I might thank -him for it. He put out as soon as I told him -that I couldn’t pay the beef and bacon the -government demanded as the price of his -exemption.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you tell Major Morgan that you -wouldn’t pay it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>“Certainly, and I told General Ruggles so; -but that didn’t scare them at all. If they want -beef and bacon they’ll just take it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, now, if that isn’t a pretty way for -a common overseer to treat a gentleman I -wouldn’t say so,” declared Tom, who really -thought that Larkin ought to have stayed -at home and been conscripted in his place. -“What difference does one man make in the -size of an army, anyway? The general could -let me go as well as not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But he won’t, unless certain forms are complied -with. Be as patient as you can, and remember -that I shall leave no stone unturned.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Get an honorable discharge while you are -about it, so that I shall not be called upon to -go through with this performance a second -time,” said Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is true that a single recruit made no great -difference in the strength of an army, but for -some reason that no one but General Ruggles -could have explained it made all the difference -in the world so far as Tom Randolph’s release -from military duty was concerned. One day, -about six weeks after the conversation above -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>recorded, Mr. Randolph walked into camp and -told Tom that he was a free man—or rather -that he would be in a few hours, for Larkin had -been captured by Major Morgan’s scouts, and -was now on his way to camp to take Tom’s -place.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And am I to have an honorable discharge?” -inquired Tom, who was so overjoyed -that he could hardly speak.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; and I was foolish to ask for it,” said -his father in disgust. “The general laughed -in my face and said you hadn’t done anything -worthy of it. Don’t say a word about it, but -thank your lucky stars that you have escaped -being ordered to the front.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the man Larkin and a few other conscripts -were brought in under guard, Tom -Randolph was standing as near the big gate as -the camp regulations would allow him to get, -waiting impatiently for somebody to come out -of the commandant’s office and tell him he -could go home. He was mean enough to try -to attract Larkin’s attention when the latter -tramped wearily into the stockade, but the -man was so wrapped up in his troubles that he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>could hardly have recognized his best friend, if -he had had one among the curious crowd that -was gathered about the gate. Tom was a little -disappointed, but quickly dismissed Larkin -from his mind when he saw his father approaching -with an expression on his face that -was full of good news.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come right along,” said he. “It’s all -settled now. There stands the officer who -has orders to pass us out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So the general has consented to do me -justice at last, has he?” exclaimed Tom, who -was not half as grateful as he ought to have -been. “And he kept me here all these weary -days and allowed me to be insulted and -abused on account of that man Larkin, did he? -Thank him for nothing. But I’ll fix some -others who are as much to blame for my being -here as General Ruggles is. I haven’t wasted -all my time since I have been in jail, I tell you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I brought a mule for you to ride,” continued -his father. “But don’t you think we -had better bunk with the guard to-night? It -will be as dark as a pocket in an hour, and -besides it is going to rain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>“I don’t care if it rains pitchforks. I’ll -face them rather than remain in this dreary -hole a moment longer,” declared the liberated -conscript. “And I am not going to the barracks -after my clothes or blankets. I will -them to the first man who can put his hands -on them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom reached home in due time in spite of -the rain and other discomforts that attended -him on his journey, and it is scarcely necessary -to say that his mother welcomed him as -one risen from the dead. Her husband had told -her doleful stories of Tom’s life in camp, and she -was afraid that he would sink under his many -hardships before his release could be effected. -But Tom was not as badly off as he pretended -to be. A few days’ rest made him as uneasy -and full of meanness as he had ever been in -his life; but it is fair to say that his uneasiness -was due to an unaccountable delay in the -carrying out of a certain little programme -which he had arranged while living in the -stockade. This was what he meant when he -told his father that he had not wasted his -time since he had been in jail.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>During the month of September it became -known to the guards and conscripts at Camp -Pinckney that a meeting of cotton and tobacco -planters had been held in Richmond “to consider -the expediency of the purchase by the -Confederacy, or of a voluntary destruction of -the entire cotton and tobacco crop,” to keep it -from falling into the hands of the Union -forces. It is hard to tell why the news was so -long in coming down to Louisiana, for the -meeting, which was described as “one of the -largest, wealthiest, and most intelligent that -had ever assembled in the city,” was held as -early as February. Among the other resolutions -acted upon by this patriotic assemblage -was one calling upon the Southern people to -destroy all their property in advance of the -invading armies, even to their homes, so that -the conquest of the United States should be -a barren one. Of course this resolution met -the hearty approval of those of the Camp -Pinckney guards and conscripts who had no -property worth speaking of, and some of them -declared that if General Ruggles would let -them have their own way for twenty-four -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>hours they would destroy thousands of bales -of cotton which the owners would never burn -themselves so long as they saw a prospect of -selling them to the Yankees. This set Tom -Randolph to thinking, and with the aid of -some of the Pearl River Home Guards who -were still on duty at the camp, he made up -a nice little plan to revenge himself on several -of the Mooreville people who had incurred his -enmity. It might have been successful, too, -if Tom had not allowed his unruly tongue to -upset it. As soon as he reached home he -began waiting and watching for some signs of -activity on the part of the Pearl River vagabonds, -but up to this time the clouds that -hung over the swamp, and which he watched -every night with anxious eyes, had not been -lighted by any signal-fires.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The life that Tom Randolph now led was -dreary and monotonous in the extreme; no -healthy boy could have endured it for a week. -Did he take Larkin’s place as overseer and do -his work? Well, hardly; and he never had -any intention of doing it. The field-hands did -the work as well as the overseeing, and Tom -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>spent his time in loafing or in riding about the -country on a bare-back mule. It is true that -Major Morgan’s “drag-net” had not cleared -the neighborhood of everyone who was subject -to military duty, for a few of the desperate -ones, like Lambert and Moseley, had taken to -the woods, and a few others had joined the -Yankees in Baton Rouge, where they were -safe from pursuit; but it had caught the most -of the able-bodied men and boys of Tom’s -acquaintance, and now he found himself -almost alone. He saw Rodney and Ned now -and then, but never spoke to them if he could -help it, or visited them on their plantations; -for since they, with Mrs. Griffin’s aid, kept -him from being sent to a Northern prison, he -disliked them more than he did before. He -had never got over being surprised at Mr. -Gray’s action in standing between Ned and -the conscript officer, while he permitted the -other telegraph operator, Drummond, to take -his chances. Mr. Gray must be Union at -heart or else he would not have done that; -and if he was Union he ought to be driven out -of the country. Tom found a world of consolation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>in the reflection that he would soon be -even with him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was while the returned conscript was taking -his usual morning ride on his mule, with a -gunny-sack for a saddle, that he met his old -first lieutenant, as described at the beginning -of the last chapter. He knew that the man was -living in the woods, otherwise he would have -had him for company at Camp Pinckney, and -he was surprised to find him riding along a -public road in broad daylight. Lambert was -also mounted on a mule, the property of his -late employer, which he had appropriated to -his own use without troubling himself to ask -permission. He remembered that Tom had -once drawn a sword upon him, and flattered -himself that in Camp Pinckney his tyrannical -captain was being well paid for that and other -indignities he had put upon his Home Guards; -consequently he was not a little astonished and -vexed to find him breathing the air of freedom -on this particular morning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did you manage to get away from -them fellers, anyhow?” inquired Lambert, -nodding in the direction of the camp.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>“I have influence with the governor,” replied -Tom loftily. “I did not want to stay, -and consequently I didn’t.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Afeared of the Yanks, was you!” continued -Lambert with something like a sneer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more afraid than yourself. You took -to your heels and are in danger every moment -of being caught and sent to camp, while I faced -the music at once and will never have to do it -again. I am discharged from military service -for all time to come.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, by gum! I won’t do none,” said -Lambert fiercely; and Tom noticed that every -time he spoke he looked behind and on both -sides as if he were in constant fear that Major -Morgan’s men might steal a march upon him. -“I say let them that brung the war on do the -fightin’. I didn’t have no hand in it, an’ -nuther am I goin’ to holp ’em out. Yes, I’m -livin’ in the woods now, me an’—an’ some -other fellers; but I have to come out once in a -while to get grub an’ things, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why don’t you come at night?” -asked Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Kase it suits me better to come in the daytime. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>I aint a-skeared. There’s plenty kiver -handy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But if you dismount and take to your -heels you’ll lose your mule.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who keers? ’Tain’t my mu-el, an’ if they -take him I can easy get another. What you -drivin’ at now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am my father’s overseer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shucks! You couldn’t tell, to save your -life if a corn row was laid off straight or not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No matter for that,” said Tom sharply. -“As long as I hold the position I can live at -home and show myself openly; and that’s -more than you can do. Have you seen that -converted Confederate and his Yankee friend -lately?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who’s them?” inquired Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, Ned Griffin and Rodney Gray.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, yes; I see ’em every day ’most. -They’re livin’ down there snug as you please, -an’ as often as I——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go on,” said Tom, when the man paused -suddenly. “As often as you what?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As often as I want to see ’em I see ’em,” -added Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>“That isn’t what you were about to say at -first,” replied Tom. “I hope you are not a -friend of theirs?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look a-here, cap’n, wasn’t I first leftenant -of the Home Guards?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You were, and a very good officer you -made, except when you took it upon yourself -to act without waiting for orders from me; -and then you always brought yourself into -trouble. Can you be trusted?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I can’t, what’s the reason I was ’lected -to that office?” asked Lambert in reply. -“What do you want of me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The members of the Randolph family are -not quite as poor as some people seem to think, -I want you to understand,” said Tom in a -mysterious whisper. “We have several little -articles hidden away that our neighbors know -nothing about, and next week we shall have -some store tea and coffee and salt to hand -around to those who need them. Your shoes -are full of holes, too. You ought to have a -new pair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>If Lambert had given utterance to the -thoughts that were in his mind, he would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>have said that his old commander would miss -it if he hoped to bribe him in this way. -There were few people in the settlement who -did not stand in need of the articles Tom -mentioned, but Lambert knew where he could -get them for the asking. Still he wanted to -know what Tom wished him to do, and said -so.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You fought the conscript officers offen me -long’s as you could, an’ I aint likely to disremember -it,” he replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I kept you out of the army for more than a -year, and now is the time for you to pay me -for it,” replied Tom impressively. “Now -listen while I tell you something. You know -that our government has ordered every planter -who owns cotton to burn it so that it will not -fall into the hands of the Yankees, don’t -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No!” answered Lambert. He was surprised, -for this was news to him; but he saw -what Tom was trying to get at.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, it is the truth, and those who do not -comply with the order will be punished in some -way, and their property destroyed by our own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>soldiers. Now there’s old man Gray; he has -cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And he won’t never burn it,” exclaimed -Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the idea exactly. He’d rather sell -it to the Yankees for sixty cents a pound; -and so far as I can see there is nothing to -hinder him from doing it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Less’n some of our fellers slip up an’ -burn it for him,” put in Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ve hit it again,” exclaimed Tom, who -told himself that he wasn’t going to have any -trouble at all in bringing the man to do the -work he had suddenly laid out for him. “He -can sell his cotton if nobody stops him, but my -father can’t sell his because he is known to be -a loyal Confederate. Do you think that’s fair -or right?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know it aint,” answered Lambert. “Gray -is Union, and oughter be sent amongst the -Yanks where he b’longs; but your paw is Confedrit -and so am I. Do you want me to tech -off that cotton?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, no; not exactly that. You know -where it is, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>“There aint much of anything in the woods -in this country that I don’t know something -about,” said Lambert with a grin. “I reckon -I might find it if I took a notion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is what I thought, and now I come to -the point. While I was in camp I learned that -a squad of our soldiers is coming here some -day to look after the very cotton we are talking -about,” said Tom, who did not think it -would be just the thing to say that he had proposed -the expedition himself, and accurately -described the bayou in which Mr. Gray’s four -hundred bales could be found. “Now if you -happen to see that squad while you are riding -about the country——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll take leg-bail mighty sudden, I bet -you,” interrupted Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Without offering to show them where the -cotton is hidden?” cried Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You bet! I aint got no call to go philanderin’ -about the woods with a passel of soldiers, -an’ if you was the friend you pertend to -be you wouldn’t ask sich a thing of me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, man alive, they are Home Guards,” -began Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>“Then I wouldn’t trust none of ’em as fur -as I could sling a church house,” replied -Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And besides, they don’t know that you -have been conscripted, for they belong to -the Pearl River bottoms, miles away from -here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No odds; Major Morgan’s men can give me -all the dodgin’ I want to do, an’ if them Pearl -River fellers don’t find that cotton till I show -it to ’em they’ll never find it. I jest aint -goin’ to run no fule chances on bein’ tooken to -that camp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom Randolph wished now that he hadn’t -broached the subject to Lambert at all, for -what assurance had he that the man, whom he -knew to be vindictive and untrustworthy, -would not go straight to Mr. Gray and tell -him all about it?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought you were a friend of mine, but -since you are not it’s all right,” said Tom, intimating -by a wave of his hand that Lambert’s -refusal was a matter of no moment whatever. -“But come with me to the house, and let me -see if I can’t find something for you.” And as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>he spoke he looked down at the man’s broken -shoes and bare, sunbrowned ankles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shucks!” exclaimed Lambert. “I don’t -need to go beggin’ shoes an’ stockin’s of -nobody; an’ as for the salt an’ store tea that -you’ve been talkin’ about, I have them in the -woods every day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t believe it,” said Tom bluntly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It don’t make no odds to me whether you -do or not, but it’s a fact.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where do you get them? You haven’t -the cheek to go to Baton Rouge, after the part -you played in having the place bombarded by -the Union fleet. You wouldn’t dare show -your face there, and I don’t believe you have -any friends to bring goods through the lines -for you. I haven’t forgotten that old man -Gray wanted that mob to thrash me as if I -were a nigger, and I hope you remember that -he was strongly in favor of hanging you. Ned -Griffin warned you, and you jumped out of -bed and ran for your life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you reckon I’ve disremembered all the -things that happened that night?” said Lambert -with a scowl. “I aint, I bet you, an’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>mebbe you’ll find it out some of those days. -I aint nobody’s coward, an’ I dast do a good -many things when I make up my mind to it. -You jest watch, an’ you’ll see fire some of -those nights. But when you see it you may -know that no Pearl River Home Guards didn’t -have a hand in it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you do it yourself?” said Tom gleefully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I aint a-sayin’ who’ll do it, but it’ll be -done. I’ve been mistreated an’ used like a -dog all along of this war, an’ I’m a-goin’ to -even up with somebody to pay for it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And when the work is done come to my -house; ask for anything I’ve got and I will -give it to you. Where are you going now?” -asked Tom, as the man began digging his heels -into his mule’s sides and tugging at one of the -reins in the effort to turn the beast around.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I reckon I’d best be joggin’ along back. -I’ve been out from under kiver ’most long -enough. You watch out an’ you’ll see that -fire; that’s every word I’ve got to say about -it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The two separated and rode off in different -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>directions—the one in a brown study, and the -other shaking his head and muttering angry -words to himself. Lambert was very well -satisfied with the result of the interview, for it -had suggested something to him that he never -would have thought of himself, but Tom could -not drive away the thought that perhaps it -would have been better for him if he had -turned his mule’s head down the road instead -of up when he left his father’s gate that -morning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know that Lambert was awfully angry at -me because I shook my sword in his face, but -what else could I do when he acted as if he -were about to rush up the steps and lay violent -hands upon me in mother’s presence?” soliloquized -Tom. “Perhaps I talked too much -and at the wrong time; but if Lambert plays -me false, I’ll put every Yankee scouting party -that comes along on his trail. I’ll keep a -bright lookout for that fire, as he told me, but -I shall not draw an easy breath until I see it. -Then I shall feel safe, for of course if he fires -that cotton he will not tell on himself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom went up to his room at his usual hour -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>for retiring, but instead of going to bed he -drew a big rocking-chair in front of a window -that looked out toward Rodney Gray’s plantation, -and seated himself in it to watch for -Lambert’s signal fire—the light on the clouds -which would tell him that one of Mooreville’s -most respected citizens was being punished -because he, Tom Randolph, didn’t like him. -He had no assurance from Lambert that he -would see the blaze that night, but he hoped -he would, and he resolved that he would sit -at that window for six months, if necessary, -rather than miss the sight and the gratification -it would afford him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lambert’s face grew as black as a thunder-cloud -when I reminded him that Mr. Gray was -one of the mob who wanted to hang him for -bringing about the bombardment of Baton -Rouge,” thought Tom, “and I know he will -have revenge for that if he gets half a chance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom had not yet made up for the sleep he -lost at Camp Pinckney, and in less than half -an hour he was slumbering heavily. It was -long after midnight when he awoke with a -start and a feeling that there was something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>unusual going on. His eyes rested on the -window when they were opened, and the sight -he saw through the panes sent a thrill all -through him and brought him to his feet in an -instant. The glare on the sky told him there -was a fire raging somewhere in the depths of -the forest, and that it must be a big one, for -the whole heavens in that direction were -illuminated by it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’s done it; as sure as the world he’s -done it,” said Tom, who was highly excited. -“It’s all the proof I want that I am not so -much of a nobody as some people make me -out to be. But I had no idea that baled cotton -would give out such a blaze as that. However, -four hundred bales, if they were all -in one place, would make a pretty good-sized -pile.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom’s first impulse was to rush downstairs -and tell his mother the good news, but he was -afraid she might not keep it to herself. She -would be likely to call his father’s attention to -the light in the sky, and that was a thing Tom -did not care to have her do. Mr. Randolph -had changed wonderfully of late—ever since -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>he missed salt from his table and learned that -cotton was worth sixty cents a pound in -Northern markets—and Tom had not failed -to notice it. He wasn’t half as good a Confederate -as he used to be, and even showed -a desire to be friendly with Mr. Gray and -Rodney, who belonged to that unpatriotic -class of planters spoken of by the Southern -historian who “were known to buy every -article of their consumption in Yankee markets,” -that is to say, in Baton Rouge. This -being the case Tom did not go downstairs and -tell what was going on in the swamp for fear -his father might have something sharp and -unpleasant to say about it. He sat in his -chair and watched the light until it began to -fade away before the stronger light of the rising -sun, and then went to bed, happy in the -reflection that there was one traitor in the -neighborhood who would not make a fortune -out of the unholy war that had been forced -upon the South by Lincoln’s hirelings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was almost noon when he opened his eyes -again, and the first move he made was for the -window that looked toward the swamp that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>inclosed Rodney Gray’s plantation on three -sides. Of course all signs of the conflagration -had long since disappeared, but it had left -gloom and anxiety in the house below, as Tom -found when he went down to eat the late -breakfast that had been kept warm for him. -His mother seemed to have grown a dozen -years older since he last saw her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is the matter?” he demanded. -“Your face is as long as my arm.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Tommy, did you see it last night?” she -asked in reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“See what last night?” faltered Tom, who -began to have a faint suspicion that it would -be a wise thing for him to make his mother -believe, if he could, that he had slept soundly -through it all.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, the fire. Someone’s cotton has been -destroyed. Mr. Walker, who lives on the -plantation below, saw the light and came up -this morning and told your father about it, -and together they have gone to the swamp to -look into the matter.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh! the swamp,” repeated Tom with a -chuckle. “That’s all right, and father need -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>not have troubled himself to ride so far without -his breakfast. Please tell the girl to give -me a bite of something. Old man Gray has -some cotton in there, I believe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, my dear, we have two hundred bales -in there, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The tone in which the words were uttered -struck Tom dumb and motionless for a moment. -Then he groped blindly for the nearest chair -and dropped into it. It was true that his -father had a fortune hidden not more than -half a mile from the bayou in which Mr. Gray’s -four hundred bales were concealed, and up to -that moment he had forgotten all about it. It -was also true that all the cotton that had been -run into the swamp was plainly marked with -the initials of the owners’ names, but Tom -didn’t know whether Lambert could read or -not. He had never thought to ask him, and -now he blamed himself for his stupidity. If -it was the Pearl River vagabonds, and not -Lambert, who applied the torch, there was the -same trouble to be feared. Tom took particular -pains to tell the men with whom he conspired -to destroy Mr. Gray’s property that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>every bale of it was marked R. W. G., but he -now remembered, with a sinking at his heart -that almost drove him crazy, that these Home -Guards were as ignorant as the mules and -horses they rode on their plundering expeditions, -and perhaps there was not one among -them who knew one letter from another. The -fear that the wrong pile might have been -committed to the flames threw him into a terrible -state of mind.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t wonder that you are sadly -troubled,” said his mother, in a sympathizing -tone. “But I suppose it is about what we -can look for in times like these. I never did -expect to save that cotton. I was sure that if -the Yankees did not steal it the rebels would -destroy it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>(Mrs. Randolph called them “rebels” now. -A few months before she would have spoken -of them as “Confederates” or “our own -brave soldiers.”)</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Take it away,” yelled Tom, addressing the -girl, who just then brought his breakfast in from -the kitchen. “I don’t want anything to eat. -I never want anything more as long as I live. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>How many thousand dollars was that cotton -worth?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll fret yourself sick if you give way -to your feelings like this,” protested his -mother. “We are not sure that anyone has -troubled our cotton; we only fear it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It would be on a par with the luck that has -attended me all through this miserable war if -every pound of it was gone up in smoke,” said -Tom in a discouraged voice. “It’s some consolation -to know that we are all poor together, -for of course the men who knew where to find -our cotton knew where to find Gray’s and -Walker’s also.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With these words Tom snatched his hat -from the rack in the hall, and went down the -steps and out to the gate to watch for his -father’s return. The latter was a long time -coming, and his face wore so dejected a look -when he rode up and passed into the yard, that -Tom could not find it in his heart to speak to -him. He simply turned about and went into -the house to wait, with as much fortitude as -he could command, for his father to come in -and tell the terrible news that was so plainly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>written on his face. His wife, who met him at -the door, did not say a word until he had -seated himself in the chair he usually occupied -by the front window, and then she whispered -the question:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it all gone, George?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Every bale,” replied Mr. Randolph with a -groan. “In the first place, nearly three hundred -thousand dollars’ worth of niggers ran -away and left us with barely a handful to do -our work for us, and now the cotton I was -depending on to start me afresh when the -war ended has run away too; or gone up in -the elements, which amounts to the same -thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course Mr. Gray’s cotton——” stammered -Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wasn’t touched,” said Mr. Randolph, finishing -the sentence for him. “You may believe -it or not, but it is a fact that our cotton -alone was destroyed. Walker and I found Mr. -Gray and Rodney and Griffin and a dozen or -so others in the swamp when we got there, and -they had been trying to drag some of my bales -out of reach of the flames; but they didn’t go -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>there until morning, and of course were too -late to be of any use.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The cowards!” exclaimed Tom bitterly. -“If they saw the fire when it was burning, why -didn’t they go at once?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would you have done it?” replied his -father. “They thought the fire had been set -by soldiers and were afraid to go out in the -dark; but if the soldiers had had a hand in it -they would have burned other cotton. It was -the work of someone who has a spite against -us, and he has made beggars of us. I haven’t -a dollar of good money, or a thing that can be -turned into money; and even if I had, you and -your Home Guards have made yourselves so -obnoxious to the Baton Rouge people that I -wouldn’t dare go there to trade. Oh, yes; -we’re fit candidates for the poorhouse if there -was one in the county.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom Randolph covered his face with his -hands and trembled violently. He could not -speak, but told himself that the world would -not have held half so much trouble for him if -that man Lambert had never been born into it.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER III. <br /> <span class='small'>MR. RANDOLPH CARRIES TALES.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>When Tom Randolph and the man Lambert -brought their interview to a close -and rode away in different directions, as we -have recorded, the latter turned into the first -lane he came to, and finally disappeared in the -woods. For three or four miles or more he -rode along the fence that separated a wide -corn-field from the timber, passed in the rear of -Mr. Gray’s extensive home plantation, and at -last came out into the road again opposite the -house in which Ned Griffin and his mother now -lived. Having made sure that there were none -of Major Morgan’s men in sight (he feared -them and the Baton Rouge people more than -he did the boys in blue) Lambert crossed the -road and threw down the bars that gave -entrance into the door-yard. The noise aroused -Ned’s hounds, whose sonorous yelping quickly -brought their master to the porch.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“Oh, it’s you, is it?” said Ned, when he -saw who his visitor was. “I don’t know how -to explain it, but I have been looking for you -all day. Have you done anything for your -country since I seen you last?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ned’s manner would have made Tom Randolph -open his eyes, and might, perhaps, have -aroused his suspicions, there was so much unbecoming -familiarity in it. More than that, -his words seemed to imply that there was some -sort of an understanding between him and the -ex-Home Guard. The latter seated himself on -the end of the porch, pulled his cob pipe from -his pocket and tapped his thumb-nail with the -inverted bowl to show that it was empty, -whereupon Ned went into the house and presently -came out again with a plug of navy -tobacco in his hand. The sight of it made -Lambert’s eyes glisten.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I aint seen the like very often since the -war come onto us,” said he, as he proceeded -to cut off enough of the weed to fill his pipe; -“an’ this here nigger-heel that we uns have to -put up with nowadays aint fitten for a white -man to use. Do you know, I think Rodney -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>Gray is jest one of the smartest fellers there is -a-goin’?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve always thought and said so,” replied -Ned. “But what has he done lately that is -so very bright?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hirin’ me to watch that cotton of his’n so -that I could tell him if I see anybody castin’ -ugly eyes at it,” said Lambert, settling back -at his ease on the gallery so that he could -enjoy his smoke to the best advantage. -“When you told me that Rodney would -take it as a friendly act on my part if I would -do that much for him, I didn’t think there -was the least bit of use in it, but now I know -there is. I run up agin somebody a while -ago, an’ who do you think it was?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m sure I don’t know, but I hope it wasn’t -anyone who had designs on that cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was that Tom Randolph,” answered -Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must be dreaming!” exclaimed Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Them’s the very same words I axed myself -when I first see Tom comin’ t’wards me on his -mu-el, kase I couldn’t b’lieve it was him till I -listened to him talk; then I knowed it was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>Tom, for almost the first thing he said was -meanness. He’s made it up with some of the -Home Guards at Camp Pinckney.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gracious!” cried Ned, becoming frightened. -“They’re the worst lot of ruffians in -the world. They shoot their prisoners.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So I’ve heerd tell,” said Lambert indifferently. -“Well, them’s the fine chaps that Tom -has made it up with to burn old man Gray’s -cotton, an’ he wanted to know if I would -sorter guide them to the place where it was, -an’ I told him I wouldn’t, kase I aint going -to take no chances on bein’ tooken to that -camp. I’m scared of them Pearl River -chaps.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’d better be, for they would just as -soon shoot you as anybody else, simply to keep -their hands in. Now, how are we going to -keep them from finding that cotton?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the very thing that’s been a-pesterin’ -of me ever since Tom spoke to me about -it,” answered Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you don’t act as their guide they can -easily find somebody else who will do it rather -than be shot,” said Ned in an anxious tone. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>“I don’t believe Rodney has enjoyed a night’s -sound sleep since he had his first talk with -the Federal provost marshal at Baton Rouge. -But he is bound to save his father’s property -if he can, and you must do all in your power -to help him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you remember what you said on the -night you rid up to my door an’ warned -me that the citizens allowed to hang me for -what I done down the river?” replied Lambert. -“You said that old man Gray was tryin’ -to talk ’em out of it by tellin’ ’em that if they -done it they would be sorry in the mornin’, -didn’t you? Well, I don’t forget a man who -does me a good turn any more’n I forget one -who does me a mean one.” And when he said -this he scowled fiercely, for he was thinking of -Tom Randolph.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, have you any plan in your head?” -continued Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nary plan. I jest rid down to get some -good tobacker an’ to tell you to warn Rodney -to look out for breakers. What’s the reason -you don’t want me to go nigh his house for a -few days?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>“That’s my business—and Rodney’s,” said -Ned shortly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“’Taint mine,” laughed Lambert, “but if -you asked me to make a rough guess——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I don’t ask you to make a rough -guess,” interrupted Ned. “Or a smooth one -either. Did Tom Randolph tell you how he -got out of Camp Pinckney?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“——a rough guess, I should say that Rodney’s -got one of two things in hidin’ down -there; either a deserter from our side, or a -Yankee pris’ner that he is waitin’ for a chance -to send to Baton Rouge. But ’taint none of -my business, an’ I won’t tell,” said Lambert -with good-natured persistence. And then he -stopped, for when he looked up into Ned’s -face he saw that it had suddenly grown very -pale. “I aint said a word about it to nobody, -an’ aint goin’ to; but you tell Rodney that -when he wants friends, as most likely he will, -they’ll be around. Me an’ Moseley an’ the -rest didn’t want to go into the army, an’ we’re -bound we won’t; but for all that we’re not the -cowards that some folks take us to be.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have something on your mind, and I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>am sure of it,” said Ned, as the man touched -a match to his pipe and arose from his seat on -the porch. “If you will tell me what it is, so -that I can carry it to Rodney, I’ll give you a -pair of shoes for yourself and Moseley.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Them’s jest the things that Tom Randolph -offered to give me if I would guide them Home -Guards to Mr. Gray’s cotton,” said Lambert -with a grin ,“an’ now I’m goin’ to get’em without -goin’ to all that trouble an’ risk. Beats -me how Rodney can fight the Yanks the best -he knows how for fifteen months, an’ then -turn square around an’ buy shoes an’ salt -an’ things of ’em. Looks to me as though -the Yanks would ’a’ shot him the first thing -they done.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They are not savages, to shoot a man after -he quits fighting,” said Ned impatiently. “It -takes Confederate Home Guards to do that. -What do you say? Do you want the shoes or -not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bring ’em out, an’ I will tell you all I had -in my head when I rid into this yard,” was -the answer, and Ned turned about and went -into the house. When he returned he brought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>the shoes, which Lambert received with the -remark that he knew some planters in the -neighborhood who had willingly paid fifty -dollars for footwear that wasn’t half as -good.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But if they had had greenbacks instead of -rebel scrip they could have got their shoes for -a good deal less,” replied Ned. “There isn’t -a Confederate in the country loyal enough to -refuse Yankee money when it is offered to -him. Major Morgan wouldn’t do it. Now, -what are your plans?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The only thoughts I had in my head when -I rid into the yard, was that I would come -here an’ get a bit of good tobacker, an’ tell -you an’ Rodney that Tom Randolph was tryin’ -to have your cotton burned,” replied Lambert, -placing the shoes under his arm, and -backing away as if he feared Ned might try -to snatch them. “That’s all, honest Injun.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And haven’t you hit upon any plan to -head those Home Guards off?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nary plan, kase they aint found the cotton -yet. When they do, like as not I’ll think up -somethin’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>“Then it will be too late to save the cotton,” -said Ned in disgust. “If you are going to do -anything, you want to move before they get -into the swamp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They’ll be some cotton burned, most -likely; I aint sayin’ there won’t,” observed -Lambert, placing one hand on his mule’s neck -and vaulting lightly upon his back. “But -you can tell Rodney that his paw’s will stay -on the ground as long as anybody’s. That’s -the onliest plan I’ve got in my head. When I -get time to think up somethin’ else I’ll let -you know.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Lambert rode out of the yard, stopping on -the way to put up the bars behind him, and -Ned Griffin went in to his unfinished supper. -His mother, who had overheard every word -that passed between him and his visitor, -looked frightened.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t imagine how the thing got wind,” -said Ned in reply to her inquiring glances, -“but Lambert seems to know all about it. I -am not afraid that he will lisp it, but I <i>am</i> -afraid it will get to the knowledge of some -enemy who will set Morgan after us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>“O Ned, that would be dreadful,” said -Mrs. Griffin with a perceptible shudder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe you. I don’t know what the -penalty is for helping a deserter, but I believe -the major would send us to the front to pay -us for it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think you ought to tell Rodney,” said -Mrs. Griffin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He knows it as well as I do and is quite as -anxious; but the man can’t walk or ride, and -how are we going to get him inside the Yankee -lines? We can’t take him there in a carriage, -for the roads are too closely watched. Of -course I shall stand Rodney’s friend, but my -‘rough guess’ is that we’ll wish that friend -of ours had gone somewhere else for the help -he needed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>That night Ned Griffin was aroused from a -sound sleep by his mother, who rapped upon -the door of his room, and told him in a trembling, -excited voice that either Lambert had -proved himself a traitor, or else the Pearl -River ruffians had stumbled upon some enemy -of Mr. Gray who was willing to act as guide, -for they had certainly found the cotton and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>fired it. Ned was thunderstruck. He hurried -on the few clothes he could find in the dark -conveniently, and ran out to the porch; but -when he had taken one look at the bright spot -on the sky, which seemed to be growing -brighter and larger every moment, and compared -its bearings with those of well-known -landmarks in the range of his vision, he drew -a long breath of relief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I almost knew that Lambert did not tell -the truth when he assured me he had nothing -on his mind,” said Ned to his frightened -mother, who had followed him to the porch. -“Go back and sleep easy. That isn’t Mr. -Gray’s cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you quite sure of it? How do you -know?” inquired Mrs. Griffin. “It must be -cotton, for there is no house in that direction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stand here in front of me and I will show -you why I know it is not Mr. Gray’s,” -answered Ned. “Now, squint along the side -of that post that stands on the edge of the gallery, -and bring your eye to bear on that low -place in the timber-line. Do you see it? -Well, there’s where Mr. Gray’s cotton is. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>The pile that’s burning is half a mile farther -off and a mile farther to the right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know who owns it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It belongs to Mr. Randolph, who has nobody -to thank for it but his dutiful son Tom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ned, do you know what you are saying?” -said his mother somewhat sharply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am quite sure on that point. Tom was -too handy with his sword in the first place, -and with his tongue in the second. He ought -to have had better sense than to put such an -idea into Lambert’s head. That man can do -as much damage of this sort as he likes, and -those who don’t know any better will blame -the rebel guerillas or the Yankee cavalry for -it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you think Lambert started that fire?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am as well satisfied of it as though I had -stood by and seen him strike the match that -set it going. Half an hour more will tell the -story at any rate. Now you run back to bed, -and I will stay here and watch that low place -in the trees I showed you a moment ago. If -no blaze appears in that direction I shall know -that this is Lambert’s work.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>Mrs. Griffin retired, and Ned sat there on -the porch with the hounds for company, and -looked first at the bright glow on the sky and -then at the low place in the timber, until day -dawned and Mr. Gray and two or three of -his neighbors rode up to the bars and accosted -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you been in there?” asked his employer -anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, sir,” replied Ned emphatically. “I -saw the fire, but not knowing what sort of men -I might find around it I thought it best to -keep away from it. But I don’t think it was -your cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He did not say that he was as certain as he -wanted to be that the loss was Mr. Randolph’s, -and that it had been brought upon him by -Tom’s insane desire to be revenged upon some -members of the Gray family, for he knew -there were one or two men in the party who -would not rest easy until they had seen Tom -severely punished. So he awaited an opportunity -to say a word to Mr. Gray in private.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am sorry it was anybody’s cotton, but of -course I should be glad to know it was not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>mine,” said Ned’s employer, with an effort to -smile and look as cheerful as usual. “But if -mine didn’t go last night it may go next week, -so I don’t know that it makes much difference. -Between Yankees and Confederates we planters -stand a poor show of selling a pound of -this almost priceless commodity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sixty cents a pound!” groaned one of -Mr. Gray’s companions. “Good money, too, -worth a hundred cents on a dollar, and now it -has vanished in flames and smoke.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It wasn’t your cotton either, Mr. Randall,” -Ned hastened to assure him. “Rodney -and I have spent two weeks locating the cotton -hidden in our swamp, and we can tell within -two points of the compass the direction in -which every planter’s property lies from his -gallery and mine. The pile that was burned -last night was half-way between yours and Mr. -Gray’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Whose was it, then?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Randolph’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am very sorry to hear it,” said Mr. Gray -earnestly. “If it is the truth, Mr. Randolph -will be left in very bad shape.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>“Not worse than the rest of us, I reckon,” -said Randall impatiently. “He did all he -could to help on the war, and now he’s afraid -to go to the front and help fight it out. It -serves him right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Gray might have retorted that there -were others in the same boat—that Mr. Randall -himself had been a fierce secessionist when the -war first broke out and the Union armies and -gunboats were far away, but now professed to -be a strong Union man because he was anxious -to save his cotton from being confiscated; but -he said not a word in reply. He turned away -from the bars, and Ned Griffin hastened to the -stable-yard to put the saddle on his horse. -His riding nag and Rodney’s were among -the few that had been left to their owners when -Breckenridge’s army retreated after the battle -of Baton Rouge, and the reason they were left -was because the boys had done so much hospital -duty both before and after the fight. -The rebel soldiers repaid their kindness by -doing as little stealing as possible under the -circumstances; but when the rear-guard disappeared -from view the two friends could not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>find any bacon and meal for breakfast. But -their flocks of chickens and the few scrub cows -that were relied on to supply the plantations -with milk and butter were not molested, and -Ned and Rodney were thankful for that. The -former came up with Mr. Gray and his party -before they had gone very far, and when they -reached Rodney’s place they were joined by -Rodney himself, who seemed to be on the -watch for them. He waved his hat in the air -when he saw his father and Ned approaching, -but put it on his head quickly when he discovered -that they were not alone. In a moment -more he would have said something to be sorry -for, because he knew whose cotton had been -burned and who was responsible for it. After -greeting his father and exchanging opinions -with him and his friends, he fell back to the -rear and rode by Ned’s side, but could find -no opportunity to compare notes with him. -However, each understood what the other would -have said if he could.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Half an hour’s riding brought them to the -pile of smoking cinders and ashes that covered -the spot where Mr. Randolph’s cotton had been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>concealed inside a dense thicket of trees and -bushes whose interior had been cleared away -to receive it. The road made by the heavy -four-mule wagons in passing in and out of the -woods had been so carefully filled with logs -and tree-tops that scarcely a trace of it could -be seen now, and its owner had indulged -in the hope that, with the exception of a -few neighbors and faithful servants, no one -knew the hiding-place of all that was left of -his once abundant wealth; but some enemy -had found it out, and he was a ruined man. -This was the opinion expressed by every one -of Mr. Gray’s party, for when they came to -examine the ground, which they did immediately -upon their arrival, they did not find a -single hoof-print save those that had been -made by their own riding horses.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s no cavalry been in here,” said Mr. -Randall, who was the first to give utterance to -the thoughts that were in the minds of all, -“and, according to my way of thinking, that -proves something.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were a few half-consumed bales on the -outside of the smoking pile, and it was while -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>the party was engaged in pulling these farther -out of reach of the fire that Mr. Randolph and -his neighbor appeared on the scene. Mr. -Walker looked somewhat relieved, but remarked -in an undertone that there might have -been more than one fire even if he didn’t see -it, and rode away at a rapid pace to assure -himself of the safety of his own cotton, while -Mr. Randolph sat on his mule and gazed -mournfully at the blackened pile before him. -There was no one who could say a word to -comfort him, for by this time the planters were -all satisfied in their own minds that someone -with whom they were well acquainted had -done the work; and if that was the case, it -might not be a great while before their own -cotton would disappear in the same way. -They gradually drew away and left him to -his gloomy reflections, and then it was that -Rodney and Ned had a chance to compare -notes and say a word to Mr. Gray in private. -When the latter had listened to Ned’s story, -all he had to say was that it would have been -better for the community if Mr. Randolph had -not been so persistent in his efforts to have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>Tom released from military duty. Of course -he and the boys did not fail to satisfy themselves -that the cotton in which they were most -interested was still safe in its place of concealment, -and Mr. Randolph did the same; that is, -he spent all the forenoon in visiting the different -localities in which his neighbors’ cotton -had been hidden, and when he found, as he -had suspected from the first, that he was the -only sufferer, his thoughts were bitter and -revengeful indeed. To make matters worse -Mr. Walker said to him while they were on -their way home:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you were the only Confederate in the -settlement I could easily explain this business; -but why you should be singled out among so -many is something I can’t understand, unless -it is because your son Tom has served the -cause with too much zeal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tom hasn’t done any more than others, -nor as much,” replied Mr. Randolph. “Rodney -Gray served fifteen months in the army, -and here he is living in perfect security and -entirely unmolested by our conscript officers, -although he is known to be hand-and-glove -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>with the enemies of his country. I believe he -has assisted escaped Yankee prisoners, even if -others do not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps he has,” said Mr. Walker, who -was one of those disbelieving ones who laughed -the loudest when Tom told of his desperate -fight with “Uncle Sam’s Lost Boys,” who had -been chased by bloodhounds while they were -terrorizing the country between Camp Pinckney -and Mooreville. Mr. Walker knew, of -course, that there were four escaped prisoners -somewhere in the woods, who ran when they -could, and killed their pursuers as often as -a fight was forced upon them, but he did not -believe that Tom Randolph had been a captive -in their hands as he pretended, or that he -had escaped by knocking his guard on the -head with the butt of a musket. He knew -Tom too well to put faith in any such story. -He did not believe, either, that Rodney Gray -would go back on his record as a loyal Confederate -by helping runaway Yankees inside -the lines at Baton Rouge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps he has, though it is a hard tale -for me to swallow,” continued Mr. Walker. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>“But if you’d said that Rodney was given to -helping deserters I’d believe you. He’s got -one in hiding this very minute.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you know that?” demanded Mr. -Randolph, now beginning to show some interest -in what his companion was saying.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can’t keep anything from the niggers -these times, and yesterday I overheard -two of my house servants talking about it -when they thought they were alone,” answered -Mr. Walker. “It seems that Rodney and -young Griffin found the man in the woods half -dead from wounds and hunger and exhaustion, -and took him home to nurse him back to -health. There wouldn’t be anything so very -bad about that, and I don’t suppose Major -Morgan would object to it if he knew it; <i>but</i> -the man doesn’t want to go back to camp, and -as soon as he is able to travel Rodney allows -to take him to the river. There’s something -wrong in that, I reckon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should say there was,” exclaimed Mr. -Randolph, who told himself that now was the -time to make his more fortunate neighbor suffer -as keenly as he was suffering himself in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>losing his valuable store of cotton. “Such -work as that must be against the law, and the -conscript officer ought to do something about -it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I think,” said Mr. Walker; -and then the two relapsed into silence, for -neither was willing to speak the thoughts -that were passing through his mind.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When they reached the cross-roads they -separated, Mr. Walker keeping on toward -home, while Tom’s father, believing it to be a -good plan to strike while the iron was hot, -turned his mule in the direction of Kimberley’s -store. He found Major Morgan there; in fact -he was always there, for it was his place of -business, and wasted not a moment in conveying -to him the startling information he had -received from his friend Walker: but to his -unbounded surprise the major took it very -coolly. He listened until Mr. Randolph had -told his story and then broke out almost -fiercely:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you for a moment imagine that I would -have been ordered here if I had not been -thought capable of attending to affairs in my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>district? That news is old. I knew all about -it a week ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why didn’t you arrest Rodney -Gray a week ago?” said Mr. Randolph -hotly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because I am tired of working on evidence -that is furnished me by tale-bearers. You’ve -got something against that young Gray or you -would not tell me this. I am satisfied to let -that deserter stay where he is for the present. -He’s getting well there; he would die at Camp -Pinckney.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You ought to be inside the Yankee lines,” -declared Mr. Randolph, his rage getting the -better of his prudence. “There’s where you -belong.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And there’s where you will start for if you -don’t leave my office this instant,” roared the -major, rising to his feet and upsetting his -chair in the act. “Captain!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Mr. Randolph did not linger for the -captain to present himself. He hastened -through the door, glancing nervously at the -soldiers he passed on the way for fear they -might stop him, swung himself upon his mule, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>and started for home, lost in wonder. It -seemed that in some very mysterious manner -Rodney had gained an influence with the -crusty conscript officer equal to that which he -exercised with the Federals in Baton Rouge. -Well, he had; but there was no mystery about -it, only a little strategy. Rodney had been -intrusted by the major with a few gold pieces -which he had exchanged in Baton Rouge for -greenbacks, and it wasn’t likely that the -officer was going to be hard on the boy who -kept his pocket filled with good money. Even -inside the Confederate lines greenbacks passed -at par, and would buy more than rebel scrip, -on which there was a heavy discount. But -Rodney did not carry news; that is to say, -neither side could wring from him a word of -information concerning the doings of the other -side. The Federal provost marshal knew this -and so did Major Morgan, and the consequence -was they were both willing to trust -him. To quote Rodney’s own language, he -had fought for fame and didn’t get it, and now -he was working for money. All he had in -prospect was wrapped up in his father’s cotton, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>which was the source of no little anxiety -and trouble to him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney was not aware that the major knew -he was harboring a rebel deserter, who had -been badly wounded while escaping from the -stockade at Camp Pinckney, and was careful -to keep the fact from the knowledge of all -except those who could be trusted. He did -not care to receive callers, for fear there might -be a spy or mischief-maker among them, and -relied upon his hounds to give him warning -when anyone rode up to the front bars. They -acted so savagely when they rushed in a body -down the walk to meet a stranger, that the -latter, whoever he might be, usually thought -it prudent to hail the house before venturing -to dismount, thus giving Rodney time to get -the deserter into some inner room where he -would be out of sight. But one morning, -about two weeks after the occurrence of the -events we have just recorded, he had visitors -so many in number that they stood in no fear -of the hounds, nor did they hail the house. -They simply threw down one or two of the top -bars, jumped their horses over the rest, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>came up on a gallop, their leader drawing rein -in front of the open door, just in time to catch -a momentary glimpse of the deserter as he -vanished into a back room. Rodney’s heart -sank. He had had all his work and worry for -nothing. Of course his unwelcome visitors, -who were Federal cavalrymen, would take the -deserter to Baton Rouge when they went and -ship him off to a Northern prison. The officer -in command of the squad, which was a much -larger one than Rodney had ever seen scouting -through the country before, proved to be a -captain whose acquaintance he had formed -during one of his visits to the provost marshal’s -office, and he walked out on the porch -and faced him as if he had nothing to conceal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good-morning,” said he, with a military -salute. “What brought you out here in such -a hurry and so far from your base?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The captain waved his hand toward the -back-yard as if to say to his men that they -were at liberty to break ranks and quench -their thirst at the well, and then he answered -Rodney’s question.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We came out to pay our respects to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>conscript officer in Mooreville, but he was -uncivil enough to light out before we could -exchange a word with him,” said the captain. -“We didn’t want to ride all the way out here -for nothing, and so we changed our scouting -party into a cotton-burning expedition. I -don’t suppose you would know a bale of cotton -if you ran against it, would you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The words were spoken in jest, but Rodney -knew there was a good deal of truth in them, -for he looked over the captain’s shoulder and -saw a negro standing at the bars under guard. -He was one of Mr. Randall’s field-hands, who -had assisted in hauling his master’s cotton -into the swamp.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER IV. <br /> <span class='small'>THE PHANTOM BUSHWHACKERS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“I am not exactly on a cotton-burning -expedition either,” continued the captain, -after he had drained the gourd which -one of his men brought him, filled with water -fresh from the well, “but I am ordered to look -around and find it, so that I can tell whether -or not it will pay the government to send out -wagons to haul it in. But if it is in such a -bad place that we can’t get it out, of course -we shall have to burn it to keep the enemy -from profiting by it. I understand that there -is a good deal of cotton hidden about here -somewhere, but I hope yours is where nobody -will find it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I haven’t a bale to bless myself with,” -replied Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps not, but your father has; several -of them,” said the officer with a smile. “But -I tell you it will go against the grain for us to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>touch anything that belongs to you, after what -you did for some of our escaped prisoners.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why can’t you give us a chance to -take it inside your lines and sell it?” inquired -Rodney. “If it is the policy of the Federal -government to drain the South of cotton, don’t -you see that every bale we put into your -hands will be one bale less for the Confederates?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I understand that very well, but you see -your rebel record is dead against you. You -fought us like fury for more than a year, and -now, when you find that you are in a fair way -to get soundly whipped, you want to turn -around and make money out of us. That -plan won’t work, Johnny. If you could blot -out your war record, or if you knew some solid -Union man you could trust to sell your cotton -for you, why then——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There isn’t a man, Union or rebel, in -Louisiana that I would trust to do work of -that kind,” declared Rodney with emphasis. -“I don’t say whether my father has any -cotton or not; but if he has he would tell you -Yanks to burn it and welcome before he would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>give any friend of his a chance to cheat him -out of it. Who buys cotton in the city—the -government?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; speculators. The government grabs -it without so much as saying ‘by your leave.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you give those speculators military -protection?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not yet. They take their own chances, -and protect themselves if they go outside the -pickets. But they are working for protection, -and some day they’ll get it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do they pay in gold?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not as anybody has ever heard of,” replied -the captain with a laugh. “Confederate scrip -for one thing, and——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wouldn’t look at it,” exclaimed Rodney. -“I wouldn’t give a bale of good cotton for a -cart-load of Confederate scrip.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A fine loyal grayback you are to talk that -way about your country’s shinplasters,” said -the captain with another hearty laugh. “If -all rebel soldiers are like you, I don’t see why -your armies didn’t fall to pieces long ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is because they are held together by -discipline that would drive Union soldiers into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>mutiny in less than a week,” said Rodney -bitterly. “I’ll take to the woods with the rest -of the outlaws before they shall ever have an -opportunity to try it on me again, and I know -hundreds of others who feel the same way. -But I wish you would tell a sorry rebel how -to change cotton into money. If you will, I -may become a trader myself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If by <i>money</i> you mean something besides -Confederate rags, I must tell you that it is -what you will not see until every rebel has -laid down his arms and quit fighting the government, -because all cotton brought within -our lines has to be purchased on contracts for -payment at the close of the war——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then go ahead with your burning expedition,” -said Rodney, who thought he had never -heard anything quite so preposterous. -“You’ll get mighty little cotton about here -on those terms.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“——at the close of the war,” continued -the captain, paying no heed to the interruption, -“because, if paid for in coin or green-backs, -the money would be sure, sooner or -later, to find its way into the rebel treasury. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>Your authorities will not steal their own -money, for they know how worthless it is; -but they’ll steal ours, and use it too, every -chance they get. I suppose that darky out -there at the bars can show me where the -cotton is concealed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He knows where every bale of it is,” answered -Rodney. “He helped hide it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He declares he don’t want to go to Baton -Rouge with us, but if he acts as my guide I -shall have to take him along, or you fellows -who lose cotton will kill him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And no doubt you will kill him if he -refuses to act as your guide, so he is bound -to be killed any way you fix it,” said Rodney -in disgust. “He’ll not be harmed if he stays -at home after you leave, and nobody knows it -better than he does. Ask him and see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Prepare to mount!” shouted the captain, -thinking his men had wasted time enough at -the well. “By the way,” he added, in a lower -tone, “who’s your company, and why did he -dig out in such haste when I rode up to the -door? He’s a reb, I know it by the cut of -his jib.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>“He’s a conscript I know, but he’s a deserter -as well, and as good a Union man as you are. -He was in pretty bad shape when I found him -running from the hounds, but he is able to -travel now, and if you will leave him here a few -days longer he will be glad to take refuge -inside your lines,” whispered Rodney, believing -that the surest way for his patient to escape -trouble was to give the captain opportunity to -parole him then and there. “He hasn’t done -any fighting, and never means to if he can -help it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then he can stay and welcome, for all I -care,” replied the captain. “I never run a -man in as a prisoner unless I have reason to -think he is dangerous.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where did you find Mr. Randall’s black -man, and how did you come to pick him up -for a guide?” inquired Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know that I ought to tell you, but -didn’t one of your neighbors lose some cotton -a while ago? His name is Randolph, and he -wants us to look out for a worthless fellow -named Lambert, who, he thinks, burned the -cotton for him. He told me to go quietly up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>to Randall’s and ask for Mose, and I would -find in him a good guide; but I was in no case -to speak Randolph’s name in anybody’s hearing, -and you see what pains I have taken not -to do it. But I don’t care. It’s spite work on -Randolph’s part.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course it is,” answered Rodney, who -was so discouraged that he had half a mind to -say that he would return to the army, and -stay there until one side or the other was -whipped into submission. “Mr. Randolph will -work against everyone in the settlement now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very likely. Misery loves company, you -know; and perhaps there are more men working -against you than you think for. Do you -know this Lambert, and has he any cause to be -down on you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I do know him, but he hasn’t the shadow -of an excuse to be at enmity with me or any -of my family,” said Rodney in surprise. And -then it was on the end of his tongue to add -that Lambert was working for him—standing -guard over his cotton to see that no one -troubled it, but he afterward had reason to be -glad that he did not say it.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>“Then he is jealous, or I should say envious, -of you, because you are rich and he is poor,” -said the captain, reining his horse about in -readiness to follow his men, who were now -riding toward the bars. “If he and his -friends can sell your cotton so that they can -pocket the money they’ll do it——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But they can’t. He shan’t,” exclaimed -Rodney, who was utterly confounded. “He -hasn’t brains enough to carry out such a bare-faced -cheat, nor the power, either; though no -doubt his will is good enough.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Randolph says it is; and he says further, -that when Lambert finds that he can’t make -anything out of that cotton, he’ll burn it. -But I must be riding along. I’ll be back -before dark, and if this deserter of yours -would be glad of my escort, I’ll take him to -Baton Rouge with me. What would your -Home Guards do to you if they should jump -down on you and find him here under your -roof?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s a matter I don’t like to think of,” -answered Rodney, “and I shall feel safer if -you take him away. Good-by; but I can’t -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>wish you good luck. I wish I had never seen -you,” he added under his breath, “for you -have robbed me of all my peace of mind. -So Lambert is a traitor, is he? and my plan -for gaining his good will hasn’t amounted to -shucks. I’ll tell father about it the first -thing in the morning, and would do it to-day -if I didn’t want to see that captain when he -returns.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The deserter came out of his hiding-place -when summoned, and eagerly promised to be -on hand to accompany the Federal soldiers to -Baton Rouge. He didn’t know what he would -do for a living when he got there, he said, but -it would be a great comfort to know that he -would not be forced into the army to fight -against the old flag. Rodney was too down-hearted -to say anything encouraging, but he -gave him a short note to Mr. Martin, who would -see that he did not suffer while he was looking -for employment. Then he walked out on the -porch, for he wanted to be alone, and at that -moment Ned Griffin rode into the yard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Rodney!” he exclaimed. “Did that -cotton-burning expedition stop here, and do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>you know that there’s the very mischief to -pay? That nigger of Randall’s will never -show them where his master’s cotton is hidden, -but he’ll take them as straight as he can to -yours and Walker’s. I tell you that cotton is -gone up unless we do something.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you any suggestions to make?” -asked Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let’s engage all the teams we can rake -and scrape and haul it somewhere else,” said -Ned at a venture.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What good will that do? It’s in as fine a -hiding-place now as there is in the country, -and where are the wagons to come from? And -the harness? It is all I can do to find gears -for eight plough-mules.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ned rode away to turn his horse into the -stable-yard, spent a long time in taking a -drink at the well, and finally came back and -sat down on the porch.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you think of that scoundrel -Lambert, anyway?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That my plan for getting on his blind side -did not work as well as we thought it was going -to. He has got even with Tom Randolph for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>drawing a sword on him, and now he intends -to get square with my father for threatening -him with a nigger’s punishment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was with the mob that night,” said the -young overseer angrily, “heard every word -that was said, and know that your father never -threatened Lambert with anything. He defended -him and Tom as well, and sent me to -warn them that they had better clear out -while the way was open to them. And the -last time I saw Lambert he pretended to be -grateful to Mr. Gray for what he said and did -that night. Oh, the villain!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But it did no good to rail at Lambert for his -perfidy, nor yet to discuss the situation, for -the one was safely out of their reach, and talking -and planning only served to show them -how very gloomy and perplexing the other -was. It was simply exasperating to know that -they were utterly helpless, but that was the -conclusion at which they finally arrived. -Time might make all things right, or it might -reduce Mr. Gray to poverty; and all they -could do was to wait and see what it had in -store for them.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>Ned Griffin had been in Rodney’s company -about two hours when one of the hounds suddenly -gave tongue, and the whole pack went -racing down to the bars. There was no one in -sight, but after listening a moment the boys -heard the tramping of a multitude of hoofs up -the road in the direction in which the Federal -soldiers had disappeared with Mr. Randall’s -field-hand for a guide. As the boys arose to -their feet the leading fours of the column came -into view.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sure’s you live that’s them,” whispered -Ned. “But what brought them back so -soon?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney hadn’t the least idea, but suggested -that possibly the negro guide had missed his -way.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If he did he missed it on purpose; but -that’s a thing he could not be hired to do for -fear the Yankees would shoot him,” replied -Ned. “He may have given them the slip.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never in this world,” answered Rodney -emphatically. “When that darky left my -bars he was riding double with one of the -troopers, and there was a guard on each side -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>of him. If he tried to run, he is dead enough -now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The boys ran to the bars to wait for the -captain, who rode at the head of the column, -to approach within speaking distance, and -when he did the words he addressed to them -almost knocked them over. He appeared to -be as pleasant and good-natured as usual, but -some of the men behind him looked ugly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why didn’t you tell me that that cotton -down there in the swamp is guarded by a -battalion of phantom bushwhackers?” said -he.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A battalion of what?” exclaimed Rodney, -as soon as he could speak.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bushwhackers. Sharpshooters,” replied -the captain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Home Guards?” inquired Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know about that, but I judge that -they have your cotton under their protection, -for all they tried to do was to kill the darky -so that he couldn’t show us where it was. -The men who rode in the rear of the line never -heard the whistle of a bullet, although they -sung around me and the nig pretty lively; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>when the nig dropped they ceased firing on -the instant. We charged the woods in every -direction, but never saw one of them, nor did -they make the least attempt to ambush us, as -they could have done if they had felt like it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney Gray had seldom been so astonished. -He looked hard at the captain and -did not know what to say. The whole thing -was a mystery he could not explain on the -spur of the moment. The captain sat on his -horse in front of the bars while he talked, but -the line passed on until the rear fours came up -and halted. Then the boys saw that there was -a rude litter slung between two of the horses, -and that the form of Mr. Randall’s unfortunate -field-hand was stretched upon it. Rodney -walked up to the litter at once, but Ned -timidly held back. There was a crimson stain -on the bandage the negro wore about his -head, and Ned could not endure the sight of -blood.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, he isn’t dead,” said the captain, “but -he’s too badly hurt to go any farther just now. -Besides, we can’t move as rapidly as we would -like as long as we have him with us, and I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>would take it as a favor if you will care for -him until his master can be sent for.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Throw down those bars, Ned,” said Rodney, -looking back over his shoulder as he -started on a run for the house. “Bring him -along and I will have a place fixed for him. -Phantom bushwhackers!” he said to himself. -“Now who do you suppose they were? Not -Lambert and his gang certainly, for they -haven’t the pluck to do such a thing; but I -can think of no others who would be likely to -turn bushwhackers. Now’s your chance for -freedom and safety,” he added, pausing long -enough to shake hands with the deserter and -help him down from the porch. “Be ready to -mount behind one of those Yanks when you -get the word, and good luck to you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney’s first care was to see that the -wounded guide was made as comfortable as -circumstances would permit, and his second -to send one of his own field-hands to bring Mr. -Randall and a doctor. After that, when he -had answered a farewell signal from the deserter, -and the last of the Federal column had -disappeared down the road, he and Ned went -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>back to the porch, and sat down to talk the -matter over.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am as frightened now as I ever was in -the army,” said Rodney honestly. “I never -could stand a mystery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s no mystery about this business,” -replied Ned. “The Yanks lost their guide, -and had sense enough to give up the search -and come back. That’s all there is of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But who shot him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lambert and his crowd, and nobody else,” -answered Ned positively. “If they were -Home Guards, why were they so careful that -their bullets should miss everyone except -the darky? They didn’t want to hurt the -soldiers; they only wanted to send them back, -and they took the only method they could to -do it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, if it was Lambert, and he is determined -to protect that cotton for his own profit, -how am I going to haul it from the swamp -myself if I ever have a chance to move it?” -demanded Rodney. “Will he not be likely -to bushwhack me too?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By gracious!” gasped Ned, sinking back -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>in his chair, “this is a very pretty mess, I -must say. I never once thought of such a -thing; but if that’s his game, he’ll bushwhack -you or anybody else who tries to move that -cotton. However,” he added a moment later, -his face brightening as a cheering thought -passed through his mind, “what’s the odds? -We are not ready to move the cotton yet, and -until we are let’s take comfort in the thought -that no one who wants to steal it, be he Union -or rebel, will dare venture near it. Perhaps -by the time you are ready to sell it, Lambert -will have been bushwhacked himself. How do -you intend to treat him from this time on?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As an enemy with whom I cannot afford -to be at outs,” replied Rodney. “If he does -any work for me I shall pay him for it; and -although I shall not try to put any soldiers on -his trail, I’ll go into the woods myself and -hunt him down like a wild hog the minute I -become satisfied that he is trying to play me -false. I came to this plantation on purpose to -watch father’s cotton, and I really wonder if -Lambert imagines he can spirit it away without -my knowing anything about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>“It’s the greatest scheme I ever heard of,” -said Ned. “But it cannot be carried out. -We’ve got to go to work in earnest now to put -up the bacon and beef your father promised to -give as the price of my exemption, and while -we are doing it, it will be no trouble for us to -keep an eye on that cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney Gray afterward declared that work -and plenty of it was all that kept him alive -during the next three months, and it is a fact -that as the year drew to a close, with anything -but encouraging prospects for the ultimate -success of the Union forces in the field, Rodney’s -spirits fell to zero. Although he never -confessed it to Ned Griffin, the latter knew, as -well as he knew anything, that all Rodney’s -hopes and his father’s were centred on the -speedy putting down of the rebellion, but just -now it looked as though that was going to be -a hard, if not an impossible, thing to do. -“Burnside’s repulse at Fredericksburg in the -East had its Western counterpart in Sherman’s -defeat on the Yazoo, and indeed the -whole year presented no grand results in favor -of the national armies except the capture of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>New Orleans.” But if Rodney had only -known it, some things, many of which took -place hundreds of miles away and on deep -water, were slowly but surely working together -for his good. He knew that General Banks -had relieved General Butler in command of -the Department of the Gulf; that he had an -army of thirty thousand men and a fleet of -fifty-one vessels under his command; that his -object in coming was to “regulate the civil -government of Louisiana, to direct the military -movements against the rebellion in that -State and in Texas, and to co-operate in the -opening of the Mississippi by the reduction of -Port Hudson,” which was on the east bank of -the river twenty-five miles above Baton Rouge. -As he straightway made the latter place his -base of operations, and gradually brought -there an army of twenty-five thousand men, -Mooreville and all the surrounding country -came within his grasp. Major Morgan and -his fifty veterans took a hasty leave, Camp -Pinckney was abandoned, and Confederate -scouting parties were seldom seen at Rodney’s -plantation and Ned’s, although it was an everyday -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>occurrence for companies of blue-coats to -stop at one place or the other and make -inquiries about the “Johnnies” that were -supposed to be lurking in the neighborhood. -They never said “cotton” once, and this led -Ned Griffin to remark that perhaps the new -general had driven the speculators away from -Baton Rouge and did not intend to allow any -trading in his department.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t say that out loud, or you will give -me the blues again!” exclaimed Rodney. -“If it gets to Lambert’s ears, good-by cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t think of that,” answered Ned, -frightened at the bare suggestion of such a -misfortune. “It will be much more to our -interest to make Lambert believe, if we can, -that traders will be thicker than dewberries -the minute Port Hudson and Vicksburg are -taken. That will make him hold his hand if -anything will.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As to Lambert, he “showed up” as often -as he stood in need of any supplies, and sometimes -loitered about for half a day, as if waiting -for the boys to question him concerning a -matter that, for reasons of his own, he did not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>care to touch upon himself. He would have -given something to know what they thought -of the “phantom bushwhackers” and their -methods, but Rodney and Ned never said a -word to him about it. The negro guide, who -was more frightened than hurt, quickly recovered -from his injuries, and within a day or -two after he was taken to his master’s house -ran away to the freedom he knew was awaiting -him in Baton Rouge, and that made one -less to tell where the cotton was concealed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose the next bushwhacker will be a -fellow about my size,” was what Rodney often -said to himself. “I have half a mind to -pounce on Lambert the next time he comes -here and take him to Baton Rouge, but I -don’t know whether that would be the best -thing to do or not, and my father can’t advise -me.” Then he would recall the Iron Duke’s -famous ejaculation, and adapt it to his own -circumstances by adding, “Oh, that a Union -man or the end would come!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Since he was so positive that a Union man -was the friend he needed, it would seem that -Rodney ought not to have been at a loss to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>find him right there in the settlement. If -there were any faith to be put in what he saw -and heard every time he went to Mooreville -and Baton Rouge, there were no other sort of -men in the country—not one who had ever -been a Confederate or expressed the least -sympathy for those who openly advocated -secession. According to their own story, -scraps of which came to Rodney’s ears now -and then, Mr. Randolph and Tom had done -little but talk down secession and stand up -for the Union ever since Fort Sumter was -fired upon, and Mr. Biglin, the red-hot rebel -who put the bloodhounds on the trail of the -escaped prisoners Rodney was guiding to the -river, declared that his well-known love for -the old flag had nearly cost him his life. He -was glad to see Banks’ army in Baton Rouge, -he said, for now he could speak his honest -sentiments without having his sleep disturbed -by the fear that his rebel neighbors would -break into his house before morning and hang -him to the plates of his own gallery. The -country was full of cowardly, hypocritical -men like these, and what troubled Rodney -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>and Ned more than anything else was the fact -that they seemed to have more influence and -be on closer terms with the Federals than did -the honest rebels who had ceased to fight -because they knew they were whipped. Rodney’s -friend, Mr. Martin, who lived in Baton -Rouge and kept a sharp eye on these “converted -rebels,” whose hatred for the Union -and everybody who believed in it was as -intense and bitter as it had ever been, told -him that Mr. Biglin and others like him were -using every means in their power and making -all sorts of false affidavits to secure trade permits, -and seemed in a fair way to get them -too. Indeed, so certain were they that they -would succeed in their efforts, that they were -going out some day to look at the cotton in -the Mooreville district, and see what the prospects -were for hauling it out. They were even -engaging teams to do the work. They were -not to have military protection, Mr. Martin -said, but that was scarcely necessary, for the -Union cavalry had swept the country of Home -Guards and conscript soldiers for a hundred -miles around.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>“But the Union cavalry hasn’t cleared the -country of the bushwhackers who shot Mr. -Randall’s nigger,” said Ned Griffin, who -always had a cheering word to say when Rodney -was the most disheartened. “If Mr. -Martin’s story is true, I hope Biglin will come -himself and give them a fair chance at him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Mr. Biglin did come himself, although -Rodney thought he was too much of a coward -to venture so far into the country. He and -half a dozen other civilians rode into the yard -one day and asked Rodney for a drink of -water, but that was only done to give them a -chance to draw from him a little information -about cotton. Rodney greeted them in as -friendly a manner as he thought the occasion -called for, and conducted them around the -house to the well.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I tell you it seems good to get out in the -fresh air once more, and to know that while -here I am in no danger of being gobbled up by -a conscript officer and hustled away to fight -under a flag I have always despised,” said Mr. -Biglin, putting his hands into his pockets and -walking up and down in front of the well. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>“So you have turned overseer, have you, -Rodney?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe that was what I told you on the -day I saw you in Mr. Turnbull’s front yard,” -was the answer. “I mean just before that -darky of yours came up——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, yes; I remember all about it now,” said -Mr. Biglin hastily. And then he tried to turn -the conversation into another channel, for fear -that Rodney would go on to tell that the information -that darky brought was what caused -Mr. Biglin to put the hounds on the trail of the -escaped Union prisoners. “Fine place you -have here. A little rough, of course, but it’s -new yet. And I presume it suits you, for, if I -remember rightly, you always were fond of -shooting and riding to the hounds. Have you -any cotton?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a bale. Not a pound.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Biglin looked surprised, and so did his -companions. The former looked hard at the -boy for a moment, and then changed the form -of his inquiry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, ah!” said he. “Has your father -got any?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>“Perhaps you had better go and ask him,” -replied Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s just what we did not more than an -hour ago, but he wouldn’t give us any satisfaction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you have good cheek to come here -expecting me to give you any,” said the young -overseer, growing angry. “My father is quite -competent to attend to his own business.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose he is. Why, yes; of course; -but what’s the use of cutting off your nose to -spite your face? We know you have cotton -and plenty of it; and since you can’t sell it -yourselves——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why can’t we?” interposed Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Biglin acted as though he had no patience -with one who could ask so foolish a -question.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because of your secession record,” said he. -“You were in the Southern army, and your -father is a rebel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So are you,” said Rodney bluntly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I may have appeared to be at times in -order to save my life, but I never was a secessionist -at heart,” said Mr. Biglin loftily. “I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>don’t care who hears me say it, I am for the -Union now and forever, one and—and undivided. -And General Banks’ provost marshal, -or whatever you call him, knows it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If he believes it, he is the biggest dunderhead -in the world and isn’t fit for the position -he holds,” exclaimed Rodney. “I know you -to be a vindictive, red-hot rebel, and since -things have turned out as they have, I am -sorry I did not tell the —th Michigan’s boys -that you put the hounds on——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never did it in this wide world,” protested -Mr. Biglin, trying to look astonished, -but turning white instead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never did what?” inquired Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Put hounds on anybody’s trail. You had -better be careful what you say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You don’t show your usual good sense in -talking that way,” said one of the civilians. -“Our friend has influence enough to make you -suffer for it if he feels so inclined.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I had influence enough to make his -house a heap of ashes long ago if I had felt -like it,” retorted Rodney. “I can prove every -word I say any day and shall be glad of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>chance.” And then he wondered what he -would do if his visitors should take him at his -word. He knew that he could not prove his -assertions without mentioning the name of -Mrs. Turnbull, and that was something he -could not be made to do until he had her -full and free consent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are quite at liberty to tell what you -know about me and my record during this -war,” observed Mr. Biglin, as he swung himself -upon his horse and turned the animal’s -head toward the bars, “and you may <i>have</i> to -tell it, whether you want to or not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With this parting shot, which he hoped -would leave Rodney in a very uncomfortable -frame of mind, Mr. Biglin rode away, followed -by his friends, and passing through the bars -turned up the road leading toward the swamp -in which Mr. Gray’s cotton was concealed. -No sooner had they disappeared than Ned -Griffin, who was always on the watch and -knew when Rodney had visitors he did not -want to see, threw down the bars and rode -into the yard.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER V. <br /> <span class='small'>THE COTTON THIEVES.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“Who are those men, and what did they -want?” inquired Ned, as he got off -his horse at the foot of the steps. “Are they -cotton traders?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish I hadn’t gone at them quite so -rough,” replied Rodney. “You know what a -red-hot rebel Biglin has always been, don’t -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should say so. If he could have his way -he’d hang every Union man in the country.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, he had the impudence to declare in -my presence, not more than five minutes ago, -that he’d always been strong for the Union and -dead against secession, and it made me so indignant -that I said things which drove him -away before he had time to make his business -known. But he told me he had questioned -my father about cotton and got no satisfaction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>“And did he think you would give it to him -when your father would not?” demanded -Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He and his friends seemed to think so, but -I gave them to understand—Great Scott!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hallo! What’s come over you all on a -sudden?” exclaimed Ned, as Rodney jumped -to his feet and gazed anxiously up the road in -the direction in which Mr. Biglin and his party -had just disappeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who knows but I have let them go to their -death?” answered Rodney. “They don’t -know that one party who tried to find that cotton -was fired upon in the woods, and I was so -provoked at Biglin that I forgot to tell them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“W-h-e-w!” whistled Ned. “I never -thought of it either. Well, let them go on -and find it out for themselves. They wouldn’t -have believed you if you had told them. They -would have said right away that you were -trying to keep them out of the woods, and that -would have made them all the more determined -to go in. I should be sorry to see any of them -shot, but now that I am here I’m going to stay -with you and see the thing out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>Nothing could have suited Rodney Gray -better. He was lonely and depressed and felt -the need of cheerful company, so he went with -Ned when the latter turned his horse into the -stable-yard, and repeated to him every word -of the conversation that took place while Mr. -Biglin and his friends were at the well.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s just one thing about it,” said Ned, -when he had heard the story. “If Biglin -hasn’t already got a permit to trade he is certain -as he can be that he’s going to have it, -and that’s what brought him out here. But I -can’t imagine what he meant when he said you -might be obliged to tell what you know about -him and his record.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more can I, but I should be glad to do -it if it were not for bringing Mrs. Turnbull’s -name into the muss. Has Biglin got any -money, do you think, or does he intend to -pay for his cotton in promises? If I were in -father’s place I would not take his note for a -picayune, for there’s no telling where Biglin -will be at the close of the war.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s so,” assented Ned. “But we’ll -not worry about money until we see some in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>prospect, will we? We haven’t lost the cotton -yet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And they didn’t lose it that day and neither -did Mr. Biglin and his party find it, for the -very thing happened that Rodney was afraid -of. He and Ned sat on the porch for an hour -or more, conversing in low tones and waiting for -and dreading something, they could scarcely -have told what, when the clatter of hoofs up -the road set the hounds’ tongues in motion -and took them out to the bars in a body. It -took Rodney and Ned out there too, and when -they gained the middle of the road they saw -three horses bearing down upon them with -their bridles and stirrups flying loose in the -wind and their saddles empty. A little farther -up the highway were a couple of mounted men, -who were bending low over the pommels of -their saddles, plying their whips as rapidly as -they could make their arms move up and down, -and a few rods behind them were two more -riderless horses. Both men and animals appeared -to be frightened out of their senses. -The leading horses would not stop, but dashed -frantically into the bushes by the roadside -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>rather than permit the two boys to capture -them, and the men, as well as the horses that -brought up the rear, went by like the wind, -and without in the least slackening their headlong -flight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I do think in my soul! What’s -up?” whispered Ned, who had dodged nimbly -out of the road to escape being run down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There were seven in the party, and only -two have returned,” murmured Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They must have seen something dreadful -in there,” faltered Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Beyond a doubt they have been fired -upon, but I don’t believe they saw anything,” -answered Rodney. “They heard the whistle -of bullets and buckshot, most likely, and it -scared them half to death. Come on. Let’s -hurry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are you going?” demanded Ned, -as Rodney turned about and ran toward the -house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After my horse. There are five men missing, -and it may be that some of them were -shot. And even if they were unhorsed and -not hurt at all, they need help if they are as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>badly frightened as the two that just went -by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not being a soldier, Ned Griffin was in no -haste to ride into a dark swamp to brave an -invisible bushwhacker, who might be as ready -to shoot him as anybody else, but when Rodney -broke into a run and started for the stable-yard, -he kept close at his heels. The two -saddled their horses with all haste, and with -the eager and excited hounds for a body-guard, -rode through the bars just in time to -meet the two survivors of Mr. Biglin’s party, -who had at last found courage enough to stop -their frantic steeds and come back.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Rodney; this is an awful day for us!” -cried one of the frightened men. “I wish we -had never heard of that cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The cotton is all right if you will keep -your thievish hands off from it,” replied Rodney. -“What’s the matter with you, and -where are Mr. Biglin and the rest?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dead or prisoners, the last one of them. -There’s a whole regiment in there, and they -opened on us before we had left the road half -a mile behind.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>“A whole regiment of what?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indians, judging by the way they yelled, -though I suppose they were Yankee soldiers -out on a scout.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not much!” exclaimed Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you know what they were? You -didn’t see them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, no; but I heard them yell, and I -heard their bullets singing, too. The swamp -is full of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If they were Federal scouts you would -have seen them,” said Rodney. “They would -have closed around you before you had a -chance to draw the revolver I see sticking out -of your coat pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s empty,” said the man, producing the -weapon. “I never was in a fight before and -never want to be again; but I tried to give -them as good as they sent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you did not see any of the attacking -party, what did you shoot at?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I fired in the direction from which the -yells sounded, and so did all of us. As for -the bullets, you couldn’t tell which way they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>came from, for they clipped the trees on all -sides. Where are you and Griffin going?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Into the swamp to see if we can be of use -to anybody.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I really wish you would, for I wouldn’t -dare go back there myself. If they were not -Yankees, who were they?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Didn’t you just tell me that I wasn’t -there?” asked Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But all the same you have a pretty good -idea who they were, and you don’t want to -bring yourself into trouble by shielding -them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am not trying to shield anybody,” -answered Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you think they were citizens who tried -to kill us because they didn’t want us to find -their cotton?” inquired the second man, who -had not spoken before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you had a fortune hidden out there in -the woods, would you let anybody steal it from -you if you could help it?” asked Rodney in -reply. “I don’t think you would.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But we expect every day to get a permit -to trade in cotton,” said the first speaker, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>“and that will give us license to take it wherever -we can find it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I reckon not,” said the boy hotly. “General -Banks has a right to order his soldiers to -take cotton or anything else for the benefit of -his government or to cripple the Confederacy, -but he has no shadow of a right to license -stealing by civilians, and I don’t think he will -do it. If he does, there will be some of the -liveliest fighting around here he ever heard -of.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I thought those villains in there were -citizens I’d——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’d what?” said Rodney, when the -man paused and looked at his companion. -“Do you want to kick up another civil war -right here in your own neighborhood? Both -of you own property, and if you desire to save -it you will take care what you do. If you -will go into the house and sit down for an hour -or two we may be back with news of your -friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll not do it,” replied the man, who had -not yet recovered from his fright, “for there’s -no telling how soon those ruffians may come -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>this way. I will ride into Baton Rouge and -send some soldiers out here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>So saying he and his companion wheeled -their horses and galloped away, and the two -boys rode on toward the swamp.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now look at you!” said Ned, when they -were once more alone. “You have paved the -way for the neatest kind of a fuss. Did you -notice what Mr. Louden said about sending -soldiers out here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did; but when he tries it I think he’ll -find he has not been hired to take the command -of the Department of the Gulf out of -the hands of General Banks. If Banks is -anything like the generals I have served under -he’ll not take suggestions from anybody, much -less a civilian. I told the truth when I hinted -that that cotton might have been protected -by citizens, for that is what Lambert and his -gang are.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But Louden thought you meant planters,” -urged Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t help what he thought; and I -noticed, too, that he suspected me of shielding -the bushwhackers, because I would not tell who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>they were. Oh, I know we shall see fun -before we hear the last of that cotton, but -we’ll hold fast to it as long as we can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The boys rode rapidly while they talked, -and in a few minutes turned off the road and -plunged into the tangled recesses of as gloomy -a piece of timber as could have been found -anywhere—just the finest place in the world -for an ambuscade, as Rodney remarked when -he led the way into it. They could not see -ten feet in any direction, but they heard something -before they had gone a mile into the -swamp. The hounds gave tongue savagely -and dashed away in a body, a wild shriek of -terror arose from a thicket close in front of -Rodney’s horse, and in the next instant up -bobbed Mr. Biglin. But he didn’t show any -of the courage of which he had boasted. His -face was very white, and his empty hands were -held high above his head. He had as fair a -view of Rodney’s face as he ever had in his -life, but was so badly frightened that he did -not recognize him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t you see that I surrender?” he yelled. -“Call off your bloodhounds.”</p> -<div class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/p124.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='sc'>Mr. Biglin Surrenders.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>“All right,” said the boy, who rather enjoyed -the spectacle. “The dogs won’t hurt -you. Come out of the bushes and tell us all -about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Rodney, is that you?” exclaimed Mr. -Biglin, but he wasn’t quite sure of it, and -didn’t think it safe to lower his uplifted -hands. “Where are they? They have been -beating the woods in every direction to find -me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They? Who?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am sure I don’t know, but there’s a regiment -of them. They shot down every horse -in the party before we knew there was danger -near, and then set out to hunt us at their -leisure. Have you seen them? Where are -they now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come out and tell us where the other four -are,” said Rodney, who had by this time satisfied -himself that Mr. Biglin had escaped -uninjured. “Your horses are all right, and -so are Miles and Louden. Ned and I had a -short talk with them not more than an hour -ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am surprised to hear it,” said Mr. Biglin, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>with a long-drawn sigh of relief. “I was -sure they had all been killed.” He put down -his hands and came out of his concealment as -he spoke, but he stepped cautiously as if -afraid of making a noise, and cast timid -glances on all sides of him. “It’s just awful -to be shot at in that cold-blooded way, isn’t -it? I don’t see how you stood it so long in -the army.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you imagine that I stayed there and -let the Yanks pop at me because I thought it -was funny?” demanded Rodney. “I stayed -so long for the reason that I couldn’t help myself. -Miles and Louden have gone on to the -city, and I reckon your horses must be there -by this time if they kept on running.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And did the horses escape also?” said Mr. -Biglin, who looked as though he didn’t know -whether to believe it or not. “It’s really -wonderful how any of us came out alive.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Instead of replying Rodney threw back his -head and shouted “Hey-youp!” so loudly -that the woods rang with the sound.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What made you do that?” said Mr. Biglin -in a frightened whisper, at the same time -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>backing toward the thicket from which he had -just emerged. “Do you want to show the -enemy where we are?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; but I want to let your four friends -know where we are.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He raised his war-whoop a second time, following -it up by calling out the names of the -missing men and telling them to come on, for -there was nothing to be afraid of. There was -a long silence—so long that Rodney began to -fear the party had become widely separated -during the hurried stampede of its members; -but after a while a faint answering shout came -to his ears, then another and another, and -finally he could hear the missing men making -their way through the bushes in his direction. -When they came up it was found that not one -of them had been injured by the shower of -bullets which had whistled about their ears -thicker than any hailstones <i>they</i> ever saw, but -they were all pale and nervous, and begged -Rodney and Ned to take them out of the -woods by the shortest and easiest route. Seeing -that two of them were almost ready to -drop with fear or exhaustion, the boys gave -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>them their horses and led the way on foot. -Not a word was said until they found themselves -safe in the road, and then Mr. Biglin -recovered his courage and the use of his -tongue.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Quite a thrilling experience for men who -do not claim to be fighters,” said he, taking -off his hat and wiping away the sweat which -stood on his forehead in big drops. “And -a most wonderful escape for all of us. If I’d -had the least suspicion that such a thing was -going to happen, you wouldn’t have caught -me going into that swamp. But the men who -fired on us, whoever they are, must be punished -for their audacity. They couldn’t have -been Union troops, for as soon as we recovered -from the astonishment and panic into which -we were thrown by their first volley, we -shouted to them that we had a permit from -General Banks, but it didn’t do any good.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It did harm, though,” remarked one of -his companions, “for I am positive that their -yells grew louder and that the bullets came -much thicker than before. Have you boys -any idea who they were?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>This was a question that neither of them -intended to answer if he could help it. If -they said what they thought, Mr. Biglin -would carry their story straight to the Federal -provost marshal, or to someone else in authority -in Baton Rouge, and it might lead to something -that would end in bloodshed. Lambert’s -actions said as plainly as words that if he -couldn’t profit by the sale of that cotton himself, -nobody else should lay hands upon it, -and having driven away two parties who had -tried to discover its hiding-place, it was barely -possible that he might have gained courage -enough to resist soldiers, if any were sent into -the swamp to drive him out. Lambert was -showing himself a good friend just now, however -disagreeable and dangerous he might -prove to be by and by, and Rodney did not -want General Banks to send troopers after -him. When the Union man he was waiting -for “turned up,” the general might rid the -settlement of Lambert’s presence as soon as he -pleased.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I didn’t know that Tom Randolph’s -company of Home Guards was broken up, I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>should blame them for this day’s work,” said -one of Mr. Biglin’s companions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you know the company was -broken up?” inquired Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, I heard they were all conscripted -long ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That may be; but they didn’t all go to -Camp Pinckney. Some of them took to the -woods.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But even if they would fire upon their old -friends and neighbors, which isn’t probable, -they have no interest in protecting the cotton -in the swamp, for they don’t own a dollar’s -worth of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t care who they are,” said Mr. Biglin. -“They will find that the arm of our -government is long enough to reach them -wherever they hide themselves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<i>Our</i> government!” repeated Rodney. -“Which one do you mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is but one, young man, and you -rebels can’t break it up, try as hard as you -will.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It made Rodney angry to hear Mr. Biglin -talk in this strain, but before he could frame -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>a suitable rejoinder the planter switched him -off on another track by inquiring:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, how are we to get to the city?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am sure I don’t know unless you walk,” -answered Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can’t you raise five saddle nags on your -place?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, sir. And if I could, I wouldn’t let -them go inside the Yankee lines. I’d never -see them again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I give you my word that I will take the -best of care of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You couldn’t take any sort of care of them. -In less than five minutes after you reached the -city my horses would be gone, and when you -found them again, if you ever did, they would -have some company’s brand on them. I know -what I am talking about, for I have been a -cavalryman myself. I have known regiments -in the same brigade to steal from one another.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In that case wouldn’t the brand show -where the horse belonged?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It might if it was let alone, but it is easy -to change it. I stole a horse from company <i>I</i> -once, and when he was found in my possession -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>a week or two afterward, there was my company -letter <i>D</i> on his flank as plain as the nose -on your face.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And didn’t you have to give him up to his -rightful owner?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Course not. I said if he wasn’t my horse, -how came that letter <i>D</i> branded on him, and -that settled it. Won’t you go in and rest a -few minutes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Rodney said this he waved his hand toward -the house, whose front door stood invitingly -open, but Mr. Biglin replied that he did -not care to sit down until he was out of sight -of the swamp, and beyond the reach of the terrible -Home Guards who made their hiding-place -there. So he and his companions walked -on, and Rodney and Ned turned into the yard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<i>Our</i> government!” Rodney said over and -over again while they were at the well watering -their horses. “He’d give everything he’s got -if he could see it broken up this minute.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course he would, but he and his kind -stand higher with the Federals than you do,” -replied Ned. “Now, all we can do is to possess -our souls in patience and wait for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>next act on the programme. Let’s see if Mr. -Biglin’s government will send soldiers to protect -him in his cotton-stealing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was very easy for Ned to talk of waiting -patiently, but it was a hard thing to do. He -and Rodney looked anxiously for the appearance -of the cavalry that Mr. Biglin and one of -his friends had threatened to send against the -men who had driven them from the swamp, -but they never came. They saw and talked -with a good many troopers, who drank all -the milk they could find and asked about the -Johnnies that were supposed to be “snooping -around” in that part of the country, but to -the boys’ great relief they did not say a word -about cotton or Home Guards, and Rodney -hoped he had seen the last of Mr. Biglin. He -was ready to make terms with a genuine Yankee -who would offer him sixty cents a pound -for his father’s cotton, but he wanted nothing -to do with converted rebels. He and Ned -made several trips to the city, bringing out -each time some things that were not contraband -of war, and some others that would have -caused the prompt confiscation of his whole -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>wagon load if they had been discovered, but -his friend Mr. Martin, on whom he relied for -information of every sort, could not give him -any advice on the subject that was nearest to -his heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The city is full of men who are working -their level best to get permits,” said he, “but -I am told it takes lots of influence and a clean -record to get them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then Biglin will never have the handling -of my father’s cotton,” said Rodney with a -sigh of satisfaction. “His record is as bad as -mine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Much worse,” answered Mr. Martin, “for -you never went back on your friends and became -a spy and informer. That is just what -that man Biglin has done, but I have reason -to think he isn’t making much at it. Someone -has been telling true stories about him, -and the provost marshal knows his history -like a book. O Rodney, why didn’t you -keep out of the rebel army and proclaim yourself -a Union man at the start, no matter -whether you were or not. You would have -plain sailing now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>Rodney laughed and said it was too late to -think of that; and besides, why didn’t Mr. -Martin proclaim himself a Union man at the -start? Perhaps he wouldn’t have been so -closely watched.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney saw and talked with Lambert about -three times a week, but the ex-Home Guard -did not volunteer any information regarding -his doings in the swamp, and the boy took -care not to ask him for any. He never inquired -how or where the man lived, how many -companions he had, whether or not they ever -held communication with their friends in -Mooreville—in fact, Lambert more than once -complained to Ned Griffin that Rodney did -not seem to care any more for the conscripts -who were watching night and day to protect -his father’s cotton than he did for the wild -hogs he was shooting for his winter’s supply -of bacon. When Rodney first began hunting -these hogs it was with the expectation that -every pound of meat he secured would have to -be turned over to the agents of the Confederate -government as the price of Ned Griffin’s exemption; -but when General Banks began -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>massing his army at Baton Rouge with a view -of operating against Port Hudson, and the -country roundabout had been cleared of rebel -soldiers and conscript officers, Rodney hadn’t -troubled himself much about the exemption -bacon. He was glad to believe he would not -be called on to pay it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Affairs went on in a very unsatisfactory way -until the middle of February before any event -that was either exciting or interesting occurred -to break the monotony, if we except one single -thing—the Emancipation Proclamation. Of -course the news that the slaves had been freed -created something of an excitement at first, -especially among such men as Lambert and -his outlaws who never had the price of a pickaninny -in their pockets, but it had little effect -upon Rodney Gray and his father, because -they had been looking for it for six months. -In September President Lincoln told the -Southern people very plainly that if they did -not lay down their arms and return to their -allegiance he would declare their slaves free, -and now he had kept his promise. Rodney -remembered how he had laughed at his cousin -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>Marcy, and how angry he was at him when the -latter declared that if the South tried to break -up the government she would lose all her negroes, -but now he saw that Marcy was right. -More than that, he knew that the North -had the power and the will to enforce -the proclamation. Mr. Martin gave him a -copy of it and he took it home with him, -intending to read it to his negroes; but the -news reached the plantation before he did, and -he found the field-hands gathered about the -kitchen waiting for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is Moster Linkum done sot we black ones -all free?” they demanded in chorus, as Rodney -rode among them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who told you anything about it?” he -asked, in reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“De cutes’ little catbird you ebber see done -sot hisself up dar on de ridge-pole, an’ sung it -to we black ones,” answered the driver; and -then they all shouted and laughed at the top -of their voices. “Is we free sure ’nough?” -added the driver.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That depends upon whether you are or -not,” answered Rodney, taking the proclamation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>from his pocket and holding it aloft so -that all could see it. “In the first place, who -owns this part of Louisiana right around here? -In whose possession is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“De Yankees, bress the Lawd,” said the -negroes, with one voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you are not free, and Mr. Lincoln -says so.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, Moss Rodney, please sar, how come -dat?” stammered the driver, and all the black -faces around him took on a look of deep disappointment -and sorrow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have Mr. Lincoln’s own words for it,” -replied Rodney. “This paper says, in effect, -that the slaves are free in all States in rebellion, -except in such parts as are held by the -armies of the United States. Do the Yankees -around here belong to the armies of the United -States, and are they holding this country—this -part of the State? Then you will not be -free until the rebels come in and drive them -out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Lawd! O Lawd!” moaned the driver. -“Den we uns won’t nebber be free. Dem -rebels won’t luf us go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>“That’s what I think, so you had better dig -out while you have the chance. You are -bound to have your freedom some day, and -you might as well take it now. Don’t go off -like thieves in the night, but come up here -boldly and shake hands with me as you would -if you were going back to the home plantation. -And when you get sick of the Yankees -and their ways, come back, and I will -treat you as well as I ever did. Bob, you -had better go for one. You don’t earn your -salt here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This was all Rodney had to say regarding -the Emancipation Proclamation, but it was -more than his darkies bargained for. While -they were glad to know that they were free -men and women, they were not glad to see -Rodney so perfectly willing to let them go. -He didn’t care a snap whether they went or -stayed, and that made them all the more -anxious to stay where they were sure of getting -plenty to eat and clothes to wear. Bob -and one other worthless negro took Rodney at -his word, and left the plantation that very -afternoon, but they did not go to the house to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>bid him good-by. They packed their bundles -in secret, and slipped away “like thieves in -the night”; but, before they had been gone -two hours, Lambert marched them back to the -bars at the muzzle of his rifle.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VI. <br /> <span class='small'>THE MAN HE WANTED TO SEE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“What in the world did you bring those -useless fellows back here for?” was -the way in which Rodney Gray welcomed -Lambert when he marched the two negroes up -to the porch where he was sitting. “I was in -hopes I had seen the last of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, dog-gone it, they’re yourn, an’ I -jest want to see if what they have been tellin’ -me is the truth,” said Lambert in a surprised -tone. “I found ’em pikin’ along the highway -with them packs onto their backs an’ no -passes into their pockets——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t need no passes no mo’,” interrupted -Bob in a surly voice. “I am jes as free as -you be, Mistah Lambert.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jest listen at the nigger’s imperdence!” -cried Lambert, astonished and angry because -Rodney did not at once take Bob to task for -his freedom of speech. “This is what comes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>of havin’ so many Yankees prowlin’ about the -country.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s about the size of it. Bob is as free -as you or I, and here is the paper that says -so,” declared Rodney, taking a printed copy -of the proclamation from his pocket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who writ that there paper, an’ where did -you get it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The city is flooded with copies of it, and -the first scouting party that rides through here -will scatter it right and left among the negroes. -President Lincoln wrote it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What right’s he got to do anything of the -sort? The niggers don’t belong to him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, he’s done it, any way, and you -and your friends will have to come out of -the swamp and go to work if you hope to get -anything to eat. My father says we can’t help -ourselves, and that’s why I talked to Bob and -the rest the way I did a while ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I aint agreein’ to no such arrangement,” -replied Lambert, who could scarcely -have felt more aggrieved and insulted if he -had been the largest slaveholder in the State.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nobody asked my father if he would agree -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>to it, either; but he’ll have to take war as it -comes, and so will you and all of us. The -blacks are lost to us and you will have to go -to work; I don’t see any way out of it. You -might as well turn your prisoners loose -and let them go among the Yanks if they -want to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The ignorant Lambert could not yet understand -the situation, for it took him a long time -to get new things through his head, and this -was the first he had heard of the Emancipation -Proclamation. He looked hard at Rodney to -see if he was in earnest, then swung his -clubbed rifle in the air and shouted “Git!” -at the top of his voice; whereupon the frightened -darkies took to their heels and disappeared -in an instant. But they did not retreat -in the direction of the road. They made the -best of their way to their cabins in the quarter -and hid themselves there. When they were -out of sight Lambert put his rifle under his -arm and pulled out his cob pipe.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m more of a secessioner now nor I ever -was before,” said he. “We uns have just got -to whop in this war, kase if we don’t our -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>niggers will be gone, an’ where’ll I get a job of -overseein’?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll never be an overseer again,” answered -Rodney. “You will have to go into -the field and hoe cotton and cane yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not by no means I won’t,” said Lambert -fiercely. “That there is nigger’s work, an’ I -can’t seem to stoop to it. It don’t make no -sort of difference to rich folks like you how the -war ends, kase you’ve got cotton, an’ cotton is -money these times. I aint got nary thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Lambert watched Rodney out of the corners -of his eyes while he was applying a -lighted match to the tobacco with which he -had filled his pipe, but the boy had nothing to -say. He thought there was a threat hidden -under Lambert’s last words.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s one thing about it,” the latter continued -after a little pause, “if we get whopped -I won’t be the only poor man there is in -Louisiany, tell your folks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With this parting shot he turned his mule -about and rode out of the yard. And Rodney, -angry as he was, let him go. He knew -now just what he had to expect from the ex-Home -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>Guard and made the mental resolution -that, if his father would consent, he would be -prepared to make a prisoner of Lambert the -next time he met him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Something of the sort must be done, and -before long, too,” thought Rodney when he -went to bed that night, “or the first thing we -know our cotton will go the way Mr. Randolph’s -did. If the cotton was mine I would -promise to hand Lambert a few hundred dollars -as soon as it was sold, but then he is so -treacherous I couldn’t put any faith in his -promises. I wish he had kept away from here -to-day. His visit worried me more than Lincoln’s -proclamation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney intended to go home and lay the -matter before his father as soon as he had seen -the hands fairly at work in the morning; but -just as he arose from his breakfast Mr. Gray -rode into the yard, accompanied by a stranger -whose appearance and actions attracted Rodney’s -attention at once and amused him not a -little. He sat on a bare-back mule (Mr. Gray’s -fine horses and saddles had disappeared with -Breckenridge’s men), with his shoulders -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>humped up, his head drawn down between -them, his arms stiffened and his hands braced -firmly against the mule’s withers, and his -broad back bent in the form of an arch. He -wore a blue flannel suit, a black slouch hat, a -flowing neck-handkerchief tied low on his -breast, and finer shoes and stockings than -Rodney himself had been in the habit of wearing -of late. He had a sharp blue eye, a -bronzed face, a heavy blond mustache, and -gazed about him with the air of one who might -know a thing or two, even if he didn’t know -how to ride a mule bare-back. Rodney hastened -down the steps to welcome his father, -and then looked inquiringly at the young man -in blue, who placed his clenched hands on his -hips and stared hard at Rodney.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“De oberseer he gib us trouble,</div> - <div class='line in2'>An’ he dribe us round a spell;</div> - <div class='line'>We’ll lock him up in de smokehouse cellar,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Wid de key frown in de well.</div> - <div class='line'>De whip is los’, de hand-cuff broken,</div> - <div class='line in2'>An’ ole moster’ll have his pay;</div> - <div class='line'>He’s ole ’nough, big ’nough, an’ oughter knowed better</div> - <div class='line in2'>Dan to went an’ run away,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>sang the stranger in a melodious tenor voice. -“Hallo, Johnny!”</p> -<p class='c001'>“Hallo, yourself,” replied Rodney. He -was so astonished at this strange greeting that -he did not know what else to say. He gazed -earnestly at the singer, but there was no smile -of recognition under the blond mustache, -though the blue eyes twinkled merrily. Then -he looked toward his father for an explanation, -but that gentleman, who had by this -time dismounted, stood with his folded arms -resting on his mule’s back, and had not a word -of explanation to offer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are a very nice-looking rebel, I must -say,” were the visitor’s next words.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am aware of it,” returned Rodney; “but -they are the best I’ve got to my back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was speaking of you and not of your -clothes,” said the stranger hastily. “My -good mother away up in North Carolina long -ago taught me——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jack! O Jack!” shouted Rodney joyfully. -With one jump he reached his cousin’s -side, and seizing his outstretched hand in both -his own, fairly dragged him to the ground.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>“Easy, easy!” cautioned Mr. Gray. -“That’s Jack, but he isn’t quite as sound as -he was the last time you met him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am overjoyed to see you after so long -a separation,” said Rodney, in some degree -moderating the energy of his hand-shaking. -“How did you leave Marcy and his mother? -and has Marcy always been true to his colors, -as he so often declared he would be, no matter -what happened? How came you here when -nobody dreamed of seeing you, and where -have you been to get hurt?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have been offsetting your work,” replied -Jack, rolling alongside Rodney, sailor -fashion, as the latter slipped an arm through -his own and led him to the porch. “You -worked fifteen months to make this unholy -rebellion successful, and I worked sixteen -months and more to put it down; so you -might as well have stayed at home with your -mother.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you have been at sea?” exclaimed -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Correct. There’s where I belong, you -know. And I heard in a roundabout way -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>that Marcy has had a brief experience, also. -He was pilot on one of our gunboats during -the fights at Roanoke Island, but where he is -now I haven’t the least idea. It is a long -time since I got a word from home,” said the -sailor sadly. “I am on my way there now, -and figuring to make some money by the trip. -I am dead broke.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Haven’t you a discharge?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A sort of one, but nary cent of cash.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How does that come? Why didn’t your -paymaster settle with you when he handed -over your discharge?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, the first one couldn’t very handily, -because he was captured, together with his -money and accounts; and the second one -couldn’t do it either, for he was captured too, -and his money and books went to the bottom -of the Gulf of Mexico, or into the hands of -that pirate Semmes, which amounts to the -same thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, Jack, what do you mean? You -must have been in a fight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That was what I thought when I found -myself stranded on the deck of a strange ship -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>without a bag or hammock to bless myself -with, and no mess number,” said Jack, with -a laugh. “My first vessel, the <i>Harriet Lane</i>, -was captured at Galveston on New Year’s Day, -and my second, the <i>Hatteras</i>, was sunk on the -night of the 11th by the <i>Alabama</i>. Yes, I -have been in two or three fights.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course we heard about the two you -mention, but never once thought of your being -there,” said Rodney. “Were you shot?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, no. I was struck on the shoulder by -something, don’t know what, when the gunboat -<i>Westfield</i> was blown up by her crew to -keep her from falling into the hands of the -rebels. If I hadn’t been a good swimmer I -should now be rusticating at Tyler, Texas, or -some other Southern watering-place.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, now, take this big chair—you have -grown to be a pretty good-sized fellow since -I last saw you—and settle back at your ease -and tell us all about it,” said Rodney. -“What do you mean when you say you are -figuring on making some money this trip? -And if you are dead broke, where did you get -that blue suit? They don’t issue that style of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>clothes to the foremast hands in the navy, do -they? Or are you an officer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One at a time,” replied Jack. “One at a -time, and your questions will last a heap -longer. I am a trader.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Jack,” exclaimed Rodney, who was all -excitement in a moment. “Then you are just -the man we are looking for. Have you a -permit?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I—you see—that is to say, no; I -haven’t.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you are not the man we want to see -at all,” said Rodney in a disappointed tone. -“You can’t trade without it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am painfully aware of the fact. And -perhaps you wonder how I am going to buy -cotton when I am dead broke, don’t you? I -have influential friends; and thereby hangs a -tale as long as a yardarm.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Suppose you leave off bothering your -cousin now and go home with us,” suggested -Mr. Gray, when he saw that Rodney was settling -himself to listen to a lengthy story. -“We haven’t seen you at the house very -often of late, and you are almost as much of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>a stranger to your mother as you would be if -you lived in Vicksburg. We haven’t heard -all Jack’s war history yet, and perhaps he -will give it to us to-night after supper.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney was glad to agree to the proposition, -and at his request Ned Griffin was invited to -make one of the party, for he was sure to be -one of the most interested listeners. In fact -the Grays had come to look upon Ned as one -of the family. Jack’s story was not a long -one, and you ought to hear it, in order to -know how he happened to “turn up” there -in Mooreville when, as Rodney said, no one -dreamed of seeing him, and we will tell it in -our own way, leaving out a good deal of -what Jack called “sailor lingo.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The last time we saw Jack Gray was so long -ago that you have perhaps forgotten that we -ever mentioned his name. Instead of following -in the footsteps of his father and becoming -a planter, Jack had sailed the blue water from -his earliest boyhood, and was the elder brother -of our Union hero, Marcy Gray, who was -taken from his home at dead of night by a -party of blue-jackets to serve as pilot on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>Captain Benton’s gunboat during the fight -at Roanoke Island. Jack was Union all over, -and, even when it was dangerous for him to do -so, could hardly refrain from expressing his -contempt for those who were trying to break -up the government. When we first brought -him to your notice he had already had some -thrilling experience with the enemies of the -flag under which he had sailed all over the -world, his vessel, the brig <i>Sabine</i>, having been -one of the first to fall into the power of the -Confederate cruiser <i>Sumter</i>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If you have read “Marcy, the Blockade-Runner,” -you will remember that the <i>Sabine</i> -was under the command of men who did not -intend to remain prisoners a minute longer -than they were obliged to; that the rebel banner -had no sooner been hoisted at the peak -in the place of their own flag, than they began -laying plans to haul it down again, and that -the captured brig was in the hands of the -prize crew not more than twelve hours. Captain -Semmes could not burn her as he would -have been glad to do, for it so happened that -she had a neutral cargo on board. The sugar -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>and molasses with which her hold was filled -were consigned to an English port in the island -of Jamaica, and if he had destroyed it by -applying the torch to the <i>Sabine</i>, the rebel -commander would surely have brought his -government into trouble with England. That -was something he could not afford to do, so he -determined to take his prize into the nearest -Cuban port, in the hope that the Spanish authorities -would permit him to land the cargo and -sell the brig for the benefit of the Confederate -government. There is every reason to believe -that he would have been disappointed, for -Spain was too friendly to the United States to -give aid and comfort to her enemies; but -before the matter could be put to the test the -<i>Sabine’s</i> men, with Jack Gray at their head, -quietly overpowered the rebel prize crew that -had been put aboard of her and filled away -for Key West, which was the nearest Federal -naval station. When they arrived there they -turned their five prisoners over to the commandant -and set sail for Boston, taking with -them the valuable cargo that ought to have -gone to Jamaica. When off the coast of North -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>Carolina they had a short but rather exciting -race with Captain Beardsley’s privateer -<i>Osprey</i>, on which Marcy Gray, Sailor Jack’s -brother, was serving as pilot; but the <i>Sabine</i> -was too swift to be overhauled, and her skipper -too wide-awake to be deceived by the sight -of the friendly flag which their pursuers -gave to the breeze in the hope of alluring the -defenceless merchantman to her destruction.</p> - -<p class='c001'>How the brig’s owners accounted for the -cargo of molasses and sugar they so unexpectedly -found on their hands Jack Gray -neither knew nor cared, for his first and only -thought was to reach home and see how his -mother and Marcy were getting on. In this -the master of the <i>Sabine</i> stood his friend by -securing for him a berth as second officer on -board the fleet schooner <i>West Wind</i>, which, -while claiming to be an honest coaster, was -really engaged in a contraband trade that -would have made her a lawful prize to the -first Federal blockader that happened to overhaul -and search her. Jack knew all about it -and understood the risk he was taking; but -he accepted the position when it was offered, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>because he could not see that there was any -other way for him to get home. Although the -schooner’s cargo was consigned to a well-known -American firm in Havana, the owners did not -mean that it should go there at all. They intended -that it should be run through the -blockade and sold at Newbern. Captain Frazier -explained all this to Jack, and though the -latter did not believe in giving aid and comfort -to the enemies of the Old Flag, he not only -accepted the position of second mate and pilot -of the <i>West Wind</i>, but also invested two-thirds -of his hard-earned wages in quinine, calomel, -and other medicines of which the Confederacy -stood much in need, and sold them in Newbern -so as to clear about twelve hundred dollars. -But it wasn’t money that Jack Gray cared for -just then. He wanted to see his mother and -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The enterprise was successful. Captain -Frazier ran down the coast without falling in -with any of the blockaders, Sailor Jack took -the schooner through Oregon Inlet without -the least trouble, the Confederates were ready -to pay gold for her cargo, and then Captain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>Frazier loaded with cotton for Bermuda, while -his pilot, with one of the <i>West Wind’s</i> foremast -hands for company, set out for home on -foot. We have told how he came like a thief -in the night and aroused his brother by tossing -pebbles against his bedroom window, and -what he did during the short time he remained -under his mother’s roof. We have also described -some of the exciting incidents that -happened when Marcy took him out to the -blockading fleet in the <i>Fairy Belle</i>—how they -ran foul of Captain Beardsley’s schooner as -they were passing through Crooked Inlet, and -were afterward hailed by a steam launch, whose -commanding officer would have given everything -he possessed if he could have brought -that same schooner within range of his howitzer -for about two minutes—but they found -one of the cruisers, the <i>Harriet Lane</i>, without -much trouble and Sailor Jack remained aboard -of her, while Marcy filled away for home. -And we may add that the latter never heard -from his brother again until he read in the -papers that his vessel had been captured at -Galveston.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>Bright and early the next morning, after a -short interview with Captain Wainwright, the -commander of the <i>Harriet Lane</i>, Jack Gray -was shipped with due formality and rated as -“seaman” on the books of the paymaster, -who ordered his steward to serve him two -suits of clothes and the necessary small stores. -Ten minutes afterward, having rigged himself -out in blue and tossed his citizen’s suit -through one of the ports into the sea, Jack -was working with the crew as handily as -though he had been attached to that particular -vessel all his life. Of course he had never -been drilled with small-arms or in handling -big guns; but being quick to learn, his mates -never had reason to call him a lubber, nor was -he ever sent to the mast for awkwardness or -neglect of duty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The <i>Harriet Lane</i> had been built for the -revenue service, and was considered to be the -finest vessel in it. She was small, not more -than five hundred tons burden, but she was -swift; and if a suspicious craft appeared in -the offing, the <i>Lane</i>, oftener than any other -steamer, was sent out to see who she was and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>what business she had there. Consequently -the life Jack led aboard of her was as full of -excitement and active duty as he could have -wished it to be. Much to Marcy’s regret she -took no part in the fight at Roanoke Island. -Not being intended for so heavy work, she -remained outside to watch for blockade runners, -and so Marcy never had a chance to see -how his brother looked in a blue uniform.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not long after that they were still farther -separated. For weeks there had been rumors -that the government intended to make an -effort to recapture some of the ports on the -Gulf of Mexico that had been seized by the -Confederates; but whether New Orleans, Galveston, -or Mobile was to be taken first, or -whether the <i>Lane</i> was to have a hand in it, -nobody knew. The last question was answered -when all the vessels that could be -spared from the Atlantic blockading fleet, -Jack’s among the number, were ordered to -report to Flag-officer Farragut at Ship Island -in the Gulf of Mexico. On the way they -picked up a large fleet of mortar schooners -which had been ordered to rendezvous at Key -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>West, and reached their destination six weeks -in advance of the army of General Butler, -which was to co-operate with them in the capture -of New Orleans. But the time was not -passed in idleness. They ran down to the -mouths of the Mississippi, and worked a full -month to get their vessels over the bar into -the river. They found but fifteen feet of -water there, while many of the fleet drew from -three to seven feet more, so that, when they -had been lightened almost to the bare hull, the -tugs had to pull them through a foot or more -of mud. It was tiresome and discouraging -work, but the same patience, determination, -and skill that carried Flag-officer Goldsborough -safely through the gale at Hatteras enabled -Farragut to overcome the obstructions at the -mouths of the Mississippi, and on the 8th of -April five powerful steam sloops, two large -sailing vessels, seventeen gunboats, and twenty-one -mortar schooners were fairly over the bar -and ready for business. But three more -weary weeks passed before active operations -were begun, during which Farragut and -Butler met at Ship Island and decided upon a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>plan of operations, and the river up to the -forts was carefully surveyed, so that the Union -commanders, by simply looking at the compasses -in their binnacles, could tell how far off -and in what direction each fort and battery -lay, and how they ought to elevate and train -their guns in order to reach them. Of course -the rebels were not idle while these surveys -were being made, and protested against them -with every cannon they could bring to bear -upon the boats and men engaged in the work; -but “in spite of all dangers and difficulties -the surveys were accomplished and maps prepared -showing the bearing and distance from -every point on the river to the flagstaffs in the -forts.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the morning of the 17th the rebels began -the fight in earnest by sending down a fire-raft -that had been saturated with tar and turpentine; -but a boat which put off from the -<i>Iroquois</i> towed the raft ashore, where it burned -itself out, doing no harm to anybody. Then -the mortar schooners took a hand and pounded -Fort Jackson with their thirteen-inch shells -until they set it on fire and destroyed all the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>clothing and commissary stores it contained. -Then the barrier which extended straight -across the river from Fort Jackson, and was -formed of dismantled vessels securely anchored -and bound together with heavy chains, was -cut, and Farragut was ready to perform the -feat that made him famous the world over and -placed him where he rightfully belonged—at -the head of our navy. He ran by the forts -with the loss of but a single vessel, the <i>Varuna</i>, -which was the swiftest and weakest in the -squadron. Having been built for a merchantman -she was not intended for such work as -Farragut put upon her, but she won the honors -of the fight before she went down, having -helped sink or disable six of the rebel fleet, -any one of which was fairly her match.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The <i>Lane</i> took no part in this fight, but -remained behind to guard Porter’s mortar -schooners, which dropped down the river as -soon as Farragut’s boats had passed the forts -and closed with the Confederate fleet which -came gallantly down the river to meet them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But our position was one of great danger, -and we knew it,” said Sailor Jack at this point -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>in his narrative. “There were at least fifteen -vessels in the rebel fleet, two of which, the -<i>Louisiana</i> and <i>Manassas</i>, the former mounting -sixteen heavy guns, were the main reliance -of the enemy, and supposed to be able to deal -with us as the <i>Merrimac</i> dealt with the -<i>Cumberland</i> in Hampton Roads. But we -never saw the <i>Louisiana</i> until the thing was -over, although we afterward learned that she -had been assigned an important position in -the fight. The other iron-clad was on hand, -and began operations by shoving a fire-raft -against the flagship, which ran aground in -trying to escape from her. But instead of -coming on down the river and destroying our -mortar fleet, as she could have done very -easily, for such wooden boats as the <i>Lane</i> -could not have stood against her five minutes, -she rounded to and went back after Farragut, -who ordered the <i>Mississippi</i> to sink her. -She didn’t succeed in doing that, but she -riddled the <i>Manassas</i> with a couple of broadsides, -set her on fire, and let her float down -the river with the current. I tell you I was -frightened when I saw that ugly-looking thing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>bearing down on us. We opened fire on her, -and in a few minutes she blew up and went -down out of sight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Shortly after this, Jack went on to relate, -one of the most important and impressive -incidents of the seven days’ fight took place on -board the <i>Harriet Lane</i>. When Porter received -a note from Flag-officer Farragut stating -that he had passed the forts in safety, destroying -the Confederate flotilla on the way, and -was on the point of starting for New Orleans, -and suggesting that possibly the forts might -surrender if summoned to do so, Porter sent a -boat ashore to see what the rebels thought -about it; and the answer was that they didn’t -acknowledge that they had been whipped yet. -Although the forts had been battered out of -shape by the shower of heavy shells that had -been rained into them, the garrisons could still -find shelter in the bomb-proofs, and if it was -all the same to Porter they would hold out a -while longer. But the men who had to fight -the guns did not look at it that way. They -were ready to give up, for they knew they -would have to do it sooner or later; and when -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>Porter began another bombardment, which he -did without loss of time, the men began deserting -by scores, and the next day the rebel commander -hauled down his flag.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“These battles were all won by the navy,” -said Jack proudly, “and everything on and -along the river was destroyed by or surrendered -to the navy, for the soldiers didn’t come -up till the trouble was all over. We went up -with our little fleet and anchored abreast of -Fort Jackson. A boat was sent ashore, and -when it came back it brought General Duncan -and two or three other high-up rebel officers, -who did not act at all like badly beaten men, -and they were received aboard the <i>Lane</i> and -taken into the cabin, where the terms of -capitulation were to be drawn up and signed. -They hadn’t been gone more than five minutes -when some of the crew happened to look up -the river, and there was that big iron-clad, the -<i>Louisiana</i>, bearing down on us, a mass of -flames. Then I was frightened again, I tell -you. Mounting, as she did, sixteen heavy -guns, she must have had all of twenty thousand -pounds of powder in her magazine, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>what would become of us if she blew up in the -midst of our fleet? There wouldn’t be many -of us left to tell the story. It was an act of -treachery on the part of the rebel naval officers -which Farragut was prompt to punish by sending -them North as close prisoners, while the -army officers were given their freedom under -parole.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did she do any damage when she blew -up?” asked Rodney, who was deeply interested -in the story.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not any to speak of,” replied Jack, “because -the explosion took place before she got -among us. Of course word was sent below as -soon as we caught sight of her, and the order -was promptly signalled to every vessel in sight -to play out her cable to the bitter end, and -stand by to sheer as wide as possible from the -blazing iron-clad as she drifted down; but we -had hardly set to work to obey the order when -there was a wave in the air, which I felt as -plainly as I ever felt a wave of water pass over -my head; the <i>Lane</i> heeled over two streaks, -everything loose on deck was jostled about, -and then there was a rumbling sound, not half -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>as loud as you would think it ought to be, and -the danger was over. The <i>Louisiana</i> blew up -before she got to us, and that was a lucky -thing for the <i>Harriet Lane</i>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Jack might have added that it was a -lucky thing for the whole country, for the -commander, Porter, who was in the <i>Lane’s</i> -cabin with the rebel officers, was afterward the -fighting Admiral Porter, who commanded the -Mississippi squadron. His death at that crisis -would have <a id='corr167.11'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='beeen'>been</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_167.11'><ins class='correction' title='beeen'>been</ins></a></span> a national loss.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VII. <br /> <span class='small'>SAILOR JACK IN ACTION.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>The city of New Orleans surrendered to -Flag-officer Farragut, who held it under -his guns until General Butler came up with -his soldiers to take it off his hands; and then -he kept on up the river with a portion of his -victorious fleet to effect a junction with the -Mississippi squadron at Vicksburg, while the -remainder of his vessels, one of which was the -<i>Harriet Lane</i>, sailed away to hoist the flag of -the Union over the port of Galveston, and -break up the blockade running that was going -on there. This force appeared before Galveston -in May, but no earnest efforts were made -to compel a surrender until October; and even -then no serious attempt was made to take and -hold the city. The commanding naval officer -was content to establish a close blockade of the -port, and nothing could have suited Jack -Gray better. Galveston was a noted place for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>blockade runners, and it was seldom indeed -that one escaped when the <i>Lane</i> sighted and -started in pursuit of her. Every capture -meant prize money.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We made the most of the money that was -made off that port last summer, but of course -we didn’t get it all ourselves,” explained Jack. -"If you are cruising by yourself and make a -capture while another ship is within signalling -distance of you, the law says you must divide -with that ship, although she may not have -done a thing to help you take the prize; but -if you belong to a squadron, every vessel in it -has a share in every prize you make. Fortunately -for us there were but four ships in -our squadron off Galveston, and every time we -took a prize somebody would sing:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘Here’s enough for four of us;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Thank Heaven there’s no more of us—</div> - <div class='line in6'>God save the king.’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c013'>Things went on in this satisfactory way -until General Banks took command at New -Orleans in December, and sent a regiment to -assist the naval forces at Galveston, it being -a part of his duty to “direct the military -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>movements against the rebellion in the State -of Texas.” Not more than a third of the -regiment had arrived, the rest being on its -way, when the rebel general Magruder, who -had just been appointed to the chief command -in Texas, formed a bold plan for the recapture -of the city, and carried it out successfully on -New Year’s morning. He had six thousand -men and several cotton-clad vessels to help -him, and of course the battle could end in but -one way.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Galveston stands upon a long, narrow island -in the bay, and is connected with the mainland -by a bridge two miles in length, built -upon piles. This bridge ought to have been -destroyed, but it wasn’t, and when Magruder -charged across it with his six regiments, he -confidently expected to sweep away like so -many cobwebs the little handful of Federals -standing at the other end; but he didn’t. -Aided by a hot fire from the <i>Harriet Lane</i> -and <i>Westfield</i>, they repulsed every charge he -made, and no doubt would have continued to -do so if two of his best vessels, the <i>Neptune</i> -and <i>Bayou City</i>, protected by cotton bales -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>piled twenty feet high upon their low decks, -so that at a distance they looked like common -cotton transports, and manned by a regiment -of sharpshooters, had not hastened to his aid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We had our own way with the troops on -the bridge until those two boats came dashing -down at us, and then things began to look -squally,” said Jack. “We steamed up to -meet them, but it wasn’t long before we -wished we hadn’t done it. We didn’t disable -them with our bow-guns as we hoped to -do, and, indeed, it was as much as a man’s -life was worth to handle the guns at all, for -the sharpshooters behind the cotton bales sent -their bullets over our deck like hailstones. -One time I grabbed hold of a train tackle with -four other men to help run out the No. 2 -gun, and the next I knew I was standing there -alone. The four had been shot dead, but I -wasn’t touched. All this while the rebel -boats were coming at us full speed, and the -next thing I knew they struck us with terrible -force, bow on, one on each side. But,” added -Jack, with a chuckle of satisfaction, “one of -them got hurt worse than we did. The <i>Neptune</i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>was disabled by the shock, and grounded -in shoal water; but the men on her were game -to the last. They fought to win and shot to -kill; for, no matter which way I looked, I saw -somebody drop every minute.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what became of the other boat?” -inquired Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The <i>Bayou City</i>? Oh, she drifted away, -but rounded-to and came at us again, hitting -us pretty near in the same place; but the -second time she didn’t drift away. She made -fast to and boarded us. When I saw those -graybacks swarming over the hammock nettings, -and heard that Captain Wainwright and -most of the other officers had been killed, I -knew I had to do something or go to prison; -so I just took a header overboard through the -nearest port and struck out for the <i>Westfield</i>, -which was a mile or so astern, and trying to -come to our aid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack was not quite correct when he said he -“struck out,” after taking a header through -the port. He turned on his back and floated, -for he was afraid that if he showed any signs -of life he would be discovered and picked off -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>by some sharpshooter. He permitted the -current to whirl him around now and then, so -that he could keep his bearings and hold a -straight course for the <i>Westfield</i>, but before he -had floated half a mile, he discovered that he -was making straight for as hot a place as that -from which he had just escaped. The flagship -<i>Westfield</i> had run hard and fast aground -within easy range of a battery which the -rebels had planted on the shore, and although -two other gunboats came up and tried to drag -her into deep water, she was being literally -cut to pieces before Jack Gray’s eyes; and -more than that, her commander was making -preparations to abandon her to her fate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I began to look wild again, and took -a sheer off to give the flagship plenty of room -to blow up in,” said Jack. “Captain Renshaw, -her commandant, was a regular, and I -knew well enough that he would not leave his -vessel in such shape that the rebels could fix -her up and use her against us, though I was not -prepared for what happened a few minutes -later. While I was moving along with the -current, not daring to swim lest I should attract -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>the notice of some wide-awake sharpshooter, -I saw Renshaw send off his men by -the boat-load until at last there were but two -boats left alongside the <i>Westfield</i>. One of -these put off loaded to the water’s edge, but -the other remained, and I knew it was waiting -for Renshaw to fire the train he had laid to -the magazine; and that made me sheer off a -little farther, although I began swimming the -best I knew how in the hope that one of the -boats would wait for me to catch on behind. -In a minute or two more Captain Renshaw -came out, and that was the first and last I ever -saw of him. He stepped into his boat, but -before it had moved twenty feet away the -flagship blew up, smashing the two small boats -into kindling-wood and sending every man in -them to kingdom come.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>No one else who was as close to the <i>Westfield</i> -as Jack Gray was at that moment escaped with -his life, and he did not come off unscathed. -While he was gazing around him in a dazed -sort of way, gasping for breath and utterly -unable to realize what had happened, a piece -of the <i>Westfield’s</i> wreck which had been blown -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>high in air descended with frightful velocity, -and barely missing his head struck him a glancing -blow on the shoulder and shot down into -the water out of sight. And it was but one of -a score of such dangerous missiles which rained -upon him during the next few seconds. They -plunged into the water perilously near to him -and splashed it in his face from all directions. -The most of them were no bigger than the head -they threatened to break, while others were as -large as a barn door. At first Jack thought -the safest place would be nearer the bottom of -the river; but when he saw how some of the -heaviest pieces of the wreck dove out of sight -when they struck the water, he decided that -he could not go deep enough to escape them, -and that the best plan would be to look upward -and try to dodge them when he saw that -they were coming too close; but by the time -he came to this conclusion and turned upon -his back, the storm was over and the air above -him was clear. It was the narrowest escape -he had ever had, and Jack Gray had been in -some tight places.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having satisfied himself that he was no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>longer in danger of being knocked senseless -by falling wreckage, Jack turned upon his -face and struck out for the nearest gunboat, or -rather tried to; for his right arm was almost -useless. He could thrust it through the water -in front of him, but when he endeavored to -swim with it, it dropped to his side like a piece -of lead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that’s the way it felt for three or four -days, although I was under good care all the -time,” continued Jack. “I was picked up after -I had floated and swum with one hand a distance -of three miles, reported the loss of my vessel, -and told what little I knew about the blowing -up of the <i>Westfield</i>, and then I was glad to -go into the hands of the doctor, for I found -that I was worse hurt than I thought I was. -But you may be sure I didn’t say so. If -there is anything that is despised aboard ship -it is a sojer, which is the name we give to men -who can work and won’t, and so I kept on -doing duty when I ought by rights to have -been in my hammock. I pulled twenty miles -on the night of the 11th of January to escape -capture, and of course the exertion gave me a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>big set-back; but I haven’t got to that part -of my story yet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack Gray watched and waited anxiously to -hear from some of his shipmates, but not a -word did he get from anybody; and this led -him to believe that he was the only one of the -<i>Harriet Lane’s</i> crew who escaped death or -capture. The direct results of the fight were -that the rebels, with very small loss to themselves, -captured the <i>Lane</i>, caused the destruction -of the flagship of the squadron, secured -possession of two coal barges that were lying -at the wharf and nearly four hundred prisoners; -but “the indirect results were still -more important.” The whole State of Texas -came back under their flag, and blockade running -went on as though it had never been -interfered with at all. It was done principally -by small schooners like Captain Beardsley’s -<i>Hattie</i>, which took out cotton and brought -back medicines, guns, ammunition, and cloth -that was afterward made into uniforms for the -Confederate soldiers. And the worst of it was -that it was kept up to the end of the war. Of -course word was sent to New Orleans at once, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>and Commodore Bell came down with a small -fleet to shut up the port; but he brought no -soldiers with him to hold the city, for General -Banks couldn’t spare a single regiment. He -had made up his mind to capture Port Hudson, -and needed all the men he could get.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Among the vessels that came down with -Commodore Bell was the <i>Hatteras</i>, the slowest -old tub in the fleet, and much to his disgust -Jack Gray was ordered aboard of her. The -badge he wore on his arm showed that he had -been a quartermaster on board the <i>Lane</i>, but -he was transferred without any rating at all, -it being optional with Captain Blake, the commander -of the <i>Hatteras</i>, whether he would -continue him as a quartermaster or put him -before the mast. Jack had already served four -months beyond the year for which he enlisted, -but he made no complaint, although he had -firmly resisted all efforts on the part of the -<i>Lane’s</i> officers to induce him to re-enlist for -three years or during the war.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I might have had a commission as well as -not,” said Jack, “for there wasn’t a watch -officer aboard the <i>Lane</i> who could have passed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>a better examination than I could. Indeed, I -hadn’t been aboard of her twenty-four hours -before I found that I knew more about a ship -than most of the men who commanded me. -But as often as I thought of staying in the -service, something told me I had better get -out; and that was the reason why I refused to -re-enlist or accept a commission.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The fact was that, so long as the speedy -<i>Lane</i> was capturing a valuable blockade runner -or two every week, and money was coming -into his pockets faster than he could have -earned it in any other business, Jack Gray was -quite willing to remain a quartermaster, and -so he said nothing to Captain Wainwright concerning -the honorable discharge that rightfully -belonged to him; but now the case was -different, and Jack wanted to go home and see -how his mother and Marcy were getting on. -He had been ordered aboard a vessel that -couldn’t catch a mud-turtle in a stern chase, -and consequently there was no more excitement -or prize money for him. The paymaster -who ought to have paid him off and given him -his discharge had been captured with all his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>money and books, and Jack knew that his -accounts would have to be settled in Washington; -and there was so much red tape in -Washington that there was no telling whether -or not they would ever be settled. After -thinking the matter over, Jack wrote a letter -to Commodore Bell, telling him how the matter -stood and asking for his discharge, and -gave it into the hands of the captain of the -<i>Hatteras</i> to be forwarded. The first result was -about what he thought it would be. He had -to pull off his petty officer’s badge and go -before the mast. He was also assigned to an -oar in the first cutter, and that was one of the -best things that ever happened to Jack Gray.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Nowhere else in the world is life such a -burden as aboard a vessel lying on a station -with nothing but routine work to do. Jack -found it so and chafed and fretted under it, -but not for long. One day, about an hour -after the dinner pennant had been hauled -down, the lounging, lazy crew of the <i>Hatteras</i> -were startled by the cry of “Sail ho!” from -the lookout. Signal was at once made to the -<i>Brooklyn</i>, Commodore Bell’s flagship, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>answer that came back was an order for the -<i>Hatteras</i> to run out and see who and what the -visitor was. Of course the crew were glad -to be afloat once more, and some of them -began talking about prize money; but others -declared that if the stranger had any speed at -all and desired to keep out of the way, the -<i>Hatteras</i> would never get nearer to her than -she was at that moment. But the sequel -proved that the stranger did not want to keep -out of the way, although at first she acted like -it. She rounded to and turned her head out -to sea as if she were fleeing from pursuit; but -all the while the war ship came nearer and -nearer to her, until the officer at the masthead -made out that the chase was a large steamer -under sail. This fact was duly communicated -to the flagship by signal, and then the old -<i>Hatteras</i> seemed to wake up and try to show -a little speed; but Captain Blake became suspicious -and ordered his ship cleared for action, -with everything in readiness for a determined -attack or a vigorous defense.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The pursuit continued for twenty miles, and -finally night set in with no moon but plenty -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>of starlight. Jack Gray, who had stood at -one of the broadside guns until he was tired, -had just given utterance to the hope that the -chase would improve the opportunity to run -out of sight or else come about and give them -battle, just as she pleased, when an officer at -the masthead sent down the startling information -that the stranger had rounded-to and was -coming back. Beyond a doubt that meant -that something was going to happen. She -hove in sight almost immediately, and in less -time than it takes to tell it stopped her engines -within a hundred yards, the captain of the -blockader ringing his stopping bell at the same -instant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What ship is that?” shouted the Union -commander, from his place on the bridge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Her Britannic Majesty’s steamer <i>Vixen</i>!” -was the reply. “What ship is that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is the United States ship <i>Hatteras</i>,” -answered Captain Blake. “I will send a boat -aboard of you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When we heard this conversation,” said -Jack, “we made up our minds that we had -been chasing an English ship. Mind you, I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>don’t say a friendly ship, for England never -was and never will be friendly to the United -States. She would be glad to see us broken -up to-morrow, and is doing all she dares to -help the rebels along. Of course it was our -captain’s duty to find out whether or not the -other captain had told him the truth, and the -only way he could do it was by sending an -officer off to examine his papers. He had the -first cutter called away, and, as that was the -boat to which I belonged, I lost no time in <a id='corr183.11'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='tak-off'>taking off</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_183.11'><ins class='correction' title='tak-off'>taking off</ins></a></span> -my side-arms and tumbling into her. And -that was all that saved me from falling into -Semmes’ power a second time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack then went on to say that, as soon as the -officer had taken his place in the stern-sheets, -the cutter was shoved off from the <i>Hatteras</i> -and pulled around her stern; but just as she -began swinging around with her bow toward -the supposed English ship a most exciting and -unexpected thing happened. A voice came -from the latter’s deck, so clear and strong that -the cutter’s crew could hear every word:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is the Confederate steamer <i>Alabama</i>!” -And before the astonished blue-jackets -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>had time to realize that they had been -trapped the roar of a broadside rent the air, -and shells and solid shot went crashing into -the wooden walls of the doomed <i>Hatteras</i>. -Semmes afterward took great credit to himself -because he did not strike the Federal ship in -disguise, but gave her “fair warning.” How -long was it after he gave warning that he fired -his broadside into her? Not two seconds. He -took all the advantage he could, and yet there -was no one who protested louder or had more -to say about trickery and cowardice when the -Federal officers took advantage of him. He -made a great fuss because Captain Winslow -protected the machinery and boilers of the -<i>Kearsarge</i> with chains, as Admiral Farragut -protected <i>his</i> vessels when he ran past the -forts at New Orleans.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The roar of the Confederate steamer’s guns -had scarcely ceased before an answering broadside -came from the Union war ship. Without -the loss of a moment both vessels were put under -steam and the action became a running fight, -the blue-jackets standing bravely to their guns -and giving their powerful antagonist as good -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>as she sent. The cutter’s crew tried in vain to -return to their vessel. They rowed hard, but -every turn of her huge paddle-wheels left -them farther behind, and finally they gave up -in despair and laid on their oars and watched -the conflict. It was desperate but short. In -just thirteen minutes from the time it began -the <i>Hatteras</i> hoisted a white light at her masthead -and fired an off-gun to show that she had -been beaten.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fortune of war,” sighed the officer who -was sitting in the cutter’s stern-sheets beside -the coxswain. “But I tell you, men, I hate to -see our old ship surrendered to that pirate. -Back, port; give way, starboard! We haven’t -surrendered, and we want to get away from -here before they catch sight of us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>No cutter’s crew ever pulled harder than -Jack Gray and his shipmates pulled in obedience -to this order. Jack forgot that he had a -crippled arm, and when the cutter came about -and pointed her head toward the shore more -than twenty miles away, he rowed as strong an -oar as he ever did in his life. He listened -anxiously for the hail that would tell him the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>cutter had been discovered, but heard none; -but he saw and reported something that sent -an exultant thrill through the heart of every -one of his companions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Porter,” said he, in tones which intense -excitement rendered husky. “Our old -tub has been surrendered, but she’ll never do -the rebels any good. She’s sinking, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank Heaven!” murmured the officer, -whirling around as if he had been shot.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He couldn’t see anything through the darkness -except the white light that the blockader -had hoisted at her masthead in token of surrender, -and which was swaying about in a -way that would have been unaccountable to a -landsman; but the blue-jackets knew she was -going to the bottom. She went rapidly, too, -for Captain Blake afterward reported that in -two minutes from the time he left her the -<i>Hatteras</i> disappeared, bow first. Then Jack -thought that Mr. Porter would order the -cutter back to assist in picking up the crew, -but he didn’t do it. They would have reached -the sinking vessel too late to be of any service, -and besides Mr. Porter thought it his duty to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>report to the Flag-officer at once, believing -that if the <i>Brooklyn</i> were promptly warned -she could capture or sink the <i>Alabama</i> before -she had time to get very far away. But the -fleet had already been warned by the sound of -the guns that the <i>Hatteras</i> had encountered -an armed enemy of some description, and -several steamers were hastening to the rescue; -scattering widely in the pursuit, to cover as -much space as possible and increase their -chances of falling in with the enemy. The -cutter passed these vessels at so great a distance -that she could not attract the attention -of any of them, and it was not until they had -pulled all the way to Galveston, and boarded -one of the blockading fleet which remained -behind, that the particulars of the fight -became known. None of the pursuing -steamers ever saw the <i>Alabama</i>, which sailed -away for the coast of Yucatan; but as one of -them was returning to her anchorage the next -morning, baffled and beaten in the chase, she -fell in with the sunken <i>Hatteras</i>, whose royal -masts were just above water. The night pennant -floating from one of them told the melancholy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>story; but if Jack Gray and his shipmates -had not escaped just as they did, it -might have been a long time before Commodore -Bell would have known that the -dreaded <i>Alabama</i> had been in his immediate -vicinity. But her day was coming. The first -time she met a Union war ship that was anywhere -near her match she was sent to the -bottom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Once more Jack was without a vessel, and -had no clothes “to bless himself with” except -those he stood in; but that didn’t trouble him -half as much as did the discharge he was -anxious to get. He and the rest of the -cutter’s men were sent aboard the flagship -when she returned to her anchorage, and that -suited him, for it gave him a fair chance to -gain the commodore’s ear—a task he set himself -to accomplish as soon as the excitement -had somewhat died away. But the Flag-officer -was a regular, and like all regulars he -moved in ruts of opinion so deep that a yoke -of oxen could not have pulled him out. He -couldn’t give Jack a discharge, he said, -because he didn’t know when or where he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>enlisted, for how long, or anything about it. -He couldn’t give him any money, either, for -his name was not borne on the paymaster’s -books. He could give him a paper stating -that he had done service in the Union navy -and let him go home, and that was all he could -do for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that’s the kind of a discharge I got,” -said Jack with a laugh. “But it proved to -be good enough and strong enough to take me -through the provost guards in New Orleans -and get me a pass to come up here. I have -not drawn a cent from Uncle Sam, so he owes -me a year’s wages and better, as well as a lot -of prize money. The commodore dispatched a -vessel to New Orleans with his report of the -loss of the <i>Hatteras</i>, and I was permitted to -take passage on her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did you feel when you found yourself -in a strange city with no money in your -pocket and no friends to go to?” inquired -Ned Griffin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t think much about it, because I -never let a little thing like that worry me,” -said Jack with another laugh. “I did not by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>any means intend to go hungry, or sleep on the -Levee, if my pockets were empty. There were -several of our vessels in the river, and I knew -I could ship whenever I felt like it; but I had -made up my mind that I would not go afloat -again until I had said ‘hello!’ to my relatives -up here in Mooreville.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first boat that left the dispatch steamer -took Jack ashore and landed him on the Levee -among some river craft that belonged to the -quartermaster’s department of Banks’ army. -Being a deep-water man he did not bestow -more than a passing glance upon them, but -turned his face toward the docks above at -which a large fleet of sea-going vessels was -moored; and as he walked he kept a bright -lookout for two things—a sailorman who could -tell him what had happened in the world since -he left it (being on the blockade Jack thought -was almost as bad as being out of the world), -and a soldier who could direct him to the -office of the provost marshal. As he stepped -from the Levee to the nearest dock his gaze became -riveted upon a rakish looking fore-and-aft -schooner that lay there discharging a miscellaneous -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>cargo. She looked familiar to him. -She was painted white with a green stripe at -her water-line, and bore the name “<i>Hyperion</i>, -Portland,” on her stern; but Jack Gray was -positive that he had known and sailed on her -when she was painted black with a red stripe -at the water-line, and went by a very different -name. He dodged up the after gang-plank -to the deck and took another look. He -had had charge of that deck more than once. -Everything on and about it was familiar to -him, not excepting the face of the lank Yankee -skipper, whose head and shoulders at that moment -emerged from the companion-way. Jack -turned about and approached him with a -comical smile on his countenance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Want a pilot this trip, Captain Frazier?” -said he.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I don’t,” was the surly reply. He -looked searchingly into Jack’s face, but could -not remember that he had ever seen him -before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No offence, I hope,” continued the latter. -“But I served you so well before that I think -you might give me a lift when you see me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>stranded here without a shot in the locker. -I took the <i>West Wind</i> through Oregon Inlet -when——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Gray—Jack!” said the captain, in an -excited whisper. “Sh! Not another word out -of you; not a whimper. Come below with -me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Shaking all over with suppressed merriment -Jack Gray followed the skipper down the -stairs and into the cabin, the door of which -was quickly but softly closed and locked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down,” continued the captain. “And -if you care a cent for me don’t speak above -your breath. Where have you been? That -uniform says you belong to the navy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did, but I don’t belong now,” replied -Jack. “Shortly after I made that trip with -you I shipped for a year, but have been kept -over my time. I have been on the blockade, -and have helped capture many a fine craft like -this one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sh! Don’t speak so loud,” whispered -Captain Frazier, for it was he. “But you -couldn’t do harm to this craft now, for she is -engaged in honest business.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>“No private ventures stowed away among -her cargo?” said Jack.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nary venture. There’s no need of it, for I -make money hand over fist in an honest way. -I am a cotton trader. Got a permit and everything -all square. And cotton will be worth a -dollar a pound by the time I get back to New -York.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you pay for it here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That depends on the man I am dealing -with. If he is a Union man I give him from -seven to ten cents in greenbacks, which will -buy eighty per cent. more stuff than Confederate -scrip. If he is a good rebel, or if he is surrounded -by rebel neighbors who are keeping -an eye on his movements, I give him ten cents -in rebel money.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where do you get rebel money?” asked -Jack.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Anywhere—everywhere. I can get all I -want for thirty cents on a dollar, and have -bought some as low as twenty. It will be -lower than that in less than a month. But, -mind you, no one around here knows that I -have been a blockade runner. And I am not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>at the head of this business. My Boston -owners are doing it all and I am simply their -agent. But are you really aground?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never told a straighter story in my life,” -answered Jack, who went on to describe how -he happened to be in that condition. When -his hasty narrative was finished Captain -Frazier said:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s always room aboard my schooner -for such a sailorman as I know you to be, and -if you want to sign with me as my chief officer -I shall be glad to have you. And you must -let me advance you money enough to provide -for your immediate wants.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Jack reached this part of his story -Rodney knew where that blue suit came from.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VIII. <br /> <span class='small'>BAD NEWS FROM MARCY.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>Sailor Jack and his old commander -spent two hours locked in the <i>Hyperion’s</i> -cabin, and if a stranger could have seen how -very cordial and friendly they were, or had -heard the peals of laughter that arose when -one or the other described some amusing scene -through which he had passed since they last -met, he never would have dreamed that one -had risked life and liberty in doing what he -could to put down the rebellion, while the -other had run an equal risk in bringing aid -and comfort to it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Frazier had been a daring and successful -blockade runner as long as his Boston -owners could make money by it, and there -were not many cruisers on the Atlantic coast -that had not, at one time or another, sighted -and given chase to the fleet <i>West Wind</i>, nor -were there very many officers and sailormen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>who could not recognize her as far as they -could see her. When light swift steamers -were added to the blockading fleet the business -became too uncertain and dangerous to -be longer followed, and Captain Frazier was -honest enough to say that he was glad to stop -it, for, being a Yankee, he had never had any -heart for it any way.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the Mississippi was cleared as far as -Port Hudson, and all that immense cotton -country on both sides the river was thrown -open to traffic, Captain Frazier’s owners saw -an opportunity to do business in an honest -way and were prompt to improve it. Armed -with a pocketful of credentials one of the firm -hastened to New Orleans to obtain a permit -to trade in cotton, and the <i>West Wind</i> was -ordered to a neutral port “for repairs.” -When she again appeared on the high seas -she did not look at all like herself, and even -her name had been changed. She went to -Portland, Me., and stayed there long enough -to get a charter, and then sailed to Boston and -loaded up with commissary stores for Banks’ -army. On the way down she was boarded by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>more than one officer who had chased her -when she was a blockade runner, and now she -was in New Orleans (safe, too, although surrounded -by Federal war ships) and making -ready to take a cargo of cotton to New York.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I grew ten years older during the twelve -months I was engaged in running the blockade,” -said Captain Frazier, in concluding his -story, “but I had lots of fun and saw no end -of excitement. And now to come back to -business. Didn’t I hear you say, while you -were serving as pilot and second mate of the -<i>West Wind</i>, that you have relatives here in -Louisiana and that they raise cotton? I -thought so. Well, now, have they got any -that they want to sell?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know; but I can find out. I did -not intend to leave this country without seeing -them. How far is Baton Rouge above -here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not far; a hundred and fifty miles, I -should say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, if I can get there and obtain a pass -that will take me through the lines as far as -Mooreville, I can easily find them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>“You can get there, and I’ll see that you -have a bushel of passes if you need them. If -they’ve got any cotton I want it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can’t have it, captain, for any such -price as you have been paying others. I’ll -not stand by and see my uncle gouged in any -such way as that. And I shall hold out for -greenbacks, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly; of course. That’s all right; -but as for the price, I guess you will take -what I please to——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Frazier stopped and looked hard -at Jack, who gazed fixedly at him in -return. Each knew what the other was -thinking of.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know that my uncle Rodney has -any cotton,” continued Jack. “But if he -has, you can afford to give him at least -twenty-five cents a pound, greenback money, -for it. He is bound to lose his niggers, and, if -he is robbed of his cotton, what will he have -to start on when the war is over?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Judging by the way you look out for the -pennies you’re as much of a Yankee as I am,” -said Captain Frazier with a laugh. “You’ll -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>swamp my owners at this rate; but seeing it’s -you, I suppose I shall have to submit to be -robbed myself. Now listen while I tell you -something. General Banks came here on purpose -to take Port Hudson, Grant is coming -down to capture Vicksburg, and when the -Mississippi is open from Memphis to the sea -there’ll be a fortune for the first man who is -lucky enough to get a permit to trade in cotton -on the river. My agent, who has an office -ashore and to whom I will introduce you this -afternoon, has heard enough to satisfy him -that there are half a million bales concealed in -the woods and swamps along the river, and -that the owners, both Union and rebel, are -eager to sell before the Confederate government -has a chance to destroy it; and they -would rather sell it for a small sum in good -money than for ten times the amount in such -money as they grind out at Richmond. Now, -my idea is to charter a river steamer—a light-draught -one—so that she can run up any small -tributary, and put a man with a business head -on board of her with instructions to buy every -pound of cotton he can hear of between this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>port and Memphis. How would you like the -berth?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That depends on whether or not I can be -of any service to my uncle and his friends,” -replied Jack. “What is there in it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A big commission or a salary, just as you -please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The matter wasn’t settled either one way or -the other at this interview. Jack took dinner -with Captain Frazier and went ashore with -him in the afternoon to be introduced to the -“agent,” who wasn’t an agent at all, but the -head of a branch house which the enterprising -Boston firm had established in New Orleans. -He might properly have been called a cotton -factor. When the captain told him who and -what Jack was, and what he had done to make -the firm’s first venture in contraband goods -successful, adding that he was going up to -Baton Rouge to see whether or not there was -any cotton to be had at or near that place, the -agent became interested, and promised to -assist Jack by every means in his power.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t see how a civilian could help me -along with the military authorities,” said -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>Jack, in concluding his interesting narrative, -“but I wasn’t long in finding out. The agent, -as I shall always speak of him, gave me a letter -to the provost marshal in New Orleans and -another to the officer holding the same position -in Baton Rouge, and those letters made -things smooth for me. I supposed, of course, -that I should have to foot it from the city to -Mooreville, but the marshal kindly furnished -me with a horse to ride, the only condition -imposed being that I should send it back the -first good chance I got. Captain Frazier advanced -me money to buy a citizen’s outfit and -pay travelling expenses, and here I am.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And right glad I am to see you,” said Rodney, -as Jack settled back in his chair with an -air which seemed to say that he had finished -his story at last. “But you are a slick one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more so than some other folks,” retorted -Jack. “It’s a wonder you have not -brought yourself into serious trouble by your -smuggling and giving aid to escaped prisoners.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Jack, I assure you that we were in -sore need of the things I have smuggled -through the lines,” said Rodney earnestly. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>“We couldn’t possibly get along without -them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And neither can I get along without making -this war refund to my mother every dollar -she is likely to lose by it,” answered his -cousin. “The whole South is going to be impoverished -before this thing is over. My folks -had no hand in bringing these troubles upon -us, and I don’t mean that they shall suffer -through the folly of a few fanatics, if I can -help it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Jack, you will take up with the -agent’s offer and put a trading boat on the -river, will you not?” said Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Port Hudson and Vicksburg have not been -captured yet,” suggested Mrs. Gray.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, but they’re going to be,” said Jack -confidently. “And until that happens I -might better be at home than anywhere else, -for I can’t do anything here. If I find that -mother and Marcy are getting on all right, you -have my promise that I will return and do my -best to get your four hundred bales to market.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bully for you,” exclaimed Rodney joyfully. -“You <i>are</i> just the man we wanted to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>see after all. I wish you could take the cotton -to-night, don’t you, father?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I will speak to -the agent and Captain Frazier about it, and -see if I can induce them to send a boat after -your cotton, so that the <i>Hyperion</i> can take it -out on her next trip. I might have made some -such arrangement before I left New Orleans, -but I didn’t know whether or not you had -any cotton. What’s become of those bushwhackers -of whom Uncle Rodney has given -me an interesting account?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you mean Lambert and his men? -I suppose they are still hiding in the swamp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Protecting your cotton?” added Jack. -“Well, they’ll have to be ‘neutralized,’ as -McClellan said of the <i>Merrimac</i>. As I understand -it, those bushwhackers don’t mean that -you or anybody else shall touch that cotton -unless they can make something by it. It’s -a little the queerest thing I ever heard of, but -so far they seem to have been your best friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have been studying about that a good -deal,” answered Rodney. “And the conclusion -I have come to is that when we get ready -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span><a id='corr204.1'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='take'>to take</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_204.1'><ins class='correction' title='take'>to take</ins></a></span> charge of our property, and not before, -we’ll have to get rid of Lambert in some manner. -He is the leader, and if he were out of -the way I think his men would scatter. I’ll -make a prisoner of him if father will consent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Rodney, you must not attempt it,” -exclaimed his mother. “Lambert has the reputation -of being a dangerous man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know where or how he came by -that reputation,” said the boy with a smile. -“I know he is treacherous, and if I should -make the attempt and fail, I should have to -look out for him. He’d as soon bushwhack me -as anybody else. But I don’t intend to fail.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sailor Jack’s time was so short, and there -were so many other things to be talked about, -that this matter was presently dropped, to be -taken up again and settled at some future day. -When Jack started for Baton Rouge the next -morning, with his uncle and cousin for company, -the only conclusion they had been able -to reach was that Mr. Gray should hold fast to -his cotton, if he could, until he heard from -Jack, who would forward his letter under cover -to the provost marshal in Baton Rouge so that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>it would be sure to reach its destination. If it -were sent to the care of Rodney’s Confederate -friend, Mr. Martin, the Federal authorities -might not take the trouble to deliver it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next step was to obtain the provost -marshal’s consent to the arrangement, and -that was easily done. He knew that Jack had -risked his life for the Union, and that his cousin -lent a helping hand to escaped prisoners -as often as the opportunity was presented; so -he readily promised to take charge of all the -letters that came from the North addressed to -Rodney Gray, and hand them over without -reading them. He gave Jack a pass authorizing -him to leave the city on business, and a -note to the quartermaster which brought him -a permit to take passage for New Orleans on -one of the steamers attached to the quartermaster’s -department. Rodney and his father -saw him off and then turned their faces toward -the hospitable home of Mr. Martin, where they -were to remain until morning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was just no visit at all,” said Rodney -in a discouraged tone. “When Jack said he -was a trader and that he had influential friends, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>I wouldn’t have taken anything I can think -of now for our chances of getting that cotton -off our hands. As the matter stands, everything -depends on ‘ifs.’ <i>If</i> Marcy and his -mother are getting on all right, and <i>if</i> Jack -decides to come back and take up with Captain -Frazier’s offer, we shall have a show; otherwise -not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This state of affairs was galling to Rodney -Gray, who could not bear to be kept in suspense; -but exciting events were transpiring -up the river every day, and in trying to keep -track of them Rodney lost sight of his troubles -for a brief season. General Grant, who had -taken command of the army that was operating -against Vicksburg, had gone to work as if -he were thoroughly in earnest, and there wasn’t -a soldier under him who was more anxious for -his complete triumph than was this ex-Confederate -hero of ours. Rodney was soldier -enough to know that neither Vicksburg nor -Port Hudson could be taken by assault, and -that they could not be starved into surrender -so long as supplies of every sort could be run -into them from the Red River country. They -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>must be surrounded on the river side as well -as on the land side, and Rodney was impatient -to learn what General Grant was going to do -about it. Fortunately the latter had an able -assistant in David D. Porter, who had commanded -Farragut’s mortar schooners at New -Orleans. He was now an acting rear admiral -and commanded the Mississippi squadron, and -most loyally did he second General Grant in -his efforts to capture the rebel stronghold.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The very first move Porter made excited -Rodney’s unbounded admiration and made -his heart beat high with hope. He ordered -the ram <i>Queen of the West</i> to run the batteries -and destroy the transports that were engaged -in bringing supplies to Vicksburg. Owing to -some trouble with her steering gear it was -broad daylight when the ram started on her -dangerous mission, and she was a fair target -for the hundred heavy guns which the rebels -had mounted on the bluffs. But she went -through, stopping on the way long enough to -make a desperate attempt to sink the steamer -<i>Vicksburg</i>, which the rebels, after General -Sherman’s defeat at Chickasaw Bayou, had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>brought down from the Yazoo to be made into -a gunboat. She failed in that, but ran by the -batteries without receiving much injury, and -began operations by capturing a steamer -which she kept with her as tender, and burning -three others that were loaded with provisions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If she keeps that up Vicksburg is a -goner,” said Rodney to his friend Ned -Griffin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One would think you are glad of it,” said -the latter. “That’s a pretty way for a rebel -soldier to talk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Rebel soldier no longer,” replied Rodney. -“I know when I have had enough. I’m -whipped, and now I want the war to end. It’s -bound to come some of these days, and I wish -it might come this minute.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But unfortunately the <i>Queen</i> did not “keep -it up” as Rodney hoped she would. As long -as her commander obeyed orders and devoted -his attention to transports, he was successful; -but when he got it into his head that he could -whip a fort with his single wooden vessel, he -ruined himself just as Semmes did when he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>thought he could beat a war ship in a fair -fight, because he had sunk one weak blockader -and burned sixty-five defenceless merchantmen. -Colonel Ellet, who commanded the -<i>Queen</i>, ran up Red River, where he captured -the <i>New Era</i> with a squad of Texas soldiers, -twenty-eight thousand dollars in Confederate -money, and five thousand bushels of corn; and -flushed with victory ran up twenty miles -farther to the fort—and lost his vessel. He -escaped with a few of his men, but the ram -fell into the hands of the enemy, who repaired -her in time to assist the <i>Webb</i> in sinking the -<i>Indianola</i>—a fine new iron-clad that had run -the Vicksburg batteries without receiving a -scratch. Then all the rebels in Rodney’s -vicinity were jubilant, and Rodney himself -was correspondingly depressed. On the day -the unwelcome news came Lambert rode into -the yard on his way home from Mooreville. -He wasn’t afraid to go there now that there -was no conscript officer to trouble him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I heered about it,” he said, in answer to -an inquiry from the anxious Rodney. “We -allow to raise that there fine iron-clad, an’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>show the Yanks what sort of fighting she can -do when she’s in the hands of men. That’ll -make three good ships we’ll have, an’ with -them we can easy clean out the Yankee fleet -at Vicksburg.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>That was just what Rodney knew the rebels -would try to do, and their exploit with the -<i>Arkansas</i> proved that they were at all times -ready to take desperate chances. Lambert -never would have thought of such a thing himself, -so he must have been talking with someone -who was pretty well informed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you mean by <i>we</i>?” asked -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I heered Tom Randolph an’ others among -’em discussin’ the projec’ down to the store,” -replied Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tom Randolph! He’s a pretty fellow to -talk of cleaning anybody out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I thought. He never had no -pluck ’ceptin’ on the day he drawed his sword -on me. An’ he never would ’a’ done it if his -maw hadn’t been right there to his elbow. I -aint likely to disremember him for that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you took an ample revenge by burning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>his father’s cotton, did you not? Lambert, -that was a cowardly thing for you to do.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney’s tone was so positive that the ex-Home -Guard did not attempt to deny the -accusation. “Who’s been a-carryin’ tales on -me?” he demanded. “I want you to understand -that nobody can’t draw a sword on me -an’ shake it in my face too, like Tom Randolph -done. I just dropped in to see if you -could let me have a side of bacon this evenin’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without making any reply Rodney arose -from his chair and led the way toward the -smoke-house. While he was taking down the -bacon Lambert kept up an incessant talking to -prevent him from saying more about Mr. Randolph’s -cotton, and when Rodney handed the -meat out of the door he wheeled his mule and -rode quickly away; but he had said enough to -make the boy very uneasy. How long would -it be before he would avenge some fancied insult -by touching a match to Mr. Gray’s cotton?</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the next few days Rodney did not -do much overseer’s work on his plantation, -and neither did Ned Griffin. To quote from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>the latter they became first-class all-around -loafers; and so anxious were they to miss no -item of news which might have come down -from Vicksburg that they visited every man -in the neighborhood who was known to have -made a recent trip to Baton Rouge or have a -late paper in his possession, and the information -they picked up during their rides was far -from encouraging. There was a heavy force of -men at work upon the sunken iron-clad, as -well as upon the <i>Webb</i>, which had been seriously -injured during her fight with the -<i>Indianola</i>, and when the latter was raised and -the other fully repaired, the control of the -river below Vicksburg would be fairly within -the grasp of the Confederates. If Porter sent -a few more boats below the batteries to be -captured, the rebels would soon have a powerful -and almost irresistible fleet; but in this -hope they were destined to be disappointed, -as they had been in many others.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It so happened that the next boat to pass -under the iron hail of Vicksburg’s guns was -very different from the <i>Indianola</i>. The -papers described her as a “turreted monster—the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>most formidable thing in the shape of an -iron-clad that had ever been seen in the Western -waters.” It was just daylight when the -Confederate gunners discovered her moving -slowly down with the current, and the fire that -was poured upon her by almost eighteen miles -of batteries ought, by rights, to have sunk -anything in the form of a gunboat that ever -floated; but the monster, with the heavy -black smoke rolling from her chimneys, passed -safely on through the whole of it without -firing a single gun in reply, and disappeared -from view. Then there was excitement in -Vicksburg and in Richmond too, for the news -went to the capital as quickly as the telegraph -could take it. The <i>Queen of the West</i>, which -now floated the Confederate flag and had come -up to Warrenton to see how her friends were -getting on, turned and took to her heels, and -orders were sent down the river to have the -<i>Indianola</i> blown up without delay, so that she -might not be recaptured by this new enemy. -The order was obeyed, and the powerful iron-clad -which might have given a better account -of herself in rebel hands than she did while in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>possession of her lawful owners, was once more -sent to the bottom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Meanwhile the turreted monster held silently -on her way, moving as rapidly as a five-mile -current could take her, and at last grounded -on a sand-bar. Not till then did the rebels -awake to the fact that they had been deceived. -When they found courage enough to go -aboard of her they saw, to their amazement -and chagrin, that she was not a gunboat at all, -but a coal-barge that had been fitted up to -represent one. She had been set afloat for the -purpose of bringing out the whole fire of the -batteries, so that Admiral Porter and General -Grant, who had decided to effect a lodgement -below the city, might know just how severe -would be the cannonade that their vessels -would be subjected to. Of course the Confederates -were angry over the loss of the -<i>Indianola</i>, but the soldiers of Grant’s army, -who had thronged the bank on the Louisiana -side and shouted and laughed to see the fun, -looked upon the whole affair as the best kind -of a joke. In speaking of it in his report -Admiral Porter said: “An old coal-barge -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>picked up in the river was the foundation we -had to build on. The casemates were made of -old boards in twelve hours, with empty pork-barrels -on top of each other for smoke-stacks -and two old canoes for quarter-boats. Her -furnaces were built of mud, and were only -intended to make black smoke instead of -steam.” This was the contrivance which -frightened the rebels into destroying the finest -gunboat that ever fell into their hands, and -which is known to history as “Porter’s -dummy.” The enemy’s chances for getting -control of the river were farther off than -before, and Rodney said he would surely see -the day when his cousin’s trading boat would -be making regular trips up and down the -Mississippi.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But do you suppose the rebels will throw -no obstacles in your way?” demanded Ned -Griffin. “Do you imagine that they will let -you run off cotton at your pleasure? When -Vicksburg and Port Hudson fall the river will -be lined with guerillas, and some day they -will burn your trading boat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Taken in connection with what happened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>afterward these words of Ned’s seemed almost -prophetic.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having become satisfied that the rebels were -not going to build up a navy in the river as -they fondly hoped to do, Rodney began to -think more about his absent cousin and the -letters he had promised to write. The first -one that came through the hands of the provost -marshal was mailed at New Orleans and -did not contain a word that was encouraging. -Captain Frazier’s agent could not put a boat -on the river just now for three reasons: He -couldn’t get a permit, it wouldn’t be a safe -venture at this stage of the game, and he had -as much cotton on hand already as he could -attend to.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That hope is knocked in the head,” said -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is no more than I expected,” replied -Mr. Gray, after he had read the letter. “Saving -that cotton is going to be the hardest task -you ever set for yourself. Others have been -ruined by this terrible and utterly useless war, -and why should we think to escape? Let us -keep our many blessings constantly in mind, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>and spend less time in worrying over the -troubles that may come upon us in the future. -None of our family have been killed or sent to -prison, and isn’t that something to be thankful -for?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Mr. Gray might have added that -another thing to be grateful for was the fact -that the family had not become bitter enemies, -as was the case with some whose members had -fought under the opposing flags. Jack and -Marcy were strong for the Union, and Rodney -had been the hottest kind of a rebel; but that -made no sort of change in the affectionate -regard they had always cherished for one -another. Some Union men bushwhacked -their rebel neighbors, and some Confederate -guerillas relentlessly persecuted their Union -relatives; but there was no such feeling in the -family whose boys have been the heroes of -this series of books. Consequently, when the -next letter came from Jack, written at his -home in far-away North Carolina, and containing -the startling intelligence that Marcy -Gray had been forced into the rebel army in -spite of all his efforts to keep out of it, Rodney -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>was as angry a boy as you ever saw, while -his father and mother could hardly have -expressed more sorrow if they had heard that -Marcy had been killed. The paragraph in -Jack’s letter which contained the bad news -read as follows:</p> - -<p class='c001'>"I almost wish I hadn’t been so anxious to -see home and friends once more, for no news -at all is better than the crushing words mother -said to me as soon as I got into the house. I -wished I had stayed in the service; and if I -ever go back you may rest assured that I shall -fight harder than I did before to put down -this rebellion. Poor Marcy wasn’t here to -welcome me. He was surprised and captured -in mother’s presence, thrust into the common -jail at Williamston, and finally shipped south -with a lot of other conscripts, to act as guard -at that horrible prison-pen at Millen, Ga. -For months Marcy had been a refugee, living -in the swamp with a few other Union men and -boys who hid there to escape being forced into -the army, and until a few weeks ago he beat -Beardsley, Shelby, Dillon, and the rest at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>every job they tried to put up on him; but he -was caught napping at last, and I never -expect to see or hear of him again. Mother is -almost broken-hearted, but being a woman she -bears up under it better than I do. But -hasn’t there been a time here since Marcy was -dragged away! The work was done by -strange soldiers, but Marcy’s friends knew -who was to blame for it, and took vengeance -immediately. The three men whose names I -have mentioned were burned out so completely -that they didn’t have even a nigger cabin to -go into, and two pestiferous little snipes, Tom -Allison and Mark Goodwin by name, whose -tongues have kept the settlement in a constant -turmoil, were bushwhacked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will write you fuller particulars after a -while, but just now I am rather ‘shuck up.’ -Of course this upsets all my plans; my place -is at home with mother. I inclose Captain -Frazier’s card, to which I have appended his -New Orleans address. I told him all about -your cotton, and he and the agent will be only -too glad to help you get it to market as soon -as they think it safe to make the attempt. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>You can trust them, but be sure and hold out -for twenty-five cents, greenback money. Captain -Frazier promised me he would give it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The rest of the page was filled with loving -messages from Marcy’s sorrowing mother, and -at the bottom was a hasty scrawl that stood -for Sailor Jack’s name.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Gray brought this letter from Baton -Rouge, and finding Rodney at home with his -mother, gave it to him to read aloud. The -boy’s voice became husky before he read half -a dozen lines, and Mrs. Gray’s eyes were filled -with tears. When it was finished Rodney -handed it back to his father with the remark:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am a good deal of Jack’s opinion that -we shall never see or hear of Marcy again. I -know by experience that the petty tyrants we -call officers make the service so hard that a -volunteer can scarcely stand it, and how much -mercy do you think they will have on a conscript? -They would as soon kill him as to -look at him. No better fellow than Marcy -ever lived, and to think that I—I deserve killing -myself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>Rodney arose hastily from his chair, staggered -up to the room he still called his own, -threw himself upon the bed and buried his -tear-stained face in his hands. He had not -forgotten, he never would forget, that episode -at the Barrington Military Academy in which -Bud Goble and his minute-men bore prominent -parts. Marcy had freely forgiven him -for what he did to bring it about, but it was -always fresh in Rodney’s mind. How terribly -the memory of it tortured him now!</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER IX. <br /> <span class='small'>RODNEY IS ASTONISHED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>Rodney Gray had promised himself no -end of pleasurable excitement when his -sailor cousin returned to take command of -a trading boat on the river, for he had made -up his mind that he would accompany Jack -wherever he went. He was as well satisfied as -Ned Griffin was that the fall of Vicksburg and -Port Hudson would be the signal for instant -and increased activity among the guerillas -who infested the country as far up as New -Madrid, and that picking up cotton along the -river with an unarmed boat would be a hazardous -undertaking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Mississippi is the most tortuous of -rivers, and there is none in the world better -adapted to guerilla warfare. Frequently the -distance a steamer has to traverse in going -around a bend is from twelve to thirty times -greater than it is in a direct line across the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>country. The great bend at Napoleon is a -notable example. A steamboat has to run -fifteen miles to get around it, while the neck -of land that makes the bend is but a mile -wide. This was a famous guerilla station -during the war until Commander Selfridge -cut a ditch across the neck and turned the -Mississippi into a new channel. A band of -guerillas, with a howitzer or two mounted in -wagons, would fire into a transport at the -upper end of the bend (they seldom troubled -armed steamers), and failing to sink or disable -her there, would travel leisurely across the -country and be ready to try it again when the -steamboat arrived at the lower end. What -made this sort of warfare particularly exasperating -was the fact that the guerillas did -not live along the river, but came from remote -points, fifty or a hundred miles back in the -country. If a gunboat hove in sight they -would take to their heels; and if the gunboat -landed a company or two of small-arm men -and burned the nearest dwellings, as all gunboats -were ordered to do in cases like the one -we are supposing, the chances were that they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>punished people who were no more to blame -for what the guerillas did than you or your -chum.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The majority of the men who carried on this -style of fighting were worthless fellows, like -Lambert and Moseley, who had everything to -make and nothing to lose by it; and we may -anticipate events a little by saying that they -came to look upon trading boats as their legitimate -prey. If there was a fortune for the man -who was lucky enough to get a permit to trade -in cotton, there was also plenty of danger for -him. Rodney would have entered upon this -adventurous life with the same enthusiasm he -exhibited when he set out for the North to aid -in “driving the Yankees out of Missouri,” -but there was little prospect that he would -ever see any of it now that Jack had decided -to remain at home with his mother. To do -him justice he did not mourn over his disappointment, -or the possible loss of his father’s -cotton, as he did over the dire misfortune that -had befallen his cousin Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish I stood in his shoes this minute, -and that he stood in mine,” Rodney said to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>his mother more than once. “I could stand -the hard knocks he is likely to receive, but -Marcy can’t.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Remembering that Jack had promised to -send “fuller particulars” when he felt more -in the humor for writing, Rodney spent more -time in riding to and from the provost marshal’s -office than he did in managing his plantation, -but that official had received no letters for him. -In the meantime the situation at Vicksburg -grew more encouraging every day. Severe -battles had been fought and the soldiers of -the Union, always victorious, had gained a -footing below Vicksburg where there was no -water to interfere with their movements, as -there was in the inundated Yazoo country, and -Colonel Grierson, at the head of seventeen -hundred cavalry, was raiding through the -State in the direction of Baton Rouge, stealing -nothing but fresh horses and food for his men, -but thrashing the rebels whenever he met -them (except on one occasion when he lost -seven hundred men in a single engagement), -cutting railroads and telegraph lines in every -direction, and destroying commissary trains -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>and depots by the score. It was this famous -raid which first “demonstrated that the Confederacy -was but a shell, strong on the outside -by reason of its organized armies, but hollow -within and destitute of resources to sustain, -or of strength to recruit these armies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They say he’s coming sure enough,” remarked -Ned Griffin one day, “although in -some places he has had to ride over wide -stretches of country where the water stood six -feet deep on a level. That’s pluck. What are -you going to do with our exemption bacon?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And our horses,” added Rodney. “If -the Yanks are hungry when they reach this -plantation, they can take the exemption bacon -and welcome. I’d much rather they should -have it than it should go to feed rebels. But -our horses they can’t have; or at least they’ll -have to hunt for them before they get them. -Where is Grierson now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They’ve got the report in Mooreville that -he was last heard from up about Port Hudson,” -replied Ned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then we’ve no time to lose,” said Rodney. -“His scouts, of course, are a long way ahead -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>of him, and may be here any hour. Let’s take -care of the horses the first thing we do. -There’s nothing else on your place or mine -worth stealing, unless it is the bacon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The boys were none too soon in looking out -for their riding nags, for the expected scouts -arrived the next morning about breakfast -time, and although Rodney had seen some -dusty, dirty, and ragged soldiers in his day, he -told himself that these rough-riding Yankees, -who threw down his bars and rode into the -yard as though they had a perfect right there, -would bear off the palm. They were a jovial, -good-natured lot, however, and well they -might be; for their long raid from La Grange, -Tenn., was nearly finished. Another night -would see them safely quartered among their -friends in Baton Rouge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hallo, Johnny,” was the way in which the -foremost soldier greeted Rodney, who advanced -to meet the raiders. “Where’s your well or -spring or whatever it is you get drinking water -from? Any graybacks around here? Trot -out your guns and things of that sort, and save -us the trouble of looking for them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>“The well is around there,” replied Rodney, -jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “And -there’s nothing in the house more dangerous -than a case-knife. If you don’t believe it, look -and see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This invitation was quite superfluous, for -some of the raiders, who had ridden around to -the well and dismounted, were in the house -almost before Rodney ceased speaking. He -heard their heavy footsteps in the hall in -which his black housekeeper had just finished -laying the breakfast, and when he turned -about they had cleared the table of the victuals -they found on it, and one was in the act of -draining the coffee-pot.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are all your horses, Johnny?” -asked the latter, as he put down his empty -cup. “Mine’s played out, and I must have -another.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll not find him on this plantation,” -was the reply. “General Breckenridge’s men -passed through here not long ago, and that -means that there are few horses in the country. -If yours has given out you will have to take -a mule or walk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>“How does it come that you are not in the -army?” inquired another, with his mouth full -of bacon and corn pone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve been there, but you Yanks whipped -me so bad I was glad to get home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>By this time the lieutenant in command of -the troopers had made himself known, and to -him Rodney presented his papers, which included -his discharge, standing pass from the -provost marshal, and his permit to trade within -the Union lines. As he handed the papers to -the officer his attention was drawn to two persons -near him, who were by far the most dilapidated -specimens of humanity Rodney had -ever seen. Every line of their faces was indicative -of exposure and suffering, and their -clothing, what little they wore, looked as -though it might fall in pieces at any moment. -They were plainly fit candidates for the hospital, -and it was a mystery to Rodney how -they managed to keep the heavy infantry muskets -which rested across their saddles from -slipping out of their grasp. By the time he -made these observations the lieutenant had -read the first line of the pass, which happened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>to be the first paper he opened, and when he -saw the name it bore he looked at one of the -dilapidated specimens of whom we have spoken -and said, with a grin:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you have been telling a straight story, -Johnny, how does it come that you don’t -recognize your cousin when you see him standing -before your face and eyes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney Gray was utterly confounded. He -looked at the officer and then at the person to -whom the words were addressed, but he could -not speak until he heard the reply given in -a familiar voice:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have told you nothing but the truth, sir, -and if that is Rodney Gray he will bear me -out in everything I have said.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sick and exhausted stranger reeled -about on his mule for an instant, his musket -fell to the ground, and he would have followed -headlong if Rodney had not sprung -forward and received him in his arms. He -eased him tenderly to the ground, supported -his head on one knee, and looked up at the -lieutenant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who is it?” he asked in a husky voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>“He says his name is Marcy Gray, that he -lives in North Carolina, and is an escaped conscript,” -was the answer. “That’s all I know -about him. Captain Forbes picked him and -his partner up somewhere about Enterprise, -and they’ve been with us ever since.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney took one more glance at the white -face on his knee, and then raised the limp, -almost lifeless form in his arms, carried it -into the house, and laid it on his own bed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I said you could never stand the hard -knocks that would be given to a conscript, -and I reckon you’ve found it out, haven’t -you?” were the first words he spoke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Marcy—Rodney began to believe now -that it was really his cousin Marcy who had -come to him in this strange way, though he -never would have suspected it if the officer had -not told him so—did not even whisper a reply. -He never moved a finger, but lay motionless -where Rodney had placed him. He was so -still, his face was so white, and his faint breath -came at so long intervals that Rodney feared -he was already past such help as he could give -him; and it was not until half a bucket of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>water had been dashed into his face, a cupful -at a time, that he began showing any signs of -life. Then he put his arms around his cousin’s -neck and drew the latter’s tanned face close -to his own white one; but it was very little -strength he could put into the embrace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Rodney, I am so tired,” he said, in a -scarcely audible whisper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s a wonder you are not dead,” replied -his cousin in a choking voice. “I never -thought to see you again, but you are all right -now. Every Yank in this country is my -friend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then look out for Charley, and don’t let -them hurt him,” whispered Marcy, for he was -too weak to talk. “They haven’t been very -civil to us, for they think we are spies sent out -to draw them into ambush.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You look like it, I must say,” exclaimed -Rodney. “But who is Charley?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Charley Bowen, my partner; the man -who escaped when I did, and who has stuck to -me like a brother through it all. He knows -the country, and if it hadn’t been for him I -wouldn’t have got ten miles from the stockade. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>Give me a big drink of water, and then go out -and say a good word for him. Bring him in -if they will let you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After Marcy had drained the cup that was -held to his lips Rodney hastened out to see -what he could do for Charley, and to secure -his papers, which were worth more than their -weight in gold to him. He found them on the -gallery where the lieutenant had left them, and -the lieutenant himself was in the back yard -looking on while one of the soldiers shifted his -saddle from his broken-down beast to the back -of one of Rodney’s plough-mules, all of which -had been brought in from the field.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A fair exchange is no robbery, Johnny,” -said the officer, as Rodney approached him. -“And besides, you get the butt end of this -trade. My mule is bigger than yours, and -will be better and stronger after he has had a -rest and a chance to fill out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What are you going to do with those conscripts?” -inquired Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I haven’t orders to do anything with -them,” answered the lieutenant. “But of -course I am expected to take them to Baton -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>Rouge and turn them over to the provost -marshal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why can’t you leave them here with me? -I will look out for them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And you a discharged rebel? You’re a -cool one, Johnny.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that boy in the house is my cousin, -and as strong for the Union as you or any -man in your squad. Besides, he is ill and -can’t go any farther, and he wants his partner -to stay with him. If the provost marshal -doesn’t tell you that I am all right with the -authorities in Baton Rouge, you can come -back here and get him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are very kind; but we are not -making any excursions into the country just -for the fun of the thing. We have ridden -far enough already. What’s the matter out -there, Allen?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Big dust up the road, sir,” replied the -soldier who had been left at the bars. “Coming -fast too, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Boots and saddles!” exclaimed the lieutenant, -throwing himself on the back of Rodney’s -plough-mule. “Sergeant, form skirmish-line -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>among the trees to the right of the -house.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re taking trouble for nothing,” said -Rodney. “There are no rebs about here. -That’s a Yankee scouting party from Baton -Rouge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lieutenant didn’t know whether it was -or not, and so, like a good soldier, he made -ready to fight, and to send word to his superior -in the rear if he found himself confronted by -a force of the enemy too strong for him to -withstand. He kept his eye on the sentry, -who had faced his horse toward the bars in -readiness to dash through them and join his -comrades if the rapidly approaching squad -proved to be rebels, but he did not retreat, -nor did he discharge his carbine, which he -held at “arms port.” He stuck to his post -until the foremost of the squad rode into -view around a turn in the road and then -called out:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who comes there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney did not hear the reply, and the challenged -parties were concealed from his sight -by trees and bushes; but he knew they were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>Federal troopers when he heard the sentry -continue:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Halt! Dismount! Advance one friend -and give an account of yourself.” Then he -waved his hand toward the house as a signal -for some officer to come out and receive the -report.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lieutenant answered the signal and -Rodney went with him; and when he reached -the bars whom should he see standing in the -road talking to the sentry but the corporal of -the —th Michigan cavalry, who seemed to -have a way of turning up most opportunely. -He shook hands with Rodney, and told the -lieutenant that he had been sent out with a -few men to see if he could learn anything -about Colonel Grierson, who ought to have -been safe in Baton Rouge two or three days -ago.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Judging by their looks, and the way they -eat and trade mules, these are some of Grierson’s -men,” said Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lieutenant corroborated the statement, -and said that the reason they had been so long -delayed was because they were obliged to pass -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>through miles of bottom land where the water -was almost swimming deep. The colonel was -but a short distance in the rear, and might be -expected to come along any moment. Then -he plied the corporal with questions as to what -Grant and Porter were doing at Vicksburg, -and it was not until his patience was well-nigh -exhausted that Rodney saw opportunity to -say a word for himself. The instant there was -a pause in the conversation he broke in with:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, corporal, be kind enough to tell the -lieutenant how I stand with the provost -marshal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All right in every spot and place,” replied -the soldier quickly. “What’s the matter? -Have these raiders been stealing something?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, I don’t mind the little grub they ate, -or the mules they took in exchange for their -crow-baits,” answered Rodney. “They’re -welcome to everything on the place if they -will only leave my cousin with me. Is my -word good when I say that I will be responsible -for his safe keeping?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your word is always good,” said the corporal, -who was much astonished. “But how -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>came your cousin back here? I thought he -went to New Orleans to ship on a cotton -boat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But this is another one—his brother -Marcy, who came here with these Yanks. -They’ll kill him if they try to take him any -farther, and I want him left here with me. -His partner, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, if this isn’t a little ahead of anything -I ever heard of I wouldn’t say so,” -exclaimed the corporal. “Where did you -pick him up, lieutenant?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The latter explained briefly, as we shall do -presently, adding that he didn’t think he had -any right to grant Rodney’s request.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t really suppose you had, sir,” said -the corporal. “But I was going to make a -suggestion. I will ride on until I meet the -colonel—that is what my orders oblige me to -do—and when I see a chance I’ll say—have -you got any grub in the house?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Plenty of it, such as it is,” answered -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s good enough for a hungry soldier, I’ll -be bound. Tell your housekeeper to dish up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>enough for the colonel and three or four of his -staff, and I’ll ride on and ask him if he’s -hungry. He can’t well help it after such a -raid as he has made, and then I’ll tell him -that I know where he can get a good breakfast -and bring him right here to your house. -After he has eaten his fill he’ll be good-natured, -and then you and I will talk to him -about your cousin.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lieutenant laughed heartily as he -listened to this programme. “It’s a very -ingenious arrangement, corporal,” said he, as -the non-commissioned officer beckoned to his -men, who were still waiting at the place where -they had been halted by the sentry. “And I -think it ought to succeed. But as I can’t -wait for the colonel without disobeying my -orders, which are to scout on ahead, what -shall I do with the conscripts?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Leave a guard with them,” suggested -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose I might do that, and since the -colonel is a volunteer like myself, I’ll risk it. -If he were a regular I wouldn’t think of it for -a moment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>“Another cousin!” muttered the corporal, -as he swung himself into his saddle. “How -many more of your family are going to fall -down on you out of the clouds? It’s the -strangest thing I ever heard of.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And you’ll never hear the like again,” -answered Rodney. “But I do not look for -any more. Two cousins are all I have.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The corporal laughed and rode on up the -road to meet the expected raiders, and the -lieutenant told his sergeant to call in the men -who were still holding their positions on the -skirmish-line which had been formed when -that warning dust was seen rising above the -tree-tops. He told Charley Bowen that he -could remain behind to receive orders from -Colonel Grierson when he arrived, and detailed -two troopers to keep watch on him and Marcy -Gray.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This isn’t at all regular; I ought to take -those conscripts to Baton Rouge, and I am -soldier enough to know it,” said the lieutenant, -addressing himself to Rodney. “But -you seem to be all right with that corporal, -and if you and he can make it all right with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>Colonel Grierson I shall be glad of it. I have -heard your cousin’s story and should be glad -to listen to the additions I know you can make -to it, but haven’t time just now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It confirms one’s faith in human nature to -meet a kind-hearted soldier now and then,” -said Rodney, who knew that the lieutenant -could have compelled the conscripts to go on -with him if he had been so disposed. “I am -very grateful to you, and will do you a good -turn if I get half a chance. Whenever you -scout through this country drop in and have a -bowl of milk. I can’t offer you any to-day, for -your men have made away with all I had. -Good-by. This is what I get by befriending -escaped prisoners,” he added mentally, as he -started on a run for the house. “If I hadn’t -taken so much trouble to help that corporal -where would Marcy be now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As it was, he was lying at his ease on -Rodney’s bed instead of riding along the -dusty road toward Baton Rouge, reeling in his -seat from very weakness. Charley Bowen sat -close by holding his hand, and the two -troopers who had been detailed to guard them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>were lounging on the gallery just outside the -window. The hand that rested in Bowen’s -palm was not white like its owner’s face, but -very much swollen and discolored, and Rodney -noticed it at once.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the matter?” he inquired. -“How did you get hurt?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He was triced up by the thumbs till he -fainted,” replied Bowen, speaking for his -comrade.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney’s face turned all sorts of colors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“General Lee himself couldn’t make me -believe that the punishment was deserved,” -said he through his teeth. “That boy drilled -alongside of me for almost four years at the -Barrington Military Academy, and a better -soldier never shouldered a musket. He knows -more than the man who triced him up. What -was it done for?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because Marcy didn’t shoot a Yankee -prisoner whose hand was inside the deadline,” -replied Bowen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And his hand wasn’t inside the deadline,” -said Marcy in a faint voice. “It was -under the rail which marked the line, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>poor fellow was trying to get hold of an old -tin cup that someone had thrown there, so -that he could dig a hole in the ground to protect -him from the weather. If I had been a -volunteer and had shot that man, I would -have received a month’s leave of absence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney sat down on the edge of the bed -and looked at the two troopers who were leaning -half-way through the window, listening. -His face showed that he could hardly believe -the story even if his cousin did tell it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s a man in our company who -escaped from Andersonville, and he declares -that such things really happened,” said one of -the soldiers. “Besides being starved to death -our fellows are shot without any provocation -at all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And because you wouldn’t murder that -Yankee somebody triced you up by the -thumbs,” said Rodney in a voice that was -choked with anger. “Who reported you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The sentry in the next box, who saw it -all,” replied Marcy. “He tried to get a shot -at the man himself, but the prisoner’s friends -closed around him and hustled him out of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>sight; and that made the sentry so angry that -he reported me before we were relieved from -post.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How can the rebels hope to win in this -war when they torture their own men for -not committing murder?” exclaimed Rodney -hotly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, I thought you were a rebel,” said -one of the soldiers at the window.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So I was,” answered Rodney honestly. -“But, as I have said a hundred times before, -I know when I have had enough. When I -was whipped I quit.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Both the troopers extended their hands, and -after Rodney had shaken them cordially he -walked over and shook hands with Charley -Bowen, and tried to thank him for what he -had done for Marcy; but his voice grew husky -and finally broke, and so he gave it up as a -task beyond his powers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am a Georgia cracker,” said Bowen, -“and the boys used to call me ‘goober-grabbler’; -but I know a good fellow when I see -him, and I don’t want any thanks for doing -for your cousin what I am sure he would have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>done for me if he had known the country as -well as I do. He assured me that we could -find friends if I would guide him to Baton -Rouge, and I was doing the best I could at it -when we fell in with Captain Forbes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know I should never have seen Marcy -again if it hadn’t been for you, because he told -me so, and you are more than welcome to a -share in everything the war has left us. Now -I must tear myself away for a few minutes, for -I have work to do. Don’t let Marcy talk; he -is too weak.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>So saying Rodney hastened from the room -to order Colonel Grierson’s breakfast, and to -write a short note to his mother, requesting -that the only doctor in the country for miles -around who had been able to keep out of the -army might be sent to his plantation as soon -as he could be found, to prescribe for Marcy -Gray, who had come to him in a most remarkable -manner. He didn’t stop to explain how, -for he hadn’t time; but he made his mother -understand that Marcy was in need of prompt -medical attention. Rodney knew that his -father would at once answer the note in person, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>and when he arrived he could tell him -as much of his cousin’s story as he knew -himself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The note was sent off by one of the negroes, -who was quickly summoned from the field to -take it; and after Rodney had satisfied himself -that the colonel’s breakfast was coming -on as well as he could desire, and had given -instructions regarding a second meal that was -to be made ready for the conscripts and their -guards, he went back to Marcy.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER X. <br /> <span class='small'>MARK GOODWIN’S PLAN.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>Matters could not have worked more to -Rodney Gray’s satisfaction if he had -had the planning of them himself. The hasty -note he wrote to his mother brought Mr. Gray -to the plantation within an hour, and with -him came the doctor, who, for a wonder, was -found at home by the messenger whom Mrs. -Gray had despatched to bring him. He -lanced Marcy’s hands, which had not received -the least medical attention since the day they -were wounded by the cruel cord that held him -suspended in the air so that his toes barely -touched the ground, bandaged them in good -shape, and gave him some medicine; and all -the time Mr. Gray stood in an adjoining room -listening, while his eyes grew moist, to Rodney’s -hurried description of the events of the -morning. Before he had time to ask many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>questions the bars rattled again, and the -hounds gave tongue as Colonel Grierson and -two or three of his officers rode into the yard. -His weary, travel-stained soldiers were close -behind, but the most of them kept on down -the road, while only a small body-guard -remained to watch over the safety of the commanding -officer. Rodney’s friend the corporal -came into the yard with the colonel, and -winked and nodded in a way that was very -encouraging. Rodney stood on the veranda -and saluted, while the two troopers seized -their carbines and presented arms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come right in, sir,” said the boy. “I -have been waiting for you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you. The corporal promised us a -breakfast if we would stop here, and so we -thought it advisable to stop. I hope you’ll -not object if we sit down just as we are,” said -the colonel, who was as dirty and ragged as -any of his men, “for we have scant time to -stand on ceremony. Are these the guards -that were left with the conscripts? Forbes, -step in and see if they are the ones you picked -up at Enterprise.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>Forbes was the captain who had been sent -with a squad of thirty-five men to perform the -perilous duty of cutting the telegraph-wires -north of Macon, and the gallant and daring -exploit by which he saved his small force -from falling into the clutches of three thousand -rebels we have yet to describe. He -recognized Marcy and his friend Bowen as the -conscripts who had surrendered themselves -to him at Enterprise, shook hands with one, -patted the other on the head and said he -guessed it was all right, and that they could -remain with Rodney as long as they pleased.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There,” said the doctor. “Those words -will do the patient more good than all the -medicine I could give him. Homesickness is -what troubles him more than anything else, -but now that he is safe among his relatives he -will soon get over that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Forbes replied that he hoped so, and -went out to join the colonel at the table, while -Rodney made haste to serve up the breakfast -that had been prepared for the two conscripts -and their guards. Of course the corporal was -not forgotten, and he said he had been living -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>on army bacon and hard-tack just long enough -to give him a sharp appetite for the chicken -and corn bread with which his plate was filled. -When Rodney went into the hall to see if his -other guests were well served, Captain Forbes -cheered his heart by remarking that, as the -conscripts were not prisoners, they were at -liberty to do as they pleased about going or -staying.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In twenty minutes more the colonel had -galloped away with his body-guard, the plantation -house was quiet, Marcy was sleeping -the sleep of exhaustion, and Charley Bowen -was sitting on the porch with Mr. Gray and -Rodney, who listened with deep interest while -he told of the adventures that had befallen -him and his partner since they took leave of -the stockade at Millen, which was as much of -a prison to the conscript guards as it was to the -unhappy Union soldiers who were confined on -the inside. Their food was of rather better -quality, and they had more of it; but that was -about all the difference there was between -them. Bowen’s short narrative prepared them -to hear something interesting when Marcy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>awoke; but that did not happen for eighteen -hours, and during that time the doctor made -a second visit and Mr. Gray went home and -brought his wife, who shed tears abundantly -when she saw the thin, wan face on the pillow. -But his long refreshing sleep and the knowledge -that he was among friends, and that the -dreaded stockade with all its harrowing -associations was miles away, never to come -before him again except in his dreams, did -wonders for Marcy Gray. When he awoke -his eye was as bright as ever, and the strong -voice in which he called out: “If there is a -good Samaritan in this house I wish he would -bring me a drink of water,” was delightful to -hear. Rodney, who had just arisen from the -lounge on which he had passed the night in -an adjoining room, lost no time in bringing -the water, and his cousin’s hearty greeting -reminded him of the good old days at Barrington -before the war came with its attendant -horrors, and set the boys of the family to -fighting under different flags.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The only thing I have had enough of since -I left home is water,” said Marcy; and Rodney -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>was glad to see that he was strong enough -to sit up in bed and hold the cup with his own -hand. “This isn’t all a dream, is it? If it is, -I hope I shall never wake up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is not a dream,” Rodney assured him. -“Look at your hands. Do you dream that it -hurts you to move them? And do you dream -that you see your aunt?” he added, making -way for Mrs. Gray, who at that moment came -into the room and bent over the couch.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Another good sign was that Marcy awoke -hungry. He did not say so, for it was too early -in the morning for breakfast and Marcy never -made trouble if he could help it; but Rodney -suspected it, and in a few minutes the banging -of stove-lids bore testimony that he was busy -in the kitchen, where he was soon joined by -Charley Bowen, who said he was the best cook -in Georgia. The latter had been given a room -to himself, but finding the shuck mattress too -soft and warm for comfort, he went out on the -gallery during the night and slept there, with -Rodney’s hounds for company. While these -two worked in the kitchen, Mrs. Gray sat by -Marcy’s bedside and told him of Sailor Jack’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>visit, and of the letters that had since been -received from him, so he could understand -that, although his sudden appearance was a -great surprise to his friends, it was not quite -as bewildering as it would have been had they -not been aware that he was doing guard duty -at Millen. She was going on to tell of Jack’s -plans, which had been upset by Marcy’s arrest, -when Rodney, who stood in the door listening, -broke in with:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What will you put up against my roll of -Confederate scrip that we don’t see Jack in this -country again in less than a month? I wrote -him yesterday, and it was a letter that will -bring him as quickly as he can come; that is, -if he thinks it safe to leave his mother. And, -Marcy, you’ll have to stay, for you can’t go -back among those rebels without running the -risk of being dragged off again; and I know -what I am talking about when I say that in -our army desertion means death.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What sort of a fellow are you to talk -about ‘rebels’ and ‘our army’ in the same -breath?” demanded Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am as strong for the Union as General -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>Grant, and wish I could do as much for it as -he is doing to-day,” replied Rodney earnestly. -“You never expected to hear me utter such -sentiments, did you? Well, I am honest. I -want peace, and so does everybody except -Jeff Davis and a few others high in authority. -I’ll bring Jack here if I can, and then we’ll -become traders, all of us. We want to save -what we can from the wreck.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>By the time breakfast was served and eaten, -and the conscripts had exchanged their rags for -whole suits of clothing, Mr. Gray and Ned -Griffin came to swell their number, and to hear -Marcy tell how he and his comrade managed -to escape from Millen and to elude their pursuers -afterward. Marcy protested that he -wasn’t going to lie abed when there was no -need of it, so he was propped up with pillows -in the biggest rocking-chair the house afforded, -and pulled out to the porch, where the family -assembled to listen to his story, which ran -about as follows:</p> - -<p class='c001'>When we took leave of Marcy Gray to resume -the history of his cousin Rodney’s adventures -and exploits, he was a refugee from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>home and living in the woods in company with -a small party of men and boys who had fled -there to avoid the enrolling officers, as well as -to escape persecution at the hands of their -rebel neighbors. By a bold piece of strategy -Marcy had relieved his mother of the presence -of her overseer, Hanson by name, who had -managed to keep her in constant trouble and -anxiety ever since the first gun was fired from -Sumter. Hanson made it his business to keep -informed on all matters that related to the private -life of the occupants of the great house; -in fact it was suspected that Beardsley, Shelby, -and some other wealthy rebels paid him to do -it. It was rumored that Mrs. Gray had a -large sum of money hidden somewhere about -her premises, and if that was a fact, these -enemies, who were all the while working -against her in secret, desired above all things -to know it. They wanted the money themselves -if it could be found, and even went so -far as to bring four ruffians from a distant -point to break into the house at night and -steal it. If they failed to line their own -pockets, it was their intention to induce the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>Richmond authorities to interest themselves -in the matter. A law enacted by the Confederate -Congress at the breaking out of the -war provided that all debts owing to Northern -men should be repudiated, and the amount -of those debts turned into the Confederate -treasury. Marcy often declared that his -mother did not owe anybody a red cent; but -it would have been easy for such men as -Beardsley and Shelby to swear that she did, -and that, instead of complying with the law, -she was hoarding the money for her own use. -If this could be proved against her, Mrs. Gray -would have to surrender her gold or go to jail; -but somehow Marcy was always in the way -whenever her secret enemies tried to collect -evidence against her. Being always on his -guard he never could be made to acknowledge -that there was a dollar in or around the great -house, and Beardsley undertook to remove -him so that he and his fellow-conspirators -could have a clear field for their operations; -and he did it by taking Marcy to sea with -him as pilot on his privateer and blockade -runner.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>But for a long time nothing worked to -Beardsley’s satisfaction. His fine dwelling -was burned while he was at sea, and the -Federal cruisers drove his blockade runner -into port and kept her there until Marcy set -fire to her as she lay at her moorings. This he -did on the night he left home to join the -refugees in the swamp. He had a narrow -escape that night, and would certainly have -been packed off to Williamston jail before -morning if it had not been for the black boy -Julius, who loyally risked his own life to give -Marcy warning. Beardsley and Shelby were -finally “gobbled up” by Union cavalry and -taken to Plymouth, which had been captured -by some of Goldsborough’s gunboats and -garrisoned by the army; but, unfortunately -for Marcy, they did not remain prisoners for -any length of time. If Beardsley had any -luck at all it showed itself in the easy way he -had of slipping through the hands of the -Yankees. He was captured by Captain Benton, -who commanded the vessel on which -Marcy did duty as pilot during the battles of -Roanoke Island, and in the end was turned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>over to General Burnside, who made the mistake -of parolling him with the captured garrison. -That was the plea that Beardsley set up -when he and his companions, of whom there -were about a dozen, were taken into the presence -of the Federal commander at Plymouth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve been parolled,” said he, “me and all -the fellers you see with me. We promised, -honor bright, that we wouldn’t never take up -arms agin the United States, and we’ve kept -that promise. So what makes you snatch us -away from our peaceful homes and firesides, -and bring us here to shut us up, when we aint -never done the least thing?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But all the same you belong to the Home -Guards who were organized for the purpose of -persecuting Union people,” said the colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never heered of no Home Guards,” replied -Beardsley, looking astonished. “There aint -no such things in our country, is there, boys?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of course Beardsley’s companions bore willing -testimony to the truth of the statement, -and when he and Shelby boldly declared that -they would prove their sincerity by taking the -oath then and there, if the colonel would administer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>it to them, it settled the matter so far -as they were concerned. Their companions -were willing to follow their example rather -than suffer themselves to be sent to a Northern -prison, and the result was that in less than -forty-eight hours after Marcy Gray received -the gratifying intelligence that he had seen -the last of Beardsley and Shelby, for a while -at least, they were at home again and eager to -take vengeance on the boy whom they blamed -more than anyone else for their short captivity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did the Yankees get onto our trail so -easy, and know all about that Home Guard -business, if Marcy Gray didn’t tell ’em?” said -Beardsley, when he and his friends found themselves -safe outside the trenches at Plymouth -and well on their way homeward. “When -Marcy made a pris’ner of his mother’s overseer -and took him among the Yankees he give -’em our names, told ’em where we lived and -all about it; and I say he shan’t stay in the -settlement no longer. I’ll land him in Williamston -jail before I am two days older; and -when he gets there he won’t come back in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>a hurry. I’ll see if I can’t have him sent to -some regiment down on the Gulf coast; then, -if he runs away, as he is likely to do the first -chance he sees, he can’t get home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be you goin’ to keep that oath, cap’n?” -inquired one of Beardsley’s companions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Listen at the fule! Course I’m going to -keep it. I didn’t promise nothin’ but that I -wouldn’t never bear arms agin the Yankee -government, nor lend aid and comfort to its -enemies, without any mental observation, did -I? What do you reckon that means, Shelby?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mental reservation,” corrected Colonel -Shelby, who did not like to be addressed with -so much familiarity. “It means that you did -not swear to one thing while you were thinking -about another.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I took the oath honest, ’cause I -wasn’t thinkin’ about Marcy Gray at all while -the colonel was readin’ it to me; but I am -thinkin’ of him now. I didn’t promise that I -wouldn’t square yards with him for settin’ the -Yanks onto me, and I’ll perceed to do it before -I sleep sound.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Beardsley was as good as his word, or tried -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>to be; but it took him longer than two days -to land Marcy Gray in Williamston jail. He -laid a good many plans to capture him, but -somehow they were put into operation just too -late to be successful. And what exasperated -Beardsley and Shelby almost beyond endurance, -and drove Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin -almost frantic, was the fact that Marcy -did not keep himself in hiding as closely as he -used to do. He rode to Nashville whenever -he felt like it, and went in and out of the post-office -as boldly as he ever did; but he was -always accompanied by Ben Hawkins and -three or four other parolled rebels, and no one -dared lay a hand on him. Ben Hawkins, you -will remember, was the man who created something -of a sensation by making a defiant -speech in the post-office shortly after he had -been released on parole by General Burnside. -He declared that he had had all the fighting -he wanted and did not intend to go back to -the army; and when that blatant young rebel -Tom Allison, who had never shouldered a -musket and did not mean to, so far forgot his -prudence as to call Hawkins a coward, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>latter flew into a rage and threatened to -“twist” Tom’s neck for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did Hawkins and his parolled comrades -know that you served on a Union gunboat -during the fight at Roanoke Island?” asked -Rodney, when his cousin reached this point in -his narrative.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course they knew it; and they knew, -too, that Jack was serving on one of the -blockading fleet, but it didn’t seem to make -the least difference in their friendship for me. -Hawkins was the man who helped me get that -treacherous overseer out of mother’s way, and -he and the other parolled prisoners who found -a home in our refugee camp had relatives -in the settlement; and those relatives found -means to warn us whenever a cavalry raid was -expected out from Williamston.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must have led an exciting life,” -observed Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy replied that he found some excitement -in dodging the rebel cavalry and in -listening to the sounds of the skirmishes that -frequently took place between them and the -Union troopers that scouted through the country -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>from Plymouth; but there wasn’t a bit to -be seen during the weary days he passed on -the island, afraid to show his head above the -brush wind-break lest some lurking Confederate -should send a bullet into it. Nor was -there any pleasure in the lonely night trips he -made to and from his mother’s house whenever -it came his turn to forage for his companions. -Keeping the camp supplied with -provisions was a dangerous duty, and he had -to do his share of it. It was always performed -under cover of the darkness, for if any -of their number had been seen carrying supplies -away from a house during the daytime, -it would have been reported to the first squad -of rebel cavalry that rode through the settlement, -and that house would have been burned -to the ground. To make matters worse the -refugees learned, to their great consternation -and anger, that there was an enemy among -them; that one who ate salt with them every -day and slept under the same trees at night, -who took part in their councils, heard all the -reports, good and bad, that were brought in, -and knew the camp routine so well that he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>could tell beforehand what particular refugee -would go foraging on a certain night, and -name the houses he would visit during his -absence—someone who knew all these things -was holding regular communication with enemies -in the settlement, who made such good -use of the information given them by this -treacherous refugee that they brought untold -suffering to Marcy Gray and his mother, and -severe and well-merited punishment upon -themselves. In order that you may understand -how it was brought about we must -describe some things that Marcy did not -include in his narrative, for the very good -reason that he knew nothing of them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We have said that Tom Allison and his -friend and crony Mark Goodwin were angry -when they saw Marcy Gray and his body-guard -riding about the country, holding their -heads high as though they had never done -anything to be ashamed of. Tom and Mark -were together all the time, and their principal -business in life was to bring trouble to some -good Union family as often as they saw opportunity -to do so without danger to themselves. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>The burning of Beardsley’s fine schooner had -opened their eyes to the fact that Marcy and -his fellow-refugees could not be trifled with, -that there was a limit to their patience, and -that it was the height of folly to crowd them -too far.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s somebody in this neighborhood -who ought to be driven out of it,” declared -Mark Goodwin, while he and Tom Allison -were riding toward Nashville one morning, -trying to make up their minds how and where -to pass the long day before them. “Don’t -it beat you how Marcy and his body-guard -dodge in and out of the woods when there are -no Confederate soldiers around, and how close -they keep themselves at all other times?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Marcy knows what’s going on in the settlement -as well as he did when he lived here,” -answered Tom. “He’s got friends, and plenty -of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Everything goes to prove it,” said Mark, -“and those friends ought to be driven away -from here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I say; but who are they? -Name a few of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>“We’ll never be able to call any of them by -name until we put a spy in the camp of those -refugees to keep us posted on all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mark,” exclaimed Tom, riding closer to -his companion and laying his riding whip -lightly on his shoulder, “you’ve hit it, and I -wonder we did not think of it before. Every -general sends out spies to bring him information -which he could not get in any other way, -and although we are not generals we are good -and loyal Confederates, and what’s the reason -we can’t do the same? Have you thought of -anybody?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s Kelsey, for one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Great Scott, man! He won’t do. Beardsley, -Shelby, and a few others offered Kelsey -money to find out whether Marcy and his -mother were Union or Confederate, and tried -to have him employed on that plantation as -overseer after Hanson was spirited away, so -that he could find out if there was any -money in the house; and Marcy knows all -about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s mighty little goes on that he -doesn’t know about, and I can’t for the life of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>me see how he keeps so well posted,” observed -Mark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then Beardsley and Shelby tried to induce -Kelsey to burn Mrs. Gray’s house, and Marcy -knows about that, too,” continued Tom. -“Wouldn’t he be a plum dunce to let such a -man as that come into camp to spy on him? -Besides, Kelsey is too big a coward to undertake -the job.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And he couldn’t make the refugees believe -that he had turned his coat and become Union -all on a sudden,” assented Mark. “No, Kelsey -won’t do. We ought to make a bargain -with somebody who is already in the camp and -who is supposed to be Marcy’s friend. How -does Buffum strike you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you any reason to believe that he is -not Marcy’s friend?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; but I believe that a man who is on -the make as he is would do almost anything -for gain. He’s no more Union than I am. He -kept out of the army because he was afraid he -would be killed if he went in; and besides, -he knew that Beardsley’s promise, to look out -for the wants of his family while he was gone, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>wasn’t good for anything. By taking up with -the refugees he made sure of getting enough -to eat, but,” added Mark, sinking his voice to -a whisper, “he didn’t make sure of anything -else—any money, I mean.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Whew!” whistled Tom. “Perhaps there -is something in it. Let’s ride over and see -what Beardsley thinks about it. You are not -afraid to trust him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>No, Mark wasn’t afraid to take Captain -Beardsley or any other good Confederate into -his confidence, and showed it by turning his -horse around and putting him into a lope. -They talked earnestly as they rode, and the -conclusion they came to was that Mark had -hit upon a fine plan for punishing a boy who -had never done them the least harm, and that -the lazy, worthless Buffum was just the man -to help them carry it out successfully. Captain -Beardsley thought so too, after the scheme -had been unfolded to him. They found him -with his coat off and a hoe in his hands working -with his negroes; but he was quite ready -to come to the fence when they intimated that -they had something to say to him in private. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>Beardsley’s field-hands had disappeared rapidly -since the flag which they knew to be the -emblem of their freedom had been given to the -breeze at Plymouth, and those who remained -were the aged and crippled, who were wise -enough to know that they could not earn their -living among strangers, and the vicious and -shiftless (and Beardsley owned more of this -sort of help than any other planter in the -State), who were afraid that the Yankees -would work them too hard. The “invaders” -believed that those who wouldn’t work couldn’t -eat, and lived up to their principles by putting -some implement of labor into the hands -of the contrabands as fast as they came inside -the lines.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They’re a sorry lookin’ lot,” said Captain -Beardsley, as he came up to the fence, rested -his elbow on the top rail, and glanced back at -his negroes, “and I am gettin’ tol’able tired -of the way things is goin’, now I tell you. -Sixty thousand dollars’ wuth of niggers has -slipped through my fingers sence this war was -brung on us, dog-gone the luck, and that’s -what I get for bein’ a Confedrit. If I’d been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>Union like them Grays, I’d ’a’ had most of my -hands with me yet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have a plan for getting even with those -Grays, if you’ve got time to listen to it,” said -Mark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve got time to listen to anybody who will -show me how to square yards with the feller -who sneaked up like a thief in the night and -set fire to my schooner,” replied Beardsley -fiercely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But when Marcy did that wasn’t you -trying to make a prisoner of him?” said -Tom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Course I was. And I had a right to, -’cause aint he Union? If he aint, why didn’t -he run Captain Benton’s ship aground when -the fight was goin’ on down there to the Island? -He had chances enough.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Yankees would have hung him if he’d -done that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“S’pos’n they did; aint better men than -Marcy Gray been hung durin’ this war, I’d like -to know? I wish one of our big shells had hit -that gunboat ’twixt wind and water and sent -her to the bottom with every soul on board; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>but it didn’t happen so, and Marcy was let -come home to burn the only thing I had left in -this wide world to make my bread and butter -with. Why, boys, everything I’ve got that -schooner made for me on the high seas—niggers, -plantation, and all; and now she has -been tooken from me, dog-gone the luck. -How is it you’re thinkin’ of gettin’ even -with him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mark Goodwin had not proceeded very far -with his explanation before he became satisfied -that he had hit upon something which met -the captain’s hearty approval, for the latter -rested his bearded chin on his breast, wagged -his head from side to side as he always did -when he was very much pleased and wanted -to laugh, and pounded the top rail with his -clenched hand. He let Mark explain without -interruption, and when the boy ceased speaking -he backed away from the fence, rested his -hands on his knees, and gave vent to a single -shout of merriment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’ll work; I just know it’ll work,” said -he, as soon as he could speak, “and you -couldn’t have picked out a better man for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>job than that sneak Buffum. He’s beholden -to me and wants money. Go down and tell -him I want to see him directly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then Beardsley rested his folded arms on -the fence and fell to shaking his head again.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XI. <br /> <span class='small'>BEN MAKES A FAILURE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“But, captain,” said Tom Allison, who -was delighted by this prompt and emphatic -indorsement of his friend’s plan, “are -you sure the thing can be done without bringing -suspicion upon any of us? You have a lot -of property that will burn, and so has Mark’s -father’s and mine. Remember that. Are you -positive that Buffum can be trusted, and has -he courage enough to take him through?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nobody aint a-going to get into no trouble -if you uns do like I tell you and go and send -Buffum up here to me,” replied Beardsley. -“Am I likely to disremember that I’ve got a -lot of things left that will burn as easy as my -dwellin’ house did? and do you reckon I’d -take a hand in the business if I wasn’t sure it -would work? Your Uncle Lon has got a little -sense left yet. And I’ll pertect you uns too, -if you will keep still tongues into your heads -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>and let me do all the talkin’. You’ll find -Buffum down to his house if you go right -now. I seen him pikin’ that-a-way acrosst the -fields when I rode up from Nashville not -more’n two hours ago. Tell him I want to see -him directly, and then watch out. Somethin’s -goin’ to happen this very night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who do you think will be captured first?” -asked Mark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Marcy Gray, of course,” replied Tom. -“He must be first, or at least one of the first, -for by the time two or three foragers have been -captured on two or three different nights, the -rest of the refugees will become suspicious and -change their way of sending out foragers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“S’pos’n they do,” exclaimed Beardsley. -“Won’t Buffum be right there in their camp, -to take notus of every change that is made, -and as often as he comes home can’t he slip up -here and post me? Now, you hurry up and -tell Buffum I want to see him directly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Beardsley emphasized his words by turning -away from the fence and hastening toward -the place where he had dropped his hoe, the -boys did not linger to ask any more questions, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>but jumped their horses over the ditch and -started in a lope for Buffum’s cabin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I almost wish we had gone straight to -Buffum’s in the first place and kept away -from Beardsley,” said Mark as they galloped -along. “It is bound to end in the breaking -up of that band of refugees, and when it is -done, Beardsley will claim all the honor, and -perhaps declare that the plan originated in his -own head.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And he’ll have to stand the brunt of it -if things don’t work as we hope they will,” -added Tom. “If he lisps it in his daughter’s -presence it will get all over the State in -twenty-four hours, and then there’ll be some -hot work around here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Half an hour’s riding brought the boys to -Buffum’s cabin, which stood in the middle of -a ten-acre field that had been planted to corn, -and so rapidly did they approach it that they -caught the owner in the act of dodging out of -the door with a heavy shot-gun in his hands. -Believing that he had been fairly surprised -and was about to fall into the hands of Confederate -troopers, the man’s cowardly nature -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>showed itself. He leaned his gun against the -cabin and raised both hands above his head in -token of surrender; but when he had taken a -second look and discovered that he had been -frightened without good reason, he snatched -up his gun again and aimed it at Tom Allison’s -head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Halt!” he shouted. “I’ll die before I -will be tooken.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why didn’t you talk that way before you -saw who we were?” demanded Tom. “You -can’t get up a reputation for courage by any -such actions. Captain Beardsley wants to -see you at his house.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you reckon he wants of me?” -inquired the man, letting down the hammers -of his gun and seating himself on the doorstep. -“Aint nary soldier behind you, is -they?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We haven’t seen a soldier for a week,” replied -Tom. “We haven’t come here to get -you into trouble——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But to put you in the way of making some -money,” chimed in Mark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, you couldn’t have come to a man -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>who needs money wuss than I do,” said -Buffum, becoming interested. “What do you -want me to do?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We want you to break up that camp of -refugees down there in the swamp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you’ve come to the wrong pusson,” -said Buffum, shaking his head in a very decided -way. “Don’t you know that I’m livin’ -in that camp, and that I don’t never come -out ’ceptin’ when I know there aint no rebel -soldiers scoutin’ around?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How does it happen that you know when -there are no rebel scouts in the settlement?” -inquired Mark. “Somebody must keep you -posted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve got friends, and good ones, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So I supposed,” continued Mark. “And -you know on what nights Marcy Gray goes to -his mother’s house after grub, don’t you? I -thought so. Well, if you will let us know -when he expects to go there again it will be -money in your pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How much money?” asked Buffum; and -his tone and manner encouraged the boys to -believe that, if sufficient inducement were held -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>out, he might be depended on to supply the -desired information. He picked up a twig -that lay near him, and broke it in pieces with -fingers that trembled visibly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can set your own price,” replied -Mark. “And bear in mind that you will not -run the slightest risk. Who is going to suspect -you if you take pains to remain in camp -on the night Marcy is captured? Now will -you go down and talk to Beardsley about -it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re sure you didn’t see nary soldier -while you was comin’ up here?” said the -man doubtfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We didn’t, and neither did we hear of -any. You don’t want to follow the road, for -you will save time and distance by going -through the woods. You will find Beardsley -in the field north of where his house used to -stand. You’ll go, won’t you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Buffum said he would think about it, and -the boys rode away, satisfied that he would -start as soon as they were out of sight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So far so good, with one exception,” said -Tom, as they rode out of the field into the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>road. “We talked too much, and Beardsley -told us particularly to keep still.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t care if he did,” answered Mark -spitefully. “This is my plan, and if it works -I want, and mean to have, the honor of it. I -hope it will get to Marcy’s ears, for when he is -in the army I want him to know that I put -him there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’ll know it,” said Tom with a laugh. -“Buffum’s wife was in the cabin, and heard -every word we said.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>While Tom and Mark were spending their -time in this congenial way, Marcy Gray and -his fellow-refugees were finding what little -enjoyment they could in acting as camp-keepers, -or visiting their friends and relatives -in the settlement. Just now there was little -scouting done by either side. The Confederates -at Williamston had lost about as many -men as they could afford to lose in skirmishes -with the Federals, who were always strong -enough to drive them and to take a few -prisoners besides, and had grown weary of -searching for a camp of refugees which they -began to believe was a myth.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>“It’s always stillest jest before a storm,” -Ben Hawkins had been heard to say, “and -this here quiet is goin’ to make all we uns so -careless that the first thing we know some of -us will turn up missin’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And on the night following the day during -which Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin paid -their visit to Buffum’s cabin, Ben came very -near making his words true by turning up -missing himself. The camp regulations required -that every member should report at -sunset, unless he had received permission to -remain away longer, and especially were the -foragers expected to be on hand to make preparations -to go out again as soon as night fell. -Ben Hawkins was one of three who went out -on the night of which we write, and he came -back shortly before daylight to report that he -had barely escaped surprise and capture in his -father’s house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I’ve got the grub all the same,” said -he, placing a couple of well-filled bags upon -the ground near the tree under which he slept in -good weather. “I was bound I wouldn’t come -without it, and that’s what made me so late.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>“Did you see them?” asked the refugees -in concert. “Were they soldiers from -Williamston?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Naw!” replied Hawkins in a tone of disgust. -“They were some of Shelby’s pesky -Home Guards. Leastwise the two I saw were -Home Guards, but I wasn’t clost enough to -recognize their faces. Now I want you all to -listen and ask questions next time you go out, -and find, if you can, who all is missin’ in the -settlement. I had a tol’able fair crack at -them two, and I don’t reckon they’ll never -pester any more of we uns.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The man Buffum was there and listening to -every word, and he had so little self-control -that it was a wonder he did not betray himself. -Probably he would if it had not been -that all the refugees showed more or less -agitation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Didn’t I say that we uns would get too -careless for our own good?” continued Hawkins. -“I’ve got so used to goin’ and comin’ -without bein’ pestered that I didn’t pay no -attention to what I was doin’, and ’lowed -myself to be fairly ketched in the house. I’d -<span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>’a’ been took, easy as you please, if I’d ’a’ had -soldiers to deal with.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are the two foragers who went out -with you?” inquired Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Aint they got back yet?” exclaimed -Hawkins, a shade of anxiety settling on his -bronzed features. “I aint seed ’em sence I -left ’em up there at the turn of the road, like -I always do when we go after grub. They -went their ways and I went mine, and I aint -seed ’em sence. What will you bet that they -aint tooken?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The refugees talked the matter over while -they were eating breakfast and anxiously -awaiting the appearance of the missing foragers, -and asked one another if Mr. Hawkins -would be likely to lose any buildings because -Ben had been detected in the act of carrying -two bags of provisions from his house. Ben -said cheerfully that he did not look for anything -else, and that he expected to spend a -good many nights in setting bonfires in different -parts of the settlement. No one hinted -that this sudden activity on the part of the -Home Guards might be the result of a conspiracy, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>and, so far as he knew, Marcy Gray -was the only one who suspected it. The -houses toward which the foragers bent their -steps, when they separated at the turn, stood -at least three miles apart and in different -directions, and it seemed strange to Marcy -that those particular houses should have been -watched on that particular night. He thought -the matter would bear investigation, and with -this thought in his mind he set out immediately -after breakfast, with the black boy -Julius for company, to see if any of the Home -Guards had paid an unwelcome visit to his -mother since he took leave of her the day -before. On his way he passed through the -field in which the overseer Hanson had been -taken into custody and marched off to Plymouth, -and the negroes who were at work -there at once gathered around to tell him the -news. Early as it was, they had had ample -time to learn all about it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did the Home Guards trouble my -mother?” asked Marcy after listening to -their story.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, sah; dey didn’t. But dey gobble up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>two of dem refugees so quick dey couldn’t -fight, but dey don’t git Moster Hawkins kase -he too mighty handy wid his gun.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know whether or not he shot any -of them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We’s sorry to be ’bleeged to say he -didn’t,” was the reply. “You want to watch -out, Marse Mahcy, an’ don’t luf nobody round -hyar know when you comin’ home nex’ time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy had already decided to follow this -course, but he did not say anything to the -talkative darkies about it. If he had decided -at the same time that he wouldn’t mention it -in camp, it would have been better for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While Marcy was visiting his mother (and -all the while he was in her presence there were -four trusty negroes outside, watching the -house), Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin were -trying to learn what had become of the two -refugees who had fallen into the hands of the -Home Guards; and when they found that -both Beardsley and Shelby were absent from -home on business, they thought they knew.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They have been taken to jail,” said Mark, -who was delighted over the success of his plan, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>but angry at Beardsley because the latter did -not wait a few nights and make sure of Marcy -Gray, instead of capturing two men who were -of no consequence one way or the other. -“But between you and me, I don’t envy the -Home Guards the task they have set for themselves. -If all the refugees are like Hawkins -somebody is going to get hurt.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>While Mark talked in this way he and Tom -were riding toward Beardsley’s plantation, -and now they turned through his gate, passed -the ruins of his dwelling, and finally drew rein -in front of the house in which the overseer -lived when Beardsley thought he could afford -to hire one, but which was now occupied by -his own family. His daughter came to the -door, and the boys saw at once that she knew -all about it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Paw and Shelby has took them two fellers -to Williamston,” she said in her ordinary tone -of voice, as though there was nothing secret in -it. “And they’re goin’ to bring some of our -soldiers back with ’em, kase he ’lows, paw -does, that it wouldn’t be safe for him and -Shelby to fool with Mahcy Gray. He’s got -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>too many friends, and paw ’lows that he aint -got no more houses to lose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tom and Mark turned away without making -any reply or asking any questions. They did -not want to hear any more. Beardsley had -cautioned them not to say a word about it, and -here he had gone and told it to his daughter, -which was the same as though he had written -out a full description of Mark’s plan and put -it on the bulletin-board in the post-office. -When Tom looked into his companion’s face -he was surprised to see how white it was.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mark,” said he in a low whisper, “we’re -in the worst scrape of our lives, and if we -come safely out of it I’ll promise that I will -never again try to interfere with Marcy Gray. -He can go into the army or stay out of it, just -as he pleases. If he ever finds out what we -have been up to what will become of us?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If he hasn’t found it out already it is his -own fault,” replied Mark, who had never -before been so badly frightened. “Everybody -in the settlement knows it, and some -enemy of ours will be sure to tell him. Tom, -I wish we had let him alone.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>But Mark’s repentance came too late. The -mischief had been done, and Marcy Gray was -industriously collecting evidence against him -and his companion in guilt. He had already -heard enough to satisfy him on three points: -that the plan for capturing the refugees in -detail originated with Tom and Mark, that -Captain Beardsley had undertaken to do the -work, and that at least one of the refugees was -a traitor. But unfortunately he shot wide of -the mark when he began casting about for -someone on whom to lay the blame. He suspected -one of Ben Hawkins’ comrades who -had been captured and parolled at Roanoke -Island. There were seven of them, and one of -their number, beyond a doubt, had furnished -the information that enabled the Home Guards -to capture the two men who had been taken to -Williamston. He never once suspected the -man Buffum. If he had, he would have dismissed -the suspicion with a laugh, for everyone -knew that Buffum was too big a coward to -take the slightest risk.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Marcy took leave of his mother he -rode straight to Beardsley’s, and was not very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>much surprised to learn that the captain had -left home early that morning to “’tend to -some business over Williamston way.” His -ignorant daughter tried to be very secretive, -and succeeded so well that Marcy would have -been stupid indeed if he hadn’t been able to -tell what business it was that took her father -“over Williamston way.” Then he changed -the subject and surprised her into giving him -some other information.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hawkins made a lively fight for the Home -Guards last night, did he not?” said Marcy. -“How many of them did he kill?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nary one. Didn’t hit nary one, nuther,” -answered the girl. “Paw ’lowed that if Ben -had had a gun he’d ’a’ hurt somebody; but he -popped away with a little dissolver, and you -can’t hit nothin’ with a dissolver. Mind you, -I don’t know nothin’ about it only jest what -the niggers told me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Some folks might believe that story, but -I don’t,” said Marcy to himself, as he wheeled -his horse and rode from the yard. “When the -darkies get hold of any news they don’t go to -you with it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>From Beardsley’s Marcy went to Nashville, -stopping as often as he met anyone willing to -talk to him, and going out of his way to visit -the homes of the two refugees who had been -captured the night before, and everywhere -picking up little scraps of evidence against -Tom, Mark, and Beardsley; but everyone was -so positive that there could not be a traitor in -the camp of the refugees, that Marcy himself -began to have doubts on that point. Ben -Hawkins’ father and mother took him into the -house and showed him the chair in which Ben -was sitting when four masked men rushed into -the room, two through each door, and tried to -capture him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But my Ben, he aint a-skeered of no -Home Guards,” said Mr. Hawkins proudly. -“Before you could say ‘Gen’ral Jackson’ with -your mouth open, he riz, an’ when he riz he was -shootin’. An’ it would ’a’ done you good to -see the way them masked men humped themselves. -They jest nacherly fell over each other -in tryin’ to get to the doors, an’ Ben, he made -a grab fur the nighest, thinkin’ to pull off -the cloth that was over his face, so’t we all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>could see who it was; but he couldn’t get clost -enough. Then Ben, he run too; but he come -back after the grub. He said he had been sent -fur it an’ was goin’ to have it. Ben ’lowed -that, if they had been soldiers instead of Home -Guards, we wouldn’t never seen him no more.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I am afraid that we shall have to deal -with soldiers from this time on,” replied Marcy. -“You wait and see if Beardsley doesn’t bring -some from Williamston when he comes back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That there man is buildin’ a bresh shanty -over his head as fast as he can,” said Mr. -Hawkins. “He won’t have nary nigger cabin -if this thing can be proved on him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But there is going to be the trouble. We -can’t prove it; and if some of the Home Guards -could be frightened into making a confession, -Beardsley would have no trouble in proving -by his folks that he wasn’t outside of his -house last night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was five o’clock that afternoon when Marcy -returned to camp and made his report. He -found there several refugees who had spent the -day in the settlement, and the stories they had -to tell differed but little from his own; but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>Marcy noticed that there wasn’t one who -ventured to hint that there was a spy and informer -in the camp. Consequently he said -nothing about it himself, but quietly announced -that he had concluded to change his -night for foraging. He did not hesitate to -speak freely, for he noticed that there was not -a single parolled prisoner present. But Buffum -was there and heard every word.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s my turn to skirmish to-morrow -night,” said he. “But with the consent of -all hands I think I will put it off until -Monday night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must have some reason for wanting -to do that,” said Mr. Webster, who you will -remember was the man who guided Marcy to -the camp on the night Captain Beardsley’s -schooner was burned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have a very good reason for it,” replied -Marcy. “The prime movers in this matter—Tom -Allison and Mark Goodwin who got up -the scheme, and Beardsley who is carrying it -out—are enemies of mine, and they would -rather see me forced into the army than anybody -else.” And Marcy might have added -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>that they were after him and nobody else, -and that when they captured him the rest of -the refugees would be permitted to live in -peace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If that is the case, you ought not to go -foraging at all,” said Mr. Webster.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When I cast my lot with you I expected -to share in all your dangers,” said Marcy -quietly. “It wouldn’t be right, but it would -be cowardly for me to remain safe in camp -eating grub that others foraged at the risk of -being captured or shot, and I’ll not do it. I -will do my part as I have always tried to do, -but I claim the right to bother my enemies all -I can by choosing my own time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s nothin’ more’n fair,” observed -Buffum. “I’ll go in your place to-morrer -night an’ you can go in mine on Monday.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All right,” said Marcy. “But don’t go -near my mother’s house to-morrow. It might -be as dangerous for you as for me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When all the refugees reported at sundown, -as the camp regulations required them to do, -Marcy’s plan for escaping capture at the -hands of the Home Guards was explained to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>them, and it resulted, as Tom Allison said it -would, in a complete change in the camp -routine. The plan promised to work admirably. -The three men composing the new detail -which went foraging that night made their -way to their homes in safety, visited a while -with their families, and returned with a supply -of provisions without having seen any signs of -the enemy; but the old detail would surely -have been captured, for their houses were -watched all night long, not by Home Guards, -but by Confederate veterans who had been -sent from Williamston at Beardsley’s suggestion -and Shelby’s. On the night following -Mrs. Gray’s house was not only watched but -searched from cellar to garret; but that was -done simply to throw Marcy off his guard, -and we are sorry to say that it had the desired -effect. The Confederate soldiers knew they -would not find Marcy that night, for Captain -Beardsley told them so; and Beardsley himself -had been warned by his faithful spy, Buffum, -that Marcy would not go foraging again -until Monday night. By this time all the -refugees became aware that there was someone -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>among them who could not be trusted, -and the knowledge exasperated them almost -beyond the bounds of endurance. The danger -was that they might do harm to an innocent -man, for they declared that the smallest scrap -of evidence against one of their number would -be enough to hang him to the nearest tree.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can find that spy and will, too, if this -thing goes on any longer,” said Ben Hawkins, -when he and Marcy and Mr. Webster were -talking the matter over one day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why don’t you do it?” demanded -Marcy. “It has gone on long enough -already.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll do it to-morrow night if you two will -stand by me,” said Ben, and Marcy had never -heard him talk so savagely, not even when he -threatened to “twist” Tom Allison’s neck for -calling him a coward.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We’ll stand by you,” said Mr. Webster; -and although he did not show so much anger, -he was just as determined that the man who -was trying to betray them into the power of -the Confederates should be severely punished. -“What are you going to do?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>“I am going to pull that Tom Allison out -of his bed by the neck, and say to him that he -can take his choice between givin’ me the -name of that traitor, an’ bein’ hung up to the -plates of his paw’s gallery,” replied Ben.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’ll be the way to do it,” said Buffum, -who happened to come up in time to overhear -a portion of this conversation. In fact Buffum -was always listening. He showed so -great a desire to be everywhere at once, and to -know all that was going on, that it was a -wonder he was not suspected. But perhaps -he took the best course to avoid suspicion. -For a man who was known to be lacking in -courage, he displayed a good deal of nerve -in carrying out the dangerous part of Mark -Goodwin’s programme that had been assigned -to him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you help?” inquired Hawkins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, no; I don’t know’s I want to help, -kase you all might run agin some rebels when -you’re goin’ up to Allison’s house,” replied -Buffum. “I’d a heap ruther stay in camp. -I never was wuth much at fightin’, but I can -forage as much grub as the next man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>There was another thing Buffum could do as -well as the next man, but he did not speak of -it. He could slip away from camp after everybody -else was asleep or had gone out foraging, -make his way through the woods to Beardsley’s -house, remain with him long enough to -give the captain an idea of what had been going -on among the refugees during the day, and -return to his blanket in time to have a refreshing -nap and get up with the others; he had -done it repeatedly, and no one was the wiser -for it. He slipped away that night after listening -to Ben Hawkins’ threat to hang Tom -Allison to the plates of his father’s gallery, -and perhaps we shall see what came of it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Under the new rule it was Ben’s turn to go -foraging that night, and he went prepared for -a fight. He was armed with three revolvers, -Marcy’s pair besides his own, and took with -him two soldier comrades who could be depended -on in any emergency. They did not -separate and give the rebels opportunity to -overpower them singly, but kept together, -ready to shoot or run as circumstances might -require. They were not molested for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>simple reason that the Confederates, as we -have said, were watching other houses, knowing -nothing of the new regulation that was in -force. They returned with an ample supply -of food, and reported that Marcy’s plan had -thrown the enemy off the trail completely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next day was Sunday, and Ben devoted -a good portion of it to making up for the sleep -he had lost the night before, and the rest to -selecting and instructing the men that were -to accompany him to Mr. Allison’s house. -There were nine of them, and with the exception -of Mr. Webster and Marcy they were all -Confederate soldiers. This made it plain to -Marcy that Ben did not expect to find the -traitor among the men who wore gray jackets. -They set out as soon as night fell, marching -along the road in military order, trusting to -darkness to conceal their movements, and -moving at quick step, for Mr. Allison’s house -was nearly eight miles away. They had -covered more than three-fourths of the distance, -and Ben was explaining to Marcy how -the house was to be surrounded by a right-and-left -oblique movement, which was to begin as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>soon as the little column was fairly inside Mr. -Allison’s gate, when their steps were arrested -by a faint, tremulous hail which came from -the bushes by the roadside. In a second -more half a dozen cocked revolvers were -pointed at the spot from which the voice -sounded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Out of that!” commanded Ben. “Out -you come with a jump.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dat you, Moss’ Hawkins?” came in -husky tones from the bushes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s me; but I don’t know who you are, -an’ you want to be in a hurry about showin’ -yourself. One—two——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hol’—hol’ on, if you please, sah. Ise -comin’,” answered the voice, and the next -minute a badly frightened black man showed -himself. “Say, Moss’ Hawkins,” he continued, -“whar’s you all gwine?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know as that is any of your business,” -answered Ben.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dat I knows mighty well,” the darky -hastened to say. “Black ones aint got no -truck wid white folkses business; but you all -don’t want to go nigher to Mistah Allison’s. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>Da’s a whole passel rebels up da’. I done see -’em.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What are they doin’ up there?” inquired -Ben, who was very much surprised to hear it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The black man replied that they were not -doing anything in particular the last time he -saw them, only just loitering about as if they -were waiting for something or somebody. -They hadn’t come to the house by the road, -but through the fields and out of the woods; -and the care they showed to keep out of sight -of anyone who might chance to ride along the -highway, taken in connection with the fact -that both Beardsley and Shelby had been -there talking to them, and had afterward left -by the way of a narrow lane that led to a piece -of thick timber at the rear of the plantation—all -these things made the darkies believe that -the rebels were there for no good purpose, and -so some of their number had left the quarter -as soon as it grew dark, to warn any Union -people they might meet to keep away from -Mr. Allison’s house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, boy, you’ve done us a favor,” said -Ben, when the darky ceased speaking, “and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>if I had a quarter in good money I would give -it to you. But there’s a bill of some sort in -rebel money. It’s too dark to see the size of -it, but mebbe it will get you half a plug of -tobacco. How many rebs are there in the -party?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sarvant, sah. Thank you kindly, sah,” -said the black boy, as he took the bill. “Da’s -more’n twenty of ’em in de congregation, an’ -all ole soldiers. A mighty rough-lookin’ set -dey is too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the way all rebs look,” said Ben. -“I know, for I have been one of ’em. What -do you s’pose brought the soldiers there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The darky replied that he couldn’t make -out why they came to the house; but he knew -that the officer in command had said something -to Tom, in the presence of his father and -mother, that threw them all into a state of -great agitation. Tom especially was terribly -frightened, and wanted to ride over and pass -the night with Mark Goodwin; but his father -wouldn’t let him go for fear something would -happen to him on the road.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Timothy——” began Ben.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>“Jake, if you please, sah,” corrected the -negro.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Jake, if you keep still about meetin’ -us nobody will ever hear of it. Off you go, -now. The jig’s up, boys, an’ we might as well -strike for camp.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XII. <br /> <span class='small'>SURPRISED AND CAPTURED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“I haven’t the least doubt but what the -nigger told the truth,” continued Ben -Hawkins, as Mr. Allison’s black boy disappeared -in the darkness and his men gathered -about him to hear what else he had to say. -“Everything goes to prove that we uns talked -our plans over in the presence of somebody -who went straight to Beardsley an’ Shelby -with it; an’ them two went to work an’ brung -soldiers enough up to Allison’s house to scoop -us all in the minute we got there. But we uns -aint goin’ to be scooped this night, thanks to -that nigger. Twenty, or even six veterans is -too many fur we uns to tackle, ’specially sence -some of us aint never smelled much powder, -an’ so we’re goin’ home. Now, who’s the -traitor, do you reckon?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was no answer to this question. If -the refugees suspected anybody, they did not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>speak his name. It was a serious matter to accuse -one of their number, none of them were -willing to take the responsibility, and so they -wisely held their peace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We aint got no proof agin anybody,” -continued Ben, “an’ I don’t know’s I blame -you all fur not wantin’ to speak out. But -mind this: I shall have an eye on everybody -in camp—everybody, I said—an’ the fust one -who crooks his finger will have to tell a tol’able -straight story to keep out of trouble. Fall in, -and counter-march by file, left. Quick time -now, an’ keep your guns in your hands, kase -when them rebs up to the house find that -we uns aint goin’ to run into their trap, they -may try to head us off.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The return march was made in silence, each -member of the squad being engrossed with his -own thoughts. Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin -were uppermost in their minds, and there -was not one of the refugees who did not tell -himself that it would be better for the settlement -if those two mischief-makers were well -out of it. They reached camp without any -trouble and reported their failure and talked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>about it as freely as though they never suspected -that there was somebody in their midst -who was to blame for it. Acting on the hint -Ben Hawkins gave them the parolled Confederates -watched everybody, their comrades -as well as the civilians, and talked incessantly -in the hope that the guilty one might be led to -betray himself by an inadvertent word or gesture; -but they paid the least attention to the -man who could have told them the most about -it. Ben Hawkins would have suspected himself -almost as soon as he would have suspected -Buffum.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Monday evening came all too soon for Marcy -Gray, who, with a feeling of depression he had -never before experienced, made ready to take -his turn at foraging. He announced that it -was his intention to go to his mother’s house -alone, because one person might be able to approach -the dwelling unobserved, while three -could not make a successful fight if the enemy -were on the watch. No one offered objection -to this arrangement, if we except the boy -Julius, who positively refused to be left behind, -declaring that if his master would not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>take him to the main-land in his boat, he -would swim the bayou and follow him anyhow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the time came for Marcy to start he -shook hands with all the refugees, Buffum included, -and pushed off from the island alone. -He concealed his canoe when he reached the -other shore and was about to plunge into the -woods, when a slight splashing in the water -and the sound of suppressed conversation came -from the bank he had just left. At least two -or three persons were shoving off from the -island to follow him, and Marcy, believing -that he could call them by name, waited for -them to come up. The night was so dark and -the bushes so thick that his friendly pursuers -did not see him until the bow of their boat -touched the shore and they began to step -out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Ben,” said Marcy reproachfully, -“I shall feel much more at my ease if you will -turn around and go back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, hursh, honey!” replied Julius. -“We uns gwine fight de rebels, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t you know that if you and your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>friends are captured you will be treated as -deserters?” continued Marcy, addressing -himself to Hawkins and paying no attention -to Julius. “You have been ordered to report -for duty and haven’t done it, and I suppose -you know what that means.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A heap better’n you do at this time, but -not better’n you will if you are tooken an’ -packed off to Williamston,” answered Ben. -“You’d die in less’n a month if you was -forced into the army, kase you aint the right -build to stand the hard knocks you’ll get. -But we uns don’t ’low to be took pris’ner or -let you be took, either.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I appreciate your kindness——” began -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You needn’t say no more, kase we uns has -made it up to go with you, an’ we aint goin’ -to turn back,” interrupted Ben. “We uns -will stay outside the house an’ watch, an’ you -can go in an’ get the grub. Pull the boat -ashore, boys, an’ shove her into the bresh out -of sight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is no use in saying that Marcy did -not feel relieved to know that he would have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>four friends at his back if he got into trouble, -because he did. There were three Confederate -veterans, and Julius made the fourth friend; -but Julius counted, for he had already proved -that he was worth something in an emergency. -Marcy made no further effort to turn them -back, but shook them all warmly by the hand -and led the way toward his mother’s plantation. -It took them two hours to reach it, for -they kept under cover of the woods as long as -they could, and followed blind ditches and -brush-lined fences when it became necessary -for them to cross open fields, and so cautious -were they in their movements that when Ben -came to a halt behind a rose-bush in full -view of the great house, he gave it as his -opinion that an owl would not have seen or -heard them, if there had been one on the -watch.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An’ although we uns aint seen no rebels, -that don’t by no means prove that there aint -none around,” added Ben. “Marcy, you stay -here, an’ the rest of us will kinder sneak -around t’other side the house an’ take a look -at things. Julius, you come with me, kase -<span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>you know the lay of the land an’ I don’t. -You two boys go that-a-way; an’ if you run -onto anything don’t stop to ask questions, but -shoot to kill. It’s a matter of life an’ death -with all of we uns, except the nigger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy’s friends moved away in different -directions, and, when they were out of sight -and hearing, he walked around the rose-bush -and sat down on the ground so close to the -house that he could recognize the servants -who passed in and out of the open door, -through which a light streamed into the darkness. -He longed to call one of them to his -hiding-place and send a comforting message to -the anxious mother, who he knew was waiting -for him in the sitting room, but he was afraid -to do it. There wasn’t a negro on the place -who could be trusted as far as that. If he -tried to attract the notice of one of them, the -darky would be sure to shriek out with terror -and seek safety in flight, and Marcy did not -want to frighten his mother. So he sat still -and waited for Ben Hawkins, who, after half -an hour’s absence, returned with the gratifying -intelligence that the coast was clear, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>Marcy could go ahead with his foraging as -soon as he pleased.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If there’s ary reb in this here garding he -must be hid in the ground, or else some of -we uns would surely have stepped onto him,” -said Ben. “Beardsley didn’t look fur you to -come to-night, an’ that’s all the proof I want -that we uns has got ahead of that traitor of -ourn fur once, dog-gone his pictur’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are the rest of the boys?” whispered -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They’re gardin’ three sides of the house, -an’ when you go in I’ll stay here an’ guard the -fourth,” answered Ben. “Off you go, now. -Crawl up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy lingered a moment to shake Ben’s -hand, and then arose to his feet and walked -toward the house. If Ben’s report was correct -there was no need of concealment. He stopped -on the way to speak to the darkies in the -kitchen, and his sudden appearance at the -door threw them into the wildest commotion. -They made a simultaneous rush for the rear -window, intending to crawl through and take -to their heels; but the sound of his familiar -<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>voice reassured them. Raising his hand to -silence their cries of alarm Marcy said impressively:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you black ones want to see me captured -by the rebels? Or do you want to frighten -my mother to death? If you don’t, keep -still.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Moss’ Mahcy,” protested the cook, who -was the first to recover from her fright, “dey -aint no rebels round hyar. I aint seed none -dis whole blessed——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For all that there may be some concealed -in the garden and ready to jump on me at any -moment,” interrupted Marcy. “Now, don’t -go to prowling about. If you do you will be -frightened again, for I have friends out there -in the bushes and you might run upon them -in the dark.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>So saying Marcy turned from the kitchen -and went into the house, passing on the way -two large baskets which had been filled with -food and placed in the hall ready to his hand, -so that there would be nothing to detain him -in so dangerous a place as his mother’s house -was known to be. Mrs. Gray came from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>sitting room to meet him, for she heard his -step the moment he crossed the threshold.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Marcy! I am so glad to see you, but -I am almost sorry you came,” was the way in -which she greeted him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Seen anything alarming?” inquired the -boy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; and that very circumstance excites -my suspicion. There are Confederate soldiers -in the neighborhood, for Morris saw several of -them in Nashville this morning. I shall never -become accustomed to this terrible way of -living.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more shall I, but the only way to put -a stop to it is to—what in the world is that?” -exclaimed Marcy; for just then a smothered -cry of astonishment and alarm, that was suddenly -cut short in the middle, sounded in the -direction of the kitchen, followed by an indescribable -commotion such as might have been -made by the shuffling feet of men who were -engaged in a hand-to-hand contest. A second -afterward pistol-shots—not one or a dozen, but -a volley of them rattled around the house, -telling Marcy in plain terms that Ben Hawkins -<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>and his comrades had been assailed on all -sides.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Marcy, they’ve got you!” cried Mrs. -Gray; and forgetful of herself, and thinking -only of his safety, she flung her arms -about his neck and threw herself between him -and the open door, protecting his person with -her own.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not yet,” replied the boy between his -clenched teeth. “I might as well die here as -in the army.”</p> - -<div class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/p312.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>MARCY CAPTURED AT LAST.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Tightening his grasp on his mother’s waist -Marcy swung her behind him with one arm, at -the same time reaching for the revolver whose -heavy butt protruded from the leg of his right -boot; but before he could straighten up with -the weapon in his hand, two men in Confederate -uniform rushed into the room from the -hall, and two cocked revolvers were pointed at -his head. Resistance would have been madness. -The men had him covered, their ready -fingers were resting on the triggers, and an -effort on Marcy’s part to level his own weapon -would have been the signal for his death. -These things happened in much less time than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>we have taken to describe them, and all the -while a regular fight, a sharp one, too, had -been going on outside the house, and with the -rattle of carbines and revolvers were mingled -the screams of the terrified negroes; but -Marcy Gray and his mother did not know it. -Their minds were filled with but one thought, -and that was that Beardsley had got the upper -hand of them at last.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you move an eyelid you are a dead conscript,” -said the foremost of the two rebels at -the door, and whom Marcy afterward knew as -Captain Fletcher. As he spoke he came into -the room and took the revolver from Marcy’s -hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Captain, I see the mate to that sticking -out of his boot,” said the other soldier; and -not until the captain had taken possession of -that revolver also did his comrade think it -safe to put up his weapon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At this moment the firing outside ceased as -suddenly as it had begun. Captain Fletcher -noticed it if Marcy did not, and ordered his -man to “go out and take a look and come in -and report.” Then Marcy led his mother to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span>the sofa and sat down beside her, while the -captain stood in the middle of the room with -his revolver in his hand and looked at him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ve got me easy enough,” said Marcy, -trying to put a bold face on the matter. -“And now I should like to know what you -intend to do with me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My orders are to take you to Williamston,” -replied the captain, who seemed to be a -good fellow at heart. “I am sorry, but you -would have saved yourself and me some -trouble if you had gone there the minute you -were conscripted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never knew before that I had been conscripted,” -answered Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Every man and boy in the Confederacy -who is able to do duty must go into the army,” -said the captain slowly and impressively. -“If he will not go willingly he’ll be forced in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There are so many men and boys in the -Confederacy who do not want to go into the -service that I should think it would take half -your army to hunt them up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s a heap of bother,” admitted the captain, -“and it takes men we cannot afford to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>spare from the front just now. Perhaps you -had better take a few clothes and a blanket -with you; but I shall have to ask your mother -to get them, for I want you where I can keep -an eye on you. Captain Beardsley says——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go on,” said Marcy, when the captain -paused and caught his breath. “You can’t -tell me anything about Beardsley that I don’t -know already. He and Shelby are at the bottom -of this, and I am well aware of it. I don’t -see why you don’t hang those men. They -have taken the oath of allegiance to the -United States Government.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t approve of anything like that, but -all’s fair in war,” replied the captain, who -seemed to know all about it. “A loyal -soldier wouldn’t have done it, but Beardsley -and Shelby are civilians and the Yanks -frightened them into it. However, they are -working for our side as hard as they ever did, -and that’s about all we care for.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the captain ceased speaking Mrs. -Gray arose from the sofa and went to Marcy’s -room to pack a valise for him. There were no -traces of tears on her white, set face, and her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>step was as firm as it ever was. She was bearing -up bravely, for she had long schooled herself -for just such a scene as this. When she -left the room the captain slipped his revolver -into its holster, took possession of an easy-chair, -and leaned back in it with a long-drawn -sigh.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’d rather face a dozen Yanks than one -woman,” said he. “I hope she’ll not break -down when she bids you good-by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You need have no fears on that score,” -answered Marcy. “I judge you don’t like -the unpleasant work you are engaged in any -too well, and my mother will do nothing to -make it harder for you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re mighty right, I don’t like it,” said -the captain emphatically. “Any place in the -world but an invalid corps. They have all the -dirty work to do. It suits some cowards, but -I’d rather be at the front, and there I hope to -go next week. Well, corporal?” he added, -turning to the man he had sent out of the -room a few minutes before. “How many of -them were there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A dozen or so, sir, judging by the fight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>they made and the work they did,” replied -the soldier.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you speaking of my friends?” -inquired Marcy, who now remembered that -there had been something of a commotion outside -the house. “Well, there were just three -of them, not counting an unarmed negro boy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you want me to believe that three conscripts -could stand off twenty old soldiers?” -demanded the corporal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Great Scott!” exclaimed Marcy, who was -really surprised. “Did you bring twenty -men here to capture me? You are a brave -lot.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Braver than you who took to the woods to -keep from going into the army,” answered the -angry corporal. “We can’t find hair nor -hide of them, sir,” he added, turning to his -officer. “But they left us four dead men to -remember them by, and nary one wounded.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy was horrified. Ben Hawkins had -followed his own advice and shot to kill. He -was glad to hear the corporal say that his -friends had managed to escape in the darkness, -but what effect would the gallant fight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>they made have upon his own prospects? He -was glad, too, that there was a commissioned -officer among his captors, for he did not like -the way the corporal glared at him. And -finally, would his capture bring Tom Allison -and Mark Goodwin into trouble with the -refugees?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It certainly did bring them into trouble,” -interrupted Rodney. “They were bushwhacked.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you know?” demanded Marcy, -starting up in his chair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jack said so in his last letter. And he -said, further, that your good friends Beardsley -and Shelby, and one other whose name I -have forgotten, were burned out so clean that -they didn’t have a nigger cabin left to shelter -them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Were Tom and Mark killed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose they were, but Jack wasn’t -explicit on that point. You would be sorry -to hear it, of course.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I certainly would, for I used to be good -friends with those boys before a few crazy -men kicked up this war and set us together -<span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>by the ears,” said Marcy sadly. “But they -could blame no one but themselves. I wonder -that Beardsley wasn’t bushwhacked also.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then Marcy settled back in his chair and -went on with his story. He told how he -listened to the conclusion of the corporal’s -report, during which he learned, what he had -all along more than half suspected, that the -Confederates had surrounded the house and -were lying concealed in the garden when he -and his companions arrived. They saw -Marcy’s friends reconnoiter the premises, but -made no effort to capture them for the reason -that they had received strict orders not to -move until Captain Fletcher gave the signal, -which he did as soon as he saw Marcy enter -the house. He and the corporal lost no time -in following and coming to close quarters with -him, for they knew they would find the boy -armed, and that it would be dangerous to give -him a chance to defend himself. When they -left their place of concealment and ran around -the kitchen, they encountered Aunt Martha -the cook, who saw and recognized their uniforms -as they passed her window, and started -<span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>at the top of her speed for the house, hoping -to warn her young master so that he could -escape through the cellar, as he had done once -before. But the corporal seized her, promptly -choked off the warning cry that arose to her -lips, and then began that furious struggle that -had attracted Marcy’s attention.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She was strong and savage,” said the -captain with a laugh, “and for a time it -looked as though she would get the better of -both of us. If she didn’t do that, I was afraid -she would make such a fight that you would -hear it and dig out; but fortunately two of -my men came to our aid just in the nick of -time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hope you didn’t hurt her,” said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I choked her into silence, you bet,” -replied the corporal, who then stated that the -firing began when the Confederates rose to -their feet and tried to capture Marcy’s friends. -They got more bullets than captives, however, -and the captain had four less men under his -command now than he had when the fight -commenced.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have wagons on the place, I suppose?” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span>said the captain to Marcy, when the -corporal intimated by a salute that his report -was ended. “Very well. We’ll have to borrow -one of them to take the bodies to Williamston. -I did intend to visit two other houses -to-night, but I shouldn’t make anything by it -now, for of course the whole settlement has -been alarmed by the firing. Go and see about -that wagon, corporal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As the non-commissioned officer disappeared -through one door Marcy’s mother came in at -another, carrying a well-filled valise in her -hand. It was not locked, and she opened and -presented it for the captain’s inspection.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is nothing in it except a few articles -which I know will be useful to my boy while -he is in the army,” said she.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That assurance is sufficient,” replied the -captain. “Now, as soon as the corporal -reports that wagon ready, we will rid your -house of our unwelcome presence. I am sorry -indeed that I had this work to do, but the -Yankees are to blame for it. If they hadn’t -shot me almost to death in the last battle I -was in, I should now be at the front where I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_322'>322</span>belong. I wish your son might have got -away, but I was ordered to take him and I was -obliged to do it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We have seen enough of this war to know -that a soldier’s business is to do as he is told, -no matter who gets hurt by it,” said Marcy, -speaking for his mother, who seated herself on -the sofa by his side and looked at him as -though she never expected to see him again. -“I don’t mind telling you, captain, that if I -could have had my own way, I should have -been fighting under the Old Flag long ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So I have heard; and there are a good -many men in our army who think as much of -the Union as Abe Lincoln does,” answered the -captain truthfully. “But don’t say that again -unless you know who you are talking to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you any idea where Marcy will be -sent?” asked Mrs. Gray, speaking with an -effort.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I don’t know for certain, but my -impression is that he will have to do guard -duty somewhere. The authorities used to -send conscripts from this State to fill out -North Carolina regiments in the field, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>they don’t trouble themselves to do it now. -They put them on guard duty wherever they -want them, and send volunteers to the front.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let that ease your mind, mother,” said -Marcy, with an attempt at cheerfulness. “If -I am to stay in the rear I shan’t have such a -very hard time of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The captain opened his eyes, smiled incredulously, -and once or twice acted as if he -were on the point of speaking; but he thought -better of it, and just then the corporal returned -to report that the men had been called -in and the wagon was waiting at the door. -Captain Fletcher went into the hall while -Marcy took leave of his mother, and this gave -the latter opportunity to whisper in his ear, -as her head rested on his shoulder:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be careful of that valise, and the first -chance you get take the money out of it. -You will find one vest in there, and the gold is -in the right-hand pocket. O Marcy, this blow -will kill me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You mustn’t let it. I shall surely return, -and when I do I want you and Jack here to -welcome me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>The leave-taking was not prolonged,—it -would have been torture to both of them,—and -when Captain Fletcher reached the carriage -porch, where the corporal stood holding three -horses by the bridle, Marcy was at his side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mount that horse and come on,” said the -captain. “When we overtake the wagon you -can put your valise in it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But that valise was much too valuable to be -placed in the wagon, or anywhere else that a -thieving Confederate could get his hands on -it, so Marcy replied that if it was all the same -to the captain he would tie it to the horn of his -saddle, where he could keep an eye on it. He -mounted the horse that was pointed out to -him, kissed his hand to his mother, said a -cheery good-by to the weeping blacks, who had -at last found courage to come into the house, -and rode on after the wagon, which had by this -time passed through the front gate into the -road. Marcy was the only prisoner the Confederates -captured that night, and he had cost -them the lives of four men. The soldier who -had once owned the horse he was riding was -one of the unfortunates. Marcy would have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>given much, to know whether Ben Hawkins -and his comrades escaped unscathed, but that -was something he never expected to hear, for -he was by no means as sure that he would -come back to his home as he pretended to be. -Others had been killed, and what right had -he to assume that he would escape?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This scout hasn’t amounted to a row of -pins,” observed Captain Fletcher, when he -and Marcy came up with the wagon and rode -behind it. “I expected to find the country -alive with Yankee cavalry and to fight my -way against a small army of refugees, who -would ambush me from the time I left -Williamston till I got back. That is the -reason I brought so large a squad with me. I -have been out four days, and what have I to -show for my trouble? Four dead men and -three prisoners. I don’t like such work, and -shall get back to Virginia as soon as I can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The captain relapsed into silence, and during -the rest of the journey Marcy was at -liberty to commune undisturbed with his own -gloomy thoughts.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XIII. <br /> <span class='small'>IN WILLIAMSTON JAIL.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>“Fresh fish! where did you come from? -Are you a deserter or a conscript?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was about two o’clock in the afternoon. -Marcy Gray was in Williamston jail at last, -and this was the way he was welcomed when -the heavy grated door clanged behind him. -Much to his relief he was not thrust into a cell -as he thought he would be, but into a large -room which was already so crowded that it -did not seem as though there could be space -for one more. The inmates gathered eagerly -about him, all asking questions at once, and -although some of them affected to look upon -their capture and confinement as a huge joke, -Marcy saw at a glance that the majority were -as miserable as he was himself. While he told -his story in as few words as possible he looked -around for the two foragers who had been -captured on the night that Ben Hawkins was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span>surprised in his father’s house, and failing to -discover them he shouted out their names. -They had had a few days’ experience as prisoners, -and could perhaps give him some needed -advice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, they’re gone,” said one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gone where?” inquired Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nobody knows. This room was cleaned -out on the very day they were brought in, and -your two friends went with the rest to do -guard duty somewhere down South. All of -us you see here have been captured during the -last two or three days.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How long do you think it will be before -we will be shipped off?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It won’t be long,” said the prisoner, “for -this room is about as full as it will hold. -What are you anyway? Union or secesh?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before Marcy could make any reply to this -unexpected question, someone who stood behind -him gave him a gentle poke in the ribs. -He took it for a warning, as indeed it was -intended to be, and turned away without saying -a word. The incident frightened him, for -it proved that there were some among the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>prisoners whom their companions in misery -were afraid to trust. He began to wonder how -it would be possible for him to secure possession -of the gold pieces which his thoughtful -mother had placed in his vest pocket. There -were some hard-looking fellows among the -prisoners, men of the Kelsey and Hanson -stamp, and Marcy was not far wrong when he -told himself it would never do to let them -know or suspect that he was well supplied -with good money. Holding fast to his blanket -and valise he freed himself from the crowd as -soon as he could, and taking his stand by an -open grated window, began looking about in -search of a face whose owner seemed to him -worthy of confidence; for Marcy felt the need -of a friend now as he had never felt it before. -As good fortune would have it, the first man -who attracted his notice was Charley Bowen, -and he turned out to be the one who had -given him the warning poke in the ribs. His -was an honest face if there ever was one, and -Marcy liked the way the man conducted himself. -He took no part in the joking and -laughing. He looked as serious as Marcy felt, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>but did not seem to be utterly cast down, as -many of the prisoners were, because he knew -he was going to be forced into the army. -When he saw that Marcy’s eyes were fixed -upon him with an inquiring look, he gradually -worked his way out of the crowd and -came up to the window.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You look as though you had been used to -better quarters than these and better company, -too,” was the way he began the conversation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And so do you,” replied Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never was shut up in jail before, if that -is what you mean. You see I don’t belong in -this part of the country. I got this far on my -way up from Georgia, intending to get outside -the Confederate lines if I could, but I was -gobbled at last, and within sight of the Union -flag at Plymouth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That was hard luck indeed,” answered -Marcy. “You earned your freedom and -ought to have had it. Why, you must have -travelled four or five hundred miles. What -excuse did the rebels make for arresting -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t use that word here,” said the man -<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>hastily. “It’s dangerous. We have the best -of reasons for believing that there are spies -among us searching for deserters, and they -will go straight to the guards with every word -you say. The man who asked if you are -Union or secesh is one of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why are they so anxious to find deserters?” -asked Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To make an example of them, I suppose. -At any rate the guards took a deserter out of -this room on the day I came, and we’ve never -seen him since. The men who captured me -did not make any excuse for holding me, if -that was the question you were going to ask. -They simply said that I couldn’t be of any use -to the Yanks in Plymouth, but could be of a -good deal of use in the Confederate army, and -so they brought me along. Who are you? -and what’s your name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy had not talked with the man very -long before he made up his mind that he had -found the friend he needed; but still he was -afraid to trust him too far on short acquaintance. -He told Bowen that he was neither a -deserter nor a conscript, but a refugee, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span>owed his capture to personal enemies, who -would be sure to suffer for it sooner or later; -but he did not say that he intended to escape -if his captors gave him half a chance, or that -he had some good money in his valise. Consequently -he was not a little surprised and -alarmed when Bowen turned his back to the -rest of the prisoners, and said in an earnest -whisper:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you been searched?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” answered Marcy. “What will I -have to be searched for? My mother presented -my valise for Captain Fletcher’s inspection, -but he was gentleman enough to say he -wouldn’t look into it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, you’ll be searched, and that too just -as soon as old Wilkins learns something of -the circumstances under which you were -captured,” continued Bowen in the same -earnest whisper. “It don’t stand to reason -that your mother would have packed your -carpetbag without slipping in a little money, -if she had any, and Wilkins is hot after -money.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who is Wilkins, anyhow?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_332'>332</span>“The Confederate captain who commands -here, and he’s a robber. He goes through -every man who comes into the jail, and you -will not escape. Why, he was mean enough -to take three dollars in scrip from me. He -said I would have no use for money, for the -government would furnish me with grub and -clothes. If you’ve got anything you want to -save you’d better let me have it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But how do I know that it will be any -safer with you than it is with me?” demanded -Marcy. “What assurance have I that you -will give it back when I want it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You haven’t any. You’ll have to take -my word for it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This was honest at any rate, and something -prompted Marcy to take out the key of his -valise and slip it into Bowen’s hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look for my vest and feel in the right-hand -pocket,” he whispered; and then he -turned around to engage the nearest of the -prisoners in conversation and draw their -attention away from Bowen if he could. It -looked like a hopeless task. The room was so -full that it did not seem possible that any of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>its inmates could make a move without being -seen by somebody; but as soon as he showed -a disposition to talk he found plenty ready -and eager to listen, for he was the last arrival -and brought the latest news from the outside -world. He kept as many as could -crowd around him interested for perhaps five -minutes, and then his narrative was brought -to a close by a commotion in the farther end of -the room and the entrance of a Confederate -corporal, who elbowed his way into the crowd, -calling for Marcy Gray.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here!” replied the owner of that name. -“What do you suppose he wants of me?” he -added in an undertone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Most likely he wants to take your descriptive -list,” said one of the prisoners, with a -wink at his companions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that was done when I came in,” said -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did old Wilkins do it?” said the conscript. -“I don’t reckon he did, for he has -been off somewhere since morning. If he’s -got back he will want to see you himself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>That somebody wanted to see him was made -<span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>plain to Marcy in a very few seconds, for the -corporal worked his way through the crowd -until he caught sight of the new prisoner, who -was ordered to pick up his plunder and “come -along down to the office”; and, what was -more, the corporal watched him to see that -he did not leave any of his “plunder” -behind.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That proves that the descriptive list of -your valise hasn’t been taken,” whispered one -of the prisoners, as Marcy followed the corporal -toward the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When he picked up his valise he noticed -that the key was in the lock, and of course -Bowen must have put it there; but whether -he had had time to examine the vest and find -the precious gold pieces was a question that -could not be answered now. “Old Wilkins” -would no doubt answer it in about five -minutes, was what Marcy said to himself, as -he followed his guide down a flight of stairs -into a wide hall, which was paved with brick -and lined on both sides with dark, narrow -cells. Marcy shuddered when he glanced at -the pale, hollow-eyed captives on the other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span>side of the grated doors, who crowded up to -look at him as he passed along the hall.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who are these?” he whispered to his -conductor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Deserters and the meanest kind of Yankee -sympathizers,” was the answer. “Men who -give aid and comfort to the enemy while -honest soldiers are risking their lives at the -front.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s going to be done with them, do -you know?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The deserters will be shot, most likely, -and every one of the rest ought to be hung. -That’s what would be done with them if I had -my way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy’s heart sank within him. If the -corporal could have his way what would be -done with <i>him</i>? was the question that came -into his mind. He had not only given aid and -comfort to the Federals but had served on one -of their gunboats; and how did he know but -that the commander of the prison would order -him into one of those crowded cells after he -had taken the descriptive list of his valise, or, -in plain English, had robbed it of everything -<span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span>of value? While Marcy was thinking about -it the corporal pushed open a door and -ushered him into the presence of Captain -Wilkins, who sat tilted back in a chair, with -his feet on the office table and a cob pipe in -his mouth. Although he was resplendent in -a brand-new uniform he did not look like a -soldier, and Marcy afterward learned that he -wasn’t. He was a Home Guard, and would -have been a deserter if he had seen the least -prospect before him of being ordered to the -front.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Private Gray, sir,” said the corporal, waving -his hand in Marcy’s direction.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His interview with Captain Wilkins, of -whom he had already learned to stand in fear, -was not a long one, but it did much to satisfy -Marcy that the man was not as well acquainted -with his history as he was afraid he might be. -His first words, however, showed that he knew -all about the fight that had taken place in -Mrs. Gray’s door-yard when the boy was -captured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you are the chap who cost the lives of -some of my best men, are you?” said he, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>after he had given Marcy a good looking over. -“Do you know what I have a notion to do -with you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy replied that he did not, being careful -to address the captain as “sir,” for he knew -it would be folly to irritate such a man as he -was. He expected to hear him declare that he -would put him into the dungeon and keep him -there on bread and water as long as he remained -in the jail; but instead of that the -captain said:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would like to send you to the field without -an hour’s delay, so that the Yankees could -have a chance at you. There’s where such -cowards as you belong. Why didn’t you -come in when you knew you had been conscripted -and save me the trouble of sending -for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t know it, sir,” replied Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, it was your business to know that -every able-bodied man in the Confederacy has -been placed absolutely under control of our -President while the war lasts,” continued the -captain. “You were mighty good to yourself -to stay at home living on the fat of the land, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span>while your betters are fighting and dying for -the flag, but I’ll put you where you will see -service; do you hear? How many more men -are there in that camp of refugees up there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“About twenty, sir,” answered Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Twenty more cowards shirking duty!” -exclaimed the captain, taking his feet off the -table and banging his fist upon it. “But I’ll -have them out of there if it takes every man -I’ve got; do you hear? I say I’ll have them -out of that camp and into the army, where -they will be food for powder. Let me see -your baggage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Captain Wilkins said this he nodded to -the corporal, who seized Marcy’s valise and -turned its contents upon the floor. There -were not many things brought to light—only -an extra suit of clothes, two or three handkerchiefs, -as many shirts and pairs of stockings, -and a pair of shoes; but each of these articles -was carefully examined by the corporal, who -went about his work as though he was used -to it, as indeed he was. He had examined a -good deal of luggage for the captain, who had -nothing to say when he saw him confiscate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>any article of clothing that struck his fancy, -or which he thought he could sell or trade to -his comrades of the Home Guards. Marcy -caught his breath when he saw the corporal -run his fingers into the right-hand pocket of -the vest in which his mother had placed the -gold pieces, and felt much relieved when the -soldier did not pull out anything. Then his -blanket, which Marcy had rolled up and tied -with strings so that he could sling it over his -shoulder, soldier fashion, was shaken out, but -there was not a thing in it to reward the -corporal’s search. The latter looked disappointed -and so did Captain Wilkins, who commanded -Marcy to turn all his pockets inside -out. He did so, but there was nothing in -them but a broken jack-knife that was not -worth stealing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must be poor folks up your way,” -said the captain. “Where’s your scrip?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I haven’t a dollar’s worth of scrip, sir,” -said Marcy truthfully. “In fact I’ve seen -little of it during the war.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It never occurred to Captain Wilkins to ask -if Marcy had seen any other sort of money, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>for gold was something he had not taken from -the pockets of a single conscript. He put his -feet on the table again, touched a lighted -match to his pipe, and told Marcy that he -could go back upstairs. Glad to escape so -easily the boy tumbled his clothing into his -valise, gathered up his blanket, and went; and -the sentry who stood in the hall at the head of -the stairs opened the door for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What did you have? What did you -lose?” were the questions that arose on all -sides when he entered the room he had left -a few minutes before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a thing,” answered Marcy, glancing at -Charley Bowen, who stood among the prisoners, -looking as innocent and unconcerned as a man -could who had almost a hundred dollars in -gold in his pocket. “And they gave my -things a good overhauling, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What did you do with your scrip, anyway? -Put it in your shoe?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t have any,” said Marcy. “If I -had the corporal would have found it sure, for -he turned everything inside out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy elbowed his way to the nearest window -<span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>to roll up his blanket and repack his -valise, and after a while Bowen came up.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If it hadn’t been for you they would have -stolen me poor,” Marcy found an opportunity -to whisper to him. “They are nothing but -robbers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What did I tell you?” replied Bowen. -“Put your hand into my coat-pocket, and you -will find it safe; but I warn you that you will -lose it if you don’t watch out. There are -some among the prisoners who would steal it -in a minute if they got a good chance. What -do you intend to do with it anyway?” he -added, after Marcy had transferred the gold -coins to his own pocket without attracting anybody’s -attention. “The first time you try to -spend any of it, someone will rob you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It may come handy some day,” whispered -Marcy. “Since you have showed yourself to -be a true friend I don’t mind telling you that -I don’t mean to serve under the rebel flag a -day longer than I am obliged to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you going to make a break?” said -Bowen eagerly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am, if I see the ghost of a show.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>“You’re a boy after my own heart, and if -you want good company I will go with you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Nothing could have suited Marcy Gray better. -The fact that Bowen had travelled hundreds -of miles through a country that was in -full possession of the enemy, and had even -come within sight of the Union lines before he -was captured, proved that he was not only a -brave and persevering man, but that he was -skilled in woodcraft as well; and such a man -would be an invaluable companion if they -could only manage to escape at the same time. -Bowen said it would be impossible for them to -escape from the jail, for in addition to the -sentry, who stood in the hall and could look -through the grated door into the room and see -every move that was made among the prisoners, -the building was surrounded by guards -every night. It would be folly for them to -make the attempt until they were certain of -success, for no man in the rebel army ever -deserted more than once.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But whether we escape in one month or -two we’ll have something to think about and -live for, so that our minds will not be constantly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>dwelling upon our misfortunes; and -that’s a great thing in a case like this, I tell -you,” said Bowen. “We must keep up a -brave heart by thinking about pleasant things, -or else it will not be long before we shall be -moping like those poor fellows over there in -the corner. They’re all the time worrying, and -the first they know they will be down sick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose that is the right way to do, but -it is awful hard for a conscript to be jolly,” -said Marcy, who was thinking of his mother -and of Jack, whom he might never see again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know it; but it is the only way for us to -do if we want to keep on our feet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When five o’clock came and the long table -which occupied the middle of the room had -been cleared of the men who had been sitting -and lying upon it, and the supper was brought -in, Marcy Gray began to realize that being -shut up in jail meant something. While -Bowen talked he had been slowly working his -way through the crowd toward the table, and -now Marcy saw what his object was in doing -it. The supper, which consisted of bean soup -and corn bread, was brought in in small -<span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span>wooden tubs which were placed upon the table, -together with a sufficient number of pans -and spoons to accommodate about half the -prisoners at once. No sooner had these pans -and spoons been set on the table than Bowen -seized two of them as quick as a flash, and -filled the pans with soup with one hand, while -he passed Marcy a generous piece of corn -bread with the other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now get over there by the window before -somebody jostles you and spills it all,” said -he; and although Marcy, acting upon the -suggestion, succeeded in reaching the window -without losing his supper, it was not owing to -any consideration that was shown him by the -prisoners, who made a regular charge upon -the table, pushing and crowding, and acting -altogether like men who were more than half -famished. Marcy said, in a tone of disgust, -that they reminded him of a lot of pigs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know’s I blame them,” said -Bowen, swallowing a spoonful of his soup -with the remark that it was somewhat better -than common. “You will soon learn to push -and shove with the rest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>“I hope not,” replied Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you’ll have to eat out of a dirty -dish; that’s all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you mean to say that someone will -have to use this pan and spoon after I get -through with them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s just what I mean. You see there -are not more than half enough to go around.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, why don’t they wash them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Too much trouble, I suppose. And -besides, anything is good enough for a conscript.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy did not in the least enjoy his supper. -The soup was so badly smoked that it was not -fit to eat, and the corn bread was not more -than half baked. More than that, one of the -prisoners urged him to make haste and “get -away with that soup,” for he wanted the pan -as soon as he could have it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t mind him,” said Bowen. “Take -your time. That’s the way they will all serve -you when you get left.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Up to this time Marcy Gray had not been -troubled very much with the pangs of home-sickness. -One seldom is when the bright sun -<span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span>is shining and he can see what is going on -around him. It is when the quiet of night -comes and everybody else is asleep that the -young soldier thinks of home and the friends -he has left behind him. It was so with Marcy -Gray at any rate. When the supper dishes -had been removed, and somebody had touched -a match to a couple of sputtering candles -which threw out just light enough to show -how desolate and cheerless the big room really -was, and the prisoners began arranging their -blankets and quilts, and the joking and laughing -ceased, then it was that Marcy’s fortitude -was put to the test. He thought of his -mother, of Jack, and Ben Hawkins, who had -proved so stanch a friend to him, and told -himself that he would never see them again. -He had heard that nostalgia (that is the name -the doctors give to homesickness) killed people -sometimes, and he was sure it would kill him -before the month was ended.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What are you doing at that window?” -demanded Bowen, breaking in upon his -revery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am watching the sentry in the yard below,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>answered Marcy. “I wish I was in his -place. It wouldn’t take me long to slip away in -the darkness and draw a bee-line for home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, you just let that sentry alone and -come here and lie down,” said Bowen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the use? I can’t go to sleep.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can and you must. Sleep and eat all -you can, hold your thoughts under control, -and so keep up your strength. Come here -and lie down.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy knew that Bowen’s advice was good, -but it was hard to follow it. Reluctantly he -stretched himself upon the man’s blanket,—there -was no room on the floor for him to -spread his own,—pulled his valise under his -head for a pillow, and listened while Bowen -told of some exciting and amusing incidents -that had fallen under his observation while he -was trying to reach the Union lines. On -three occasions, he said, he had acted as guide -to small parties of escaped Federals who were -slowly working their way out of Dixie, but -somehow he never could induce them to remain -very long in his company.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They had the impudence to tell me that I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>didn’t know anything about the geography -of my own State,” said Bowen in an injured -tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I think myself,” replied -Marcy. “Whatever put it into your head to -come away up here to North Carolina, when you -might have taken a short cut to the coast?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There you go just like the rest of them,” -said Bowen. “It shows how much you know -of the situation down South. The Confederacy -is like an empty egg-shell. There’s nothing -on the inside—no soldiers to be afraid of—nothing -but niggers, who are only too glad to -feed and shelter a Union man. You’re safe -while you stay on the inside, but the minute -you try to get out is when the danger begins, -for there’s the shell in the shape of the armies -by which the Confederacy is surrounded. -There was no need of my being captured, and -that’s what provokes me. When I caught -sight of the Union flag in Plymouth I thought -I was safe and so, instead of keeping to the -woods, I came out and followed the road; and -here I am. If I had held to the course that -I followed all through my long journey, I’d -<span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span>have been among the boys in blue now instead -of being shut up in jail.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did old Wilkins conscript you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The minute I struck the jail. He took -my descriptive list, robbed me of the little -money I had left, and told me I could make -up my mind to fight until the Confederates -gained their independence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll die of old age before that day -comes,” said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I think, and it’s what more -than half the people down South think. -There are men and boys in the Confederate -army who are as strong for the Union as Abe -Lincoln is; but if they said so, or if they -shirked their duty, they would be shot before -they saw another sun rise. Now, if they put -you and me on guard duty at one of their -prison pens we’ll not stay there any longer -than we feel like it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bowen continued to whisper in this encouraging -strain until long after the rest of -the prisoners were wrapped in slumber; and -finally Marcy’s eyes grew heavy and he fell -asleep himself.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XIV. <br /> <span class='small'>THE PRISON PEN.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>When Marcy Gray awoke the next -morning he made the mental resolution -that from that time forward, no matter -what happened or how homesick he might be, -he would follow Bowen’s advice and example -to the letter, eat and sleep all he could and -keep up a brave heart, so as to be in readiness -to improve the first opportunity for escape -that presented itself. Fortunately some -things occurred that made it comparatively -easy for him to hold to his resolve for a few -days at least. After some more smoked bean -soup and half-baked corn bread had been -served for breakfast (and this time Marcy did -just what Bowen said he would, and pushed -and crowded with the rest in order to get a -clean pan to eat from), the grated door that -led into the hall was thrown open and the -commander of the prison appeared on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>threshold with Captain Fletcher at his side. -The latter held in his hand the book in which -Marcy had seen his name and descriptive list -entered the day before. A hush of expectancy -fell upon the prisoners, who surged -toward the door in a body. Something out of -the ordinary was about to happen, and they -were impatient to know what it was.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Get back there!” shouted Captain Wilkins. -“You seem to be in a mighty hurry to -leave these good quarters, but some of you -will wish yourselves back here before many -days have passed over your heads.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>These words had a depressing effect upon -some of the prisoners, but they were very -cheering to Marcy Gray and his friend Bowen. -The captain made it plain that they were to be -sent off in some direction, and anything was -better than being shut up in that gloomy jail.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As fast as your names are called pick up -your plunder and go down into the yard and -fall in for a march of seventy-five miles,” continued -the captain. “That will be your first -taste of a soldier’s life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Seventy-five miles,” repeated Marcy. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span>“We must be going to Raleigh, and from -there it is about a hundred miles by rail to -Salisbury. By gracious, Bowen, if they send -us there I’ll not be much over two hundred -miles from home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hope they’ll not separate us,” was the -reply. “That’s what I am afraid of now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Fletcher called off the names as -they were written in his book, and the -prisoners one after another disappeared down -the stairs. Some responded with a cheerful -“here,” and walked as briskly as though they -were going home instead of into the army, -while others answered in scarcely audible -tones and moved with slow and reluctant -steps. When Bowen’s name was called he -lingered long enough to give Marcy’s hand a -friendly squeeze, and when he passed through -the door out of sight he seemed to have taken -all the boy’s courage with him; but when his -own name was called a few minutes later, -Marcy was himself again. He went into the -jail yard and fell into the line that was being -formed there under command of an officer he -had not seen before. On the opposite side of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>the yard was a company of soldiers, veterans -on the face of them, who were standing at -“parade rest,” and Marcy straightway concluded -that they were the men who were to -guard the prisoners during the march. Marcy -hoped they would continue to act in that -capacity as long as an escort was needed. He -wasn’t afraid of veterans, but he did not want -any Home Guards put over him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What have you got in your grip?” -inquired the officer, as Marcy fell into his -place in line.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Clothing, sir,” answered the boy, holding -out the valise as if he thought the officer -wished to inspect it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am willing to take your word for it,” -said the latter, who no doubt knew that Captain -Wilkins had given the valise a thorough -examination. “I was going to suggest that -you had better wrap its contents in your -blanket and leave the grip behind. It will -only be in your way, and you don’t want too -much luggage on the march.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy thought the suggestion a good one, -and with the officer’s permission he fell out -<span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span>long enough to act upon it. By the time he -took his place in line again the prisoners who -were to be sent away were all assembled in the -yard, and the commander and Captain Fletcher -had come out of the jail. The few unfortunates -who remained behind were suspected of -being deserters, and they were to be detained -until their record could be investigated. Captain -Fletcher handed his book to the strange -officer, who proceeded to call the roll a second -time, for he had to receipt for the men committed -to his care as if they had been so many -bags of corn. When this had been done the -prisoners were marched through the gate into -one of Williamston’s principal streets, the -guards with loaded muskets on their shoulders -fell in on both sides of them, and their weary -journey, which was to end at a point more than -three hundred miles away, was fairly begun.</p> - -<p class='c001'>They were nearly three weeks on the road, -and during that time not an incident happened -that was worthy of record. Marcy afterward -said that all he could remember was that he -was hungry all the time, and too tired and -sleepy to think of escape, even if it had been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>safe to attempt it. Their veteran guards, who -accompanied them no farther than Raleigh, -told them that from that point they would -travel by rail, and so they did as far as the -rails went; but miles of the road-bed had to -be traversed on foot because the road itself -had been torn up by raiding parties of Union -cavalry, who, after heating the rails red-hot, -had wrapped them around trees or twisted -them into such fantastic shapes that nothing -but a rolling-mill could have straightened -them out again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At Raleigh a company of militia took -charge of the conscripts (that was what everyone -called them and what they called themselves -now), and then their sufferings began. -Their new guards were absolutely without -feeling. The commanding officer either could -not or would not keep them supplied with -food, nor would he permit them to leave the -ranks long enough to get a drink of water. -Marcy, who found it hard to keep up under -such circumstances, wanted to try what power -there might be in one of his gold pieces, but -Bowen would not listen to it.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>“Not for the world would I have these ruffians -know that you have good money in your -pocket,” said he earnestly. “They would -make some excuse to shoot you in order to get -it. Hold fast to every dollar of it, for you will -see the time when you will need it worse than -you think you do now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was not until they arrived within a few -miles of their destination that Marcy and his -companions learned where they were going, -and what they were expected to do when they -got there. Some of the militia who were -doing guard duty at the Millen prison pen had -been ordered to Savannah, and the conscripts -were to take their places; but beyond the fact -that Millen was situated somewhere in the -eastern part of Georgia, a few miles south of -Waynesborough, their ignorant guards could -not tell them a thing about it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It must be pretty close to the coast, and -that’s the way we’ll go when we get ready to -make a break,” said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what would we do if we succeeded in -reaching the coast?” demanded Bowen. “It -would be the worst move we could make, for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>it would take us right into danger. There are -no Union war ships stationed off the Georgia -coast, and even if there were, how could we -get out to them? No, sir. We’ll go the other -way and strike for the Mississippi.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And cross three States?” exclaimed Marcy, -astounded at the proposition. “Why, it must -be four or five hundred miles in a straight -line.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No matter if it’s a thousand,” said Bowen -obstinately. “We’ll be safe if we go that way, -and we’ll be captured and shot if we go the -other. If we can only pass Macon I’ll be -among friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And if we can strike the Mississippi about -Baton Rouge <i>I</i> would be among friends,” said -Marcy. “But across three States that are no -doubt infested with Home Guards and bloodhounds! -Bowen, you’re crazy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not so crazy as you will show yourself to -be if you try to reach the coast,” was the reply. -“But we haven’t started yet, and you will -have plenty of time to think it over and decide -if you will go with me or strike out by yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span>This conversation had a disheartening effect -upon Marcy, who knew that if his clear-headed -companion left him to take care of himself, -his chances for seeing home and friends again -were very slim indeed. While he was thinking -about it, and trying to grasp the full meaning -of the words “across three States infested -with Home Guards and bloodhounds,” the -train stopped at Millen Junction and the conscripts -were ordered to disembark. As fast as -they left the cars they were drawn up in line -near the depot, which was afterward burned -by Sherman’s cavalry, and the roll was called. -After that they were formally turned over to -the commander of the prison, who was there to -receive them, and marched out to the stockade. -Marcy had just time to note that it was a -gloomy looking place and that a deep silence -brooded over it, before he was marched into -the fort, whose cannon commanded the prison -at all points. There they were divided into -messes and assigned to quarters, with the understanding -that they were to go on duty the -next morning at guard-mount. The barracks -were crowded when Marcy first went into them, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span>but some of the militia were ordered to Savannah -that afternoon, and when they were -gone he and Bowen were able to find a bunk. -They had managed to be put into the same -mess, and that was something to be thankful -for.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So far the conscripts had nothing to complain -of. Their supper was abundant and passably -well cooked, and it was delightful to know -that they could get a drink of water when -they wanted it, without asking permission of -some petty tyrant who was quite as likely to -refuse as he was to grant the request. But -Marcy looked forward with some misgivings -to guard-mount the next morning. The idea -of putting raw recruits through that complicated -ceremony was a novel one to him, and -although he had no fears for himself, he was -afraid that the awkwardness of some of his -companions would bring upon them the wrath -of the adjutant; that is, if the latter was at -all strict, and liked to see things done in military -form. Before he went to his bunk, however, -he found that he had little to fear on that -score. A sergeant came into the barracks with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>a paper in his hand, and began warning the recruits -for guard duty the next day, ordering -them to fall in line in front of him as fast as -their names were called. Marcy’s was one of -the first on the list, and when it was read off -he stepped promptly to his place, dressed to -the right, and came to a front. The sergeant, -who knew a well-drilled man when he saw him, -was surprised. He looked curiously at Marcy -for a moment, and then went on calling off the -names of the guard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll bet I made a mistake in showing off -that way,” thought Marcy. “As soon as this -company is organized they will take me out -of the ranks and make me a corporal or something, -and that would be a misfortune, for I -shouldn’t have half the chance to talk to -Bowen that I’ve got now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were forty recruits warned for duty, -and when they were all standing before him -the sergeant said that when they heard the -bugle sound the adjutant’s call at nine o’clock -in the morning, they would be expected to -assemble on the parade ground, and when -they got there they would be armed and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>told what to do. Then, having performed -his duty, the sergeant faced them to the -right and broke ranks, at the same time -looking hard at Marcy and jerking his head -over his shoulder toward the door. Marcy -followed him when he left the barracks, and -when they were out of hearing of everybody -the sergeant said:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where have you been drilled?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At the Barrington Military Academy. I -was there almost four years. But don’t say -anything about it, will you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re sure you’re not a deserter?” continued -the sergeant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No!” gasped Marcy. “I am a refugee. -I haven’t even been conscripted. I was -arrested in my mother’s presence and shoved -into Williamston jail; and if I were a deserter, -don’t you suppose Captain Wilkins -would have known it? What put that into -your head?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, I saw you had been drilled somewhere, -and I didn’t know but it was in the army. If -that was the case you would be in a bad row -of stumps among these Home Guards. If one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span>of them could prove that you are a deserter he -would get a thirty days’ furlough.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what would be done with me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am sure I don’t know, but nobody would -ever see you again after General Winder got -his hands on you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who is General Winder?” inquired -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He is the officer who has charge of all the -Southern prisons, and it is owing to him that -the Yanks are starving and dying by scores -right here in this stockade,” said the sergeant -bitterly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Starving and dying by scores!” ejaculated -Marcy, who had never heard of such a thing -before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I said. There were twenty-three -bodies brought through that gate yesterday, -and eighteen this morning.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, that’s brutal! it’s downright -heathenish!” exclaimed Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, we can’t give them what we haven’t -got, can we?” demanded the sergeant. -“Winder could send us grub if he wanted -to——”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>“I know he could,” interrupted Marcy. -“There’s plenty of it along the road between -here and Raleigh. I saw it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But as long as he doesn’t see fit to forward -it we can’t issue it to the prisoners,” added -the sergeant. “You don’t want some Home -Guard to report to him that you are a deserter, -do you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should say not,” exclaimed Marcy. “If -that’s the sort of a brute he is, I would stand -no show at all with him. But no one can -prove that I have ever been in the army -before.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They might put you to some trouble to -prove that you haven’t, and my object in -bringing you out here was to warn you that -you’d better not throw on any military airs -while you stay in this camp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am very grateful to you,” replied -Marcy, who did not expect to find a sympathizing -friend in a rebel non-commissioned -officer. “You are not a Home Guard?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not much. I was one of the first men in -our county to volunteer, but I couldn’t stand -hard campaigning, and so I asked to be put -<span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>on light duty, and I had influence enough to -carry my point. But I would have stayed in -the army till I died if I had dreamed that I -would be sent to help guard a slaughterhouse; -for that is just what this stockade is. -The commander is nothing but a Home Guard, -but he hates conscripts as bad as he does -Yankees, and you want to watch out and do -nothing to incur his displeasure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know how to thank you——” began -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s all right. I knew as soon as I -looked at you that you are as much out of -place here as I am, and I don’t want to see -you get into trouble. Of course you won’t repeat -what I have said to you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not by a long shot. You have done me -too great a favor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The two separated, and Marcy went into the -barracks and sought his bunk, feeling as if he -were in some way to blame for the sufferings -of the Union soldiers who were confined within -the stockade. That they should be allowed to -perish for want of food, when there was an -abundance of it scattered along the line of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span>railroad within easy reach of the prison, -seemed so terrible to Marcy that he could not -dismiss it from his mind so that he could go -to sleep. He did not then know that the Confederate -commissary was the worst managed -branch of the army, and that General Bragg’s -men had been on short rations while in Corinth -there was a pile of hard tack as long and -high as the railroad depot that was going to -waste. Our starving boys in Libby prison -could look through the grated windows upon -the fertile fields of Manchester, “waving with -grain and alive with flocks and herds,” and -General Lee wrote that there were supplies -enough in the country, and if the proper -means were taken to procure them there would -not be so many desertions from his army. -Every Union soldier who died for want of food -in Southern prison pens was deliberately murdered, -and the Richmond papers declared -that General Winder was to blame for it. If -the latter had not been summoned by death to -answer before a higher tribunal, there is no -doubt but that he would have been hanged by -sentence of court martial as Captain Wirz was.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>Marcy Gray scarcely closed his eyes in -slumber that night, and when he did, his -sleep was disturbed by horrible dreams in -which starving prisoners and unfeeling Confederate -officers bore prominent parts. He -arose from his bunk as weary and dispirited -as he was when he got into it, breakfasted on -a cup of sweet potato coffee and a small piece -of corn bread, and when the adjutant’s call -sounded was one of the first to appear on the -parade ground; but he did not take as much -pains to fall in like a soldier as he did the day -before. On the contrary he seemed to be the -greenest one among the conscripts, for when -he was commanded to “dress up a little on the -right centre” he did not move until the adjutant -shook his sword at him and asked if -he were hard of hearing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In only one particular did this guard-mount -resemble those in which Marcy had often taken -part at the Barrington Academy. The guard, -which was composed of an equal number of -Home Guards and conscripts, was divided into -two platoons with an officer of the guard in -command of each, and an officer of the day in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span>command of the whole, and there all attempts -to follow the tactics ceased except when the -adjutant saluted the new officer of the day -and reported, “Sir, the guard is formed.” -There was no band to sound off and no marching -in review. Instead of that the officer of -the day said to one of his lieutenants, “Go -ahead, Billy, and fill up the boxes,” and in -obedience to the order, the same sergeant who -had warned the conscripts for duty the night -before placed himself at the head of the -first platoon, to which Marcy belonged, and -marched them to the commander’s headquarters, -where they were supplied with old-fashioned -muskets and cartridge-boxes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Give me that gun!” shouted the sergeant, -who was out of all patience when he saw that -some of the conscripts held their pieces at trail -arms, and that others placed them on their -shoulders as they might have done if they had -been going to hunt squirrels in the woods. -“Now watch me. This is shoulder arms. -Put your guns that way, all of you, and keep -them there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>So saying he marched the platoon away to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span>relieve the sentries on post. Marcy was No. 6, -and this brought him to a station about the -middle of the eastern side of the stockade. -When his number was called he followed -the sergeant up a ladder and into a box from -which a grizzly Home Guard had been keeping -watch during the morning hours. The latter, -instead of bringing his musket to arms port, -as he ought to have done when passing his -orders, dropped the butt of it to the floor and -rested his chin on his hands, which he clasped -over the muzzle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There aint nothing much to do but jest -loaf here and keep an eye on them abolitionists,” -said he, jerking his head toward the -stockade. “Do you see that dead-line down -there? Well, if you see one of ’em trying to -get over or under it shoot him down; and -don’t stop to ask him no questions, neither. -I’d like mighty well to get a chance to do it, -kase I want thirty days home. I reckon that’s -all, aint it, sard?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sergeant said he reckoned it was, and -when the two went down the ladder Marcy -stepped to the side of his box and took his first -<span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>view of the inside of a Southern prison pen. -He had seen a picture of Camp Douglas in an -illustrated paper which Captain Burrows gave -him one day when he was in Plymouth, and -had taken note that the Confederate prisoners -there confined were provided with comfortable -quarters, into which they could retreat in -stormy weather, and where they could find -shade when the sun grew too hot for them; -but there was nothing of the kind inside this -stockade. There was no shelter from sun or -rain except such as the prisoners had been able -to provide for themselves. There were multitudes -of little tents made of blankets, which -were hardly high enough for a man to crawl -into, and scattered among them were mounds -of earth that looked so much like graves that -Marcy was startled when he saw a ragged, -emaciated apparition, which had once been an -able-bodied Union soldier, slowly emerge from -one of them and throw himself down upon the -ground as if he didn’t care whether he ever got -up again or not. The stockade was crowded -with just such pitiful objects, who dragged -their skeleton forms wearily over the sun-baked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>earth or lay as motionless as dead men -under the shelter of their little tents. It was -a spectacle to which no language could do -justice, and Marcy turned from it sick at heart -to make an examination of the stockade itself. -It was built of pine logs set upright in the -ground and scored on each side so that they -would stand closely together, and they were -held in place by heavy planks which were -spiked across them on the outside near the top. -Built upon little platforms, located at regular -intervals around the top of the stockade, were -sentry boxes like the one Marcy now occupied, -to which access was gained by ladders leading -from the ground outside. On the inside of -the stockade, about fifteen feet from it and -running parallel to it all the way around, was -a railing three feet high made by nailing strips -of boards to posts that had been firmly set in -the ground. It was an innocent looking thing, -but it had sent into eternity more than one -brave man who had incautiously approached -it. It was the dead-line.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it will never be the death of anybody -while I am on post,” thought Marcy, wondering -<span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>how any man could want a furlough bad -enough to shoot a fellow being down in cold -blood. “I never could look my mother or -Jack in the face if I should do a deed like -that, and I’d never have a good night’s rest. -Heaven will never smile upon a cause upheld -by men who are as cruel as these rebels are. -They ought to be whipped.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Long before the time arrived for him to be -relieved Marcy became so affected by the sight -of the misery and suffering he had no power -to alleviate that he wanted to drop his -musket and take to his heels; and he would -have welcomed a cyclone or an earthquake, or -any other convulsion of nature, that would -have shut it out from his view forever. On -several occasions some of the thirsty wretches -approached within a few feet of the dead-line, -with battered, smoke-begrimed cups or -pieces of bent tin in their hands, to drink -from the sluggish stream that flowed through -the pen—for the water was clearer there -than it was anywhere else—and then it was -that the fiendish nature of the sentry in the -next box on the right showed itself. As -<span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span>often as a prisoner drew near to the stream -with a dish in his hand, this man would cock -his musket, bring it to a ready, and crane his -long neck eagerly forward, as if he hoped that -the soldier might forget himself and approach -close enough to the fatal line to give him an -excuse for shooting. Once or twice Marcy -was on the point of warning the boys in blue -to keep farther away, but he remembered in -time that he had been told to ask no questions, -and that was the same as an order forbidding -him to speak to the prisoners. To his -great joy the sentry who was so anxious to -have a furlough did not earn it that day. At -length Marcy saw the relief approaching, and -then he took the first long, easy breath he had -drawn for four miserable hours. He passed -his orders in as few words as possible and -hurried down the ladder, feeling as if he had -just been released from prison himself. He -marched around the stockade with the relief, -and was surprised to see how extensive it was. -It was not crowded like Andersonville, nor -were the sanitary conditions quite so bad; but -they were bad enough, and the mortality was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>just as great in proportion to the number of -prisoners confined in it. When they reached -the barracks the platoon to which he belonged -was drilled for half an hour at stacking arms, -and it was not until the movement was accomplished -to his satisfaction that the officer of -the guard allowed them to break ranks and go -to dinner.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You look as though you had had a spell -of sickness,” were the first words his friend -Bowen said to him, when the two found -opportunity to exchange a few words in -private. “What’s the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wait until you have stood in one of those -boxes for four hours, and see if you don’t feel -as bad as I look,” answered Marcy. “It’s -awful, and I don’t see how I can go there again. -Why, Charley, the sentry who stood next to -me fairly ached to shoot one of those poor -fellows. I never saw a quail hunter more -eager to get a shot than he was.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did the prisoner come near the dead-line?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There must have been fifty or more of -them who came to the bayou to get a drink; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>but they were not within ten feet of the dead-line.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what did you do?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I? I didn’t do anything.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, the next time that thing happens, I -would make a little demonstration, if I were -in your place,” said Bowen. “You can act -as if you were going to shoot, but of course -you needn’t unless you have to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you want me to understand that I -will be reported if I don’t?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I mean. I have had a talk -with some of these Home Guards this morning, -and have found out what sort of chaps they -are. If you are too easy with the prisoners -you’ll get them down on you, and then they’ll -tell on you whether you do anything wrong -or not. And you want to keep out of the -clutches of the captain, for he’s a heathen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy afterward had occasion to remember -this warning.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XV. <br /> <span class='small'>ON ACCOUNT OF THE DEAD-LINE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>The life that Marcy Gray led during the -next three weeks can be compared to -nothing but a nightmare. His duties were not -heavy, but the trouble was that when he tried -to go to sleep he saw the inside of the prison -pen as plainly as he did while he was standing -in his box. He saw long lines of dead men carried -out, too, and tumbled unceremoniously into -the trenches outside the stockade, where they -were left without a head-board to show who -they were or where they came from. All this -while he was losing flesh and strength as well -as courage, and Bowen declared that, if they -did not “make a break” very soon, Marcy -would have to go into the hospital.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I feel as though I ought to go there now,” -said the latter wearily. “To tell the honest -truth, I haven’t pluck enough to make a -break for liberty; we are too closely watched. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_376'>376</span>When I am on post after dark, I notice that -an officer or a corporal comes around every -hour to see if the guard is all right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That happens only on pleasant nights; -but I have noticed that on stormy nights the -officer of the guard hugs his comfortable -quarters as closely as we do our boxes,” replied -Bowen. “You’ll pick up and be yourself -again as soon as we are out of reach of -this place, and you mustn’t give way to your -gloomy feelings. The next rainy night that -we are on post together we’ll skip. I have -been making inquiries about the country west -of here, and know just how to travel in order -to reach my home. All you’ve got to do is to -be ready to move when I say the word, and I -will take you safely through.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It would have been very comforting to hear -Bowen talk in this confident way, if Marcy -had only been able to believe that the man -could keep his promise; but unfortunately he -could not get up any enthusiasm. The spiritless -prisoners inside the stockade were not more -indifferent to their fate than he was to his. -There had been no attempts at escape that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>Marcy knew anything about, but two unfinished -tunnels had been discovered and filled -up, and the pack of “nigger dogs” that the -commander used in tracking fugitives had -been brought into the pen and exhibited to the -prisoners, so that they might know what they -had to expect in case they succeeded in getting -outside the stockade. But Bowen declared -that the hounds would not bother him -and Marcy. If they escaped during a storm -the rain would wash away the scent so that -they could not be tracked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was while Marcy was in this unfortunate -frame of mind that something occurred to -arouse him from his lethargy and drive him -almost to desperation. It was on the morning -following the day on which a fresh lot of -prisoners had been received into the pen. -Marcy stood near the gate when they went in, -and noticed that there were not more than -half a dozen blankets in the party, that some -of them were barefooted, and others destitute -of coats and hats.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Them Yanks haint got nothin’ to trade,” -said a Home Guard who stood near him.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>“Whose fault is it?” replied Marcy. “They -never looked that way when they were captured.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I don’t reckon they did. Them -fellars up the country have went through ’em -good fashion. But I don’t blame ’em for that. -I only wish I could get the first pull at a Yank -who has a good coat or a pair of number ten -shoes onto his feet. I wouldn’t be goin’ -around ragged like I am now, I bet you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was one of these fresh prisoners who -caused Marcy Gray to fall into the clutches of -the commander of the prison, whom Bowen -had denounced as a “heathen.” He went on -post at twelve o’clock the next day, Bowen -occupying the box on his right, while the -Home Guard who said he would like to have -a chance to steal a coat and a pair of shoes -stood guard in the one on his left. The new -prisoners had had time to take in the situation, -and to learn that if they preferred a shelter -of some sort to the bare ground, or cooked -rations instead of raw ones, they were at -liberty to provide themselves with these luxuries -if they could, for their captors would not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>furnish them. But how could they be expected -to build dug-outs when they did not -have even pocket knives to dig with? and how -could they bake corn bread when every flat -stone and piece of board that could be found -was in the possession of someone who would -not part with it for love or money? There -was a treasure lying on the ground in front of -Marcy’s box, and directly under the strip of -board that marked the inner edge of the dead-line. -It was a battered tin cup. How it -came there, and why someone had not tried -to obtain possession of it, was a mystery; but -it had been discovered by a party of new-comers, -perhaps a dozen of them in all, who -looked at the cup with longing eyes and then -glanced apprehensively at Marcy, who leaned -on his musket and looked down on them. -One of the most daring of the party seemed -determined to make an effort to secure the -cup, but as often as he bent forward as if he -were about to make a dash for it, his comrades -seized him and pulled him back.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Poor fellow,” thought Marcy, who admired -the prisoner’s courage. “He little -<span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span>knows how glad I would be to tell him to -come and get it. The cup isn’t inside the -dead-line anyway, and if he makes a grab for -it he can have it for all I will do to stop him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The result of this mental resolution was the -same as though Marcy had announced it in -words. As quick as thought the daring soldier -made a jump for the dead-line, snatched -the cup from the ground, and in a second more -was back among his comrades, who closed -around him in a body, effectually covering -him from the three muskets, Marcy’s, Bowen’s, -and the Home Guard’s, that were pointed in -his direction. They ran among the tents and -dug-outs and mingled with the other prisoners, -so that it would have been impossible for the -guards to identify a single one of them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good for the Yank!” thought Marcy. -“That’s what I call pluck. He’ll have something -to dig with at any rate, and perhaps he -can straighten that cup out so that he can -cook his corn meal in it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>If Marcy and Bowen had fired at the man it -would have been with the intention of missing -him, but not so with the Home Guard on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>left, who would have drawn a fine bead in the -hope of winning a thirty days’ furlough. The -latter was fighting mad. He shook his fist at -Marcy and shouted in stentorian tones:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Corporal of the guard, number ’leven!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By gracious!” gasped Marcy. “He’s -going to report it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He glanced toward Bowen’s box, and knew -by the way his friend shook his head at him -that there was trouble in store for somebody; -but how could he be blamed more than anyone -else? than the Home Guard, for instance, -who had as fair a chance to shoot as any -blood-thirsty rebel could ask for? The corporal -came promptly and went into the Home -Guard’s box, and Marcy could see the angry -man pointing out the position of the cup and -flourishing his clenched hand in the air to give -emphasis to something he was saying. After -the corporal had heard his story he descended -the ladder and came into Marcy’s box.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sentry, what were you put here for, anyway?” -were the first words he spoke. “Why -didn’t you shoot that man?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There were two reasons why I didn’t do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span>it,” answered Marcy. “My orders are to -shoot if I see a prisoner trying to get over or -under the dead-line, but that man didn’t try -to get over or under, for the cup wasn’t inside. -It was under that strip of board.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No matter. It was <i>at</i> the dead-line, and it -was your business to pop him over,” said the -corporal. “I am afraid the old man will give -you a taste of military discipline when you -come off post.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why should he? I haven’t disobeyed any -order. And the other reason why I didn’t -shoot was because I didn’t have time. That -Yank was as swift as a bird on the wing, and -before you could wink twice he was back -among his friends, and I couldn’t see him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why didn’t you shoot into the -crowd?” demanded the corporal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And kill or wound somebody who hadn’t -done a thing?” exclaimed Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, what’s the matter with you? I shall -begin to think pretty soon that you are a -Yank yourself. Of course you ought to have -fired into the crowd and made an example of -somebody. What’s one Yank more or less, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span>anyway? I believe in shooting everyone who -comes down here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why didn’t that man in the next box -shoot?” inquired Marcy. “He had the same -chance I had, and is as much to blame because -that Yank made a dash to the dead-line and -got the cup.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not much he aint. The thing happened -directly in front of your post, it was your -duty to kill that man, you disobeyed orders -by not doing it, and of course I shall have to -report you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I get into trouble by it I shall shoot at -the next man who comes within twenty feet of -the dead-line,” said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll be sorry you didn’t make that resolution -long ago,” replied the corporal, as -he backed down the ladder. He went into -Bowen’s box to hear what he had to say -about it, and then went back to headquarters; -and two hours later the relief came -around.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I had been in your box I would have -been on my way home by this time to-morrow,” -said the Home Guard, as he and Marcy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>and Bowen fell into their places in the rear of -the line. “You’ll never have another chance -like that to earn a furlough. Why didn’t you -shoot that there Yank?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why didn’t you?” retorted Marcy. -“You had as good a show as I.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not much, I didn’t. He was closter to you -nor he was to me, and besides I didn’t have -time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Neither did I. I never could hit a moving -object with a single bullet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You could have showed your good will if -you had been a mind to. That’s what I think, -and less’n the old man has changed mightily -sense I jined his comp’ny, it’s what he’ll think -about it, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The unhappy Marcy had made up his mind -that he would have to stand punishment of -some sort for permitting a prisoner to put his -hand under the dead-line; and his worst fears -were confirmed when he came within sight of -the barracks and saw all the officers of the -guard and the commander of the prison standing -there, and three Home Guards stationed -close by, with muskets in their hands. When -<span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>the platoon was halted before the door and -brought to a front, the captain said:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. 12, step out here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As that was the number of the post from -which Marcy had just been relieved, he moved -one pace to the front and saluted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you are the low-down conscript who -presumes to set my orders at defiance, are -you?” continued the captain. “What were -you put in that box for? Why did you allow -that prisoner to come to the line?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sir, my orders were——” began Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shut up!” shouted the captain, growing -red in the face. “If you talk back to me I’ll -put a gag in your mouth. Trice him up, and -leave him that way till he learns who’s boss of -this camp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without saying a word, one of the three -Home Guards before spoken of took Marcy’s -musket from his hand, while another unbuckled -the belt that held his cartridge-box. -Then they laid hold of his arms, and with the -officer of the guard marching in front and the -third soldier bringing up the rear, led him to -a tree that stood before the door of the captain’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>quarters. It did not take them more -than two minutes to do their cruel work, and -when it was over and the officer of the guard -moved away with two of his men, leaving the -other to keep watch over the culprit with a -loaded musket, Marcy Gray was standing -on his toes, and his arms were drawn high -above his head by a strong cord which had -been tied around his thumbs and thrown over -a limb of the tree. The pain was intense, but -the boy shut his teeth hard and gave no sign -of suffering till his head fell over on his -shoulder and he fainted dead away. When -he came to himself he was lying in his bunk, -his wounded hands were resting in a basin of -hot water which Bowen was holding for him, -and another good-hearted conscript was keeping -his head and face wet with water he had -just drawn from the well. Their countenances -were full of sympathy, and there were signs of -rage to be seen as well.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is rough on me, boys,” groaned -Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“While you were hanging to that tree I -asked some questions about Captain Denning,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_387'>387</span>whispered Bowen, “and now I know -who he is, and where he hails from. He owns -a fine plantation about twenty miles from -where I live when I am at home, and we shall -pass it on our way to the river.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Charley, let’s go to-night,” murmured -Marcy. “I shall die if I stay here any -longer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I have thought all along, and -I am with you when we go on post at twelve -o’clock. It’s going to rain like smoke in less -than half an hour, and when it begins it will -keep it up for a day or two. I am glad if you -have been waked up, but sorry it had to be -done in this way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Captain Denning will be sorry for it, too,” -said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In spite of the agony he was in, but one -thought filled Marcy Gray’s mind, and that -was that under no circumstances would he -pass another day alive in that camp. No -matter how great the danger might be, he -would escape that very night. He would go -with a musket in his hand and a box of cartridges -by his side, and if he were recaptured, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_388'>388</span>it would be after every bullet in those cartridges -had found a lodgement in the body of -some Home Guard. He did not have very -much to say, but Bowen knew by the expression -on his face that Marcy was thoroughly -aroused at last.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marcy did not want any supper, but managed -to eat a little, and to slip a generous -piece of corn bread in his pocket for the lunch -he knew he would need before morning. The -storm did not come in half an hour, as Bowen -had predicted, but it came a little later, and -when the two went on post at twelve o’clock, -the night was as dark as a pocket, and the -rain was falling in torrents.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Splendid weather,” Bowen found opportunity -to whisper to Marcy. “It couldn’t be -better. Listen for my signal, for we must start -as soon as the guard is out of the way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll take your gun?” said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course, and I’ll use it too, before I will -allow myself to be brought back here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>If it was a splendid night for their purpose it -was a terrible one for the prisoners, especially -for the new-comers who had not had time -<span class='pageno' id='Page_389'>389</span>to finish their dug-outs. To make matters -worse for them there had been a sudden and -noticeable change in the temperature. It was -almost freezing cold, and protected as he was -by the walls of his box, and by his warm -blanket, which he had tied over his shoulders -like a cloak, Marcy shivered as he stood with -his musket in the hollow of his arm and his -aching, bandaged hands clasped in front of -him. He stood thus for ten minutes when he -heard a gentle tapping at the foot of his ladder. -That was the signal agreed upon between -him and Bowen, and without a moment’s hesitation -Marcy wheeled around and backed to -the ground.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is this you, Charley?” he whispered. “I -can’t see a thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more can I,” was the answer, “but I -know where we are and which way we want to -go, and that’s enough. Grab hold of the tail -of my blanket and I will pilot you to the railroad -track. Mark my words: We’ll never -hear a hound-dog on our trail. They’ll think -we have struck for the coast, and that’s the -way they’ll go to find us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_390'>390</span>If we were to write a full history of the long -tramp these two fugitives made before they -found themselves safe at Rodney Gray’s home, -as we have described in a former chapter, it -would be to repeat the experience of hundreds -of escaped Union prisoners whose thrilling -stories have already been given to the world. -Captain Denning’s “nigger dogs” never once -gave tongue on their trail, and at no time were -they in serious danger of falling into the hands -of their enemies. Of course there were other -Home Guards and other dogs in Alabama and -Mississippi, and more than once they were pursued -by them; but every negro they met on -the road was their friend, and, believing Marcy -and Bowen to be escaped Federals, took big -risks to help them on their way. During the -three days they rested at Bowen’s home in -Georgia they were in more danger than at any -other time, for Bowen’s neighbors were all -rebels. They knew that he had been forced -into the army, and if they had suspected that -he was hiding in the loft of his father’s cotton -gin, they would have left no stone unturned to -effect his capture. But outside of Bowen’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_391'>391</span>family no one knew it except one or two faithful -blacks, who could be trusted, and after they -had made up for the sleep they had lost, and -some of Marcy’s money had been expended for -clothing, shoes, and blankets, the fugitives set -out to pay their respects to the commander -of the prison from which they had escaped. -They remained on his plantation a part of one -night, and when they left, everything that -would burn was in flames. It was a high-handed -proceeding, and many a soldier not -wanting in courage would have hesitated -about taking chances so desperate; but fortunately -another rain storm washed out their trail -and if they were pursued they never knew it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s one thing I am sorry for,” said -Marcy, as he and Bowen halted for a moment -on the summit of a little rise of ground from -which they had a fair view of the destructive -work that was going on on the plantation they -had just left. “I am not revengeful, but I do -think Captain Denning ought to be punished -for giving me these hands that I may not be -able to use for months, and I wish he could -know that I had a hand in starting that fire.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_392'>392</span>Marcy’s hands certainly were in a bad way. -They needed medical attention, but if there was -a surgeon in the country they had not been -able to find it out. Bowen gave them the best -care he could, but Marcy was so nearly helpless -that he could not even carry his musket. -He took no note of time or of the progress they -made, but left everything to his friend Bowen, -who could always tell him where they were, -how many miles they had made that day, and -how far they would have to travel before they -could get something to eat. If he sometimes -drew on his imagination, and shortened the -distance to the Mississippi by a hundred miles -or so, who can blame him? He knew that -everything depended on keeping up Marcy’s -courage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last, when the homesick boy became -so weary and foot-sore that he could -scarcely drag himself along the dusty road, -he noticed with a thrill of hope that the -negroes who befriended him and Bowen no -longer spoke of “Alabam’” but had a good -deal to say about “Mississipp’”; and this -made it plain to Marcy that they were slowly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_393'>393</span>drawing near to the end of their journey, and -that his companion had been deceiving him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you are as well acquainted with the -country as you pretend to be, how does it -come that you didn’t know when we passed -the boundary line into the State of Mississippi?” -said he. “But I don’t care. I remember -enough of geography to know about -where we are now, and that we will save time -and distance if we strike a straight south-east -course, for that is the way Baton Rouge -lies from here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bowen, who had long been out of his reckoning, -was quite willing to resign the leadership, -and it was a fortunate thing for them that he -was; for the course Marcy marked out brought -them in due time to the Ohio and Mobile -Railroad a few miles north of Enterprise. A -night or two before they got there (they -always traveled at night and slept during the -daytime), they were kept busy dodging small -bodies of Confederate soldiers who were journeying -along the same road and in the same -direction with themselves. They were evidently -concentrating at some point in advance, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_394'>394</span>but where and for what purpose the fugitives -could not determine until some negroes, to -whom they appealed for assistance, told them -of Grierson’s raid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dat Yankee come down hyar from some -place up de country, an’ he whop an’ he burn -an’ he steal eberyting he see,” said one of -the blacks gleefully. “But de rebels gwine -cotch him at Enterprise, an’ you two best not -go da’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This glorious news infused wonderful life -and strength into Marcy Gray. He forgot his -aching hands and feet, and from that time -carried his own musket and moved as if he -were set on springs. He would hardly consent -to halt long enough to take needed rest, -for he was anxious to intercept Grierson if -possible, and warn him that the rebels were -concentrating to resist his further advance. -But as it happened Colonel Grierson was miles -away, and it was Captain Forbes, with a squad -of thirty-five men, who had been detached -from the main body to cut the telegraph north -of Macon, that the fugitives found and warned. -They ran upon them by accident, and at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_395'>395</span>first thought they had fallen into the hands -of the rebels. One bright moonlight night -they were hurrying along a road which ran -through a piece of thick timber, when all on a -sudden they were brought to a standstill by -four men, who stepped from the shade of the -trees and covered them with their guns before -they said a word. They were soldiers, for their -brass buttons showed plainly in the dim light; -but whether they wore the blue or the gray was -a momentous question that the fugitives could -not answer. When one of them spoke it was -in a subdued voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who comes there?” he demanded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Friends,” replied Marcy in tones just -loud enough to be heard and understood. -Then, believing that the truth would hold -its own anywhere, he added desperately; -“We are escaped conscripts on our way to -the Mississippi, and we want to see Grierson.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Advance, friends, but be careful how you -take them guns from your shoulders,” was the -next order; and when Marcy drew nearer and -saw that the speaker wore the yellow <i>chevrons</i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_396'>396</span>of a corporal of cavalry on his arms, his joy -knew no bounds. When he and Bowen had -been relieved of their muskets and cartridge-boxes -the corporal inquired:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are the rest of you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There are no more of us,” answered Marcy. -“We are alone.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mebbe you are and mebbe you aint,” said -the corporal. “Jones, you take ’em down to -the captain and hurry back as quick as you -can, for we may need you here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The corporal was suspicious and in bad -humor about something, and so was the captain -when they found him. He had been riding -hard all day, and had halted in the woods -to give his jaded men and horses an hour or -two of rest. He knew that he had been led -into a trap by false information, and by -a treacherous guide who managed to escape -amid a shower of bullets that was rained upon -him as soon as his treachery was discovered; -and while his men slept the captain rolled -restlessly about on the ground, trying to think -up some plan by which he could save his small -command from falling into the hands of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_397'>397</span>Confederates, who were making every effort -to cut him off from Grierson’s column. He -had been assured that the way to Enterprise -was clear, and that if he went in any other -direction he would have to fight his way -through, and now came these two escaped conscripts -with a different story. It was little -wonder that Captain Forbes did not put -much faith in what they had to say, or -that he spoke sharply when he addressed -them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you know that the Confederate -troops you say you saw along the road were -striking for Enterprise?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because the negroes told us so, and during -our journey we have always found that the -negroes told us the truth,” answered Marcy, -who did most of the talking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And you say you have come from Millen?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sir. We were on post there when we -escaped.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know where Millen is?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course we know where it is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, now, what I want to know is this: -<span class='pageno' id='Page_398'>398</span>Why did you take such a long tramp through -the country when you were within less than a -hundred miles of the coast?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bowen answered this question, giving their -reasons as we have given them to the reader, -but the captain acted as though he did not -believe a word of it. Marcy tried to help him -out by telling of the relatives he expected to -meet when he reached the Mississippi River, -and the story was so improbable that the captain -told them bluntly that he believed they -were spies, that they had come into his camp -to see how many men he had under his command, -and that they hoped to escape to their -friends with the information. Marcy was surprised -and hurt to find himself suspected by -the officer he wanted to help.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I assure you, sir——” he began.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve had that trick played on me twice -during this scout, and if it is played on -me again it will be my own fault,” interrupted -the captain. “Consider yourselves in -arrest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He ordered a sentry to be placed over them -at once, and we may add that Marcy and his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_399'>399</span>friend were under suspicion all the time, and -under guard most of the time they remained -with Grierson’s men.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next morning at daylight Captain -Forbes resumed his rapid march, and in two -hours’ time arrived within sight of Enterprise, -which, to his amazement and alarm, he found -to be filled with rebel soldiers. There were -three thousand of them. They were in motion -too, and that proved that they were aware of -his coming and making ready to attack him. -A fight meant annihilation or capture, and -there was but one way to prevent it. Halting -his men in the edge of a piece of woods out of -sight of the enemy, Captain Forbes called a -single officer to his side and galloped boldly -toward the town. He was gone half an hour, -and when he returned he placed himself at -the head of his squad and led it in a headlong -retreat, which did not end until the captain -reported to Colonel Grierson at Pearl River. -In speaking of this dashing exploit history -says: “The captain, understanding his danger, -tried to bluff the enemy and succeeded. -He rode boldly up to the town and demanded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_400'>400</span>the instant surrender of the place to Colonel -Grierson. Colonel Goodwin, commanding the -Confederate force, asked an hour to consider -the proposition, to which request Forbes was -only too willing to accede. That hour, with -rapid riding, delivered his little company from -its embarrassing situation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>That rapid retreat was about as much as -Marcy and Bowen could stand after their long -walk across the country. They were given -broken-down plough-mules to ride, and these -delightful beasts, which took every step under -protest and “bucked” viciously when pressed -too hard, had well-nigh jolted the breath out -of them by the time they reached the main -column at Pearl River. But they journeyed -more leisurely after that, all the most dangerous -places along their line of march having -been left behind, and when the fugitives -learned that they were within forty-eight -hours’ ride of Baton Rouge, and that the column -would pass through Mooreville on the following -day, they asked and obtained permission -to accompany the scouts that were sent -on ahead the next morning. That was the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_401'>401</span>way they came to ride into Rodney Gray’s -dooryard as we have recorded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have heard my story,” concluded -Marcy, settling contentedly back among the -pillows. “Now, who is going to give me a -drink of water?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How you must have suffered,” said his -aunt, with tears in her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s all over now,” replied the young hero -cheerfully, “and I am anxious to send word -to mother. I wish one of you would write to -her at Plymouth, care of Captain Burrows, and -I am sure he will have the letter delivered.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know that you slept for eighteen -straight hours?” replied Rodney. “Well, -that gave me time to write the letter and take -it to Baton Rouge and mail it to the address -Jack gave me before he went home. Now -that you are safe I don’t see what there is to -hinder Jack from carrying out his plan of -becoming a cotton trader. If he wants to pay -back to his mother every dollar she is likely -to lose by this war, I don’t know any better -thing for him to do.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you say as much in your letter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_402'>402</span>“I said all that and more. I am sure he -will come, if it is only to see you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Rodney, you’re a brick,” exclaimed -Marcy. “But I wish you could tell me more -about Tom Allison and Mark Goodwin.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Rodney couldn’t, for the very good -reason that all Jack said about it was that -they had been bushwhacked; and with this -meagre information Marcy was obliged to be -satisfied.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_403'>403</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XVI. <br /> <span class='small'>SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>It was a long time before Marcy Gray could -bring himself to believe that he was not -dreaming, and that he would awake to find -himself a conscript guard at the Millen prison -pen, but this uncertainty did not prevent him -from making long strides toward recovery. -His faithful friend Bowen declared that he -could see him getting well. In less than a week -he was strong enough to ride to Baton Rouge -with Rodney. He reported to the provost -marshal, who listened in amazement to his -story, and gave him and Bowen a standing -pass in and out of the Union lines. At the -end of two weeks he began to wonder why he -did not hear from Jack, and at the end of -three that wished-for individual presented -himself in person, much to the delight of all -his relatives. He rode into Rodney’s yard in -company with Mr. Gray, as he had done on a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_404'>404</span>former occasion, and no sooner did his eyes -rest upon Marcy, who sprang down the steps -to meet him, than he began quoting something.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“This accident and flood of fortune</div> - <div class='line'>So far exceed all instance, all discourse,</div> - <div class='line'>That I am ready to distrust mine eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>And wrangle with my reason that persuades me</div> - <div class='line'>To any other trust,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c013'>exclaimed Jack, as he swung himself from his -mule and clasped his strong arms about the -brother he had never thought to see again. -“How are you, conscript?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Jack!” was all Marcy could say in -reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She’s pretty well,” said the sailor, who -knew that Marcy would have asked about his -mother if his heart hadn’t been so full, “and -has grown ten years younger since she heard -you were safe among friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He shook hands with Rodney, whom he addressed -as “Johnny,” and then walked up to -Bowen and fairly doubled him up with one of -his sailor grips.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are the man I have to thank for saving -<span class='pageno' id='Page_405'>405</span>my brother’s life, are you?” said he in a -trembling voice. “I don’t know that I shall -ever have a chance to show how grateful I am -to you, but if you ever need a friend you will -always find him in Jack Gray.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was a happy meeting altogether, and if -one might judge by the way he acted, Sailor -Jack himself didn’t know whether he was -awake or dreaming. Marcy’s hands still -showed the effect of his unmerited punishment, -and when his big brother looked at them, an -expression came upon his face that might have -made Captain Denning a trifle uneasy if he -had been there to see it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My orders are to bring you home with me, -young man,” said he. “And, Bowen, you -must go, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t you think it would be dangerous?” -inquired Rodney, who had somehow got it -into his head that Marcy would have to live -with him as long as the war continued.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Union people are safer in our country now -than they ever were before,” answered Jack. -“There’s been some shooting done up there -since I wrote to you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_406'>406</span>“O Jack!” exclaimed Marcy. “Were Tom -and Mark very badly hurt?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hurt!” repeated the sailor. “Well, I -reckon so. They were killed deader’n herrings, -and so were Beardsley, Shelby, and -Dillon. Buffum, the spy who was the means -of getting you captured, was hanged, and so -was mother’s old overseer, Hanson. I tell -you, Rodney, the country is full of Union -men, and they have been carrying things with -a high hand since Marcy went away.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should think they had,” said the latter, -who had never been more astounded. “I am -sorry to hear about Tom and Mark.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, why didn’t they mind their -own business? If they’d had a grain of common -sense they would have known that they -were bound to get paid off sooner or later. -They brought it on themselves, and it is a -wonder to me that they were not dealt with -long before.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jack,” said Marcy suddenly. “You had -no hand in it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a hand. Not a finger, though there’s -no telling what I might have done if Captain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_407'>407</span>Denning had been there, and I had known -that he triced you up for nothing. Your -friends, the refugees, didn’t need any help -from me. There are eighty or a hundred of -them now, and they have become regular guerillas. -They are well armed, and when I came -away were talking of raiding Williamston -and burning the jail. I think you will be safe -at home, for rebel cavalry don’t scout through -our section any more.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How soon do you expect to go?” inquired -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Just as soon as I can fill up the <i>Hyperion’s</i> -hold,” replied Jack. “She is due in New -Orleans week after next, and I want a boatload -of cotton ready for her when she pulls in -to the wharf. So you can trot out your four -hundred bales as soon as you get ready, and -I will give you twenty-five cents greenback -money for it. I was dead broke when I was -here before, but I’m wealthy now,” added -Jack, pulling from his pocket a roll of bills -that was almost as big as his wrist. “Marcy, -that’s mother’s money.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am overjoyed to hear it,” said the boy.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_408'>408</span>“And she was overjoyed to get rid of it, for -it has been nothing but a botheration to her -ever since she drew it from the bank. Old -Morris showed me where you and he buried it -on the night you dug it out of the cellar wall, -and I brought it to New Orleans and exchanged -it for greenbacks at a premium that -made me open my eyes. I am first officer of -the <i>Hyperion</i>, and in partnership with her -owners. I do not expect to have time to make -more than two or three trips on her before the -Mississippi is opened, and then I hope to -come back here and run a trading boat on -the river.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where will I be while you are doing -that?” inquired Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At home with your mother, where all good -boys ought to be. You will get not less than a -dollar for your cotton,” said Jack, turning to -Rodney, “perhaps a dollar ten, minus the -freight——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You don’t mean it!” Rodney almost -gasped; for Jack’s matter-of-fact way of speaking -of the fortune that seemed about to drop -into his father’s hands took his breath away.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_409'>409</span>“What’s the reason I don’t mean it? I -hope you don’t imagine that I am going to let -anyone speculate with your property!” exclaimed -the sailor. “Whatever the market -price is when your cotton is landed in New -York, that you will get, less the freight the -<i>Hyperion</i> will charge you for taking it there. -The twenty-five cents I am authorized to offer -you is business; what you will receive over -and above that will be owing to kinship. -Your father and mine were brothers. Now -what shall we do with that man Lambert; -send him North for a guerilla or what?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am perfectly willing to buy him off,” -said Mr. Gray. “I can afford to be liberal, -for I really believe we would have lost our cotton -if it hadn’t been for him and his ’phantom -bushwhackers.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am afraid he’ll not let you buy him off -for any reasonable sum,” said Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You might try him the first chance you -get and find out what he is willing to do,” -suggested Jack. “Any way to get rid of him, -so that he will not bushwhack the teamsters -we shall send into the woods after the cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_410'>410</span>“I suppose you have a permit this time,” -observed Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Right from headquarters. We didn’t ask -for military protection, and it isn’t likely that -we would have got it if we had; but we are at -liberty to take as many bales of cotton through -the lines as we can buy. General Banks’ -signature is on our permit, and he is supreme -in this Department.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before Mr. Gray and Jack went home that -night a plan of operations had been decided -upon. The former were to engage all the -wagons and mules that could be found in the -neighborhood to haul Mr. Gray’s four hundred -bales to Baton Rouge, while Rodney was to -seek an interview with Lambert and “buy him -off” if he could. Rodney declared that he -had the hardest part of the work to do, and he -set about it, not by going into the woods to -hunt up the ex-Home Guard, but by riding to -the city to ask the advice and assistance of the -provost marshal. As he was about to mount -his horse he said to Marcy:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If that man Lambert comes here while I -am gone, please tell him to come again to-morrow -<span class='pageno' id='Page_411'>411</span>morning, for I want to see him on important -business. If you question him a little, -no doubt you will be surprised at the extent of -his information. There’s little goes on in the -settlement that he doesn’t know all about.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodney’s interview with the marshal must -have been in the highest degree satisfactory, -for when he came back at night he was laughing -all over; but his cousin Marcy looked -troubled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’s been here,” said the latter, without -waiting to be questioned, “and he was as impudent -as you please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s no more than I expected,” replied -Rodney. “What did he say?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That them fellers might jest as well give -up hirin’ teams to haul out that cotton till -after you had made some sort of a bargain -with him,” answered Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s all right. Did he say he’d come to-morrow?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, he said he would be here to listen to -what you have to say, and if you don’t talk to -suit him he’ll start another bonfire.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s all right,” said Rodney again. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_412'>412</span>“I was afraid he might take it into his head -to start it to-night, in which case I should be -under the disagreeable necessity of bushwhacking -him before I slept. But if he puts it off -till to-morrow, he’ll never set any more bonfires. -Did you ever hear of such impudence -before?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>For some reason or other Rodney Gray was -in excellent spirits that evening. He did not -go to bed until long after midnight, and when -he did, he could not sleep for more than ten -minutes at a time. But when morning came -he sobered down, and his face took on the -determined expression that Marcy had so often -seen there during those exciting days at the -Barrington Academy, when Dick Graham stole -the flag and the Minute-men burned Unionists -out of house and home. Just as they arose -from the breakfast table Ned Griffin threw -down the bars and rode into the yard, and that -made four resolute fellows, counting in -Charley Bowen, who were ready to see Lambert -and talk to him about Mr. Gray’s cotton. -They all wore sack coats, and in each of the -outside pockets was a loaded revolver.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_413'>413</span>“I am afraid Lambert will weaken when he -sees this crowd,” said Ned. “Perhaps he’ll -not come into the yard at all. Wouldn’t it -be a good scheme for a couple of us to go into -the house out of sight?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t think it would,” answered Rodney. -“Lambert knows how many there are of us, -and if he doesn’t find us all on the porch when -he comes his suspicions will be aroused. He’ll -not come alone, you may be certain of that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And sure enough he didn’t. When he rode -up to the bars half an hour later he had two -companions with him, and they all carried guns -on their shoulders. There was something aggressive -in the way they jerked out the bars -and dropped them on the ground, and Rodney -noticed that Lambert did not take the trouble -to put them up behind him as he usually did. -This was the way he took of showing Rodney -that he held some power in his hands, and -that he intended to use it for his own personal -ends.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What did I tell you?” said the young -master of the plantation, who was angry in an -instant. “He’s brought Moseley and another -<span class='pageno' id='Page_414'>414</span>long-haired chap, whose name I do not now -recall, and thinks he’s going to ride over me -rough-shod. Of course he will demand a -private interview, and I will grant it. All -you’ve got to do is to come when you hear me -shoot. I’ll show him that I am in no humor -to put up with any more of his nonsense.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t run any risks,” cautioned Marcy. -“Your mother says that Lambert is a dangerous -man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll prove to you, before this thing is over, -that he is the biggest coward in the Confederacy,” -replied Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The near approach of Lambert and his -friends cut short the conversation. They did -not get off their mules, but rode straight up to -the porch; and then Rodney knew why they -left the bars down behind them. Their bearing -was insolent, and the first words Lambert -uttered were still more so.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look a-here, Rodney Gray,” said he, -“I’d like to know what them fellers mean by -goin’ round the settlement hirin’ teams to haul -that cotton outen the swamp without sayin’ -a word to me about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_415'>415</span>“I don’t know why you should be consulted,” -was the quiet reply. “Since when -has that cotton belonged to you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve had an intrust in it ever sence I began -watchin’ it for you an’ your paw,” said -Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You never had an interest in it, but my -father is willing to pay you for keeping an eye -on it, if we can agree upon terms.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I call business,” said Lambert, -his face brightening. “How much you -willin’ to give?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What are you willing to take?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t set no figures till I know how much -the cotton is wuth to you,” said Lambert. -“How much you goin’ to get for it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t tell until it is sold in New York,” -answered Rodney, controlling his rising anger -with an effort.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you tryin’ to make me b’lieve that -you are goin’ to let some abolitionist run that -cotton outen the country without payin’ you -a cent down for it!” shouted Lambert. “I -don’t b’lieve a word of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You needn’t yell so. I am not deaf.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_416'>416</span>“Then if you aint you can hear what I’ve -got to tell you,” said the man, raising his -voice a full octave higher. “I won’t have no -more foolin’. How much you goin’ to get for -that cotton?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s none of your business. You understand -that, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>By this time Lambert had succeeded in -working himself into a furious passion, but if -he had possessed ordinary common sense he -never would have done it. He thought he -could frighten Rodney, but should have known -better. The boy sat tilted back in his chair, -with his feet on the gallery railing and his -thumbs hooked in the armholes of his vest, -and his very attitude ought to have warned -the ex-Home Guard that he was treading on -dangerous ground, and that there was a point -beyond which Rodney would not be driven. -The latter’s reply to his insolent question -capped the climax.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Whoop!” yelled Lambert, flourishing his -rifle above his head. “It aint none of my -business, aint it? I’ll make it my business to -make a beggar of you this very night. I’ll -<span class='pageno' id='Page_417'>417</span>send that cotton of yourn where I sent Randolph’s -to pay that no-account boy of his’n -for shakin’ his sword at me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have fully made up your mind to -burn my father’s cotton, have you?” said -Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I have. It shan’t never be hauled -outen them woods less’n I get fifty cents a -pound, cash in hand, for it. That Yankee -cousin of yourn is goin’ to run it up North an’ -get a dollar for it. I heered all about it an’ -you needn’t think to fool me. Will you give -it or not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I certainly will not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You hearn what he says, boys,” said Lambert -to his companions. “I always said that -this was a rich man’s war an’ a poor man’s -fight, didn’t I; an’ now you see it for yourselves, -don’t you? Let’s go right back to the -woods an’ set her a-goin’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bang!” said one of Rodney’s revolvers, -and to Marcy’s inexpressible horror Lambert -dropped his rifle and fell headlong from his -mule, which set up a sonorous bray and -started for the bars at top speed. “Bang!” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_418'>418</span>said the other revolver an instant later, and -Moseley let go his hold upon his gun and -clung to his mule with both hands. The result -of the next shot was still more terrifying. -The third man made a frantic effort to turn -his beast toward the bars; but before he could -put him in motion a bullet passed through the -mule’s head, and he and his rider came to the -ground together. It was done in much less -time than it takes to tell it. Rodney’s companions -jumped to their feet, but before they -could draw their weapons it was all over.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Rodney, Rodney, what have you done?” -cried Marcy in great alarm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have simply proved my words,” replied -his cousin, walking leisurely down the steps, -pushing his revolver into his pocket as he -went. “Did I not say,” he added, picking -up the three guns, one after the other, and firing -their contents into the air, “that I would -show Lambert to be the biggest coward in the -Confederacy? Get up, here. It’s my turn to -be sassy now. Moseley, dismount.”</p> - -<div class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/p418.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='sc'>Rodney Surprises Lambert.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Moseley obeyed with alacrity, and at the -same time Lambert raised himself on his elbow -<span class='pageno' id='Page_419'>419</span>and gazed about him with a bewildered air. -Then he felt of his head, and examined his -hand to see if there was blood upon it. The -third man could not move without assistance, -for the mule had fallen upon his leg and -pinned him to the ground.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Get up,” repeated Rodney, taking Lambert -by the arm and helping him rather -roughly to his feet. “Now you and Moseley -sit down on the steps till I am ready to talk -to you. Lend a hand here, a couple of you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hardly able to realize what had taken place -before their eyes, Rodney’s companions -hastened down the steps to roll the dead mule -off his rider, so that the man could get up. -When he was placed upon his feet he was -found to be so weak from fright that he could -scarcely stand; so Marcy and Ned helped him -to a seat on the steps. Then they stood back -and looked closely at Lambert and Moseley. -Their faces were very white, and Lambert was -covered with dust from head to foot, but there -wasn’t the sign of a wound on either of them. -It was bewildering.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mister Rodney,” ventured Lambert, when -<span class='pageno' id='Page_420'>420</span>he had made sure that he was still alive and -had the use of his tongue, “I hope you don’t -bear me no grudge for them words I spoke to -you a while ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, no,” replied Rodney cheerfully. -“But you have had your say, and I can’t -waste any more time with you now. Moseley, -I believe you would be a harmless sort of rebel -if you were out of Lambert’s company.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I would, sah,” whimpered the hog -thief. “Every bit of meanness I have done -was all owin’ to him, sah.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jest listen at the fule!” exclaimed Lambert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Consequently I think I will let you and -your friend here—what’s his name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Longworth, sah; Joe Longworth,” replied -the owner of the name.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, yes! I know you now. I believe I -will let you two off on one condition. Wait -until I get through!” cried Rodney, turning -fiercely upon Lambert, who had made several -attempts to interrupt him. “You did lots of -talking a little while back, and now it’s my -turn. That condition is, Moseley, that you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_421'>421</span>take your gang out of the woods and keep it -out from this time on, unless I tell you to -take it back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll do it, sah,” said Moseley earnestly. -“Sure’s you live——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He can’t, Mister Rodney,” exclaimed -Lambert. “There aint nobody but me can do -that, kase I’m the captain of ’em.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re not the captain of them any longer. -They will have to elect someone to take your -place, for you are going to start for Baton -Rouge in less than fifteen minutes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Lambert heard this he almost fell off -the step on which he was sitting. Without -giving him time to recover himself sufficiently -to utter a protest, Rodney again addressed ex-Lieutenant -Moseley.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you will do that, you can go to my -father after our cotton has been shipped, and -he will give each of you some money,” said -Rodney. “I don’t know how much, but it will -be a larger sum than you ever owned before at -one time. It will be good money, too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Say, Mister Rodney,” faltered Lambert, -“what’s the reason I can’t have a share?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_422'>422</span>“But if you don’t do it,” continued Rodney, -“if you interfere in any way with the -teamsters who will go into the swamp to-morrow -to haul that cotton out, the last one -of you will be hunted down and shot, or sent -to a Northern prison to keep company with -Lambert. How many did you leave behind -when you came here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Four, sah,” replied Moseley.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only seven of you altogether!” exclaimed -Rodney. “Well, I think I can promise you -a hundred dollars apiece in greenbacks, and -that will be equal to six or eight hundred dollars -in Confederate scrip.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Moseley’s eyes glistened and so did Longworth’s; -but Lambert’s grew dim with tears, -and his face was a sight to behold. The man -had less courage than Rodney gave him credit -for, and the boy wondered what his mother -would think of this “dangerous” person if -she could see him now. He couldn’t even talk, -and Rodney was glad of it, for he wanted to -finish his instructions to Moseley and take -down the names of his companions without -being interrupted.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_423'>423</span>“Longworth, is that your beast?” said -Rodney, with a nod toward the dead mule. -“I am sorry I had to shoot him, and I -shouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t tried to -run off. When you are ready to come out of -the woods and put in a crop, I will give you -another and better one to take his place; but -I’ll not furnish you anything to ride as long -as you are playing bushwhacker.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After a little more conversation, and before -Lambert had recovered from the stupor into -which he had been thrown by Rodney’s -ominous words, Moseley and Longworth -started for the swamp to spread consternation -among their companions by telling what a -desperate fighter the young overseer was when -aroused, and what terrible things he had -threatened to do if his demands were not complied -with, while Rodney and his cousin went -into the house, leaving Ned and Bowen to -watch the prisoner.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t see how you could bring yourself -to do it,” said Marcy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do it! Do what?” replied Rodney -innocently.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_424'>424</span>“I thought sure you had killed Lambert -and wounded Moseley, and when I saw Longworth -come to the ground as if he had been -struck by lightning——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s nothing,” laughed Rodney. “If -you could see a platoon of cavalry floored as -quickly as he was, perhaps you would open -your eyes. As to Lambert, I didn’t shoot -within a foot of his head, although I shoved -my revolver so close to his face that the smoke -went into his eyes and blinded him for a -minute or two. I shot even wider of the mark -when I pulled on Moseley, and no doubt he -dropped his gun because Lambert did. It was -not my intention to touch either one of them. -I thought it would be a good plan to let them -understand who they were fooling with and -what I could do if I set about it. But I meant -to hit that mule. Now, will you ride to Baton -Rouge with me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I will; but you are not going to -send Lambert up North?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is a matter with which I have nothing -to do, but beyond a doubt it’s where Lambert -will bring up before he is many weeks -<span class='pageno' id='Page_425'>425</span>older. As soon as it becomes known that he -is in the hands of the Yanks, the Union people -he persecuted so outrageously, while Tom -Randolph was captain of the Home Guards, -will prefer charges against him, and that will -be bad for Lambert.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish you thought it safe to let him go,” -said Marcy, who could not bear to see anyone -in trouble.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I don’t, you see. Of course he would -make all sorts of promises, but he’d burn that -cotton of ours as soon as he could get to it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the events we have just described became -known in the settlement, they created -almost as much excitement as did the news of -the firing upon Sumter, but of course it was a -different sort of excitement. The Union men -whom Lambert had robbed and abused went -into the city by dozens to bear testimony -against him, and then hastened home to repair -their wagons and harness so that they could -earn the four dollars a day, “greenback -money,” that Sailor Jack offered them for -hauling out his uncle’s cotton. Everyone -who had cotton to sell and teams for hire, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_426'>426</span>with one exception, was happy; and that exception -was Mr. Randolph, who was the most -miserable man in the State. He had not only -lost the most of his cotton (he had about -twenty bales that Jack said he would buy), -but since Lambert’s arrest he had learned why -he lost it. That was a matter which Tom desired -above all things to keep from his father’s -knowledge; but Lambert had told all he knew -about him in the hope that, if he were sent to -prison, his old captain would have to go with -him. Tom himself had some fears on this -score, but thus far no one in the settlement -had thought it worth while to trouble him. -Such treatment as that made Tom angry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nobody pays any more attention to me -than if I was a stump-tailed yellow dog,” he -complained to his mother, who was the only -friend he had in the world. “Father will -scarcely speak when I am around, and when -I go to town, the men who used to go out -of their way to salute me and say ‘Good-morning, -Captain Randolph,’ won’t look at -me. It wasn’t so when we were rich.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is true,” assented his mother. “I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_427'>427</span>have always heard it said that one’s pocket-book -is one’s best friend, and I believe it. -Tommy, don’t you think, if you could fix up -a wagon and earn a little money, it would -be better than idling away your time doing -nothing?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And drive crow-bait mules and work for -Rodney Gray?” exclaimed Tom. “Mother, -I am surprised at you. Think what a comedown -that would be for one who has been a -captain in the Confederate service!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Randolph did not say that it would -have been a good thing for the captain if he -had been content to remain a civilian, but she -thought so.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were others in the neighborhood who -had never performed any manual labor, rich -planters before the war, who had nothing to do -but spend the money their slaves made for -them, but they did not talk as Tom did. They -took off their coats and went to work, and -never stopped to see whether the shoulder that -was under the opposite side of a cotton bale -belonged to a white man or a negro. Rodney -Gray, who superintended the work while -<span class='pageno' id='Page_428'>428</span>Sailor Jack went to New Orleans to charter a -river steamer, paid them their greenbacks every -night, and the planters took them home and -hid them for fear that a squad of rebel cavalry -might make a night raid into the settlement -and steal them. Jack did not ask for military -protection, but he had it, for every day or -two a company of Federal troopers galloped -through the country, ready to do battle -with any “Johnnies” who might try to interfere -with the work. Rodney was always glad -to see them. He knew that the Confederate -authorities would not permit that cotton to be -shipped if they could prevent it, and he never -left it unguarded. Moseley and his five companions -were in his pay, and earned two dollars -a night by holding themselves ready at all -times to drive off any marauders who might -try to burn it. On one memorable night they -proved their worth and earned five times that -amount. Moseley, who seemed to have grown -several inches taller since Rodney last saw -him, proudly reported that he had had a -regular pitched battle about three o’clock -that morning, and that he had driven the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_429'>429</span>enemy from the field in such confusion that -they left their wounded behind them. And, -what was more to the point, he produced three -injured rebels to show that he told nothing -but the truth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>By the time Sailor Jack returned with the -steamer he had chartered, Mr. Gray’s cotton -was all on the levee at Baton Rouge awaiting -shipment to New Orleans, and Rodney’s teams -were hard at work hauling in Mr. Walker’s. -By this time, too, everyone in the southwestern -part of the State knew what was going on at -Mooreville, and Union men and rebels, living -as far away as the Pearl River bottoms, came -to Jack and begged, with tears in their eyes, -that he would take their cotton also and save -them from utter ruin. Jack assured them -that he would be glad to buy every bale, provided -they would put it where he could get -hold of it without running the risk of being -bushwhacked; but there was the trouble. The -guerillas became very active all on a sudden, -and almost every morning someone would -report to Rodney that he “seen a light on the -clouds over that-a-way, and jedged that some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_430'>430</span>poor chap had been losin’ cotton the night -afore.” On one or two occasions Rodney saw -such lights on the sky, and if his heart was -filled with sympathy for the planter who was -being ruined by the wanton destruction of his -property, there was still room enough in it for -gratitude to his sailor cousin, through whose -manœuvring his father had been saved from a -similar fate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack Gray was a “hustler,” and he “hustled” -his men to such good purpose that in -ten days more his chartered steamer was -loaded to her guards, and Mr. Gray and a few -of his neighbors were rich and happy, while -Rodney was very miserable and unhappy, for -his cousin and Charley Bowen were going -away. Jack had been told to take Marcy home -with him, and Jack’s rule was to obey orders -if he broke owners. Anxious to remain with -Marcy as long as he could, Rodney accompanied -him to New Orleans and saw his father’s -cotton loaded into the <i>Hyperion’s</i> hold. A -few days afterward he waved his farewell to -Marcy as the swift vessel bore him down the -river, and then turned his face homeward to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_431'>431</span>wait for Grant and Banks to open the Mississippi. -But his patience was sadly tested, for -it was not until July 4 that Grant’s army -marched into Vicksburg. After an active campaign -of eighty days the modest man who afterward -commanded all the Union armies “gained -one of the most important and stupendous victories -of the war,” inflicting upon the enemy a -loss of ten thousand in killed and wounded, -capturing twenty-seven thousand prisoners, two -hundred guns, and small arms and munitions -of war sufficient for an army of sixty thousand -men. General Banks took possession of Port -Hudson on the 9th, and no Northern boy -shouted louder than Rodney Gray did when -he heard of it. The river was open at last, -and Jack Gray and his trading boat could -make their appearance as soon as they -pleased.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But this was not all the glorious news that -Rodney heard about that time. On the 3d of -July, at Cemetery Ridge in far-off Pennsylvania, -there had been a desperate charge of -fifteen thousand men and a bloody repulse -that “marked the culmination of the Confederate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_432'>432</span>power.” When General Lee saw Pickett’s -lines and Anderson’s fading away before -the terrible fire of the Union infantry, he also -saw “the fading away of all hope of recognition -by the government of Great Britain. The -iron-clad war vessels, constructed with Confederate -money by British ship-builders and -intended for the dispersion of the Union fleets -blockading Wilmington and Charleston, and -which were supposed to be powerful enough -to send the monitors, one by one, to the bottom -of the sea, were prevented from leaving -English ports by order of the British government”; -but if Pickett’s charge had been successful, -those iron-clads would have sailed in -less than a week, and France and England, -who were waiting to see what would come of -the invasion of Pennsylvania, would have -recognized the Confederacy. It is no wonder -that General Lee’s soldiers fought hard for -victory when they knew there was so much -depending upon it. The boys in blue who -whipped them at Cemetery Ridge are deserving -of all honor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We must not forget to say that before these -<span class='pageno' id='Page_433'>433</span>things happened Sailor Jack ran up from New -Orleans to tell what he had done with Marcy, -and to make a settlement with his uncle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve made a successful trip,” said he gleefully, -“and, Uncle Rodney, you have that -much to your credit in the Chemical Bank of -New York.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As he said this he handed Mr. Gray a certificate -of deposit calling for a sum of money -so large that Rodney opened his eyes in -amazement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I had to take Marcy to New -York with me,” continued Jack, “but two -days after we got there Captain Frazier found -a Union storeship that was about to sail with -provisions for the blockading fleet; and as -she had a lot of mail and stuff aboard for Captain -Flusser, whom I knew to be serving on -the <i>Miami</i> in Albemarle Sound, I managed to -obtain permission for Marcy to take passage -on her, believing that if he could reach the -<i>Miami</i> he could also reach Plymouth, and -from there it would be easy for him to get -home. I expect to find a letter from him -when I return to New York, and he also promised -<span class='pageno' id='Page_434'>434</span>to write you in care of the provost marshal -at Baton Rouge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was one thing Jack did before he went -back to New Orleans that at first disgusted -Rodney Gray, though he was afterward very -glad of it. He paid over to Mr. Randolph -every dollar his twenty bales sold for in New -York, not even deducting the <i>Hyperion’s</i> -freight bill, so that unfortunate gentleman -was not quite as badly off as he thought. He -had a little money with which to make a new -start when the war ended.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_435'>435</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XVII. <br /> <span class='small'>CONCLUSION.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>One of the most soul-stirring scenes that -Rodney Gray ever witnessed occurred a -short time subsequent to the fall of Vicksburg. -He and his father and Ned Griffin stood on -the Baton Rouge levee and saw the steamer -<i>Imperial</i> dash by on her way to New Orleans. -The swift vessel, which came from St. Louis, -moved as if she were a living thing and knew -that she was speaking not only to the Confederacy, -but to the world. To the Confederates -she said that the last vestige of their power -and authority had disappeared from the Mississippi -forever; that its waters were free to -the commerce of the great West, which should -nevermore be interrupted. And to France and -England, who had been hoping and plotting -for our downfall, she said that “thenceforth -the country was to be one nation, under one -flag, with Liberty and Union forever.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_436'>436</span>Exciting and interesting events happened -rapidly after that, but we can touch upon but -few of them, for our “War Series” ought to -end with the war record of the characters -that have appeared in it. Rodney, who was -waiting impatiently for Sailor Jack to make -his appearance, spent the most of his time on -the Baton Rouge levee, so as to be the first to -welcome him when he came up with his trading -boat. On one memorable night he reached -home after dark, as he usually did, put his -horse into the stable-yard, and went into the -house; and there, just as we found him on -a former occasion, seated in Rodney’s own -rocking-chair, with his feet resting upon the -back of another and a book in his hand, -was Dick Graham. When Rodney entered -the room Dick merely turned his head -slightly and looked at him as he might -have done if they had parted an hour or -two before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I always knew you had cheek,” exclaimed -Rodney, as soon as he could speak. “Dick, -old boy, how are you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pretty and well, thank you,” answered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_437'>437</span>Dick, dropping the book and jumping to his -feet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We shall not attempt to describe that meeting, -for we could not do it justice. Just consider -that they have got through gushing over -each other, and that they are sitting down -quietly, talking like veterans who have seen -fifteen months of the hardest kind of service.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know how I missed seeing you,” -said Rodney, “for I was on the levee almost -all day yesterday, and saw every boat that -came in. How did you get home? and where -did you leave your folks?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I got home easy enough, and left the -folks in St. Louis. My discharge from -Bragg’s army put me on the right side of both -rebs and Yanks, and the money you so <a id='corr437.17'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='genererously'>generously</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_437.17'><ins class='correction' title='genererously'>generously</ins></a></span> -provided brought me all the grub I -wanted. I found the folks at home, but they -didn’t remain there long after I joined them, -for there was almost too much guerilla warfare -going on in Kansas and western Missouri -to make it pleasant for non-combatants. So -we dug out for St. Louis, and we’ve been there -ever since. I couldn’t get a letter to you, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_438'>438</span>I knew I could come myself as soon as the -river was opened, and here I am. A pass -from the provost marshal took me through -the lines, and Mr. Turnbull was kind enough -to hitch up a team and bring me to your -father’s house, where I stopped last night. I -heard some astonishing stories about Marcy -and that sailor brother of his, and am sorry -indeed that Marcy has gone home to stay. I -should like much to see him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And he would be delighted to see you, -but I don’t look for him until this trouble is -all over. Sailor Jack is liable to come along -any day; and Dick, we’ll go with him and -help him buy cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, you needn’t think that you and Jack -are going to have a picnic,” replied Dick -with a smile. “I talked with some of the -officers of the boat on my way down, and they -seemed to think that Uncle Sam’s tin-clads -will have all they can do to keep the river -clear of guerillas. They’ll not let traders -take cotton out of the country if they can -help it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It goes without saying that in Dick Graham’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_439'>439</span>company Rodney was almost as happy -as he desired to be. He was blessed with perfect -health, his family had in a great measure -escaped the horrors of war which fell to the -lot of so many others, there was no cotton in -the woods for him to worry over, the man -Lambert, who was a thorn in his side for so -many months, had been sent to Camp Douglas -for his merciless persecution of the Union people -in the settlement, his father’s check was -good at the bank for a larger amount than it -had ever been before, and one of the few things -Rodney had to wish for now was that the -war might end with the battle of Gettysburg. -Many brave soldiers on both sides declared -that would have been the result of the fight -if the arrogance of Jeff Davis had not stood -in the way. He continued to slaughter men -and desolate homes in the vain effort to make -himself the head of a new nation. Great battles -were yet to be fought to satisfy one man’s -ambition and desire for power. Hood’s army -of forty-five thousand men was to be annihilated -at Nashville, and Sherman’s march to -the sea accomplished before the “day of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_440'>440</span>Appomattox” dawned upon the country. -And Sailor Jack was to try his hand at being -a trader.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He made his appearance about a week after -Dick Graham did, and quite as unexpectedly, -and so the boys were not on the levee to meet -him. He secured a pass from the provost -marshal, borrowed a horse, and rode out to his -uncle’s plantation. Dick Graham had never -seen him before, but when he got through -shaking hands he was willing to believe that -the sailor was glad to make his acquaintance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I do say it myself I think I am well -equipped for the business,” said Jack in response -to Rodney’s inquiries. “My boat is -the <i>Venango</i>, which is guaranteed to carry a -full deck-load on a heavy dew, my officers are -all river men and my deck-hands whites; for -I wasn’t going to take darkies among the -rebels to be captured and sent back into -slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, Jack,” said Mrs. Gray, “you talk -as if you were going into danger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I am not as sanguine of keeping out -of it as I was a few weeks ago,” said the sailor. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_441'>441</span>“If I can hold fast to the <i>Venango</i> until I can -load up the <i>Hyperion</i> twice, I shall think myself -lucky. And I shall make a good thing -out of it besides.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Gray did not raise any objections when -Rodney and Dick made ready to accompany -Jack to Baton Rouge on the following morning, -for he knew that if he were a boy he -would want to go himself. He went with them -to the city, and stood on the levee when the -<i>Venango</i> backed away from it and turned her -head up the river. When the boys could no -longer distinguish him among the crowd which -had assembled to see them off, they went into -the cabin that Jack occupied in common with -the river captain whom he had hired to run -the vessel, and sat down to wait for dinner.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This looks to me like hunting for a needle -in a haystack,” said Rodney. “How are you -going to manage? Do you intend to keep on -up the river until someone hails you with the -information that he has cotton to sell?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not precisely,” laughed Jack. “We -don’t do business in that uncertain way. My -first landing will be at a plantation ten miles -<span class='pageno' id='Page_442'>442</span>above Bayou Sara, if you know where that is, -and there I hope to find cotton enough to load -this boat about four times.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, how did you hear of it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I received my orders from our agent in -New Orleans, if that is what you mean; but -how he heard of it I don’t know, and didn’t -think to inquire. I wish this steamer was -four times bigger than she is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why didn’t you charter a large one while -you were about it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I couldn’t, for their owners were too anxious -to have them go back to their regular -trade, which has so long been interrupted by -the blockade at Vicksburg. They can make -more money at it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After dinner had been served and eaten in -what had once been the <i>Venango’s</i> passenger -cabin, but which was now given over to the use -of the officers of the boat, the boys walked out -on the boiler-deck and saw a stern-wheeler -coming toward them with a big bone in her -teeth. She was painted a sort of dirt color -that did not show very plainly against the -background of the high bank she was passing, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_443'>443</span>and it was a long time before the boys could -make her out; but they told each other that -she was the oddest looking craft they had ever -seen. She had no “Texas” (that is the name -given to the cabin in which the officers sleep), -and her pilot house stood on the roof of her -passenger cabin. Her main deck was not open -like the <i>Venango’s</i>, but was inclosed with -casemates provided with port-holes, two in the -bow and three on the side that was turned toward -them. She was following the channel in -the right of the bend while the light-draft -trading boat was holding across the point of -the bar on the opposite side, so that there was -the width of the river between them; but when -they came abreast of each other, the stranger’s -bow began swinging around, and in a few minutes -she was running back up the Mississippi -in company with the <i>Venango</i>, and only a few -rods astern.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She must be one of the mosquito fleet—a -tin-clad,” exclaimed Dick. “They say the -river is full of them, but I didn’t happen to -see one on my way down. She and her kind -are intended to fight guerillas.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_444'>444</span>“That’s what she is,” said Jack. “And -she’s the first I ever saw.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what is she following us for?” asked -Rodney. “Perhaps she wants to see your -papers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then why doesn’t she whistle five times -to let me know that she wants to communicate?” -answered Jack. “She is giving us a -convoy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s very kind of Admiral Porter, or whoever -it was told her to do it,” said Rodney. -“If we are to be protected in this way we -shall never have anything to fear from guerillas. -She has six broadside guns, two bow-chasers, -and a field howitzer on her roof, nine -in all. She ought to make a good fight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, she will do well enough for guerillas,” -said Jack, “but how long do you imagine -she would stay above water if a battery -should open on her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack Gray was not the only one who had -little faith in tin-clads, but some of the most -desperate engagements that were fought in -Western waters were fought by these very -vessels. If they wanted to go anywhere they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_445'>445</span>did not stop because there was a battery in -their way. Take one exploit of the <i>Juliet</i> as -a fair specimen of what they could do as often -as the exigencies of the service demanded it. -When this fleet little gunboat was commanded -by Harry Gorringe, the man who afterward -brought over the Egyptian obelisk that now -stands in Central Park, New York, she carried -Admiral Porter past a long line of Confederate -batteries, which poured upon her a fire so -accurate and rapid that thirty-five shells were -exploded inside her casemates in less than -three minutes. The engineer on watch was -killed with his hand on the throttle, but her -machinery was not touched; and finding that -she had come through the ordeal safe if not -sound, she rounded to and went back to help -a vessel which had not been so fortunate as -herself. The <i>Venango’s</i> escort kept company -with her until she turned in to the plantation -where Jack hoped to obtain his first load of -cotton, and then turned about and went down -the river again, Jack and the boys waving -their thanks to the officers who stood on her -boiler-deck, and the <i>Venango’s</i> pilot wishing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_446'>446</span>her good luck and warning the master of the -plantation at the same time by giving a long -blast on his whistle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sailor Jack began his trading at a fortunate -time and under the most favorable conditions. -Not only was he one of the first to -enter the field after Vicksburg fell, but the -men with whom his mother’s thirty thousand -dollars enabled him to form partnership were -so influential and shrewd, and had so many -ways of finding out things which no one inside -the Union lines was supposed to know anything -about, that Jack never left port without -knowing right where to find his next -cargo of cotton. That is to say, he knew it -on every occasion except one, and then he was -ordered into a trap which he would have kept -out of if he had been left to himself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The cotton he found above Bayou Sara was on -what was known as the Stratton plantation, -and there was so much of it that he had to make -four trips to carry it to New Orleans, where it -was loaded into the <i>Hyperion’s</i> hold. One day -when his own deck-hands and all the plantation -darkies were busy loading for the last run, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_447'>447</span>Jack was approached by three men in butternut, -who wanted to know what he was giving -for cotton, whether he paid in greenbacks or -Confederate scrip, and if he would be willing -to run up the river two hundred miles farther -and get a thousand bales that several citizens -up there were anxious to sell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Which side of the river is the cotton on?” -asked Jack.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Over there,” said one of the men, pointing -toward the opposite shore.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Too many rebs,” said Jack shortly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thar haint been ary reb in our country -fur more’n six months, dog-gone if thar has,” -replied the man earnestly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I can’t make any promises. The -matter does not rest with me, but with the -agent in New Orleans.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose you pay cash on delivery?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hardly. I don’t carry enough money to -make it an object for prowling guerillas to -rob me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s Stratton got to show fur the cotton -of his’n you have tooken down the -river?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_448'>448</span>“Due-bills, which will be cashed on sight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But he’ll have to go to New Orleans to -have ’em cashed, an’ me an’ my neighbors -dassent go thar. We’ve been in the Confedrit -army.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is there no Union man up there whom you -can trust to do business for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thar aint one of that sort within forty -mile of us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you are in a bad way, and I don’t -know how you will work it to get greenbacks -for your cotton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Couldn’t you run up there an’ buy it out -an’ out if we gin you a little somethin’ for -your trouble?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I couldn’t. I am not the only trader -there is on the river, and if you watch out you -may find somebody willing to take the risk. -I am not willing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They gave up mighty easy,” observed -Rodney, as the three men turned away and -walked slowly up the bank.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t you know the reason?” replied -Jack. “They had no use for me when they -found that I don’t carry a large sum of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_449'>449</span>money with me. They haven’t a bale of cotton, -and I doubt if they have been in the rebel -army. They are guerillas and robbers like -those in Missouri that Dick told us about. -No doubt I shall have to go up into that -country after this lower river has been cleared -of cotton, but I’ll tell the captain to keep as -far from the Arkansaw shore as the channel -will let him go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This little incident reminded the boys that -the war was not yet ended, and that they -might hear more about it at any time. They -heard more about it when they arrived at New -Orleans and found the steamer <i>Von Phul</i> -lying at the levee with her cabin shot full of -holes. She had been fired into by a battery of -field-pieces twenty miles below Memphis, but -her captain was brave, as most of the river -men were, and could not be stopped as long as -his engines were in working order. He reported -the matter to the captain of the first -gunboat he met, and the latter hastened up -and shelled the woods until he set them on -fire; but the battery that did the mischief -was probably a dozen miles away.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_450'>450</span>“There’s no telling how long it will be before -we shall come here with our boat looking just -like that,” said Jack. “And the worst of it -is, we shall have to take whatever the rebs -please to give us without firing a shot in reply. -I don’t like that pretty well.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But for a long time the <i>Venango</i> was a -lucky vessel. She was not obliged to go very -far out of reach of a gunboat to find her cargoes, -for the planters who owned cotton took -pains to place it on the river at points where it -would be under Federal protection. But the -supply was exhausted after a while, and then -Jack was ordered into the dreaded Arkansas -region, where guerillas were plenty and gunboats -and soldiers stationed far apart. Then -their troubles began, and Rodney and Dick -smelled powder again. On one trip the <i>Venango</i> -was fired into at three different points, -but owing to her speed and the width of the -river, which was almost bank full, she escaped -without a scratch. On another occasion the -rebels shot with better aim, and sent a shell -through one of her smoke-stacks and two -more through her cabin; but little damage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_451'>451</span>was done, for the missiles did not explode -until they passed through the steamer and -struck the bank on the opposite side. After -that it was seldom that Jack reported to his -agent without adding: “Of course I was fired -into on the way down,” and sometimes he was -obliged to say that he had had men killed or -wounded. But that was to be expected. A -wooden boat couldn’t make a business of running -batteries at regular intervals without losing -men once in a while.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The winter passed in this way, Rodney and -Dick never missing a trip, and all the while -the agent was besieged by planters living -along the Arkansas shore who had cotton to -sell, who had permits to ship it and papers to -prove that they had always been loyal to the -government, and who were ready to stake -their reputation as gentlemen upon the truth -of the statement that the trading boat that -came to their landings would not run the -slightest risk of falling into the hands of -guerillas. When the agent spoke to Jack -about it the latter said:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you want to take the responsibility, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_452'>452</span>why, all right. If you order me to go after -that cotton I’ll go; but before you do it, I’d -like to have you recall the fact that the trading -boats <i>Tacoma</i> and <i>George Williams</i> were -all right and made money until they were sent -to the Arkansas shore, and then they went up in -smoke. And every shot that has been fired at -my boat came from the west bank of the river.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This cotton is at Horseshoe Bend opposite -Friar’s Point,” continued the agent, “and -you will have five or six gunboats within less -than a dozen miles of you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of that?” replied Jack. “A party -of half a dozen men could set fire to the boat -and ride away to Texas before the gunboats -would know anything about it. They might -as well be a hundred miles away.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And more,” the agent went on, “two of -the planters who own this cotton are willing -to remain here as hostages, and they say that -if anything happens to you or your boat we -can do what we please with them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of that?” repeated Jack. “If the -<i>Venango</i> is burned, who is going to punish -those hostages? We have no right to do it, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_453'>453</span>and you do not for a moment suppose that -General Banks would interest himself in the -matter? He’s got government business to attend -to, and don’t care a cent what happens to -us or any other civilians. I’ll go after the -cotton if you say so, but you’ll never see the -<i>Venango</i> again, and the firm will have to pay -for her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This frightened the agent for a while, and -he told Jack to stay on the safe side of the -river and let the Arkansaw people get their -cotton to market the best way they could. -These orders remained in force about three -months, and then came a fateful day when the -only cotton the agent knew anything about -was on the Arkansas side, eight miles above -Skipwith’s Landing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I really think it will be a safe undertaking,” -said the agent, “for you will be within -plain sight of two iron-clads and the ram -<i>Samson</i>, which are lying at Skipwith’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wouldn’t give that for all the help I’ll -get from the whole of them,” declared Jack, -snapping his fingers in the air. “They’ll not -know that trouble has come to me till they see -<span class='pageno' id='Page_454'>454</span>my boat in flames, and how long will it take -one of those tubs of iron-clads to get up steam -and run eight miles against the current of the -Mississippi? The <i>Venango</i> will be in ashes -before one of them will come within shelling -distance of us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But there’s the <i>Samson</i>. She can run -seventeen miles an hour against a four-mile -current.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what is the <i>Samson</i> but a carpenter -shop, with no guns and a crew of darkies? Do -you want me to go there or not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The agent did what Longstreet is said to -have done when General Lee told him to order -Pickett’s useless charge at Gettysburg; he -looked down at the ground and evaded a direct -answer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We want cotton enough to fill out the -<i>Hyperion’s</i> cargo,” said he, “and that’s the -only batch on the river that I have been able -to hear of.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I’ll start after it in less than an hour; -but whether or not I’ll get it is another and a -deeper question. Good-by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack walked off whistling, for trouble sat -<span class='pageno' id='Page_455'>455</span>lightly on his broad shoulders, but the moment -he stepped on the <i>Venango’s</i> boiler-deck and -faced the two boys sitting there, they knew -what had happened as well as they did when -it was explained to them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can see Arkansas written all over you,” -exclaimed Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And can you see that I want you two to -be ready to leave the boat at Baton Rouge?” -replied Jack. “We’ll not make a landing, -but just run close enough to give you a chance -to jump.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never could jump worth a cent,” said -Dick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look here, Jack, we’re not little boys to -be disposed of in any such way as you propose. -We have seen as much service as you have, -and if it is all the same to you we’ll stay here. -I am not going home to worry my folks with -the report that you are going into such danger -that you thought it best to drop us overboard,” -chimed in Rodney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If the guerillas catch us they’ll only put -us afoot,” observed Dick. “That’s what they -did with the <i>Tacoma’s</i> crew.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_456'>456</span>Good-natured Jack turned on his heel and -walked away, showing by his actions that he -did not expect his order to be obeyed. In an -hour’s time the <i>Venango</i> was on her way up -the river. She passed Skipwith’s Landing -the next night after dark, running close enough -in to give the boys an indistinct view of the -long black hull of the ram <i>Samson</i>, lying -alongside the repair shops, and the battle-scarred -iron-clads at anchor a short distance -farther up, and in due time she was whistling -for the landing on the Arkansas shore eight -miles above. It was dark there, and the boys -could see nothing but a dense forest outlined -against the sky, and not the first sign of a clearing; -but that there was somebody on the -watch was made evident a few minutes later, -for an iron torch basket filled with blazing -“fat wood,” such as steamers use when making -a landing or coaling at night, was planted -upon the levee, and the pilot steered in by the -aid of the light it threw out. There were three -men on the levee and a few bales of cotton -near by.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is that all you have?” demanded Jack, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_457'>457</span>as the <i>Venango’s</i> bow touched the bank and a -couple of deck-hands sprang ashore with a -line.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What boat is that?” asked one of the -men.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack gave her name, adding the information -that he had been sent there for cotton, -and there wasn’t enough in sight to load a -skiff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Oh, we’ve got plenty more back there in -the woods,” was the answer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I don’t want it back there in the -woods,” shouted Jack, from his perch on the -roof. “I want it on the levee where I can get -at it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We’ve got teams enough to haul it out -faster than you can load it. It’s all right, -cap’n. I had a long talk with your agent -only a few days ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s all wrong, and you may depend upon -it,” said Rodney in a low tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jack Gray was of the same opinion, and if -he had not been afraid that the men with -whom he was associated in business would -accuse him of cowardice, he would have cut -<span class='pageno' id='Page_458'>458</span>the bow-line, which had by this time been -made fast to a tree on the bank, and backed -away with all possible speed. Instead of doing -that, he descended the stairs and walked -down the gang-plank, while Rodney and -Dick drew off to one side to compare -notes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If it’s all right, what’s the reason they -didn’t have the cotton ready for us?” said -the latter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what I’d be pleased to know,” said -Rodney. “Do you believe there’s any cotton -here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a bale except the few you see on the -levee, and which were put there for a blind. -Your cousin believes he’s in a trap or else his -face told a wrong story.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s my opinion, too. Now don’t you -think it would be a good plan for us to put -the skiff into the water and go down and tell -those gunboats about it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It might, but what shall we tell them? -There’s been nothing done yet,” replied Dick, -as he followed Rodney to the main-deck.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That was true, but there was something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_459'>459</span>done by the time they got the skiff overboard. -It was lying bottom up on the guard just -abaft the door that gave entrance into the -engine-room on the port side, that is, the side -away from the bank, and the oars that belonged -to it were stowed under the thwarts. -Jack was ashore, the mates were on the forecastle, -the deck-hands busy with the breast -and stern lines, the captain was at his post on -the roof, the engineer was at the throttle, -slowly turning the wheel to work the boat -broadside to the bank, and there was no one -to observe their movements. Noiselessly they -pushed the skiff into the water, then stepped -in and shipped the oars and pulled toward the -steamer’s bow, edging away a little into the -darkness so that they could not be seen by -anyone on shore. A subdued exclamation of -surprise and alarm burst from their lips when -they pulled far enough ahead so that they -could look over the bow toward the cotton-bales -on the bank. There were a score of men -there now, and with the exception of the three -who were there when the boat touched the -bank, they were all armed and wore spurs.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_460'>460</span>“Guerillas?” whispered Dick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you think we will have anything to -tell the gunboats?” asked Rodney. “Turn -her around and pull the best you know -how.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It looks cowardly to run away and leave -Jack,” replied Dick, laying out all his strength -on his oar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We wouldn’t do it if we could help him in -any other way. But they won’t hurt him. -It’s the boat they’re after,” said Rodney; -but even while the words were on his lips he -could not help wondering if the guerillas did -not expect to find a large sum of money on the -boat, and whether their disappointment would -not make them so angry that they would take -vengeance on somebody. But there was no -way in which he could stop it except by bringing -a gunboat to the rescue, and with this -object in view he “pulled the best he knew -how.” He and Dick kept the skiff in the -channel in order to get the benefit of the -current, and in less time than they thought -to do so, brought themselves within hailing -distance of one of the iron-clads.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_461'>461</span>“Boat ahoy!” shouted a hoarse voice from -her deck.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Trading boat <i>Venango</i>!” responded Rodney, -hoping to give the officer of the deck -some idea of the nature of their business.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The latter must have heard and understood, -for he told them to come alongside; and when -the order had been obeyed, not without a good -deal of difficulty, for the current ran like a -mill sluice, and the officer of the deck had -listened to their hasty story, he went below to -speak to the captain, who, after a long delay, -sent word for them to be brought into the -cabin. But the sequel proved that he had -done something in the meantime. He had -told the ensign on watch to arouse the executive, -to have two companies of small-arm -men called away, and to send word to the -<i>Samson</i> to raise steam immediately. Being a -regular, the captain lost no time. After listening -to what the boys had to say, he gave them -permission to go aboard the <i>Samson</i> with the -small-arm men, and in ten minutes more the -boat that could run seventeen miles an hour -against a four-mile current was ploughing her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_462'>462</span>way up the river at an astonishing rate of -speed. But the guerillas hadn’t wasted any -time either. Before the ram had left the iron-clads -a mile astern, a small, bright light, -which grew larger and brighter every instant, -shone through the darkness ahead, and presently -the <i>Venango</i> came floating down with -the current, a mass of flame. After robbing -her of everything of value, the guerillas had -applied the torch and turned her adrift. But -where were Jack Gray and her crew? This -question was answered at day-light the next -morning when Rodney and Dick pulled the -skiff back to the landing, where they found -Jack sitting on a cotton-bale, and whittling a -stick as composedly as though such a thing as -a guerilla had never been heard of. His crew -were asleep behind the levee, and Jack was -keeping watch for a steamer bound down. -The guerillas hadn’t bothered him any to -speak of, he said, although they did swear a -little when they learned that he had no money. -They affirmed that if they couldn’t make a dollar -a pound out of their cotton, the Yankees -shouldn’t do it, and they would burn every -<span class='pageno' id='Page_463'>463</span>trading boat that Jack or anybody else put on -the river. But they never burned another boat -for Jack. A steamer which came along that -afternoon took him and his crew to New -Orleans, and there he took leave of the boys, -who did not see him again for a long time. -But before they parted, however, he showed -them a letter from Marcy, in which the latter -stated that Charley Bowen had shipped on a -Union gunboat at Plymouth. Being a deserter -from the rebel army, he was afraid to enlist in -the land forces, for if he were captured and -recognized he would certainly be shot to death. -He thought there would be little danger of -that if he went to sea.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The trading business having been broken -up Rodney was anxious to see his home once -more, and that was where he and Dick started -for as soon as they had seen the <i>Hyperion</i> -drop down the river with Jack Gray on board. -Rodney’s father and mother had heard of the -loss of the <i>Venango</i>, but they did not know -what had become of her company, and the -boys’ return was an occasion for rejoicing. -At the end of the month Dick Graham also -<span class='pageno' id='Page_464'>464</span>went home, and then Rodney was lonely -indeed. If he hadn’t had plenty of work and -energy enough to go at it, it is hard to tell -what he would have done with himself. For -want of some better way of passing his leisure -moments he made an effort to learn what had -become of Billings, Cole, Dixon, and all the -other Barrington boys who had promised, with -him, to enlist in the Confederate army within -twenty-four hours after they reached home. -He knew their several addresses, but the only -one he heard from was Dixon, the tall Kentuckian -who, good rebel as he was, always interfered -whenever the hot heads among the -academy boys tried to haul down the Old Flag -and run the Stars and Bars up in its place. -And the reply he received did not come from -Dixon himself but from his sister, who told -Rodney that her brother had been killed at -the head of his regiment while gallantly leading -a charge upon a Federal battery. He -went into the Confederate army a private and -died a colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bully for Dixon,” said Rodney, with tears -in his eyes. “He always was a brave boy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_465'>465</span>At last Atlanta fell, Sherman marched to -the sea, the battle of Five Forks was fought, -the grand result of which was to reduce General -Lee’s army of seventy-six thousand to -less than twenty-nine thousand men, and then -came the surrender at Appomattox. A short -time afterward came also a joyous letter from -Marcy Gray, in which he said that although -Plymouth had once been recaptured by the -rebels, aided by their formidable iron-clad, the -<i>Albemarle</i>, which had worsted the Union gunboats -every time they met her, the city did -not remain in the hands of the enemy any -longer than it took Lieutenant Cushing to -blow up the iron-clad with his torpedo; and -then, their main-stay being gone, the rebels -again surrendered. He and his mother had not -been troubled in any way since the night Captain -Fletcher took him to Williamston jail. -If it had not been for the papers that occasionally -came into their hands, they would not -have known that dreadful battles were being -fought in the next State. There had been -peace and quiet in the settlement since Allison, -Goodwin, and Beardsley were bushwhacked. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_466'>466</span>It was a terrible thing for Christians to do, but -the refugees had been driven to it, and through -no fault of their own. The two foragers who -were captured on the night that Ben Hawkins -was surprised in his father’s house, and who -were sent South to act as guards at the Andersonville -prison pen, had escaped after a few -months’ service, and were now at home with -their families. So were Hawkins and all the -rest of the prisoners who were captured and -paroled at Roanoke Island, and they had -never been molested. No word had been received -from Charley Bowen since he shipped -in the Union Navy, but Marcy hoped to see -him again at no distant day, for he never could -forget that Charley saved his life. Sailor -Jack had made a “good thing” out of his -trading, and had promised his mother that he -would not go to sea any more. As a family -they were prosperous and hoped to be happy, -now that the cause of the war was dead and -the war itself ended. Marcy concluded his interesting -letter by saying:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“While I write, the flag my Barrington girl -gave me is waving from the house-top, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_467'>467</span>there is not a rebel banner floating to taint the -breeze that kisses it. May it ever be so—one -flag, one country, one destiny.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Amen,” said Rodney Gray solemnly.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c014'> - <div>THE END OF THE SERIES.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='column-container'> - -<div class='left'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Famous</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Castlemon</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Books.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>by</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Harry</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Castlemon.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='right'> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/adgunboat.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='xsmall'>Specimen Cover of the Gunboat Series.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>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.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>⁂ Any volume sold separately.</span></p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>GUNBOAT SERIES.</b></span> by Harry Castlemon. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$7 50</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank, the Young Naturalist</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank in the Woods</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank on the Prairie</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank on a Gunboat</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Prank before Vicksburg</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank on the Lower Mississippi</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>GO AHEAD SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Go Ahead</b>; or, The Fisher Boy’s Motto</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>No Moss</b>; or, The Career of a Rolling Stone</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Tom Newcombe</b>; or, The Boy of Bad Habits</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank at Don Carlos’ Rancho</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank among the Rancheros</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank in the Mountains</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Sportsman’s Club in the Saddle</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Sportsman’s Club Afloat</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Sportsman’s Club among the Trappers</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>FRANK NELSON SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Snowed Up</b>; or, The Sportsman’s Club in the Mts</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank Nelson in the Forecastle</b>; or, The Sportsman’s Club among the Whalers</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Boy Traders</b>; or, The Sportsman’s Club among the Boers</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>BOY TRAPPER SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Buried Treasure</b>; or, Old Jordan’s “Haunt”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Boy Trapper</b>; or, How Dave Filled the Order</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Mail Carrier</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>ROUGHING IT SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>George in Camp</b>; or, Life on the Plains</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>George at the Wheel</b>; or, Life in a Pilot House</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>George at the Fort</b>; or, Life Among the Soldiers</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>ROD AND GUN SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Don Gordon’s Shooting Box</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Rod and Gun</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Young Wild Fowlers</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>FOREST AND STREAM SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Joe Wayring at Home</b>; or, Story of a Fly Rod</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Snagged and Sunk</b>; or, The Adventures of a Canvas Canoe</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Steel Horse</b>; or, The Rambles of a Bicycle</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>WAR SERIES.</b></span> By Harry Castlemon. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>True to his Colors</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Rodney, the Partisan</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Marcy, the Blockade Runner</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Marcy, the Refugee</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>OUR FELLOWS</b></span>; or, Skirmishes with the Swamp Dragoons. By Harry Castlemon. 16mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div class='left'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'>Alger’s</span></span></div> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'>Renowned</span></span></div> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'>Books.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>by</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Horatio</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Alger, Jr.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='right'> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/adraggeddick.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='xsmall'>Specimen Cover of the Ragged Dick Series.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>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.</span></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>⁂ Any volume sold separately.</span></p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>RAGGED DICK SERIES.</b> By Horatio Alger, Jr. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$7 50</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Ragged Dick</b>; or, Street Life in New York</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Fame and Fortune</b>; or, The Progress of Richard Hunter</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Mark, the Match Boy</b>; or, Richard Hunter’s Ward</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Rough and Ready</b>; or, Life among the New York Newsboys</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Ben, the Luggage Boy</b>; or, Among the Wharves</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Rufus and Rose</b>; or, the Fortunes of Rough and Ready</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>TATTERED TOM SERIES.</b></span> (<span class='sc'>First Series.</span>) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Tattered Tom</b>; or, The Story of a Street Arab</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Paul, the Peddler</b>; or, The Adventures of a Young Street Merchant</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Phil, the Fiddler</b>; or, The Young Street Musician</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Slow and Sure</b>; or, From the Sidewalk to the Shop</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>TATTERED TOM SERIES.</b></span> (<span class='sc'>Second Series.</span>) 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Julius</b>; or the Street Boy Out West</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Young Outlaw</b>; or, Adrift in the World</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Sam’s Chance and How He Improved it</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Telegraph Boy</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES.</b></span> (<span class='sc'>First Series.</span>) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Luck and Pluck</b>; or John Oakley’s Inheritance</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Sink or Swim</b>; or, Harry Raymond’s Resolve</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Strong and Steady</b>; or, Paddle Your Own Canoe</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Strive and Succeed</b>; or, The Progress of Walter Conrad</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES.</b></span> (<span class='sc'>Second Series.</span>) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Try and Trust</b>; or, The Story of a Bound Boy</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Bound to Rise</b>; or Harry Walton’s Motto</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Risen from the Ranks</b>; or, Harry Walton’s Success</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Herbert Carter’s Legacy</b>; or, The Inventor’s Son</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>CAMPAIGN SERIES.</b></span> By Horatio Alger, Jr. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box.</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Frank’s Campaign</b>; or, The Farm and the Camp</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Paul Prescott’s Charge</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Charlie Codman’s Cruise</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.</b></span> By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Brave and Bold</b>; or, The Story of a Factory Boy</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Jack’s Ward</b>; or, The Boy Guardian</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Shifting for Himself</b>; or, Gilbert Greyson’s Fortunes</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Wait and Hope</b>; or, Ben Bradford’s Motto</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>PACIFIC SERIES.</b></span> By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols. 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Young Adventurer</b>; or, Tom’s Trip Across the Plains</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Young Miner</b>; or, Tom Nelson in California</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Young Explorer</b>; or, Among the Sierras</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Ben’s Nugget</b>; or, A Boy’s Search for Fortune. A Story of the Pacific Coast</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>ATLANTIC SERIES.</b></span> By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Young Circus Rider</b>; or, The Mystery of Robert Rudd</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Do and Dare</b>; or, A Brave Boy’s Fight for Fortune</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Hector’s Inheritance</b>; or, Boys of Smith Institute</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Helping Himself</b>; or, Grant Thornton’s Ambition</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>WAY TO SUCCESS SERIES.</b></span> By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$5 00</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Bob Burton</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Store Boy</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Luke Walton</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Struggling Upward</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> -</table> -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>New Book by Alger.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>DIGGING FOR GOLD.</b></span> By Horatio Alger, Jr. Illustrated 12mo. Cloth, black, red and gold</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div class='left'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>A</div> - <div>New Series</div> - <div>of Books.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c015' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Indian Life</div> - <div>and</div> - <div>Character</div> - <div>Founded on</div> - <div>Historical</div> - <div>Facts.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='right'> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/adwyoming.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='xsmall'>Specimen Cover of the Wyoming Series.</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>By Edward S. Ellis.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>⁂ Any volume sold separately.</span></p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>BOY PIONEER SERIES.</b></span> By Edward S. Ellis. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Ned in the Block House</b>; or, Life on the Frontier</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Ned in the Woods.</b> A Tale of the Early Days in the West</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Ned on the River</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>DEERFOOT SERIES.</b></span> By Edward S. Ellis. In box containing the following. 3 vols., 12mo. Illustrated</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Hunters of the Ozark</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Camp in the Mountains</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>The Last War Trail</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>LOG CABIN SERIES.</b></span> By Edward S. Ellis. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Lost Trail</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Camp Fire and Wigwam</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Footprints in the Forest</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>WYOMING SERIES.</b></span> By Edward S. Ellis. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$3 75</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Wyoming</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Storm Mountain</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Cabin in the Clearing</b></td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> -</table> -<hr class='c018' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>New Books by Edward S. Ellis.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Through Forest and Fire.</b> 12mo. Cloth</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>On the Trail of the Moose.</b> 12mo. Cloth</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='large'>By C. A. Stephens.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c016' /> -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>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.</span></p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>CAMPING OUT SERIES.</b></span> By C. A. Stephens. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$7 50</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Camping Out.</b> As recorded by “Kit”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Left on Labrador</b>; or The Cruise of the Schooner Yacht “Curfew.” As recorded by “Wash”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c019' colspan='2'><b>Off to the Geysers</b>; or, The Young Yachters in Iceland.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'>As recorded by “Wade”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Lynx Hunting.</b> From Notes by the author of “Camping Out”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>Fox Hunting.</b> As recorded by “Raed”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><b>On the Amazon</b>; or, The Cruise of the “Rambler.” As recorded by “Wash”</td> - <td class='c008'>1 25</td> - </tr> -</table> -<hr class='c018' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>By J. T. Trowbridge.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>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.</span></p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='83%' /> -<col width='16%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='large'><b>JACK HAZARD SERIES.</b></span> By J. T. Trowbridge. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully Illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box</td> - <td class='c008'>$7 50</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'><a id='endnote'></a></p> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Note</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. -The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='65%' /> -<col width='22%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'><a id='c_167.11'></a><a href='#corr167.11'>167.11</a></td> - <td class='c007'>would have bee[e]n a national loss.</td> - <td class='c020'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'><a id='c_183.11'></a><a href='#corr183.11'>183.11</a></td> - <td class='c007'>I lost no time in tak[ing] off my side-arms</td> - <td class='c020'>Added. Line break error.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'><a id='c_204.1'></a><a href='#corr204.1'>204.1</a></td> - <td class='c007'>when we get ready [to ]take charge</td> - <td class='c020'>Added. Page break error.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'><a id='c_437.17'></a><a href='#corr437.17'>437.17</a></td> - <td class='c007'>the money you so gener[er]ously provided</td> - <td class='c020'>Removed.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Sailor Jack, The Trader, by Harry Castlemon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAILOR JACK, THE TRADER *** - -***** This file should be named 54049-h.htm or 54049-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/0/4/54049/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, David Edwards and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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