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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19154-h.zip b/19154-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee89e1b --- /dev/null +++ b/19154-h.zip diff --git a/19154-h/19154-h.htm b/19154-h/19154-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55c514c --- /dev/null +++ b/19154-h/19154-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13098 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of With Lee In Virginia, by G. A. Henty. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of With Lee in Virginia, by G. A. Henty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: With Lee in Virginia + A Story of the American Civil War + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Release Date: September 1, 2006 [EBook #19154] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Paul Ereaut and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h4>Transcribers note:- Some inconsistencies of spelling,punctuation and hyphenation have been normalised.<br /> + The quality of the maps is poor but better copies were not available.<br /><br /><br /></h4> + +<h1>WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA</h1> + +<h2><i>A STORY OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR</i></h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>G. A. HENTY<br /><br /></h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "WITH CLIVE IN INDIA," "WITH WOLFE IN CANADA,"</h3> +<h3>"BY ENGLAND'S AID," "IN THE REIGN OF TERROR,"</h3> +<h3>"THE DRAGON AND THE RAVEN"<br /><br /></h3> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<h3>NEW YORK</h3> +<h2>HURST AND COMPANY</h2> +<h4>PUBLISHERS</h4> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Lads</span>:</p> + +<p>The Great War between the Northern and Southern States of America +possesses a peculiar interest to us, not only because it was a struggle +between two sections of a people akin to us in race and language, but +because of the heroic courage with which the weaker party, with ill-fed, +ill-clad, ill-equipped regiments, for four years sustained the contest +with an adversary not only possessed of immense numerical superiority, +but having the command of the sea, and being able to draw its arms and +munitions of war from all the manufactories of Europe. Authorities still +differ as to the rights of the case. The Confederates firmly believed +that the States, having voluntarily united, retained the right of +withdrawing from the Union when they considered it for their advantage +to do so. The Northerners took the opposite point of view, and an appeal +to arms became inevitable. During the first two years of the war the +struggle was conducted without inflicting unnecessary hardship upon the +general population. But later on the character of the war changed, and +the Federal armies carried widespread destruction wherever they marched. +Upon the other hand, the moment the struggle was over the conduct of the +conquerors was marked by a clemency and generosity altogether unexampled +in history, a complete amnesty being granted, and none, whether soldiers +or civilians, being made to suffer for their share in the rebellion. The +credit of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> magnanimous conduct was to a great extent due to Generals +Grant and Sherman, the former of whom took upon himself the +responsibility of granting terms which, although they were finally +ratified by his government, were at the time received with anger and +indignation in the North. It was impossible, in the course of a single +volume, to give even a sketch of the numerous and complicated operations +of the war, and I have therefore confined myself to the central point of +the great struggle—the attempts of the Northern armies to force their +way to Richmond, the capital of Virginia and the heart of the +Confederacy. Even in recounting the leading events in these campaigns, I +have burdened my story with as few details as possible, it being my +object now, as always, to amuse, as well as to give instruction in the +facts of history.</p> + + +<p style= "text-align:right">Yours sincerely,</p> + +<p style= "text-align:right"><span class="smcap">G. A. Henty.</span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>I</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Virginia Plantation</span>,</td><td align='right'>1</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>II</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Buying a Slave</span>,</td><td align='right'>18</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>III</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Aiding a Runaway</span>,</td><td align='right'>35</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>IV</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Safely Back</span>,</td><td align='right'>53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>V</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Secession</span>,</td><td align='right'>66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>VI</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bull Run</span>,</td><td align='right'>82</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>VII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The "Merrimac" and the "Monitor</span>,"</td><td align='right'>102</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>VIII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">McClellan's Advance</span>,</td><td align='right'>119</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Prisoner</span>,</td><td align='right'>134</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Escape</span>,</td><td align='right'>150</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Fugitives</span>,</td><td align='right'>167</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>XII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Bushwhackers</span>,</td><td align='right'>183</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>XIII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Laid Up</span>,</td><td align='right'>201</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>XIV</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Across the Border</span>,</td><td align='right'>217</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>XV</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Fredericksburg</span>,</td><td align='right'>235</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>XVI</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Search for Dinah</span>,</td><td align='right'>251</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>XVII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Chancellorsville</span>,</td><td align='right'>270</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>XVIII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Perilous Undertaking</span>,</td><td align='right'>293</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>XIX</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Free</span>!</td><td align='right'>311</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>XX</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The End of the Struggle</span>,</td><td align='right'>330</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA.</h2> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>A VIRGINIA PLANTATION.</h3> + + +<p>"I won't have it, Pearson; so it's no use your talking. If I had my way +you shouldn't touch any of the field hands. And when I get my way—that +won't be so very long—I will take very good care you shan't. But you +shan't hit Dan."</p> + +<p>"He is not one of the regular house hands," was the reply; "and I shall +appeal to Mrs. Wingfield as to whether I am to be interfered with in the +discharge of my duties."</p> + +<p>"You may appeal to my mother if you like, but I don't think that you +will get much by it. You are too fond of that whip, Pearson. It never +was heard on the estate during my father's time, and it shan't be again +when it comes to be mine, I can tell you. Come along, Dan; I want you at +the stables."</p> + +<p>Vincent Wingfield turned on his heel, and followed by Dan, a negro lad +of some eighteen years old, he walked toward the house, leaving Jonas +Pearson, the overseer of the Orangery Estate, looking after him with an +evil expression of face.</p> + +<p>Vincent Wingfield was the son of an English officer, who, making a tour +in the States, had fallen in love with and won the hand of Winifred +Cornish, a Virginia heiress, and one of the b<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>elles of Richmond. After +the marriage he had taken her to visit his family in England; but she +had not been there many weeks before the news arrived of the sudden +death of her father. A month later she and her husband returned to +Virginia, as her presence was required there in reference to business +matters connected with the estate, of which she was now the mistress.</p> + +<p>The Orangery, so called from a large conservatory built by Mrs. +Wingfield's grandfather, was the family seat, and the broad lands around +it were tilled by upward of two hundred slaves. There were in addition +three other properties lying in different parts of the State. Here +Vincent, with two sisters, one older and one younger than himself, had +been born. When he was eight years old Major and Mrs. Wingfield had gone +over with their children to England, and had left Vincent there for four +years at school, his holidays being spent at the house of his father's +brother, a country gentleman in Sussex. Then he had been sent for +unexpectedly; his father saying that his health was not good, and that +he should like his son to be with him. A year later his father died.</p> + +<p>Vincent was now nearly sixteen years old, and would upon coming of age +assume the reins of power at the Orangery, of which his mother, however, +would be the actual mistress as long as she lived. The four years +Vincent had passed in the English school had done much to render the +institution of slavery repugnant to him, and his father had had many +serious talks with him during the last year of his life, and had shown +him that there was a good deal to be said upon both sides of the +subject.</p> + +<p>"There are good plantations and bad plantations, Vincent; and there are +many more good ones than bad ones. There are brutes to be found +everywhere. There are bad masters in the Southern States just as there +are bad landlords in every European country. But even from self-interest +alone, a planter has greater reason for caring for the health and +comfort of his slaves than an English farmer has in ca<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>ring for the +comfort of his laborers. Slaves are valuable property, and if they are +over-worked or badly cared for they decrease in value. Whereas if the +laborer falls sick or is unable to do his work the farmer has simply to +hire another hand. It is as much the interest of a planter to keep his +slaves in good health and spirits as it is for a farmer to feed and +attend to his horses properly.</p> + +<p>"Of the two, I consider that the slave with a fairly kind master is to +the full as happy as the ordinary English laborer. He certainly does not +work so hard, if he is ill he is carefully attended to, he is well fed, +he has no cares or anxieties whatever, and when old and past work he has +no fear of the workhouse staring him in the face. At the same time I am +quite ready to grant that there are horrible abuses possible under the +laws connected with slavery.</p> + +<p>"The selling of slaves, that is to say, the breaking up of families and +selling them separately, is horrible and abominable. If an estate were +sold together with all the slaves upon it, there would be no more +hardship in the matter than there is when an estate changes hands in +England, and the laborers upon it work for the new master instead of the +old. Were I to liberate all the slaves on this estate to-morrow and to +send them North, I do not think that they would be in any way benefited +by the change. They would still have to work for their living as they do +now, and being naturally indolent and shiftless would probably fare much +worse. But against the selling of families separately and the use of the +lash I set my face strongly.</p> + +<p>"At the same time, my boy, whatever your sentiments may be on this +subject, you must keep your mouth closed as to them. Owing to the +attempts of Northern Abolitionists, who have come down here stirring up +the slaves to discontent, it is not advisable, indeed it is absolutely +dangerous, to speak against slavery in the Southern States. The +institution is here, and we must make the best we can of it. People here +are very sore at the foul slander<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>s that have been published by Northern +writers. There have been many atrocities perpetrated undoubtedly, by +brutes who would have been brutes wherever they had been born; but to +collect a series of such atrocities, to string them together into a +story, and to hold them up, as Mrs. Beecher Stowe has, as a picture of +slave life in the Southern States, is as gross a libel as if anyone were +to make a collection of all the wife-beatings and assaults of drunken +English ruffians, and to publish them as a picture of the average life +of English people.</p> + +<p>"Such libels as these have done more to embitter the two sections of +America against each other than anything else. Therefore, Vincent, my +advice to you is, be always kind to your slaves—not over-indulgent, +because they are very like children and indulgence spoils them—but be +at the same time firm and kind to them, and with other people avoid +entering into any discussions or expressing any opinion with regard to +slavery. You can do no good, and you can do much harm. Take things as +you find them and make the best of them. I trust that the time may come +when slavery will be abolished; but I hope, for the sake of the slaves +themselves, that when this is done it will be done gradually and +thoughtfully, for otherwise it would inflict terrible hardship and +suffering upon them as well as upon their masters."</p> + +<p>There were many such conversations between father and son, for feeling +on the subject ran very high in the Southern States, and the former felt +that it was of the utmost importance to his son that he should avoid +taking any strong line in the matter. Among the old families of Virginia +there was indeed far less feeling on this subject than in some of the +other States. Knowing the good feeling that almost universally existed +between themselves and their slaves, the gentry of Virginia regarded +with contempt the calumnies of which they were the subject. Secure in +the affection of their slaves, an affection which was afterward +abundantly proved during the course of the war, they scarcely saw the +ugly side of the questi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>on. The worst masters were the smallest ones; the +man who owned six slaves was far more apt to extort the utmost possible +work from them than the planter who owned three or four hundred. And +the worst masters of all, were those who, having made a little money in +trade or speculation in the towns, purchased a dozen slaves, a small +piece of land, and tried to set up as gentry.</p> + +<p>In Virginia the life of the large planters was almost a patriarchal one; +the indoor slaves were treated with extreme indulgence, and were +permitted a far higher degree of freedom of remark and familiarity than +is the case with servants in an English household. They had been the +nurses or companions of the owners when children, had grown up with +them, and regarded themselves, and were regarded by them, as almost part +of the family. There was, of course, less connection between the +planters and their field hands; but these also had for the most part +been born on the estate, had as children been taught to look up to their +white masters and mistresses, and to receive many little kindnesses at +their hands.</p> + +<p>They had been cared for in sickness, and knew that they would be +provided for in old age. Each had his little allotment, and could raise +fruit, vegetables, and fowls, for his own use or for sale, in his +leisure time. The fear of loss of employment, or the pressure of want, +ever present to our English laborers, had never fallen upon them. The +climate was a lovely one, and their work far less severe than that of +men forced to toil in cold and wet, winter and summer. The institution +of slavery assuredly was capable of terrible abuses, and was marked in +many instances by abominable cruelty and oppression; but taken all in +all, the negroes on a well-ordered estate, under kind masters, were +probably a happier class of people than the laborers upon any estate in +Europe.</p> + +<p>Jonas Pearson had been overseer in the time of Major Wingfield, but his +authority had at that time been comparatively small, for the major +himself personally supervised the whole working<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> of the estate, and was +greatly liked by the slaves, whose chief affections were, however, +naturally bestowed upon their mistress, who had from childhood been +brought up in their midst. Major Wingfield had not liked his overseer, +but he had never any ground to justify him making a change. Jonas, who +was a Northern man, was always active and energetic; all Major +Wingfield's orders were strictly and punctually carried out, and +although he disliked the man, his employer acknowledged him to be an +excellent servant.</p> + +<p>After the major's death, Jonas Pearson had naturally obtained greatly +increased power and authority. Mrs. Wingfield had great confidence in +him, his accounts were always clear and precise, and although the +profits of the estate were not quite so large as they had been in her +husband's lifetime, this was always satisfactorily explained by a fall +in prices, or by a part of the crops being affected by the weather. She +flattered herself that she herself managed the estate, and at times rode +over it, made suggestions, and issued orders, but this was only in fits +and starts; and although Jonas came up two or three times a week to the +house nominally to receive her orders, he managed her so adroitly, that +while she believed that everything was done by her directions, she in +reality only followed out the suggestions which, in the first place, +came from him.</p> + +<p>She was aware, however, that there was less content and happiness on the +estate than there had been in the old times. Complaints had reached her +from time to time of overwork and harsh treatment. But upon inquiring +into these matters, Jonas had always such plausible reasons to give that +she was convinced he was in the right, and that the fault was among the +slaves themselves, who tried to take advantage of the fact that they had +no longer a master's eye upon them, and accordingly tried to shirk work, +and to throw discredit upon the man who looked after the interests of +their mistress; and so gradually Mrs. Wingfield left the management of +her affairs more and more in the hands of Jonas, and relied more +implicitly upon him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<p>The overseer spared no pains to gain the good will of Vincent. When the +latter declared that the horse he rode had not sufficient life and +spirit for him, Jonas had set inquiries on foot, and had selected for +him a horse which, for speed and bottom, had no superior in the State. +One of Mrs. Wingfield's acquaintances, however, upon hearing that she +had purchased the animal, told her that it was notorious for its vicious +temper, and she spoke angrily to Jonas on the subject in the presence of +Vincent. The overseer excused himself by saying that he had certainly +heard that the horse was high spirited and needed a good rider, and that +he should not have thought of selecting it had he not known that Mr. +Vincent was a first-class rider, and would not care to have a horse that +any child could manage.</p> + +<p>The praise was not undeserved. The gentlemen of Virginia were celebrated +as good riders; and Major Wingfield, himself a cavalry man, had been +anxious that Vincent should maintain the credit of his English blood, +and had placed him on a pony as soon as he was able to sit on one. A +pony had been kept for his use during his holidays at his uncle's in +England, and upon his return Vincent had, except during the hours he +spent with his father, almost lived on horseback, either riding about +the estate, or paying visits to the houses of other planters.</p> + +<p>For an hour or more everyday he exercised his father's horses in a +paddock near the house, the major being wheeled down in an easy-chair +and superintending his riding. As these horses had little to do and were +full of spirit, Vincent's powers were often taxed to the utmost, and he +had many falls; but the soil was light, and he had learned the knack of +falling easily, and from constant practice was able at the age of +fourteen to stick on firmly even without a saddle, and was absolutely +fearless as to any animal he mounted.</p> + +<p>In the two years which had followed he had kept up his riding. Every +morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> after breakfast he rode to Richmond, six miles distant, put up +his horse at some stable there, and spent three hours at school; the +rest of the day was his own, and he would often ride off with some of +his schoolfellows who had also come in from a distance, and not return +home till late in the evening. Vincent took after his English father +rather than his Virginia mother, both in appearance and character, and +was likely to become as tall and brawny a man as the former had been +when he first won the love of the Virginia heiress.</p> + +<p>He was full of life and energy, and in this respect offered a strong +contrast to most of his schoolfellows of the same age. For although +splendid riders and keen sportsmen, the planters of Virginia were in +other respects inclined to indolence; the result partly of the climate, +partly of their being waited upon from childhood by attendants ready to +carry out every wish. He had his father's cheerful disposition and good +temper, together with the decisive manner so frequently acquired by a +service in the army, and at the same time he had something of the warmth +and enthusiasm of the Virginia character.</p> + +<p>Good rider as he was, he was somewhat surprised at the horse the +overseer had selected for him. It was certainly a splendid animal, with +great bone and power; but there was no mistaking the expression of its +turned-back eye, and the ears that lay almost flat on the head when +anyone approached him.</p> + +<p>"It is a splendid animal, no doubt, Jonas," he said the first time he +inspected it; "but he certainly looks as if he had a beast of a temper. +I fear what was told my mother about him is no exaggeration; for Mr. +Markham told me to-day, when I rode down there with his son, and said we +had bought Wildfire, that a friend of his had had him once, and only +kept him for a week, for he was the most vicious brute he ever saw."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry I have bought him now, sir," Jonas said. "Of course I should +not have done so if I had heard these things before; bu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>t I was told he +was one of the finest horses in the country, only a little tricky, and +as his price was so reasonable I thought it a great bargain. But I see +now I was wrong, and that it wouldn't be right for you to mount him; so +I think we had best send him in on Saturday to the market and let it go +for what it will fetch. You see, sir, if you had been three or four +years older it would have been different; but naturally at your age you +don't like to ride such a horse as that."</p> + +<p>"I shan't give up without a trial," Vincent said shortly. "It is about +the finest horse I ever saw; and if it hadn't been for its temper, it +would have been cheap at five times the sum you gave for it. I have +ridden a good many bad-tempered horses for my friends during the last +year, and the worst of them couldn't get me off."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, of course you will do as you please," Jonas said; "but +please to remember if any harm comes of it, that I strongly advised you +not to have anything to do with it, and I did my best to dissuade you +from trying."</p> + +<p>Vincent nodded carelessly, and then turned to the black groom.</p> + +<p>"Jake, get out that cavalry saddle of my father's, with the high cantle +and pommel, and the rolls for the knees. It's like an armchair, and if +one can't stick on on that, one deserves to be thrown."</p> + +<p>While the groom was putting on the saddle, Vincent stood patting the +horse's head and talking to it, and then taking its rein led it down +into the inclosure.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want the whip," he said, as Jake offered him one. "I have +got the spurs, and likely enough the horse's temper may have been +spoiled by knocking it about with a whip; but we will try what kindness +will do with it first."</p> + +<p>"Me no like his look, Massa Vincent; he debble of a hoss dat."</p> + +<p>"I don't think he has a nice temper, Jake; but people learn to control +their temper, and I don't see why horses shouldn'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>t. At any rate we will +have a try at it. He looks as if he appreciates being patted and spoken +to already. Of course if you treat a horse like a savage he will become +savage. Now, stand out of the way."</p> + +<p>Gathering the reins together, and placing one hand upon the pommel, +Vincent sprang into the saddle without touching the stirrups; then he +sat for a minute or two patting the horse's neck. Wildfire, apparently +disgusted at having allowed himself to be mounted so suddenly, lashed +out viciously two or three times, and then refused to move. For half an +hour Vincent tried the effect of patient coaxing, but in vain.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you won't do it by fair means you must by foul," Vincent said +at last, and sharply pricked him with his spurs.</p> + +<p>Wildfire sprang into the air, and then began a desperate series of +efforts to rid himself of his rider, rearing and kicking in such quick +succession that he seemed half the time in the air. Finding after a +while that his efforts were unavailing, he subsided at last into sulky +immovability. Again Vincent tried coaxing and patting, but as no success +attended these efforts, he again applied the spur sharply. This time the +horse responded by springing forward like an arrow from a bow, dashed at +the top of his speed across the inclosure, cleared the high fence +without an effort, and then set off across the country.</p> + +<p>He had attempted to take the bit in his teeth, but with a sharp jerk as +he drove the spurs in, Vincent had defeated his intention. He now did +not attempt to check or guide him, but keeping a light hand on the reins +let him go his own course. Vincent knew that so long as the horse was +going full speed it could attempt no trick to unseat him, and he +therefore sat easily in his saddle.</p> + +<p>For six miles Wildfire continued his course, clearing every obstacle +without abatement to his speed, and delighting his rider with his power +and jumping qualities. Occasionally, only when the co<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>urse he was taking +would have led him to obstacles impossible for the best jumper to +surmount, Vincent attempted to put the slightest pressure upon one rein +or the other, so as to direct it to an easier point.</p> + +<p>At the end of six miles the horse's speed began slightly to abate, and +Vincent, abstaining from the use of his spurs, pressed it with his knees +and spoke to it cheerfully, urging it forward. He now from time to time +bent forward and patted it, and for another six miles kept it going at a +speed almost as great as that at which it had started. Then he allowed +it gradually to slacken its pace, until at last first the gallop and +then the trot ceased, and it broke into a walk.</p> + +<p>"You have had a fine gallop, old fellow," Vincent said, patting it; "and +so have I. There's been nothing for you to lose your temper about, and +the next road we come upon we will turn your face homeward. Half a dozen +lessons like this, and then, no doubt, we shall be good friends."</p> + +<p>The journey home was performed at a walk, Vincent talking the greater +part of the time to the horse. It took a good deal more than six lessons +before Wildfire would start without a preliminary struggle with his +master, but in the end kindness and patience conquered. Vincent often +visited the horse in the stables, and, taking with him an apple or some +pieces of sugar, spent some time there talking to and petting it. He +never carried a whip, and never used the spurs except in forcing it to +make its first start.</p> + +<p>Had the horse been naturally ill-tempered Vincent would probably have +failed, but, as he happened afterward to learn, its first owner had been +a hot-tempered and passionate young planter, who, instead of being +patient with it, had beat it about the head, and so rendered it restive +and bad-tempered. Had Vincent not laid aside his whip before mounting it +for the first time, he probably would never have effected a cure. It was +the fact that the animal had no long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>er fear of his old enemy the whip, +as much as the general course of kindness and good treatment, that had +effected the change in his behavior.</p> + +<p>It was just when Vincent had established a good understanding between +himself and Wildfire that he had the altercation with the overseer, whom +he found about to flog the young negro Dan. Pearson had sent the lad +half an hour before on a message to some slaves at work at the other end +of the estate, and had found him sitting on the ground watching a tree +in which he had discovered a 'possum. That Dan deserved punishment was +undoubted. He had at present no regular employment upon the estate. +Jake, his father, was head of the stables, and Dan had made himself +useful in odd jobs about the horses, and expected to become one of the +regular stable hands. The overseer was of opinion that there were +already more negroes in the stable than could find employment, and had +urged upon Mrs. Wingfield that one of the hands there and the boy Dan +should be sent out to the fields. She, however, refused.</p> + +<p>"I know you are quite right, Jonas, in what you say. But there were +always four hands in the stable in my father's time, and there always +have been up to now; and though I know they have an easy time of it, I +certainly should not like to send any of them out into the fields. As to +Dan, we will think about it. When his father was about his age he used +to lead my pony when I first took to riding, and when there is a vacancy +Dan must come into the stable. I could not think of sending him out as a +field hand; in the first place for his father's sake, but still more for +that of Vincent. Dan used to be told off to see that Vincent did not get +into mischief when he was a little boy, and he has run his messages and +been his special boy since he came back. Vincent wanted to have him as +his regular house servant; but it would have broken old Sam's heart if, +after being my father's boy and my husband's, another had taken his +place as Vincent's."</p> + +<p>And so Dan had remained in the stable, but regarding Vincent as his +specia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>l master, carrying messages for him to his friends, or doing any +odd jobs he might require, and spending no small portion of his time in +sleep. Thus he was an object of special dislike to the overseer; in the +first place because he had not succeeded in having his way with regard +to him, and in the second because he was a useless hand, and the +overseer loved to get as much work as possible out of everyone on the +estate. The message had been a somewhat important one, as he wanted the +slaves for some work that was urgently required; and he lost his temper, +or he would not have done an act which would certainly bring him into +collision with Vincent.</p> + +<p>He was well aware that the lad did not really like him, and that his +efforts to gain his good will had failed, and he had foreseen that +sooner or later there would be a struggle for power between them. +However, he relied upon his influence with Mrs. Wingfield, and upon the +fact that she was the life owner of the Orangery, and believed that he +would be able to maintain his position even when Vincent came of age. +Vincent on his side objected to the overseer's treatment of the hands of +which he heard a good deal from Dan, and had already remonstrated with +his mother on the subject.</p> + +<p>He, however, gained nothing by this. Mrs. Wingfield had replied that he +was too young to interfere in such matters, that his English ideas would +not do in Virginia, and that naturally the slaves were set against the +overseer; and that now Pearson had no longer a master to support him, he +was obliged to be more severe than before to enforce obedience. At the +same time it vexed her at heart that there should be any severity on the +Orangery Estate, where the best relations had always prevailed between +the masters and slaves and she had herself spoken to Jonas on the +subject.</p> + +<p>He had given her the same answer that she had given her son: "The slaves +will work for a master, Mrs. Wingfield, in a way they will not for a +stranger. They set themselves against me, and if I were not severe with +them I should get <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>no work at all out of them. Of course, if you wish it, +they can do as they like; but in that case they must have another +overseer. I cannot see a fine estate going to ruin. I believe myself +some of these Abolition fellows have been getting among them and doing +mischief, and that there is a bad spirit growing up among them. I can +assure you that I am as lenient with them as it is possible to be. But +if they won't work I must make them, so long as I stay here."</p> + +<p>And so the overseer had had his way. She knew that the man was a good +servant, and that the estate was kept in excellent order. After all, the +severities of which she had heard complaints were by no means excessive, +and it was not to be expected that a Northern overseer could rule +entirely by kindness, as the owner of an estate could do. A change would +be most inconvenient to her, and she would have difficulty in suiting +herself so well another time. Besides, the man had been with her sixteen +years, and was, as she believed, devoted to her interests. Therefore she +turned a deaf ear to Vincent's remonstrances.</p> + +<p>She had always been somewhat opposed to his being left in England at +school, urging that he would learn ideas there that would clash with +those of the people among whom his life was to be spent; and she still +considered that her views had been justified by the result.</p> + +<p>The overseer was the first to give his version of the story about Dan's +conduct; for on going to the house Vincent found his sisters, Rosa and +Annie, in the garden, having just returned from a two days' visit to +some friends in Richmond, and stayed chatting with them and listening to +their news for an hour, and in the meantime Jonas had gone in and seen +Mrs. Wingfield and told his story.</p> + +<p>"I think, Mrs. Wingfield," he said when he had finished, "that it will +be better for me to leave you. It is quite evident that I can have no +authority over the hands if your son is to interfere when I am about to +punish a slave for an act of gross disobedience and neglect. I found +that all the tobacc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>o required turning, and now it will not be done this +afternoon, owing to my orders not being carried out, and the tobacco +will not improbably be injured in quality. My position is difficult +enough as it is; but if the slaves see that instead of being supported I +am thwarted by your son, my authority is gone altogether. No overseer +can carry on his work properly under such circumstances."</p> + +<p>"I will see to the matter, Jonas," Mrs. Wingfield said decidedly. "Be +assured that you have my entire support, and I will see that my son does +not again interfere."</p> + +<p>When, therefore, Vincent entered the house and began his complaint, he +found himself cut short.</p> + +<p>"I have heard the story already, Vincent. Dan acted in gross +disobedience, and thoroughly deserved the punishment Jonas was about to +give him. The work of the estate cannot be carried on if such conduct is +to be tolerated; and once for all, I will permit no interference on your +part with Jonas. If you have any complaints to make, come to me and make +them; but you are not to interfere in any way with the overseer. As for +Dan, I have directed Jonas that the next time he gives cause for +complaint he is to go into the fields."</p> + +<p>Vincent stood silent for a minute, then he said quietly:</p> + +<p>"Very well, mother. Of course you can do as you like; but at any rate I +will not keep my mouth shut when I see that fellow ill-treating the +slaves. Such things were never done in my father's time, and I won't see +them done now. You said the other day you would get me a nomination to +West Point as soon as I was sixteen. I should be glad if you would do +so. By the time I have gone through the school, you will perhaps see +that I have been right about Jonas."</p> + +<p>So saying, he turned and left the room and again joined his sisters in +the drawing room.</p> + +<p>"I have just told mother that I will go to West Point, girls," he said. +"Father said more than once that he thought it was the best education I +could get in America."</p> + +<p>"But I thought you had made up your mind that you would rather stop at +home, Vincent?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So I had, and so I would have done, but mother and I differ in +opinion. That fellow Jonas was going to flog Dan, and I stopped him this +morning, and mother takes his part against me. You know, I don't like +the way he goes on with the slaves. They are not half so merry and happy +as they used to be, and I don't like it. We shall have one of them +running away next, and that will be a nice thing on what used to be +considered one of the happiest plantations in Virginia. I can't make +mother out; I should have thought that she would have been the last +person in the world to have allowed the slaves to be harshly treated."</p> + +<p>"I am sure we don't like Jonas any more than you do, Vincent; but you +see mamma has to depend upon him so much. No, I don't think she can like +it; but you can't have everything you like in a man, and I know she +thinks he is a very good overseer. I suppose she could get another?"</p> + +<p>Vincent said he thought that there could not be much difficulty about +getting an overseer.</p> + +<p>"There might be a difficulty in getting one she could rely on so +thoroughly," Rosa said. "You see a great deal must be left to him. Jonas +has been here a good many years now, and she has learned to trust him. +It would be a long time before she had the same confidence in a +stranger; and you may be sure that he would have his faults, though, +perhaps, not the same as those of Jonas. I think you don't make +allowance enough for mamma, Vincent. I quite agree with you as to Jonas, +and I don't think mamma can like his harshness to the slaves any more +than you do; but everyone says what a difficulty it is to get a really +trustworthy and capable overseer, and, of course, it is all the harder +when there is no master to look after him."</p> + +<p>"Well, in a few years I shall be able to look after an overseer," +Vincent said.</p> + +<p>"You might do so, of course, Vincent, if you liked; but unless you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +change a good deal, I don't think your supervision would amount to very +much. When you are not at school you are always on horseback and away, +and we see little enough of you, and I do not think you are likely for a +long time yet to give up most of your time to looking after the estate."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are right," Vincent said, after thinking for a minute; "but +I think I could settle down, too, and give most of my time to the +estate, if I was responsible for it. I dare say mother is in a +difficulty over it, and I should not have spoken as I did; I will go in +and tell her so."</p> + +<p>Vincent found his mother sitting as he had left her. Although she had +sided with Jonas, it was against her will; for it was grievous to her to +hear complaints of the treatment of the slaves at the Orangery. Still, +as Rosa had said, she felt every confidence in her overseer, and +believed that he was an excellent servant. She was conscious that she +herself knew nothing of business, and that she must therefore give her +entire confidence to her manager. She greatly disliked the strictness of +Jonas, but if, as he said, the slaves would not obey him without this +strictness, he must do as he thought best.</p> + +<p>"I think I spoke too hastily, mother," Vincent said as he entered; "and +I am sure that you would not wish the slaves to be ill-treated more than +I should. I dare say Jonas means for the best."</p> + +<p>"I feel sure that he does, Vincent. A man in his position cannot make +himself obeyed like a master. I wish it could be otherwise, and I will +speak to him on the subject; but it will not do to interfere with him +too much. A good overseer is not easy to get, and the slaves are always +ready to take advantage of leniency. An easy master makes bad work, but +an easy overseer would mean ruin to an estate. I am convinced that Jonas +has our interests at heart, and I will tell him that I particularly wish +that he will devise some other sort of punishment, such as depriving men +who won't work of some of their privileges, instead of using the lash."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> +<p>"Thank you, mother. At any rate, he might be told that the lash is never +to be used without first appealing to you."</p> + +<p>"I will see about it, Vincent, and talk it over with him." And with that +Vincent was satisfied.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>BUYING A SLAVE.</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield did talk the matter over with the overseer, and things +went on in consequence more smoothly. Vincent, however, adhered to his +wish, and it was arranged that as soon as he could get a nomination he +should go to West Point, which is to the American army what Sandhurst +and Woolwich are to England. Before that could be done, however, a great +political agitation sprang up. The slave States were greatly excited +over the prospect of a Republican president being chosen, for the +Republicans were to a great extent identified with the abolition +movement; and public feeling, which had for some time run high, became +intensified as the time approached for the election of a new president, +and threats that if the Democrats were beaten and a Republican elected +the slave States would secede from the Union, were freely indulged in.</p> + +<p>In Virginia, which was one of the most northern of the slave States, +opinion was somewhat divided, there being a strong minority against any +extreme measures being taken. Among Vincent's friends, however, who were +for the most part the sons of planters, the Democratic feeling was very +strongly in the ascendant and their sympathies were wholly with the +Southern States. That these had a right to secede was assumed by them as +being unquestionable.</p> + +<p>But, in point of fact, there was a great deal to be said on both sides. +The States which first entered the Union in 1776 considered themselves +to be separate and sovereign States, each po<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>ssessing power and authority +to manage its own affairs, and forming only a federation in order to +construct a central power, and so to operate with more effect against +the mother country. Two years later the Constitution of the United +States was framed, each State giving up a certain portion of its +authority, reserving its own self-government and whatever rights were +not specifically resigned.</p> + +<p>No mention was made in the Constitution of the right of a State to +secede from the Union, and while those who insisted that each State had +a right to secede if it chose to do so declared that this right was +reserved, their opponents affirmed that such a case could never have +been contemplated. Thus the question of absolute right had never been +settled, and it became purely one of force.</p> + +<p>Early in November, 1860, it became known that the election of Mr. +Lincoln, the Republican candidate, was assured, and on the 9th of that +month the representatives of South Carolina met at Charleston, and +unanimously authorized the holding of a State convention to meet on the +third week in December. The announcement caused great excitement, for it +was considered certain that the convention would pass a vote of +secession, and thus bring the debated question to an issue. Although +opinion in Virginia was less unanimous than in the more southern States, +it was generally thought that she would imitate the example of South +Carolina.</p> + +<p>On the day following the receipt of the news, Vincent, who had ridden +over to the plantations of several of his friends to talk the matter +over, was returning homeward, when he heard the sound of heavy blows +with a whip, and loud curses, and a moment later a shrill scream in a +woman's voice rose in the air.</p> + +<p>Vincent checked his horse mechanically with an exclamation of anger. He +knew but too well what was going on beyond the screen of shrubs that +grew on the other side of the fence bordering the road. For a moment he +hesitated, and then muttering, "What's the use!" was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>bout to touch the +horse with the whip and gallop on, when the shriek again rose louder and +more agonizing than before. With a cry of rage Vincent leaped from his +horse, threw the reins over the top of the fence, climbed over it in a +moment, and burst his way through the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>Close by, a negro was being held by four others, two having hold of each +wrist and holding his arms extended to full length, while a white lad, +some two years Vincent's senior, was showering blows with a heavy whip +upon him. The slave's back was already covered with weals, and the blood +was flowing from several places. A few yards distant a black girl, with +a baby in her arms, was kneeling on the ground screaming for mercy for +the slave. Just as Vincent burst through the bushes, the young fellow, +irritated at her cries, turned round and delivered a tremendous blow +with the whip on her bare shoulders.</p> + +<p>This time no cry came from her lips, but the slave, who had stood +immovable while the punishment was being inflicted upon himself, made a +desperate effort to break from the men who held him. He was +unsuccessful, but before the whip could again fall on the woman's +shoulders, Vincent sprang forward, and seizing it, wrested it from the +hands of the striker. With an oath of fury and surprise at this sudden +interruption, the young fellow turned upon Vincent.</p> + +<p>"You are a coward and a blackguard, Andrew Jackson!" Vincent exclaimed, +white with anger. "You are a disgrace to Virginia, you ruffian!"</p> + +<p>Without a word the young planter, mad with rage at this interference, +rushed at Vincent; but the latter had learned the use of his fists at +his English school, and riding exercises had strengthened his muscles, +and as his opponent rushed at him, he met him with a blow from the +shoulder which sent him staggering back with the blood streaming from +his lips. He again rushed forward, and heavy blows were exchanged; then +they closed and grappled. For a minute they swayed to and fro; but +although much <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>taller, the young planter was no stronger than Vincent, +and at last they came to the ground with a crash, Vincent uppermost, +Jackson's head as he fell coming with such force against a low stump +that he lay insensible.</p> + +<p>The contest had been so sudden and furious that none had attempted to +interfere. Indeed the negroes were so astonished that they had not moved +from the moment when Vincent made his appearance upon the scene. The lad +rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"You had better carry him up to the house and throw water on him," he +said to the negroes, and then turned away. As he did so, the slave who +had been flogged broke from the others, who had, indeed, loosened their +hold, and ran up to Vincent, threw himself on his knees, and taking the +lad's hand pressed it to his lips.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I haven't done you much good," Vincent said. "You will be +none the better off for my interference; but I couldn't help it." So +saying he made his way through the shrubbery, cleared the fence, +mounted, and rode homeward.</p> + +<p>"I have been a fool," he said to himself as he rode along. "It will be +all the worse for that poor beggar afterward; still I could not help it. +I wonder will there be any row about it. I don't much expect there will, +the Jacksons don't stand well now, and this would not do them any good +with the people round; besides I don't think Jackson would like to go +into court to complain of being thrashed by a fellow a head shorter than +himself. It's blackguards like him who give the Abolitionists a right to +hold up the slave-owners as being tyrants and brutes."</p> + +<p>The Jacksons were newcomers in Virginia. Six years before, the estate, +of which the Cedars, as their place was called, formed a part, was put up +for sale. It was a very large one, and having been divided into several +portions to suit buyers, the Cedars had been purchased by Jackson, who, +having been very successful as a storekeeper at Charleston, had decided +upon giving up the business<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> and leaving South Carolina, and settling +down as a landowner in some other State. His antecedents, however, were +soon known at Richmond, and the old Virginian families turned a cold +shoulder to the newcomer.</p> + +<p>Had he been a man of pleasant manners, he would gradually have made his +way; but he was evidently not a gentleman. The habits of trade stuck to +him, and in a very short time there were rumors that the slaves, whom he +had bought with the property, found him a harsh and cruel master. This +in itself would have been sufficient to bring him into disrepute in +Virginia, where as a rule the slaves were treated with great kindness, +and, indeed, considered their position to be infinitely superior to that +of the poorer class of whites. Andrew Jackson had been for a few months +at school with Vincent; he was unpopular there, and from the rumors +current as to the treatment of the slaves on the estate was known by the +nickname of the "slave-driver."</p> + +<p>Had Vincent been the son of a white trader, or a small cultivator, he +knew well enough that his position would be a very serious one, and that +he would have had to ride to the border of the State with all speed. He +would have been denounced at once as an Abolitionist, and would have +been accused of stirring up the slaves to rebellion against their +masters; a crime of the most serious kind in the Southern States. But +placed as he was, as the heir of a great estate worked by slaves, such a +cry could hardly be raised against him. He might doubtless be fined and +admonished for interfering between a master and his slave; but the +sympathy of the better classes in Virginia would be entirely with him. +Vincent, therefore, was but little concerned for himself; but he doubted +greatly whether his interference had not done much more harm than good +to the slave and his wife, for upon them Andrew Jackson would vent his +fury. He rode direct to the stables instead of alighting as usual at the +door. Dan, who had been sitting in the veranda waiting for him, ran down +to the stables as he saw him coming.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> +<p>"Give the horse to one of the others, Dan, I want to speak to you. Dan," +he went on when he had walked with him a short distance from the +stables, "I suppose you know some of the hands on Jackson's plantation."</p> + +<p>Dan grinned, for although there was not supposed to be any communication +between the slaves on the different estates, it was notorious that at +night they were in the habit of slipping out of their huts and visiting +each other.</p> + +<p>"I know some ob dem, Marse Vincent. What you want ob dem? Bery bad +master, Marse Jackson. Wust master hereabout."</p> + +<p>Vincent related what had happened, to Dan's intense delight.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan," he went on, "I am afraid that after my interference they +will treat that poor fellow and his wife worse than before. I want you +to find out for me what is going on at Jackson's. I do not know that I +can do anything, however badly they treat them; but I have been thinking +that if they ill-treat them very grossly, I will get together a party of +fifteen or twenty of my friends, and we will go in a body to Jackson's +and warn him that, if he behaves with cruelty to his slaves, we will +make it so hot for him that he will have to leave the State. I don't say +that we could do anything; but as we should represent most of the large +estates round here, I don't think old Jackson and his son would like +being sent to coventry. The feeling is very strong at present against +ill-treatment of the slaves. If these troubles lead to war, almost all +of us will go into the army, and we do not like the thought of the +possibility of troubles among the hands when the whites are all away."</p> + +<p>"I will find out all about it for you to-night, sah. I don't suspect dat +dey will do nuffin to-day. Andrew Jackson too sick after dat knock +against de tump. He keep quiet a day or two."</p> + +<p>"Well, Dan, you go over to-night and find out all about it. I expect I +had better have left things alone, but now I have interfered I shall go +on with it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield was much displeased when Vincent told her at dinner of +his incident at Jackson's plantation, and even his sisters were shocked +at the interference between a master and his slave.</p> + +<p>"You will get yourself into serious trouble with these fanciful notions +of yours," Mrs. Wingfield said angrily. "You know as well as I do how +easy it is to get up a cry against anyone as an Abolitionist, and how +difficult to disprove the accusation; and just at present, when the +passions of every man in the South are inflamed to the utmost, such an +accusation will be most serious. In the present instance there does not +seem that there is a shadow of excuse for your conduct. You simply heard +cries of a slave being flogged. You deliberately leave the road and +enter these people's plantation, and interfere without, so far as I can +see, the least reason for doing so. You did not inquire what the man's +offense was; and he may, for aught you know, have half murdered his +master. You simply see a slave being flogged, and you assault his owner. +If the Jacksons lay complaints against you, it is quite probable that +you may have to leave the State. What on earth can have influenced you +to act in such a mad-brained way?"</p> + +<p>"I did not interfere to prevent his flogging the slave, mother, but to +prevent his flogging the slave's wife, which was pure wanton brutality. +It is not a question of slavery one way or the other. Anyone has a right +to interfere to put a stop to brutality. If I saw a man brutally +treating a horse or a dog, I should certainly do so; and if it is right +to interfere to save a dumb animal from brutal ill-treatment, surely it +must be justifiable to save a woman in the same case. I am not an +Abolitionist. That is to say, I consider that slaves on a properly +managed estate, like ours for instance, are just as well off as are the +laborers on an estate in Europe; but I should certainly like to see laws +passed to protect them from ill-treatment. Why, in England there are +laws against cruelty to ani<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>mals; and a man who brutally flogged a dog or +a horse would get a month's imprisonment with hard labor. I consider it +a disgrace to us that a man here may ill-treat a human being worse than +he might in England a dumb animal."</p> + +<p>"You know, Vincent," his mother said more quietly, "that I object as +much as you do to the ill-treatment of the slaves, and that the slaves +here, as on all well-conducted plantations in Virginia, are well +treated; but this is not a time for bringing in laws or carrying out +reforms. It is bad enough to have scores of Northerners doing their best +to stir up mischief between masters and slaves, without a Southern +gentleman mixing himself up in the matter. We have got to stand together +as one people and to protect our State rights from interference."</p> + +<p>"I am just as much in favor of State rights as anyone else, mother; and +if, as seems likely, the present quarrel is to be fought out, I hope I +shall do my best for Virginia as well as other fellows of my own age. +But just as I protest against any interference by the Northerners with +our laws, I say that we ought to amend our laws so as not to give them +the shadow of an excuse for interference. It is brutes like the Jacksons +who afford the materials for libels like 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' upon us as +a people; and I can't say that I am a bit sorry for having given that +young Jackson what he deserved."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope there will be no trouble come of it," Mrs. Wingfield said. +"I shouldn't think the Jacksons would like the exposure of their doings, +which would be caused by bringing the matter into court; but if they do, +you may be quite sure that a jury in Richmond at the present time would +find against you."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose that they will do anything, mother. But if they must, +they must; and I don't suppose anything serious will come of it, +anyway."</p> + +<p>The next morning Vincent went down early to the stables. As he +approached them Dan came out to meet him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Dan, what's your news?"</p> + +<p>"Bery great bobbe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>ry ober at Jackson's last night, Massa Vincent. Fust of +all I crept round to de huts ob de field hands. Dey all knew nuffin +about it; but one of dem he goes off and gets to hab a talk with a gal +employed in de house who was in de habit of slipping out to see him. She +say when de young un war carried in de old man go on furious; he bring +suit against you, he hab you punished berry much—no saying what he not +going to do. After a time de young un come round, he listen to what the +old man say for some time; den he answer: 'No use going on like dat. Set +all de county families against us if we have suit. As to dat infernal +young villain, me pay him out some other way.' Den de old man say he cut +de flesh off de bones ob dat nigger; but de young one say: 'Mustn't do +dat. You sure to hear about it, and make great bobbery. Find some oder +way to punish him.' Den dey talk together for some time, but girl not +hear any more."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, there will be no suit anyhow," Vincent said. "As to paying +me out some other way, I will look after myself, Dan. I believe that +fellow Jackson is capable of anything, and I will be on the lookout for +him."</p> + +<p>"Be sure you do, Massa Vincent. You ride about a great deal, dat fellow +bery like take a shot at you from behind tree. Don't you go near dat +plantation, or sure enuff trouble come."</p> + +<p>"I will look out, Dan. There is one thing, I always ride fast; and it +wants a very good shot to hit one at a gallop. I don't think they will +try that; for if he missed, as he would be almost sure to do, it would +be a good deal worse for him than this affair would have been had he +brought it into court. You keep your ears open, Dan, and find out how +they are thinking of punishing that poor follow for my interference on +his behalf."</p> + +<p>After breakfast a negro arrived with a note for Mrs. Wingfield from Mr. +Jackson, complaining of the unwarrantable and illegal interference by +her son on behalf of a slave who was being very properly punished for +gross misconduct; and of the pe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>rsonal assault upon his son. The writer +said that he was most reluctant to take legal proceedings against a +member of so highly respected a family, but that it was impossible that +he could submit to such an outrage as this.</p> + +<p>Although Mrs. Wingfield had expressed her disapproval of Vincent's +conduct on the evening before, there was no trace of that feeling in her +reply to this letter. She wrote in the third person, coldly +acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Jackson's letter, and saying that she +had heard from her son of his interference to put a stop to one of those +brutal scenes which brought discredit upon the Southern States, and that +she considered he had most rightly punished Mr. Jackson, Jr., for his +inhuman and revolting conduct; that she was perfectly aware the +interference had been technically illegal, but that her son was fully +prepared to defend his conduct if called upon to do so in the courts, +and to pay any fine that might be inflicted for his suffering himself to +be carried away by his righteous indignation. She ended by saying that +as Mr. Jackson was a stranger in Virginia, he was perhaps not aware that +the public sentiment of that State was altogether opposed to such acts +of brutality as that of which his son had been guilty.</p> + +<p>"What have you been doing to that fellow Andrew Jackson?" one of +Vincent's friends, a young fellow two years older than himself, said to +him a few days later. "There were a lot of us talking over things +yesterday, in Richmond, and he came up and joined in. Something was said +about Abolitionists, and he said that he should like to see every +Abolitionist in the State strung up to a tree. He is always pretty +violent, as you know; but on the present occasion he went further than +usual, and then went on to say that the worst and most dangerous +Abolitionists were not Northern men, but Southerners, who were traitors +to their State. He said: 'For example, there is that young Wingfield. He +has been to England, and has come back with his head filled with +Abolitionist notions;' and that such opinions at the present time were a +danger to the State.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> +<p>"Two or three of us took the matter up, as you might guess, and told him +he had better mind what he was saying or it would be the worse for him. +Harry Furniss went so far as to tell him that he was a liar, and that if +he didn't like that he could have satisfaction in the usual way. Master +Jackson didn't like it, but muttered something and slunk off. What's the +matter between you?"</p> + +<p>"I should not have said anything about it," Vincent replied, "if Jackson +had chosen to hold his tongue; but as he chooses to go about attacking +me, there is no reason why I should keep the matter secret." And he then +related what had taken place.</p> + +<p>The young Virginian gave a low whistle.</p> + +<p>"I don't say I blame you, Wingfield; but I tell you, you might have got +yourself into an awful mess if the Jacksons had chosen to take it up. +You know how hot the feeling is at present, and it is a serious matter +at any time to interfere between a master and his slaves in the Southern +States. Of course among us our feelings would be all against Jackson; +but among the poorer class of whites, who have been tremendously excited +by the speeches, both in the North and here, the cry of Abolitionist at +the present moment is like a red rag to a bull. However, I understand +now the fellow's enmity to you.</p> + +<p>"None of us ever liked him when he was at school with us. He is an +evil-tempered brute, and I am afraid you may have some trouble with him. +If he goes about talking as he did to us, he would soon get up a feeling +against you. Of course it would be nonsense to openly accuse a member of +an old Virginian family of being an Abolitionist; but it would be easy +enough to set a pack of the rough classes of the town against you, and +you might get badly mauled if they caught you alone. The fellow is +evidently a coward, or he would have taken up what Furniss said; but a +coward who is revengeful is a good deal more dangerous than an open foe. +However, I will talk it over with some of the others, and we will see if +we can't stop Andrew Jackson's mouth."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> +<p>The result of this was that the next day half a dozen of Vincent's +friends wrote a joint letter to Andrew Jackson, saying that they +regarded his statements respecting Vincent as false and calumnious, and +that if he repeated them they would jointly and severally hold him +responsible; and that if, as a result of such accusations, any harm +happened to Vincent, they should know where to look for the originator +of the mischief, and punish him accordingly.</p> + +<p>"You should be more careful, Andrew," his father said, as, white with +fury, he showed him his letter. "It was you who were preaching prudence +the other day and warning me against taking steps that would set all the +county families against us; and now, you see, you have been letting your +tongue run, and have drawn this upon yourself. Keep quiet for the +present, my son; all sorts of things may occur before long, and you will +get your chance. Let this matter sleep for the present."</p> + +<p>A day or two later when Vincent went down to the stables he saw that Dan +had something to tell him and soon found out that he wished to speak to +him alone.</p> + +<p>"What is your news, Dan?"</p> + +<p>"I heard last night, Marse Vincent, dat old man Jackson is going to sell +Dinah; dat de wife ob de man dey flogged."</p> + +<p>"They are going to sell her!" Vincent repeated indignantly. "What are +they going to do that for?"</p> + +<p>"To punish Tony, sah. Dar am no law against dar selling her. I hear dat +dey are going to sell two oder boys, so dat it cannot be said dat dey do +it on purpose to spite Tony. I reckon, sah, dey calculate dat when dey +sell his wife Tony get mad and run away, and den when dey catch him +again dey flog him pretty near to death. Folk always do dat with runaway +slaves; no one can say nuffin agin dem for dat."</p> + +<p>"It's an infamous shame that it should be lawful to separate man and +wife," Vincent said. "However, we will see what w<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>e can do. You manage to +pass the word to Tony to keep up his spirits, and not let them drive him +to do anything rash. Tell him I will see that his wife does not get +into bad hands, I suppose they will sell the baby too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Marse Vincent. Natural the baby will go wid de modder."</p> + +<p>Vincent watched the list of advertisements of slaves to be sold, and a +day or two later saw a notice to the effect that Dinah Moore, age +twenty-two, with a male baby at her breast, would be sold on the +following Saturday. He mounted his horse and rode into Richmond. He had +not liked to speak to his mother on the subject, for she had not told +him of the letter she had written to Jackson; and he thought that she +might disapprove of any interference in the matter, consequently he went +down to Mr. Renfrew, the family solicitor.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Renfrew," he said, "I want some money; can you lend it me?"</p> + +<p>"You want money," the solicitor said in surprise. "What on earth do you +want money for? and if you want it why don't you ask your mother for it? +How much do you want?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know exactly. About eight hundred dollars, I should think; +though it may be a thousand. I want to buy a slave."</p> + +<p>"You want to buy a slave!" repeated Mr. Renfrew. "What on earth do you +want to buy a slave for? You have more than you want now at the +Orangery."</p> + +<p>"It's a slave that man Jackson is going to sell next Saturday, on +purpose to spite the poor creature's husband and drive him to +desperation," and Vincent then repeated the whole story of the +circumstances that had led up to the sale.</p> + +<p>"It is very abominable on the part of these Jacksons," Mr. Renfrew said, +"but your interference was most imprudent, my young friend; and as you +see, it has done harm rather than good. If you are so quixotic as to +become the champion of every ill-treated slave in the State, your work +is pretty well cut out for you."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> +<p>"I know that, sir," Vincent replied, smiling, "and I can assure you I +did not intend to enter upon any such crusade; but, you see, I have +wrongly or rightly mixed myself up in this, and I want to repair the +mischief which, as you say, I have caused. The only way I can see is to +buy this negress and her baby."</p> + +<p>"But I do not see that you will carry out your object if you do, +Vincent. She will be separated just as much from her husband if you buy +her as if anyone else does. He is at one plantation and she is at +another, and were they ten miles apart or a hundred, they are equally +separated."</p> + +<p>"I quite see that, Mr. Renfrew; but, at least she will be kindly +treated, and his mind will be at rest on that score. Perhaps some day or +other the Jacksons may put him up for sale, and then I can buy him, and +they will be reunited. At any rate, the first step is to buy her. Can +you let me have the money? My mother makes me a very good allowance."</p> + +<p>"And I suppose you spend it," the lawyer interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I generally spend it; but then, you see, when I come of age +I come in for the outlying estates."</p> + +<p>"And if you die before, or get shot, or any other accident befalls you," +Mr. Renfrew said, "they go to your sisters. However, one must risk +something for a client, so I will lend you the money. I had better put +somebody up to bid for you, for after what has happened the Jacksons +would probably not let her go if they knew that you were going to be the +purchaser."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," Vincent said warmly; "it will be a great weight +off my mind," and with a light heart he rode back to the Orangery.</p> + +<p>Vincent said nothing during the next two days to any of his friends as +to the course the Jacksons were taking in selling Tony's wife; for he +thought that if the news got about, some one of his friends who had +heard the circumstances might go down to the auction and make such a +demonstration that Jackson would be obliged to withdraw Dinah fro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>m the +sale, in which case he could no doubt dispose of her privately. On the +Saturday he mounted his horse and rode into Richmond, telling Dan to +meet him there. At the hour the sale was announced he went to the yard +where it was to take place.</p> + +<p>This was a somewhat quiet and secluded place; for although the sale of +slaves was permitted by law in Virginia, at any rate these auctions were +conducted quietly and with as little publicity as possible. For although +the better classes still regarded slavery as a necessary institution, +they were conscious that these sales, involving as they did the +separation of families, were indefensible, and the more thoughtful would +gladly have seen them abolished, and a law passed forbidding the sale of +negroes save as part and parcel of the estate upon which they worked, an +exception only being made in the case of gross misconduct. Many of the +slave-owners, indeed, forbade all flogging upon their estates, and +punished refractory slaves, in the first place, by the cutting off of +the privileges they enjoyed in the way of holidays, and if this did not +answer, threatened to sell them—a threat which was, in the vast +majority of cases, quite sufficient to insure good behavior; for the +slaves were well aware of the difference between life in the +well-managed establishments in Virginia and that in some of the other +Southern States. Handing his horse to Dan, Vincent joined a knot of four +or five of his acquaintances who had strolled in from mere curiosity.</p> + +<p>There were some thirty or forty men in the yard, a few of whom had come +in for the purpose of buying; but the great majority had only attended +for the sake of passing an idle hour. Slaves had fallen in value; for +although all in the South professed their confidence that the law would +never attempt by force of arms to prevent their secession, it was felt +that slave property would in future be more precarious, for the North +would not improbably repeal the laws for the arrest of fugitive slaves, +and consequently all runaways who succeeded in crossing the border would +be lost to their masters.</p> + +<p>Upon the other side<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> of the yard Vincent saw Andrew Jackson talking to +two or three men who were strangers to him, and who, he guessed, were +buyers from some of the more southern States. There were in all twelve +lots to be disposed of. Of these two or three were hands who were no +longer fit for field work, and who were bought at very low prices by men +who owned but a few acres of land, and who could utilize them for odd +jobs requiring but little strength. Then there was a stir of attention. +Dinah Moore took her stand upon the platform, with her baby in her arms. +The message which Dan had conveyed from Vincent to her husband had given +her some hope, and though she looked scared and frightened as she +clasped her babe to her breast, she was not filled with such utter +despair as would otherwise have been the case.</p> + +<p>The auctioneer stated the advantages of the lot in the same business +like tone as if he had been selling a horse.</p> + +<p>"Lot 6. Negro wench, Dinah; age twenty-two; with male child. Strong and +well made, as you see, gentlemen; fit for field work, or could be made a +useful hand about the house; said to be handy and good-tempered. Now +gentlemen, what shall we say for this desirable lot?"</p> + +<p>One of the men standing by Andrew Jackson bid a hundred dollars. The bid +was raised to a hundred and fifty by a rough-looking fellow standing in +front of the platform. For some time the bidding was confined to these +two, and it rose until it reached seven hundred and fifty, at which +point the man near the platform retired, and there was a pause.</p> + +<p>Vincent felt uncomfortable. He had already been round to Mr. Renfrew, +who had told him that he had deputed an agent to buy; and until the man +near the platform stopped he had supposed that he was the solicitor's +agent.</p> + +<p>"Now, gentlemen," the auctioneer said, "surely you are not going to let +this desirable piece of property go for seven fifty? She would be cheap +at double the price. I have sold worse articles for three thousand."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> +<p>"I will go another twenty-five dollars," a tall man in homespun and a +planter's broad straw hat said quietly.</p> + +<p>The contest now recommenced, and by bids of twenty-five dollars at a +time the amount was raised to twelve hundred and fifty dollars.</p> + +<p>"That's enough for me," the man standing by Andrew Jackson said; "he may +have her at twelve fifty, and dear enough, too, as times go."</p> + +<p>"Will anyone else make an offer?" the auctioneer asked. There was no +response, and the hammer fell.</p> + +<p>"What name?"</p> + +<p>"Nathaniel Forster," the tall man said; and advancing to the table he +counted out a roll of notes and gave them to the auctioneer, who handed +to him a formal note certifying to his having legally purchased Dinah +Moore and her infant, late the property of Andrew Jackson, Esquire, of +the Cedars, State of Virginia.</p> + +<p>The purchaser had evidently made up his mind beforehand to secure the +lot, for he handed a parcel he had been holding to Dinah, and said +briefly, "Slip those things on, my lass."</p> + +<p>The poor girl, who had before been simply attired in the scantiest of +petticoats, retired to a corner of the yard, and speedily came forward +again dressed in a neat cotton gown. There were several joking remarks +made by the bystanders, but Dinah's new master took no notice of them, +but with a motion of his hand to her to follow him, walked out of the +yard.</p> + +<p>A minute later Vincent followed, and although he had no doubt that the +man was the agent Mr. Renfrew had employed, he did not feel thoroughly +satisfied until he saw them enter the lawyer's office. He quickly +followed. They had just entered the private room of Mr. Renfrew.</p> + +<p>"That's right, Wingfield," the lawyer said. "You see we have settled the +business satisfactorily, and I think you have got a fairly cheap +bargain. Just wait a minute and we will complete the transaction."</p> + +<p>Dinah gave a start as Vincent entered, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>with the habitual +self-repression of a slave, she stood quietly in the corner to which she +had withdrawn at the other end of the room.</p> + +<p>The lawyer was busy drawing up a document, and, touching a bell, ordered +a clerk to go across to Mr. Rawlins, justice of the peace, and ask him +to step across the road.</p> + +<p>In a minute Mr. Rawlins entered.</p> + +<p>"I want you to witness a deed of sale of a slave," Mr. Renfrew said. +"Here are the particulars: 'Nathaniel Forster sells to Vincent Wingfield +his slave, Dinah Moore and her male infant, for the sum of fourteen +hundred dollars.' These are the parties. Forster, sign this receipt."</p> + +<p>The man did so. The justice put his signature as witness to the +transaction, dropped into his pocket the fee of five dollars that the +lawyer handed to him, and without a word strolled out again.</p> + +<p>"There, Dinah," Mr. Renfrew said, "Mr. Wingfield is now your master."</p> + +<p>The girl ran forward, fell on her knees before Vincent, seized his hand +and kissed it, sobbing out her thanks as she did so.</p> + +<p>"There, that will do, Dinah," the lawyer said, seeing that Vincent was +confused by her greeting. "I think you are a lucky girl, and have made a +good exchange for the Orangery instead of the Cedars. I don't suppose +you will find Mr. Wingfield a very hard master. What he is going to do +with you I am sure I don't know."</p> + +<p>Vincent now went to the door and called in Dan and told him to take +Dinah to the Orangery, then mounting his horse he rode off home to +prepare his mother for the reception of his new purchase.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>AIDING A RUNAWAY.</h3> + + +<p>"Well, you are an extr<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>aordinary boy, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield said as +her son told her the story, while his sister burst into fits of laughter +at the idea of Vincent owning a female slave with a baby. "Why did you +not tell me that you wanted the money, instead of going to Mr. Renfrew? +I shall tell him I am very angry with him for letting you have it for +such a purpose."</p> + +<p>"I was not sure whether you would let me have it, mother; and if you had +refused, and I had got it afterward from Mr. Renfrew, I should not have +liked to bring her home here."</p> + +<p>"That would have been fun," Annie said. "Fancy Vincent's troubles with a +female slave on his hands and nowhere to put her. What would you have +done, Vincent?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose I could have got a home for her somewhere," Vincent said +quietly. "I don't think there would have been any difficulty about that. +Still I am glad I didn't have to do so, and one slave more or less can +make no difference here."</p> + +<p>"Not at all," Mrs. Wingfield said; "I dare say Chloe will find something +for her to do in the way of washing, and such other light work that she +is fit for about the house. It is not that, but it is years since a +slave was brought into the Orangery; never since I can remember. We +raise more than we want ourselves; and when I see all those children +about, I wonder sometimes what on earth we are to find for them all to +do. Still, it was a scandalous thing of that man Jackson selling the +girl to punish her husband; and, as you say, it was your foolish +interference in the matter that brought it about, so I do not know that +I can blame you for doing what you can to set the matter straight. +Still, except that the knowledge that she is here, and will be well +treated, will be a comfort to the man, I do not see that he will be much +better off, unless, indeed, the Jacksons should try to sell him also, in +which case I suppose you will want to buy him."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid they won't do that, mother. Still, somehow or other, in +time they may come together again."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<p>"I don't see how they can, Vincent. However, we need not think of that +now. At any rate I hope there will be no further opportunity for your +mixing yourself up in this business. You have made two bitter enemies +now, and although I do not see that such people as these can do you any +harm, it is always well not to make enemies, especially in times like +these when no one can foresee exactly what may occur."</p> + +<p>And so Dinah Moore became an inmate of the Orangery; and though the +girls had laughed at their brother, they were very kind to her when she +arrived with Dan, and made much of her and of her baby. The same night +Dan went over to the Cedars, and managed to have an interview with Tony, +and to tell him that his wife had been bought by Vincent. The joy of the +negro was extreme. The previous message had raised his hopes that +Vincent would succeed in getting her bought by someone who would be kind +to her, but he knew well that she might nevertheless fall to the lot of +some higher bidder and be taken hundreds of miles away, and that he +might never again get news of her whereabouts. He had then suffered +terrible anxiety all day, and the relief of learning that Vincent +himself had bought her, and that she was now installed as a house +servant at the Orangery, but a few miles away, was quite overpowering, +and for some minutes he could only gasp out his joy and thankfulness. He +could hope now that when better times came he might be able to steal +away some night and meet her, and that some day or other, though how he +could not see, they might be reunited. The Jacksons remained in +ignorance that their former slave was located so near to them.</p> + +<p>It was for this reason that Mr. Renfrew had instructed his agent to buy +her in his own name instead of that of Vincent; and the Jacksons, having +no idea of the transfer that had subsequently taken place, took no +further interest in the matter, believing that they had achieved their +object of torturing Tony, and avenging upon him the humiliation that +Andrew had suf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>fered at Vincent's hands. Had they questioned their +slaves, and had these answered them truly, they would have discovered +the facts. For although Tony himself said no word to anyone of what he +had learned from Dan, the fact that Dinah was at the Orangery was +speedily known among the slaves; for the doings at one plantation were +soon conveyed to the negroes on the others by the occasional visits +which they paid at night to each other's quarters, or to some common +rendezvous far removed from interruption.</p> + +<p>Occasionally Tony and Dinah met. Dan would come up late in the evening +to the house, and a nod to Dinah would be sufficient to send her flying +down the garden to a clump of shrubs, where he would be waiting for her. +At these stolen meetings they were perfectly happy; for Tony said no +word to her of the misery of his life—how he was always put to the +hardest work and beaten on the smallest pretext, how in fact his life +was made so unendurable that the idea of running away and taking to the +swamps was constantly present to him.</p> + +<p>As to making his way north, it did not enter his mind as possible. +Slaves did, indeed, at times succeed in traveling through the Northern +States and making their way to Canada, but this was only possible by +means of the organization known as the underground railway, an +association consisting of a number of good people who devoted themselves +to the purpose, giving shelter to fugitive slaves during the day, and +then passing them on to the next refuge during the night. For in the +Northern States as well as the Southern any negro unprovided with papers +showing that he was a free man was liable to be arrested and sent back +to the South a prisoner, large rewards being given to those who arrested +them.</p> + +<p>As he was returning from one of these interviews with his wife, Tony was +detected by the overseer, who was strolling about around the slaves' +quarters, and was next morning flogged until he became insensible. So +terrible was the punishment that for some days he was unable to walk. As +soon as he could get about he was again set to work, but the foll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>owing +morning he was found to be missing. Andrew Jackson at once rode into +Richmond, and in half an hour placards and handbills were printed +offering a reward for his capture. These were not only circulated in the +neighborhood, but were sent off to all the towns and villages through +which Tony might be expected to pass in the endeavor to make his way +north. Vincent soon learned from Dan what had taken place.</p> + +<p>"You have no idea, I suppose, Dan, as to which way he is likely to go?"</p> + +<p>Dan shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Me suppose, massa, dat most likely he gone and hidden in de great woods +by the James River. Bery difficult to find him dere."</p> + +<p>"Difficult to find him, no doubt," Vincent agreed. "But he could not +stop there long—he would find nothing to eat in the woods; and though +he might perhaps support himself for a time on corn or roots from the +clearings scattered about through the James Peninsula, he must sooner or +later be caught."</p> + +<p>"Dar are runaways in de woods now, Marse Vincent," Dan said; "some ob +dem hab been dar for months."</p> + +<p>"But how do they live, Dan?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sar, you see dey hab friends on de plantations; and sometimes at +night one of de slaves will steal away wid a basket ob yams and corn +cakes and oder things and put dem down in a certain place in de forest, +and next morning, sure enough, dey will be gone. Dangerous work, dat, +massa; because if dey caught with food, it know for sure dat dey carry +it to runaway, and den you know dey pretty well flog the life out of +dem."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know, Dan; it is a very serious matter hiding a runaway slave, +and even a white man would be very heavily punished, and perhaps +lynched, if caught in the act. Well, make what inquiries you can among +the slaves, and find out if you can whether any of those Jacksons have +an idea which way Tony has gone. But do not go yourself on to Jackson's +place; if you were caught there now it would be an awkward matter for +both of us."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> +<p>"I will find out, Marse Vincent; but I don't s'pose Tony said a word to +any of the others. He know well enough dat de Jacksons question +eberyone pretty sharp, and perhaps flog dem all round to find out if dey +know anything. He keep it to himself about going away, for suah."</p> + +<p>The Jacksons kept up a vigorous hunt after their slave, and day after +day parties of men ranged through the woods, but without discovering any +traces of him. Bloodhounds were employed the first day, but before these +could be fetched from Richmond the scent had grown cold; for Tony had +gone off as soon as the slaves had been shut up for the night, and had +directly he left the hut wrapped leaves round his feet, therefore the +hounds when they arrived from Richmond were unable to take up the scent.</p> + +<p>A week after Tony's escape Vincent returned late one evening from a +visit to some friends. Dan, as he took his horse, whispered to him: +"Stop a little on your way to house, Marse Vincent; me hab someting to +tell you."</p> + +<p>"What is it, Dan?" Vincent asked as the lad, after putting up his horse +in the stable, came running up to him.</p> + +<p>"Me have seen Tony, sah. He in de shrubs ober dar. He want to see Dinah, +but me no take message till me tell you about him. He half starved, sah; +me give him some yams."</p> + +<p>"That's right, Dan."</p> + +<p>"He pretty nigh desperate, sah; he say dey hunt him like wild beast."</p> + +<p>"I will see him, Dan. If I can help him in any way I will do so. +Unfortunately I do not know any of the people who help to get slaves +away, so I can give him no advice as to the best way to proceed. Still I +might talk it over with him. When I have joined him, do you go up to the +house and tell Chloe from me to give you a pile of corn cakes—it's no +use giving him flour, for he would be afraid to light a fire to cook it. +Tell h<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>er to give you, too, any cold meat there may be in the house. +Don't tell Dinah her husband is here till we have talked the matter +over."</p> + +<p>Dan led Vincent up to a clump of bushes.</p> + +<p>"It am all right, Tony," he said; "here is Massa Vincent come to see +you."</p> + +<p>The bushes parted and Tony came out into the full moonlight. He looked +haggard and worn; his clothes were torn into strips by the bushes.</p> + +<p>"My poor fellow," Vincent said kindly, "I am sorry to see you in such a +state."</p> + +<p>A great sob broke from the black.</p> + +<p>"De Lord bless you, sah, for your goodness and for saving Dinah from de +hands of dose debils! Now she safe wid you and de child, Tony no care +bery much what come to him—de sooner he dead de better. He wish dat one +day when dey flog him dey had kill him altogether; den all de trouble at +an end. Dey hunt him ebery day with dogs and guns, and soon they catch +him. No can go on much longer like dis. To-day me nearly gib myself up. +Den me thought me like to see Dinah once more to say good-by, so make +great effort and ran a bit furder."</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking whether it would be possible to plan some way for +your escape, Tony."</p> + +<p>The negro shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Dar never escape, sah, but to get to Canada; dat too far, anyway. Not +possible to walk all dat way and get food by the road. Suah to be +caught."</p> + +<p>"No, I do not think it will be possible to escape that way, Tony. The +only possible plan would be to get you on board some ship going to +England."</p> + +<p>"Ships not dare take negro on board," Tony said. "Me heard dat said many +times—dat against de law."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it's against the law," Vincent said, "and it's against the +law my talking to you here, Tony; but you see it's done. The difficulty +is how to do it. All vessels are searched before they start, and an +officer goes down with them past Fortress Monroe to see that they take +no one on board. Still it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> possible. Of course there is risk in the +matter; but there is risk in everything. I will think it over. Do not +lose heart. Dan will be back directly with enough food to last you for +some days. If I were you I would take refuge this time in White Oak +Swamp. It is much nearer, and I hear it has already been searched from +end to end, so they are not likely to try again; and if you hear them +you can, if you are pressed, cross the Chickahominy and make down +through the woods. Do you come again on Saturday evening—that will give +me four days to see what I can do. I may not succeed, you know; for the +penalty is so severe against taking negroes on board that I may not be +able to find anyone willing to risk it. But it is worth trying."</p> + +<p>"De Lord bless you, sah!" Tony said. "I will do juss what you tell me; +but don't you run no risks for me, my life aint worth dat."</p> + +<p>"I will take care, Tony. And now here comes Dan with the provisions."</p> + +<p>"Can I see Dinah, sah?" Tony pleaded.</p> + +<p>"I think you had better not," Vincent replied. "You see the Jacksons +might at any moment learn that she is here, and then she might be +questioned whether she had seen you since your escape; and it would be +much better for her to be able to deny having done so. But you shall see +her next time you come, whether I am able to make any arrangements for +your escape or not. I will let her know to-morrow morning that I have +seen you, and that you are safe at present."</p> + +<p>The next morning Vincent rode over to City Point, where ships with a +large draught of water generally brought up, either transferring their +goods into smaller craft to be sent up by river to Richmond, or to be +carried on by rail through the town of Petersburg. Leaving his horse at +a house near the river, he crossed the James in a boat to City Point. +There were several vessels lying here, and for some hours he hung about +the wharf watching the process of discharging. By the end of that time +he had o<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>btained a view of all the captains, and had watched them as they +gave their orders, and had at last come to the conclusion as to which +would be the most likely to suit his purpose. Having made up his mind, +he waited until the one he had fixed upon came ashore. He was a man of +some five and thirty years old, with a pleasant face and good-natured +smile. He first went into some offices on the wharf, and half an hour +later came out and walked toward the railway station. Vincent at once +followed him, and as he overtook him said:</p> + +<p>"I want very much to speak to you, sir, if you could spare me a minute +or two."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," the sailor said, with some surprise. "The train for +Petersburg does not go for another half hour. What can I do for you?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Vincent Wingfield. My father was an English officer, and my +mother is the owner of some large estates near Richmond. I am most +anxious to get a person in whom I am interested on board ship, and I do +not know how to set about it."</p> + +<p>"There's no difficulty about that," the captain said, smiling; "you have +only to go to an office and pay for his passage to where he wants to +go."</p> + +<p>"I can't do that," Vincent replied; "for unfortunately it is against the +law for any captain to take him."</p> + +<p>"You mean he is a negro?" the captain asked, stopping short in his walk +and looking sharply at Vincent.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what I mean," Vincent said. "He is a negro who has been +brutally ill-treated and has run away from his master, and I would +willingly give a hundred pounds to get him safely away."</p> + +<p>"This is a very serious business in which you are meddling, young sir," +the sailor said. "Putting aside the consequences to yourself, you are +asking me to break the law and to run the risk of the confiscation of my +ship. Even if I were willing to do what you propose, it would be +impossible, for the ship will be searched from end to end before the +hatches are closed, and an official will be on board until we discharge +the pilot after getting well beyond the mouth of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>the river."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know that," Vincent replied; "but my plan was to take a boat +and go out beyond the sight of land, and then to put him on board after +you have got well away."</p> + +<p>"That might be managed, certainly," the captain said. "It would be +contrary to my duty to do anything that would risk the property of my +employers; but if when I am out at sea a boat came alongside, and a +passenger came on board, it would be another matter. I suppose, young +gentleman, that you would not interfere in such a business, and run the +risk that you certainly would run if detected, unless you were certain +that this was a deserving case, and that the man has committed no sort +of crime; for I would not receive on board my ship a fugitive from +justice, whether he was black or white."</p> + +<p>"It is indeed a deserving case," Vincent said earnestly. "The poor +fellow has the misfortune of belonging to one of the worst masters in +the State. He has been cruelly flogged on many occasions, and was +finally driven to run away by their selling his wife and child."</p> + +<p>"The brutes!" the sailor said. "How you people can allow such a thing to +be done is a mystery to me. Well, lad, under those circumstances I will +agree to do what you ask me, and if your boat comes alongside when I am +so far away from land that it cannot be seen, I will take the man to +England."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much indeed," Vincent said; "you will be doing a good +action. Upon what day do you sail?"</p> + +<p>"I shall drop down on Monday into Hampton Roads, and shall get up sail +at daylight next morning. I shall pass Fortress Monroe at about seven in +the morning, and shall sail straight out."</p> + +<p>"And how shall I know your ship?" Vincent asked. "There may be others +starting just about the same time."</p> + +<p>The sailor thought for a moment. "When I am four or five miles out I +will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>hoist my owner's flag at the fore-masthead. It is a red flag with a +white ball, so you will be able to make it out a considerable distance +away. You must not be less than ten or twelve miles out, for the pilot +often does not leave the ship till she is some miles past Fortress +Monroe, and the official will not leave the ship till he does. I will +keep a sharp lookout for you, but I cannot lose any time in waiting. If +you do not come alongside I shall suppose that you have met with some +interruption to your plans."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much, sir. Unless something goes wrong I shall be +alongside on Tuesday."</p> + +<p>"That's settled," the captain said, "and I must be off, or else I shall +lose my train. By the way, when you come alongside do not make any sign +that you have met me before. It is just as well that none of my crew +should know that it is a planned thing, for if we ever happen to put in +here again they might blab about it, and it is just as well not to give +them the chance. Good-by, my lad; I hope that all will go well. But, you +know, you are doing a very risky thing; for the assisting a runaway +slave to escape is about as serious an offense as you can commit in +these parts. You might shoot half a dozen men and get off scot free, but +if you were caught aiding a runaway to escape, there is no saying what +might come of it."</p> + +<p>After taking leave of the captain, Vincent recrossed the river and rode +home. He had friends whose fathers' estates bordered some on the James +and others on the York River, and all of these had pleasure boats. It +was obviously better to go down the York River, and thence round to the +mouth of the James at Fortress Monroe, as the traffic on the York was +comparatively small, and it was improbable that he would be noticed +either going down or returning. He had at first thought of hiring a +fishing boat from some of the free negroes who made their living on the +river. But he finally decided against this; for the fact of the boat +being absent so long would attract its owner's attention, and in case +any suspicion arose that the fugiti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>ve had escaped by water, the hiring +of a boat by one who had already befriended the slave and its absence +for so long a time, would be almost certain to cause suspicion to be +directed toward him. He therefore decided upon borrowing a boat from a +friend, and next morning rode to the plantation of the father of Harry +Furniss, this being in a convenient position on the Pamunky, one of the +branches of the York River.</p> + +<p>"Are you using that sailboat of yours at present, Harry? Because, if +not, I wish you would let me have the use of it for a week or so."</p> + +<p>"With pleasure, Vincent; and my fishing lines and nets as well, if you +like. We very seldom use the boat. Do you mean to keep it here or move +it higher up the river, where it would be more handy for you, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"I think I would rather leave it here, Furniss. A mile or two extra to +ride makes no difference. I suppose it's in the water?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; at the foot of the boathouse stairs. There is a padlock and chain. +I will give you the key, so you can go off whenever you like without +bothering to come up to the house. If you just call in at the stable as +you ride by, one of the boys will go down with you and take your horse, +and put him up till you come back again."</p> + +<p>"That will do capitally," Vincent replied. "It is some time since I was +on the water, and I seem to have a fancy for a change at present. One is +sick of riding into Richmond and hearing nothing but politics talked of. +Don't be alarmed if you hear at any time that the boat has not come back +at night, for if tide and wind are unfavorable at any time, I might stop +at Cumberland for the night."</p> + +<p>"I have often had to do that," Furniss said. "Besides, if you took it +away for a week I don't suppose anyone would notice it; for no one goes +down to the boathouse unless to get the boat ready for a trip."</p> + +<p>The next day Vincent rode over to his friend's plantation, sending Dan +off an hour beforehand to bale out the boat and get the masts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> and sails +into her from the boathouse. The greater part of the next two days was +spent on the water, sometimes sailing, sometimes fishing. The evening +of the second of these days was that upon which Vincent had arranged to +meet Tony again, and an hour after dark he went down through the garden +to the stable; for that was the time the fugitive was to meet him, for +he could not leave his place of concealment until night fell. After +looking at the horses, and giving some instructions to the negroes in +charge, he returned to the shrubbery, and, sending Dan up to summon +Dinah, he went to the bushes where he had before met Tony. The negro +came out as he approached.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Tony?"</p> + +<p>"Much better dan I was, massa. I have not been disturbed since I saw +you, and, thanks to dat and to de good food and to massa's kind words, +I'm stronger and better now, and ready to do whatever massa think best."</p> + +<p>"Well, Tony, I am glad to say that I think I have arranged a plan by +which you will be got safely out of the country. Of course, it may fail; +but there is every hope of success. I have arranged for a boat, and +shall take you down the river, and put you on board a ship bound for +England."</p> + +<p>The black clapped his hands in delight at the news.</p> + +<p>"When you get there you will take another ship out to Canada, and as +soon as I learn from you that you are there, and what is your address, I +will give Dinah her papers of freedom and send her on to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! massa, it is too much," Tony said, with the tears running down his +cheeks; "too much joy altogeder."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope it will all come right, Tony. Dinah will be here in a +minute or two. Do not keep her long, for I do not wish her absence from +the house to be observed just now. Now, listen to my instructions. Do +you know the plantation of Mr. Furniss, on the Pamunky, near Coal +Harbor?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; but me can find out."</p> + +<p>"No, you can'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>t; because you can't see anyone or ask questions. Very +well, then, you must be here again to-morrow night at the same hour. Dan +will meet you here, and act as your guide. He will presently bring you +provisions for to-morrow. Be sure you be careful, Tony, and get back to +your hiding place as soon as you can, and lie very quiet to-morrow until +it is time to start. It would be terrible if you were to be caught now, +just as we have arranged for you to get away."</p> + +<p>On the following afternoon Vincent told his mother that he was going +over that evening to his friend Furniss, as an early start was to be +made next morning; they intended to go down the river as far as +Yorktown, if not further; that he certainly should not be back for two +days, and probably might be even longer.</p> + +<p>"This new boating freak of yours, Vincent, seems to occupy all your +thoughts. I wonder how long it will last."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose it will last much longer, mother," Vincent said, with a +laugh. "Anyhow, it will make a jolly change for a week. One has got so +sick of hearing nothing talked about but secession, that a week without +hearing the word mentioned will do one lots of good, and I am sure I +felt that if one had much more of it, one would be almost driven to take +up the Northern side, just for the sake of a change."</p> + +<p>"We should all disown you, Vin," Annie said, laughing; "we should have +nothing to say to you, and you would be cut by all your friends."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, a week's sailing and fishing will save me from all that, +Annie; and I shall be able to begin again with a fresh stock of +patience."</p> + +<p>"I believe you are only half in earnest in the cause, Vincent," his +mother said gravely.</p> + +<p>"I am not, indeed, mother. I quite agree with what you and everyone say +as to the rights of the State of Virginia, and if the North should +really try to force us and the other Southern States to remain with +them, I shall be just as ready to do everything I can as anyone else; +but I can't see the good of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>always talking about it, and I think it's +very wrong to ill-treat and abuse those who think the other way. In +England in the Civil War the people of the towns almost all thought one +way, and almost all those of the counties the other, and even now +opinions differ almost as widely as to which was right. I hate to hear +people always laying down the law as if there could not possibly be two +sides to the case, and as if everyone who differed from them must be a +rascal and a traitor. Almost all the fellows I know say that if it comes +to fighting they shall go into the State army, and I should be quite +willing, if they would really take fellows of my age for soldiers, to +enlist too; but that is no reason why one should not get sick of hearing +nothing but one subject talked of for weeks."</p> + +<p>It was nearly dark when Vincent started for his walk of ten miles; for +he had decided not to take his horse with him, as he had no means of +sending it back, and its stay for three days in his friend's stables +would attract attention to the fact of his long absence.</p> + +<p>After about three hours' walking he reached the boathouse, having seen +no one as he passed through the plantation. He took the oars and sails +from the boathouse and placed them in the boat, and then sat down in the +stern to await the coming of the negroes. In an hour they arrived; Tony +carrying a bundle of clothes that Dan had by Vincent's orders bought for +him in Richmond, while Dan carried a large basket of provisions. Vincent +gave an exclamation of thankfulness as he saw the two figures appear, +for the day having been Sunday, he knew that a good many men would be +likely to join the search parties in hopes of having a share in the +reward offered for Tony's capture, and he had felt very anxious all day.</p> + +<p>"You sit in the bottom of the boat, Tony, and do you steer, Dan. You +make such a splashing with your oar that we should be heard a mile away. +Keep us close in shore in the shadow of the trees; the less we are +noticed the better at this time of night."</p> + +<p>Taking the scul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>ls, Vincent rowed quietly away. He had often been out on +boating excursions with his friends, and had learned to row fairly. +During the last two days he had diligently instructed Dan, and after +two long days' work the young negro had got over the first difficulties, +but he was still clumsy and awkward. Vincent did not exert himself. He +knew he had a long night's row before him, and he paddled quietly along +with the stream. The boat was a good-sized one, and when not under sail +was generally rowed by two strong negroes accustomed to the work.</p> + +<p>Sometimes for half an hour at a time Vincent ceased rowing, and let the +boat drift along quietly. There was no hurry, for he had a day and two +nights to get down to the mouth of the river, a distance of some seventy +miles, and out to sea, far enough to intercept the vessel. At four +o'clock they arrived at Cumberland, where the Pamunky and Mattapony +Rivers unite and form the York River. Here they were in tidal waters; +and as the tide, though not strong, was flowing up, Vincent tied the +boat to the branch of a tree, and lay down in the bottom for an hour's +sleep, telling Dan to wake him when the tide turned, or if he heard any +noise. Day had broken when the boat drifted round, and Dan aroused him.</p> + +<p>The boat was rowed off to the middle of the river, as there could be no +longer any attempt at concealment. Dan now took the bow oar, and they +rowed until a light breeze sprang up. Vincent then put up the mast, and, +having hoisted the sail, took his place at the helm, while Dan went +forward into the bow. They passed several fishing boats, and the smoke +was seen curling up from the huts in the clearings scattered here and +there along the shore. The sun had now risen, and its heat was pleasant +after the damp night air.</p> + +<p>Although the breeze was light, the boat made fair way with the tide, and +when the ebb ceased, at about ten o'clock, the mouth of the river was +but a few miles away. The mast was lowered and the sails stowed. The +boat was then rowed into a little creek and tied up to the bushes. The +basket <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>of provisions was opened, and a hearty meal enjoyed, Tony being +now permitted for the first time to sit up in the boat. After the meal +Vincent and Dan lay down for a long sleep, while Tony, who had slept +some hours during the night, kept watch.</p> + +<p>At four in the afternoon the tide again slackened, and as soon as it had +fairly turned they pushed out from the creek and again set sail. In +three hours they were at the mouth of the river. A short distance out +they saw several fishing boats, and dropping anchor a short distance +away from these, they lowered their sail, and taking the fishing lines +from the locker of the boat, set to to fish. As soon as it was quite +dark the anchor was hauled up, and Vincent and Dan took the oars, the +wind having now completely dropped. For some time they rowed steadily, +keeping the land in sight on their right hand.</p> + +<p>Tony was most anxious to help, but as he had never had an oar in his +hand in his life, Vincent thought that he would do more harm than good. +It was, he knew, some ten miles from the mouth of the York River to +Fortress Monroe, at the entrance to Hampton Roads, and after rowing for +three hours he thought that he could not be far from that point, and +therefore turned the boat's head toward the sea. They rowed until they +could no longer make out the land astern, and then laying on their oars +waited till the morning, Vincent sitting in the stern and often nodding +off to sleep, while the two negroes kept up a constant conversation in +the bow.</p> + +<p>As soon as it was daylight the oars were again got out. They could +clearly make out the outline of the coast, and saw the break in the +shore that marked the entrance to Hampton Roads. There was a light +breeze now, but Vincent would not hoist the sail lest it might attract +the attention of someone on shore. He did not think the boat itself +could be seen, as they were some eight or nine miles from the land. They +rowed for a quarter of an hour, when Vincent saw the white sails of a +ship coming out from the entrance.</p> + +<p>The breeze was so ligh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>t that she would, he thought, be nearly three +hours before she reached the spot where they were now, and whether she +headed to the right or left of it he would have plenty of time to cut +her off. For another two hours he and Dan rowed steadily. The wind had +freshened a good deal, and the ship was now coming up fast to them. Two +others had come out after her, but were some miles astern. They had +already made out that the ship was flying a flag at her masthead, and +although they had not been able to distinguish its colors, Vincent felt +sure that it was the right ship; for he felt certain that the captain +would get up sail as soon as possible, so as to come up with them before +any other vessels came out. They had somewhat altered their course, to +put themselves in line with the vessel. When she was within a distance +of about a mile and a half Vincent was able to make out the flag, and +knew that it was the right one.</p> + +<p>"There's the ship, Tony," he said; "it is all right, and in a few +minutes you will be on your way to England."</p> + +<p>Tony had already changed his tattered garments for the suit of sailor's +clothes that Dan had bought for him. Vincent had given him full +instructions as to the course he was to pursue. The ship was bound for +Liverpool; on his arrival there he was at once to go round the docks and +take a passage in the steerage of the next steamer going to Canada.</p> + +<p>"The fare will be about five pounds," he said. "When you get to Canada +you will land at Quebec, and you had better go on by rail to Montreal, +where you will, I think, find it easier to get work than at Quebec. As +soon as you get a place you are likely to stop in, get somebody to write +for you to me, giving me your address. Here are a hundred do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>llars, which +will be sufficient to pay your expenses to Montreal and leave you about +fifty dollars to keep you till you can get something to do."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>SAFELY BACK.</h3> + + +<p>When the ship came within a few hundred yards, Vincent stood up and +waved his cap, and a minute later the ship was brought up into the wind +and her sails thrown aback. The captain appeared at the side and shouted +to the boat, now but fifty yards away.</p> + +<p>"What do you want, there?"</p> + +<p>"I have a passenger for England," Vincent replied. "Will you take him?"</p> + +<p>"Come alongside," the captain said. "Why didn't he come on board before +I started?"</p> + +<p>The boat was rowed alongside, and Vincent climbed on board. The captain +greeted him as a stranger and led the way to his cabin.</p> + +<p>"You have managed that well," he said, when they were alone, "and I am +heartily glad that you have succeeded. I made you out two hours ago. We +will stop here another two or three minutes, so that the men may think +you are bargaining for a passage for the negro, and then the sooner he +is on board and you are on your way back the better, for the wind is +rising, and I fancy it is going to blow a good deal harder before +night."</p> + +<p>"And won't you let me pay for the man's passage, captain? It is only +fair, anyhow, that I should pay for what he will eat."</p> + +<p>"Oh, nonsense!" the captain replied. "He will make himself useful, and +pay for his keep. I am only too glad to get the poor fellow off. Now, we +will have a glass of wine together and then say good-by."</p> + +<p>Two minutes later they returned to the deck. Vincent went to the side.</p> + +<p>"Jump on board, Tony. I have arranged for your passage." The negro +climbed up the side.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good-by, captain, and thank you heartily. Good-by, Tony."</p> + +<p>The negro could not speak, but seized the hand Vincent held out to him +and pressed it to his lips. Vincent dropped lightly into his boat and +pushed off from the side of the vessel. As he did so he heard orders +shouted, the yards swung round, and the vessel almost at once began to +move through the water.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan, up with the mast and sail again; but let me put two reefs in +first, the wind is getting up."</p> + +<p>In five minutes the sail was hoisted, and with Vincent at the helm and +Dan sitting up to windward, was dashing through the water. Although +Vincent understood the management of a sailing-boat on the calm waters +of the rivers, this was his first experience of sea-sailing; and +although the waves were still but small, he felt somewhat nervous as the +boat dashed through them, sending up at times a sheet of spray from her +bows. But he soon got over this sensation, and enjoyed the lively motion +and fresh wind. The higher points of the land were still visible; but +even had they not been so it would have mattered little, as he had taken +the precaution to bring with him a small pocket-compass. The wind was +from the southwest, and he was therefore able, with the sheet hauled in, +to make for a point where he judged the mouth of the York River lay.</p> + +<p>"Golly, massa! how de boat do jump up and down."</p> + +<p>"She is lively, Dan, and it would be just as well if we had some ballast +on board; however, she has a good beam and walks along splendidly. If +the wind keeps as it is, we shall be back at the mouth of the York in +three or four hours. You may as well open that basket again and hand me +that cold chicken and a piece of bread; cut the meat off the bones and +put it on the bread, for I have only one hand disengaged, and hand me +that bottle of cold tea. That's right. Now you had better take something +yourself. You must be hungry. We forgot all about the basket in our +interest in the ship."</p> + +<p>Dan shook his head.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> +<p>"A little while ago, massa, me seem bery hungry, now me doesn't feel +hungry at all."</p> + +<p>"That's bad, Dan. I am afraid you are going to be seasick."</p> + +<p>"Me no feel seasick, massa; only me don't feel hungry."</p> + +<p>But in a few minutes Dan was forced to confess that he did feel ill, and +a few moments afterward was groaning in the agonies of seasickness.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Dan," Vincent said cheerfully. "You will be better after +this."</p> + +<p>"Me not seasick, massa; de sea have nuffin to do with it. It's de boat +dat will jump up and down instead of going quiet."</p> + +<p>"It's all the same thing, Dan; and I hope she won't jump about more +before we get into the river."</p> + +<p>But in another half hour Vincent had to bring the boat's head up to the +wind, lower the lug, and tie down the last reef.</p> + +<p>"There she goes easier now, Dan," he said, as the boat resumed her +course; but Dan, who was leaning helplessly over the side of the boat, +could see no difference.</p> + +<p>Vincent, however, felt that under close sail the boat was doing better, +and rising more easily on the waves which were now higher and farther +apart than before. In another hour the whole of the shore-line was +visible; but the wind had risen so much that, even under her reduced +sail, the boat had as much as she could carry, and often heeled over +until her gunwale was nearly under water. Another hour and the shore was +but some four miles away, but Vincent felt he could no longer hold on.</p> + +<p>In the hands of an experienced sailor, who would have humored the boat +and eased her up a little to meet the seas, the entrance to the York +River could no doubt have been reached with safety; but Vincent was +ignorant of the art of sailing a boat in the sea, and she was shipping +water heavily. Dan had fo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>r some time been baling, having only undertaken +the work in obedience to Vincent's angry orders, being too ill to care +much what became of them.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan, I am going to bring her head up to the wind, so get ready to +throw off that halyard and gather in the sail as it comes down. That's +right, man, now down with the mast."</p> + +<p>Vincent had read that the best plan, when caught in an open boat in a +gale, was to tie the oars and mast, if she had one, together, and to +throw them overboard with the head rope tied to them, as by this means +the boat would ride head to sea. The oars, sculls, mast, and sail were +firmly tied together and launched overboard, the rope being first taken +off the anchor and tied round the middle of the clump of spars.</p> + +<p>Vincent carefully payed out the rope till some fifteen yards were over, +then he fastened it to the ring of the head rope, and had the +satisfaction of finding that the boat rode easily to the floating +anchor, rising lightly over the waves, and not shipping a drop of water. +He then took the baler and got rid of the water that had found its way +on board, Dan, after getting down the sail, having collapsed utterly.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan, sit up; there, man, the motion is much easier now, and we are +taking no water on board. I will give you a glass of rum, that will put +new strength into you. It's lucky we put it in the basket in case of +emergency."</p> + +<p>The negro, whose teeth were chattering from cold, fright, and +exhaustion, eagerly drank off the spirit. Vincent, who was wet to the +skin with the spray, took a little himself, and then settled himself as +comfortably as he could on the floorboards in the stern of the boat, and +quietly thought out the position. The wind was still rising, and a thick +haze obscured the land. He had no doubt that by night it would be +blowing a gale; but the boat rode so easily and lightly that he believed +she would get through it.</p> + +<p>They might, it was true, be blown many miles off the shore, and not be +able to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>get back for some time, for the gale might last two or three +days. The basket of provisions was, however, a large one. Dan had +received orders to bring plenty and had obeyed them literally, and +Vincent saw that the supply of food, if carefully husbanded, would last +without difficulty for a week. The supply of liquid was less +satisfactory. There was a bottle of rum, and a two-gallon jar, nearly +half empty, of water. The cold tea was finished.</p> + +<p>"That would be a poor supply for a week for two of us," Vincent +muttered, as he removed the contents of the basket and stored them +carefully in the locker; "however, if it's going to be a gale there is +sure to be some rain with it, so I think we shall manage very well."</p> + +<p>By night it was blowing real heavily, but although the waves were high +the boat shipped but little water. Dan had fallen off to sleep, and +Vincent had been glad to wrap himself in the thick coat he had brought +with him as a protection against the heavy dews when sleeping on the +river. At times sharp rain squalls burst upon them, and Vincent had no +difficulty in filling up the water-bottle again with the baler.</p> + +<p>The water was rather brackish, but not sufficiently so to be of +consequence. All night the boat was tossed heavily on the waves. Vincent +dozed off at times, rousing himself occasionally and baling out the +water, which came in the shape of spray and rain. The prospect in the +morning was not cheering. Gray clouds covered the sky and seemed to come +down almost on to the water, the angry sea was crested with white heads, +and it seemed to Vincent wonderful that the boat should live in such a +sea.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan, wake yourself up and get some breakfast," Vincent said, +stirring up the negro with his foot.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lor!" Dan groaned, raising himself into a sitting position from the +bottom of the boat, "dis am awful; we neber see the shore no more, +massa."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, man," Vincent said cheerily; "we are getting on capitally."</p> + +<p>"It hab been an awful night, sah."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> +<p>"An awful night! You lazy rascal, you slept like a pig all night, while +I have been baling the boat and looking out for you. It is your turn +now, I can tell you. Well, do you feel ready for your breakfast?"</p> + +<p>Dan, after a moment's consideration, declared that he was. The feeling +of seasickness had passed off, and except that he was wet through and +miserable, he felt himself again, and could have eaten four times the +allowance of food that Vincent handed him. A pannikin of rum and water +did much to restore his life and vitality, and he was soon, with the +light-heartedness of his race, laughing and chatting cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"How long dis go on, you tink, sah?"</p> + +<p>"Not long, I hope, Dan. I was afraid last night it was going to be a big +gale, but I do not think it is blowing so hard now as it was in the +night."</p> + +<p>"Where have we got to now, sah?"</p> + +<p>"I don't exactly know, Dan; but I do not suppose that we are very many +miles away from shore. The mast and oars prevent our drifting fast, and +I don't think we are further off now than we were when we left that ship +yesterday. But even if we were four or five times as far as that, we +should not take very long in sailing back again when the wind drops; and +as we have got enough to eat for a week we need not be uncomfortable +about that."</p> + +<p>"Not much food for a week, Massa Vincent."</p> + +<p>"Not a great deal, Dan; but quite enough to keep us going. You can make +up for lost time when you get to shore again."</p> + +<p>In a few hours it was certain that the wind was going down. By midday +the clouds began to break up, and an hour later the sun was shining +brightly. The wind was still blowing strongly, but the sea had a very +different appearance in the bright light of the sun to that which it had +borne under the canopy of dark gray clouds. Standing up in the boat two +hours later, Vincent could see no signs of land.</p> + +<p>"How shall we find our way back, Marse Vincent?"</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> +<p>"We have got a compass; besides, we should manage very well even if we +had not. Look at the sun, Dan. There it is right ahead of us. So, you +know that's the west—that's the way we have to go."</p> + +<p>"That very useful ob de sun, sah; but suppose we not live in de west de +sun not point de way den."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, he would, just the same, Dan. We should know whether to go +away from him, or to keep him on the right hand or on the left."</p> + +<p>This was beyond Dan. "And I s'pose the moon will show de way at night, +massa?"</p> + +<p>"The moon would show the way if she were up, but she is not always up; +but I have got a compass here, and so whether we have the sun or the +moon, or neither of them, I can find my way back to land."</p> + +<p>Dan had never seen a compass, and for an hour amused himself turning it +round and round and trying to get it to point in some other direction +than the north.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan," Vincent said at last, "give me that compass, and get out the +food. We will have a better meal than we did this morning, for now that +the wind is going down there's no chance of food running short. When we +have had dinner we will get up the sail again. The sea is not so rough +as it was, and it is certainly not so high as it was before we lowered +the sail yesterday."</p> + +<p>"De waves bery big, massa."</p> + +<p>"They are big, Dan; but they are not so angry. The heads are not +breaking over as they did last night, and the boat will go better over +these long waves than she did through the choppy sea at the beginning of +the gale."</p> + +<p>Accordingly the bundle of spars was pulled up alongside and lifted. The +mast was set up and the sail hoisted. Dan in a few minutes forgot his +fears and lost even his sense of uneasiness as he found the boat mounted +wave after wave without shipping water. Several times, indeed, a shower +of spray flew high up in the air, but the gusts no longer buried her so +that the water came over the gunwale, and it was a l<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>ong time before +there was any occasion to use the baler. As the sun set it could be seen +that there was a dark line between it and the water.</p> + +<p>"There is the land, Dan; and I do not suppose it is more than twenty +miles away, for most of the coast lies low."</p> + +<p>"But how we find de York River, massa? Will de compass tell you dat?"</p> + +<p>"No, Dan. I don't know whether we have drifted north or south of it. At +ordinary times the current runs up the coast, but the wind this morning +was blowing from the north of west, and may have been doing so all +through the night for anything I know. Well, the great thing is to make +land. We are almost sure to come across some fishing boats, but, if not, +we must run ashore and find a house."</p> + +<p>They continued sailing until Vincent's watch told him it was twelve +o'clock, by which time the coast was quite close. The wind now almost +dropped, and, lowering their sail, they rowed in until, on lowering the +anchor, they found that it touched the ground. Then they lay down and +slept till morning. Dan was the first to waken.</p> + +<p>"Dar are some houses dere close down by the shore, sah, and some men +getting out a boat."</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Dan," Vincent said, as he roused himself and looked +over. "We shall learn soon where we are."</p> + +<p>In a quarter of an hour the fishing boat put off, and the lads at once +rowed to it.</p> + +<p>"How far are we from the mouth of the York River?" Vincent asked the two +negroes on board.</p> + +<p>"About twenty miles, sah. Where you come from?"</p> + +<p>"We were off the mouth of the river, and were blown off in the gale."</p> + +<p>"You tink yourself bery lucky you get back," one of them said. "Bery +foolish to go out like dat when not know how to get back."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> +<p>"Well, we have managed to get back now, you see, and none the worse for +it. Now, Dan, up with the sail again."</p> + +<p>There was a light wind offshore, and all the reefs being shaken out the +boat ran along fast.</p> + +<p>"I should think we are going about five miles an hour, Dan. We ought to +be off the mouth of the river in four hours. We must look out sharp or +else we shall pass it, for many of these islets look just like the mouth +of the river. However, we are pretty sure to pass several fishing boats +on our way, and we shall be able to inquire from them."</p> + +<p>There was no need, however, to do this. It was just four hours from the +time of starting when they saw some eight or ten fishing boats ahead of +them.</p> + +<p>"I expect that that is the entrance to the river. When we get half a +mile further we shall see it open."</p> + +<p>On approaching the fishing boats they recognized at once the appearance +of the shore, as they had noticed it when fishing there before, and were +soon in the entrance to the river.</p> + +<p>"It will be high tide in about two hours," Vincent said, "according to +the time it was the other day. I am afraid when it turns we shall have +to get down our sails; there will be no beating against both wind and +tide. Then we must get out oars and row. There is very little tide close +in by the bank, and every little gain will be a help. We have been out +four days. It is Thursday now, and they will be beginning to get very +anxious at home, so we must do our best to get back."</p> + +<p>Keeping close under the bank, they rowed steadily, making on an average +about two miles an hour. After five hours' rowing they tied up to the +bank, had a meal, and rested until tide turned; then they again hoisted +their sail and proceeded on their way. Tide carried them just up to the +junction of the two rivers, and landing at Cumberland they procured beds +and slept till morning.</p> + +<p>Another long day's work took the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>m up to the plantation of Mr. Furniss, +and fastening up the boat, and carrying the sails and oars on shore, +they started on their walk home.</p> + +<p>"Why, Vincent, where have you been all this time?" Mrs. Wingfield said +as her son entered. "You said you might be away a couple of nights, and +we expected you back on Wednesday at the latest, and now it is Friday +evening."</p> + +<p>"Well, mother, we have had great fun. We went sailing about right down +to the mouth of the York River. I did not calculate that it would take +me more than twice as long to get back as to get down; but as the wind +blew right down the river it was precious slow work, and we had to row +all the way. However, it has been a jolly trip, and I feel a lot better +for it."</p> + +<p>"You don't look any better for it," Annie said. "The skin is all off +your face, and you are as red as fire. Your clothes look shrunk as well +as horribly dirty. You are quite an object, Vincent."</p> + +<p>"We got caught in a heavy gale," Vincent said, "and got a thorough +ducking. As to my face, a day or two will set it all to rights again; +and so they will my hands, I hope, for I have got nicely blistered +tugging at those oars. And now, mother, I want some supper, for I am as +hungry as a hunter. I told Dan to go into the kitchen and get a good +square meal."</p> + +<p>The next morning, just after breakfast, there was the sound of horses' +hoofs outside the house, and, looking out, Vincent saw Mr. Jackson, with +a man he knew to be the sheriff, and four or five others. A minute later +one of the servants came in, and said that the sheriff wished to speak +to Mrs. Wingfield.</p> + +<p>"I will go out to him," Mrs. Wingfield replied. Vincent followed her to +the door.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wingfield," the sheriff said, "I am the holder of a warrant to +search your slave-huts and grounds for a runaway negro named Anthony +Moore, the property of Mr. Jackson here."</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose, sir," Mrs. Wingfield asked angrily, "that I am the sort +of person to give shelter to runaway slaves?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, madam, certainly not," the sheriff replied; "no one would suppose +for a moment that Mrs. Wingfield of the Orangery would have anything to +do with a runaway, but Mr. Jackson here learned only yesterday that the +wife of this slave was here and everyone knows that where the wife is +the husband is not likely to be far off."</p> + +<p>"I suppose, sir," Mrs. Wingfield said coldly, "that there was no +necessity for me to acquaint Mr. Jackson formally with the fact that I +had purchased through my agent the woman he sold to separate her from +her husband."</p> + +<p>"By no means, madam, by no means; though, had we known it before, it +might have been some aid to us in our search. Have we your permission to +see this woman and to question her?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," Mrs. Wingfield said; "but if you have any question to +ask I will ask her and give you her answer."</p> + +<p>"We want to know whether she has seen her husband since the day of his +flight from the plantation."</p> + +<p>"I shall certainly not ask her that question, Mr. Sheriff. I have no +doubt that, as the place from which he has escaped is only a few miles +from here, he did come to see his wife. It would have been very strange +if he did not. I hope that by this time the man is hundreds of miles +away. He was brutally treated by a brutal master, who, I believe, +deliberately set to work to make him run away, so that he could hunt him +down and punish him. I presume, sir, you do not wish to search this +house, and you do not suppose that the man is hidden here. As to the +slave-huts and the plantation, you can, of course, search them +thoroughly; but as it is now more than a fortnight since the man +escaped, it is not likely you will find him hiding within a few miles of +his master's plantation."</p> + +<p>So saying, she went into the house and shut the door behind her.</p> + +<p>Mr. Jackson g<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>round his teeth with rage, but the sheriff rode off toward +the slave-huts without a word. The position of Mrs. Wingfield of the +Orangery, connected as she was with half the old families of Virginia, +and herself a large slave-owner, was beyond suspicion, and no one would +venture to suggest that such a lady could have the smallest sympathy for +a runaway slave.</p> + +<p>"She was down upon you pretty hot, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff said as +they rode off. "You don't seem to be in her good books." Jackson +muttered an imprecation.</p> + +<p>"It is certainly odd," the sheriff went on, "after what you were telling +me about her son pitching into Andrew over flogging this very slave, +that she should go and buy his wife. Still, that's a very different +thing from hiding a runaway. I dare say that, as she says, the fellow +came here to see his wife when he first ran away; but I don't think you +will find him anywhere about here now. It's pretty certain from what we +hear that he hasn't made for the North, and where the fellow can be +hiding I can't think. Still the woods about this country are mighty big, +and the fellow can go out on the farms and pick corn and keep himself +going for a long time. But he's sure to be brought up, sooner or later."</p> + +<p>A thorough search was made of the slave-huts, and the slaves were +closely questioned, but all denied any knowledge of the runaway. Dan +escaped questioning, as he had taken up Vincent's horse to the house in +readiness for him to start as soon as he had finished breakfast.</p> + +<p>All day the searchers rode about the plantation, examining every clump +of bushes, and assuring themselves that none of them had been used as a +place of refuge for the runaway.</p> + +<p>"It's no good, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff said at last. "The man may have +been here; he aint here now. The only place we haven't searched is the +house, and you may be quite sure the slaves dare not conceal him there. +Too many would get to know it. No, sir, he's made a bolt of it, and you +will have to wait now till he is caught by chance, or shot by some +farmer or other in the act of stealing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I would lay a thousand dollars," Andrew Jackson exclaimed +passionately, "that young Wingfield knows something about his +whereabouts, and has lent him a hand!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I should advise you to keep your mouth shut about it till you get +some positive proof," the sheriff said dryly. "I tell you it's no joke +to accuse a member of a family like the Wingfields of helping runaway +slaves to escape."</p> + +<p>"I will bide my time," the planter said. "You said that some day you +would lay hands on Tony, dead or alive. You see if some day I don't lay +hands on young Wingfield."</p> + +<p>"Well, it seems, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff remarked with a sneer, for he +was out of temper at the ill success of the day's work, "that he has +already laid hands on your son. It seems to me quite as likely that he +will lay hands on you as you on him."</p> + +<p>Two days afterward, as Vincent was riding through the streets of +Richmond he saw to his surprise Andrew Jackson in close conversation +with Jonas Pearson.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what those two fellows are talking about!" he said to himself. +"I expect Jackson is trying to pump Pearson as to the doings at the +Orangery. I don't like that fellow, and never shall, and he's just the +sort of man to do one a bad turn if he had the chance. However, as I +have never spoken to him about that affair from beginning to end, I +don't see that he can do any mischief if he wants to."</p> + +<p>Andrew Jackson, however, had obtained information which he considered +valuable. He learned that Vincent had been away in a boat for five days, +and that his mother had been very uneasy about him. He also learned that +the boat was one belonging to Mr. Furniss, and that it was only quite +lately that Vincent had taken to going out sailing.</p> + +<p>After considerable trouble he succeeded in getting at one of the slaves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +upon Mr. Furniss' plantation. But he could only learn from him that +Vincent had been unaccompanied, when he went out in the boat, either by +young Furniss or by any of the plantation hands; that he had taken with +him only his own slave, and had come and gone as he chose, taking out +and fastening up the boat himself, so that no one could say when he had +gone out, except that his horse was put up at the stables. The slave +said that certainly the horse had only stood there on two or three +occasions, and then only for a few hours, and that unless Mr. Wingfield +had walked over he could never have had the boat out all night, as the +horse certainly had not stood all night in the stables.</p> + +<p>Andrew Jackson talked the matter over with his son, and both agreed that +Vincent's conduct was suspicious. His own people said he had been away +for five days in the boat. The people at Furniss' knew nothing about +this, and therefore there must be some mystery about it, and they +doubted not that that mystery was connected with the runaway slave, and +they guessed that he had either taken Tony and landed him near the mouth +of the York River on the northern shore, or that he had put him on board +a ship. They agreed, however, that whatever their suspicions, they had +not sufficient grounds for openly accusing Vincent of aiding their +runaway.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>SECESSION.</h3> + + +<p>While Vincent had been occupied with the affairs of Tony and his wife, +public events had moved forward rapidly. The South Carolina Convention +met in the third week in December, and on the 20th of that month the +Ordinance of Secession was passed. On the 10th of January, three days +after Vincent returned home from his expedition, Florida followed the +example of South Carolina and seceded. Alabama and Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>issippi passed +the Ordinance of Secession on the following day; Georgia on the 18th, +Louisiana on the 23d, and Texas on the 1st of February.</p> + +<p>In all these States the Ordinance of Secession was received with great +rejoicings: bonfires were lit, the towns illuminated, and the militia +paraded the streets, and in many cases the Federal arsenals were seized +and the Federal forts occupied by the State troops. In the meantime the +Northern slave States—Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, +and Missouri—remained irresolute. The general feeling was strongly in +favor of their Southern brethren; but they were anxious for peace, and +for a compromise being arrived at. Whether the North would agree to +admit the constitutional right of secession, or whether it would use +force to compel the seceding States to remain in the Union, was still +uncertain; but the idea of a civil war was so terrible a one that the +general belief was that some arrangement to allow the States to go their +own way would probably be arrived at.</p> + +<p>For the time the idea of Vincent going to West Point was abandoned. +Among his acquaintances were several young men who were already at West +Point, and very few of these returned to the academy. The feeling there +was very strongly on the side of secession. A great majority of the +students came from the Southern States, as, while the sons of the +Northern men went principally into trade and commerce, the Southern +planters sent their sons into the army, and a great proportion of the +officers of the army and navy were Southerners.</p> + +<p>As the professors at West Point were all military men, the feeling among +them, as well as among the students, was in favor of State rights; they +considering that, according to the Constitution, their allegiance was +due first to the States of which they were natives, and in the second +place to the Union. Thus, then, many of the professors who were natives +of the seven States which had seceded resigned their appointments, and +returned home to occupy themselves in drilling the militia and the +levies, who were at once called to arms.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> +<p>Still all hoped that peace would be preserved, until on the 11th of +April General Beauregard, who commanded the troops of South Carolina, +summoned Major Anderson, who was in command of the Federal troops in +Fort Sumter, to surrender, and on his refusal opened fire upon the fort +on the following day.</p> + +<p>On the 13th the barracks of the fort being set on fire, Major Anderson, +seeing the hopelessness of a prolonged resistance, surrendered. The +effect of the news throughout the United States was tremendous, and Mr. +Lincoln at once called out 75,000 men of the militia of the various +States to put down the rebellion—the border States being ordered to +send their proportion. This brought matters to a climax. Virginia, North +Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri all refused to furnish +contingents to act against the Southern States; and Virginia and North +Carolina a few days later passed Ordinances of Secession and joined the +Southern States. Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware were divided in their +counsels.</p> + +<p>The struggle that was about to commence was an uneven one. The white +population of the Seceding States was about 8,000,000; while that of the +Northern States was 19,614,885. The North possessed an immense +advantage, inasmuch as they retained the whole of the Federal navy, and +were thereby enabled at once to cut off all communication between the +Southern States and Europe, while they themselves could draw unlimited +supplies of munitions of war of all kinds from across the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>Although the people of Virginia had hoped to the last that some peaceful +arrangement might be effected, the Act of Secession was received with +enthusiasm. The demand of Mr. Lincoln that they should furnish troops to +crush their Southern brethren excited the livliest indignation, and +Virginia felt that there was no course open to her now but to throw in +her lot with the other slave States. Her militia was at once called out, +and volunteers called for to form a provisional army to protect the +State from invasion by the North.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>The appeal was answered with enthusiasm; men of all ages took up arms; +the wealthy raised regiments at their own expense, generally handing +over the commands to experienced army officers, and themselves taking +their places in the ranks; thousands of lads of from fifteen to sixteen +years of age enrolled themselves, and men who had never done a day's +work in their lives prepared to suffer all the hardships of the campaign +as private soldiers.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield was an enthusiastic supporter of State rights; and when +Vincent told her that numbers of his friends were going to enroll +themselves as soon as the lists were opened, she offered no objection to +his doing the same.</p> + +<p>"Of course you are very young, Vincent; but no one thinks there will be +any serious fighting. Now that Virginia and the other four States have +cast in their lot with the seven that have seceded, the North can never +hope to force the solid South back into the Union. Still it is right you +should join. I certainly should not like an old Virginian family like +ours to be unrepresented; but I should prefer your joining one of the +mounted corps.</p> + +<p>"In the first place, it will be much less fatiguing than carrying a +heavy rifle and knapsack; and in the second place, the cavalry will for +the most part be gentlemen. I was speaking only yesterday, when I went +into Richmond, to Mr. Ashley, who is raising a corps. He is one of the +best riders in the country, and a splendid specimen of a Virginian +gentleman. He tells me that he has already received a large number of +applications from young volunteers, and that he thinks he shall be able +without any difficulty to get as many as he wants. I said that I had a +son who would probably enroll himself, and that I should like to have +him in his corps.</p> + +<p>"He said that he would be glad to put down your name, and that he had +had many applications from lads no older than yourself. He co<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>nsidered +that for cavalry work, scouting, and that sort of thing age mattered +little, and that a lad who was at once a light weight, a good rider, +and a good shot was of as much good as a man."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, mother. I will ride into Richmond to-morrow morning and see +Ashley. I have often met him and should like to serve under him very +much. I should certainly prefer being in the cavalry to the infantry."</p> + +<p>Rosie and Annie, who were of course enthusiastic for the South, were +almost as pleased as was Vincent when they heard that their mother had +consented to his enrolling himself. So many of the girls of their +acquaintance had brothers or cousins who were joining the army, that +they would have felt it as something of a slur upon the family name had +Vincent remained behind.</p> + +<p>On the following morning Vincent rode over and saw Mr. Ashley, who had +just received his commission as major. He was cordially received.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Wingfield was speaking to me about you, and I shall be glad to +have you with me—the more so as you are a capital rider and a good +shot. I shall have a good many in my ranks no older than you are. Did I +not hear a few months since that you bought Wildfire? I thought, when I +heard it, that you would be lucky if you did not get your neck broken in +the course of a week. Peters, who owns the next estate to mine, had the +horse for about three weeks, and was glad enough to get rid of it for +half what he had given for it. He told me that the horse was the most +savage brute he ever saw. I suppose you didn't keep it many days?"</p> + +<p>"I have got it still, and mean to ride it with you. The horse is not +really savage. It was hot-tempered, and had, I think, been badly treated +by its first owner. It only wanted kindness and a little patience; and +as soon as it found that it could not get rid of me, and that I had no +intention of ill-treating it, it settled down quietly, after running +away a few times and giving me some little trouble at starting. And now +I would not change it for any horse in the State."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> +<p>"You must be a first-rate rider," Major Ashley said, "to be able to tame +Wildfire. I never saw the horse, for I was away when Peters had her; +but from his description it was a perfect savage."</p> + +<p>"Are we allowed to bring a servant with us?" Vincent asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you like. I know that a good many are going to do so, but you +must not make up your mind that you will get much benefit from one. We +shall move rapidly, and each man must shift for himself, but at the same +time we shall of course often be stationary; and then servants will be +useful. At any rate I can see no objection to men having them. We must +be prepared to rough it to any extent when it is necessary, but I see no +reason why at other times a man should not make himself comfortable. I +expect the order to-morrow or next day to begin formally to enroll +volunteers. As I have now put down your name there will be no occasion +for you to come in then. You will receive a communication telling you +when to report yourself.</p> + +<p>"I shall not trouble much about uniform at first. High boots and +breeches, a thick felt hat that will turn the edge of a sword, and a +loose coat-jacket of dark-gray cloth. Here is the name of the tailor who +has got the pattern, and will make them. So I should advise you to go to +him at once, for he will be so busy soon that there is no saying when +the whole troop will get their uniforms."</p> + +<p>Upon his return home Vincent related to his mother and sisters the +conversation that he had had with Major Ashley.</p> + +<p>"Certainly you had better take a servant with you," his mother said. "I +suppose, when you are riding about you will have to cook your dinner and +do everything for yourself; but when you are in a town you should have +these things done for you. Who would you like to take?"</p> + +<p>"I should like to take Dan, mother, if you have n<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>o objection. He is very +strong and active, and I think would generally be able to keep up with +us; besides, I know he would always stick to me."</p> + +<p>"You shall have him certainly, Vincent; I will make him over formally to +you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, mother," Vincent said joyfully; for he had often wished that +Dan belonged to him, as he would then be able to prevent any +interference with him by the overseer or anyone else, and could, if he +liked, give him his freedom—although this would, he knew, be of very +doubtful advantage to the lad as long as he remained in the South.</p> + +<p>The next morning the necessary papers were drawn up, and the ownership +of Dan was formally transferred to Vincent. Dan was wild with delight +when he heard that Vincent was now his master, and that he was to +accompany him to the war. It had been known two days before that Vincent +was going, and it seemed quite shocking to the negroes that the young +master should go as a private soldier, and have to do everything for +himself—"just," as they said, "like de poor white trash"; for the +slaves were proud to belong to an old family, and looked down with +almost contempt upon the poorer class of whites, regarding their own +position as infinitely superior.</p> + +<p>Four days later Vincent received an official letter saying that the +corps would be mustered in two days' time. The next day was spent in a +long round of farewell visits, and then Vincent mounted Wildfire, and, +with Dan trotting behind, rode off from the Orangery amidst a chorus of +blessings and good wishes from all the slaves who could on any pretext +get away from their duties, and who had assembled in front of the house +to see him start.</p> + +<p>The place of meeting for the regiment was at Hanover Courthouse—a +station on the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railway, close to the Pamunky +River, about eighteen miles from the city.</p> + +<p>The Orangery was a mile from the village of Gaines, which lay to the +northeast of Richmond, and was some twelve miles from Hanover +Courthouse.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> +<p>A month was spent in drill, and at the end of that time the corps were +able to execute any simple maneuver. More than this Major Ashley did +not care about their learning. The work in which they were about to +engage was that of scouts rather than that of regular cavalry, and the +requirements were vigilance and attention to orders, good shooting, and +a quick eye. Off duty there was but little discipline. Almost the whole +of the men were in a good position in life, and many of them very +wealthy; and while strict discipline and obedience were expected while +on duty, at all other times something like equality existed between +officers and men, and all were free to live as they chose.</p> + +<p>The rations served out were simple and often scanty, for at present the +various departments were not properly organized, and such numbers of men +were flocking to the standards that the authorities were at their wits' +end to provide them with even the simplest food. This mattered but +little, however, to the regiment, whose members were all ready and +willing to pay for everything they wanted, and the country people round +found a ready market for all their chickens, eggs, fruit, and vegetables +at Hanover Courthouse, for here there were also several infantry +regiments, and the normally quiet little village was a scene of bustle +and confusion.</p> + +<p>The arms of the cavalry were of a very varied description. Not more than +a dozen had swords; the rest were armed with rifles or shot-guns, with +the barrels cut short to enable them to be carried as carbines. Many of +them were armed with revolvers and some carried pistols so antiquated +that they might have been used in the Revolutionary War. A certain +number of tents had been issued for the use of the corps. These, +however, were altogether insufficient for the numbers, and most of the +men preferred to sleep in shelters composed of canvas, carpets, +blankets, or any other material that came to hand, or in arbors +constructed of the boughs of trees, for it was now April and warm enough +to sleep in the open air.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> +<p>In the third week in May the order came that the corps was to march at +once for Harper's Ferry—an important position at the point where the +Shenandoah River runs into the Potomac, at the mouth of the Shenandoah +Valley. The order was received with the greatest satisfaction. The +Federal forces were gathering rapidly upon the northern banks of the +Potomac, and it was believed that, while the main army would march down +from Washington through Manassas Junction direct upon Richmond, another +would enter by the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing the Blue Ridge +Mountains, come down on the rear of the Confederate army, facing the +main force at Manassas. The cavalry marched by road, while the infantry +were dispatched by rail as far as Manassas Junction, whence they marched +to Harper's Ferry. The black servants accompanied the infantry.</p> + +<p>The cavalry march was a pleasant one. At every village through which +they passed the people flocked out with offerings of milk and fruit. The +days were hot, but the mornings and evenings delightful; and as the +troops always halted in the shade of a wood for three or four hours in +the middle of the day, the marches, although long, were not fatiguing. +At Harper's Ferry General Johnston had just superseded Colonel Jackson +in command. The force there consisted of eleven battalions of infantry, +sixteen guns, and after Ashley's force arrived, three hundred cavalry. +Among the regiments there Vincent found many friends, and learned what +was going on.</p> + +<p>He learned that Colonel Jackson had been keeping them hard at work. Some +of Vincent's friends had been at the Virginia Military Institute at +Lexington, where Jackson was professor of natural philosophy and +instructor of artillery.</p> + +<p>"He was the greatest fun," one of the young men said; "the stiffest and +most awkward-looking fellow in the Institute. He used to walk about as +if he never saw anything or anybody. He was always known as Old Tom, and +nobody <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>ever saw him laugh. He was awfully earnest in all he did, and +strict, I can tell you, about everything. There was no humbugging him. +The fellows liked him because he was really so earnest about +everything, and always just and fair. But he didn't look a bit like a +soldier except as to his stiffness, and when the fellows who had been at +Lexington heard that he was in command here they did not think he would +have made much hand at it; but I tell you, he did. You never saw such a +fellow to work.</p> + +<p>"Everything had to be done, you know. There were the guns, but no horses +and no harness. The horses had to be got somehow, and the harness +manufactured out of ropes; and you can imagine the confusion of nine +battalions of infantry, all recruits, with no one to teach them except a +score or two of old army and militia officers. Old Tom has done wonders, +I can tell you. You see, he is so fearfully earnest himself everyone +else has got to be earnest. There has been no playing about anything, +but just fifteen hours' hard work a day. Fellows grumbled and growled +and said it was absurd, and threatened to do all sorts of things. You +see, they had all come out to fight, if necessary, but hadn't bargained +for such hard work as this.</p> + +<p>"However, Jackson had his way, and I don't suppose anyone ever told him +the men thought they were too hard worked. He is not the sort of man one +would care about remonstrating with. I don't know yet whether he is as +good at fighting as he is at working and organizing; but I rather expect +a fellow who is so earnest about everything else is sure to be earnest +about fighting, and I fancy that, when he once gets into the thick of +it, he will go through with it. He had such a reputation as an oddity at +Lexington that there were a lot of remarks when he was made colonel and +sent here; but there is no doubt that he has proved himself the right +man so far, and although his men may grumble they believe in him.</p> + +<p>"My regiment is in his brigade, and I will bet any money that we have +our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>share of fighting. What sort of man is Johnston? He is a fine +fellow—a soldier, heart and soul. You could tell him anywhere, and we +have a first-rate fellow in command of the cavalry—Colonel Stuart—a +splendid, dashing fellow, full of life and go. His fellows swear by him. +I quite envy you, for I expect you will astonish the Yankee horsemen. +They are no great riders up there, you know, and I reckon the first time +you meet them you will astonish them."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/082.png" border="5" width="800" height="585" alt="Genl. Lees campaigns in Virginia." + title="Genl. Lee's campaigns in Virginia." /> +<span class="caption">Genl. Lee's campaigns in Virginia.</span> +</div> + +<p>Here he suddenly stopped, stood at attention, and saluted.</p> + +<p>Vincent at once did the same, although, had he not been set the example +by his friend, he would never have thought of doing so to the figure who +had passed.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" he asked, as his companion resumed his easy attitude.</p> + +<p>"Why, that's Old Tom."</p> + +<p>"What! Colonel Jackson!" Vincent said in surprise, "Well, he is an +odd-looking fellow!"</p> + +<p>The figure that had passed was that of a tall, gaunt man, leaning +awkwardly forward in his saddle. He wore an old gray coat, and there was +no sign of rank, nor particle of gold lace upon the uniform. He wore on +his head a faded cadet cap, with the rim coming down so far upon his +nose that he could only look sideways from under it. He seemed to pay +but little attention to what was going on around him, and did not enter +into conversation with any of the officers he met.</p> + +<p>The brigade commanded by Jackson was the 1st of the Army of the +Shenandoah, and consisted of the 2d, 4th, 5th, and 27th Virginians, to +which was shortly added the 33d. They were composed of men of all ranks +and ages, among them being a great number of lads from fifteen and +upward; for every school had been deserted. Every boy capable of +carrying a musket had insisted upon joining, and among them were a whole +company of cadets from Lexington. The regiments selected their own +officers, and among these were many who were still lads. Many of the +regiments had no accouterments, and were without uniforms, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>and numbers +carried no better arms than a double-barreled shot-gun; but all were +animated with the same spirit of enthusiasm in their cause, and a +determination to die rather than to allow the invaders to pass on +through the fertile valleys of their native land.</p> + +<p>Of all these valleys that of the Shenandoah was the richest and most +beautiful. It was called the Garden of Virginia; and all writers agreed +in their praises of the beauties of its fields and forests, mountains +and rivers, its delicious climate, and the general prosperity which +prevailed among its population.</p> + +<p>It was a pleasant evening that Ashley's horse spent at Harper's Ferry on +the day they marched in. All had many friends among the other Virginia +regiments, and their campfires were the center toward which men trooped +by scores. The rest was pleasant after their hard marches; and, although +ready to do their own work when necessary, they appreciated the +advantage of having their servants again with them to groom their horses +and cook their food.</p> + +<p>The negroes were not less glad at being again with their masters. Almost +all were men who had, like Dan, been brought up with their young owners, +and felt for them a strong personal attachment, and, if it had been +allowed, would gladly have followed them in the field of battle, and +fought by their side against the "Yankees." Their stay at Harper's Ferry +was to be a short one. Colonel Stuart, with his 200 horse, was scouting +along the whole bank of the Potomac, watching every movement of the +enemy, and Ashley's horse was to join them at once.</p> + +<p>It was not difficult for even young soldiers to form an idea of the +general nature of the operations. They had to protect the Shenandoah +Valley, to guard the five great roads by which the enemy would advance +against Winchester, and not only save the loyal inhabitants and rich +resources of the valley from falling into the hands of the Federals, but +what was of even greater importance, to prevent the latter from marching +across the Blue Ridge Mountains, and falling upon the flank of the main +Confederate army at Manassas.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>The position was a difficult one, for while "the grand army" was +assembling at Alexandria to advance against Manassas Junction, McClellan +was advancing from the northwest with 20,000 men, and Patterson from +Pennsylvania with 18,000.</p> + +<p>In the morning, before parading his troop, 100 strong, Ashley called +them together and told them that, as they would now be constantly on the +move and scattered over a long line, it was impossible that they could +take their servants with them.</p> + +<p>"I should never have allowed them to be brought," he said, "had I known +that we should be scouting over such an extensive country; at the same +time, if we can manage to take a few on it would certainly add to our +comfort. I propose that we choose ten by lot to go on with us. They must +be servants of the troop and not of individuals. We can scatter them in +pairs at five points, with instructions to forage as well as they can, +and to have things in readiness to cook for whoever may come in off duty +or may for the time be posted there. Henceforth every man must groom and +see to his own horse, but I see no reason, military or otherwise, why we +shouldn't get our food cooked for us; and it will be just as well, as +long as we can, to have a few bundles of straw for us to lie on instead +of sleeping on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Another ten men we can also choose by lot to go to Winchester; which +is, I imagine, the point we shall move to if the enemy advance, as I +fancy they will, from the other side of the Shenandoah Valley. The rest +must be sent home."</p> + +<p>Each man accordingly wrote his name on a piece of paper, and placed it +in a haversack. Ten were then drawn out; and their servants were to +accompany the troop at once. The servants of the next ten were to +proceed by train to Winchester, while the slaves of all whose names +remained in the bag were to be sent home at once, provided with passes +permitting them to travel. To Vincent's satis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>faction his name was one of +the first ten drawn, and Dan was therefore to go forward. The greater +part of the men evaded the obligation to send their servants back to +Richmond by dispatching them to friends who had estates in the +Shenandoah Valley, with letters asking them to keep the men for them +until the troop happened to come into their neighborhood.</p> + +<p>At six o'clock in the morning the troop mounted and rode to Bath, thirty +miles away. It was here that Stuart had his headquarters, whence he sent +out his patrols up and down the Potomac, between Harper's Ferry on the +east and Cumberland on the west. Stuart was away when they arrived, but +he rode in a few hours afterward.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Ashley! I am glad you have arrived," he said as he rode up to the +troop, who had hastily mounted as he was seen approaching. "There is +plenty for you to do, I can tell you; and I only wish you had brought a +thousand men instead of a hundred. I am heartily glad to see you all, +gentlemen," he said to the troop. "I am afraid just at first that the +brightness of your gray jackets will put my men rather to shame; but we +shall soon get rid of that. But dismount your men, Ashley; there is +plenty for them and their horses to do without wasting time in parade +work. There is very little of that here, I can tell you. I have not seen +a score of my men together for the last month."</p> + +<p>Vincent gazed with admiration at the young leader, whose name was soon +to be celebrated throughout America and Europe. The young Virginian—for +he was not yet twenty-eight years old—was the <i>beau ideal</i> of a cavalry +officer. He was singularly handsome, and possessed great personal +strength and a constitution which enabled him to bear all hardships. He +possessed unfailing good spirits, and had a joke and laugh for all he +met; and while on the march, at the head of his regiment, he was always +ready to lift up his voice and lead the songs with which the men made +the woods resound.</p> + +<p>He seemed to live in his saddle, and was present at all hours of the +night and day along the line he guarded, seeing that the men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>were +watchful and on the alert, instructing the outposts in their duty, and +infusing his own spirit and vigilance among them. He had been educated +at West Point, and had seen much service with the cavalry against the +Indians in the West. Such was the man who was to become the most famous +cavalry leader of his time. So far he had not come in contact with the +enemy, and his duties were confined to obtaining information regarding +their strength and intentions, to watching every road by which they +could advance, and to seeing that none passed North to carry information +to the enemy as to the Confederate strength and positions, for even in +the Shenandoah Valley there were some whose sympathies were with the +Federals.</p> + +<p>These were principally Northern men settled as traders in the towns, and +it was important to prevent them from sending any news to the enemy. So +well did Stuart's cavalry perform this service, and so general was the +hostility of the population against the North, that throughout the whole +of the war in Virginia it was very seldom that the Northern generals +could obtain any trustworthy information as to the movements and +strength of the Confederates, while the latter were perfectly informed +of every detail connected with the intentions of the invaders.</p> + +<p>The next morning Ashley's troop took up their share of the work at the +front. They were broken up into parties of ten, each of which was +stationed at a village near the river, five men being on duty night and +day. As it happened that none of the other men in his squad had a +servant at the front, Vincent was able without difficulty to have Dan +assigned to his party. A house in the village was placed at their +disposal, and here the five off duty slept and took their meals while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +the others were in the saddle. Dan was quite in his element, and turned +out an excellent cook, and was soon a general favorite among the mess.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>BULL RUN.</h3> + + +<p>The next fortnight passed by without adventure. Hard as the work was, +Vincent enjoyed it thoroughly. When on duty by day he was constantly on +the move, riding through the forest, following country lanes, +questioning everyone he came across; and as the men always worked in +pairs, there was no feeling of loneliness. Sometimes Ashley would draw +together a score of troopers, and crossing the river in a ferry-boat, +would ride twenty miles north, and dashing into quiet villages, astonish +the inhabitants by the sight of the Confederate uniform. Then the +villagers would be questioned as to the news that had reached them of +the movements of the troops; the post-office would be seized and the +letters broken open; any useful information contained in them being +noted. But in general questions were readily answered; for a +considerable portion of the people of Maryland were strongly in favor of +the South, and were only prevented from joining it by the strong force +that held possession of Baltimore, and by the constant movement of +Federal armies through the State. Vincent was often employed in carrying +dispatches from Major Ashley to Stuart, being selected for that duty as +being the best mounted man in the troop. The direction was always a +vague one. "Take this letter to Colonel Stuart, wherever he may be," and +however early he started, Vincent thought himself fortunate if he +carried out his mission before sunset; for Stuart's front covered over +fifty miles of ground, and there was no saying where he might be. +Sometimes, after riding thirty or forty miles, and getting occasional +news that Stuart had passed through ahead of him, he would learn from +some outpost that the colonel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> had been there but ten minutes before, and +had ridden off before he came, and then Vincent had to turn his horse +and gallop back again, seldom succeeding in overtaking his active +commander until the latter had halted for his supper at one or other of +the villages where his men were stationed. Sometimes by good luck he +came upon him earlier, and then, after reading the dispatch, Stuart +would, if he were riding in the direction where Ashley's command lay, +bid him ride on with him, and would chat with him on terms of friendly +intimacy about people they both knew at Richmond, or as to the details +of his work, and sometimes they would sit down together under the shade +of some trees, take out the contents of their haversacks, and share +their dinners.</p> + +<p>"This is the second time I have had the best of this," the colonel +laughed one day; "my beef is as hard as leather, and this cold chicken +of yours is as plump and tender as one could wish to eat."</p> + +<p>"I have my own boy, colonel, who looks after the ten of us stationed at +Elmside, and I fancy that in the matter of cold rations he gives me an +undue preference. He always hands me my haversack when I mount with a +grin, and I quite understand that it is better I should ask no questions +as to its contents."</p> + +<p>"You are a lucky fellow," Stuart said. "My own servant is a good man, +and would do anything for me; but my irregular hours are too much for +him. He never knows when to expect me; and as he often finds that when I +do return I have made a meal an hour before at one of the outposts, and +do not want the food he has for hours been carefully keeping hot for me, +it drives him almost to despair, and I have sometimes been obliged to +eat rather than disappoint him. But he certainly has not a genius for +cooking, and were it not that this riding gives one the appetite of a +hunter, I should often have a good deal of difficulty in devouring the +meal he puts into my haversack."</p> + +<p>But the enemy were now really advancing, and on the 12th of June a +trooper rode in from the extreme left, and handed Vincent a dispatch +from Colonel Stuart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My orders were," he said, "that, if you were here, you were to carry +this on at all speed to General Johnston. If not, someone else was to +take it on."</p> + +<p>"Any news?" Vincent asked, as, aided by Dan, he rapidly saddled +Wildfire.</p> + +<p>"Yes," the soldier said; "2000 of the enemy have advanced up the western +side, and have occupied Romney, and they say all Patterson's force is on +the move."</p> + +<p>"So much the better," Vincent replied, as he jumped into the saddle. "We +have been doing nothing long enough, and the sooner it comes the +better."</p> + +<p>It was a fifty-mile ride; but it was done in five hours, and at the end +of that time Vincent dismounted in front of General Johnston's quarters.</p> + +<p>"Is the general in?" he asked the sentry at the door.</p> + +<p>"No, he is not in; but here he comes," the soldier replied, and two +minutes later the general, accompanied by three or four officers, rode +up.</p> + +<p>Vincent saluted, and handed him the dispatch. The general opened it and +glanced at the contents.</p> + +<p>"The storm is going to burst at last, gentlemen," he said to the +officers. "Stuart writes me that 2000 men, supposed to be the advance of +McClellan's army, are at Romney, and that he hears Patterson is also +advancing from Chambersburg on Williamsport. His dispatch is dated this +morning at nine o'clock. He writes from near Cumberland. No time has +been lost, for that is eighty miles away, and it is but five o'clock +now. How far have you brought this dispatch, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I have brought it from Elmside, general; twenty miles on the other side +of Bath. A trooper brought it in just at midday, with orders for me to +carry it on at once."</p> + +<p>"That is good work," the general said. "You have ridden over fifty miles +in five hours. You must be well mounted, sir."</p> + +<p>"I do not think there is a better horse in the State," Vincent said, +patting Wildfire's neck.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>The general called an orderly.</p> + +<p>"Let this man picket his horse with those of the staff," he said, "and +see that it has forage at once. Take the man to the orderlies' quarters, +and see that he is well cared for."</p> + +<p>Vincent saluted, and, leading Wildfire, followed the orderly. When he +had had a meal, he strolled out to see what was going on. Evidently some +movement was in contemplation. Officers were riding up or dashing off +from the general's headquarters. Two or three regiments were seen +marching down from the plateau on which they were encamped into the +town. Bells rang and drums beat, and presently long trains of railway +wagons, heavily laden, began to make their way across the bridge. Until +next morning the movement continued unceasingly; by that time all the +military stores and public property, together with as much private +property, belonging to inhabitants who had decided to forsake their +homes for a time rather than to remain there when the town was occupied +by the enemy, as could be carried on in the available wagons, had been +taken across the bridge. A party of engineers, who had been all night +hard at work, then set fire both to the railway bridge across the river +and the public buildings in the town. The main body of troops had moved +across in the evening. The rearguard passed when all was in readiness +for the destruction of the bridge.</p> + +<p>General Johnston had been preparing for the movement for some time; he +had foreseen that the position must be evacuated as soon as the enemy +began to advance upon either of his flanks, and a considerable portion +of his baggage and military stores had some time previously been sent +into the interior of Virginia. The troops, formed up on the high grounds +south of the river, looked in silence at the dense volumes of smoke +rising. This was the reality of war. Hitherto their military work had +been no more than that to which many of them were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>accustomed when called +out with the militia of their State; but the scene of destruction on +which they now gazed brought home to them that the struggle was a +serious one—that it was war in its stern reality which had now begun.</p> + +<p>The troops at once set off on their march, and at night bivouacked in +the woods around Charleston. The next day they pushed across the country +and took up a position covering Winchester; and then the enemy, finding +that Johnston's army was in front of them, ready to dispute their +advance, recrossed the river, and Johnston concentrated his force round +Winchester.</p> + +<p>Vincent joined his corps on the same afternoon that the infantry marched +out from Harper's Ferry, the general sending him forward with dispatches +as soon as the troops had got into motion.</p> + +<p>"You will find Colonel Stuart in front of the enemy; but more than that +I cannot tell you."</p> + +<p>This was quite enough for Vincent, who found the cavalry scouting close +to Patterson's force, prepared to attack the enemy's cavalry, should it +advance to reconnoiter the country, and to blow up bridges across +streams, fell trees, and take every possible measure to delay the +advance of Patterson's army, in its attempt to push on toward Winchester +before the arrival of General Johnston's force upon the scene.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you back, Wingfield," Major Ashley said, as he rode +up. "The colonel tells me that in the dispatch he got last night from +Johnston the general said that Stuart's information reached him in a +remarkably short time, having been carried with great speed by the +orderly in charge of the duty. We have scarcely been out of our saddles +since you left. However, I think we have been of use, for we have been +busy all round the enemy since we arrived here in the afternoon, and I +fancy he must think us a good deal stronger than we are. At any rate, he +has not pushed his cavalry forward at all; and, as you say Johnston will +be up to-morrow afternoon, Winchester is safe anyhow."</p> + +<p>After the Federals had recr<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>ossed the river, and Johnston had taken up +his position round Winchester, the cavalry returned to their old work of +scouting along the Potomac.</p> + +<p>On the 20th of June movements of considerable bodies of the enemy were +noticed; and Johnston at once dispatched Jackson with his brigade to +Martinsburg, with orders to send as much of the rolling-stock of the +railroad as could be removed to Winchester, to destroy the rest, and to +support Stuart's cavalry when they advanced. A number of locomotives +were sent to Winchester along the highroad, drawn by teams of horses. +Forty engines and three hundred cars were burned or destroyed, and +Jackson then advanced and took up his position on the road to +Williamsport, the cavalry camp being a little in advance of him. This +was pleasant for Vincent, as, when off duty, he spent his time with his +friends and schoolfellows in Jackson's brigade.</p> + +<p>On the 2d of July the scouts rode into camp with the news that a strong +force was advancing from Williamsport. Jackson at once advanced with the +5th Virginia Infantry, numbering 380 men and one gun, while Stuart, with +100 cavalry, started to make a circuitous route, and harassed the flank +and rear of the enemy. There was no intention on the part of Jackson of +fighting a battle, his orders being merely to feel the enemy, whose +strength was far too great to be withstood, even had he brought his +whole brigade into action, for they numbered three brigades of infantry, +500 cavalry, and some artillery.</p> + +<p>For some hours the little Confederate force skirmished so boldly that +they checked the advance of the enemy, whose general naturally supposed +that he had before him the advanced guard of a strong force, and +therefore moved forward with great caution. Then the Confederates, being +threatened on both flanks by the masses of the Federals, fell back in +good order. The loss was very trifling on either side, but the fact that +so small a force had for hours checked the advance of an army greatly +raised the spirits and confidence of the Confederates. Stuart's small +cavalry force, coming down upon the enemy's rear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>, captured a good many +prisoners—Colonel Stuart himself capturing forty-four infantry. Riding +some distance ahead of his troop to find out the position of the enemy, +he came upon a company of Federal infantry sitting down in a field, +having no idea whatever that any Confederate force was in the +neighborhood. Stuart did not hesitate a moment, but riding up to them +shouted the order, "Throw down your arms, or you are all dead men!" +Believing themselves surrounded, the Federals threw down their arms, and +when the Confederate cavalry came up were marched off as prisoners.</p> + +<p>Jackson, on reaching his camp, struck his tents and sent them to the +rear, and formed up his whole brigade in order of battle. The Federals, +however, instead of attacking, continued their flank movement, and +Jackson fell back through Martinsburg and halted for the night a mile +beyond the town.</p> + +<p>Next day he again retired, and was joined six miles further on by +Johnston's whole force. For four days the little army held its position, +prepared to give battle if the enemy advanced; but the Federals, though +greatly superior in numbers, remained immovable at Martinsburg, and +Johnston, to the great disgust of his troops, retired to Winchester. The +soldiers were longing to meet the invaders in battle, but their general +had to bear in mind that the force under his command might at any moment +be urgently required to join the main Confederate army and aid in +opposing the Northern advance upon Richmond.</p> + +<p>Stuart's cavalry kept him constantly informed of the strength of the +enemy gathering in his front. Making circuits round Martinsburg, they +learned from the farmers what number of troops each day came along; and +while the Federals knew nothing of the force opposed to them, and +believed that it far outnumbered their own, General Johnston knew that +Patterson's force numbered about 22,000 men, while he himself had been +joined only by some 3000 men since he arrived at Winchester.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> +<p>On the 18th of July a telegram from the government at Richmond announced +that the Federal grand army had driven in General Beauregard's pickets +at Manassas, and had begun to advance, and Johnston was directed, if +possible, to hasten to his assistance. A few earthworks had been thrown +up at Winchester, and some guns mounted upon them, and the town was left +under the protection of the local militia. Stuart's cavalry was posted +in a long line across the country to prevent any news of the movement +reaching the enemy. As soon as this was done the infantry, 8300 strong, +marched off. The troops were in high spirits now, for they knew that +their long period of inactivity was over, and that, although ignorant +when and where, they were on their march to meet the enemy.</p> + +<p>They had no wagons or rations; the need for speed was too urgent even to +permit of food being cooked. Without a halt they pressed forward +steadily, and after two days' march, exhausted and half famished, they +reached the Manassas Gap Railroad. Here they were put into trains as +fast as these could be prepared, and by noon on the 20th joined +Beauregard at Manassas. The cavalry had performed their duty of +preventing the news of the movement from reaching the enemy until the +infantry were nearly a day's march away, and then Stuart reassembled his +men and followed Johnston. Thus the Confederate plans had been +completely successful. Over 30,000 of the enemy, instead of being in +line of battle with the main army, were detained before Winchester, +while the little Confederate force which had been facing them had +reached Beauregard in time to take part in the approaching struggle.</p> + +<p>In the North no doubt as to the power of the grand army to make its way +to Richmond was entertained. The troops were armed with the best weapons +obtainable, the artillery was numerous and excellent, the army was well +fed, and so confident were the men of success that they regarded the +whole affair in the light of a great picnic. The grand ar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>my numbered +55,000 men, with nine regiments of cavalry and forty-nine rifle-guns. To +oppose these, the Confederate force, after the arrival of Johnston's +army, numbered 27,833 infantry, thirty-five smooth-bore guns, and 500 +cavalry. Many of the infantry were armed only with shot-guns and old +fowling-pieces, and the guns were small and ill-supplied with +ammunition. There had been some sharp fighting on the 18th, and the +Federal advance across the river of Bull Run had been sharply repulsed, +therefore their generals determined, instead of making a direct attack +on the 31st against the Confederate position, to take a wide sweep +round, cross the river higher up, and falling upon the Confederate left +flank, to crumple it up.</p> + +<p>All night the Federal troops had marched, and at daybreak on the 21st +nearly 40,000 men were in position on the left flank of the +Confederates. The latter were not taken by surprise when Stuart's +cavalry brought in news of the Federal movement, and General Beauregard, +instead of moving his troops toward the threatened point, sent orders to +General Longstreet on the right to cross the river as soon as the battle +began, and to fall upon the Federal flank and rear.</p> + +<p>Had this movement been carried out, the destruction of the Federal army +would probably have been complete; but by one of those unfortunate +accidents which so frequently occur in war and upset the best laid +plans, the order in some way never came to hand, and when late in the +day the error was discovered, it was too late to remedy it.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock in the morning two of the Federal divisions reached the +river, and while one of them engaged the Confederate force stationed at +the bridge, another crossed the river at a ford. Colonel Evans, who +commanded the Confederate forces, which numbered but fifteen companies, +left 200 men to continue to hold the bridge, while with 800 he hurried +to oppose General Hunter's division, which had crossed at the ford.</p> + +<p>This consisted of 16,000 infantry, with cavalry and artillery, and +another divisio<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>n of equal force had crossed at the Red House Ford, +higher up. To check so great a force with this handful of men seemed all +but impossible; but Colonel Evans determined to hold his ground to the +last, to enable his general to bring up re-enforcements. His force +consisted of men of South Carolina and Louisiana, and they contested +every foot of the ground.</p> + +<p>The regiment which formed the advance of the Federals charged, supported +by an artillery fire, but was repulsed. As the heavy Federal line +advanced, however, the Confederates were slowly but steadily pressed +back, until General Bee, with four regiments and a battery of artillery, +came up to their assistance. The newcomers threw themselves into the +fight with great gallantry, and maintained their ground until almost +annihilated by the fire of the enemy, who outnumbered them by five to +one. As, fighting desperately, they fell back before Hunter's division, +the Federals, who had crossed at Red House Ford, suddenly poured down +and took them in flank.</p> + +<p>Swept by a terrible musketry fire, these troops could no longer resist, +and in spite of the efforts of their general, who rode among them +imploring them to stand firm until aid arrived, they began to fall back. +Neither entreaties nor commands were of avail; the troops had done all +that they could, and broken and disheartened they retreated in great +confusion. But at this moment, when all seemed lost, a line of +glittering bayonets was seen coming over the hill behind, and the +general, riding off in haste toward them, found Jackson advancing with +the first brigade.</p> + +<p>Unmoved by the rush of the fugitives of the brigades of Bee and Evans, +Jackson moved steadily forward, and so firm and resolute was their +demeanor that Bee rode after his men, and pointing with his sword to the +first brigade, shouted, "Look, there is Jackson standing like a stone +wall!" The general's words were repeated, and henceforth the brigade was +known as the Stonewall Brigade, and their general by the nickname of +Stonewall Jackson, by which he was ever afterward known. The greater +part of the fu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>gitives rallied, and took up their position on the right +of Jackson, and the Federal forces, who were hurrying forward assured of +victory, found themselves confronted suddenly by 2600 bayonets. After a +moment's pause they pressed forward again, the artillery preparing a way +for them by a tremendous fire.</p> + +<p>Jackson ordered his men to lie down until the enemy arrived within fifty +yards, and then to charge with the bayonet. Just at this moment Generals +Johnston and Beauregard arrived on the spot, and at once seeing the +desperate nature of the situation, and the whole Federal army pressing +forward against a single brigade, they did their best to prepare to meet +the storm. First they galloped up and down the disordered lines of Bee, +exhorting the men to stand firm; and seizing the colors of the 4th +Alabama, Johnston led them forward and formed them up under fire.</p> + +<p>Beauregard hurried up some re-enforcements and formed them on the left +of Jackson, and thus 6500 infantry and artillery, and Stuart's two +troops of cavalry, stood face to face with more than 20,000 infantry and +seven troops of regular cavalry, behind whom, at the lower fords, were +35,000 men in reserve. While his men were lying down awaiting the +attack, Jackson rode backward and forward in front of them as calm and +as unconcerned to all appearance as if on the parade ground, and his +quiet bravery greatly nerved and encouraged the young troops.</p> + +<p>All at once the tremendous artillery fire of the enemy ceased, and their +infantry came on in massive lines. The four Confederate guns poured in +their fire and then withdrew behind the infantry. When the line came +within fifty yards of him, Jackson gave the word, his men sprang to +their feet, poured in a heavy volley, and then charged. A wild yell rose +from both ranks as they closed, and then they were mingled in a +desperate conflict. For a time all was in wild confusion, but the ardor +and courage of Jackson's men prevailed, and they burst through the +center of the Federal line.</p> + +<p>Immediately Ja<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>ckson had charged, Beauregard sent forward the rest of the +troops, and for a time a tremendous struggle took place along the whole +line. Generals Bee and Barlow fell mortally wounded at the head of +their troops. General Hampton was wounded, and many of the colonels +fell. So numerous were the Federals, that although Jackson had pierced +their center, their masses drove back his flanks and threatened to +surround him. With voice and example he cheered on his men to hold their +ground, and the officers closed up their ranks as they were thinned by +the enemy's fire, and for an hour the struggle continued without marked +advantage on either side.</p> + +<p>Jackson's calmness was unshaken even in the excitement of the fight. At +one time an officer rode up to him from another portion of the field and +exclaimed, "General, I think the day is going against us!" To which +Jackson replied in his usual curt manner, "If you think so, sir, you had +better not say anything about it."</p> + +<p>The resolute stand of the Confederates enabled General Beauregard to +bring up fresh troops, and he at last gave the word to advance.</p> + +<p>Jackson's brigade rushed forward on receiving the order, burst through +the Federals with whom they were engaged, and, supported by the +reserves, drove the enemy from the plateau. Then the Federals, though +vastly superior in force, brought up the reserves, and prepared to renew +the attack; but 1700 fresh men of the Army of the Shenandoah came upon +the field of battle, Smith and Early brought up their divisions from the +river, and the whole Southern line advanced at the charge, and drove the +enemy down the slopes and on toward the ford.</p> + +<p>A panic seized them, and their regiments broke up and took to headlong +flight, which soon became an utter rout. Many of them continued their +flight for hours, and for a time the Federal army ceased to exist; and +had the Confederates advanced, as Jackson desired that they should do, +Washington would have fallen into their hands without a blow being +struck in its defense.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>This, the first great battle of the war, is sometimes known as the +battle of Manassas, but more generally as Bull Run.</p> + +<p>With the exception of one or two charges, the little body of Confederate +horse did not take any part in the battle of Bull Run. Had they been +aware of the utter stampede of the Northern troops, they could safely +have pressed forward in hot pursuit as far as Washington, but being +numerically so inferior to the Federal cavalry, and in ignorance that +the Northern infantry had become a mere panic-stricken mob, it would +have been imprudent in the extreme for such a handful of cavalry to +undertake the pursuit of an army.</p> + +<p>Many of the Confederates were of opinion that this decisive victory +would be the end of the war, and that the North, seeing that the South +was able as well as willing to defend the position it had taken up, +would abandon the idea of coercing it into submission. This hope was +speedily dissipated. The North was indeed alike astonished and +disappointed at the defeat of their army by a greatly inferior force, +but instead of abandoning the struggle, they set to work to retrieve the +disaster, and to place in the field a force which would, they believed, +prove irresistible.</p> + +<p>Vincent Wingfield saw but little of the battle at Bull Run. As they were +impatiently waiting the order to charge, while the desperate conflict +between Jackson's brigade and the enemy was at its fiercest, a shell +from one of the Federal batteries burst a few yards in front of the +troop, and one of the pieces, striking Vincent on the side, hurled him +insensible from his horse. He was at once lifted and carried by Dan and +some of the other men-servants, who had been told off for this duty, to +the rear, where the surgeons were busily engaged in dressing the wounds +of the men who straggled back from the front. While the conflict lasted +those unable to walk lay where they fell, for no provision had at +present been made for ambulanc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>e corps, and not a single man capable of +firing a musket could be spared from the ranks. The tears were flowing +copiously down Dan's cheeks as he stood by while the surgeons examined +Vincent's wound.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead, sah?" he sobbed as they lifted him up from his stooping +position.</p> + +<p>"Dead!" the surgeon repeated. "Can't you see he is breathing, and did +you not hear him groan when I examined his side? He is a long way from +being a dead man yet. Some of his ribs are broken, and he has had a very +nasty blow; but I do not think there is any cause for anxiety about him. +Pour a little wine down his throat, and sprinkle his face with water. +Raise his head and put a coat under it, and when he opens his eyes and +begins to recover, don't let him move. Then you can cut up the side of +his jacket and down the sleeve, so as to get it off that side +altogether. Cut his shirt open, and bathe the wound with some water and +bit of rag of any sort; it is not likely to bleed much. When it has +stopped bleeding put a pad of linen upon it, and keep it wet. When we +can spare time we will bandage it properly."</p> + +<p>But it was not until late at night that the time could be spared for +attending to Vincent; for the surgeons were overwhelmed with work, and +the most serious cases were, as far as possible, first attended to. He +had soon recovered consciousness. At first he looked with a feeling of +bewilderment at Dan, who was copiously sprinkling his face with water, +sobbing loudly while he did so. As soon as the negro perceived that his +master had opened his eyes he gave a cry of delight.</p> + +<p>"Thank de Lord, Marse Vincent! Dis child tought you dead and gone for +sure."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Dan? What has happened?" Vincent said, trying to +move, and then stopping suddenly with a cry of pain.</p> + +<p>"You knocked off your horse, sah, wid one of de shells of dem cussed +Yanks."</p> + +<p>"Am I badly hurt, Dan?"</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> +<p>"Bery bad, sah; great piece of flesh pretty nigh as big as my hand come +out ob your side, and doctor says some ob de ribs broken. But de doctor +not seem to make much ob it; he hard sort ob man dat. Say you get all +right again. No time to tend to you now. Hurry away just as if you some +poor white trash instead of Massa Wingfield ob de Orangery."</p> + +<p>Vincent smiled faintly.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't make much difference what a man is in a surgeon's eyes, Dan. +The question is how badly he is hurt, and what can be done for him? +Well, thank God it's no worse. Wildfire was not hurt, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"No, sah; he is standing tied up by dat tree. Now, sah, de doctor say me +cut your jacket off and bave de wound."</p> + +<p>"All right, Dan; but be a little careful with the water, you seem to be +pretty near drowning me as it is. Just wipe my face and hair, and get +the handkerchief from the pocket of my jacket, and open the shirt collar +and put the handkerchief inside round my neck. Then see how the battle +is going on. The roar seems louder than ever."</p> + +<p>Dan went forward to the crest of a slight rise of the ground whence he +could look down upon the field of battle, and made haste to return.</p> + +<p>"Can't see bery well, sah; too much smoke. But dey in de same place +still."</p> + +<p>"Look round, Dan, and see if there are any fresh troops coming up."</p> + +<p>Dan again went to the rise of ground.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah; lot of men coming ober de hill behind."</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Dan. Now you can see about this bathing my side."</p> + +<p>As soon as the battle was over, Major Ashley rode up to where Vincent +and five or six of his comrades of the cavalry were lying wounded.</p> + +<p>"How are you getting on, lads? Pretty well, I hope?" he asked as he +dismounted.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> +<p>"First-rate, major," one of the men answered. "We all of us took a turn +as soon as we heard that the Yanks were whipped."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we have thrashed them handsomely," the major said. "Ah, Wingfield! +I am glad to see you are alive. I thought, when you fell, it was all +over with you."</p> + +<p>"I am not much hurt, sir," Vincent replied. "A flesh wound and some ribs +are broken, I hear; but they won't be long mending, I hope."</p> + +<p>"It's a nasty wound to look at," the major said, as Dan lifted the pad +of wet linen. "But with youth and health you will soon get round it, +never fear."</p> + +<p>"Ah, my poor lad! yours is a worse case," he said as he bent over a +young fellow who was lying a few paces from Vincent.</p> + +<p>"It's all up with me, major," he replied faintly; "the doctor said he +could do nothing for me. But I don't mind, now we have beaten them. You +will send a line to the old people, major, won't you, and say I died +doing my duty? I've got two brothers, and I expect they will send one on +to take my place."</p> + +<p>"I will write to them, my lad," the major said, "and tell them all about +you." He could give the lad no false hopes, for already a gray shade was +stealing over the white face, and the end was close at hand; in a few +minutes he ceased to breathe.</p> + +<p>Late in the evening the surgeons, having attended to more urgent cases, +came round. Vincent's wound was now more carefully examined than before, +but the result was the same. Three of the ribs were badly fractured, but +there was no serious danger.</p> + +<p>"You will want quiet and good nursing for some time," the principal +surgeon said. "There will be a train of wounded going off for Richmond +the first thing in the morning, and you shall go by it. You had better +get a door," he said to some of the troopers, who had come across from +the spot where the cavalry were bivouacked to see how their comrades +were getting on, "and carry him down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> and put him in the train. One has +just been sent off and another will be made up at once, so that the +wounded can be put in it as they are taken down. Now I will bandage the +wound, and it will not want any more attention until you get home."</p> + +<p>A wad of lint was placed upon the wound and bandaged tightly round the +body.</p> + +<p>"Remember you have got to lie perfectly quiet, and not attempt to move +till the bones have knit. I am afraid that they are badly fractured, and +will require some time to heal up again."</p> + +<p>A door was fetched from an outhouse near, and Vincent and two of his +comrades, who were also ordered to be sent to the rear, were one by one +carried down to the nearest point on the railway, where a train stood +ready to receive them, and they were then laid on the seats.</p> + +<p>All night the wounded kept arriving, and by morning the train was packed +as full as it would hold, and with two or three surgeons in charge +started for Richmond. Dan was permitted to accompany the train, at +Vincent's urgent request, in the character of doctor's assistant, and he +went about distributing water to the wounded, and assisting the surgeons +in moving such as required it.</p> + +<p>It was night before the train reached Richmond. A number of people were +at the station to receive it; for as soon as the news of the battle had +been received, preparations had been made for the reception of the +wounded, several public buildings had been converted into hospitals, and +numbers of the citizens had come forward with offers to take one or more +of the wounded into their houses. The streets were crowded with people, +who were wild with joy at the news of the victory which, as they +believed, had secured the State from further fear of invasion. Numbers +of willing hands were in readiness to carry the wounded on stretchers to +the hospitals, where all the surgeons of the town were already waiting +to attend upon them.</p> + +<p>Vincent, at his own request, was only laid upon a bed, as he said that +he would go home to be nursed the first thing in the mor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>ning. This being +the case, it was needless to put him to the pain and trouble of being +undressed. Dan had started, as soon as he saw his master carried into +the hospital, to take the news to the Orangery; being strictly charged +by Vincent to make light of his injury, and on no account whatever to +alarm them. He was to ask that the carriage should come to fetch him the +first thing in the morning.</p> + +<p>It was just daybreak when Mrs. Wingfield drove up to the hospital. Dan +had been so severely cross-examined that he had been obliged to give an +accurate account of Vincent's injury. There was bustle and movement even +at that early hour, for another train of wounded had just arrived. As +she entered the hospital she gave an exclamation of pleasure, for at the +door were two gentlemen in conversation, one of whom was the doctor who +had long attended the family at the Orangery.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you are here, Dr. Mapleston; for I want your opinion before I +move Vincent. Have you seen him?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mrs. Wingfield; I did not know he was here. I have charge of one of +the wards, and have not had time to see who are in the others. I +sincerely hope Vincent is not seriously hurt."</p> + +<p>"That's what I want to find out, doctor. His boy brought us news late +last night that he was here. He said the doctors considered that he was +not in any danger; but as he had three ribs broken, and a deep flesh +wound from the explosion of a shell, it seems to me that it must be +serious."</p> + +<p>"I will go up and see him at once, Mrs. Wingfield, and find out from the +surgeon in charge of his ward exactly what is the matter with him." Dan +led the way to the bed upon which Vincent was lying. He was only dozing, +and opened his eyes as they came up.</p> + +<p>"My poor boy!" Mrs. Wingfield said, struggling with her tears at the +sight of his pale face, "this is sad indeed."</p> + +<p>"It is nothing very bad, mother," Vincent replied cheer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>fully; "nothing +at all to fret about. The wound is nothing to the injuries of most of +those here. I suppose, doctor, I can be moved at once?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Mapleston felt his pulse.</p> + +<p>"You are feverish, Vincent; but perhaps the best thing for you would be +to get you home while you can be moved. You will do far better there +than here. But I must speak to the surgeon in charge of you first, and +hear what he says."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think you can move him," the surgeon of the ward said. "He has +got a nasty wound, and the ticket with him said that three ribs were +badly fractured; but I made no examination, as he said he would be +fetched the first thing this morning. I only put on a fresh dressing and +bandaged it. The sooner you get him off the better, if he is to be +moved. Fever is setting in, and he will probably be wandering by this +evening. He will have a much better chance at home, with cool rooms and +quiet and careful nursing, than he can have here; though there would be +no lack of either comforts or nurses, for half the ladies in the town +have volunteered for the work, and we have offers of all the medical +comforts that could be required were the list of wounded ten times as +large as it is."</p> + +<p>A stretcher was brought in, and Vincent was lifted as gently as possible +upon it. Then he was carried down stairs and the stretcher placed in the +carriage; which was a large open one, and afforded just sufficient +length for it. Mrs. Wingfield took her seat beside him, Dan mounted the +box beside the coachman.</p> + +<p>"I will be out in an hour, Mrs. Wingfield," Dr. Mapleston said. "I have +got to go round the ward again, and will then drive out at once. Give +him lemonade and cooling drinks; don't let him talk. Cut his clothes off +him, and keep the room somewhat dark, but with a free current of air. I +will bring out some medicine with me."</p> + +<p>The carriage drove slowly to avoid shaking, and when they approached th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>e +house Mrs. Wingfield told Dan to jump down and come to the side of the +carriage. Then she told him to run on as fast as he could ahead, and to +tell her daughters not to meet them upon their arrival, and that all the +servants were to be kept out of the way, except three men to carry +Vincent upstairs. The lad was consequently got up to his room without +any excitement, and was soon lying on his bed with a sheet thrown +lightly over him.</p> + +<p>"That is comfortable," he said, as his mother bathed his face and hands +and smoothed his hair. "Where are the girls, mother?"</p> + +<p>"They will come in to see you now, Vincent; but you are to keep quite +quiet, you know, and not to talk." The girls stole in and said a few +words, and left him alone again with Mrs. Wingfield. He did not look to +them so ill as they had expected, for there was a flush of fever on his +cheeks. Dr. Mapleston arrived a little later, examined and redressed the +wound, and comforted Mrs. Wingfield with the assurance that there was +nothing in it likely to prove dangerous to life.</p> + +<p>"Our trouble will be rather with the effect of the shock than with the +wound itself. He is very feverish now, and you must not be alarmed if by +this evening he is delirious. You will give him this cooling draught +every three hours; he can have anything in the way of cooling drinks he +likes. If he begins to wander, put cloths dipped in cold water and wrung +out on his head, and sponge his hands with water with a little Eau de +Cologne in it. If he seems very hot set one of the women to fan him, but +don't let her go on if it seems to worry him. I will come round again at +half-past nine this evening and will make arrangements to pass the night +here. We have telegrams saying that surgeons are coming from Charleston +and many other places, so I can very well be spared."</p> + +<p>When the doctor returned in the evening, he found, as he had +anticipated, that Vincent was in a high state of fever. This continued +four or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>five days, and then gradually passed off; and he woke up one +morning perfectly conscious. His mother was sitting on a chair at the +bedside.</p> + +<p>"What is the time, mother?" he asked. "Have I been asleep long?"</p> + +<p>"Some time, dear," she answered gently; "but you must not talk. You are +to take this draught and go off to sleep again; when you wake you may +ask any questions you like." She lifted the lad's head, gave him the +draught and some cold tea, then darkened the room, and in a few minutes +he was asleep again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE "MERRIMAC" AND THE "MONITOR."</h3> + + +<p>It was some weeks before Vincent was able to walk unaided. His +convalescence was somewhat slow, for the shock to the system had been a +severe one. The long railway journey had been injurious to him, for the +bandage had become somewhat loose and the broken pieces of bone had +grated upon each other, and were much longer in knitting together than +they would have been had he been treated on the spot.</p> + +<p>As soon as he could walk he became anxious to rejoin his troop, but the +doctor said that many weeks must elapse before he would be able to +undergo the hardships of a campaign. He was reconciled to some extent to +the delay by letters from his friends with the troop and by the perusal +of the papers. There was nothing whatever doing in Virginia. The two +armies still faced each other, the Northerners protected by the strong +fortifications they had thrown up round Washington—fortifications much +too formidable to be attacked by the Confederates, held as they were by +a force immensely superior to their own, both in numbers and arms.</p> + +<p>The Northerners were indeed hard at work, collecting and organizing an +army which was to crush out the rebellion. General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> Scott had been +succeeded by McClellan in the supreme command, and the new general was +indefatigable in organizing the vast masses of men raised in the North. +So great were the efforts that, in a few months after the defeat of Bull +Run, the North had 650,000 men in arms.</p> + +<p>But while no move had at present been made against Virginia there was +sharp fighting in some of the border States, especially in Missouri and +Kentucky, in both of which public opinion was much divided, and +regiments were raised on both sides.</p> + +<p>Various operations were now undertaken by the Federal fleet at points +along the coast, and several important positions were taken and +occupied, it being impossible for the Confederates to defend so long a +line of seacoast. The South had lost rather than gained ground in +consequence of their victory at Bull Run. For a time they had been +unduly elated, and were altogether disposed to underrate their enemies +and to believe that the struggle was as good as over. Thus, then, they +made no effort at all corresponding to the North; but as time went on, +and they saw the vastness of the preparations made for their conquest, +the people of the Southern States again bestirred themselves.</p> + +<p>Owing to the North having the command of the sea, and shutting up all +the principal ports, they had to rely upon themselves for everything, +while the North could draw arms and ammunition and all the requisites of +war from the markets of Europe. Foundries were accordingly established +for the manufacture of artillery, and factories for muskets, ammunition, +and percussion caps. The South had, in fact, to manufacture everything +down to the cloth for her soldiers' uniforms and the leather for their +shoes; and, as in the past she had relied wholly upon the North for such +goods, it was for a time impossible to supply the troops with even the +most necessary articles.</p> + +<p>The women throughout the States were set to work spinning and weaving +rough cloth and making uniforms from it. Leather, however, cannot b<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>e +produced all at once, and indeed, with all their efforts, the +Confederate authorities were never, throughout the war, able to provide +a sufficient supply of boots for the troops, and many a battle was won +by soldiers who fought almost barefooted, and who reshod themselves for +the most part by stripping the boots from their dead foes. Many other +articles could not be produced in the Southern States, and the +Confederates suffered much from the want of proper medicines and +surgical appliances.</p> + +<p>For these and many other necessaries they had to depend solely upon the +ships which succeeded in making their way through the enemy's cruisers +and running the blockade of the ports. Wine, tea, coffee, and other +imported articles soon became luxuries beyond the means of all, even the +very wealthy. All sorts of substitutes were used; grain, roasted and +ground, being chiefly used as a substitute for coffee. Hitherto the +South had been principally occupied in raising cotton and tobacco, +depending chiefly upon the North for food; and it was necessary now to +abandon the cultivation of products for which they had no sale, and to +devote the land to the growth of maize and other crops for food.</p> + +<p>By the time that the long period of inaction came to a close, Vincent +had completely recovered his strength, and was ready to rejoin the ranks +as soon as the order came from Colonel Stuart, who had promised to send +for him directly there was a prospect of active service.</p> + +<p>One of Vincent's first questions, as soon as he became convalescent, was +whether a letter had been received from Tony. It had come, he was told, +among the last batch of letters that crossed the frontier before the +outbreak of hostilities, and Mrs. Wingfield had, as he had requested, +opened it. As had been arranged, it had merely contained Tony's address +at a village near Montreal; for Vincent had warned him to say nothing in +the letter, for there was no saying, in the troubled times which were +approaching when Tony left, into whose hands it might fall.</p> + +<p>Vin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>cent had, before starting, told his mother of the share he had taken +in getting the negro safely away, and Mrs. Wingfield, brought up, as she +had been, to regard those who assisted runaway slaves to escape in the +same light as those who assisted to steal any other kind of property, +was at first greatly shocked when she heard that her son had taken part +in such an enterprise, however worthy of compassion the slave might be, +and however brutal the master from whose hands he had fled. However, as +Vincent was on the point of starting for the war to meet danger, and +possibly death, in the defense of Virginia, she had said little, and +that little was in reference rather to the imprudence of the course he +had taken than to what she regarded in her own mind as its folly, and +indeed its criminality.</p> + +<p>She had, however, promised that as soon as Tony's letter arrived she +would, if still possible, forward Dinah and the child to him, supplying +her with money for the journey, and giving her the papers freeing her +from slavery which Vincent had duly signed in the presence of a justice. +When the letter came, however, it was already too late. Fighting was on +the point of commencing, all intercourse across the border was stopped, +the trains were all taken up for the conveyance of troops, and even a +man would have had great difficulty in passing northward, while for an +unprotected negress with a baby such a journey would have been +impossible.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield had therefore written four times at fortnightly intervals +to Tony, saying that it was impossible to send Dinah off at present, but +that she should be dispatched as soon as the troubles were over, upon +receipt of another letter from him saying that his address was +unchanged, or giving a new one. These letters were duly posted, and it +was probable that one or other of them would in time reach Tony, as +mails were sent off to Europe, whenever an opportunity offered for them +to be taken by a steamer running the blockade from a Southern port. +Dinah, therefore, still remained at the Orangery. She was well and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +happy, for her life there was a delightful one indeed after her toil and +hardship at the Jacksons'; and although she was anxious to join her +husband, the knowledge that he was well and safe from all pursuit, and +that sooner or later she would join him with her child, was sufficient +to make her perfectly contented.</p> + +<p>During Vincent's illness she had been his most constant attendant; for +her child now no longer required her care, and passed much of its time +down at the nursery, where the young children of the slaves were looked +after by two or three aged negresses past active work. She had therefore +begged Mrs. Wingfield to be allowed to take her place by the bedside of +her young master, and, after giving her a trial, Mrs. Wingfield found her +so quiet, gentle, and patient that she installed her there, and was able +to obtain the rest she needed, with a feeling of confidence that Vincent +would be well attended to in her absence.</p> + +<p>When Vincent was well enough to be about again, his sisters were +surprised at the change that had taken place in him since he had started +a few months before for the war. It was not so much that he had grown, +though he had done so considerably, but that he was much older in manner +and appearance. He had been doing man's work,—work requiring vigilance, +activity, and courage,—and they could no longer treat him as a boy. As +he became stronger he took to riding about the plantation; but not upon +Wildfire, for his horse was still with the troop, Colonel Stuart having +promised to see that the animal was well cared for, and that no one +should ride upon it but himself.</p> + +<p>"I hope you like Jonas Pearson better than you used to do, Vincent," +Mrs. Wingfield said a day or two before he started to rejoin his troop.</p> + +<p>"I can't say I do, mother," he replied shortly. "The man is very civil +to me now—too civil, in fact; but I don't like him, and I don't believe +he is honest. I don't mean that he would cheat you, though he may do so +for anything I know; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> he pretends to be a violent Secessionist, +which, as he comes from Vermont, is not natural, and I imagine he would +sing a different tune if the bluecoats ever get to Richmond. Still I +have nothing particular to say against him, except that I don't like +him, and I don't trust him. So long as everything goes on well for the +Confederacy I don't suppose it matters, but if we should ever get the +worst of it you will see that fellow will be mischievous.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/113.png" border="5" width="800" height="526" alt="Richmond and Fort Monroe." title="Richmond and Fort Monroe." /> +<span class="caption">Richmond and Fort Monroe.</span> +</div> + +<p>"However, I hear that he has obeyed your orders, and that there has been +no flogging on the estate since I went away. In fact, as far as I can +see, he does not keep anything like such a sharp hand over the slaves as +he used to do; and in some of the fields the work seems to be done in a +very slovenly way. What his game is I don't know; but I have no doubt +whatever that he has some game in his mind."</p> + +<p>"You are a most prejudiced boy," Mrs. Wingfield said, laughing. "First +of all the man is too strict, and you were furious about it; now you +think he is too lenient, and at once you suspect he has what you call a +game of some sort or other on. You are hard to please, indeed."</p> + +<p>Vincent smiled. "Well, as I told you once before, we shall see. I hope I +am wrong, and that Pearson is all that you believe him to be. I own that +I may be prejudiced against him, but nothing will persuade me that it +was not from him that Jackson learned that Dinah was here, and it was to +that we owe the visit of the sheriff and the searching the plantation +for Tony. However, whatever the man is at heart, he can, as far as I +see, do you no injury as long as things go on as they are, and I +sincerely trust he will never have an opportunity of doing so."</p> + +<p>During the winter Vincent had made the acquaintance of many of the +Southern leaders. The town was the center of the movement, the heart of +the Confederacy. It was against it, as the capital of the Southern +States, that the efforts of the Northerners were principally directed, +and to it flocked th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>e leading men from all parts of the country. +Although every Virginian family had some of its members at the front, +and a feeling of anxiety reigned everywhere, a semblance of gayety was +kept up. The theater was opened, and parties and balls given in order to +keep up the spirits of the people by the example of those of higher +rank.</p> + +<p>These balls differed widely in appearance from those of eighteen months +before. The gentlemen were almost all in uniform, and already calicoes +and other cheap fabrics were worn by many of the ladies, as foreign +dress materials could no longer be purchased. Mrs. Wingfield made a +point of always attending these entertainments with her daughters, which +to the young people afforded a cheerful break in the dullness and +monotony of their usual life; for owing to the absence of almost all the +young men with the army, there had been a long cessation of the pleasant +interchange of visits, impromptu parties, and social gatherings that had +formed a feature in the life of Virginia.</p> + +<p>The balls would have been but dull affairs had only the residents of +Richmond been present; but leave was granted as much as possible to +officers stationed with regiments within a railway run of the town, and +as these eagerly availed themselves of the change from the monotony of +camp life, the girls had no reason to complain of want of partners. +Here, and at the receptions given by President Davis, Vincent met all +the leaders of the Confederacy, civil and military. Many of them had +been personal friends of the Wingfields before the Secession movement +began, and among them was General Magruder, who commanded the troops +round Richmond.</p> + +<p>Early in the winter the general had called at the Orangery. "We are +going to make a call upon the patriotism of the planters of this +neighborhood, Mrs. Wingfield," he said, during lunch time. "You see our +armies are facing those of the Federals opposite Washington, and can +offer a firm front to any foe marching down from the North; but +unf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>ortunately they have command of the sea, and there is nothing to +prevent their embarking an army on board ship and landing it in either +the James or the York rivers, and in that case they might make a rush +upon Richmond before there would be time to bring down troops to our +aid. I am therefore proposing to erect a chain of works between the two +rivers, so as to be able to keep even a large army at bay until +re-enforcements arrive; but to do this a large number of hands will be +required, and we are going to ask the proprietors of plantations to +place as many negroes as they can spare at our disposal."</p> + +<p>"There can be no doubt as to the response your quest will meet with, +general. At present we have scarcely enough work for our slaves to do. I +intend to grow no tobacco next year, for it will only rot in the +warehouse, and a comparatively small number of hands are required to +raise corn crops. I have about a hundred and seventy working hands on +the Orangery, and shall be happy to place a hundred at your disposal for +as long a time as you may require them. If you want fifty more, you can +of course have them. Everything else must at present give way to the +good of the cause."</p> + +<p>"I thank you much, Mrs. Wingfield, for your offers, and will put your +name down the first on the list of contributors."</p> + +<p>"You seem quite to have recovered now," he said to Vincent a few minutes +afterward.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I am ashamed of staying here so long, general. But I feel some +pain at times; and as there is nothing doing at the front, and my doctor +says that it is of importance I should have rest as long as possible, I +have stayed on. Major Ashley has promised to recall me as soon as there +is a prospect of active work."</p> + +<p>"I think it is quite likely that there will be active work here as soon +as anywhere else," the general said. "We know pretty well what is doing +at Washington, and though nothing has been decided upon, there is a +party in favor of a landing in force here; and if so, we shall have ho<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>t +work. What do you say? If you like, I will get you a commission and +appoint you one of my aids-de-camp. Your knowledge of the country will +make you useful, and as Ashley has specially mentioned your name in one +of his dispatches, you can have the commission by asking for it.</p> + +<p>"If there is to be fighting round here, it will be of more interest to +you defending your own home than in taking part in general engagements +for the safety of the State. It will, too, enable you to be a good deal +at home; and although, so far, the slaves have behaved extremely well, +there is no saying exactly what may happen if the Northerners come among +us. You can rejoin your own corps afterward, you know, if nothing comes +of this."</p> + +<p>Vincent was at first inclined to decline the offer, but his mother and +sisters were so pleased at having him near them that he finally accepted +with thanks, being principally influenced by the general's last +argument, that possibly there might be trouble with the slaves in the +event of a landing in the James Peninsula by the Northerners. A few days +later there came an official intimation that he had received a +commission in the cavalry, and had at General Magruder's request been +appointed to his staff, and he at once entered upon his new duties.</p> + +<p>Fortress Monroe, at the entrance of Hampton Roads, was still in the +hands of the Federals, and a large Federal fleet was assembled here, and +was only prevented from sailing up the James River by the <i>Merrimac</i>, a +steamer which the Confederates had plated with railway iron. They had +also constructed batteries upon some high bluffs on each side of the +river. In a short time 5000 negroes were set to work erecting batteries +upon the York River at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, and upon a line of +works extending from Warwick upon the James River to Ship Point on the +York, through a line of wooded and swampy country intersected by streams +emptying themselves into one or other of the rivers.</p> + +<p>This lin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>e was some thirty miles in length, and would require 25,000 men +to guard it; but Magruder hoped that there would be sufficient warning +of an attack to enable re-enforcements to arrive in time to raise his +own command of about 10,000 men to that strength. The negroes worked +cheerfully, for they received a certain amount of pay from the State; +but the work was heavy and difficult, and different altogether to that +which they were accustomed to perform. The batteries by the sides of the +rivers made fair progress, but the advance of the long line of works +across the peninsula was but slow. Vincent had, upon receiving his +appointment, written at once to Major Ashley, sending his letter by Dan, +who was ordered to bring back Wildfire. Vincent stated that, had he +consulted his personal feeling, he should have preferred remaining in +the ranks of his old corps; but that, as the fighting might be close to +his home, and there was no saying what might be the behavior of the +slave population in the event of a Northern invasion, he had, for the +sake of his mother and sisters, accepted the appointment, but as soon as +the danger was over he hoped to rejoin the corps and serve under his +former commander.</p> + +<p>Dan, on his return with Wildfire, brought a letter from the major saying +that, although he should have been glad to have had him with him, he +quite agreed with the decision at which he had, under the circumstances, +arrived. Vincent now took up his quarters at the camp formed a short +distance from the city, and much of his time was spent in riding to and +from the peninsula, seeing that the works were being carried out +according to the plan of the general, and reporting upon the manner in +which the contractors for the supply of food to the negroes at work +there performed their duties. Sometimes he was away for two or three +days upon this work; but he generally managed once or twice a week to +get home for a few hours.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Richmond and its neighborhood were naturally greatly +interested in the progress of the works for their defens<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>e, and parties +were often organized to ride or drive to Yorktown, or to the batteries +on the James River, to watch the progress made. Upon one occasion +Vincent accompanied his mother and sisters, and a party of ladies and +gentlemen from the neighboring plantations, to Drury's Bluff, where an +intrenched position named Fort Darling had been erected, and +preparations made to sink vessels across the river, and close it against +the advance of the enemy's fleet, should any misfortune happen to the +<i>Merrimac</i>.</p> + +<p>Several other parties had been made up, and each brought provisions with +them, General Magruder and some of his officers received them upon their +arrival, and conducted them over the works. After this the whole party +sat down to a picnic meal on the ground, and no stranger could have +guessed that the merry party formed part of a population threatened with +invasion by a powerful foe. There were speeches and toasts, all of a +patriotic character, and General Magruder raised the enthusiasm to the +highest point by informing them that in a few days—the exact day was a +secret, but it would be very shortly—the <i>Merrimac</i>, or, as she had +been rechristened, the <i>Virginia</i>, would put out of Norfolk Harbor, and +see what she could do to clear Hampton Roads of the fleet that now +threatened them. As they were riding back to Richmond the general said +to Vincent:</p> + +<p>"I will tell you a little more than I told the others, Wingfield. I +believe the <i>Merrimac</i> will go out the day after to-morrow. I wish I +could get away myself to see the affair; but, unfortunately, I cannot do +so. However, if you like to be present, I will give you three days' +leave, as you have been working very hard lately. You can start early +to-morrow, and can get down by train to Norfolk in the evening. I should +advise you to take your horse with you, and then you can ride in the +morning to some spot from which you will get a fair view of the Roads, +and be able to see what is going on."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much, sir," Vincent said. "I should like it immensely."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> +<p>The next morning Vincent went down to Norfolk. Arriving there, he found +that, although there was a general expectation that the <i>Merrimac</i> +would shortly go out to try her strength with the enemy, nothing was +known of the fact that the next morning had been fixed for the +encounter; the secret being kept to the last, lest some spy or adherent +of the North might take the news to the fleet. After putting up his +horse Vincent went down to the navy yard, off which the <i>Merrimac</i> was +lying.</p> + +<p>This ship had been sunk by the Federals when, at the commencement of +hostilities, they had evacuated Norfolk. Having been raised by the +Confederates, the ship was cut down, and a sort of roof covered with +iron was built over it, so that the vessel presented the appearance of a +huge sunken house. A ram was fixed to her bow, and she was armed with +ten guns. Her steam-power was very insufficient for her size, and she +could only move through the water at the rate of five knots an hour.</p> + +<p>"She is an ugly-looking thing," a man observed to Vincent, as he gazed +at the ship.</p> + +<p>"Frightfully ugly," Vincent agreed. "She may be a formidable machine in +the way of fighting, but one can scarcely call her a ship."</p> + +<p>"She is a floating battery, and if they tried their best to turn out the +ugliest thing that ever floated they could not have succeeded better. +She is just like a Noah's ark sunk down to the eaves of her roof."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is a good deal like that," Vincent agreed. "The very look of +her ought to be enough to frighten the Federals, even if she did nothing +else."</p> + +<p>"I expect it will not be long before she gives them a taste of her +quality," the man said. "She has got her coal and ammunition on board, +and there's nothing to prevent her going out this evening if she wants +to."</p> + +<p>"It will be worth seeing when she does go out to fight the Northerners," +Vincent said. "It will be a new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> experiment in warfare, and, if she turns +out a success, I suppose all the navies in the world will be taking to +cover themselves up with iron."</p> + +<p>The next morning, which was the 8th of March,—a date forever memorable +in naval annals,—smoke was seen pouring out from the funnels of the +<i>Merrimac</i>, and there were signs of activity on board the <i>Patrick +Henry</i>, of six guns, and the <i>Jamestown</i>, <i>Raleigh</i>, <i>Beaufort</i>, and +<i>Teazer</i>, little craft carrying one gun each, and at eleven o'clock they +all moved down the inlet on which Norfolk is situated. The news that the +<i>Merrimac</i> was going out to attack the enemy had now spread, and the +whole population of Norfolk turned out and hastened down toward the +mouth of the inlet on horseback, in vehicles, or on foot, while Vincent +rode to the batteries on Sewell's Point, nearly facing Fortress Monroe.</p> + +<p>He left his horse at a farmhouse a quarter of a mile from the battery; +for Wildfire was always restless under fire, and it was probable that +the batteries would take a share in the affair. At one o'clock some of +the small Federal lookout launches were seen to be at work signaling, a +bustle could be observed prevailing among the large ships over by the +fortress, and it was evident that the <i>Merrimac</i> was now visible to them +as she came down the inlet. The <i>Cumberland</i> and <i>Congress</i> men-of-war +moved out in that direction, and the <i>Minnesota</i> and the <i>St. Lawrence</i>, +which were at anchor, got under way, assisted by steam tugs.</p> + +<p>The <i>Merrimac</i> and the fleet of little gunboats were now visible from +the battery, advancing against the <i>Cumberland</i> and <i>Congress</i>. The +former opened fire upon her at a distance of a mile with the heavy pivot +guns, but the <i>Merrimac</i>, without replying, continued her slow and +steady course toward them. She first approached the <i>Congress</i>, and as +she did so a puff of smoke burst, from the forward end of her +pent-house, and the water round the <i>Congress</i> was churned up by a hail +of grape-shot. As they passed each other both vessels fired a broadside. +The officers in the fort, provided with glasses, could see the effect of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +the <i>Merrimac's</i> fire in the light patches that showed on the side of +the <i>Congress</i>, but the <i>Merrimac</i> appeared entirely uninjured. She now +approached the <i>Cumberland</i>, which poured several broadsides into her, +but altogether without effect.</p> + +<p>The <i>Merrimac</i>, without replying, steamed straight on and struck the +<i>Cumberland</i> with great force, knocking a large hole in her side, near +the water line. Then backing off, she opened fire upon her.</p> + +<p>For half an hour the crew of the <i>Cumberland</i> fought with great bravery. +The ships lay about three hundred yards apart, and every shot from the +<i>Merrimac</i> told on the wooden vessel. The water was pouring in through +the breach. The shells of the <i>Merrimac</i> crushed in through her side, +and at one time set her on fire; but the crew worked their guns until +the vessel sank beneath their feet. Some men succeeded in swimming to +land, which was not far distant, others were saved by small boats from +the shore, but nearly half of the crew of 400 men were either killed in +action or drowned.</p> + +<p>The <i>Merrimac</i> now turned her attention to the <i>Congress</i>, which was +left to fight the battle alone, as the <i>Minnesota</i> had got aground, and +the <i>Roanoke</i> and <i>St. Lawrence</i> could not approach near enough to +render them assistance from their draught of water. The <i>Merrimac</i> +poured broadside after broadside into her, until the officer in command +and many of the crew were killed. The lieutenant who succeeded to the +command, seeing there was no prospect of help, and that resistance was +hopeless, hauled down the flag. A gunboat was sent alongside, with +orders that the crew should leave the <i>Congress</i> and come on board, as +the ship was to be burned. But the troops and artillery lining the shore +now opened fire on the little gunboat, which consequently hauled off. +The <i>Merrimac</i>, after firing several more shells into the <i>Congress</i>, +moved away to attack the <i>Minnesota</i>, and the survivors of the 200 men +who composed the crew of the <i>Congress</i> were conveyed to shore in small +boats. The vessel was set on fire either by her own crew or the shells +of the <i>Merrimac</i>, and by midnight blew up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>Owing to the shallowness of the water the <i>Merrimac</i> could not get near +enough to the <i>Minnesota</i> to use her own small guns to advantage, and +the gunboat was driven off by the heavy ten-inch gun of the Federal +frigate, and, therefore, at seven o'clock the <i>Merrimac</i> and her +consorts returned to Norfolk. The greatest delight was felt on shore at +the success of the engagement, and on riding back to Norfolk Vincent +learned that the ram would go out again next morning to engage the rest +of the Federal fleet.</p> + +<p>She herself had suffered somewhat in the fight. Her loss in men was only +two killed and eight wounded; but two of her guns had the muzzles shot +off, the armor was damaged in some places, and, most serious of all, she +had badly twisted her ram in running into the <i>Cumberland</i>. Still it +appeared that she was more than a match for the rest of the Federal +fleet, and that these must either fly or be destroyed.</p> + +<p>As the general had given him three days' leave, Vincent was able to stay +to see the close of the affair, and early next morning again rode down +to Sewell's Point, as the <i>Merrimac</i> was to start at daybreak. At six +o'clock the ironclad came out from the river and made for the +<i>Minnesota</i>, which was still aground. The latter was seen to run up a +signal, and the spectators saw an object which they had not before +perceived coming out as if to meet the ram. The glasses were directed +toward it, and a general exclamation of surprise was heard.</p> + +<p>"What is the thing? It looks like a raft with two round turrets upon it, +and a funnel." A moment's consideration, and the truth burst upon them. +It was the ship they had heard of as building at New York, and which had +been launched six weeks before. It was indeed the <i>Monitor</i>, which had +arrived during the night, just in time to save the rest of the Federal +fleet. She was the first regular ironclad ever built. She was a turret +ship, carrying two very heavy guns, and showing only between two and +three feet above the water.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> +<p>The excitement upon both shores as these adversaries approached each +other was intense. They moved slowly, and not until they were within a +hundred yards distance did the <i>Monitor</i> open fire, the <i>Merrimac</i> +replying at once. The fire for a short time was heavy and rapid, the +distance between the combatants varying from fifty to two hundred yards. +The <i>Monitor</i> had by far the greatest speed, and was much more easily +turned than the Confederate ram, and her guns were very much heavier, +and the <i>Merrimac</i>, while still keeping up the fight, made toward the +mouth of the river.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she turned and steamed directly at the <i>Monitor</i>, and before +the latter could get out of her way struck her on the side; but the ram +was bent, and her weak engines were insufficient to propel her with the +necessary force. Consequently she inflicted no damage on the <i>Monitor</i>, +and the action continued, the turret ship directing her fire at the iron +roof of the ram, while the latter pointed her guns especially at the +turret and pilot-house of the <i>Monitor</i>. At length, after a battle which +had lasted six hours, the <i>Monitor</i> withdrew, one of the plates of her +pilot house being seriously damaged and her commander injured in the +eyes.</p> + +<p>When her foe drew off the <i>Merrimac</i> steamed back to Norfolk. There were +no men killed in either battle, and each side claimed a victory; the +Federals upon the ground that they had driven off the <i>Merrimac</i>, the +Confederates because the <i>Monitor</i> had retreated from the fight. Each +vessel, however, held the strength of the other in respect; the +<i>Monitor</i> remaining as sentinel over the ships and transports at +Fortress Monroe, while the <i>Merrimac</i> at Norfolk continued to guard the +entrance into the James River.</p> + +<p>As soon as the fight was over Vincent Wingfield, greatly pleased that he +had witnessed so strange and interesting a combat, rode back <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>to Norfolk, +and the same evening reached Richmond, where his description of the +fight was received with the greatest interest and excitement.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>McCLELLAN'S ADVANCE.</h3> + + +<p>It was not until three weeks after the fight between the ironclads that +the great army under General McClellan arrived off Fortress Monroe, the +greater portion of the troops coming down the Potomac in steam +transports. Vast quantities of stores had been accumulated in and around +the fortress. Guns of a size never before used in war were lying on the +wharfs in readiness to be placed in batteries, while Hampton Roads were +crowded with transports and store vessels watched over by the <i>Monitor</i> +and the other warships. McClellan's army was a large one, but not so +strong a force as he had intended to have taken with him, and as soon as +he arrived at Fortress Monroe he learned that he would not be able to +expect much assistance from the fleet. The <i>Merrimac</i> completely closed +the James River; and were the more powerful vessels of the fleet to move +up York River, she would be able to sally out and destroy the rest of +the fleet and the transports.</p> + +<p>As it was most important to clear the peninsula between the two rivers +before Magruder should receive strong re-enforcements, a portion of the +troops were at once landed, and on the 4th of April 56,000 men and one +hundred guns disembarked and started on their march against Yorktown. As +soon as the news of the arrival of the Northern army at Fortress Monroe +reached Richmond fresh steps were taken for the defense of the city. +Magruder soon found that it would be impossible with the force at his +command to hold the line he had proposed, and a large body of negroes +and troops were set to work to throw up defenses between Yorktown and a +point on the Warwick River thirteen and a half miles away.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> +<p>A portion of this line was covered by the Warwick Creek which he dammed +up to make it unfordable, and erected batteries to guard the dams. +Across the intervening ground a weak earthwork with trenches was +constructed, there being no time to raise stronger works; but Magruder +relied chiefly upon the swampy and difficult nature of the country, and +the concealment afforded by the forest, which rendered it difficult for +the enemy to discover the weakness of the defenders.</p> + +<p>He posted 6000 men at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, and the remaining +5000 troops under his command were scattered along the line of works to +the Warwick River. He knew that if McClellan pushed forward with all his +force he must be successful; but he knew also that, if the enemy could +be held in check for a few days, assistance would reach him from General +Johnston's army.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for the Confederates the weather, which had been fine and +clear during the previous week, changed on the very day that McClellan +started. The rain came down in torrents, and the roads became almost +impassable. The columns struggled on along the deep and muddy tracks all +day, and bivouacked for the night in the forests. The next morning they +resumed their march, and on reaching the first line of intrenchments +formed by the Confederates found them deserted, and it was not until +they approached the Warwick Creek that they encountered serious +opposition. Had they pushed forward at once they would have +unquestionably captured Richmond. But McClellan's fault was +over-caution, and he believed himself opposed by a very much larger +force than that under the command of Magruder; consequently, instead of +making an attack at once, he began regular siege operations against the +works on Warwick Creek and those at Yorktown.</p> + +<p>The delay saved Richmond. Every day re-enforcements arrived, and by the +time that McClellan's army, over 100,000 strong, had erected their +batteries and got their heavy guns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> into position, Magruder had been +re-enforced by some 10,000 men under General Johnston, who now assumed +the command, while other divisions were hurrying up from Northern and +Western Virginia. Upon the very night before the batteries were ready to +open, the Confederates evacuated their positions and fell back, carrying +with them all their guns and stores to the Chickahominy River, which ran +almost across the peninsula at a distance of six miles only from +Richmond.</p> + +<p>The Confederates crossed and broke down the bridges, and prepared to +make another stand. The disappointment of the Federals was great. After +ten days of incessant labor and hardship they had only gained possession +of the village of Yorktown, and a tract of low, swampy country. The +divisions in front pressed forward rapidly after the Confederates; but +these had managed their plan so well that all were safely across the +stream before they were overtaken.</p> + +<p>The dismay in Richmond had for a few days been great. Many people left +the town for the interior, taking their valuables with them, and all was +prepared for the removal of the State papers and documents. But as the +Federals went on with their fortifications, and the re-enforcements +began to arrive, confidence was restored, and all went on as before.</p> + +<p>The great Federal army was so scattered through the forests, and the +discipline of some of the divisions was so lax, that it was some days +before McClellan had them ranged in order on the Chickahominy. Another +week elapsed before he was in a position to undertake fresh operations; +but General Johnston had now four divisions on the spot, and he was too +enterprising a general to await the attack. Consequently he crossed the +Chickahominy, fell upon one of the Federal divisions and almost +destroyed it, and drove back the whole of their left wing. The next +morning the battle was renewed, and lasted for five hours.</p> + +<p>It was fortunate indeed for the Confederates that the right wing of the +Northern army did not, while the action was going on, cross<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> the river +and march straight upon Richmond; but communication was difficult from +one part of the army to another, owing to the thick forests and the +swampy state of the ground, and being without orders they remained +inactive all day. The loss on their side had been 7000 men, while the +Confederates had lost 4500; and General Johnston being seriously +wounded, the chief command was given to General Lee, by far the ablest +soldier the war produced. Satisfied with the success they had gained, +the Confederates fell back across the river again.</p> + +<p>On the 4th of June, General Stuart—for he had now been +promoted—started with 1200 cavalry and two guns and in forty-eight +hours made one of the most adventurous reconnoissances ever undertaken. +First the force rode out to Hanover Courthouse, where they encountered +and defeated, first, a small body of cavalry, and afterward a whole +regiment. Then, after destroying the stores there, they rode round to +the Pamunky, burned two vessels and a large quantity of stores, captured +a train of forty wagons, and burned a railway bridge.</p> + +<p>Then they passed right round the Federal rear, crossed the river, and +re-entered the city with 165 prisoners and 200 horses, having effected +the destruction of vast quantities of stores, besides breaking up the +railways and burning bridges.</p> + +<p>Toward the end of June McClellan learned that Stonewall Jackson, having +struck heavy blows at the two greatly superior armies which were +operating against him in the valley of the Shenandoah, had succeeded in +evading them, and was marching toward Richmond.</p> + +<p>He had just completed several bridges across the river, and was about to +move forward to fight a great battle when the news reached him. +Believing that he should be opposed by an army of 200,000 men, although, +in fact, the Confederate army, after Jackson and all the available +re-enforcements came up, was still somewhat inferior in strength to his +own, he determined to abandon for the present the attempt upon Richmond, +and to fall back upon the James River.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> +<p>Here his ships had already landed stores for his supply, for the river +was now open as far as the Confederate defenses at Fort Darling. +Norfolk Navy Yard had been captured by the 10,000 men who formed the +garrison of Fortress Monroe. No resistance had been offered, as all the +Confederate troops had been concentrated for the defense of Richmond. +When Norfolk was captured the <i>Merrimac</i> steamed out to make her way out +of the river; but the water was low, and the pilot declared that she +could not be taken up. Consequently she was set on fire and burned to +the water's edge, and thus the main obstacle to the advance of the +Federal fleet was removed.</p> + +<p>They had advanced as far as Fort Darling, and the ironclad gunboats had +engaged the batteries there. Their shot, however, did little damage to +the defenders upon the lofty bluffs, while the shot from the batteries +so injured the gunboats that the attempt to force the passage was +abandoned. While falling back to a place called Harrison's Landing on +the James River, the Federals were attacked by the Confederates, but +after desperate fighting on both sides, lasting for five days, they +succeeded in drawing off from the Chickahominy with a loss of fifty +guns, thousands of small-arms, and the loss of the greater part of their +stores.</p> + +<p>All idea of a further advance against Richmond was for the present +abandoned. President Lincoln had always been opposed to the plan, and a +considerable portion of the army was moved round to join the force under +General Pope, which was now to march upon Richmond from the north.</p> + +<p>From the commencement of the Federal advance to the time when, beaten +and dispirited, they regained the James River, Vincent Wingfield had +seen little of his family. The Federal lines had at one time been within +a mile of the Orangery. The slaves had some days before been all sent +into the interior, and Mrs. Wingfield and her daughters had moved into +Richmond, where they joined in the work, to which the whole of the +ladies of the town and neighbo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>rhood devoted themselves, of attending to +the wounded, of whom, while the fighting was going on, long trains +arrived every day at the city.</p> + +<p>Vincent himself had taken no active part in the fighting. Magruder's +division had not been engaged in the first attack upon McClellan's +force; and although it had taken a share in the subsequent severe +fighting, Vincent had been occupied in carrying messages from the +general to the leaders of the other divisions, and had only once or +twice come under the storm of fire to which the Confederates were +exposed as they plunged through the morasses to attack the enemy. As +soon as it was certain that the attack was finally abandoned, and that +McClellan's troops were being withdrawn to strengthen Pope's army, +Vincent resigned his appointment as aid-de-camp, and was appointed to +the 7th Virginia Cavalry, stationed at Orange, where it was facing the +Federal cavalry. Major Ashley had fallen while protecting the passage of +Jackson's division, when hard pressed by one of the Federal armies in +West Virginia.</p> + +<p>No action in the war had been more brilliant than the manner in which +Stonewall Jackson had baffled the two armies—each greatly superior in +force to his own—that had been specially appointed to destroy him if +possible, or at any rate to prevent his withdrawing from the Shenandoah +Valley and marching to aid in the defense of the Confederate capital. +His troops had marched almost day and night, without food, and depending +entirely upon such supplies as they could obtain from the scattered +farmhouses they passed.</p> + +<p>Although Richmond was for the present safe, the prospect of the +Confederates was by no means bright. New Orleans had been captured; the +blockade of the other ports was now so strict that it was difficult in +the extreme for a vessel to make her way in or out; and the Northerners +had placed flotillas of gunboats on the rivers, and by the aid of these +were gradually making their way into the heart of several of the States.</p> + +<p>"Are you thinking of going out to the Orangery again soon, mother?" +Vincent asked on the evening before setting out on t<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>he march north.</p> + +<p>"I think not, Vincent. There is so much to do in the hospitals here +that I cannot leave. I should be ashamed to be living in luxury at the +Orangery with the girls while other women are giving up their whole time +nursing the wounded. Besides, although I do not anticipate that after +the way they have been hurled back the Northerners will try again for +some time, now they are in possession of Harrison's Landing they can at +any moment advance. Besides, it is not pleasant being obliged to turn +out of one's house and leave everything to their mercy. I wrote +yesterday to Pearson to bring the slaves back at once and take up the +work, and I shall go over occasionally to see that everything is in +order; but at any rate for a time we will stop here."</p> + +<p>"I think that is best, mother. Certainly I should feel more comfortable +knowing that you are all at Richmond than alone out there."</p> + +<p>"We should be no worse off than thousands of ladies all over the State, +Vincent. There are whole districts where every white capable of using a +gun has gone to the war, leaving nothing but women and slaves behind, +and we have not heard of a single case in which there has been trouble."</p> + +<p>"Certainly there is no chance of trouble with your slaves, mother; but +in some of the other plantations it may not be so. At any rate the quiet +conduct of the slaves everywhere is the very best answer that could be +given to the accusations that have been made as to their cruel +treatment. At present the whole of the property of the slave-owners +throughout the Southern States is at their mercy, and they might burn, +kill, and destroy; and yet in no single instance have they risen against +what are called their oppressors, even when the Federals have been close +at hand.</p> + +<p>"Please keep your eye on Dinah, mother. I distrust that fellow Jackson +so thoroughly that I believe him capable of having her carried off and +smuggled away somewhere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> down south, and sold there if he saw a chance. I +wish, instead of sending her to the Orangery, you would keep her as one +of your servants here."</p> + +<p>"I will if you wish it, Vincent; but I cannot believe for a moment that +Jackson or anyone else would venture to meddle with any of my slaves."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, mother; but it is best to be on the safe side. Anyhow, I +shall be glad to know that she is with you. Young Jackson will be away, +for I know he is in one of Stuart's troops of horse, though I have never +happened to run against him since the war began."</p> + +<p>The firing had hardly ceased before Harrison's Landing, when General +Jackson, with a force of about 15,000 men, composed of his own division, +now commanded by General Winder, General Ewell's division, and a portion +of that of General Hill, started for the Rapidan to check General Pope, +who, plundering and wasting the country as he advanced, was marching +south, his object being to reach Gordonsville, where he would cut the +line of railway connecting Richmond with West Virginia. Vincent was glad +that the regiment to which he had been appointed would be under +Jackson's command, and that he would be campaigning again with his old +division, which consisted largely of Virginian troops and contained so +many of his old friends.</p> + +<p>With Jackson, too, he was certain to be engaged in stirring service, for +that general ever kept his troops upon the march; striking blows where +least expected, and traversing such an extent of country by rapid +marches that he and his division seemed to the enemy to be almost +ubiquitous.</p> + +<p>It was but a few hours after he received his appointment that Vincent +took train from Richmond to Gordonsville, Dan being in the horse-box +with Wildfire in the rear of the train. His regiment was encamped a mile +or two away, and he at once rode on and reported himself to Colonel +Jones, who commanded it.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to have you with me, sir," the colonel said. "I had the +pleasure of knowing your father, and am an old friend of your mother'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>s +family. As you were in Ashley's horse and have been serving on +Magruder's staff, you are well up in your duties; and it is a comfort +to me that the vacancy has been filled up by one who knows his work +instead of a raw hand. We have had a brush or two already with the +enemy; but at present we are watching each other, waiting on both sides +till the generals have got their infantry to the front in readiness for +an advance. Jackson is waiting for Hill's division to come up, and I +believe Pope is expecting great re-enforcements from McClellan."</p> + +<p>A few days later Colonel Jones was ordered to take charge of the pickets +posted on the Rapidan, but before reaching Orange a gentleman rode up at +full speed and informed them that the enemy were in possession of that +town. Colonel Jones divided his regiment into two parts, and with one +charged the Federal cavalry in the main street of Orange, while the +other portion of the regiment, under Major Marshall, attacked them on +the flank. After a sharp fight the enemy were driven from the place; but +they brought up large re-enforcements, and pouring in a heavy fire, +attacked the town on both sides, and the Confederates had to fall back. +But they made another stand a little way out of the town, and drove back +the Federal cavalry who were pressing them.</p> + +<p>Although the fight had been but a short one, the losses in the cavalry +ranks had been serious. Colonel Jones, while charging at the head of his +men, had received a saber-wound, and Major Marshall was taken prisoner.</p> + +<p>Five days later, on the 7th of August, Jackson received intelligence +that General Burnside, with a considerable portion of McClellan's force, +had embarked, and was on the way to join Pope. He determined to strike a +blow at once, and marched with his entire force from Gordonsville for +Barnett Ford on the Rapidan.</p> + +<p>At daybreak next morning the cavalry crossed the river and attacked and +routed a body of Federal cavalry on the road to Culpeper Courthouse. On +the following day Jackson came up with his infantry to a point about +eight miles from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>Culpeper, where Pope's army, 32,000 strong, were +stationed upon the crest of a hill. General Ewell's division, which was +the only one then up, at once advanced, and after a severe artillery +fight, gained a point on a hill where his guns could command the enemy's +position.</p> + +<p>Jackson's division now came up, and as it was moving into position +General Winder was killed by a shell. For some hours Jackson did not +attempt to advance, as Hill's division had not come up. Encouraged by +this delay, the enemy at five o'clock in the afternoon took the +offensive and advanced through some cornfields lying between the two +armies and attacked Ewell's division on the Confederate right; while +shortly afterward they fell with overwhelming strength on Jackson's +left, and, attacking it in front, flank, and rear, drove it back, and +pressed upon it with such force that the day appeared lost.</p> + +<p>At this moment Jackson himself rode down among the confused and wavering +troops, and by his voice and example rallied them. At the same moment +the old Stonewall Brigade came up at a run and poured their fire into +the advancing enemy. Jackson led the troops he had rallied forward. The +Stonewall Brigade fell upon the enemy's flank and drove them back with +terrible slaughter. Other brigades came up, and there was a general +charge along the whole Confederate line, and the Federals were driven +back a mile beyond the position they had occupied at the commencement of +the fight to the shelter of some thick woods; 400 prisoners were taken +and over 5000 small-arms.</p> + +<p>The battle was known as Cedar Run, and it completely checked Pope's +advance upon Richmond. The troops were too much exhausted to follow up +their victory, but Jackson urged them to press forward. They moved a +mile and a half in advance, and then found themselves so strongly +opposed that Jackson, believing that the enemy must have received +re-enforcements, halted his men. Colonel Jones was sent forward to +reconnoiter, and discovered that a large force had joined the enemy.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> +<p>For two days Jackson remained on the field he had won; his troops had +been busy in burying the dead, in collecting the wounded and sending +them to the rear, and in gathering the arms thrown away by the enemy in +their flight. Being assured that the enemy were now too strong to be +attacked by the force under his command, Jackson fell back to Orange +Courthouse. There was now a few days' delay, while masses of troops were +on both sides moving toward the new field of action. McClellan marched +his troops across the James Peninsula from Harrison's Landing to +Yorktown, and there the greater portion were embarked in transports and +taken up the Rappahannock to Aquia Creek, landed there, and marched to +Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p>Lee, instead of attacking McClellan on his march across the peninsula, +determined to take his army north at once to join Jackson and attack +Pope before he was joined by McClellan's army. But Pope, although +already largely re-enforced, retired hastily and took up a new position +so strongly fortified that he could not be attacked. General Stuart had +come up with Lee, and was in command of all the cavalry.</p> + +<p>"We shall see some work now," was the remark round the fires of the 7th +Virginia Cavalry. Hitherto, although they had been several times engaged +with the Federals, they had been forced to remain for the most part +inactive owing to the vast superiority in force of the enemy's cavalry; +but now that Stuart had come up they felt certain that, whatever the +disparity of numbers, there would soon be some dashing work to be done.</p> + +<p>Except when upon actual duty the strict lines of military discipline +were much relaxed among the cavalry, the troopers being almost all the +sons of farmers and planters and of equal social rank with their +officers, many of whom were their personal friends or relatives. Several +of Vincent's schoolfellows were in the ranks, two or three of them were +fellow-officers, and these often gathered together round a camp fire and +chatted over old schooldays and mutual friends.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> +<p>Many of these had already fallen, for the Virginia regiments of +Stonewall Jackson's brigade had been terribly thinned; but the loss of +so many friends and the knowledge that their own turn might come next +did not suffice to lessen the high spirits of these brave young men. The +hard work, the rough life, the exposure and hardship, had braced and +invigorated them all, and they were attaining a far more vigorous +manhood than they would ever have possessed had they grown up in the +somewhat sluggish and enervating life led by young planters.</p> + +<p>Many of these young men had, until the campaign began, never done half +an hour's hard work in their lives. They had been waited upon by slaves, +and their only exercise had been riding. For months now they had almost +lived in the saddle, had slept in the open air, and had thought +themselves lucky if they could obtain a sufficient meal of the roughest +food to satisfy their hunger once a day. In this respect, however, the +cavalry were better off than their comrades of the infantry, for +scouting as they did in small parties over a wide extent of country, +they were sure of a meal and a hearty welcome whenever they could spare +time to stop for half an hour at the house of a farmer.</p> + +<p>"It's a glorious life, Wingfield! When we chatted over the future at +school we never dreamed of such a life as this, though some of us did +talk of entering the army; but even then an occasional skirmish with +Indians was the limit of our ideas."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is a glorious life!" Vincent agreed. "I cannot imagine anything +more exciting. Of course, there is the risk of being shot, but somehow +one never seems to think of that. There is always something to do and to +think about; from the time one starts on a scout at daybreak to that +when one lies down at night one's senses are on the stretch. Besides we +are fighting in defense of our country and not merely as a profession, +though I don't suppose, after all, that makes much difference when one +is once in for it. As far as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> have read, all soldiers enjoy +campaigning, and it does not seem to make any difference to them who are +the foe or what they are fighting about. But I should like to feel a +little more sure that we shall win in the long run."</p> + +<p>There was a chorus of indignant protests against there being any +possible doubts as to the issue.</p> + +<p>"Why, we have thrashed them every time we have met them, Wingfield."</p> + +<p>"That is all very well," Vincent said. "Here in Virginia we have held +our own, and more than held it. We have beat back Scott and McClellan, +and now we have thrashed Pope; and Stonewall Jackson has won a dozen +battles in West Virginia. But you must remember that in other parts they +are gradually closing in; all the ports not already taken are closely +blockaded. They are pushing all along the lines of the great rivers; and +worst of all, they can fill up their vacancies with hired emigrants, and +as fast as one army disappears another takes its place. I believe we +shall beat them again and again, and shall prove, as we have proved +before, that one Southerner fighting for home and liberty is more than a +match for two hired soldiers, even with a good large sprinkling of +Yankees among them. But in the long run I am not sure that we shall win, +for they can go on putting big armies into the field, while some day we +must get used up.</p> + +<p>"Of course it is possible that we may some day capture Washington, and +that the North may get weary of the tremendous drain of money and men +caused by their attempt to conquer us. I hope it may be so, for I should +like to think that we should win in the long run. I never feel any doubt +about our winning a battle when we begin. My only fear is that we may +get used up before the North are tired of it."</p> + +<p>"I did not expect to hear you talk so, Wingfield, for you always seem to +be in capital spirits."</p> + +<p>"I am in capital spirits," Vincent replied, "and ready to fight again +and again, and always confident we shall lick the Yankees; the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>fact that +I have a doubt whether in the long run we shall outlast them does not +interfere in the slightest degree with my comfort at present. I am very +sorry though that this fellow Pope is carrying on the war so brutally, +instead of in the manner in which General McClellan and the other +commanders have waged it. His proclamation that the army must subsist +upon the country it passes through gives a direct invitation to the +soldiers to pillage, and his order that all farmers who refuse to take +the oath to the Union are to be driven from their homes and sent down +South means ruin to all the peaceful inhabitants, for there is scarcely +a man in this part of Virginia who is not heartily with us."</p> + +<p>"I hear," one of the other officers said, "that a prisoner who was +captured this morning says that Pope already sees that he has made a +mistake, and that he yesterday issued a fresh order saying that the +proclamation was not meant to authorize pillage. He finds that the +inhabitants who before, whatever their private sentiments were, +maintained a sort of neutrality, are now hostile, that they drive off +their cattle into the woods, and even set fire to their stacks, to +prevent anything from being carried off by the Yanks; and his troops +find the roads broken up and bridges destroyed and all sorts of +difficulties thrown in their way."</p> + +<p>"It does not always pay—even in war—to be brutal. I am glad to see he +has found out his mistake so soon," another officer said. "McClellan +waged war like a gentleman; and if blackguards are to be allowed to +carry fire and sword through the land they will soon find it is a game +that two can play at, and matters will become horribly embittered."</p> + +<p>"We shall never do that," Vincent said. "Our generals are all gentlemen, +and Lee and Jackson and many others are true Christians as well as true +soldiers, and I am sure they will never countenance that on our side, +whatever the Northerners may do. We are ready to fight the hordes of +Yankees and their hired soldiers as often as they advance against us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>, +but I am sure that none of us would fire a homestead or ill-treat +defenseless men and women. It is a scandal that such brutalities are +committed by the ruffians who call themselves Southerners. The +guerrillas in Missouri and Tennessee are equally bad, whether on our +side or the other, and if I were the President I would send down a +couple of regiments, and hunt down the fellows who bring dishonor on our +cause. If the South cannot free herself without the aid of ruffians of +this kind, she had better lay down her arms at once."</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Wingfield! Spoken like a knight of chivalry!" one of the others +laughed. "But many of these bands have done good, nevertheless. They +have kept the enemy busy there, and occupied the attention of a very +large force who might otherwise have been in the woods yonder with Pope. +I agree with you, it would be better if the whole thing were fought out +with large armies, but there is a good deal to be said for these bands +you are so severe upon. They are composed of men who have been made +desperate by seeing their farms harried and their buildings burned by +the enemy. They have been denounced as traitors by their neighbors on +the other side, and if they retaliate I don't know that they are to be +altogether blamed. I know that if my place at home were burned down, and +my people insulted and ill-treated, I should be inclined to set off to +avenge it."</p> + +<p>"So would I," Vincent agreed, "but it should be upon those who did the +wrong, not upon innocent people."</p> + +<p>"That is all very well, but if the other side destroy your people's +farms, it is only by showing them that two can play at the game that you +can make them observe the laws of war. I grant it would be very much +better that no such thing should take place; but if the Northerners +begin this sort of work they may be sure that there will be retaliation. +Anyhow, I am glad that I am an officer in the 7th Virginia and not a +guerrilla leader in Missouri. Well, all this talking is dry work. Has no +one got a full canteen?"</p> + +<p>"I have," Vin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>cent said. "Dan managed to buy a gallon of rum at a +farmhouse yesterday. I think the farmer was afraid that the enemy might +be paying him a visit before many days, and thought it best to get rid +of his spirits. Anyhow, Dan got the keg at ordinary city prices, as well +as that pair of fine turkeys he is just bringing along for our supper. +So you had better each get your ration bread and fall to."</p> + +<p>There was a cheer as Dan placed the turkeys down in the center of the +group, and soon the whole party, using their bread as plates, fell to +upon them, and afterward joined in many a merry song, while Dan handed +round the jar of spirits.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>A PRISONER.</h3> + + +<p>The party round the fire were just about to disperse when the captain of +Vincent's troop approached. He took the horn of spirits and water that +Vincent held up to him and tossed it off.</p> + +<p>"That is a stirrup-cup, Wingfield."</p> + +<p>"What! are we for duty, captain?" Vincent asked as he rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Yes; our troop and Harper's are to muster. Get the men together +quietly. I think it is a serious business; each of the regiments +furnishes troops, and I believe Stuart himself takes the command."</p> + +<p>"That sounds like work, indeed," Vincent said. "I will get the troop +together, sir."</p> + +<p>"There are to be no trumpet calls, Wingfield; we are to get off as +quietly as possible."</p> + +<p>Most of the men were already fast asleep, but as soon as they learned +that there was a prospect of active work all were full of life and +animation. The girths of the saddles were tightened, swords buckled on, +and revolvers carefully examined before being placed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>in the holsters. +Many of the men carried repeating rifles, and the magazines were filled +before these were slung across the riders' shoulders.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the three troops were mounted and in readiness for a +start, and almost directly afterward Colonel Jones himself rode up and +took the command. A thrill of satisfaction ran through the men as he did +so, for it was certain that he would not himself be going in command of +the detachment unless the occasion was an important one. For a few +minutes no move was made.</p> + +<p>"I suppose the others are going to join us here," Vincent said to the +officer next him.</p> + +<p>"I suppose so," he replied. "We lie in the middle of the cavalry brigade +with two regiments each side of us, so it is likely enough this is the +gathering place. Yes, I can hear the tramping of horses."</p> + +<p>"I felt a spot of rain," Vincent said. "We have been having lightning +for some time, and I fear we are in for a wet ride."</p> + +<p>The contingent from the other regiments soon arrived, and just as the +last came up General Stuart himself appeared and took his place at the +head of the party, now some 500 strong. Short as the time had been since +Vincent felt the first drop, the rain was now coming down in torrents. +One by one the bright flames of the fires died down, and the darkness +became so intense that Vincent could scarcely see the officer on his +right hand.</p> + +<p>"I hope the man who rode up with the general, and is no doubt to be our +guide, knows the country well. It is no joke finding our way through a +forest on such a night as this."</p> + +<p>"I believe Stuart's got eyes like a cat," the officer said. "Sometimes +on a dark night he has come galloping up to a post where I was in +command, when one could scarcely see one's hand before one. It never +seems to make any difference to him; day or night he rides about at a +gallop."</p> + +<p>"He trusts hi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>s horse," Vincent said. "That's the only way in the dark. +They can see much better than we can, and if men would but let them go +their own way instead of trying to guide them, they would seldom run +against anything. The only thing is to lie well down on the horse's +neck, otherwise one might get swept out of the saddle by a bough. It's a +question of nerve. I think not many of us would do as Stuart does, and +trust himself entirely to his horse's instinct."</p> + +<p>The word was now passed down the line that perfect silence was to be +observed, and that they were to move forward in column, the ranks +closing up as much as possible, so as not to lose touch of each other. +With heads bent down, and blankets wrapped around them as cloaks, the +cavalry rode off through the pouring rain. The thunder was crashing +overhead, and the flashes of lightning enabled them to keep their places +in close column. They went at a rapid trot, and even those who were +ready to charge a body of the enemy, however numerous, without a +moment's hesitation, experienced a feeling of nervousness as they rode +on in the darkness through the thick forest on their unknown errand. +That they were going northward they knew, and knew also, after a short +time, that they must be entering the lines of the enemy. They saw no +signs of watch-fires, for these would long since have been quenched by +the downpour. After half an hour's brisk riding all knew, by the sharp +sound of the beat of the horses' hoofs, that they had left the soft +track through the forest and were now upon a regular road.</p> + +<p>"Thank goodness for that!" Vincent said in a low tone to his next +neighbor. "I don't mind a brush with the enemy, but I own I don't like +the idea that at any moment my brains may be knocked out by the branch +of a tree."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you," the other replied; "and I fancy every man felt the +same."</p> + +<p>There was no doubt as to this. Hitherto no sound had been heard save the +jingling of accouterments and the dull heavy soun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>d of the horses' tread; +but now there could be heard mingled with these the buzz of voices, and +occasionally a low laugh. They were so accustomed to wet that the +soaking scarcely inconvenienced them. They were out of the forest now, +and felt sure of their guide; and as to the enemy, they only longed to +discover them.</p> + +<p>For another hour the rapid advance continued, and all felt sure that +they must now have penetrated through the enemy's lines and be well in +his rear. At last they heard a challenge of sentry. Then Stuart's voice +shouted, "Charge!" and at full gallop they rode into the village at +Catlet's Station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, where General +Pope had his headquarters. Another minute and they were in the midst of +the enemy's camp, where the wildest confusion reigned. The Federal +officers rushed from their tents and made off in the darkness; but the +soldiers, who were lying on the line of railroad, leaped to their feet +and opened a heavy fire on their invisible foes. Against this the +cavalry, broken up in the camp with its tents, its animals, and its +piles of baggage, could do little, for it was impossible to form them up +in the broken and unknown ground.</p> + +<p>The quarters of Pope were soon discovered; he himself had escaped, +leaving his coat and hat behind. Many of his officers were captured, and +in his quarters was found a box of official papers, which were +invaluable, as among them were copies of his letters asking for +re-enforcements, lists giving the strength and position of his troops, +and other particulars of the greatest value to the Confederates. No time +was lost, as the firing would set the whole Federal army on the alert, +and they might find their retreat cut off. Therefore, placing the +prisoners in the center, and taking the box of papers with them, the +cavalry were called off from the camp, and without delay started on +their return ride.</p> + +<p>They did not take the road by which they had come, but made a long +detour, and just as daylight was breaking re-entered the Confederate +lines, without having encountered a foe from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> the time of their leaving +Catlet's Station. Short as their stay in camp had been, few of the men +had returned empty-handed. The Northern army was supplied with an +abundance of excellent food of all descriptions, forming the strongest +possible contrast to the insufficient rations upon which the Confederate +troops existed, and the troopers had helped themselves to whatever they +could lay hands upon in the darkness and confusion.</p> + +<p>Some rode in with a ham slung on each side of their saddle, others had +secured a bottle or two of wine or spirits. Some had been fortunate +enough to lay hands on some tins of coffee or a canister of tea, luxuries +which for months had been unknown to them save when they were captured +from the enemy. The only article captured of no possible utility was +General Pope's coat, which was sent to Richmond, where it was hung up +for public inspection; a wag sticking up a paper beside it, "This is the +coat in which General Pope was going to ride in triumph into Richmond. +The coat is here, but the general has not yet arrived."</p> + +<p>The Confederates had lost but two or three men from the fire of the +Federal infantry, and they were in high spirits at the success of their +raid. No sooner had General Lee informed himself of the contents of the +papers and the position of the enemy's forces than he determined to +strike a heavy blow at him; and General Jackson, who had been sharply +engaged with the enemy near Warrenton, was ordered to make a long +detour, to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains through Thoroughfare Gap, to +fall upon Pope's rear and cut his communications with Washington, and, +if possible, to destroy the vast depot of stores collected at Manassas.</p> + +<p>The cavalry, under Stuart, were to accompany him. The march would be a +tremendous one, the danger of thus venturing into the heart of the +enemy's country immense, but the results of such an expedition would, if +successful, be great; for Lee himself was to advance with his army on +Pope's flank, and there was therefo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>re a possibility of the utter defeat +of that general before he could be joined by the army marching to +re-enforce him from Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p>It was on Monday, the 25th of August, that Jackson started on his march, +ascending the banks of the Rapahannock, and crossed the river at the +ford, dragging his artillery with difficulty up the narrow and rocky +road beyond. There was not a moment to be lost, for if the news reached +the enemy the gorge known as Thoroughfare Gap would be occupied, and the +whole object of the movement would be defeated. Onward the force pushed, +pressing on through fields and lanes without a single halt, until at +night, hungry and weary but full of spirit, they marched into the little +town of Salem, twenty miles from their starting place. They had neither +wagons nor provisions with them, and had nothing to eat but some ears of +corn and green apples plucked on the road.</p> + +<p>It was midnight when they reached Salem, and the inhabitants turned out +in blank amazement at the sight of Confederate troops in that region, +and welcomed the weary soldiers with the warmest manifestations. At +daylight they were again upon the march, with Stuart's cavalry, as +before, out upon each flank. Thoroughfare Gap was reached, and found +undefended, and after thirty miles' marching the exhausted troops +reached the neighborhood of Manassas. The men were faint from want of +food, and many limped along barefooted; but they were full of +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>Just at sunset, Stuart, riding on ahead, captured Bristoe, a station on +the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, four miles from Manassas. As they +reached it a train came along at full speed. It was fired at, but did +not stop, and got safely through to Manassas. Two trains that followed +were captured; but by this time the alarm had spread, and no more trains +arrived. Jackson had gained his point. He had placed himself on the line +of communication of the enemy, but his position was a dangerous one +indeed. Lee, who was following him, was still far a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>way. An army was +marching from Fredericksburg against him, another would be dispatched +from Washington as soon as the news of his presence was known, and Pope +might turn and crush him before Lee could arrive to his assistance.</p> + +<p>Worn out as the troops were, it was necessary at once to gain possession +of Manassas, and the 21st North Carolina and 21st Georgia volunteered +for the service, and joined by Stuart with a portion of his cavalry, +marched against it. After a brief contest the place was taken, the enemy +stationed there being all taken prisoners. The amount of arms and stores +captured was prodigious. Eight pieces of artillery, 250 horses, 3 +locomotives, and tens of thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour, +with an enormous quantity of public stores and the contents of +innumerable sutlers' shops.</p> + +<p>The sight of this vast abundance to starving men was tantalizing in the +extreme. It was impossible to carry any of it away, and all that could +be done was to have at least one good meal. The troops therefore were +marched in, and each helped himself to as much as he could consume, and +the ragged and barefooted men feasted upon canned salmon and lobsters, +champagne, and dainties of every description forwarded for the use of +officers. Then they set to work to pile the enormous mass of stores +together and to set it on fire. While they were engaged at this a +brigade of New Jersey troops, which had come out from Washington to save +Manassas, was attacked and utterly routed. Ewell's division had remained +at Bristoe, while those of Hill and Jackson moved to Manassas, and in +the course of the afternoon Ewell saw the whole of Pope's army marching +against him.</p> + +<p>He held them in check for some hours, and thus gave the troops at +Manassas time to destroy completely the vast accumulation of stores, and +when Stuart's cavalry, covering the retreat, fell back at nightfall +through Manassas, nothing but blackened cinders remained where the +Federal depot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>s had been situated. The blow to the Northerners was as +heavy as it was unexpected. Pope had no longer either provisions for his +men or forage for his cattle, and there was nothing left for him but to +force his way past Jackson and retire upon Washington.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 725px;"> +<img src="images/147.png" border="5" width="725" height="800" alt="The Second Battle of Bull Run." title="The Second Battle of Bull Run." /> +<span class="caption">The Second Battle of Bull Run.</span> +</div> + +<p>Jackson had now the option of falling back and allowing the enemy to +pass, or of withstanding the whole Federal army with his own little +force until Lee came up to the rescue. He chose the latter course, and +took up a strong position. The sound of firing at Thoroughfare Gap was +audible, and he knew that Longstreet's division of Lee's army was hotly +engaged with a force which, now that it was too late, had been sent to +hold the gorge. It was nearly sunset before Pope brought up his men to +the attack. Jackson did not stand on the defensive, but rushed down and +attacked the enemy—whose object had been to pass the position and press +on—with such vigor that at nine o'clock they fell back.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> +<p>An hour later a horseman rode up with the news that Longstreet had +passed the Gap and was pressing on at full speed, and in the morning +his forces were seen approaching, the line they were taking bringing +them up at an angle to Jackson's position. Thus their formation as they +arrived was that of an open V, and it was through the angle of this V +that Pope had to force his way. Before Longstreet could arrive, however, +the enemy hurled themselves upon Jackson, and for hours the Confederates +held their own against the vast Federal army, Longstreet's force being +too far away to lend them a hand. Ammunition failed, and the soldiers +fought with piles of stones, but night fell without any impression being +made upon these veterans. General Lee now came up with General Hood's +division, and hurled this against the Federals and drove them back. In +the evening Longstreet's force took up the position General Lee had +assigned to it, and in the morning all the Confederate army had arrived, +and the battle recommenced.</p> + +<p>The struggle was long and terrible; but by nightfall every attack had +been repulsed, and the Confederates, advancing on all sides, drove the +Northerners, a broken and confused crowd, before them, the darkness +alone saving them from utter destruction. Had there been but one hour +more of daylight the defeat would have been as complete as was that in +the battle of Bull Run, which had been fought on precisely the same +ground. However, under cover of the darkness, the Federals retreated to +Centreville, whence they were driven on the following day.</p> + +<p>In the tremendous fighting in which Jackson's command had for three long +days been engaged, the cavalry bore a comparatively small part. The +Federal artillery was too powerful to permit the employment of large +bodies of cavalry, and although from time to time charges were made when +an opportunity seemed to offer itself, the battle was fought out by the +infantry and artillery. When the end came Jackson's command was for a +time <i>hors de combat</i>. During the long two-days' march they had at least +gathered corn and apples to sustain life; but during these three-days' +fighting they had had no food whatever, and many were so weak that they +could no longer march.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>They had done all that was possible for men to do; had for two days +withstood the attack of an enemy of five times their numbers, and had, +on the final day, borne their full share in the great struggle, but now +the greater part could do no more, thousands of men were unable to drag +themselves a step further, and Lee's army was reduced in strength for +the time by nearly 20,000 men. All these afterward rejoined it; some, as +soon as they recovered, limped away to take their places in the ranks +again, others made their way to the depot at Warrenton, where Lee had +ordered that all unable to accompany his force should rendezvous until +he returned and they were able to rejoin their regiments.</p> + +<p>Jackson marched away and laid siege to Harper's Ferry, an important +depot garrisoned by 11,000 men, who were forced to surrender just as +McClellan with a fresh army, 100,000 strong, which was pressing forward +to its succor, arrived within a day's march. As soon as Jackson had +taken the place he hurried away with his troops to join Lee, who was +facing the enemy at the Antietam River. Here, upon the following day, +another terrible battle was fought; the Confederates, though but 39,000 +strong, repulsing every attack by the Federals and driving them with +terrible slaughter back across the river.</p> + +<p>Their own loss, however, had been very heavy, and Lee, knowing that he +could expect no assistance, while the enemy was constantly receiving +re-enforcements, waited for a day to collect his wounded, bury his dead, +and send his stores and artillery to the rear, and then retired, +unpursued, across the Rappahannock. Thus the hard-fought campaign came +to an end.</p> + +<p>Vincent Wingfield was not with the army that retired across the +Rappahannock. A portion of the cavalry had followed the broken <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>Federals +to the very edge of the stream, and just as they reined in their horses +a round shot from one of the Federal batteries carried away his cap, +and he fell as if dead from his horse. During the night some of the +Northerners crossed the stream to collect and bring back their own +wounded who had fallen near it, and coming across Vincent, and finding +that he still breathed, and was apparently without a wound, they carried +him back with them across the river as a prisoner.</p> + +<p>Vincent had indeed escaped without a wound, having been only stunned by +the passage of the shot that had carried away his cap, and missed him by +the fraction of an inch. He had begun to recover consciousness just as +his captors came up, and the action of carrying him completely restored +him. That he had fallen into the hands of the Northerners he was well +aware; but he was unable to imagine how this had happened. He remembered +that the Confederates had been, up to the moment he fell, completely +successful, and he could only imagine that in a subsequent attack the +Federals had turned the tables upon them.</p> + +<p>How he himself had fallen, or what had happened to him, he had no idea. +Beyond a strange feeling of numbness in the head he was conscious of no +injury, and he could only imagine that his horse had been shot under +him, and that he must have fallen upon his head. The thought that his +favorite horse was killed afflicted him almost as much as his own +capture. As soon as his captors perceived that their prisoner's +consciousness had returned they at once reported that an officer of +Stuart's cavalry had been taken, and at daybreak next morning General +McClellan, on rising, was acquainted with the fact, and Vincent was +conducted to his tent.</p> + +<p>"You are unwounded, sir," the general said in some surprise.</p> + +<p>"I am, general," Vincent replied. "I do not know how it happened, but I +believe that my horse must have been shot under me, and that I must have +been thrown and stunned; however, I remember not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>hing from the moment +when I heard the word halt, just as we reached the side of the stream, +to that when I found myself being carried here."</p> + +<p>"You belong to the cavalry?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Was Lee's force all engaged yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know," Vincent said. "I only came up with Jackson's division +from Harper's Ferry the evening before."</p> + +<p>"I need not have questioned you," McClellan said. "I know that Lee's +whole army, 100,000 strong, opposed me yesterday."</p> + +<p>Vincent was silent. He was glad to see that the Federal general, as +usual, enormously overrated the strength of the force opposed to him.</p> + +<p>"I hear that the whole of the garrison of Harper's Ferry were released +on parole not to serve again during the war. If you are ready to give me +your promise to the same effect I will allow you to return to your +friends; if not you must remain a prisoner until you are regularly +exchanged."</p> + +<p>"I must do so, then, general," Vincent said quietly. "I could not remain +home and remain inactive while every man in the South is fighting for +the defense of his country, so I will take my chance of being +exchanged."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry you choose that alternative," McClellan said. "I hate to see +brave men imprisoned if only for a day; and braver men than those across +yonder stream are not to be found. My officers and men are astonished. +They seem so thin and worn as to be scarce able to lift a musket, their +clothes are fit only for a scarecrow, they are indeed pitiful objects to +look at; but the way in which they fight is wonderful. I could not have +believed, had I not seen it, that men could have charged as they did +again and again across ground swept by a tremendous artillery and +musketry fire; it was wonderful! I can tell you, young man, that even +though you beat us we are proud of you as our countrymen; and I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>believe +that if your General Jackson were to ride through our camp, he would be +cheered as lustily and heartily by our men as he is by his own."</p> + +<p>Some fifty or sixty other prisoners had been taken; they had been +captured in the hand-to-hand struggle that had taken place on some parts +of the field, having got separated from their corps and mixed up with +the enemy, and carried off the field with them as they retired. These, +for the most part, accepted the offered parole; but some fifteen, like +Vincent, preferred a Northern prison to promising to abstain from +fighting in defense of their country, and in the middle of the day they +were placed together in a tent under a guard at the rear of the camp.</p> + +<p>The next morning came the news that Lee had fallen back. There was +exultation among the Federals, not unmingled with a strong sense of +relief; for the heavy losses inflicted in the previous fighting had +taken all the ardor of attack out of McClellan's army, and they were +glad indeed that they were not to be called upon to make another attempt +to drive the Confederates from their position. Vincent was no less +pleased at the news. He knew how thin were the ranks of the Confederate +fighting men, and how greatly they were worn and exhausted by fatigue +and want of food, and that, although they had the day before repulsed +the attacks of the masses of well-fed Northerners, such tremendous +exertions could not often be repeated, and a defeat, with the river in +their rear, approachable only by one rough and narrow road, would have +meant a total destruction of the army.</p> + +<p>The next morning Vincent and his companions were put into the train and +sent to Alexandria. They had no reason to complain of their treatment +upon the way. They were well fed, and after their starvation diet for +the last six weeks their rations seemed to them actually luxurious. The +Federal troops in Alexandria, who were for the most part young recruits +who had just arrived from the North and West, looked with astonishment +upon these thin and ragged men, several of whom we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>re barefooted. Was it +possible that such scarecrows as these could in every battle have driven +back the well-fed and cared-for Northern soldiers!</p> + +<p>"Are they all like this?" one burly young soldier from a Western State +asked their guard.</p> + +<p>"That's them, sir," the sergeant in charge of the party replied. "Not +much to look at, are they? But, by gosh, you should see them fight! You +wouldn't think of their looks then."</p> + +<p>"If that's soldiering," the young farmer said solemnly, "the sooner I am +back home again the better. But it don't seem to me altogether strange +as they should fight so hard, because I should say they must look upon +it as a comfort to be killed rather than to live like that."</p> + +<p>A shout of laughter from the prisoners showed the young rustic that the +objects of his pity did not consider life to be altogether intolerable +even under such circumstances, and he moved away meditating on the +discomforts of war, and upon the remarks that would be made were he to +return home in so sorrowful a plight as that of these Confederate +prisoners.</p> + +<p>"I bargained to fight," he said, "and though I don't expect I shall like +it, I shan't draw back when the time comes; but as to being starved till +you are nigh a skeleton, and going about barefooted and in such rags as +a tramp wouldn't look at, it aint reasonable." And yet, had he known it, +among those fifteen prisoners more than half were possessors of wide +estates, and had been brought up from their childhood in the midst of +luxuries such as the young farmer never dreamed of.</p> + +<p>Among many of the soldiers sympathy took a more active form, and men +pressed forward and gave packets of tobacco, cigars, and other little +presents to them, while two or three pressed rolls of dollar notes into +their hands, with words of rough kindness.</p> + +<p>"There aint no ill feeling in us, Rebs. You have done your work like +men, and no doubt you thinks your cause is right, just as we does; but +it's all over now, and maybe our turn will come next to see the inside +of one of your prisons down south. So we are just soldiers together, and +can feel for each other."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>Discipline in small matters was never strictly enforced in the American +armies, and the sergeant in charge offered no opposition to the soldiers +mingling with the prisoners as they walked along.</p> + +<p>Two days later they were sent by railway to the great prison at Elmira, +in the State of New York. When they reached the jail the prisoners were +separated; Vincent, who was the only officer, being assigned quarters +with some twenty others of the same rank. The prisoners crowded round +him as he entered, eager to hear the last news from the front, for they +had heard from their guards only news of constant victories won by the +Northerners; for every defeat was transformed by the Northern papers +into a brilliant victory, and it was only when the shattered remains of +the various armies returned to Alexandria to be re-formed that the truth +gradually leaked out. Thus Antietam had been claimed as a great Northern +victory, for, although McClellan's troops had in the battle been hurled +back, shattered and broken, across the river, two days afterward Lee had +retired.</p> + +<p>One of the prisoners, who was also dressed in cavalry uniform, hung back +from the rest, and going to the window looked out while Vincent was +chatting with the others. Presently he turned round, and Vincent +recognized with surprise his old opponent Jackson. After a moment's +hesitation he walked across the room to him.</p> + +<p>"Jackson," he said, "we have not been friends lately, but I don't see +why we should keep up our quarrel any longer; we got on all right at +school together; and now we are prisoners together here it would be +foolish to continue our quarrel. Perhaps we were both somewhat to blame +in that affair. I am quite willing to allow I was, for one, but I think +we might well put it aside now."</p> + +<p>Jackson hesitated, and then took the hand Vincent held out to him.</p> + +<p>"That's right, young fellows," one of the other officers said. "Now that +every Southern gentleman is fighting and giving his life, if need be, +for his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> country, no one has a right to have private quarrels of his own. +Life is short enough as it is, certainly too short to indulge in +private animosities. A few weeks ago we were fighting side by side, and +facing death together; to-day we are prisoners; a week hence we may be +exchanged, and soon take our places in the ranks again. It's the duty of +all Southerners to stand shoulder to shoulder, and there ought to be no +such thing as ill-feeling among ourselves."</p> + +<p>Vincent was not previously aware that Jackson had obtained a commission. +He now learned that he had been chosen by his comrades to fill a vacancy +caused by the death of an officer in a skirmish just before Pope fell +back from the Rappahannock, and that he had been made prisoner a few +days afterward in a charge against a greatly superior body of Federal +cavalry.</p> + +<p>The great majority of the officers on both sides were at the +commencement of the war chosen by their comrades, the elections at first +taking place once a year. This, however, was found to act very badly. In +some cases the best men in the regiment were chosen; but too often the +men who had the command of money, and could afford to stand treat and +get in supplies of food and spirits, were elected. The evils of the +system were found so great, indeed, that it was gradually abandoned; but +in cases of vacancies occurring in the field, and there being a +necessity for at once filling them up, the colonels of the regiments had +power to make appointments, and if the choice of the men was considered +to be satisfactory, their nominee would be generally chosen.</p> + +<p>In the case of Jackson, the colonel had hesitated in confirming the +choice of the men. He did not for a moment suspect him to be wanting in +courage; but he regarded him as one who shirked his work, and who won +the votes of the men rather by a fluent tongue and by the violence of +his expressions of hatred against the North than by any soldierly +qualities.</p> + +<p>Some of the officers had been months in prison, and they were highly +indignant at the delays that had occurred in effecting t<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>heir exchange. +The South, indeed, would have been only too glad to get rid of some of +their numerous prisoners, who were simply an expense and trouble to +them, and to get their own men back into their ranks. They could ill +spare the soldiers required to guard so large a number of prisoners, and +a supply of food was in itself a serious matter.</p> + +<p>Thus it was at Harper's Ferry, and upon a good many other occasions, +they released vast numbers of prisoners on their simple paroles not to +serve again. The North, however, were in no hurry to make exchange; and +moreover, their hands were so full with their enormous preparations that +they put aside all matters which had not the claim of urgency.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>THE ESCAPE.</h3> + + +<p>The discipline in the prison at Elmira was not rigorous. The prisoners +had to clean up the cells, halls, and yard, but the rest of their time +they could spend as they liked. Some of those whose friends had money +were able to live in comparative luxury and to assist those who had no +such resources; for throughout the War there was never any great +difficulty in passing letters to and from the South. The line of +frontier was enormous and it was only at certain points that hostilities +were actively carried on, consequently letters and newspapers were +freely passed, and money could be sent in the same way from one part of +the country to another.</p> + +<p>At certain hours of the day hawkers and venders of such articles as were +in most demand by the prisoners were allowed to enter the yard and to +sell their wares to the Confederates. Spirits were not allowed to be +carried in, but tobacco and all kinds of food were permitted to pass. +Vincent had at Alexandria written a letter to his mother, and had given +it to a man who represented that he made it his business to for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>ward +letters to an agent at Richmond, being paid for each letter the sum of a +dollar on its delivery. Vincent, therefore, felt confident that the +anxiety that would be felt at home, when they learned that he was among +the missing at the battle of Antietam, would be relieved.</p> + +<p>He was fairly supplied with money. He had, indeed, had several hundred +dollars with him at the time he was captured; but these were entirely in +Confederate notes, for which he got but half their value in Northern +paper at Alexandria. He himself found the rations supplied in the prison +ample, and was able to aid any of his fellow-prisoners in purchasing +clothes to replace the rags they wore when captured.</p> + +<p>One day Vincent strolled down as usual toward the gate, where, under the +eye of the guard, a row of men and women, principally negroes and +negresses, were sitting on the ground with their baskets in front of +them containing tobacco, pipes, fruit, cakes, needles and thread, +buttons, and a variety of other articles in demand, while a number of +prisoners were bargaining and joking with them. Presently his eye fell +upon a negro before whom was a great pile of watermelons. He started as +he did so, for he at once recognized the well-known face of Dan. As soon +as the negro saw that his master's eye had fallen upon him he began +loudly praising the quality of his fruit.</p> + +<p>"Here, massa officer, here bery fine melyons, ripe and sweet; no green +trash; dis un good right through. Five cents each, sah. Bery cheap, +dese."</p> + +<p>"I expect they cost you nothing, Sambo," one of the Confederate soldiers +said as he bought a melon. "Got a neighbor's patch handy, eh?"</p> + +<p>Dan grinned at the joke, and then selecting another from the bottom of +his pile in the basket, offered it to Vincent.</p> + +<p>"Dis fine fruit, sah. Me sure you please with him!"</p> + +<p>Vincent took the melon and handed Dan five cents. A momentary glance was +exchanged, and then he walked away and sat down i<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>n a quiet corner of the +yard and cut open the melon. As he expected, he found a note rolled up +in the center. A small piece of the rind had been cut out and the pulp +removed for its reception. The bit of rind had then been carefully +replaced so that the cut would not be noticed without close inspection. +It was from one of his fellow-officers, and was dated the day after his +capture. He read as follows:<br /><br /></p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">My Dear Wingfield</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"We are all delighted this afternoon to hear that instead, as we had +believed, of your being knocked on the head you are a prisoner among the +Yanks. Several of us noticed you fall just as we halted at the river, +and we all thought that, from the way in which you fell, you had been +shot through the head or heart. However, there was no time to inquire in +that terrific storm of shot and shell. In the morning, when the burying +parties went down, we could find no signs of you, although we knew +almost to a foot where you had fallen.</p> + +<p>"We could only conclude at last that you had been carried off in the +night by the Yanks, and as they would hardly take the trouble of +carrying off a dead body, it occurred to us that you might, after all, +be alive. So the colonel went to Lee, who at once sent a trumpeter with +a flag down to the river to inquire, and we were all mightily pleased, +as you may imagine, when he came back with the news that you were not +only a prisoner, but unwounded, having been only stunned in some way. +From the way you fell we suppose a round shot must have grazed your +head; at least that is the only way we can account for it.</p> + +<p>"Your horse came back unhurt to the troop, and will be well cared for +until you rejoin us, which we hope will not be long. Your boy kept the +camp awake last night with his howlings, and is at present almost out of +his mind with delight. He tells me he has made up his mind to slip +across the lines and make his way as a runaway to Alexandria, where you +will, of course, be taken in the first place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>. He says he's got some +money of yours; but I have insisted on his taking another fifty dollars, +which you can repay me when we next meet. As he will not have to ask +for work, he may escape the usual lot of runaways, who are generally +pounced upon and set to work on the fortifications of Alexandria and +Washington.</p> + +<p>"He intends to find out what prison you are taken to, and to follow you, +with some vague idea of being able to aid you to escape. As he cannot +write, he has asked me to write this letter to you, telling you what his +idea is. He will give it to you when he finds an opportunity, and he +wishes you to give him an answer, making any suggestion that may occur +to you as to the best way of his setting about it. He says that he shall +make acquaintances among the negroes North, and will find someone who +will read your note to him and write you an answer. I have told him that +if he is caught at the game he is likely to be inside a prison a bit +longer than you are, even if worse doesn't befall him. However, he makes +light of this, and is bent upon carrying out his plans, and I can only +hope he will succeed.</p> + +<p>"I have just heard that we shall fall back across the Rappahannock +to-morrow, and I imagine there will not be much hard fighting again +until spring, long before which I hope you will be in your place among +us again. We lost twenty-three men and two officers (Ketler and Sumner) +yesterday. Good-by, old fellow! I need not say keep up your spirits, for +that you are pretty sure to do.</p> + + +<p style= "text-align: right">"Yours truly,</p> +<p style= "text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">James Sinclair</span>."<br /><br /></p> + + +<p>After the first start at seeing Dan, Vincent was scarcely surprised, for +he had often thought over what the boy would do, and had fancied that +while, if he supposed him dead, he would go straight back to the +Orangery, it was quite possible that, should he hear that he was a +prisoner, Dan might take it into his head to endeavor to join him. As to +his making <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>his escape, that did not appear to be a very difficult +undertaking now that he had a friend outside. The watch kept up was not +a very vigilant one, for such numbers of prisoners were taken on both +sides that they were not regarded as of very great importance, and +indeed the difficulty lay rather in making across the country to the +Southern border than in escaping from prison; for with a friend outside, +with a disguise in readiness, that matter was comparatively easy. All +that was required for the adventure was a long rope, a sharp file, and a +dark night.</p> + +<p>The chief difficulty that occurred to Vincent arose from the fact that +there were some twenty other prisoners in the same ward. He could hardly +file through the bars of the window unnoticed by them, and they would +naturally wish to share in his flight; but where one person might +succeed in evading the vigilance of the guard, it was unlikely in the +extreme that twenty would do so, and the alarm once given all would be +recaptured. He was spared the trouble of making up his mind as to his +plans, for by the time he had finished his letter the hour that the +hucksters were allowed to sell their goods was passed, and the gates +were shut and all was quiet.</p> + +<p>After some thought he came to the conclusion that the only plan would be +to conceal himself somewhere in the prison just before the hour at which +they were locked up in their wards. The alarm would be given, for the +list of names was called over before lock-up, and a search would of +course be made. Still, if he could find a good place for concealment, it +might succeed, since the search after dark would not be so close and +minute as that which would be made next morning. The only disadvantage +would be that the sentries would be specially on the alert, as, unless +the fugitive had succeeded in some way in passing out of the gates in +disguise, he must still be within the walls, and might attempt to scale +them through the night. This certainty largely increased the danger, and +Vincent went to bed that night without finally determining what had +better be done.</p> + +<p>The next morning, w<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>hile walking in the grounds, he determined the place +he would choose for his concealment if he adopted the plan he had +thought of the evening before. The lower rooms upon one side of the +building were inhabited by the governor and officers of the prison, and +if he were to spring through an open window unnoticed just as it became +dusk, and hide himself in a cupboard or under a bed there, he would be +safe for a time, as, however close the search might be in other parts of +the building, it would be scarcely suspected, at any rate on the first +alarm, that he had concealed himself in the officers' quarters. There +would, of course, be the chance of his being detected as he got out of +the window again at night, but this would not be a great risk. It was +the vigilance of the sentries that he most feared, and the possibility +that, as soon as the fact of his being missing was known, a cordon of +guards might be stationed outside the wall in addition to those in the +yard. The danger appeared to him to be so great that he was half +inclined to abandon the enterprise. It would certainly be weary work to +be shut up there for perhaps a year while his friends were fighting the +battles of his country; but it would be better after all to put up with +that than to run any extreme risk of being shot.</p> + +<p>When he arrived at this conclusion he went upstairs to his room to write +a line to Dan. The day was a fine one, and he found that the whole of +the occupants of the room had gone below. This was an unexpected bit of +good fortune, and he at once went to the window and examined the bars. +They were thick and of new iron, but had been hastily put up. The +building had originally been a large warehouse, and when it had been +converted into a prison for the Confederate prisoners the bars had been +added to the windows. Instead, therefore, of being built into solid +stone and fastened in by lead, they were merely screwed on to the wooden +framework of the windows, and by a strong screw-driver a bar could be +removed in five minutes. This altogether altered the position. He had +only to wait until the rest of the occupants of the room were asleep and +then to remove th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>e bar and let himself down.</p> + +<p>He at once wrote:</p> + +<p>"I want twenty yards of strong string, and the same length of rope that +will bear my weight; also a strong screw-driver. When I have got this I +will let you know night and hour. Shall want disguise ready to put on."</p> + +<p>He folded the note up into a small compass, and at the hour at which Dan +would be about to enter he sauntered down to the gate. In a short time +the venders entered, and were soon busy selling their wares. Dan had, as +before, a basket of melons. Vincent made his way up to him.</p> + +<p>"I want another melon," he said, "as good as that you sold me last +night."</p> + +<p>"Dey all de same, sah. First-rate melyons, dese; just melt away in your +mouf like honey."</p> + +<p>He held up one of the melons, and Vincent placed in his hands the +coppers in payment. Between two of them he had placed the little note. +Dan's hands closed quickly on the coins, and dropping them into his +pocket he addressed the next customer, while Vincent sauntered away +again. This time the melon was a whole one, and Vincent divided it with +a couple of other prisoners, for the fruit was too large for one person +to consume, being quite as large as a man's head.</p> + +<p>The next day another melon was bought, but this time Vincent did not +open it in public. Examining it closely, he perceived that it had been +cut through the middle, and no doubt contained a portion of the rope. He +hesitated as to his next step. If he took the melon up to his room he +would be sure to find some men there, and would be naturally called upon +to divide the fruit; and yet there was nowhere else he could hide it. +For a long time he sat with his back to the wall and the melon beside +him, abusing himself for his folly in not having told Dan to send the +rope in small lengths that he could hide about him. The place where he +had sat down was one of the quietest in the yard, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>men were +constantly strolling up and down. He determined at last that the only +possible plan was in the first place to throw his coat over his melon, +to tuck it up underneath it, then to get hold of one end of the ball of +rope that it doubtless contained and to endeavor to wind it round his +body without being observed. It was a risky business, and he would +gladly have tossed the melon over the wall had he dared to do so; for if +he were detected, not only would he be punished with much more severe +imprisonment, but Dan might be arrested and punished most severely.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the weather was by no means hot, and it would look strange +to take off his coat; besides, if he did so, how could he coil the rope +round him without being observed? So that idea was abandoned. He got up +and walked to an angle in the wall, and there sat down again, concealing +the melon as well as he could between him and the wall when anyone +happened to come near him. He pulled the halves apart and found, as he +had suspected, it was but a shell, the whole of the fruit having been +scooped out. But he gave an exclamation of pleasure on seeing that +instead, as he feared, of a large ball of rope being inside, the +interior was filled with neatly made hanks, each containing several +yards of thin but strong rope, together with a hank of strong string.</p> + +<p>Unbuttoning his coat, he thrust them in; then he took the melon rind and +broke it into very small pieces and threw them about. He then went up to +his room and thrust the hanks, unobserved, one by one among the straw +which, covered by an army blanket, constituted his bed. To-morrow, no +doubt, Dan would supply him somehow with a screw-driver. On going down +to the gate next day he found that the negro had changed his commodity, +and that this time his basket contained very large and fine cucumbers. +These were selling briskly, and Vincent saw that Dan was looking round +anxiously, and that an expression of relief came over his face as he +perceived him. He had, indeed, but eight or ten cucumbers left.</p> + +<p>"Cucumbers to-day, sah? Bery fine cucumbers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>—first-rate cucumbers dese."</p> + +<p>"They look rather over-ripe," Vincent said.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, sah; dey just ripe. Dis bery fine one—ten cents, dis."</p> + +<p>"You are putting up your prices, darky, and are making a fortune out of +us," Vincent said as he took the cucumber, which was a very large and +straight one. He had no difficulty with this, as with the melon; a sharp +twist broke it in two as he reached the corner he had used the day +previously. It had been cut in half, one end had been scooped out for +the reception of the handle of the screw-driver and the metal been +driven in to the head in the other half. Hiding it under his jacket, he +felt that he was now prepared for escape.</p> + +<p>He now asked himself whether he should go alone or take one or more of +his comrades into his confidence, and finally determined to give a young +Virginian officer named Geary, with whom he had been specially friendly +during his imprisonment, and Jackson, a chance of escape. He did not +like the latter, but he thought that, after the reconciliation that had +taken place between them, it was only right to take him rather than a +stranger. Drawing them aside, then, he told them that he had arranged a +mode of escape; it was impossible that all could avail themselves of it, +but that they were welcome to accompany him. They thanked him heartily +for the offer, and, when he explained the manner in which he intended to +make off, agreed to try their fortunes with him.</p> + +<p>"I propose," he said, "as soon as we are fairly beyond the prison, we +separate, and each try to gain the frontier as best he can. The fact +that three prisoners have escaped will soon be known all over the +country, and there would be no chance whatever for us if we kept +together. I will tell my boy to have three disguises ready; and when we +once put aside our uniforms I see no reason why, traveling separately, +suspicion should fall upon us; we ought to have no difficulty until at +any rate we arrive near the border, and there must be plenty of points +where we can cross without going anywhere nea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>r the Federal camps."</p> + +<p>The others at once agreed that the chances of making their way +separately were much greater than if together. This being arranged, +Vincent passed a note next day to Dan, telling him to have three +disguises in readiness, and to be at the foot of the western wall, +halfway along, at twelve o'clock on the first wet night. A string would +be thrown over, with a knife fastened to it. He was to pull on the +string till the rope came into his hand, and to hold that tight until +they were over. Vincent chose this spot because it was equally removed +from the sentry-boxes at the corners of the yard, and because there was +a stone seat in the yard to which one end of the rope could be attached.</p> + +<p>That night was fine, but the next was thick and misty. At nine o'clock +all were in bed, and he lay listening to the clocks in the distance. Ten +struck, and eleven, and when he thought it was approaching twelve he got +up and crept to the window. He was joined immediately by the others; the +screw-driver was set to work; and, as he expected, Vincent found no +trouble whatever with the screws, which were not yet rusted in the wood, +and turned immediately when the powerful screw-driver was applied to +them. When all were out the bar was carefully lifted from its place and +laid upon the floor.</p> + +<p>The rope was then put round one of the other bars and drawn through it +until the two ends came together. These were then dropped to the ground +below. Geary went first, Jackson followed, and Vincent was soon standing +beside them. Taking one end of the rope, he pulled it until the other +passed round the bar and fell at their feet. All three were barefooted, +and they stole noiselessly across the yard to the seat, which was nearly +opposite their window. Vincent had already fastened his clasp-knife to +the end of the string, and he now threw it over the wall, which was +about twenty feet high.</p> + +<p>He had tied a knot at forty feet from the end, and, standing close to +the wall, he drew in the string until the knot was i<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>n his hand. Another +two yards, and he knew that the knife was hanging a yard from the ground +against the wall. He now drew it up and down, hoping that the slight +noise the knife made against the wall might aid Dan in finding it. In +two or three minutes he felt a jerk, and knew that Dan had got it. He +fastened the end of the string to the rope and waited. The rope was +gradually drawn up; when it neared the end he fastened it to the stone +seat.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "up you go, Geary."</p> + +<p>The order in which they were to ascend had been settled by lot, as Geary +insisted that Vincent, who had contrived the whole affair, should be the +first to escape; but Vincent declined to accept the advantage, and the +three had accordingly tossed up for precedence.</p> + +<p>Geary was quickly over, and lowered himself on the opposite side. The +others followed safely, but not without a good deal of scraping against +the wall, for the smallness of the rope added to the difficulty of +climbing it. However, the noise was so slight that they had little fear +of attracting attention, especially as the sentries would be standing in +their boxes, for the rain was now coming down pretty briskly. As soon as +they were down Vincent seized Dan by the hand.</p> + +<p>"My brave boy," he said, "I owe you my freedom, and I shan't forget it. +Now, where are the clothes?"</p> + +<p>"Here dey are, sah. One is a rough suit, like a working man's, another +is a black-and-white sort of suit—a check suit; de oder one is for +you—a clargy's suit, sir. You make very nice young minister, for sure."</p> + +<p>"All right, Dan!" Vincent said, laughing; "give me the minister's suit."</p> + +<p>"Then I will be the countryman," Geary said.</p> + +<p>There was a little suppressed laughter as they changed their clothes in +the dark; and then, leaving their uniforms by the wall, they shook hands +and started at once in different directions, lest they might come across +someone who would, when the escape was known, remember four men having +passed him in the dark.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> +<p>"Now, Dan, what is the next move?" Vincent asked, as they walked off. +"Have you fixed upon any plan?"</p> + +<p>"No special plan, sah, but I have brought a bag; you see I have him in +my hand."</p> + +<p>"I suppose that's what you carried the clothes in?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; I carried dem in a bundle. Dis bag has got linen, and boots, +and oder tings for you, sah. What I tink am de best way dis. Dar am a +train pass trou here at two o'clock and stop at dis station. Some people +always get out. Dar is an hotel just opposite the station, and some of +de passengers most always go there. I thought de best way for you would +be to go outside the station. Just when the train come in we walk across +de road wid the oders and go to hotel. You say you want bedroom for +yo'self, and that your sarvant can sleep in de hall. Den in de morning +you get up and breakfast and go off by de fust train."</p> + +<p>"But then they may send down to look at the passengers starting, and I +should be taken at once."</p> + +<p>"De train go out at seven o'clock, sah. I don't expect they find that +you have got away before dat."</p> + +<p>"No, Dan. We all turn out at seven, and I shall be missed then; but it +will be some little time before the alarm is given, and they find out +how we got away, and send out search-parties. If the train is anything +like punctual we shall be off long before they get to the station."</p> + +<p>"Besides, sah, dar are not many people knows your face, and it not +likely de bery man dat know you come to the station. Lots of oder places +to search, and dey most sure to tink you go right away—not tink you +venture to stop in town 'til the morning."</p> + +<p>"That is so, Dan, and I think your plan is a capital one."</p> + +<p>Dan's suggestion was carried out, and at seven o'clock next morning they +were standing on the platform among a number of other persons waiting +for the train. Just as the locomotive's whistle was heard the sound of a +cannon boomed out from the direction of the prison.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> +<p>"That means some of the prisoners have escaped," one of the porters on +the platform said. "There have been five or six of them got away in the +last two months, but most of them have been caught again before they +have gone far. You see, to have a chance at all, they have got to get +rid of their uniforms, and as we are all Unionists about here that aint +an easy job for 'em to manage."</p> + +<p>Everyone on the platform joined in the conversation, asking which way +the fugitive would be likely to go, whether there were any cavalry to +send after him, what would be done to him if he were captured, and other +questions of the same kind, Vincent joining in the talk. It was a relief +to him when the train drew up, and he and Dan took their place in it, +traveling, however, in different cars. Once fairly away, Vincent had no +fear whatever of being detected, and could travel where he liked, for +outside the prison there were not ten people who knew his face +throughout the Northern States. It would be difficult for him to make +his way down into Virginia from the North, as the whole line of frontier +there was occupied by troops, and patrols were on the watch night and +day to prevent persons from going through the lines. He therefore +determined to go west to St. Louis, and from there work his way down +through Missouri. After two days' railway traveling they reached St. +Louis, a city having a large trade with the South, and containing many +sympathizers with the Confederate cause. Vincent, having now no fear of +detection, went at once to an hotel, and taking up a newspaper, one of +the first paragraphs that met his eye was headed:</p> + +<p>"ESCAPE OF THREE CONFEDERATE OFFICERS FROM ELMIRA.</p> + +<p>"Great excitement was caused on Wednesday at Elmira by the discovery +that three Confederate officers had, during the night, effected their +escape from prison. One of the bars of the window of the ward on the +first floor in which they were, wit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>h fifteen other Confederate officers, +confined, had been removed; the screws having been taken out by a large +screw-driver which they left behind them. They had lowered themselves +to the yard, and climbed over the wall by means of a rope which was +found in position in the morning. The rest of the prisoners professed an +entire ignorance of the affair, and declared that, until they found the +beds unoccupied in the morning, they knew nothing of the occurrence.</p> + +<p>"This is as it may be, but it is certain they must have been aided by +traitors outside the prison, for the rope hung loose on the outside of +the wall, and must have been held by someone there as they climbed it. +The inside end was fastened to a stone seat, and they were thus enabled +to slide down it on the other side. Their uniforms were found lying at +the foot of the wall, and their accomplice had doubtless had disguises +ready for them. The authorities of the prison are unable to account for +the manner in which the screw-driver and rope were passed in to them, or +how they communicated with their friends outside."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Then followed the personal description of each of the fugitives, and a +request that all loyal citizens would be on the lookout for them, and +would at once arrest any suspicious character unable to give a +satisfactory account of himself. As Vincent sat smoking in the hall of +the hotel he heard several present discussing the escape of the +prisoners.</p> + +<p>"It does not matter about them one way or the other," one of the +speakers said. "They seem to be mere boys, and whether they escape or +not will not make any difference to anyone. The serious thing is that +there must be some traitors among the prison officials, and that next +time perhaps two or three generals may escape, and that would be a +really serious misfortune."</p> + +<p>"We need not reckon that out at present," another smoker said. "We +haven't got three of the rebel generals yet, and as far as things seem +to be going on, we may have to wait some time before we have. They are +pretty well able to take care of themselves, I r<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>eckon."</p> + +<p>"They are good men, some of them, I don't deny," the first speaker +said; "but they might as well give up the game. In the spring we shall +have an army big enough to eat them up."</p> + +<p>"So I have heard two or three times before. Scott was going to eat them +up, McClellan was going to eat them up, then Pope was going to make an +end of 'em altogether. Now McClellan is having a try again, but somehow +or other the eating up hasn't come off yet. It looks to me rather the +other way."</p> + +<p>There was an angry growl from two or three of those sitting round, while +others uttered a cordial "That's so."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me, by the way you put it, that you don't wish to see this +business come to an end."</p> + +<p>"That's where you are wrong now. I do wish to see it come to an end. I +don't want to see tens of thousands of men losing their lives because +one portion of these States wants to ride rough-shod over the other. The +sooner the North looks this affair squarely in the face and sees that it +has taken up a bigger job than it can carry through, and agrees to let +those who wish to leave it go if they like, the better for all parties. +That's what I think about it."</p> + +<p>"I don't call that Union talk," the other said angrily.</p> + +<p>"Union or not Union, I mean to talk it, and I want to know who is going +to prevent me?"</p> + +<p>The two men rose simultaneously from their chairs, and in a second the +cracks of two revolvers sounded. As if they had only been waiting for +the signal, a score of other men leaped up and sprang at each other. +They had, as the altercation grew hotter, joined in with exclamations of +anger or approval, and Vincent saw that although the Unionists were the +majority, the party of sympathizers with the South was a strong one. +Having neither arms nor inclination to join in a broil of this kind he +made his escape into the street the instant hostilities began, and +hurried away from the sound of shouts, oaths, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>sharp cracks of +pistols, and the breaking of glass. Ten minutes later he returned. The +hotel was shut up, but an angry mob were assembled round the door +shouting, "Down with the rebels! down with the Secessionists!" and were +keeping up a loud knocking at the door. Presently a window upstairs +opened, and the proprietor put out his head.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "I can assure you that the persons who were the +cause of this disturbance all left the hotel by the back way as soon as +the affair was over. I have sent for the police commissioner, and upon +his arrival he will be free to search the house, and to arrest anyone +concerned in this affair."</p> + +<p>The crowd were not satisfied, and renewed their knocking at the door; +but two or three minutes later an officer, with a strong body of police, +arrived on the spot. In a few words he told the crowd to disperse, +promising that the parties concerned in the affair would be arrested and +duly dealt with. He then entered the house with four of his men, leaving +the rest to wait. Vincent entered with the constables, saying that he +was staying at the house. The fumes of gunpowder were still floating +about the hall, three bodies were lying on the floor, and several men +were binding up their wounds. The police officer inquired into the +origin of the broil, and all present concurred in saying that it arose +from some Secessionists speaking insultingly of the army of the Union.</p> + +<p>Search was then made in the hotel, and it was found that eight persons +were missing. One of the killed was a well-known citizen of the town; he +was the speaker on the Union side of the argument. The other two were +strangers, and no one could say which side they espoused. All those +present declared that they themselves were Union men, and it was +supposed that the eight who were missing were the party who had taken +the other side of the question. The evidence of each was taken down by +the police officer. Vincent was not questioned, as, having entered with +the constables, it was supposed he was not present at the affair.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> +<p>In the morning Vincent read in the local paper a highly colored account +of the fray. After giving a large number of wholly fictitious details, +it went on to say: "The victims were Cyrus D. Jenkins, a much-esteemed +citizen and a prominent Unionist; the other two were guests at the +hotel; one had registered as P. J. Moore of Vermont, the other as James +Harvey of Tennessee. Nothing is as yet known as to the persons whose +rooms were unoccupied, and who had doubtless made their escape as soon +as the affray was over; but the examination of their effects, which will +be made by the police in the morning, will doubtless furnish a clew by +which they will be brought to justice."</p> + +<p>Having read this, Vincent looked for the news as to the escape from +Elmira, being anxious to know whether his companions had been as +fortunate as himself in getting clear away. He was startled by reading +the following paragraph: "We are enabled to state that the police have +received a letter stating that one of the officers who escaped from +Elmira prison has adopted the disguise of a minister, and is traveling +through the country with a black servant. At present the authorities are +not disposed to attach much credit to this letter, and are inclined to +believe that it has been sent in order to put them on a wrong scent. +However, a watch will doubtless be kept by the police throughout the +country for a person answering to this description." Accustomed to rise +early, Vincent was taking his breakfast almost alone, only two or three +of the other guests having made their appearance. He finished his meal +hastily, and went out to Dan, who was lounging in front of the hotel.</p> + +<p>"Dan, go upstairs at once, pack the bag, bring it down and go out with +it immediately. I will pay the bill. Don't stop to ask questions now."</p> + +<p>Vincent then walked up to the desk at the end of the hall, at which a +clerk was sitting reading the paper. Sincerely hoping that the man's eye +had not fallen on this paragraph, he asked if his account was made out. +As he had fortunately ment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>ioned on the preceding evening that he should +be leaving in the morning, the bill was ready; and the clerk, scarce +looking up from the paper, handed it to him. Vincent paid him the +amount, saying carelessly, "I think I have plenty of time to catch the +train for the East?"</p> + +<p>The clerk glanced at the clock.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it goes at eight, and you have twenty minutes. It's only five +minutes' walk to the station."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>FUGITIVES.</h3> + + +<p>On leaving the hotel Vincent walked a short distance and then stopped +until Dan came up to him.</p> + +<p>"Anything de matter, sah?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dan. There is a notice in the paper that the police have obtained +information that I am traveling disguised as a minister, and have a +negro servant with me."</p> + +<p>"Who told dem dat?" Dan asked in surprise.</p> + +<p>"We can talk about that presently, Dan; the great thing at present is to +get away from here. The train for the South starts at ten. Give me the +bag, and follow me at a distance. I will get you a ticket for Nashville, +and as you pass me in the station I will hand it to you. It must not be +noticed that we are traveling together. That is the only clew they have +got."</p> + +<p>Dan obeyed his instructions. The journey was a long one. The train was +slow and stopped frequently; passengers got in and out at every station. +The morning's news from the various points at which the respective +forces were facing each other was the general topic of conversation, and +Vincent was interested in seeing how the tone gradually changed as the +passengers from St. Louis one by one left the train and their places +were taken by those of the more southern districts. At first the +sentiment expresse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>d had been violently Northern, and there was no +dissent from the general chorus of hope and expectation that the South +were on their last legs and that the rebellion would shortly be stamped +out; but gradually, as the train approached the State of Tennessee, the +Unionist opinion, although expressed with even greater force and +violence, was by no means universal. Many men read their papers in +silence and took no part whatever in the conversation, but Vincent could +see from the angry glances which they shot at the speakers that the +sentiments uttered were distasteful to them. He himself had scarcely +spoken during the whole journey. He had for some time devoted himself to +the newspaper, and had then purchased a book from the newsboy who +perambulated the cars. Presently a rough-looking man, who had been among +the wildest and most violent in his denunciation of the South, said, +looking at Vincent:</p> + +<p>"I see by the papers to-day that one of the cursed rebel officers who +gave them the slip at Elmira is traveling in the disguise of a minister. +I guess it's mighty unpleasant to know that even if you meet a parson in +a train, like as not he is a rebel in disguise. Now, mister, may I ask +where you have come from and where you are going to?"</p> + +<p>"You may ask what you like," Vincent said quietly; "but I am certainly +not going to answer impertinent questions."</p> + +<p>A hum of approval was heard from several of the passengers.</p> + +<p>"If you hadn't got that black coat on," the man said angrily, "I would +put you off the car in no time."</p> + +<p>"Black coat or no black coat," Vincent said, "you may find it more +difficult than you think. My profession is a peaceful one; but even a +peaceful man, if assaulted, may defend himself. You say it's unpleasant +to know that if you travel with a man in a black coat he may be a +traitor. It's quite as unpleasant to me to know that if I travel with a +man in a brown one he may be a notorious ruffian, and may as likely as +not have just served his time in a penitentiary."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>Two or three of the passengers laughed loudly. The man, starting up, +crossed the car to where Vincent was sitting and laid his hand roughly +on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"You have got to get out!" he said. "No man insults Jim Mullens twice."</p> + +<p>"Take your hand off my shoulder," Vincent said quietly, "or you will be +sorry for it."</p> + +<p>The man shifted his hold to the collar of Vincent's coat amid cries of +shame from some of the passengers, while the others were silent, even +those of his own party objecting to an assault upon a minister. It was +only the fact that the fellow was a notorious local ruffian that +prevented their expressing open disapproval of the act. As the man +grasped Vincent's collar with his right hand Vincent saw his left go +under his coat toward the pocket in the back of the trousers where +revolvers were always carried. In an instant he sprang to his feet, and +before the man, who was taken by surprise at the suddenness of the +movement, could steady himself, he struck him a tremendous blow and at +the same moment springing at his throat, threw him backward on to the +floor of the carriage. As he fell the man drew out his revolver, but +Vincent grasped his arm and with a sharp twist wrenched the revolver +from his grasp, and, leaping up, threw it out of the open window. The +ruffian rose to his feet for a moment half-dazed by the violence with +which he had fallen, and poured out a string of imprecations upon +Vincent. The latter stood calmly awaiting a fresh attack. For a moment +the ruffian hesitated, and then, goaded to fury by the taunting laughter +of the lookers-on, was about to spring upon him when he was seized by +two or three of the passengers.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you have made a fool enough of yourself already," one of them +said; "and we are not going to see a minister ill-treated, not if we +know it."</p> + +<p>"You need not hold him," Vincent said. "It is not because one wears a +black coat and is adverse to fighting that one is not able to defend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +one's self. We all learn the same things at college, whether we are +going into the Church or any other profession. You can let him alone if +he really wants any more, which I do not believe. I should be ashamed of +myself if I could not punish a ruffian of his kind."</p> + +<p>"Let me get at him!" yelled Mullens; and the men who held him, taking +Vincent at his word, released him. He rushed forward, but was received +with another tremendous blow on the mouth. He paused a moment in his +rush, and Vincent, springing forward, administered another blow upon the +same spot, knocking him off his legs on to the floor. On getting up he +gave no sign of a desire to renew the conflict. His lips were badly cut +and the blood was streaming from his mouth, and he looked at Vincent +with an air of absolute bewilderment. The latter, seeing that the +conflict was over, quietly resumed his seat; while several of the +passengers came up to him, and, shaking him warmly by the hand, +congratulated him upon having punished his assailant.</p> + +<p>"I wish we had a few more ministers of your sort down this way," one +said. "That's the sort of preaching fellows like this understand. It was +well you got his six-shooter out of his hand, for he would have used it +as sure as fate. He ought to have been lynched long ago, but since the +troubles began, these fellows have had all their own way. But look to +yourself when he gets out; he belongs to a gang who call themselves +Unionists, but who are nothing but plunderers and robbers. If you take +my advice, when you get to the end of your journey you will not leave +the station, but take a ticket straight back North. I tell you your life +won't be safe five minutes when you once get outside of the town. They +daren't do anything there, for, though folks have had to put up with a +great deal, they wouldn't stand the shooting of a minister; still, +outside the town I would not answer for your life for an hour."</p> + +<p>"I have my duties to perform," Vincent said, "and I shall certainly +carry them through; but I am obliged to you for your advice. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>I can quite +understand that ruffian," and he looked at Mullens, who, with his +handkerchief to his mouth, was sitting alone in a corner—for the rest +had all drawn away from him in disgust—and glaring ferociously at him, +"will revenge himself, if he has the opportunity. However, as far as +possible, I shall be on my guard."</p> + +<p>"At any rate," the man said, "I should advise you, when you get to +Nashville, to charge him with assault. We can all testify that he laid +hands on you first. That way he will get locked up for some days anyhow, +and you can go away about your business, and he won't know where to find +you when he gets out."</p> + +<p>"Thank you—that would be a very good plan; but I might lose a day or +two in having to appear against him. I am pressed for time and have some +important business on hand, and I have no doubt I shall be able to throw +him off my track, finish my business, and be off again before he can +come across me."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope no harm will come of it," the other said. "I like you, and +I never saw anyone hit so quickly and so hard. It's a downright pity you +are a preacher. My name's John Morrison, and my farm is ten miles from +Nashville, on the Cumberland River. If you should be going in that +direction, I should be right glad if you would drop in on me."</p> + +<p>The real reason that decided Vincent against following the advice to +give his assailant in charge was that he feared he himself might be +questioned as to the object of his journey and his destination. The +fellow would not improbably say that he believed he was the Confederate +officer who was trying to escape in the disguise of a clergyman and that +he had therefore tried to arrest him. He could, of course, give no +grounds for the accusation, still questions might be asked which would +be impossible for him to answer; and, however plausible a story he might +invent, the lawyer whom the fellow would doubtless employ to defend him +might suggest that the truth of his statements might be easily tested by +the dispatch of a telegram,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> in which case he would be placed in a most +awkward situation. It was better to run the risk of trouble with the +fellow and his gang than to do anything which might lead to inquiries +as to his identity.</p> + +<p>When the train reached Nashville, Vincent proceeded to an hotel. It was +already late in the afternoon, for the journey had occupied more than +thirty hours. As soon as it was dark he went out again and joined Dan, +whom he had ordered to follow him at a distance and to be at the corner +of the first turning to the right of the hotel as soon as it became +dark. Dan was at the point agreed upon, and he followed Vincent until +the latter stopped in a quiet and badly lighted street.</p> + +<p>"Things are going badly, Dan. I had a row with a ruffian in the train, +and he has got friends here, and this will add greatly to our danger in +getting to our lines. I must get another disguise. What money have you +left?"</p> + +<p>"Not a cent, sah. I had only a five-cent piece left when we left St. +Louis, and I spent him on bread on de journey."</p> + +<p>"That is bad, Dan. I did not think your stock was so nearly expended."</p> + +<p>"I had to keep myself, sah, and to pay for de railroad, and to buy dem +t'ree suits of clothes, and to make de nigger I lodged with a present to +keep him mouth shut."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know you have had lots of expenses, Dan, and I am sure that you +have not wasted your money; but I had not thought about it. I have only +got ten dollars left, and we may have a hundred and fifty miles to +travel before we are safe. Anyhow, you must get another disguise, and +trust to luck for the rest. We have tramped a hundred and fifty miles +before now without having anything beyond what we could pick up on the +road. Here's the money. Get a rough suit of workingman's clothes, and +join me here in an hour's time. Let us find out the name of the street +before we separate, for we may miss our way and not be able to meet +again."</p> + +<p>Passing up into the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>busy streets, Vincent presently stopped and +purchased a paper of a newsboy who was running along shouting, "News +from the war! Defeat of the rebels! Fight in a railway car near +Nashville! A minister punishes a border ruffian!"</p> + +<p>"Confound those newspaper fellows!" Vincent muttered to himself as he +walked away. "They pick up every scrap of news. I suppose a reporter got +hold of someone who was in the car." Turning down a quiet street, he +opened the paper and, by the light of the lamp, read a graphic and +minute account of the struggle in the train.</p> + +<p>"I won't go back to the hotel," he said to himself. "I shall be having +reporters to interview me. I shall be expected to give them a history of +my whole life: where I was born, and where I went to school, and whether +I prefer beef to mutton, and whether I drink beer, and a thousand other +things. No, the sooner I am away the better. As to the hotel, I have +only had one meal, and they have got the bag with what clothes there +are; that will pay them well." Accordingly, when he rejoined Dan, he +told him that they would start at once.</p> + +<p>"It is the best way, anyhow," he said. "To-morrow, no doubt, the fellow +I had the row with will be watching the hotel to see which way I go off, +but after once seeing me go to the hotel he will not guess that I shall +be starting this evening. What have you got left, Dan?"</p> + +<p>"I got two dollars, sah."</p> + +<p>"That makes us quite rich men. We will stop at the first shop we come to +and lay in a stock of bread and a pound or two of ham."</p> + +<p>"And a bottle of rum, sah. Bery wet and cold, sleeping out of doors now, +sah. Want a little comfort, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Dan; I think we can afford that."</p> + +<p>"Get one for half a dollar, massa. Could not lay out half a dollar +better."</p> + +<p>Half an hour later they had left Nashville behind them, and were +tramping a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>long the road toward the east, Dan carrying a bundle in which +the provisions were wrapped, and the neck of the bottle of rum sticking +out of his pocket. As soon as they were well in the country Vincent +changed his clothes for those Dan had just brought him, and making the +others up into a bundle, continued his way.</p> + +<p>"Why you not leave dem black clothes behind, sah? What good take dem wid +you?"</p> + +<p>"I am not going to carry them far, Dan. The first wood or thick clump of +bushes we come to I shall hide them away; but if you were to leave them +here they would be found the first thing in the morning, and perhaps be +carried into the town and handed over to the police, and they might put +that and the fact of my not having returned to the hotel—which is sure +to be talked about—together, and come to the conclusion that either +Mullens was right and that I was an escaped Confederate, or that I had +been murdered by Mullens. In either case they might get up a search, and +perhaps send telegrams to the troops in the towns beyond us. Anyhow, +it's best the clothes should not be found."</p> + +<p>All night they tramped along, pausing only for half an hour about +midnight, when Dan suggested that as he had only had some bread to +eat—and not too much of that—during the last forty-eight hours, he +thought that he could do with some supper. Accordingly the bundle was +opened, and they sat down and partook of a hearty meal. Dan had wisely +taken the precaution of having the cork drawn from the bottle when he +bought it, replacing it so that it could be easily extracted when +required, and Vincent acknowledged that the spirit was a not unwelcome +addition to the meal. When morning broke they had reached Duck's River, +a broad stream crossing the road.</p> + +<p>Here they drew aside into a thick grove, and determined to get a few +hours' sleep before proceeding. It was nearly midday before they woke +and proceeded to the edge of the trees. Vincent reconnoitered the +position.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> +<p>"It is just as well we did not try to cross, Dan. I see the tents of at +least a regiment on the other bank. No doubt they are stationed there +to guard the road and railway bridge. This part of the country is pretty +equally divided in opinion, though more of the people are for the South +than for the North; but I know there are guerrilla parties on both sides +moving about, and if a Confederate band was to pounce down on these +bridges and destroy them it would cut the communication with their army +in front, and put them in a very ugly position if they were defeated. No +doubt that's why they have stationed that regiment there. Anyhow, it +makes it awkward for us. We should be sure to be questioned where we are +going, and as I know nothing whatever of the geography of the place, we +should find it very difficult to satisfy them. We must cross the river +somewhere else. There are sure to be some boats somewhere along the +banks; at any rate, the first thing to do is to move further away from +the road."</p> + +<p>They walked for two or three miles across the country. The fields for +the most part were deserted, and although here and there they saw +cultivated patches, it was evident that most of the inhabitants had +quitted that part of the country, which had been the scene of almost +continued fighting from the commencement of the war; the sufferings of +the inhabitants being greatly heightened by the bands of marauders who +moved about plundering and destroying under the pretense of punishing +those whom they considered hostile to the cause in whose +favor—nominally, at least—they had enrolled themselves. The sight of +ruined farms and burned houses roused Vincent's indignation; for in +Virginia private property had, up to the time of Pope's assuming command +of the army, been respected, and this phase of civil war was new and +very painful to him.</p> + +<p>"It would be a good thing," he said to Dan, "if the generals on both +sides in this district would agree to a month's truce, and join each +other in hunting down and hanging th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>ese marauding scoundrels. On our +side Mosby and a few other leaders of bands composed almost entirely of +gentlemen have never been accused of practices of this kind; but, with +these exceptions, there is little to choose between them."</p> + +<p>After walking for four or five miles they again sat down till evening, +and then, going down to the river, endeavored to find a boat by which +they could cross, but to their disappointment no craft of any kind was +visible, although in many places there were stages by the riverside, +evidently used by farmers for unloading their produce into boats. +Vincent concluded at last that at some period of the struggle all the +boats must have been collected and either sunk or carried away by one of +the parties to prevent the other crossing the river.</p> + +<p>Hitherto they had carefully avoided all the farmhouses that appeared to +be inhabited; but Vincent now determined to approach one of them and +endeavor to gain some information as to the distance from the next +bridge, and whether it was guarded by troops, and to find out, if +possible, the position in which the Northern forces in Tennessee were at +present posted—all of which points he was at present ignorant of. He +passed two or three large farmhouses without entering, for although the +greater part of the male population were away with one or other of the +armies, he might still find two or three hands in such buildings. +Besides, it was now late, and whatever the politics of the inmates they +would be suspicious of such late arrivals, and would probably altogether +refuse them admittance. Accordingly another night was spent in the wood.</p> + +<p>The next morning, after walking a mile or two, they saw a house at which +Vincent determined to try their fortune. It was small, but seemed to +have belonged to people above the class of farmer. It stood in a little +plantation, and was surrounded by a veranda. Most of the blinds were +down, and Vincent judged that the inmates could not be numerous.</p> + +<p>"You remain here, Dan, and I will go and knock at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> the door. It is better +that we should not be seen together." Vincent accordingly went forward +and knocked at the door. An old negress opened it.</p> + +<p>"We have nothing for tramps," she said. "De house am pretty well cleared +out ob eberything." She was about to shut the door when Vincent put his +foot forward and prevented its closing. "Massa Charles," the negress +called out, "bring yo' shot-gun quick; here am tief want to break into +the house."</p> + +<p>"I am neither a thief nor a tramp," Vincent said; "and I do not want +anything, except that I should be glad to buy a loaf of bread if you +have one that you could spare. I have lost my way, and I want to ask +directions."</p> + +<p>"Dat am pretty likely story," the old woman said. "Bring up dat +shot-gun, quick, Massa Charles."</p> + +<p>"What is it, Chloe?" another female voice asked.</p> + +<p>"Here am a man pretend he hab lost his way and wants to buy a loaf. You +stand back, Miss Lucy, and let your brudder shoot de villain dead."</p> + +<p>"I can assure you I am not a robber, madam," Vincent said through the +partly opened door. "I am alone, and only beg some information, which I +doubt not you can give me."</p> + +<p>"Open the door, Chloe," the second voice said inside; "that is not the +voice of a robber."</p> + +<p>The old woman reluctantly obeyed the order and opened the door, and +Vincent saw in the passage a young girl of some sixteen years old. He +took off his hat.</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry to disturb you," he said, "but I am an entire stranger +here, and am most desirous of crossing the river, but can find no boat +with which to do so."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not cross by the bridge?" the girl asked. "How did you miss +the straight road?"</p> + +<p>"Frankly, because there were Northern troops there," Vincent said, "and +I wish to avoid them, if possible."</p> + +<p>"You are a Confederate?" the girl asked, when the old negress +interrupted her:</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> +<p>"Hush, Miss Lucy! don't you talk about dem tings; der plenty of mischief +done already. What hab you to do wid one side or de oder?"</p> + +<p>The girl paid no attention to her words, but stood awaiting Vincent's +answer. He did not hesitate. There was something in her face that told +him that, friend or foe, she was not likely to betray a fugitive, and he +answered:</p> + +<p>"I am a Confederate officer, madam. I have made my escape from Elmira +prison, and I am trying to find my way back into our lines."</p> + +<p>"Come in, sir," the girl said, holding out her hand. "We are +Secessionists, heart and soul. My father and my brother are with our +troops—that is, if they are both alive. I have little to offer you, for +the Yankee bands have been here several times, have driven off our +cattle, emptied our barns, and even robbed our hen nests, and taken +everything in the house they thought worth carrying away. But whatever +there is, sir, you are heartily welcome to. I had a paper yesterday—it +is not often I get one—and I saw there that three of our officers had +escaped from Elmira. Are you one of them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madam. I am Lieutenant Wingfield."</p> + +<p>"Ah! then you are in the cavalry. You have fought under Stuart," the +girl said. "The paper said so. Oh, how I wish we had Stuart and +Stonewall Jackson on this side! We should soon drive the Yankees out of +Tennessee."</p> + +<p>"They would try to, anyhow," Vincent said, smiling, "and if it were +possible they would assuredly do it. I was in Ashley's horse with the +Stonewall division through the first campaign in the Shenandoah Valley +and up to Bull Run, and after that under Stuart. But is not your brother +here? Your servant called to him."</p> + +<p>"There is no one here but ourselves," the girl replied. "That was a +fiction of Chloe's, and it has succeeded sometimes when we have had +rough visitors. And now, what can I do for you, sir? You said you wanted +to buy a lo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>af of bread, and therefore, I suppose, you are hungry. Chloe, +put the bacon and bread on the table, and make some coffee. I am afraid +that is all we can do, sir, but such as it is you are heartily welcome +to it."</p> + +<p>"I thank you greatly," Vincent replied, "and will, if you will allow me, +take half my breakfast out to my boy, who is waiting over there."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not bring him in?" the girl asked. "Of course he will be +welcome, too."</p> + +<p>"I did not bring him in before because two men in these days are likely +to alarm a lonely household; and I would rather not bring him in now, +because, if by any possibility the searchers, who are no doubt after me, +should call and ask you whether two men, one a white and the other a +negro, had been here, you could answer no."</p> + +<p>"But they cannot be troubling much about prisoners," the girl said. +"Why, in the fighting here and in Missouri they have taken many +thousands of prisoners, and you have taken still more of them in +Virginia; surely they cannot trouble themselves much about one getting +away."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid of a search of that kind," Vincent said; "but, +unfortunately, on my way down I had a row in the train with a ruffian +named Mullens, who is, I understand, connected with one of these bands +of brigands, and I feel sure that he will hunt me down, if he can."</p> + +<p>The girl turned pale.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she said, "I saw that in the paper too, but it said that it was a +minister. And it was you who beat that man and threw his revolver out of +the window? Oh, then, you are in danger indeed, sir. He is one of the +worst ruffians in the State, and is the leader of the party who stripped +this house and threatened to burn it to the ground. Luckily I was not at +home, having gone away to spend the night with a neighbor. His band have +committed murder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>s all over the country, hanging up defenseless people on +pretense that they were Secessionists. They will show you no mercy, if +they catch you."</p> + +<p>"No. I should not expect any great mercy, if I fell into their hands, +Miss Lucy. I don't know your other name."</p> + +<p>"My name is Kingston. I ought to have introduced myself to you at once."</p> + +<p>"Now you understand, Miss Kingston, how anxious I am to get across the +river, and that brings me to the question of the information I want you +to give me. How far is it from the next bridge on the south, and are +there any Federal troops there?"</p> + +<p>"It is about seven miles to the bridge at Williamsport; we are just +halfway between that and the railway bridge at Columbus. Yes, there are +certainly troops there."</p> + +<p>"Then I see no way for it but to make a small raft to carry us across, +Miss Kingston. I am a good swimmer, but the river is full and of +considerable width; still, I think I can get across. But my boy cannot +swim a stroke."</p> + +<p>"I know where there is a boat hid in the wood near the river," the girl +said. "It belongs to a neighbor of ours, and when the Yankees seized the +boats he had his hauled up and hidden in the woods. He was a Southerner, +heart and soul, and thought that he might be able sometimes to take +useful information across the river to our people; but a few weeks +afterward his house was attacked by one of these bands—it was always +said it was that of Mullens—and he was killed, defending it to the +last. He killed several of the band before he fell, and they were so +enraged that, after plundering it, they set it on fire and fastened the +door, and his wife and two maidservants were burned to death."</p> + +<p>"I wish instead of throwing his pistol out of the window, I had blown +his brains out with it," Vincent said; "and I would have done so, if I +had known what sort of fellow he was. However, as to the boat, can you +give me instructions where to find it, and is it light enough for two +men to carry?"</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> +<p>"Not to carry, perhaps, but to push along. It is a light boat he had for +pleasure. He had a large one, but that was carried away with the +others. I cannot give you directions, but I can lead you to the place."</p> + +<p>"I should not like you to do that," Vincent said. "We might be caught, +and your share in the affair might be suspected."</p> + +<p>"Oh there is no fear of that," the girl said; "besides, I am not afraid +of danger."</p> + +<p>"I don't think it is right, Miss Kingston, for a young lady like you to +be living here alone with an old servant in such times as these. You +ought to go into a town until it's all over."</p> + +<p>"I have no one to go to," the girl said simply. "My father bought this +place and moved here from Georgia only six years ago, and all my friends +are in that State. Except our neighbors round here I do not know a soul +in Tennessee. Besides, what can I do in a town? We can manage here, +because we have a few fowls, and some of our neighbors last spring +plowed an acre or two of ground and planted corn for us, and I have a +little money left for buying other things; but it would not last us a +month if we went into a town. No, I have nothing to do but to stay here +until you drive the Yankees back. I will willingly take you down to the +boat to-night. Chloe can come with us and keep me company on the way +back. Of course it would not be safe to cross in the daytime."</p> + +<p>"I thank you greatly, Miss Kingston, and shall always remember your +kindness. Now, when I finish my meal, I will go out and join my boy, and +will come to you at eight o'clock; it will be quite dark then."</p> + +<p>"Why should you not stay here till then, Mr. Wingfield? It is very +unlikely that anyone will come along."</p> + +<p>"It is unlikely, but it is quite possible," Vincent replied; "and were I +caught here by Mullens, the consequence would be very serious to you as +well as to myself. No, I could not think of doing that. I will go out, +and co<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>me back at eight o'clock. I shall not be far away; but if anyone +should come and inquire, you can honestly say that you do not know where +I am."</p> + +<p>"I have two revolvers here, sir; in fact I have three. I always keep one +loaded, for there is never any saying whether it may not be wanted; and +the other two I picked up last spring. There was a fight about a quarter +of a mile from here, and it was after it was over and they had moved +away, for the Confederates won that time and chased them back toward +Nashville, I went with Chloe with some water and bandages to see if we +could do anything for the wounded. We were at work there till evening, +and I think we did some good. As we were coming back I saw something in +a low bush, and going there found a Yankee officer and his horse both +lying dead; they had been killed by a shell, I should think. Stooping +over to see if he was quite dead I saw a revolver in his belt and +another in the holster of his saddle, so I took them out and brought +them home, thinking I might give them to some of our men, for we were +then, as we have always been, very short of arms; but I have never had +an opportunity of giving them away, and I am very glad now that I have +not. Here they are, sir, and two packets of cartridges, for they are of +the same size as those of the pistol my father gave me when he went +away. You are heartily welcome to them."</p> + +<p>"Thank you extremely," Vincent said as he took the pistols and placed +the packets of ammunition in his pocket. "We cut two heavy sticks the +night we left Nashville so as to be able to make something of a fight; +but with these weapons we shall feel a match for any small parties we +may meet. Then at eight o'clock I will come back again."</p> + +<p>"I shall be ready," the girl said; "but I wish you would have stopped, +there are so many things I want to ask you about, and these Yankee +papers, which are all we see now, are full of lies."</p> + +<p>"They exaggerate their successes and to some extent conceal their +defeats," Vincent said; "but I do not think it is the fault of the +news<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>papers, whose correspondents do seem to me to try and tell the truth +to their readers, but of the official dispatches of the generals. The +newspapers tone matters down, no doubt, because they consider it +necessary to keep up the public spirit; but at times they speak out +pretty strongly, too. I am quite as sorry to leave as you can be that I +should go, Miss Kingston, but I am quite sure that it is very much the +wisest thing for me to do. By the way, if I should not be here by +half-past eight I shall not come at all, and you will know that +something has occurred to alter our plans. I trust there is no chance of +anything doing so, but it is as well to arrange so that you should not +sit up expecting me. Should I not come back you will know that I shall +be always grateful to you for your kindness, and that when this war is +over, if I am alive, I will come back and thank you personally."</p> + +<p>"Good-by till this evening!" the girl said. "I will not even let myself +think that anything can occur to prevent your return."</p> + +<p>"Golly, Massa Vincent, what a time you hab been!" Dan said when Vincent +rejoined him. "Dis chile began to tink dat somefing had gone wrong, and +was going in anoder five minutes to knock at the door to ask what dey +had done to you."</p> + +<p>"It is all right, Dan. I have had breakfast, and have brought some for +you; here is some bread and bacon and a bottle of coffee."</p> + +<p>"Dat good, massa; my teeth go chatter, chatter wid sleeping in these +damp woods; dat coffee do me good, sah. After dat I shall feel fit for +anyting."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>THE BUSHWHACKERS.</h3> + + +<p>"By the way, Dan," Vincent said when the negro had finished his meal, +"we have not talked over that matter of my clothes. I can'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>t imagine how +that letter saying that one of us was disguised as a minister and would +have a negro servant came to be written. Did you ever tell the people +you lodged with anything about the disguise?"</p> + +<p>"No, sah, neber said one word to dem about it; dey know nothing +whatsoeber. De way me do wid your letter was dis. Me go outside town and +wait for long time. At last saw black fellow coming along. Me say to +him, 'Can you read?' and he said as he could. I said 'I got a letter, I +want to read him. I gib you a quarter to read him to me;' so he said +yes, and he read the letter. He a long time of making it out, because he +read print, but not read writing well. He spell it out word by word, but +I don't tink he understand dat it come from prison, only dat it come +from someone who wanted some rope and a turn-screw. Me do just the same +way wid de second letter. As for de clothes, me buy dem dat day, make +dem up in bundle, and not go back to lodging at all. Me not know how +anyone could know dat I buy dat minister clothes for you, sah. Me told +de storekeeper dat dey was for cousin of mine, who preach to de colored +folk, and dat I send him suit as present. Onless dat man follow me and +watch me all de time till we go off together, sah, me no see how de +debbil he guess about it."</p> + +<p>"That's quite impossible, Dan; it never could have been that way. It is +very strange, for it would really seem that no one but you and I and the +other two officers could possibly know about it."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps one ob dem want to do you bad turn, massa, and write so as to +get you caught and shut up again."</p> + +<p>Vincent started at this suggestion. Was it possible that Jackson could +have done him this bad turn after his having aided him to make his +escape! It would be a villainous trick; but then he had always thought +him capable of villainous tricks, and it was only the fact that they +were thrown together in prison that had induced him to make up his +quarrel with him; but though Jackson had accepted his advances, it was +probable eno<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>ugh that he had retained his bad feeling against him, and +had determined, if possible, to have his revenge on the first +opportunity.</p> + +<p>"The scoundrel," he said to himself, "after my getting him free, to +inform against me! Of course I have no proof of it, but I have not the +least doubt that it was he. If we ever meet again, Mr. Jackson, I will +have it out with you."</p> + +<p>"You got two pistols, sah," Dan said presently. "How you get dem?"</p> + +<p>"The lady of the house gave them to me, Dan; they are one for you and +one for me."</p> + +<p>"Dis chile no want him, sah; not know what to do wid him. Go off and +shoot myself, for sure."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't suppose you would do much good with it, Dan. As I am a +good shot, perhaps I had better keep them both. You might load them for +me as I fire them."</p> + +<p>"Bery well, sah: you show me how to load, me load."</p> + +<p>Vincent showed Dan how to extricate the discharged cartridge cases and +to put in fresh ones, and after a quarter of an hour's practice Dan was +able to do this with some speed.</p> + +<p>"When we going on, sah?" he said as, having learned the lesson, he +handed the pistol back to Vincent.</p> + +<p>"We are not going on until the evening, Dan. When it gets dark the lady +is going to take us to a place where there is a boat hidden, and we +shall then be able to cross the river."</p> + +<p>"Den I will hab a sleep, sah. Noting like sleeping when there is a +chance."</p> + +<p>"I believe you could sleep three-quarters of your time, Dan. However, +you may as well sleep now if you can, for there will be nothing to do +till night."</p> + +<p>Vincent went back to the edge of the wood, and sat down where he could +command a view of the cottage. The country was for the most part covered +with wood, for it was but thinly inhabited except in the neighborhood of +the main roads. Few of the farmers had cleared more than half their +ground; many only a few acres. The patch, in wh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>ich the house with its +little clump of trees stood nearly in the center, was of some forty or +fifty acres in extent, and though now rank with weeds, had evidently +been carefully cultivated, for all the stumps had been removed, and the +fence round it was of a stronger and neater character than that which +most of the cultivators deemed sufficient.</p> + +<p>Presently he heard the sound of horses' feet in the forest behind him, +and he made his way back to a road which ran along a hundred yards from +the edge of the wood. He reached it before the horseman came up, and lay +down in the underwood a few yards back. In a short time two horsemen +came along at a walking pace.</p> + +<p>"I call this a fool's errand altogether," one of them said in a +grumbling tone. "We don't know that they have headed this way; and if +they have, we might search these woods for a month without finding +them."</p> + +<p>"That's so," the other said; "but Mullens has set his heart on it, and +we must try for another day or two. My idea is that when the fellow +heard what sort of a chap Mullens was, he took the train back that night +and went up North again."</p> + +<p>Vincent heard no more, but it was enough to show him that a sharp hunt +was being kept up for him; and although he had no fear of being caught +in the woods, he was well pleased at the thought that he would soon be +across the water and beyond the reach of his enemy. He went back again +to the edge of the clearing and resumed his watch. It was just getting +dusk, and he was about to join Dan when he saw a party of twelve men +ride out from the other side of the wood and make toward the house. +Filled with a vague alarm that possibly someone might have caught sight +of him and his follower on the previous day, and might, on being +questioned by the searchers, have given them a clew as to the direction +in which they were going, Vincent hurried to the spot where he left Dan. +The negro jumped up as he approached.</p> + +<p>"Me awake long time, sah. Began to wonder where you had go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>t to."</p> + +<p>"Take your stick and come along, Dan, as fast as you can."</p> + +<p>Without another word Vincent led the way along the edge of the wood to +the point where the clump of trees at the back of the house hid it from +his view.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan, stoop low and get across to those trees."</p> + +<p>Greatly astonished at what was happening, but having implicit faith in +his master, Dan followed without a question.</p> + +<p>It was but ten minutes since Vincent had seen the horsemen, but the +darkness had closed in rapidly, and he had little fear of his approach +being seen. He made his way through the trees, and crept up to the +house, and then kept close along it until he reached the front. There +stood the horses with the bridles thrown over their necks. The riders +were all inside the house.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Dan," he whispered, "you keep here perfectly quiet until I +join you again or you hear a pistol shot. If you do hear a shot, rush at +the horses with your stick and drive them off at full gallop. Drive them +right into the woods if you can, and then lie quiet till you hear me +whistle for you. If you don't hear my whistle you will know something +has happened to me, and then you must make your way home as well as +can."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Master Vincent!" Dan began; but Vincent stopped him.</p> + +<p>"It's no use talking, Dan; you must do as I order you. I hope all will +be well; but it must be done, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Let me come and load your pistol and fight with you, sah."</p> + +<p>"You can do more good stampeding the horses, Dan. Perhaps, after all, +there will be no trouble."</p> + +<p>So saying, leaving Dan with the tears running down his cheeks, Vincent +went to the back of the house and tried the door there. It was fastened. +Then he went to the other side; and here the light streaming through the +window, which wa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>s open, and the sound of loud voices, showed him the +room where the party were. He crept cautiously up and looked in. Mullens +was standing facing Lucy Kingston; the rest of the men were standing +behind him. The girl was as pale as death, but was quiet and composed.</p> + +<p>"Now," Mullens said, "I ask you for the last time. You have admitted +that a man has been here to-day and that you gave him food. You say he +is not in the house; and as we have searched it pretty thoroughly, we +know that's right enough. You say you don't know where he is, and that +may be true enough in a sense; but I have asked you whether he is coming +back again, and you won't answer me. I just give you three seconds;" and +he held out his arm with a pistol in it. "One!" As the word "Two" left +his lips, a pistol cracked and Mullens fell back with a bullet in his +forehead.</p> + +<p>At the same time Vincent shouted at the top of his voice, "Come on, +boys; wipe 'em out altogether! Don't let one of them escape!" As he +spoke he discharged his pistol rapidly into the midst of the men, who +were for the moment too taken by surprise to move, and every shot took +effect upon them. At the same moment there was a great shouting outside, +and the trampling of horses' feet. One or two of the men hastily +returned Vincent's fire, but the rest made a violent rush to the door. +Several fell over the bodies of their comrades, and Vincent had emptied +one of his revolvers and fired three shots with the second before the +last of those able to escape did so. Five bodies remained on the floor. +As they were still seven to one against him, Vincent ran to the corner +of the house, prepared to shoot them as they came round; but the +ruffians were too scared to think of anything but escape, and they could +be heard running and shouting across the fields.</p> + +<p>Vincent ran into the house. He had seen Lucy Kingston fall prostrate at +the same instant as the ruffian facing her. Strung up to the highest +tension, and expecting in another second to be shot, the crack of +Vincent's pisto<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>l had brought her down as surely as the bullet of Mullens +would have done. Even in the excitement of firing, Vincent felt thankful +when he saw her fall, and knew that she was safe from the bullets +flying about. When he entered the room he found the old negress lying +beside her, and thought at first that she had fallen in the fray. He +found that she was not only alive, but unhurt, having, the instant she +saw her young mistress fall, thrown herself upon her to protect her from +harm.</p> + +<p>"Am dey all gone, sah?" she asked, as Vincent somewhat roughly pulled +her off the girl's body.</p> + +<p>"They have all gone, Chloe; but I do not know how soon they may be back +again. Get your mistress round as soon as you can. I am sure that she +has only fainted, for she fell the instant I fired, before another +pistol had gone off."</p> + +<p>Leaving the old woman to bring Miss Kingston round, he reloaded his +pistols and went to the door. In a few minutes the sound of horses +galloping was heard.</p> + +<p>"Halt, or I fire!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Don't shoot, sah! don't shoot! it am me!" and Dan rode up, holding a +second horse by the bridle. "I thought I might as well get two ob dem, +so I jump on de back ob one and get hold ob anoder bridle while I was +waiting to hear your pistol fire. Den de moment I heard dat, I set de +oders off, and chased dem to de corner where de gate was where dey came +in at, and along de road for half a mile; dey so frightened dey not stop +for a long time to come. Den I turn into de wood and went through de +trees, so as not to meet dem fellows, and lifted two of de bars of the +fence, and here am I. You are not hurt, massa?"</p> + +<p>"My left arm is broken, I think, Dan; but that is of no consequence. I +have shot five of these fellows—their leader among them—and I expect +three of the others have got a bullet somewhere or other in them. There +was such a crowd round the door that I don't think one shot missed. It +was well I thought of stampeding the horses; that gav<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>e them a greater +fright than my pistols. No doubt they thought that there was a party of +our bushwhackers upon them. Now, Dan, you keep watch, and let me know +if you see any signs of their returning. I think they are too shaken up +to want any more fighting; but as there are seven of them, and they may +guess there are only two or three of us, it is possible they may try +again."</p> + +<p>"Me don't tink dey try any more, sah. Anyhow, I look out sharp." So +saying, Dan, fastening up one of the horses, rode the other in a circle +round and round the house and little plantation, so that it would not be +possible for anyone to cross the clearing without being seen. Vincent +returned to the house, and found Miss Kingston just recovering +consciousness. She sat upon the ground in a confused way.</p> + +<p>"What has happened, nurse?"</p> + +<p>"Never mind at present, deary. Juss you keep yourself quiet, and drink a +little water."</p> + +<p>The girl mechanically obeyed. The minute she put down the glass her eye +fell upon Vincent, who was standing near the door.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I remember now!" she said, starting up. "Those men were here, and +they were going to shoot me. One—two—and then he fired, and it seemed +that I fell dead. Am I not wounded?"</p> + +<p>"He never fired at all, Miss Kingston; he will never fire again. I shot +him as he said 'two,' and no doubt the shock of the sudden shot caused +you to faint dead away. You fell the same instant that he did."</p> + +<p>"But where are the others?" the girl said with a shudder. "How imprudent +of you to come here! I hoped you had seen them coming toward the house."</p> + +<p>"I did see them, Miss Kingston, and that was the reason I came. I was +afraid they might try rough measures to learn from you where I was +hidden. I arrived at the window just as the scoundrel was pointing his +pistol toward you, and then there was no time to give myself up, and I +had nothing to do for it but to put a bullet through his head in orde<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>r +to save you. Then I opened fire upon the rest, and my boy drove off +their horses. They were seized with a panic and bolted, thinking they +were surrounded. Of course I kept up my fire, and there are four of them +in the next room besides their captain. And now, if you please, I will +get you, in the first place, to bind my arm tightly across my chest, for +one of their bullets hit me in the left shoulder, and has, I fancy, +broken it."</p> + +<p>The girl gave an exclamation of dismay.</p> + +<p>"Do not be alarmed, Miss Kingston; a broken shoulder is not a serious +matter, only I would rather it had not happened just at the present +moment; there are more important affairs in hand. The question is, What +is to become of you? It is quite impossible that you should stay here +after what has happened. Those scoundrels are sure to come back again."</p> + +<p>"What am I to do, Chloe?" the girl asked in perplexity. "I am sure we +cannot stay here. We must find our way through the woods to Nashville, +and I must try and get something to do there."</p> + +<p>"There is another way, Miss Kingston, if you like to try it," Vincent +said. "Of course it would be toilsome and unpleasant, but I do not think +it would be dangerous, for even if we got caught there would be no fear +of your receiving any injury from the Federal troops. My proposal is +that you and Chloe should go with us. If we get safely through the +Federal lines I will escort you to Georgia and place you with your +friends there."</p> + +<p>The girl looked doubtful for a moment, and then she shook her head.</p> + +<p>"I could not think of that, sir. It would be difficult enough for you to +get through the enemy by yourselves. It would add terribly to your +danger to have us with you."</p> + +<p>"I do not think so," Vincent replied. "Two men would be sure to be +questioned and suspected, but a party like ours would be far less likely +to excite suspicion. Every foot we get south we shall find ourselves +more and more among peopl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>e who are friendly to us, and although they +might be afraid to give shelter to men, they would not refuse to take +women in. I really think, Miss Kingston, that this plan is the best. In +the first place, it would be a dangerous journey for you through the +woods to Nashville, and if you fall into the hands of any of those +ruffians who have been here you may expect no mercy. At Nashville you +will have great difficulty in obtaining employment of any kind, and even +suppose you went further north your position as a friendless girl would +be a most painful one. As to your staying here, that is plainly out of +the question. I think that there is no time to lose in making a +decision. Those fellows may go to the camp at the bridge, give their +account of the affair, declare that they have been attacked by a party +of Confederate sympathizers, and return here with a troop of horse."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, Chloe?" Lucy asked.</p> + +<p>"I'se ready to go wid you whereber you like, Miss Lucy; but I do tink +dat, in times like dis, dat a young gal is best wid her own folk. It may +be hard work getting across, but as to danger dar can't be much more +danger than dar has been in stopping along here, so it seems to me best +to do as dis young officer says."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, I will, sir. We will go under your protection, and +will give you as little trouble as we can. We will be ready in five +minutes. Now, Chloe, let us put a few things together. The fewer the +better. Just a small bundle which we can carry in our hands."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they returned to the room, Chloe carrying a large +basket, and looking somewhat ruffled.</p> + +<p>"Chloe is a little upset," the girl said, smiling, "because I won't put +my best clothes on; and the leaving her Sunday gown behind is a sore +trouble to her."</p> + +<p>"No wonder, sah," Chloe said. "Why, dey say dat thar am no pretty +dresses in de 'Federacy, and dat blue gown wid red spots is just as good +as new, and it am downright awful to tink dat dose fellows will come +back and take it."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Chloe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>" Vincent said, smiling. "No doubt we are short of +pretty dresses in the South, but I dare say we shall be able to find you +something that will be almost as good. But we must not stand talking. +You are sure you have got everything of value, Miss Kingston?"</p> + +<p>"I have got my purse," she said, "and Chloe has got some food. I don't +think there is anything else worth taking in the house."</p> + +<p>"Very well, we will be off," Vincent said, leading the way to the door.</p> + +<p>A minute later Dan rode past, and Vincent called him and told him they +were going to start.</p> + +<p>"Shall we take de horses, sah?"</p> + +<p>"No, Dan. We are going to carry out our original plan of crossing the +river in a boat, and I think the horses would be rather in our way than +not. But you had better not leave them here. Take them to the farther +side of the clearing, and get them through the fence into the forest, +then strike across as quickly as you can and join us where we were +stopping to-day. Miss Kingston and her servant are going with us. They +cannot stay here after what has taken place."</p> + +<p>Dan at once rode off with the two horses, and the others walked across +to the edge of the clearing and waited until he rejoined them.</p> + +<p>"Now, Miss Kingston, you must be our guide at present."</p> + +<p>"We must cross the road, first," the girl said. "Nearly opposite to +where we are there is a little path through the wood, leading straight +down to the river. The boat lies only a short distance from it."</p> + +<p>The path was a narrow one, and it was very dark under the trees.</p> + +<p>"Mind how you go," Vincent said, as the girl stepped lightly on ahead. +"You might get a heavy fall if you caught your foot in a root."</p> + +<p>She instantly moderated her pace. "I know the path well, but it was +thoug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>htless of me to walk so fast. I forgot you did not know it, and if +you were to stumble you might hurt your arm terribly. How does it feel +now?"</p> + +<p>"It certainly hurts a bit," Vincent replied in a cheerful tone; "but now +it is strapped tightly to me it cannot move much. Please do not worry +about me."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said, "I cannot forget how you got it—how you attacked twelve +men to save me!"</p> + +<p>"Still less can I forget, Miss Kingston, how you, a young girl, +confronted death rather than say a word that would place me in their +power."</p> + +<p>"That was quite different, Mr. Wingfield. My own honor was pledged not +to betray you, who had trusted me."</p> + +<p>"Well, we will cry quits for the present, Miss Kingston; or, rather, we +will be content to remain for the present in each other's debt."</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour's walking brought them to the river.</p> + +<p>"Now," Lucy said, "we must make our way about ten yards through these +bushes to the right."</p> + +<p>With some difficulty they passed through the thick screen of bushes, the +girl still leading the way.</p> + +<p>"Here it is," she said; "I have my hand upon it." Vincent was soon +beside her, and the negress quickly joined them.</p> + +<p>"There are no oars in the boat," Vincent said, feeling along the seat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot! They are stowed away behind the bushes on the right; they +were taken out, so that if the Yankees found the boat it would be of no +use to them."</p> + +<p>Dan made his way through the bushes, and soon found the oars. Then, +uniting their strength, they pushed the boat through the high rushes +that screened it from the river.</p> + +<p>"It is afloat," Vincent said. "Now, Dan, take your place in the bow."</p> + +<p>"I will row, Mr. Wingfield. I am a very good hand at it. So please take +your seat with Chloe in the stern."</p> + +<p>"Dan <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>can take one oar, anyhow," Vincent replied; "but I will let you row +instead of me. I am afraid I should make a poor hand of it with only one +arm."</p> + +<p>The boat pushed quietly out. The river was about a hundred yards wide at +this point. They had taken but a few strokes when Vincent said:</p> + +<p>"You must row hard, Miss Kingston, or we shall have to swim for it. The +water is coming through the seams fast."</p> + +<p>The girl and Dan exerted themselves to the utmost; but, short as was the +passage, the boat was full almost to the gunwale before they reached the +opposite bank, the heat of the sun having caused the planks to open +during the months it had been lying ashore.</p> + +<p>"This is a wet beginning," Lucy Kingston said, laughing, as she tried to +wring the water out of the lower part of her dress. "Here, Chloe; you +wring me and I will wring you."</p> + +<p>"Now, Dan, get hold of that head-rope," Vincent said; "haul her up +little by little as the water runs out over the stern."</p> + +<p>"I should not trouble about the boat, Mr. Wingfield; it is not likely we +shall ever want it again."</p> + +<p>"I was not thinking of the boat; I was thinking of ourselves. If it +should happen to be noticed at the next bridge as it drifted down, it +would at once suggest to anyone on the lookout for us that we had +crossed the river; whereas, if we get it among the bushes here, they +will believe that we are hidden in the woods or have headed back to the +North; and we shall be a long way across the line, I hope, before they +give up searching for us in the woods on the other side."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I didn't think of that. We will help you with the rope."</p> + +<p>The boat was very heavy, now that it was full of water. Inch by inch it +was pulled up, until the water was all out except near the stern. Dan +and Vincent then turned it bottom upward, and it was soon hauled up +among the bushes.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> +<p>"Now, Miss Kingston, which do you think is our best course? I know +nothing whatever of the geography here."</p> + +<p>"The next town is Mount Pleasant; that is where the Williamsport road +passes the railway. If we keep south we shall strike the railway, and +that will take us to Mount Pleasant. After that the road goes on to +Florence on the Tennessee River. The only place that I know of on the +road is Lawrenceburg. That is about forty miles from here, and I have +heard that the Yankees are on the line from there right and left. I +believe our troops are at Florence; but I am not sure about that, +because both parties are constantly shifting their position, and I hear +very little, as you may suppose, of what is being done. Anyhow, I think +we cannot do better than go on until we strike the railway, keep along +by that till we get within a short distance of Mount Pleasant, and then +cross it. After that we can decide whether we will travel by the road or +keep on through the woods. But we cannot find our way through the woods +at night; we should lose ourselves before we had gone twenty yards."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid we should, Miss Kingston."</p> + +<p>"Please call me Lucy," the girl interrupted. "I am never called anything +else, and I am sure this is not a time for ceremony."</p> + +<p>"I think that it will be better; and will you please call me Vincent? It +is much shorter and pleasanter using our first names; and as we must +pass for brother and sister, if we get among the Yankees, it is better +to get accustomed to it. I quite agree with you that it will be too dark +to find our way through the woods unless we can discover a path. Dan and +I will see if we can find one. If we can, I think it will be better to +go on a little way at any rate, so as to get our feet warm and let our +clothes dry a little."</p> + +<p>"They will not dry to-night," Lucy said. "It is so damp in the woods +that even if our clothes were dry now they would be wet before morning."</p> + +<p>"I did not think <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>of that. Yes, in that case I do not see that we should +gain anything by going farther; we will push on for two or three hundred +yards, if we can, and then we can light a fire without there being any +chance of its being seen from the other side."</p> + +<p>"That would be comfortable, Mr.—I mean Vincent," the girl agreed. "That +is, if you are quite sure that it would be safe. I would rather be wet +all night than that we should run any risks."</p> + +<p>"I am sure if we can get a couple of hundred yards into this thick wood +the fire would not be seen through it," Vincent said; "of course I do +not mean to make a great bonfire which would light up the forest."</p> + +<p>For half an hour they forced their way through the bushes, and then +Vincent said he was sure that they had come far enough. Finding a small +open space, Dan and Lucy, and the negress set to work collecting leaves +and dry sticks. Vincent had still in his pocket the newspaper he had +bought in the streets of Nashville, and he always carried lights. A +piece of the paper was crumpled up and lighted, a few of the driest +leaves that they could find dropped upon it, then a few twigs, until at +last a good fire was burning.</p> + +<p>"I think that is enough for the present," Vincent said. "Now we will +keep on adding wood as fast as it burns down, so as to get a great pile +of embers, and keep two or three good big logs burning all night."</p> + +<p>He then gave directions to Dan, who cut a long stick and fastened it to +two saplings, one of which grew just in front of the fire. Then he set +to work and cut off branches, and laid them sloping against it, and soon +had an arbor constructed of sufficient thickness to keep off the night +dews.</p> + +<p>"I think you will be snug in there," Vincent said when he had finished, +"The heat of the fire will keep you dry and warm, and if you lie with +your heads the other way I think your things will be dry by the morning. +Dan and I will lie down by the other side of the fire. We are both +accustomed to sleep in the open air and have done so for months."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> +<p>"Thank you very much," she said. "Our things are drying already, and I +am as warm as toast; but, indeed you need not trouble about us. We +brought these warm shawls with us on purpose for night work in the +forest. Now, I think we will try the contents of the basket Dan has been +carrying."</p> + +<p>The basket, which was a good-sized one, was opened. Chloe had, before +starting, put all the provisions in the house into it, and it contained +three loaves, five or six pounds of bacon, a canister of tea, +loaf-sugar, a small kettle, and two pint mugs, besides a number of odds +and ends. The kettle Dan had, by Chloe's direction, filled with water +before leaving the river, and this was soon placed among the glowing +embers.</p> + +<p>"But you have brought no teapot, Chloe!"</p> + +<p>"Dar was not no room for it, Miss Lucy. We can make tea bery well in de +kettle."</p> + +<p>"So we can. I forgot that. We shall do capitally."</p> + +<p>The kettle was not long in boiling. Chloe produced some spoons and +knives and forks from the basket.</p> + +<p>"Spoons and forks are luxuries, Chloe," Vincent said, laughing. "We +could have managed without them."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah; but me not going to leave massa's silver for dose villains to +find."</p> + +<p>Lucy laughed. "At any rate, Chloe, we can turn the silver into money if +we run short. Now the kettle is boiling."</p> + +<p>It was taken off the fire, and Lucy poured some tea into it from the +canister, and then proceeded to cut up the bread. A number of slices of +bacon had already been cut-off, and a stick thrust through them, and +Dan, who was squatted at the other side of the fire holding it over the +flames, now pronounced them to be ready. The bread served as plates, and +the party were soon engaged upon their meal, laughing and talking over +it as if it had been an ordinary picnic in the woods, though at times +Vincent's face contracted from the sharp twitching of pain in his +shoulder. Vincent and Lucy first drank their tea, and the mugs were then +handed to Dan and Chloe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This is great fun," Lucy said, "If it goes on like it all through our +journey, we shall have no need to grumble. Shall we, Chloe?"</p> + +<p>"If you don't grumble, Miss Lucy, you may be quite sure dat Chloe will +not. But we hab not begun our journey at present; and I spec dat we +shall find it pretty hard work before we get to de end. But neber mind +dat; anyting is better dan being all by ourselves in dat house. Terrible +sponsibility dat!"</p> + +<p>"It was lonely," the girl said, "and I am glad we are away from it, +whatever happens. What a day this has been! Who could have dreamed, when +I got up in the morning, that all this would take place before night? It +seems almost like a dream, and I can hardly believe"—and here she +stopped with a little shiver as she thought of the scene she had passed +through with the band of bushwhackers.</p> + +<p>"I would not think anything at all about it," Vincent said. "And now I +should recommend your getting to sleep as soon as you can. We will be +off at daybreak and it is just twelve o'clock now."</p> + +<p>Five minutes later Lucy and her old nurse were snugly ensconced in their +little bower, while Vincent and Dan stretched themselves at full length +on the other side of the fire. In spite of the pain in his shoulder +Vincent dozed off occasionally, but he was heartily glad when he saw the +first gleam of light in the sky. He woke Dan.</p> + +<p>"Dan, take the kettle down to the river and fill it. We had better have +some breakfast before we make our start. If you can't find your way +back, whistle, and I will answer you."</p> + +<p>Dan, however, had no occasion to give the signal. It took him little +more than five minutes to traverse the distance that had occupied them +half an hour in the thick darkness, and Vincent was surprised when he +appeared again with the kettle. Not until it was boiling, and the bacon +was ready, did Vincent raise his voice and call Luc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>y and the nurse.</p> + +<p>"This is reversing the order of things altogether," the girl said as +she came out and saw breakfast already prepared. "I shall not allow it +another time, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"We are old campaigners, you see," Vincent said, "and accustomed to +early movements. Now please let us waste no time, as the sooner we are +off the better."</p> + +<p>In a quarter of an hour breakfast was eaten and the basket packed, and +they were on their way. Now the bright, glowing light in the east was +sufficient guide to them as to the direction they should take, and +setting their face to the south they started through the forest. Soon +they came upon a little stream running through the wood, and here +Vincent suggested that Lucy might like to bathe her face, a suggestion +which was gratefully accepted. He and Dan went a short distance down the +streamlet, and Vincent bathed his face and head.</p> + +<p>"Dan, I will get you to undo this bandage and get off my coat; then I +will make a pad of my handkerchief and dip it in the water and you can +lay it on my shoulder, and then help me on again with my coat. My arm is +getting horribly painful."</p> + +<p>Vincent's right arm was accordingly drawn through the sleeve and the +coat turned down so as to enable Dan to lay the wet pad on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"It has not bled much," Vincent said, looking down at it.</p> + +<p>"No, sah; not much blood on de shirt."</p> + +<p>"Pull the coat down as far as the elbow, Dan, and bathe it for a bit."</p> + +<p>Using his cap as a baler, Dan bathed the arm for ten minutes, then the +wet pad was placed in position, and with some difficu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>lty the coat got on +again. The arm was then bandaged across the chest, and they returned to +the women, who were beginning to wonder at the delay.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>LAID UP.</h3> + + +<p>"You must see a surgeon, whatever the risk," Lucy said when the others +joined them, for now that it was light she could see by the paleness of +Vincent's face, and the drawn expression of the mouth, how much he had +suffered.</p> + +<p>"You have made so light of your wound that we have not thought of it +half as much as we ought to do, and you must have thought me terribly +heartless to be laughing and talking when you were in such pain. But it +will never do to go on like this; it is quite impossible for you to be +traveling so far without having your shoulder properly attended to."</p> + +<p>"I should certainly be glad to have it looked to," Vincent replied. "I +don't know whether the bullet's there or if it has made its way out, and +if that could be seen to, and some splints or something of that sort put +on to keep things in their right place, no doubt I should be easier; but +I don't see how it is to be managed. At any rate, for the present we +must go on, and I would much rather that you said nothing about it. +There it is, and fretting over it won't do it any good, while if you +talk of other things I may forget it sometimes."</p> + +<p>In two hours they came upon the railway, whose course lay diagonally +across that they were taking. They followed it until they caught sight +of the houses of Mount Pleasant, some two miles away, and then crossed +it. After walking some distance farther they came upon a small clearing +with a log-hut, containing apparently three or four rooms, in the +center.</p> + +<p>"We had better skirt round this," Vincent suggested.</p> + +<p>"No," Lucy said in a determined voice, "I have made up my mind I wo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>uld +go to the first place we came to and see whether anything can be done +for you. I can see you are in such pain you can hardly walk, and it +will be quite impossible for you to go much further. They are sure to be +Confederates at heart here, and even if they will not take us in, there +is no fear of their betraying us; at any rate we must risk it."</p> + +<p>Vincent began to remonstrate, but without paying any attention to him +the girl left the shelter of the trees and walked straight toward the +house. The others followed her. Vincent had opposed her suggestion, but +he had for some time acknowledged to himself that he could not go much +further. He had been trying to think what had best be done, and had +concluded that it would be safest to arrange with some farmer to board +Lucy and her nurse for a time, while he himself with Dan went a bit +farther; and then, if they could get no one to take them in, would camp +up in the woods and rest. He decided that in a day or two, if no +improvement took place in his wound, he would give himself up to the +Federals at Mount Pleasant, as he would there be able to get his wound +attended to.</p> + +<p>"I don't think there is anyone in the house," Lucy said, looking back +over her shoulder; "there is no smoke coming from the chimney, and the +shutters are closed, and besides the whole place looks neglected."</p> + +<p>Upon reaching the door of the house it was evident that it had been +deserted. Lucy had now assumed the command.</p> + +<p>"Dan," she said, "there is no shutter to the window of that upper room. +You must manage to climb up there and get in at that window, and then +open the door to us."</p> + +<p>"All right, missie, me manage dat," Dan said cheerfully. Looking about +he soon found a long pole which would answer his purpose, placed the end +of this against the window and climbed up. It was not more than twelve +feet above the ground. He broke one of the windows, and inserting his +hand undid the fastening and climbed in at the window. A minute later +they heard a grating sound, and then the lock shut back under the +application of his knife, and the door swung op<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>en.</p> + +<p>"That will do nicely," Lucy said, entering. "We will take possession. +If the owners happen to come back we can pay them for the use of the +place."</p> + +<p>The furniture had been removed with the exception of a few of the heavy +articles, and Chloe and Lucy at once set to work, and with bunches of +long grass swept out one of the rooms. Dan cut a quantity of grass and +piled it upon an old bedstead that stood in the corner, and Lucy +smoothed it down.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," she said peremptorily to Vincent, "you will lie down and +keep yourself quiet, but first of all I will cut your coat off."</p> + +<p>One of the table-knives soon effected the work, and the coat was rolled +up as a pillow. Dan removed his boots, and Vincent, who was now beyond +even remonstrating, laid himself down on his cool bed.</p> + +<p>"Now, Chloe," Miss Kingston said when they had left Vincent's room, "I +will leave him to your care. I am sure that you must be thoroughly +tired, for I don't suppose you have walked so many miles since you were +a girl."</p> + +<p>"I is tired, missie: but I am ready to do anything you want."</p> + +<p>"I only want you to attend to him, Chloe. First of all you had better +make some tea. You know what is a good thing to give for a fever, and if +you can find anything in the garden to make a drink of that sort, do; +but I hope he will doze off for some time. When you have done, you had +better get this place tidy a little; it is in a terrible litter. +Evidently no one has been in since they moved out."</p> + +<p>The room, indeed, was strewed with litter of all sorts, rubbish not +worth taking away, old newspapers, and odds and ends of every +description. Lucy looked about among these for some time, and with an +exclamation of satisfaction at last picked up two crumpled envelopes. +They were both addressed "William Jenkins, Woodford, near Mount +Pleasant."</p> + +<p>"That is just what I wanted," she sai<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>d.</p> + +<p>"What am you going to do, Miss Lucy?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to Mount Pleasant," she said.</p> + +<p>"Lor a marcy, dearie, you are not going to walk that distance! You must +have walked twelve miles already."</p> + +<p>"I should, if it were twice as far, Chloe. There are some things we must +get. Don't look alarmed, I shall take Dan with me. Now, let me see. In +the first place there are lemons for making drink and linseed for +poultices, some meat for making broth, and some flour, and other things +for ourselves; we may have to stay here for some time. Tell me just what +you want and I will get it."</p> + +<p>Chloe made out a list of necessaries.</p> + +<p>"I shan't be gone long," the girl said. "If he asks after me or Dan, +tell him we are looking about the place to see what is useful. Don't let +him know I have gone to Mount Pleasant, it might worry him."</p> + +<p>Dan at once agreed to accompany the girl to Mount Pleasant when he heard +that she was going to get things for his master. Looking about he found +an old basket and they started without delay by the one road from the +clearing which led, they had no doubt, to the town. It was about two +miles distant, and was really but a large village. A few Federal +soldiers from the camp hard by were lounging about the streets, but +these paid no attention to them. Lucy soon made her purchases, and then +went to the house that had been pointed out to her as being inhabited by +the doctor who attended to the needs of the people of Mount Pleasant and +the surrounding district. Fortunately he was at home. Lucy looked at him +closely as he entered the room and took his seat. He was a middle-aged +man with a shrewd face, and she at once felt that she might have +confidence in it.</p> + +<p>"Doctor," she said, "I want you to come out to see someone who is very +ill."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with him? or is it him or her?"</p> + +<p>"It is—it's——" and Lucy hesitated, "a hurt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>he has got."</p> + +<p>"A wound, I suppose?" the doctor said quietly. "You may as well tell me +at once, as for me to find out when I get there; then I can take +whatever is required with me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. It is a wound," Lucy said. "His shoulder is broken, I +believe, by a pistol bullet."</p> + +<p>"Umph!" the doctor said. "It might have been worse. Do not hesitate to +tell me all about it, young lady. I have had a vast number of cases on +hand since these troubles began. By the way, I do not know your face, +and I thought I knew everyone within fifteen miles around."</p> + +<p>"I come from the other side of the Duck River. But at present he is +lying at a place called Woodford, but two miles from here."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I know it. But I thought it was empty. Let me see, a man named +Jenkins lived there. He was killed at the beginning of the troubles in a +fight near Murfreesboro. His widow moved in here; and she has married +again and gone five miles on the other side. I know she was trying to +sell the old place."</p> + +<p>"We have not purchased it, sir; we have just squatted there. My friend +was taken so bad that we could go no further. We were trying, doctor, to +make our way further south."</p> + +<p>"Your friend, whoever he is, did a very foolish thing to bring a young +lady like yourself on such a long journey. You are not a pair of runaway +lovers, are you?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," Lucy said, flushing scarlet; "we have no idea of such a +thing. I was living alone, and the house was attacked by bushwhackers, +the band of a villain named Mullens."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I saw all about that in the Nashville paper this morning. They were +attacked by a band of Confederate plunderers, it said."</p> + +<p>"They were attacked by one man," the girl replied. "They were on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> the +point of murdering me when he arrived. He shot Mullens and four of his +band and the rest made off, but he got this wound. And as I knew the +villains would return again and burn the house and kill me, I and my old +nurse determined to go southward to join my friends in Georgia."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can tell me more about it as we go," the doctor said. "I will +order my buggy round to the door, and drive you back. I will take my +instruments with me. It is no business of mine whether a sick man is a +Confederate or a Federal; all my business is to heal him."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much, doctor. While the horse is being put in I will go +down and tell the negro boy with me to go straight on with a basket of +things I have been buying."</p> + +<p>"Where is he now?" the doctor asked.</p> + +<p>"I think he is sitting down outside the door, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then you needn't go down," the doctor said. "He can jump up behind and +go with us. He will get there all the quicker."</p> + +<p>In five minutes they were driving down the village, with Dan in the back +seat. On the way the doctor obtained from Lucy a more detailed account +of their adventures.</p> + +<p>"So he is one of those Confederate officers who broke prison at Elmira," +he said. "I saw yesterday that one of his companions was captured."</p> + +<p>"Was he, sir? How was that?"</p> + +<p>"It seems that he had made his way down to Washington, and was staying +at one of the hotels there as a Mr. James of Baltimore. As he was going +through the streets he was suddenly attacked by a negro, who assaulted +him with such fury that he would have killed him had he not been dragged +off by passers-by. The black would have been very roughly treated, but +he denounced the man he had attacked as one of the Confederate officers +who had escaped from the prison. It seems that the negro had been a +slave of his who had been barbarously <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>treated, and finally succeeded in +making his escape and reaching England, after which he went to Canada; +and now that it is safe for an escaped slave to live in the Northern +States without fear of arrest or ill-treatment, he had come down to +Washington with the intention of engaging as a teamster with one of the +Northern armies, in the hope, when he made his way to Richmond, of being +able to gain some news of his wife, whom his master had sold before he +ran away from him."</p> + +<p>"It served the man right!" Lucy said indignantly. "It's a good thing +that the slaves should turn the table sometimes upon masters who +ill-treat them."</p> + +<p>"You don't think my patient would ill-treat his slaves?" the doctor +asked with a little smile.</p> + +<p>"I am sure he wouldn't," the girl said indignantly. "Why, the boy behind +you is one of his slaves, and I am sure he would give his life for his +master."</p> + +<p>Dan had overheard the doctor's story and now exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"No, sah. Massa Vincent de kindest ob masters. If all like him, de +slaves eberywhere contented and happy. What was de name of dat man, sah, +you was speaking of?"</p> + +<p>"His name was Jackson," the doctor answered.</p> + +<p>"I tought so," Dan exclaimed in excitement. "Massa never mentioned de +names ob de two officers who got out wid him, and it war too dark for me +to see their faces, but dat story made me tink it must be him. Bery bad +man dat; he libs close to us, and Massa Vincent one day pretty nigh kill +him because he beat dat bery man who has catched him now on de street ob +Washington. When dat man sell him wife Massa Vincent buy her so as to +prevent her falling into bad hands. She safe now wid his mother at de +Orangery—dat's the name of her plantation."</p> + +<p>"My patient must be quite an interesting fellow, young lady," the doctor +said, with a rather slight twinkle of his eye. "A very knight-errant! +But there is the house now; we shall soon see all about him."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> +<p>Taking with him the case of instruments and medicines he had brought, +the doctor entered Vincent's room. Lucy entered first; and although +surprised to see a stranger with her, Vincent saw by her face that there +was no cause for alarm.</p> + +<p>"I have brought you a doctor," she said. "You could not go on as you +were, you know. So Dan and I have been to fetch one."</p> + +<p>The doctor now advanced and took Vincent's hand.</p> + +<p>"Feverish," he said, looking at his cheeks, which were now flushed. "You +have been doing too much, I fancy. Now let us look at this wound of +yours. Has your servant got any warm water?" he asked Lucy.</p> + +<p>Lucy left the room, and returned in a minute with a kettleful of warm +water and a basin, which was among the purchases she had made at Mount +Pleasant.</p> + +<p>"That is right," the doctor said, taking it from her. "Now we will cut +open the shirt-sleeve. I think, young lady, you had better leave us, +unless you are accustomed to the sight of wounds."</p> + +<p>"I am not accustomed to them, sir; but as thousands of women have been +nursing the wounded in the hospitals, I suppose I can do so now."</p> + +<p>Taking a knife from the case, the doctor cut open the shirt from the +neck to the elbow. The shoulder was terribly swollen and inflamed, and a +little exclamation of pain broke from Lucy.</p> + +<p>"That is the effect of walking and inattention," the doctor said. "If I +could have taken him in hand within an hour of his being hit, the matter +would have been simple enough; but I cannot search for the ball, or in +fact do anything, till we have reduced the swelling. You must put warm +poultices on every half hour, and by to-morrow I hope the inflammation +will have subsided, and I can then see about the ball. It evidently is +somewhere there still, for there is no sign of its having made its exit +anywhere. In the meantime you must give him two tablespoonfuls of this +cooling draught every two hours, and to-night give him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>this sleeping +draught. I will be over to-morrow morning to see him. Do not be uneasy +about him; the wound itself is not serious, and when we have got rid of +the fever and inflammation I have no doubt we shall pull him round +before long."</p> + +<p>"I know the wound is nothing," Vincent said; "I have told Miss Kingston +so all along. It is nothing at all to one I got at the first battle of +Bull Run, where I had three ribs badly broken by a shell. I was laid up +a long time over that business. Now I hope in a week I shall be fit to +travel."</p> + +<p>The doctor shook his head. "Not as soon as that. Still we will hope it +will not be long. Now all you have to do is to lie quiet and not worry, +and to get to sleep as quick as you can. You must not let your patient +talk, Miss Kingston. It will be satisfactory to you, no doubt," he went +on, turning to Vincent, "to know that there is no fear whatever of your +being disturbed here. The road leads nowhere, and is entirely out of the +way of traffic. I should say you might be here six months without even a +chance of a visitor. Everyone knows the house is shut up, and as you +have no neighbor within half a mile no one is likely to call in. Even if +anyone did by accident come here you would be in no danger; we are all +one way of thinking about here."</p> + +<p>"Shall we make some broth for him?" Lucy asked after they had left the +room.</p> + +<p>"No; he had better take nothing whatever during the next twenty-four +hours except his medicine and cooling drinks. The great thing is to get +down the fever. We can soon build him up afterward."</p> + +<p>By nightfall the exertions of Dan, Lucy, and Chloe had made the house +tidy. Beds of rushes and grass had been made in the room upstairs for +the women, and Dan had no occasion for one for himself, as he was going +to stop up with his master. He, however, brought a bundle of rushes into +the kitchen, and when it became dark threw himself down upon them for a +few hours' sleep, Lucy and her old nurse taking their place in Vincent's +room and promising to rouse Dan at twelve o'clock.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the early part of the night Vincent was restless and uneasy, but +toward morning he became more quiet and dozed off, and had but just +awoke when the doctor drove up at ten o'clock. He found the inflammation +and swelling so much abated that he was able at once to probe for the +ball. Chloe was his assistant. Lucy felt that her nerves would not be +equal to it, and Dan's hand shook so that he could not hold the basin. +In a quarter of an hour, which seemed to Lucy to be an age, the doctor +came out of the room.</p> + +<p>"There is the bullet, Miss Kingston."</p> + +<p>"And is he much hurt, sir?"</p> + +<p>"It is a nasty wound," the doctor replied. "The collar-bone is badly +broken, and I fancy the head of the bone of the upper arm, to put it in +language you will understand, is fractured; but of that I cannot be +quite sure. I will examine it again to-morrow, and will then bandage it +in its proper position. At present I have only put a bandage round the +arm and body to prevent movement. I should bathe it occasionally with +warm water, and you can give him a little weak broth to-day. I think, on +the whole, he is doing very well. The feeling that you are all for the +present safe from detection has had as much to do with the abatement of +the fever as my medicine."</p> + +<p>The next morning the report was still satisfactory. The fever had almost +disappeared, and Vincent was in good spirits. The doctor applied the +splints to keep the shoulder up in its proper position, and then tightly +bandaged it.</p> + +<p>"It depends upon yourself now," he said, "whether your shoulders are +both of the same width as before or not. If you will lie quiet, and give +the broken bones time to reunite, I think I can promise you that you +will be as straight as before; but if not—putting aside the chances of +inflammation—that shoulder will be lower than the other, and you will +never get your full strength in it again. Quiet and pa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>tience are the +only medicines you require, and as there can be no particular hurry for +you to get south, and as your company here is pleasant and you have two +good nurses, there is no excuse for your not being quiet and contented."</p> + +<p>"Very well, doctor. I promise that, unless there is a risk of our being +discovered, I will be as patient as you can wish. As you say, I have +everything to make me contented and comfortable."</p> + +<p>The doctor had a chat with Lucy, and agreed with her that perhaps it +would be better to inform the mistress of the house that there were +strangers there. Some of the people living along the road might notice +him going or coming, or see Dan on his way to market, and might learn +that the house was inhabited, and communicate the fact to their old +neighbor.</p> + +<p>"I will see her myself, Miss Kingston, and tell her that I have sent a +patient of mine to take up his quarters here. I will say he is ready to +pay some small sum weekly as long as he occupies the house. I have no +doubt she would be willing enough to let you have it without that; for, +although I shall say nothing actually, I shall let her guess from my +manner that it is a wounded Confederate, and that will be enough for +her. Still I have no doubt that the idea of getting a few dollars for +the rent of an empty house will add to her patriotism. People of her +class are generally pretty close-fisted, and she will look upon this as +a little pocket-money. Good-by! I shall not call to-morrow, but will be +round next day again."</p> + +<p>On his next visit the doctor told Lucy that he had arranged the matter +with her landlady, and that she was to pay a dollar a week as rent. "I +should not tell your patient about this," he said. "It will look to him +as if I considered his stay was likely to be a long one, and it might +fidget him."</p> + +<p>"How long will it be, doctor, do you think?"</p> + +<p>"That I cannot say. If all goes well, he ought in a month to be fairly +cured; but before starting upon a journey which will tax his strength, I +should say at least six weeks."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ten days later Vincent was up, and able to get about. A pile of grass +had been heaped up by the door, so that he could sit down in the sun and +enjoy the air. Lucy was in high spirits, and flitted in and out of the +house, sometimes helping Chloe, at others talking to Vincent.</p> + +<p>"What are you laughing at?" she asked as she came out suddenly on one of +these occasions.</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking," he said, "that no stranger who dropped in upon us +would dream that we were not at home here. There is Dan tidying up the +garden; Chloe is quite at her ease in the kitchen, and you and I might +pass very well for brother and sister."</p> + +<p>"I don't see any likeness between us—not a bit."</p> + +<p>"No, there is no personal likeness; but I meant in age and that sort of +thing. I think, altogether, we have a very homelike look."</p> + +<p>"The illusion would be very quickly dispelled if your stranger put his +head inside the door. Did anyone ever see such a bare place?"</p> + +<p>"Anyhow, it's very comfortable," Vincent said, "though I grant that it +would be improved by a little furniture."</p> + +<p>"By a great deal of furniture, you mean. Why, there isn't a chair in the +house, nor a carpet, nor a curtain, nor a cupboard, nor a bed; in fact +all there is is the rough dresser in the kitchen and that plank table, +and your bedstead. I really think that's all. Chloe has the kettle and +two cooking-pots, and there is the dish and six plates we bought."</p> + +<p>"You bought, you mean," Vincent interrupted.</p> + +<p>"We bought, sir; this is a joint expedition. Then there is the basin and +a pail. I think that is the total of our belongings."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, it shows how little one can be quite comfortable upon," +Vincent said. "I wonder how long it will be before the doctor gives me +leave to move. It is all very well for me who am accustomed to +campaigning, but it is awfully rough for you."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<p>"Don't you put your impatience down to my account, at any rate until you +begin to hear me grumble. It is just your own restlessness, when you +are pretending you are comfortable."</p> + +<p>"I can assure you that I am not restless, and that I am in no hurry at +all to be off on my own account. I am perfectly contented with +everything. I never thought I was lazy before, but I feel as if I could +do with a great deal of this sort of thing. You will see that you will +become impatient for a move before I do."</p> + +<p>"We shall see, sir. Anyhow, I am glad you have said that, because now, +whatever you may feel, you will keep your impatience to yourself."</p> + +<p>Another four weeks passed by smoothly and pleasantly. Dan went into the +village once a week to do the shopping, and the doctor had reduced his +visits to the same number. He would have come oftener, for his visits to +the lonely cottage amused him; but he feared that his frequent passage +in his buggy might attract notice. So far, no one else had broken the +solitude of their lives. If the doctor's calls had been noticed, the +neighbors had not taken the trouble to see who had settled in Jenkins' +old place. His visits were very welcome, for he brought newspapers and +books, the former being also purchased by Dan whenever he went into the +village, and thus they learnt the course of events outside.</p> + +<p>Since Antietam nothing had been done in Northern Virginia; but Burnside, +who had succeeded McClellan, was preparing another great army, which was +to march to Richmond and crush out the rebellion. Lee was standing on +the defensive. Along the whole line of the frontier, from New Orleans to +Tennessee, desultory fighting was going on, and in these conflicts the +Confederates had generally the worse of things, having there no generals +such as Lee, Jackson, and Longstreet, who had made the army of Virginia +almost invincible.</p> + +<p>At the last of these visits the doctor told Vincent that he considered +he was nearly sufficiently restored in health to be able to start on +their journey.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> +<p>"At one time I was almost afraid that your shoulder would never be quite +square again. However, as you can see for yourself, it has come out +quite right; and although I should not advise you to put any great +strain on your left arm, I believe that in a very short time it will be +as strong as the other."</p> + +<p>"And now, doctor, how much am I in debt to you? Your kindness cannot be +repaid, but your medical bill I will discharge as soon as I get home. We +have not more than twenty dollars left, which is little enough for the +journey there is before us. You can rely that the instant I get to +Richmond I will send you the money. There is no great difficulty in +smuggling letters across the frontier."</p> + +<p>"I am very pleased to have been able to be of service to you," the +doctor said. "I should not think of accepting payment for aid rendered +to an officer of our army; but it will give me real pleasure to receive +a letter saying you have reached home in safety. It is a duty to do all +we can for the brave men fighting for our cause. As I have told you, I +am not a very hot partisan, for I see faults on both sides. Still I +believe in the principle of our forefathers that each State has its own +government and is master of its own army, joining with the others for +such purposes as it may think fit. If I had been a fighting man, I +should certainly have joined the army of my State; but as it is, I hope +I can do more good by staying and giving such aid and comfort as I can +to my countrymen. You will, I am sure, excuse my saying that I think you +must let me aid you a little farther. I understand you to say that Miss +Kingston will go to friends in Georgia, and I suppose you will see her +safely there. Then you have a considerable journey to make to Richmond, +and the sum that you possess is utterly inadequate for all this. It will +give me real pleasure if you will accept the loan of a hundred dollars, +which you can repay when you write to me from Richmond. You will need +money for the sake<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> of your companions rather than your own. When you +have once crossed the line you will then be able to appear in your +proper character."</p> + +<p>Vincent grasped the doctor's hand, and with suffused eyes replied: +"Thank you greatly, doctor. I will accept your offer as frankly as it +was made. I had intended telegraphing for money as soon as I was among +our own people, but there would be delay in receiving it, and it will be +much more pleasant to push on at once."</p> + +<p>"By the way, you cannot cross at Florence, for I hear that Hood has +fallen back across the river, the forces advancing against him from this +side being too strong to be resisted. But I think that this is no +disadvantage to you, for it would have been far more difficult to pass +the Federals and get to Florence than to make for some point on the +river as far as possible from the contending armies."</p> + +<p>"We talked that over the last time you were here, doctor, and you know +we agreed it was better to run the risk of falling into the hands of the +Yankee troops than into those of one of those partisan bands whose +exploits are always performed at a distance from the army. However, if +Hood has retreated across the Tennessee, there is an end of that plan, +and we must take some other route. Which do you advise?"</p> + +<p>"The Yankees will be strong all around the great bend of the river to +the west of Florence and along the line to the east, which would, of +course, be your direct way. The passage, however, is your real +difficulty, and I should say that, instead of going in that direction, +you had better bear nearly due south. There is a road from Mount +Pleasant that strikes into the main road from Columbia up to Camden. You +can cross the river at that point without any question or suspicion, as +you would be merely traveling to the west of the State. Once across you +could work directly south, crossing into the State of Mississippi, and +from there take the cars through Alabama to Georgia.</p> + +<p>"It seems a roundabout way, but I think you would find it far the +safest, for there ar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>e no armies operating upon that line. The +population, at any rate as you get south, are for us, and there are, so +far as I have heard, very few of these bushwhacking bands about, either +on one side or the other. The difficult part of the journey is that up +to Camden, but as you will be going away from the seat of war instead of +toward it, there will be little risk of being questioned."</p> + +<p>"I had thought of buying a horse and cart," Vincent said. "Jogging along +a road like that, we should attract no attention. I gave up the idea +because our funds were not sufficient, but, thanks to your kindness, we +might manage now to pick up something of the sort."</p> + +<p>The doctor was silent for a minute.</p> + +<p>"If you will send Dan over to me to-morrow afternoon, I will see what +can be done," he said. "It would certainly be the safest plan by far; +but I must think it over. You will not leave before that, will you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not, doctor. In any case we should have stayed another day to +get a few more things for our journey."</p> + +<p>The next afternoon Dan went over to Mount Pleasant. He was away two +hours longer than they had expected, and they began to feel quite uneasy +about him, when the sound of wheels was heard, and Dan appeared, driving +a cart. Vincent gave a shout of satisfaction in which Lucy and Chloe +joined.</p> + +<p>"Here am de cart. Me had to go five miles from de town to get him. Dat +what took me so long. Here am a letter, sah, from the doctor. First-rate +man dat. Good man all ober."</p> + +<p>The letter was as follows:<br /><br /></p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">My Dear Mr. Wingfield</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"I did not see how you would be able to buy a cart, and I was sure that +you could not obtain one with the funds in your possession. As, from +what you have said, I knew that you would not in the least mind the +expense, I have taken the matter upon myself, and have bought from your +landlady a ca<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>rt and horse, which will, I think, suit you well. I have +paid for them a hundred and fifty dollars, which you can remit me, with +the hundred I handed you yesterday. Sincerely trusting that you may +succeed in carrying out your plans in safety, and with kind regards to +yourself and Miss Kingston,</p> + + +<p style= "text-align: right">"I remain, yours truly,</p> +<p style= "text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">James Spencer</span>."<br /><br /></p> + +<p>"That is a noble fellow," Vincent said, "and I trust, for his sake as +well as our own, that we shall get safely through. Now, Lucy, I think +you had better go into town the first thing, and buy some clothes of +good homely fashion. Dan can go with you and buy a suit for me—those +fitted for a young farmer. Then we shall look like a young farmer and +his sister jogging comfortably along to market; we can stop and buy a +stock of goods at some farm on the way."</p> + +<p>"That will be capital," the girl said.</p> + +<p>Lucy started early the next morning for the town, and the shopping was +satisfactorily accomplished. They returned by eleven o'clock. The new +purchases were at once donned, and half an hour later they set off in +the cart: Vincent sitting on the side driving; Lucy in the corner facing +him, on a basket turned upside down; Dan and Chloe on a thick bag of +rushes in the bottom of the cart.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>ACROSS THE BORDER.</h3> + + +<p>Dan, on his return with the cart, had brought back a message from its +late owner to say that if she could in any way be of use to them, she +should be glad to aid them. Her farm lay on the road they were now +following, and they determined therefore to stop there. As the cart drew +up at the door the woman came out.</p> + +<p>"Glad to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> see you," she said; "come right in. It's strange now you should +have been lodging in my house for more than six weeks and I should never +have set eyes on you before. The doctor talked to me a heap about you, +but I didn't look to see quite such a young couple."</p> + +<p>Lucy colored hotly, and was about to explain that they did not stand in +the supposed relationship to each other, but Vincent slightly shook his +head. It was not worth while to undeceive the woman, and although they +had agreed to pass as brother and sister, Vincent was determined not to +tell an untruth about it unless deceit was absolutely necessary for +their safety.</p> + +<p>"And you want to get out of the way without questions being asked, I +understand?" the woman went on. "There are many such about at present. I +don't want to ask no questions; the war has brought trouble enough on +me. Now is there anything I can do? If so, say it right out."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is something you can do for us. We want to fill up our cart +with the sort of stuff you take to market—apples and pumpkins, and +things of that sort. If we had gone to buy them anywhere else, there +might have been questions asked. From what the doctor said you can let +us have some."</p> + +<p>"I can do that. The storeroom's chuck-full; and it was only a few days +ago I said to David it was time we set about getting them off. I will +fill your cart, sir, and not overcharge you neither. It will save us the +trouble of taking it over to Columbia or Camden, for there's plenty of +garden truck round Mount Pleasant, and one cannot get enough to pay for +the trouble of taking them there."</p> + +<p>The cart was soon filled with apples, pumpkins, and other vegetables, +and the price put upon them was very moderate.</p> + +<p>"What ought we to ask for these?" Vincent soon inquired. "One does not +want to be extra cheap or dear."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> +<p>The woman informed them of the prices they might expect to get for the +produce; and they at once started, amid many warm good wishes from her.</p> + +<p>Before leaving the farm the woman had given them a letter to her sister, +who lived a mile from Camden.</p> + +<p>"It's always awkward stopping at a strange place," she said, "and +farmers don't often put up at hotels when they drive in with garden +truck to a town, though they may do sometimes; besides it's always nice +being with friends. I will just write a line to Jane and tell her you +have been my tenants at Woodford, and where you are going, and ask her +to take you in for the night and give you a note in the morning to +anyone she or her husband may know, a good bit along that road."</p> + +<p>When they reached the house it was dark, but, directly Vincent showed +the note, the farmer and his wife heartily bade them come in.</p> + +<p>"Your boy can put up the horse at the stable, and you are heartily +welcome. But the house is pretty full, and we can't make you as +comfortable as we should wish at night; but still we will do our best."</p> + +<p>Vincent and Lucy were soon seated by the fire. Their hostess bustled +about preparing supper for them, and the children, of whom the house +seemed full, stared shyly at the newcomers. As soon as the meal was over +Chloe's wants were attended to, and a lunch of bread and bacon taken out +by the farmer to Dan in the stables. The children were then packed off +to bed, and the farmer and his wife joined Vincent and Lucy by the fire.</p> + +<p>"As to sleeping," the woman said, "John and I have been talking it over, +and the best way we can see is that you should sleep with me, ma'am, and +we will make up a bed on the floor here for my husband and yours."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, that will do very nicely; though I don't like interfering +with your arrangements."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, ma'am—not at all; it makes a nice change having someone +come in, especially of late, when there is no more pleasure in going +about in this country, and people don't go out a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>fter dark more than they +can help. Ah, it's a bad time! My sister says you are going west, but I +see you have got your cart full of garden truck. How you have raised it +so soon, I don't know; for Liza wrote to me two months since as she +hadn't been able to sell her place, and it was just a wilderness. Are +you going to get rid of it at Camden to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>Vincent had already been assured as to the politics of his present host +and hostess, and he therefore did not hesitate to say:</p> + +<p>"The fact is, madam, we are anxious to get along without being +questioned by any Yankee troops we may fall in with; and we have bought +the things you see in the cart from your sister, as, going along with a +cart full, anyone we met would take us for farmers living close by, on +their road to the next market town."</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh! that's it!" the farmer said significantly. "Want to get through +the lines, eh?"</p> + +<p>Vincent nodded.</p> + +<p>"Didn't I think so!" the farmer said, rubbing his hands. "I thought +directly my eyes hit upon you that you did not look the cut of a +granger. Been fighting—eh? and they are after you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think they are after me here," Vincent said. "But I have seen a +good deal of fighting with Jackson and Stuart; and I am just getting +over a collar bone, which was smashed by a Yankee bullet."</p> + +<p>"You don't say!" the farmer exclaimed. "Well, I should have gone out +myself, if it hadn't been for Jane and the children. But there are such +a lot of them that I could not bring myself to run the chances of +leaving them all on her hands. Still, I am with our army, heart and +soul."</p> + +<p>"Your wife's sister told me that you were on the right side," Vincent +said, "and that I could trust you altogether."</p> + +<p>"Now, if you tell me which road you want to go, I don't mind if I get on +my horse to-morrow and ride with you a stage, and see you put up for the +night. I know lots of people, and I am sur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>e to be acquainted with +someone, whichever road we may go. We are pretty near all the right side +about here, though, as you get further on, there are lots of Northern +men. Now, what are your ideas as to the roads?"</p> + +<p>Vincent told him the route he intended to take.</p> + +<p>"You ought to get through there right enough," the farmer said. "There +are some Yankee troops moving about to the west of the river, but not +many of them; and even if you fell in with them, with your cargo of +stuff they would not suspect you. Anyhow, I expect we can get you passed +down so as to be among friends. So you fought under Jackson and Stuart, +did you? Ah, they have done well in Virginia! I only wish we had such +men here. What made you take those two darkies along with you? I should +have thought you would have got along better by yourself."</p> + +<p>"We couldn't very well leave them," Vincent said; "the boy has been with +me all through the wars, and is as true as steel. Old Chloe was Lucy's +nurse, and would have broken her heart had she been left behind."</p> + +<p>"They are faithful creatures when they are well treated. Mighty few of +them have run away all this time from their masters, though in the parts +the Yankees hold there is nothing to prevent their bolting if they have +a mind to it. I haven't got no niggers myself. I tried them, but they +want more looking after than they are worth; and I can make a shift with +my boys to help me, and hiring a hand in busy times to work the farm. +Now, sir, what do you think of the lookout?"</p> + +<p>The subject of the war fairly started, his host talked until midnight, +long before which Lucy and the farmer's wife had gone off to bed.</p> + +<p>"We will start as soon as it is light," the farmer said, as he and +Vincent stretched themselves upon a heap of straw covered with blankets +that was to serve as their bed, Chloe having hours before gone up to +share the bed of the negro girl who assisted the farmer's wife in her +management of the house and children.</p> + +<p>"It's best to get through C<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>amden before people are about. There are +Yankee soldiers at the bridge, but it will be all right you driving in, +however early, to sell your stuff. Going out you aint likely to meet +with Yankees; but as it would look queer, you taking your garden truck +out of the town, it's just as well to be on the road before people are +about. Once you get five or six miles the other side you might be going +to the next place to sell your stuff."</p> + +<p>"That is just what I have been thinking," Vincent said, "and I agree +with you the earlier we get through Camden the better."</p> + +<p>Accordingly, as soon as daylight appeared, the horse was put in the +cart, the farmer mounting his own animal, and with a hearty good-by from +his wife the party started away. The Yankee sentinels at each end of the +bridge were passed without questions, for, early as it was, the carts +were coming in with farm produce. As yet the streets of the town were +almost deserted, and the farmer, who, before starting, had tossed a +tarpaulin into the back of the cart, said:</p> + +<p>"Now, pull that over all that stuff, and then anyone that meets us will +think that you are taking out bacon and groceries, and such like, for +some store way off."</p> + +<p>This suggestion was carried out, and Camden was soon left behind. A few +carts were met as they drove along. The farmer knew some of the drivers +and pulled up to say a few words to them. After a twenty-mile drive they +stopped at another farm, where their friend's introduction insured them +as cordial a welcome as that upon the preceding evening. So, step by +step, they journeyed on, escorted in almost every case by their host of +the night before, and meeting with no interruption. Once they passed a +strong body of Federal cavalry, but these, supposing that the party +belonged to the neighborhood, asked no questions; and at last, after +eight days' traveling, they passed two posts which marked the boundary +between Tennessee and Alabama.</p> + +<p>For the last two days they had been beyond the point to which the +Federal troo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>ps had penetrated. They now felt that all risk was at an +end. Another day's journey brought them to a railway station, and they +learned that the trains were running as usual, although somewhat +irregular as to the hours at which they came along or as to the time +they took upon their journey. The contents of the cart had been left at +the farm at which they stopped the night before, and Vincent had now no +difficulty in disposing of the horse and cart, as he did not stand out +for price, but took the first offer made. Two hours later a train came +along, and the party were soon on their way to Rome in Georgia; after +their arrival there they went to Macon, at which place they alighted and +hired a conveyance to take them to Antioch, near which place Lucy's +relatives resided.</p> + +<p>The latter part of the journey by rail had been a silent one. Lucy felt +none of the pleasure that she had expected at finding herself safely +through her dangers and upon the point of joining relations who would be +delighted to see her, and she sat looking blankly out of the window at +the surrounding country. At last Vincent, who had been half an hour +without speaking said:</p> + +<p>"Are you sorry our journey is just over, Lucy?"</p> + +<p>The girl's lip quivered, but she did not speak for a moment. "Of course +it is unpleasant saying good-by when people have been together for some +time," she said with an effort.</p> + +<p>"I hope it will not be good-by for long," he said. "I shall be back here +as soon as this horrible war is over."</p> + +<p>"What for?" the girl asked, looking round in surprise. "You live a long +way from here, and you told me you knew nobody in these parts."</p> + +<p>"I know you," Vincent said, "and that is quite enough. Do you not know +that I love you?"</p> + +<p>The girl gave a start of surprise, her cheek flushed but her eyes did +not drop as she looked frankly at him.</p> + +<p>"No, Vincent," she said after a pause, "I never once thought you loved +me—never once. You have not been a bit like what I thought people were +when they felt like that."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I hope not, Lucy. I was your protector then, I have tried my best to +be what people thought me—your brother; but now that you are just home +and among your own people, I think I may speak and tell you how I feel +toward you, and how I loved you since the moment I first saw you. And +you, Lucy, do you think you could care for me?"</p> + +<p>"Not more than I do now, Vincent. I love you with all my heart. I have +been trying so hard to believe that I didn't because I thought you did +not care for me that way."</p> + +<p>For some minutes no further word was spoken. Vincent was the first to +speak:</p> + +<p>"It is horrid to have to sit here in this stiff, unnatural way, Lucy, +when one is inclined to do something outrageous from sheer happiness. +These long, open cars, where people can see from end to end what +everyone is doing, are hateful inventions. It is perfectly absurd, when +one finds one's self the happiest fellow living, that one is obliged to +look as demure and solemn as if one was in church."</p> + +<p>"Then you should have waited, sir," the girl said.</p> + +<p>"I meant to have waited, Lucy, until I got to your home; but as soon as +I felt that there was no longer any harm in speaking, out it came; but +it's very hard to have to wait for hours, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"To wait for what?" Lucy asked demurely.</p> + +<p>"You must wait for explanations until we are alone, Lucy. And now I +think the train begins to slacken, and it is the next station at which +we get out."</p> + +<p>"I think, Lucy," Vincent said, when they had approached the house of her +relatives, "you and Chloe had better get out and go in by yourselves and +tell your story. Dan and I will go to the inn, and I will come round in +an hour. If we were to walk in together like this, it would be next to +impossible for you to explain how it all came about."</p> + +<p>"I think that would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>the best plan. My two aunts are the kindest +creatures possible, but no doubt they will be bewildered at seeing me so +suddenly. I do think it would be best to let me have a talk with them, +and tell them all about it, before you appear upon the scene."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, in an hour I will come in."</p> + +<p>When they arrived at the gate, therefore, Vincent helped Lucy and Chloe +to alight, and then, jumping into the buggy again, told the driver to +take him to the hotel.</p> + +<p>After engaging a room and enjoying a bath, Vincent sallied out into the +little town, and was fortunate enough to succeed in purchasing a suit of +tweed clothes, which, although they scarcely fitted as if they had been +made for him, were still an immense improvement upon the rough clothes +in which he had traveled. Returning to the hotel, he put on his new +purchases, and then walked to the house of Lucy's aunts, which was a +quarter of a mile outside the town.</p> + +<p>Lucy had walked up the little path through the garden in front of the +house, and turning the handle of the door, had entered unannounced and +walked straight into the parlor. The two elderly ladies rose with some +surprise at the entry of a strange visitor. It was three years since she +had paid her last visit there, and for a moment they did not recognize +her.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know me, aunts?"</p> + +<p>"Why, goodness me!" the eldest exclaimed, "if it isn't our little Lucy +grown into womanhood! My dear child, where have you sprung from?" And +the two ladies warmly embraced their niece, who, as soon as they +released her from their arms, burst into a fit of crying, and it was +some time before she could answer the questions showered upon her.</p> + +<p>"It is nothing, aunts," she said at last, wiping her eyes; "but I am so +glad to be with you again, and I have gone through so much, and I am so +happy, and it's so nice being with you again! Here is Chloe waiting to +speak to you, aunts. She has come with me all the way."</p> + +<p>The old negress, who had been waiting in the passage, was now called in.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> +<p>"Why, Chloe, you look no older than when you went away from here six +years ago," Miss Kingston said. "But how did you get through the lines? +We have been terribly anxious about you. Your brother was here only a +fortnight ago, and he and your father were in a great way about you, and +reproached themselves bitterly that they did not send you to us before +the troubles began, which certainly would have been a wiser step, as I +told them. Of course your brother said that, when they left you to join +the army, they had no idea that matters were going so far, or that the +Yankees would drive us out of Tennessee, or they would never have +dreamed of leaving you alone. However, here you are, so now tell me all +about it."</p> + +<p>Lucy told the story of the various visits of the Federal bushwhackers to +the house, and how she had narrowly escaped death for refusing to betray +the Confederate officer who had come to the house for food. Her recital +was frequently interrupted by exclamations of indignation and pity from +her aunts.</p> + +<p>"Well, aunts, after that," she went on, "you see it was impossible for +me to stop there any longer. No doubt they came back again a few hours +afterward and burned the house, and had I been found there, I should +have been sure to be burned in it, so Chloe agreed with me that there +was nothing to do but to try and get through the lines and come to you."</p> + +<p>"Quite right, my dear. It was clearly the best thing for you to come to +us—indeed, the only thing. But how in the world did you two manage to +travel alone all that distance and get through the Federal lines?"</p> + +<p>"You see, we were not alone, aunts," Lucy said; "the Confederate officer +and his servant were coming through and, of course, they took care of +us. We could never have got through alone, and as Chloe was with me, we +got on very nicely; but we have been a long time getting through, for in +the fight, where he saved my life and killed five of the band, he had +his shoulder broken by a pistol bullet, and we had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> to stop in a +farmhouse near Mount Pleasant, and he was very ill for some time, but +the doctor who attended him was a true Southerner, and so we were quite +safe till he was able to move again."</p> + +<p>"And who is this officer, Lucy?" Miss Kingston asked rather anxiously.</p> + +<p>"He is a Virginia gentleman, auntie. His mother has large estates near +Richmond. He was in the cavalry with Stuart, and was made prisoner while +he was lying wounded and insensible at Antietam; and I think, auntie, +that—that—" and she hesitated—"some day we are going to be married."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's it, is it?" the old lady said kindly. "Well, I can't say +anything about that until I see him, Lucy. Now tell us the whole story, +and then we shall be better able to judge about it. I don't think, my +dear, that, while you were traveling under his protection, he ought to +have talked to you about such things."</p> + +<p>"He didn't, auntie; not until we were half a mile from the station here. +I never thought he cared for me the least bit; he was just like a +brother to me—just like what Jack would have been, if he had been +bringing me here."</p> + +<p>"That's right, my dear; I am glad to hear it. Now, let us hear all about +it."</p> + +<p>Lucy told the whole story of her escape and her adventures, and when she +had finished, her aunts nodded to each other.</p> + +<p>"That's all very satisfactory, Lucy. It was a difficult position to be +placed in, though I don't see how it was to be avoided, and the young +man really seems to have behaved very well. Don't you think so, Ada?" +The younger Miss Kingston agreed, and both were prepared to receive +Vincent with cordiality when he appeared.</p> + +<p>The hour had been considerably exceeded when Vincent came to the door. +He felt it rather an awkward moment when he was ushered into the +presence of Lucy's aunts, who could scarcely restrain an exclamation of +surprise at his youth, for, alt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>hough Lucy had said nothing about his +age, they expected to meet an older man—the impression being gained +from the recital of his bravery in attacking, single-handed, twelve +men, and by the manner in which he had piloted the party through their +dangers.</p> + +<p>"We are very glad to see you—my sister Ada and myself," Miss Kingston +said, shaking hands cordially with their visitor. "Lucy has been telling +us all about you; but we certainly expected, from what you had gone +through, that you were older."</p> + +<p>"I am two or three years older than she is, Miss Kingston, and I have +gone through so much in the last three years that I feel older than I +am. She has told you, I hope, that she has been good enough to promise +to be my wife some day?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she has told us that, Mr. Wingfield; and although we don't know +you personally, we feel sure—my sister Ada and I—from what she has +told us of your behavior while you have been together, that you are an +honorable gentleman, and we hope and believe that you will make her +happy."</p> + +<p>"I will do my best to do so," Vincent said earnestly. "As to my +circumstances, I shall, in another year, come into possession of estates +sufficient to keep her in every comfort."</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt that that is all satisfactory, Mr. Wingfield, and that +her father will give his hearty approval when he hears all the +circumstances of the case. Now, if you will go into the next room, Mr. +Wingfield, I will call her down"—for Lucy had run upstairs when she +heard Vincent knock. "I dare say you will like a quiet talk together," +she added, smiling, "for she tells me you have never been alone together +since you started."</p> + +<p>Lucy required several calls before she came down. A new shyness, such as +she had never before felt, had seized her, and it was with flushed +cheeks and timid steps that she at last came downstairs, and it needed +an encouraging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>—"Go in, you silly child, your lover will not eat you," +before she turned the handle and went into the room where Vincent was +expecting her.</p> + +<p>Vincent had telegraphed from the first station at which he arrived +within the limits of the Confederacy to his mother, announcing his safe +arrival there, and asking her to send money to him at Antioch. Her +letter in reply reached him three days after his arrival. It contained +notes for the amount he wrote for; and while expressing her own and his +sisters' delight at hearing he had safely reached the limits of the +Confederacy, she expressed not a little surprise at the out-of-the-way +place to which he had requested the money to be sent.</p> + +<p>"We have been examining the maps, my dear boy," she said, "and find that +it is seventy or eighty miles out of your direct course, and we have +puzzled ourselves in vain as to why you should have made your way there. +The girls guess that you have gone there to deliver in person some +message from one of your late fellow-prisoners to his family. I am not +good at guessing, and am content to wait until you return home. We hope +that you will leave as soon as you get the remittance. We shall count +the hours until we see you. Of course we learned from a Yankee paper +smuggled through the lines that you had escaped from prison, and have +been terribly anxious about you ever since. We are longing to hear your +adventures."</p> + +<p>A few hours after the receipt of this letter, Vincent was on his way +home. It was a long journey. The distance was considerable, and the +train service greatly disordered and unpunctual. When within a few hours +of Richmond he telegraphed, giving the approximate time at which he +might be expected to arrive. The train, however, did not reach Richmond +until some hours later. The carriage was waiting at the station, and the +negro coachman shouted with pleasure at the sight of his young master.</p> + +<p>"Missis and the young ladies come, sah; but de station master he say de +train no arrive for a long time, so dey wait for you at de town house, +sah."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> +<p>Dan jumped up beside the coachman and Vincent leaped into the carriage, +and in a few minutes later he was locked in the arms of his mother and +sisters.</p> + +<p>"You grow bigger and bigger, Vincent," his mother said after the first +greeting was over. "I thought you must have done when you went away +last, but you are two or three inches taller and ever so much wider."</p> + +<p>"I think I have nearly done now, mother—anyhow as to height. I am six +feet one."</p> + +<p>"You are a dreadful trouble to us, Vincent," Annie said. "We have awful +anxiety whenever we hear of a battle being fought, and it was almost a +relief to us when we heard that you were in a Yankee prison. We thought +at least you were out of danger for some time; but since the news came +of your escape it has been worse than ever, and as week passed after +week without hearing anything of you we began to fear that something +terrible had happened to you."</p> + +<p>"Nothing terrible has happened at all, Annie. The only mishap I had was +getting a pistol bullet in my shoulder which laid me up for about six +weeks. There was nothing very dreadful about it," he continued, as +exclamations of alarm and pity broke from mother and sister. "I was well +looked after and nursed. And now I will tell you my most important piece +of news, and then I will give you a full account of my adventures from +the time when Dan got me out of prison, for it is entirely to him that I +owe my liberty."</p> + +<p>"Well, what is the piece of news?" Annie asked.</p> + +<p>"Guess!" Vincent replied, smiling.</p> + +<p>"You have got promoted?" his mother said.</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Is it about a lady?" Annie asked.</p> + +<p>Vincent smiled.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Vincent, you are not engaged to be married! That would be too +ridiculous!"</p> + +<p>Vincent laughed and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Annie is right, mother; I am engaged to be married."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> +<p>Mrs. Wingfield looked grave, Rosie laughed, and Annie threw her arms +round his neck and kissed him.</p> + +<p>"You dear, silly old boy!" she said. "I am glad, though it seems so +ridiculous. Who is she, and what is she like?"</p> + +<p>"We needn't ask where she lives," Rosie said. "Of course it is in +Antioch, though how in the world you managed it all in the two or three +days you were there I can't make out."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield's brow cleared. "At any rate, in that case, Vincent, she +is a Southerner. I was afraid at first it was some Yankee woman who had +perhaps sheltered you on your way."</p> + +<p>"Is she older than you, Vincent?" Annie asked suddenly. "I shouldn't +like her to be older than you are."</p> + +<p>"She is between sixteen and seventeen," Vincent replied, "and she is a +Southern girl, mother, and I am sure you will love her, for she saved my +life at the risk of her own, besides nursing me all the time I was ill."</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt I shall love her, Vincent, for I think, my boy, that +you would not make a rash choice. I think you are young, much too young, +to be engaged; still, that is a secondary matter. Now tell us all about +it. We expected your story to be exciting, but did not dream that +love-making had any share in it."</p> + +<p>Vincent accordingly told them the whole story of his adventures from the +time of his first meeting Dan in prison. When he related the episode of +Lucy's refusal to say whether he would return, although threatened with +instant death unless she did so, his narrative was broken by the +exclamations of his hearers.</p> + +<p>"You need not say another word in praise of her," his mother said. "She +is indeed a noble girl, and I shall be proud of such a daughter."</p> + +<p>"She must be a darling!" Annie exclaimed. "Oh, Vincent, how brave she +must be! I don't think I ever could have done that, with a pistol +pointing straight at you, and all those dreadful men round, and no hope +of a rescue; it's awful even to think of."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> +<p>"It was an awful moment, as you may imagine," Vincent replied. "I shall +never forget the scene, or Lucy's steadfast face as she faced that man; +and you see at that time I was a perfect stranger to her—only a +fugitive Confederate officer whom she shielded from his pursuers."</p> + +<p>"Go on, Vincent; please go on," Annie said. "Tell us what happened +next."</p> + +<p>Vincent continued his narrative to the end, with, however, many +interruptions and questions on the part of the girls. His mother said +little, but sat holding his hand in hers.</p> + +<p>"It has been a wonderful escape, Vincent," she said when he had +finished. "Bring your Lucy here when you like and I shall be ready to +receive her as my daughter, and to love her for her own sake as well as +yours. She must be not only a brave girl but a noble girl, and you did +perfectly right to lose not a single day after you had taken her safely +home in asking her to be your wife. I am glad to think that some day the +Orangery will have so worthy a mistress. I will write to her at once. +You have not yet told us what she is like, Vincent."</p> + +<p>"I am not good at descriptions, but you shall see her photograph, when I +get it."</p> + +<p>"What, haven't you got one now?"</p> + +<p>"She had not one to give me. You see, when the troubles began she was +little more than a child, and since that time she has scarcely left +home, but she promised to have one taken at once and send it to me, and +then, if it is a good likeness, you will know all about it."</p> + +<p>"Mother, when you write to-night," Rosie said, "please send her your +photograph and ours, and say we all want one of our new relative that is +to be."</p> + +<p>"I think, my dear, you can leave that until we have exchanged a letter +or two. You will see Vincent's copy, and can then wait patiently for +your own."</p> + +<p>"And now, mother, I have told you all of my news; let us hear about +everyone here. How are all the old house hands, and how is Dinah? Tony +is at Washington, I know, because I saw in the paper that he had made a +sudden attack upon Jackson.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield's face fell.</p> + +<p>"That is my one piece of bad news, Vincent. I wish you hadn't asked the +question until to-morrow, for I am sorry that anything should disturb +the pleasure of this first meeting; still, as you have asked the +question, I must answer it. About ten days ago a negro came, as I +afterward heard from Chloe, to the back entrance and asked for Dinah. He +said he had a message for her. She went and spoke to him, and then ran +back and caught up her child. She said to Chloe, 'I have news of my +husband. I think he is here. I will soon be back again.' Then she ran +out, and she has never returned. We have made every inquiry we could, +but we have not liked to advertise for her, for it may be that she has +met her husband, and that he has persuaded her to make off at once with +him to Yorktown or Fortress Monroe."</p> + +<p>"This is bad news indeed, mother," Vincent said. "No, I do not think for +a moment that she has gone off with Tony. There could be no reason why +she should have left so suddenly without telling anyone, for she knew +well enough that you would let her go if she wished it; and I feel sure +that neither she nor Tony would act so ungratefully as to leave us in +this manner. No, mother, I feel sure that this has been done by Jackson. +You know I told you I felt uneasy about her before I went. No doubt the +old rascal has seen in some Northern paper an account of his son having +been attacked in the streets of Washington, and recaptured by Tony, and +he has had Dinah carried off from a pure spirit of revenge. Well, +mother," he went on in answer to an appealing look from her, "I will not +put myself out this first evening of my return, and will say no more +about it. There will be plenty of time to take the matter up to-morrow. +And now about all our friends and acquaintances. How are they getting +on? Have you heard of any more of my old chums being killed since I was +taken prisoner at Antietam?"</p> + +<p>It was late in the evening before Vinc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>ent heard all the news. +Fortunately, the list of casualties in the Army of Virginia had been +slight since Antietam; but that battle had made many gaps among the +circle of their friends, and of these Vincent now heard for the first +time, and he learned, too, that although no battle had been fought since +Antietam, on the 17th of September, there had been a sharp skirmish near +Fredericksburg, and that the Federal army, now under General Burnside, +who had succeeded McClellan, was facing that of Lee, near that town, and +that it was believed that they would attempt to cross the Rappahannock +in a few days.</p> + +<p>It was not until he had retired for the night that Vincent allowed his +thoughts to turn again to the missing woman. Her loss annoyed and vexed +him much more than he permitted his mother to see. In the first place, +the poor girl's eagerness to show her gratitude to him upon all +occasions, and her untiring watchfulness and care during his illness +from his wound, had touched him, and the thought that she was now +probably in the hands of brutal taskmasters was a real pain to him. In +the next place, he had, as it were, given his pledge to Tony that she +should be well cared for until she could be sent to join him. And what +should he say now when the negro wrote to claim her? Then, too, he felt +a personal injury that the woman should be carried off when under his +mother's protection, and he was full of indignation and fury at the +dastardly revenge taken by Jackson. Upon hearing the news he had at once +mentally determined to devote himself for some time to a search for +Dinah; but the news that a great battle was expected at the front +interfered with his plan. Now that he was back, capable of returning to +duty, his place was clearly with his regiment; but he determined that +while he would rejoin at once, he would, as soon the battle was over, if +he were unhurt, take up the search. His mother and sisters were greatly +distressed when, at breakfast, he told them that he must at once report +himself as fit for duty, and ready to join his regiment.</p> + +<p>"I was afraid you w<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>ould think so," Mrs. Wingfield said, while the girls +wept silently; "and much as I grieve at losing you again so soon, I can +say nothing against it. You have gone through many dangers, Vincent, +and have been preserved to us through them all. We will pray that you +may be so to the end. Still, whether or not, I, as a Virginia woman, +cannot grudge my son to the service of my country, when all mothers are +making the same sacrifice; but it is hard to give you up when but +yesterday you returned to us."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>FREDERICKSBURG.</h3> + + +<p>As soon as breakfast was over Vincent mounted Wildfire, which had been +sent back after he had been taken prisoner, and rode into Richmond. +There he reported himself at headquarters as having returned after +escaping from a Federal prison and making his way through the lines of +the enemy.</p> + +<p>"I had my shoulder-bone smashed in a fight with some Yankees," he said, +"and was laid up in hiding for six weeks; but have now fairly recovered. +My shoulder, at times, gives me considerable pain, and although I am +desirous of returning to duty and rejoining my regiment until the battle +at Fredericksburg has taken place, I must request that three months' +leave be granted to me after that to return home and complete my cure, +promising, of course, to rejoin my regiment at once should hostilities +break out before the spring."</p> + +<p>"We saw the news that you had escaped," the general said, "but feared, +as so long a time elapsed without hearing from you, that you had been +shot in attempting to cross the lines. Your request for leave is +granted, and a note will be made of your zeal in thus rejoining on the +very day after your return. The vacancy in the regiment has been filled +up, but I will appoint you temporarily to General Stuart'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>s staff, and I +shall have great pleasure in to-day filling up your commission as +captain. Now let me hear how you made your escape. By the accounts +published in the Northern papers it seemed that you must have had a +confederate outside the walls."</p> + +<p>Vincent gave a full account of his escape from prison and a brief sketch +of his subsequent proceedings, saying only that he was in the house of +some loyal people in Tennessee when it was attacked by a party of Yankee +bushwhackers; that these were beaten off in the fight, but that he +himself had a pistol bullet in his shoulder. He then made his way on +until compelled by his wound to lay up for six weeks in a lonely +farmhouse near Mount Pleasant; that afterward, in the disguise of a +young farmer, he had made a long detour across the Tennessee River and +reached Georgia.</p> + +<p>"When do you leave for the front, Captain Wingfield?"</p> + +<p>"I shall be ready to start to-night, sir."</p> + +<p>"In that case I will trouble you to come here again this evening. There +will be a fast train going through with ammunition for Lee at ten +o'clock, and I shall have a bag of dispatches for him, which I will +trouble you to deliver. You will find me here up to the last moment. I +will give orders that a horse-box be attached to the train."</p> + +<p>After expressing his thanks Vincent took his leave. As he left the +general's quarters, a young man, just alighting from his horse, gave a +shout of greeting.</p> + +<p>"Why, Wingfield, it is good to see you! I thought you were pining again +in a Yankee dungeon, or had got knocked on the head crossing the lines. +Where have you sprung from, and when did you arrive?"</p> + +<p>"I only got in yesterday after sundry adventures which I will tell you +about presently. When did you arrive from the front?"</p> + +<p>"I came down a few days ago on a week's leave on urgent family +business," the young man laughed, "and I am going back again this +afternoon by the four o'clock train."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> +<p>"Stay till ten," Vincent said, "and we will go back together. There is a +special train going through with ammunition, and as everything will +make way for that it will not be long behind the four o'clock, and +likely enough may pass it on the way. There is a horse-box attached to +it, and as I only take one horse there will be room for yours."</p> + +<p>"I haven't brought my horse down," Harry Furniss said; "but I will +certainly go with you by the ten o'clock. Then we can have a long talk. +I don't think I have seen you since the day you asked me to lend you my +boat, two years ago."</p> + +<p>"Can you spare me two hours now?" Vincent asked. "You will do me a very +great favor if you will."</p> + +<p>Harry Furniss looked at his watch. "It is eleven o'clock now; we have a +lot of people to lunch at half-past one, and I must be back by then."</p> + +<p>"You can manage that easy enough," Vincent replied; "in two hours from +the time we leave here you can be at home."</p> + +<p>"I am your man, then, Vincent. Just wait five minutes—I have to see +someone in here."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Harry Furniss came out again and mounted.</p> + +<p>"Now which way, Vincent? and what is it you want me for?"</p> + +<p>"The way is to Jackson's place at the Cedars; the why I will tell you +about as we ride."</p> + +<p>Vincent then recounted his feud with the Jacksons, of which, up to the +date of the purchase of Dinah Moore, his friend was aware, having been +present at the sale. He now heard of the attack upon young Jackson by +Tony, and of the disappearance of Dinah Moore.</p> + +<p>"I should not be at all surprised, Wingfield, if your surmises are +correct, and that the old scoundrel has carried off the girl to avenge +himself upon Tony. Of course, if you could prove it, it would be a very +serious offense; for the stealing of a slave, and by force too, is a +crime with a very heavy penalty, and has cost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> men their lives before +now. But I don't see that you have anything like a positive proof, +however strong a case of suspicion it may be.</p> + +<p>"I don't see what you are going to say when you get there."</p> + +<p>"I am going to tell him that, if he does not say what he has done with +the girl, I will have his son arrested for treachery as soon as he sets +foot in the Confederacy again."</p> + +<p>"Treachery?" Furniss said in surprise. "What treachery has he been +guilty of? I saw that he was one of those who escaped with you, and I +rather wondered at the time at you two being mixed up together in +anything. I heard that he had been recaptured through some black fellow +that had been his slave, but I did not read the account. Have you got +proof of what you say?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps no proof that would hold in a court of law," Vincent replied, +"but proof enough to make it an absolute certainty to my mind."</p> + +<p>Vincent then gave an account of their escape, and of the anonymous +denunciation of himself and Dan.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "no one but Dan knew of the intended escape, no one knew +what clothes he had purchased, no one could possibly have known that I +was to be disguised as a preacher and Dan as my servant. Therefore the +information must have been given by Jackson."</p> + +<p>"I have not the least doubt but that the blackguard did give it, +Wingfield; but there is no proof."</p> + +<p>"I consider that there is a proof—an absolute and positive proof," +Vincent asserted, "because no one else could have known it."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see that, as a matter of fact, the other officer did know it, +and might possibly have given the information."</p> + +<p>"But why should he? The idea is absurd. He had never had a quarrel with +me, and he owed his liberty to me."</p> + +<p>"Just so, Wingfield. I am as certain that it was Jackson as you are,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +because I know the circumstances; but you see there is no more absolute +proof against one man than against the other. It is true that you had +had a quarrel with Jackson some two years before, but you see you had +made it up and had become friends in prison—so much so that you +selected him from among a score of others in the same room to be the +companion of your flight. You and I, who know Jackson, can well believe +him guilty of an act of gross ingratitude—of ingratitude and treachery; +but people who do not know would hardly credit it as possible that a man +could be such a villain. The defense he would set up would be that in +the first place there is no shadow of evidence that he more than the +other turned traitor. In the second place he would be sure to say that +such an accusation against a Confederate officer is too monstrous and +preposterous to be entertained for a moment; and that doubtless your +negro, although he denies the fact, really chattered about his doings to +the negroes he was lodging with, and that it was through them that +someone got to know of the disguise you would wear. We know that it +wasn't so, Wingfield; but ninety-nine out of every hundred white men in +the South would rather believe that a negro had chattered than that a +Confederate officer had been guilty of a gross act of treachery and +ingratitude."</p> + +<p>Vincent was silent. He felt that what his companion said was the truth; +and that a weapon by which he had hoped to force the elder Jackson into +saying what he had done with Dinah would probably fail in its purpose. +The old man was too astute not to perceive that there was no real proof +against his son, and would therefore be unlikely at once to admit that +he had committed a serious crime and to forego his revenge.</p> + +<p>"I will try, at any rate," he said at last; "and if he refuses I will +publish the story in the papers. When the fellow gets back from +Yankee-land he may either call me out or demand a court of inquiry. I +may not succeed in getting a verdict from twelve white men, but I think +I can convince everyone of our ow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>n class that the fellow did it; and +when this battle that is expected is over I have got three months' +leave, and I will move heaven and earth to find the woman; and if I do, +Jackson will either have to bolt or to stand a trial, with the prospect +of ten years' imprisonment if he is convicted. In either case we are not +likely to have his son about here again; and if he did venture back and +brought an action against me, his chance of getting damages would be a +small one."</p> + +<p>Another half-hour's ride brought them to the Cedars. They dismounted at +the house, and fastening their horses to the portico knocked at the +door. It was opened by a negro.</p> + +<p>"Tell your master," Vincent said, "that Mr. Wingfield wishes to speak to +him."</p> + +<p>Andrew Jackson himself came to the door.</p> + +<p>"To what do I owe the very great pleasure of this visit, Mr. Wingfield?" +he said grimly.</p> + +<p>"I have come to ask you what you have done with Dinah Moore, whom, I +have every ground for believing, you have caused to be kidnaped from my +mother's house."</p> + +<p>"This is a serious charge, young gentleman," Andrew Jackson said, "and +one that I shall call upon you to justify in the law courts. Men are not +to be charged with criminal actions even by young gentlemen of good +Virginian families."</p> + +<p>"I shall be quite ready to meet you there, Mr. Jackson, whenever you +choose; but my visit here is rather to give you an opportunity of +escaping the consequences that will follow your detection as the author +of the crime; for I warn you that I will bring the crime home to you, +whatever it costs me in time and money. My offer is this: produce the +woman and her child, and not only shall no prosecution take place, but I +will remain silent concerning a fact which affects the honor of your +son."</p> + +<p>Andrew Jackson's face had been perfectly unmoved during this +conversation until he heard the allusion to his son. Then his face +changed visibly.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> +<p>"I know nothing concerning which you can attack the honor of my son, Mr. +Wingfield," he said with an effort to speak as unconcernedly as before.</p> + +<p>"My charge is as follows," Vincent said quietly: "I was imprisoned at +Elmira with a number of other officers, among them your son. Thinking +that it was time for the unpleasantness that had been existing between +us to come to an end, I offered him my hand. This he accepted and we +became friends. A short time afterward a mode of escape offered itself +to me, and I proved the sincerity of my feelings toward him by offering +to him and another officer the means of sharing my escape. This they +accepted. Once outside the walls, I furnished them with disguises that +had been prepared for them, assuming myself that of a minister. We then +separated, going in different directions, I myself being accompanied by +my negro servant, to whose fidelity I owed our escape. Two days +afterward an anonymous writer communicated to the police the fact that I +had escaped in the disguise of a minister, and was accompanied by my +black servant. This fact was only known to the negro, myself, and the +two officers. My negro, who had released me, was certainly not my +betrayer; the other officer could certainly have had no possible motive +for betraying me. There remains, therefore, only your son, whose +hostility to me was notorious, and who had expressed himself with +bitterness against me on many occasions, and among others in the hearing +of my friend Mr. Furniss here. Such being the case, it is my intention +to charge him before the military authorities with this act of +treachery. But, as I have said, I am willing to forego this and to keep +silence as to your conduct with reference to my slave Dinah Moore, if +you will restore her and her child uninjured to the house from which you +caused her to be taken."</p> + +<p>The sallow cheeks of the old planter had grown a shade paler as he +listened to Vincent's narrative, but he now burst out in angry tones:</p> + +<p>"How dare you, sir, bring such an infamous accusation against m<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>y son—an +accusation, like that against myself, wholly unsupported by a shred of +evidence? Doubtless your negro had confided to some of his associates +his plans for assisting you to escape from prison, and it is from one of +these that the denunciation has come. Go, sir, report where you will +what lies and fables you have invented; but be assured that I and my son +will seek our compensation for such gross libels in the courts."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," Vincent said, as he prepared to mount his horse; "if +you will take the trouble to look in the papers to-morrow, you will see +that your threats of action for libel have no effect whatever upon me."</p> + +<p>"The man is as hard as a rock, Wingfield," Furniss said, as they rode +off together. "He wilted a little when you were telling your story, but +the moment he saw you had no definite proofs he was, as I expected he +would be, ready to defy you. What shall you do now?"</p> + +<p>"I shall ride back into Richmond again and give a full account of my +escape from the jail, and state that I firmly believe that the +information as to my disguise was given by Jackson, and that it was the +result of a personal hostility which, as many young men in Richmond are +well aware, has existed for some time between us."</p> + +<p>"Well, you must do as you like, Wingfield, but I think it will be a +risky business."</p> + +<p>"It may be so," Vincent said; "but I have little doubt that long before +Jackson is exchanged I shall have discovered Dinah, and shall prosecute +Jackson for theft and kidnaping, in which case the young man will hardly +venture to prosecute me or indeed to show his face in this part of the +country."</p> + +<p>That evening the two young officers started for the front, and the next +morning the Richmond papers came out with a sensational heading, +"Alleged Gross Act of Treachery and Ingratitude by a Confederate +Officer."</p> + +<p>It was the 10th of December when Vincent joined the army at +Fredericksburg. He reported himself to General Stuart, who received him +with great cordiality.</p> + +<p>"You are just in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> time, Wingfield," he said. "I believe that in another +twenty-four hours the battle will be fought. They have for the last two +days been moving about in front, and apparently want us to believe that +they intend to cross somewhere below the town; but all the news we get +from our spies is to the effect that these are only feints and that they +intend to throw a bridge across here. We know, anyhow, they have got two +trains concealed opposite, near the river. Burnside is likely to find it +a hard nut to crack. Of course they are superior in number to us, as +they always are; but as we have always beat them well on level ground I +do not think their chances of getting up these heights are by any means +hopeful. Then, too, their change of commanders is against them. +McClellan fought a drawn battle against us at Antietam and showed +himself a really able general in the operations in front of Richmond. +The army have confidence in him, and he is by far the best man they have +got so far, but the fools at Washington have now for the second time +displaced him because they are jealous of him. Burnside has shown +himself a good man in minor commands, but I don't think he is equal to +command such a vast army as this; and besides, we know from our friends +at Washington that he has protested against this advance across the +river, but has been overruled. You will see Fredericksburg will add +another to the long list of our victories."</p> + +<p>Vincent shared a tent with another officer of the same rank in General +Stuart's staff. They sat chatting till late, and it was still dark when +they were suddenly aroused by an outbreak of musketry down at the river.</p> + +<p>"The general was right," Captain Longmore, Vincent's companion +exclaimed. "They are evidently throwing a bridge across the river, and +the fire we hear comes from two regiments of Mississippians who are +posted down in the town under Barksdale."</p> + +<p>It was but the work of a minute to throw on their clothes and hurry out. +The night was dark and a heavy fog hung over the ri<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>ver. A roar of +musketry came up from the valley. Drums and bugles were sounding all +along the crest. At the same moment they issued out General Stuart came +out from his tent, which was close by.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Longmore? Jump on your horse and ride down to the town. +Bring back news of what is going on."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later an officer rode up. Some wood had been thrown on the +fire, and by its light Vincent recognized Stonewall Jackson.</p> + +<p>"Have you any news for us?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Not yet; I have sent an officer down to inquire. The enemy have been +trying to bridge the river."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so," Jackson replied. "I have ordered one of my brigades to +come to the head of the bank as soon as they can be formed up, to help +Barksdale if need be, but I don't want to take them down into the town. +It is commanded by all the hills on the opposite side, and we know they +have brought up also all their artillery there."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Captain Longmore returned.</p> + +<p>"The enemy have thrown two pontoon bridges across, one above and one +below the old railway bridge. The Mississippians have driven them back +once, but they are pushing on the work and will soon get it finished; +but General Barksdale bids me report that with the force at his command +he can repulse any attempt to cross."</p> + +<p>The light was now breaking in the east, but the roar of musketry +continued under the canopy of fog. Generals Lee, Longstreet, and others +had now arrived upon the spot, and Vincent was surprised that no orders +were issued for troops to re-enforce those under General Barksdale. +Presently the sun rose, and as it gained in power the fog slowly lifted, +and it was seen that the two pontoon bridges were complete; but the fire +of the Mississippians was so heavy that although the enemy several times +attempted to cross they recoiled before it. Suddenly a gun was fired +from the opposite height, and at the signal more than a hund<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>red pieces +of artillery opened fire upon the town. Many of the inhabitants had left +as soon as the musketry fire began, but the slopes behind it soon +presented a sad spectacle. Men, women, and children poured out from the +town, bewildered with the din and terrified by the storm of shot and +shell that crashed into it. Higher and higher the crowd of fugitives +made their way until they reached the crest; among them were weeping +women and crying children, many of them in the scantiest attire and +carrying such articles of dress and valuables as they had caught up when +startled by the terrible rain of missiles. In a very few minutes smoke +began to rise over the town, followed by tongues of flame, and in half +an hour the place was on fire in a score of places.</p> + +<p>All day the bombardment went on without cessation and Fredericksburg +crumbled into ruins. Still, in spite of this terrible fire, the +Mississippians clung to the burning town amid crashing walls, falling +chimneys, and shells exploding in every direction. As night fell the +enemy poured across the bridges, and Barksdale, contesting every foot of +ground, fell back through the burning city and took up a position behind +a stone wall in its rear.</p> + +<p>Throughout the day not a single shot had been fired by the Confederate +artillery, which was very inferior in power to that of the enemy, as +General Lee had no wish finally to hinder the passage of the Federals; +the stubborn resistance of Barksdale's force being only intended to give +him time to concentrate all his army as soon as he knew for certain the +point at which the enemy was going to cross; and he did not wish, +therefore, to risk the destruction of any of his batteries by calling +down the Federal fire upon them.</p> + +<p>During the day the troops were all brought up into position. Longstreet +was on the left and Jackson on the right, while the guns, forty-seven in +number, were in readiness to take up their post in the morning on the +slopes in front of them. On the extreme right General Stuart was posted +with his cavalry and horse artillery. The night passed quietly and by +daybreak the troops were all drawn up in their posi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>tions.</p> + +<p>As soon as the sun rose it was seen that during the night the enemy had +thrown more bridges across and that the greater portion of the army was +already over. They were, indeed, already in movement against the +Confederate position, their attack being directed toward the portion of +the line held by Jackson's division. General Stuart gave orders to Major +Pelham, who commanded his horse artillery, and who immediately brought +up the guns and began the battle by opening fire on the flank of the +enemy. The guns of the Northern batteries at once replied, and for some +hours the artillery duel continued, the Federal guns doing heavy +execution. For a time attacks were threatened from various points, but +about ten o'clock, when the fog lifted, a mass of some 55,000 troops +advanced against Jackson. They were suffered to come within eight +hundred yards before a gun was fired, and then fourteen guns opened upon +them with such effect that they fell back in confusion.</p> + +<p>At one o'clock another attempt was made, covered by a tremendous fire of +artillery. For a time the columns of attack were kept at bay by the fire +of the Confederate batteries, but they advanced with great resolution, +pushed their way through Jackson's first line, and forced them to fall +back. Jackson brought up his second line and drove the enemy back with +great slaughter until his advance was checked by the fire of the +Northern artillery.</p> + +<p>All day the fight went on, the Federals attempting to crush the +Confederate artillery by the weight of their fire in order that their +infantry columns might again advance. But although outnumbered by more +than two to one, the Confederate guns were worked with great resolution, +and the day passed and darkness began to fall without their retiring +from the positions they had taken up. Just at sunset General Stuart +ordered all the batteries on the right to advance. This they did, and +opened their fire on the Northern infantry with such effect that these +fell back to the position near the town that they had occupied in the +morning.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> +<p>On the left an equally terrible battle had raged all day, but here the +Northern troops were compelled to cross open ground between the town +and the base of the hill and suffered so terribly from the fire that +they never succeeded in reaching the Confederate front. Throughout the +day the Confederates held their position with such ease that General Lee +considered the affair as nothing more than a demonstration in force to +feel his position and expected an even sterner battle on the following +day. Jackson's first and second lines, composed of less than 15,000 men, +had repulsed without difficulty the divisions of Franklin and Hooker, +55,000 strong; while Longstreet, with about the same force, had never +been really pressed by the enemy, although on that side they had a force +of over 50,000 men.</p> + +<p>In the morning the Northern army was seen drawn up in battle array as if +to advance for fresh assault, but no movement was made. General Burnside +was in favor of a fresh attack, but the generals commanding the various +divisions felt that their troops, after the repulse the day before, were +not equal to the work, and were unanimously of opinion that a second +assault should not be attempted. After remaining for some hours in order +of battle they fell back into the town and two days later the whole army +recrossed the Rappahannock River. The loss of the Confederates was 1800 +men, who were for the most part killed or wounded by the enemy's +artillery, while the Federal loss was no less than 13,771. General +Burnside soon afterward resigned his command, and General Hooker, an +officer of the same politics as the President and his advisers, was +appointed to succeed him.</p> + +<p>The cavalry had not been called upon to act during the day, and +Vincent's duties were confined to carrying orders to the commanders of +the various batteries of artillery posted in that part of the field, as +these had all been placed under General Stuart's orders. He had many +narrow escapes by shot and fragments of shells, but passed through the +day uninjured.</p> + +<p>General Lee has been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>blamed for not taking advantage of his victory and +falling upon the Federals on the morning after the battle; but although +such an assault might possibly have been successful he was conscious of +his immense inferiority in force, and his troops would have been +compelled to have advanced to the attack across ground completely swept +by the fire of the magnificently served Northern artillery posted upon +their commanding heights. He was, moreover, ignorant of the full extent +of the loss he had inflicted upon the enemy, and expected renewed attack +by them. He was therefore, doubtless, unwilling to risk the results of +the victory he had gained and of the victory he expected to gain should +the enemy renew their attack, by a movement which might not be +successful, and which would at any rate have cost him a tremendous loss +of men, and men were already becoming scarce in the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>As soon as the enemy had fallen back across the river and it was certain +that there was little chance of another forward movement on their part +for a considerable time, Vincent showed to General Stuart the permit he +had received to return home until the spring on leave, and at once +received the general's permission to retire from the staff for a time.</p> + +<p>He had not been accompanied by Dan on his railway journey to the front, +having left him behind with instructions to endeavor by every means to +find some clew as to the direction in which Dinah had been carried off. +He telegraphed on his way home the news of his coming, and found Dan at +the station waiting for him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Dan, have you obtained any news?" he asked as soon as his horse +had been moved from its box, and he had mounted and at a foot-pace left +the station, with Dan walking beside him.</p> + +<p>"No, sah; I hab done my best, but I cannot find out anything. The +niggers at Jackson's all say dat no strangers hab been dere wid de old +man for a long time before de day dat Dinah was carried off. I have been +over dar, massa, and hab talked wid the hands at de house. Dey all say +dat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> no one been dere for a month. Me sure dat dey no tell a lie about +it, because dey all hate Massa Jackson like pison. Den de lawyer, he am +put de advertisement you told him in the papers: Five hundred dollars +to whoever would give information about de carrying off of a female +slave from Missy Wingfield, or dat would lead to de discovery of her +hiding-place. But no answer come. Me heard Missy Wingfield say so last +night."</p> + +<p>"That's bad, Dan; but I hardly expected anything better. I felt sure the +old fox would have taken every precaution, knowing what a serious +business it would be for him if it were found out. Now I am back I will +take the matter up myself, and we will see what we can do. I wish I +could have set about it the day after she was carried away. It is more +than a fortnight ago now, and that will make it much more difficult than +it would have been had it been begun at once."</p> + +<p>"Well, Vincent, so you have come back to us undamaged this time," his +mother said after the first greeting. "We were very anxious when the +news came that a great battle had been fought last Friday; but when we +heard the next morning the enemy had been repulsed so easily we were not +so anxious, although it was not until this morning that the list of +killed and wounded was published, and our minds set at rest."</p> + +<p>"No, mother; it was a tremendous artillery battle, but it was little +more than that—at least on our side. But I have never heard anything at +all like it from sunrise to sunset. But, after all, an artillery fire is +more frightening than dangerous, except at comparatively close quarters. +The enemy must have fired at least fifty shots for every man that was +hit. I counted several times, and there were fully a hundred shots a +minute, and I don't think it lessened much the whole day. I should think +they must have fired two or three hundred rounds at least from each gun. +The roar was incessant, and what with the din they made, and the replies +of our own artillery, and the bursting of shells, and the rattle of +musketry, the din at times was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> almost bewildering. Wildfire was hit with +a piece of shell, but fortunately it was not a very large one, and he is +not much the worse for it, but the shock knocked him off his legs; of +course I went down with him, and thought for a moment I had been hit +myself. No; it was by far the most hollow affair we have had. The enemy +fought obstinately enough, but without the slightest spirit or dash, and +only once did they get up anywhere near our line, and then they went +back a good deal quicker than they came."</p> + +<p>"And now you are going to be with us for three months, Vincent?"</p> + +<p>"I hope so, mother; at least if they do not advance again. I shall be +here off and on. I mean to find Dinah Moore if it is possible, and if I +can obtain the slightest clew I shall follow it up and go wherever it +may lead me."</p> + +<p>"Well, we will spare you for that, Vincent. As you know, I did not like +your mixing yourself up in that business two years ago, but it is +altogether different now. The woman was very willing and well conducted, +and I had got to be really fond of her. But putting that aside, it is +intolerable that such a piece of insolence as the stealing of one of our +slaves should go unpunished. Therefore, if you do find any clew to the +affair, we will not grumble at your following it up, even if it does +take you away from home for a short time. By the bye, we had letters +this morning from a certain young lady in Georgia, inclosing her +photograph, and I rather fancy there is one for you somewhere."</p> + +<p>"Where is it, mother?" Vincent asked, jumping from his seat.</p> + +<p>"Let me think," Mrs. Wingfield replied. "Did either of you girls put it +away, or where can it have been stowed?"</p> + +<p>The girls both laughed.</p> + +<p>"Now, Vincent, what offer do you make for the letter? Well, we won't +tease you," Annie went on as Vincent gave an impatient exclamation. +"Another time we might do so, but as you have just come safely back to +us I don't think it would be fair, espec<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>ially as this is the very first +letter. Here it is!" and she took out of the workbox before her the +missive Vincent was so eager to receive.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>THE SEARCH FOR DINAH.</h3> + + +<p>"By the bye, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield remarked next morning at +breakfast, "I have parted with Pearson."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear it, mother. What! did you discover at last that he +was a scamp?"</p> + +<p>"Several things that occurred shook my confidence in him, Vincent. The +accounts were not at all satisfactory, and it happened quite +accidentally that when I was talking one day with Mr. Robertson, who, as +you know, is a great speculator in tobacco, I said that I should grow no +more tobacco, as it really fetched nothing. He replied that it would be +a pity to give it up, for so little was now cultivated that the price +was rising, and the Orangery tobacco always fetched top prices. 'I think +the price I paid for your crop this year must at any rate have paid for +the labor—that is to say, paid for the keep of the slaves and something +over.' He then mentioned the price he had given, which was certainly a +good deal higher than I had imagined. I looked at my accounts next +morning, and found that Pearson had only credited me with one-third of +the amount he must have received, so I at once dismissed him. Indeed, I +had been thinking of doing so some little time before, for money is so +scarce and the price of produce so low that I felt I could not afford to +pay as much as I had been giving him."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I have been drawing rather heavily, mother," Vincent put +in.</p> + +<p>"I have plenty of money, Vincent. Since your father's death we have had +much less company than before, and I have not spent my income. Besides, +I have a considerable sum invested in house property and other +securities. But I have, of co<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>urse, since the war began been subscribing +toward the expenses of the war—for the support of hospitals and so on. +I thought at a time like this I ought to keep my expenses down to the +lowest point, and to give the balance of my income to the State."</p> + +<p>"How did Jonas take his dismissal, mother?"</p> + +<p>"Not very pleasantly," Mrs. Wingfield replied, "especially when I told +him that I had discovered he was robbing me. However, he knew better +than to say much, for he has not been in good odor about here for some +time. After the fighting near here there were reports that he had been +in communication with the Yankees. He spoke to me about it at the time; +but as it was a mere matter of rumor, originating, no doubt, from the +fact that he was a Northern man by birth, I paid no attention to them."</p> + +<p>"It is likely enough to be true," Vincent said. "I always distrusted the +vehemence with which he took the Confederate side. How long ago did this +happen?"</p> + +<p>"It is about a month since I dismissed him."</p> + +<p>"So lately as that! Then I should not be at all surprised if he had some +hand in carrying off Dinah. I know he was in communication with Jackson, +for I once saw them together in the street, and I fancied at the time +that it was through him that Jackson learned that Dinah was here. It is +an additional clew to inquire into, anyhow. Do you know what has become +of him since he left you?"</p> + +<p>"No; I have heard nothing at all about him, Vincent, from the day I gave +him a check for his pay in this room. Farrell, who was under him, is now +in charge of the Orangery. He may possibly know something of his +movements."</p> + +<p>"I think Farrell is an honest fellow," Vincent said. "He was always +about, doing his work quietly; never bullying or shouting at the hands, +and yet seeing that they did their work properly. I will ride out and +see him at once."</p> + +<p>As soon as breakfast was over Vincent started, and found Farrell in the +fields with the hands.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you back, sir," the man said h<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>eartily.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Farrell. I am glad to be back, and I am glad to find you in +Pearson's place. I never liked the fellow, and never trusted him."</p> + +<p>"I did not like him myself, sir, though we always got on well enough +together. He knew his work and got as much out of the hands as anyone +could do; but I did not like his way with them. They hated him."</p> + +<p>"Have you any idea where he went when he left here?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; he did not come back after he got his dismissal. He sent a man +in a buggy with a note to me, asking me to send all his things over to +Richmond. I expect he was afraid the news might get here as soon as he +did, and that the hands would give him an unpleasant reception, as +indeed I expect they would have done."</p> + +<p>"You don't know whether he has any friends anywhere in the Confederacy +to whom he would be likely to go?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know about friends, sir; but I know he has told me he was +overseer, or partner, or something of that sort, in a small station down +in the swamps of South Carolina. I should think, from things he has let +drop, that the slaves must have had a bad time of it. I rather fancy he +made the place too hot for him, and had to leave; but that was only my +impression."</p> + +<p>"In that case he may possibly have made his way back there," Vincent +said. "I have particular reasons for wishing to find out. You don't know +anything about the name of the place?" The man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"He never mentioned the name in my hearing."</p> + +<p>"Well, I must try to find out; but I don't quite see how to set about +it," Vincent said. "By the way, do you know where his clothes were sent +to?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; the man said that he was to take them to Harker's Hotel. It's a +second-rate hotel not far from the railway station."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> +<p>"Thank you; that will help me. I know the house. It was formerly used by +Northern drummers and people of that sort."</p> + +<p>After riding back to Richmond and putting up his horse, Vincent went to +the hotel there. Although but a second-rate hotel it was well filled, +for people from all parts of the Confederacy resorted to Richmond, and +however much trade suffered, the hotels of the town did a good business. +He first went up to the clerk in a little office at the entrance.</p> + +<p>"You had a man named Pearson," he said, "staying here a month ago. Will +you please tell me on what day he left?"</p> + +<p>The clerk turned to the register, and said, after a minute's +examination:</p> + +<p>"He came on the 14th of November, and he left on the 20th."</p> + +<p>This was two days after the date on which Dinah had been carried off.</p> + +<p>In American hotels the halls are large and provided with seats, and are +usually used as smoking and reading rooms by the male visitors to the +hotel. At Harker's Hotel there was a small bar at the end of the hall, +and a black waiter supplied the wants of the guests seated at the +various little tables. Vincent seated himself at one of these and +ordered something to drink. As the negro placed it on the table he said:</p> + +<p>"I will give you a dollar if you will answer a few questions."</p> + +<p>"Very good, sah. Dat am a mighty easy to earn dollar."</p> + +<p>"Do you remember, about a month ago, a man named Pearson being here?"</p> + +<p>The negro shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Me not know de names ob de gentlemen, sah. What was de man like?"</p> + +<p>"He was tall and thin, with short hair and a gray goatee—a regular +Yankee."</p> + +<p>"Me remember him, sah. Dar used to be plenty ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> dat sort here. Don't see +dem much now. Me remember de man, sah, quite well. Used to pass most of +de day here. Didn't seem to have nuffin to do."</p> + +<p>"Was he always alone, or did he have many people here to see him?"</p> + +<p>"Once dar war two men wid him, sah, sitting at dat table ober in de +corner. Rough-looking fellows dey war. In old times people like dat +wouldn't come to a 'spectable hotel, but now eberyone got rough clothes, +can't get no others, so one don't tink nuffin about it; but dose fellows +was rough-looking besides dar clothes. Didn't like dar looks nohow. Dey +only came here once. Dey was de only strangers that came to see him. But +once Massa Jackson—me know him by sight—he came here and talk wid him +for a long time. Dey talk in low voice, and I noticed dey stopped +talking when anyone sat down near dem."</p> + +<p>"You don't know where he went to from here, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"No, sah; dat not my compartment. Perhaps de outside porter will know. +Like enough he takes his tings in hand-truck to station. You like to see +him, sah?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I should like to have a minute's talk with him. Here is your +dollar."</p> + +<p>The waiter rang a bell, and a minute later the outdoor porter presented +himself.</p> + +<p>"You recommember taking some tings to station for a tall man with gray +goatee, Pomp?" the waiter asked. "It was more dan three weeks ago. I +tink he went before it was light in de morning. Me seem to remember +dat."</p> + +<p>The negro nodded.</p> + +<p>"Me remember him bery well, sah. Tree heavy boxes and one bag, and he +only gave me a quarter dollar for taking dem to de station. Mighty mean +man dat."</p> + +<p>"Do you know what train he went by?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah, it was de six o'clock train for de Souf."</p> + +<p>"You can't find out where his luggage was checked for?"</p> + +<p>"I can go down to station, sah, and see if I can find out. Some of de +men thar may remember."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here is a dollar for yourself," Vincent said, "and another to give to +any of the men who can give you the news. When you have found out come +and tell me. Here is my card and address."</p> + +<p>"Bery well, sah. Next time me go up to station me find about it, for +sure, if anyone remember dat fellow."</p> + +<p>In the evening the negro called at the house and told Vincent that he +had ascertained that a man answering to his description, and having +luggage similar to that of Pearson, had had it checked to Florence in +South Carolina.</p> + +<p>Vincent now called Dan into his counsel and told him what he had +discovered. The young negro had already given proof of such intelligence +that he felt sure his opinion would be of value.</p> + +<p>"Dat all bery plain, sah," Dan said when Vincent finished his story. "Me +no doubt dat old rascal Jackson give money to Pearson to carry off de +gal. Ob course he did it just to take revenge upon Tony. Pearson he go +into de plot, because, in de fust place, it vex Missy Wingfield and you +bery much; in de second place, because Jackson gib him money; in de +third place, he get hold of negro slave worf a thousand dollar. Dat all +quite clear. He not do it himself, but arrange wid oder fellows, and he +stop quiet at de hotel for two days after she gone so dat no one can +'spect his having hand in de affair."</p> + +<p>"That is just how I make it out, Dan; and now he has gone off to join +them."</p> + +<p>Dan thought for some time.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps dey join him thar, sah, perhaps not; perhaps him send him +baggage on there and get out somewhere on de road and meet dem."</p> + +<p>"That is likely enough, Dan. No doubt Dinah was taken away in a cart or +buggy. As she left two days before he did, they may have gone from forty +to sixty miles along the road, or to some place where he may have joined +th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>em. The men who carried her off may either have come back or gone on +with him. If they wanted to go South they would go on; if they did not, +he would probably have only hired them to carry her off and hand her +over to him when he overtook them. I will look at the time-table and see +where the train stops. It is a fast train I see," after consulting it. +"It stops at Petersburg, fifteen miles on, and at Hicks Ford, which is +about fifty miles. I should think the second place was most likely, as +the cart could easily have gone there in two days. Now, Dan, you had +better start to-morrow morning, and spend two days there, if necessary; +find out, if you can, if on the 20th of last month anyone noticed a +vehicle of any kind, with two rough-looking men in it, and with, +perhaps, a negro woman. She might not have been noticed, for she may +have been lying tied up in the bottom of the cart, although it is more +likely they frightened her by threats into sitting up quiet with them. +They are sure not to have stopped at any decent hotel, but will have +gone to some small place, probably just outside the town.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you to Mr. Renfrew the first thing in the morning and +get him to draw up a paper testifying that you are engaged in lawful +business, and are making inquiries with a view to discovering a crime +which has been committed, and recommending you to the assistance of the +police in any town you may go to. Then, if you go with that to the head +constable at Hicks Ford, he will tell you which are the places at which +such fellows as these would have been likely to put up for the night, +and perhaps send a policeman with you to make inquiries. If you get any +news, telegraph to me at once. I will start by the six o'clock train on +the following morning. Do you be on the platform to meet me, and we can +then either go straight on to Florence, or, should there be any +occasion, I will get out there; but I don't think that is likely. +Pearson himself will to a certainty, sooner or later, go to Florence to +get his luggage, and the only real advantage we shall get, if your +inquiries are s<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>uccessful, will be to find out for certain whether he is +concerned in the affair. We shall then only have to follow his traces +from Florence."</p> + +<p>Two days later Mr. Renfrew received a telegram from the head constable +at Hicks Ford:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The two men with cart spent day here, 20th ult. Were joined that +morning by another man—negro says Pearson. One man returned +afternoon, Richmond. Pearson and the other drove off in buggy. A +young negress and child were with them. Is there anything I can +do?"</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Renfrew telegraphed back to request that the men, who were kidnaping +the female slave, should if possible be traced, and the direction they +took ascertained. He then sent the message across to Vincent, who at +once went to his office.</p> + +<p>"Now," the lawyer said, "you must do nothing rashly in this business, +Vincent. They are at the best of times a pretty rough lot at the edge of +these Carolina swamps, and at present things are likely to be worse than +usual. If you were to go alone on such an errand you would almost +certainly be shot. In the first place these fellows would not give up a +valuable slave without a struggle; and, in the next place, they have +committed a very serious crime. Therefore it is absolutely necessary +that you should go armed with legal powers and backed by the force of +the law. In the first place, I will draw up an affidavit and sign it +myself, to the effect that a female slave, the property of Vincent +Wingfield, has, with her male child, been kidnaped and stolen by Jonas +Pearson and others, acting in association with him, and that we have +reason to know that she has been conveyed into South Carolina. This I +will get witnessed by a justice of the peace, and will then take it up +to the State House. There I will get the usual official request to the +Governor of South Carolina to issue orders that the aid of the law shall +be given to you in recovering the said Dinah Moore and h<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>er child, and +arresting her abductors. You will obtain an order to this effect from +the Governor, and armed with it you will, as soon as you have +discovered where the woman is, call upon the sheriff of the county to +aid you in recovering her and in arresting Pearson and his associates."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir. That will certainly be the best way. I run plenty of +risks in doing my duty as an officer of the State, and I have no desire +whatever to throw my life away at the hands of ruffians such as Pearson +and his allies."</p> + +<p>Two hours later Vincent received from Mr. Renfrew the official letter to +the Governor of South Carolina, and at six o'clock next morning started +for Florence. On the platform of the station at Hicks Ford Dan was +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>"Jump into the car at the end, Dan; I will come to you there, and you +can tell me all the news. We are going straight on to Columbia. Now, +Dan," Vincent went on when he joined him—for in no part of the United +States were negroes allowed to travel in any but the cars set apart for +them—"what is your news? The chief constable telegraphed that they had, +as we expected, been joined by Pearson here."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah, dey war here for sure. When I got here I go straight to de +constable and tell him dat I was in search of two men who had kidnaped +Captain Wingfield's slave. De head constable he Richmond man, and ob +course knew all about de family; so he take de matter up at once and +send constable wid me to seberal places whar it likely dat the fellows +had put up, but we couldn't find nuffin about dem. Den next morning we +go out again to village four mile out of de town on de north road, and +dare we found sure 'nough dat two men, wid negro wench and chile, had +stopped dere. She seem bery unhappy and cry all de time. De men say dey +bought her at Richmond, and show de constable of de village de paper dat +dey had bought female slabe Sally Moore and her chile. De constable +speak to woman, but she seem frightened out of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>her life and no say +anyting. Dey drive off wid her early in de morning. Den make inquiries +again at de town and at de station. We find dat a man like Pearson get +out. He had only little hand-bag with him. He ask one of de men at de +station which was de way to de norf road. Den we find dat one of de +constables hab seen a horse and cart wid two men in it, with negro woman +and child. One of de men look like Yankee—dat what make him take notice +of it. We 'spose dat oder man went back to Richmond again."</p> + +<p>"That is all right, Dan, and you have done capitally. Now at Florence we +will take up the hunt. It is a long way down there; and if they drive +all the way, as I hope they will, it will take them a fortnight, so that +we shall have gained a good deal of time on them. The people at the +station are sure to remember the three boxes that lay there for so long +without being claimed. Of course they may have driven only till they got +fairly out of reach. Then they may either have sold the horse and cart, +or the fellow Pearson has with him may have driven it back. But I should +think they would most likely sell it. In that case they would not be +more than a week from the time they left Richmond to the time they took +train again for the South. However, whether they have got a fortnight or +three weeks' start of us will not make much difference. With the +description we can give of Pearson, and the fact that there was a +negress and child, and those three boxes, we ought to be able to trace +him."</p> + +<p>It was twelve at night when the train arrived at Florence. As nothing +could be done until next morning, Vincent went to an hotel. As soon as +the railway officials were likely to be at their offices he was at the +station again. The tip of a dollar secured the attention of the man in +the baggage room.</p> + +<p>"Three boxes and a black bag came on here a month ago, you say, and lay +here certainly four or five days—perhaps a good deal longer. Of course +I remember them. Stood up in that corner there. They had been checked +rig<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>ht through. I will look at the books and see what day they went. I +don't remember what sort of men fetched them away. Maybe I was busy at +the time, and my mate gave them out. However, I will look first and see +when they went. What day do you say they got here?"</p> + +<p>"They came by the train that left Richmond at six o'clock on the morning +of the 20th."</p> + +<p>"Then they got in late that night or early next morning. Ah, the train +was on time that day, and got in at half-past nine at night. Here they +are—three boxes and a bag, numbered 15,020, went out on the 28th. Yes, +that's right enough. Now I will just ask my mate if he remembers about +their going out."</p> + +<p>The other man was called. Oh, yes! he remembered quite well the three +boxes standing in the corner. They went out some time in the afternoon. +It was just after the train came in from Richmond. He noticed the man +that asked for them. He got him to help carry out the boxes and put them +into a cart. Yes, he remembered there was another man with him, and a +negress with a child. He wondered at the time what they were up to, but +supposed it was all right. Yes, he didn't mind trying to find out who +had hired out a cart for the job. Dare say he could find out by +to-morrow—at any rate he would try. Five dollars was worth earning, +anyway.</p> + +<p>Having put the matter in train, Vincent, leaving Dan at Florence, went +down at once to Charleston. Here, after twenty-four hours' delay, he +obtained a warrant for the arrest of Jonas Pearson and others on the +charge of kidnaping, and then returned to Florence. He found that the +railway man had failed in obtaining any information as to the cart, and +concluded it must have come in from the country on purpose to meet the +train.</p> + +<p>"At any rate," Vincent said, "it must be within a pretty limited range +of country. The railway makes a bend from Wilmington to this place and +then down to Charleston, so this is really the nearest station to only a +small extent of country."</p> + +<p>"That's so,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> the railway man said. He had heard from Dan a good deal +about the case, and had got thoroughly interested in it. "Either Marion +or Kingstree would be nearer, one way or the other, to most of the +swamp country. So it can't be as far as Conwayborough on the north, or +Georgetown on the south, and it must lie somewhere between Jeffries' +Creek and Lynch's Creek; anyhow it would be in Marion County—that's +pretty nigh sure. So, if I were you, I would take rail back to Marion +Courthouse, and see the sheriff there and have a talk over the matter +with him. You haven't got much to go upon, because this man you are +after has been away from here a good many years and won't be known; +besides, likely enough he went by some other name down here. Anyhow, the +sheriff can put you up to the roads and the best way of going about the +job."</p> + +<p>"I think that would be the best way," Vincent said. "We shall be able to +see the county map, too, and to learn all the geography of the place."</p> + +<p>"You have got your six-shooters with you, I suppose, because you are +likely as not to have to use them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we have each got a Colt; and as I have had a good deal of +practice, it would be awkward for Pearson if he gives me occasion to use +it."</p> + +<p>"After what I hear of the matter," the man said, "I should say your best +plan is just to shoot him at sight. It's what would serve him right. You +bet there will be no fuss over it. It will save you a lot of trouble +anyway."</p> + +<p>Vincent laughed.</p> + +<p>"My advice is good," the man went on earnestly. "They are a rough lot +down there, and hang together. You will have to do it sudden, whatever +you do, or you will get the hull neighborhood up agin you."</p> + +<p>On reaching Marion Courthouse they sought out the sheriff, produced the +warrant signed by the State authority, and explained the whole +circumstances.</p> + +<p>"I am ready to aid you in any way I can," the sheriff said when he +conclu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>ded; "but the question is, where has the fellow got to? You see he +may be anywhere in this tract," and he pointed out a circle on the map +of the county that hung against the wall. "That is about fifty mile +across, and a pretty nasty spot, I can tell you. There are wide swamps +on both sides of the creek, and rice grounds and all sorts. There aint +above three or four villages altogether, but there may be two or three +hundred little plantations scattered about, some big and some little. We +haven't got anything to guide us in the slightest; not a thing, as I can +see."</p> + +<p>"The man who was working under Pearson, when he was with us, told me he +had got the notion that he had had to leave on account of some trouble +here. Possibly that might afford a clew."</p> + +<p>"It might do so," the sheriff said. "When did he come to you?"</p> + +<p>"I think it was when I was six or seven years old. That would be about +twelve or thirteen years ago; but, of course, he may not have come +direct to us after leaving here."</p> + +<p>"We can look, anyway," the sheriff said, and, opening a chest, he took +out a number of volumes containing the records of his predecessors. +"Twelve years ago! Well, this is the volume. Now, Captain Wingfield, I +have got some other business in hand that will take me a couple of +hours. I will leave you out this volume and the one before it and the +one after it, and if you like to go through them you may come across the +description of some man that agrees with that of the man you are in +search of."</p> + +<p>It took Vincent two hours and a half to go through the volume, but he +met with no description answering to that of Pearson.</p> + +<p>"I will go through the first six months of the next year," he said to +himself, taking up that volume, "and the last six months of the year +before."</p> + +<p>The second volume yielded no better result, and he then turned back to +the first of the three books. Beginning in July, he r<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>ead steadily on +until he came to December. Scarcely had he begun the record of that +month when he uttered an exclamation of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"December the 2d.—Information laid against a gang at Porter's station, +near Lynch's Creek. Charged with several robberies and murders in +different parts of the country. Long been suspected of having stills in +the swamps. Gang consists of four besides Porter himself. Names of gang, +Jack Haverley, Jim Corben, and John and James Porter. Ordered out posse +to start to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"December 5th.—Returned from Porter's Station. Surprised the gang. They +resisted. Haverley, Corben, and Jas. Porter shot. John Porter escaped, +and took to the swamp. Four of posse wounded; one, William Hannay, +killed. Circulated description of John Porter through the country. Tall +and lean; when fifteen years old shot a man in a brawl, and went North. +Has been absent thirteen years. Assumed the appearance of a Northern man +and speaks with the Yankee twang. Father was absent at the time of +attack. Captured three hours after. Declares he knows nothing about +doings of the gang. Haverley and Corben were friends of his sons. Came +and went when they liked. Will be tried on the 15th."</p> + +<p>On the 16th there was another entry:</p> + +<p>"William Porter sentenced to three years' imprisonment for giving +shelter to a gang of robbers. Evidence wanting to show he took any +actual part in their crimes."</p> + +<p>The sheriff had been in and out several times during the five hours that +Vincent's search had taken up. When he returned again Vincent pointed +out the entry he had found.</p> + +<p>"I should not be at all surprised if that's our man," the sheriff said. +"I know old Porter well, for he is still alive and bears a pretty bad +reputation still, though we have never been able to bring him to book. I +remember all the circumstances of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> that affair, for I served upon the +posse. While Porter was in prison his house was kept for him by a +married daughter and her husband. There was a strong suspicion that the +man was one of the gang too, but we couldn't prove it. They have lived +there ever since. They have got five or six field hands, and are said to +be well off. We have no doubt they have got a still somewhere in the +swamps, but we have never been able to find it. I will send a man off +to-morrow to make inquiries whether any stranger has arrived there +lately. Of course, Pearson will not have kept that name, and he will not +have appeared as John Porter, for he would be arrested on a fresh +warrant at once for his share in that former business. I think, Captain +Wingfield, you had better register at the hotel here under some other +name. I don't suppose that he has any fear of being tracked here; still +it is just possible his father may have got somebody here and at +Florence to keep their eyes open and let him know if there are any +inquiries being made by strangers about a missing negress. One cannot be +too careful. If he got the least hint, his son and the woman would be +hidden away in the swamps before we could get there, and there would be +no saying when we could find him."</p> + +<p>Vincent took the sheriff's advice, and entered his name in the hotel +books as Mr. Vincent. Late in the evening the sheriff came round to him.</p> + +<p>"I have just sent summonses to six men. I would rather have had two or +three more, but young men are very scarce around here now; and as with +you and myself that brings it up to eight that ought to be sufficient, +as these fellows will have no time to summon any of their friends to +their assistance. Have you a rifle, Captain Wingfield?"</p> + +<p>"No; I have a brace of revolvers."</p> + +<p>"They are useful enough for close work," the sheriff said, "but if they +see us coming, and barricade their house and open fire upon us, you will +want something that carries further than a revolver. I can lend you a +rifle as well as a horse, if you will accept them."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> +<p>Vincent accepted the offer with thanks. The next morning at daylight he +went round to the sheriff's house, where six determined-looking men, +belonging to the town or neighboring farms, were assembled. Slinging the +rifle that the sheriff handed him across his back, Vincent at once +mounted, and the party set off at a brisk trot.</p> + +<p>"My man came back half an hour ago," the sheriff said to Vincent as they +rode along. "He found out that a man answering to your description +arrived with another at Porter's about a fortnight ago, and is staying +there still. Whether they brought a negress with them or not no one +seems to have noticed. However, there is not a shadow of doubt that it +is our man, and I shall be heartily glad to lay hold of him; for a +brother of mine was badly wounded in that last affair, and though he +lived some years afterward he was never the same man again. So I have a +personal interest in it, you see."</p> + +<p>"How far is it to Porter's?"</p> + +<p>"About thirty-five miles. We shall get there about two o'clock, I +reckon. We are all pretty well mounted and can keep at this pace, with a +break or two, till we get there. I propose that we dismount when we get +within half a mile of the place. We will try and get hold of someone who +knows the country well, and get him to lead three of us round through +the edge of the swamp to the back of the house. It stands within fifty +yards of the swamp. I have no doubt they put it there so that they might +escape if pressed, and also to prevent their being observed going +backward and forward to that still of theirs."</p> + +<p>This plan was followed out. A negro lad was found who, on the promise of +a couple of dollars, agreed to act as guide. Three of the party were +then told off to follow him, and the rest, after waiting for half an +hour to allow them to make the detour, mounted their horses and rode +down at a gallop to the house. When they were within a short distance of +it they heard a shout, and a man who was lounging ne<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>ar the door ran +inside. Almost instantly they saw the shutters swing back across the +windows, and when they drew up, fifty yards from the door, the barrels +of four rifles were pushed out through slits in the shutters.</p> + +<p>The sheriff held up his hand. "William Porter, I want a word with you."</p> + +<p>A shutter in an upper room opened, and an elderly man appeared with a +rifle in his hand.</p> + +<p>"William Porter," the sheriff said, "I have a warrant for the arrest of +two men now in your house on the charge of kidnaping a female slave, the +property of Captain Wingfield here. I have no proof that you had any +share in the matter, or that you were aware that the slave was not +honestly obtained. In the second place, I have a warrant for the arrest +of your son John Porter, now in your house and passing, recently, under +the name of Jonas Pearson, on the charge of resisting and killing the +officers of the law on the 5th of December, 1851. I counsel you to hand +over these men to me without resistance. You know what happened when +your sons defied the law before, and what will happen now if you refuse +compliance."</p> + +<p>"Yah!" the old man shouted. "Do you suppose we are going to give in to +five men? Not if we know it. Now, I warn you, move yourself off while I +let you; else you will get a bullet in you before I count three."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then. You must take the consequences," the sheriff replied, +and at once called the party to fall back.</p> + +<p>"We must dismount," he said in answer to Vincent's look of surprise. +"They would riddle us here on horseback in the open. Besides, we must +dismount to break in the door."</p> + +<p>They rode back a quarter of a mile, and then dismounted. The sheriff +took two heavy axes that hung from his saddle, and handed them to two of +the men.</p> + +<p>"I reckon we shall have trouble," he said. "However, I hope we shan't +have to use these. My idea is to crawl up throug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>h the cornfield until we +are within shooting distance, and then to open fire at the loopholes. +They have never taken the trouble to grub up the stumps, and each man +must look out for shelter. I want to make it so hot for them that they +will try to bolt to the swamp, and in that case they will be covered by +the men there. I told them not to fire until they got quite close; so +they ought to dispose of three of them, and as they have got pistols +they will be able to master the others; besides, when we hear firing +behind, we shall jump up and make a rush round. Do you, sir, and James +Wilkins here, stop in front. Two of them might make a rush out behind, +and the others, when they have drawn us off, bolt in front."</p> + +<p>Several shots were fired at the party as they made their way across to +the end of the field, where the tall stalks of maize were still +standing, though the corn had been gathered weeks before. As soon as +they reached the shelter they separated, each crawling through the maize +until they arrived within fifty yards of the house. There were, as the +sheriff had said, many stumps still standing, and each ensconced himself +behind one of these, and began to reply to the fire that the defenders +kept up whenever they saw a movement among the cornstalks.</p> + +<p>At such a distance the shutters were but of slight advantage to the +defenders of the house; for the assailants were all good shots, and the +loopholes afforded excellent targets at such a distance. After a few +shots had been fired from the house the fire of the defenders ceased, +the men within not daring to protrude the rifles through the loopholes, +as every such appearance was instantly followed by a couple of shots +from the corn patch.</p> + +<p>"Give me one of those axes," the sheriff said. "Now, Withers, do you +make a rush with me to the door. Get your rifle loaded before you start, +and have your revolver handy in your belt. Now, Captain Wingfield, do +you and the other two keep a sharp lookout at the loopholes, and see +tha<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>t they don't get a shot at us as we run. Now, Withers!" and the +sheriff ran forward. Two rifles were protruded through the loopholes. +Vincent and his companions fired at once. One of the rifles gave a +sharp jerk and disappeared, the other was fired, and Withers dropped his +ax, but still ran forward. The sheriff began an onslaught at the door, +his companion's right arm being useless. A minute later the sharp crack +of rifles was heard in the rear, and the sheriff and two men rushed in +that direction, while Vincent and the other lay watching the door. +Scarcely had the sheriff's party disappeared round the house when the +door was thrown open, and Pearson ran out at full speed. Vincent leaped +to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Surrender," he said, "or you are a dead man!"</p> + +<p>Jonas paused for a moment with a loud imprecation, and then, leveling a +revolver, fired. Vincent felt a moment's pain in the cheek, but before +he could level his rifle his companion fired, and Pearson fell forward +dead. A minute later the sheriff and his party ran round.</p> + +<p>"Have you got him?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"He will give no more trouble, sheriff," the young man who fired said. +"I fancy I had him plum between the eyes. How about the others?"</p> + +<p>"Dick Matheson is killed; he got two bullets in his body. The other man +is badly wounded. There are no signs of old Porter."</p> + +<p>They now advanced to the door, which stood open. As the sheriff entered +there was a sharp report, and he fell back, shot through the heart. The +rest made a rush forward. Another shot was fired, but this missed them, +and before it could be repeated they had wrested the pistol from the +hand of Matheson's wife. She was firmly secured, and they then entered +the kitchen, where, crouched upon the floor, lay seven or eight negro +men and women in an agony of terror. Vincent's question, "Dinah, where +are you?" was answered by a scream of delight; and Dinah, who had been +covering her child with her body, leaped to her feet.</p> + +<p>"It's all right, Dinah," Vincent said; "but stay here, we haven't +finished this business yet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I fancy the old man's upstairs," one of the men said. +"It was his rifle, I reckon, that disappeared when we fired."</p> + +<p>It was as he expected. Porter was found dead behind the loophole, a +bullet having passed through his brain. The deputy sheriff, who was with +the party, now took the command. A cart and horse were found in an +out-building; in these the wounded man, who was one of those who had +taken part in the abduction of Dinah, was placed, together with the +female prisoner and the dead body of the sheriff. The negroes were told +to follow; and the horses having been fetched, the party mounted and +rode off to the next village, five miles on their way back. Here they +halted for the night, and the next day they went on to Marion +Courthouse, Vincent hiring a cart for the conveyance of Dinah and the +other women. It was settled that Vincent's attendance at the trial of +the two prisoners would not be necessary, as the man would be tried for +armed resistance to the law, and the woman for murdering the sheriff. +The facts could be proved by other witnesses, and as there could be no +doubt about obtaining convictions, it would be unnecessary to try the +charge against the man for kidnaping. Next day, accordingly, Vincent +started with Dinah and Dan for Richmond. Two months afterward he saw in +the paper that Jane Matheson had been sentenced to imprisonment for +life, the man to fourteen years.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>CHANCELLORSVILLE.</h3> + + +<p>The news of the fight between the sheriff's posse and the band at +Lynch's Creek was telegraphed to the Richmond papers by their local +agent upon the day after it occurred. The report said that Captain +Wingfield, a young officer who ha<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>d frequently distinguished himself, had +followed the traces of a gang one of whom was a notorious criminal who +had evaded the pursuit of the law and escaped from that section fifteen +years ago, and had, under an assumed name, been acting as overseer at +Mrs. Wingfield's estate of the Orangery. These men had carried off a +negress belonging to Mrs. Wingfield, and had taken her South. Captain +Wingfield, having obtained the assistance of the sheriff with a posse of +determined men, rode to the place which served as headquarters of the +gang. Upon being summoned to surrender, the men opened fire upon the +sheriff and his posse. A sharp fight ensued, in which the sheriff was +killed and one of his men wounded; while the four members of the gang +were either killed or taken prisoners. It was reported that a person +occupying a position as a planter in the neighborhood of Richmond is +connected with this gang.</p> + +<p>The reporter had obtained his news from Vincent, who had purposely +refrained from mentioning the names of those who had fallen. He had +already had a conversation with the wounded prisoner. The latter had +declared that he had simply acted in the affair as he had been paid to +do by the man he knew in Richmond as Pearson, who told him that he +wanted him to aid in carrying off a slave woman, who was really his +property, but had been fraudulently taken from him. He had heard him say +that there was another interested in the affair, who had his own reasons +for getting the woman out of the way, and had paid handsomely for the +job. Who that other was Pearson had never mentioned.</p> + +<p>Vincent saw that he had no absolute evidence against Jackson, and +therefore purposely suppressed the fact that Pearson was among the +killed in hopes that the paragraph would so alarm Jackson that he would +at once decamp. His anticipations were entirely justified; for upon the +day of his return to Richmond he saw a notice in the paper that the +Cedars, with its field hands, houses, and all belonging to it, was for +sale. He proceeded at once to the estate agent, an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>d learned from him +that Jackson had come in two days before and had informed him that +sudden and important business had called him away, and that he was +starting at once for New York, where his presence was urgently required, +and that he should attempt to get through the lines immediately. He had +asked him what he thought the property and slaves would fetch. Being +acquainted with the estate, he had given him a rough estimate, and had, +upon Jackson's giving him full powers to sell, advanced him two-thirds +of the sum. Jackson had apparently started at once; indeed, he had told +him that he should take the next train as far North as he could get.</p> + +<p>Vincent received the news with great satisfaction. He had little doubt +that Jackson had really made down to the South, and that he would try to +cross the lines there, his statement that he intended to go direct North +being merely intended to throw his pursuers off his track should a +warrant be issued against him. However, it mattered little which way +Jackson had gone, so that he had left the State. There was little chance +of his ever returning; for even when he learned that his confederate in +the business had been killed in the fight, he could not be certain that +the prisoner who had been taken was not aware of the share he had in the +business.</p> + +<p>A fortnight later Vincent went down into Georgia and brought back Lucy +Kingston for a visit to his mother. She had already received a letter +from her father in reply to one she had written after reaching her +aunts' protection, saying how delighted he was to hear that she had +crossed the lines, for that he had suffered the greatest anxiety +concerning her and had continually reproached himself for not sending +her away sooner. He said he was much pleased with her engagement to +Captain Wingfield, whom he did not know personally, but of whom he heard +the most favorable reports from various Virginia gentlemen to whom he +had spoken since the receipt of her letter.</p> + +<p>Lucy remained at Richmond until the beginning of March, whe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>n Vincent +took her home to Georgia again, and a week after his return rejoined the +army on the Rappahannock. Every effort had been made by the Confederate +authorities to raise the army of General Lee to a point that would +enable him to cope with the tremendous force the enemy were collecting +for the ensuing campaign. The drain of men was now telling terribly, and +Lee had at the utmost 40,000 to oppose the 160,000 collected under +General Hooker.</p> + +<p>The first fight of the campaign had already taken place when Vincent +rejoined the army. A body of 3000 Federal cavalry had crossed the river +on the 17th of March, at Kelly's Ford, but had been met by General Fitz +Lee with about 800 cavalry, and after a long and stubborn conflict had +been driven back with heavy loss across the river. It was not until the +middle of April that the enemy began to move in earnest. Every ford was +watched by Stuart's cavalry, and the frequent attempts made by the +Federal horse to push across to obtain information were always defeated.</p> + +<p>On the 27th of April General Hooker's preparations were complete. His +plan of action was that 20,000 men should cross the river near the old +battlefield of Fredericksburg, and thus lead the Confederates to believe +that this was the point of attack. The main body were, however, to cross +at Kelly's Ford, many miles higher up the river, and to march down +toward Fredericksburg. The other force was then to recross, march up the +river, cross at Kelly's Ford, and follow and join the main army. At the +same time the Federal cavalry, which was very numerous and +well-organized, was, under General Stoneman, to strike down through the +country toward Richmond, and thus cut the Confederate communication with +their capital, and so prevent Longstreet's division, which was lying +near Richmond, from rejoining Lee.</p> + +<p>The passage of the river was effected at the two fords without +resistance on the 29th of April, and upon the same day the cavalry +column marched South. General Lee directed a portion of his cavalry +under General Fitz Lee to harass and delay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> this column as much as +possible. Although he had with him but a few hundred men he succeeded in +doing good service in cutting off detached bodies of the enemy, +capturing many officers and men, and so demoralizing the invaders that, +after pushing on as far as the James River, Stoneman had to retreat in +great haste across the Rapidan River.</p> + +<p>Hooker, having crossed the river, marched on to Chancellorsville, where +he set to to intrench himself, having sent word to General Sedgwick, who +commanded the force that had crossed near Fredericksburg, to recross, +push round, and join him as soon as possible. Chancellorsville was a +large brick mansion standing in the midst of fields surrounded by +extensive forests. The country was known as the Wilderness. Within a +range of many miles there were only a few scattered houses, and dense +thickets and pine-woods covered the whole country. Two narrow roads +passed through the woods, crossing each other at Chancellorsville; two +other roads led to the fords known as Ely's Ford and the United States +Ford. As soon as he reached Chancellorsville Hooker set his troops to +work cutting down trees and throwing up earthworks for infantry and +redoubts for artillery, erecting a double line of defenses. On these he +mounted upward of a hundred pieces of artillery, commanding the narrow +roads by which an enemy must approach, for the thickets were in many +places so dense as to render it impossible for troops to force their way +through them.</p> + +<p>When Sedgwick crossed the river, Lee drew up his army to oppose him; but +finding that no more troops crossed, and that Sedgwick did not advance, +he soon came to the conclusion this was not the point at which the enemy +intended to attack, and in twenty-four hours one of Stuart's horsemen +brought the news that Hooker had crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's +Ford and the Rapidan at Ely's Ford. Lee at once left one division to +face General Sedgwick, and ordered the three others to join General +Anderson, who with 8000 men had fallen back before Hooker's advance, and +taken his post a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>t Tabernacle Church, about halfway between +Fredericksburg and Tabernacle. Lee himself rode forward at once and +joined Anderson.</p> + +<p>Jackson led the force from Fredericksburg, and pressed the enemy back +toward Chancellorsville until he approached the tremendous lines of +fortifications, and then fell back to communicate with Lee. That night a +council of war was held, and it was agreed that an attack upon the front +of the enemy's position was absolutely impossible. Hooker himself was so +positive that his position was impregnable that he issued a general +order of congratulation to his troops, saying that "the enemy must now +ingloriously fly or give us battle on our own ground, where certain +destruction awaits him."</p> + +<p>Jackson then suggested that he should work right round the Wilderness in +front of the enemy's position, march down until well on its flank, and +attack it there, where they would be unprepared for an assault. The +movement was one of extraordinary peril. Lee would be left with but one +division in face of an immensely superior force; Jackson would have to +perform an arduous march, exposed to an attack by the whole force of the +enemy; and both might be destroyed separately without being able to +render the slightest assistance to each other. At daybreak on the 2d of +May Jackson mustered his troops for the advance. He had in the course of +the night caught a severe cold. In the hasty march he had left his +blankets behind him. One of his staff threw a heavy cape over him as he +lay on the wet ground. During the night Jackson woke, and thinking that +the young officer might himself be suffering from the want of his cape, +rose quietly, spread the cape over him, and lay down without it. The +consequence was a severe cold, which terminated in an attack of +pneumonia that, occurring at a time when he was enfeebled by his wounds, +resulted in his death. If he had not thrown that cape over the officer +it is probable that he would have survived his wounds.</p> + +<p>At daybreak the column commenced its march. It had to traverse a narrow +and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>unfrequented road through dense thickets, occasionally crossing +ground in sight of the enemy, and at the end to attack a tremendous +position held by immensely superior forces. Stuart with his cavalry +moved on the flank of the column whenever the ground was open, so as to +conceal the march of the infantry from the enemy. As the rear of the +column passed a spot called the Furnace, the enemy suddenly advanced and +cut off the 23d Georgia, who were in the rear of the column, and +captured the whole regiment with the exception of a score of men. At +this point the road turned almost directly away from Chancellorsville, +and the enemy believed that the column was in full retreat, and had not +the least idea of its real object.</p> + +<p>So hour after hour the troops pressed on until they reached the turnpike +road passing east and went through Chancellorsville, which now lay +exactly between them and the point that they had left in the morning. +Jackson's design was to advance upon this line of road, to extend his +troops to the left and then to swing round, cut the enemy's retreat to +the fords, and capture them all. Hooker had already been joined by two +of Sedgwick's army corps, and had now six army corps at +Chancellorsville, while Jackson's force consisted of 22,000 men. Lee +remained with 13,000 at Tabernacle. The latter general had not been +attacked, but had continued to make demonstrations against the Federal +left, occupying their attention and preventing them from discovering how +large a portion of his force had left him.</p> + +<p>It was at five o'clock in the evening that Jackson's troops, having +gained their position, advanced to the attack. In front of them lay +Howard's division of the Federals, intrenched in strong earthworks +covered by felled trees; but the enemy were altogether unsuspicious of +danger, and it was not until with tumultuous cheers the Confederates +dashed through the trees and attacked the intrenchment that they had any +suspicion of their presence. They ran to their arms, but it was too +late. The Confederates rushed through the obstacles, climbed the +earthworks, and c<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>arried those in front of them, capturing 700 prisoners +and five guns. The rest of the Federal troops here, throwing away +muskets and guns, fled in wild confusion. Steadily the Confederates +pressed on, driving the enemy before them, and capturing position after +position, until the whole right wing of the Federal army was routed and +disorganized. For three hours the Confederates continued their march +without a check; but owing to the denseness of the wood, and the +necessity of keeping the troops in line, the advance was slow, and night +fell before the movement could be completed. One more hour of daylight +and the whole Federal army would have been cut off and captured, but by +eight o'clock the darkness in the forest was so complete that all +movement had to be stopped.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later one of the saddest incidents of the war took place. +General Jackson with a few of his staff went forward to reconnoiter. As +he returned toward his lines, his troops in the dark mistook them for a +reconnoitering party of the enemy and fired, killing or wounding the +whole of them, General Jackson receiving three balls. The enemy, who +were but a hundred yards distant, at once opened a tremendous fire with +grape toward the spot, and it was some time before Jackson could be +carried off the field. The news that their beloved general was wounded +was for some time kept from the troops; but a whisper gradually spread, +and the grief of his soldiers was unbounded, for rather would they have +suffered a disastrous defeat than that Stonewall Jackson should have +fallen.</p> + +<p>General Stuart assumed the command; General Hill, who was second in +command, having, with many other officers, been wounded by the +tremendous storm of grape and canister that the Federals poured through +the wood when they anticipated an attack. At daybreak the troops again +moved forward in three lines, Stuart placing his thirty guns on a slight +ridge, where they could sweep the lines of the Federal defenses. Three +times the position was won and lost; but the Confederates fought with +such fury an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>d resolution, shouting each time they charged the Federal +ranks, "Remember Jackson," that the enemy gradually gave way, and by ten +o'clock Chancellorsville itself was taken, the Federals being driven +back into the forest between the house and the river.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 725px;"> +<img src="images/285.png" border="5" width="725" height="800" alt="THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE May 2nd. & 3rd. 1863." title="THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE May 2nd. & 3rd. 1863." /> +<span class="caption">THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE May 2nd. & 3rd. 1863.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lee had early in the morning begun to advance from his side to the +attack, but just as he was moving forward the news came that Sedgwick +had recrossed at Fredericksburg, captured a portion of the Confederate +force there, and was advancing to join Hooker. Lee at once sent two of +his three little divisions to join the Confederates who were opposing +Sedgwick's advance, while, with the three or four thousand men remaining +to him, he all day made feigned attacks upon the enemy's position, +occupying their attention there, and preventing them from sending<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +re-enforcements to the troops engaged with Stuart. At night he himself +hurried away, took the command of the troops opposed to Sedgwick, +attacked him vigorously at daybreak, and drove him with heavy loss back +across the river. The next day he marched back with his force to join in +the final attack upon the Federals; but when the troops of Stuart and +Lee moved forward they encountered no opposition. Hooker had begun to +carry his troops across the river on the night he was hurled back out of +Chancellorsville, and the rest of his troops had crossed on the two +following nights.</p> + +<p>General Hooker issued a pompous order to his troops, after getting +across the river, to the effect that the movement had met with the +complete success he had anticipated from it; but the truth soon leaked +out. General Sedgwick's force had lost 6000 men, Hooker's own command +fully 20,000 more; but splendid as the success was, it was dearly +purchased by the Confederates at the price of the life of Stonewall +Jackson. His arm was amputated the day after the battle; he lived for a +week, and died not so much from the effect of his wound as from the +pneumonia, the result of his exposure to the heavy dew on the night +preceding his march through the Wilderness.</p> + +<p>During the two days' fighting Vincent Wingfield had discharged his +duties upon General Stuart's staff. On the first day the work had been +slight, for General Stuart, with the cannon, remained in the rear, while +Jackson's infantry attacked and carried the Federal intrenchments. Upon +the second day, however, when Stuart assumed the command, Vincent's +duties had been onerous and dangerous in the extreme. He was constantly +carrying orders from one part of the field to the other, amid such a +shower of shot and shell that it seemed marvelous that anyone could +exist within it. To his great grief Wildfire was killed under him, but +he himself escaped without a scratch. When he came afterward to try to +describe the battle to those at home, he could give no account of it.</p> + +<p>"To me," he sai<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>d, "it was simply a chaos of noise and confusion. Of what +was going on I knew nothing. The din was appalling. The roar of the +shells, the hum of grape and canister, the whistle of bullets, the +shouts of men, formed a mighty roar that seemed to render thinking +impossible. Showers of leaves fell incessantly, great boughs of trees +were shorn away, and trees themselves sometimes came crashing down as a +trunk was struck full by a shell. The undergrowth had caught fire, and +the thick smoke, mingled with that of the battle, rendered it difficult +to see or to breathe. I had but one thought, that of making my way +through the trees, of finding the corps to which I was sent, of +delivering my message, and finding the general again. No, I don't think +I had much thought of danger, the whole thing was somehow so tremendous +that one had no thought whatever for one's self. It was a sort of +terrible dream, in which one was possessed of the single idea to get to +a certain place. It was not till at last we swept across the open ground +down to the house, that I seemed to take any distinct notice of what was +going on around me. Then, for the first time, the exulting shouts of the +men, and the long lines advancing at the double, woke me up to the fact +that we had gained one of the most wonderful victories in history, and +had driven an army of four or five times our own strength from a +position that they believed they had made impregnable."</p> + +<p>The defeat of Hooker for a time put a stop to any further advance +against Richmond from the North. The Federal troops whose term of +service was up returned home, and it was months before all the efforts +of the authorities of Washington could place the army in a condition to +make a renewed advance. But the Confederates had also suffered heavily. +A third of the force with which Jackson had attacked had fallen, and +their loss could not be replaced, as the Confederates were forced to +send everyone they could raise to the assistance of the armies in the +West, where Generals Banks and Grant were carrying on operations with +great success against them. The imp<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>ortant town of Vicksburg, which +commanded the navigation of the Mississippi, was besieged, and after a +resistance lasting for some months, surrendered, with its garrison of +25,000 men, on the 3d of July, and the Federal gunboats were thus able +to penetrate the Mississippi and its confluents into the heart of the +Confederacy.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville Vincent was appointed to +the command of a squadron of cavalry that was detached from Stuart's +force and sent down to Richmond to guard the capital from any raids by +bodies of Federal cavalry. It had been two or three times menaced by +flying bodies of horsemen, and during the cavalry advance before the +battle of Chancellorsville small parties had penetrated to within three +miles of the city, cutting all the telegraph wires, pulling up the +rails, and causing the greatest terror. Vincent was not sorry for the +change. It took him away from the great theater of the war, but after +Chancellorsville he felt no eager desire to take part in future battles. +His duties would keep him near his home, and would give ample scope for +the display of watchfulness, dash, and energy. Consequently he took no +part in the campaign that commenced in the first week in June.</p> + +<p>Tired of standing always on the defensive, the Confederate authorities +determined to carry out the step that had been so warmly advocated by +Jackson earlier in the war, and which might at that time have brought it +to a successful termination. They decided to carry the war into the +enemy's country. By the most strenuous efforts Lee's army was raised to +75,000 men, divided into three great army corps, commanded by +Longstreet, Ewell, and Hill. Striking first into Virginia, they drove +the Federals from Winchester, and chased them from the State with the +loss of nearly 4000 prisoners and thirty guns. Then they entered +Maryland and Pennsylvania, and concentrating at Gettysburg they met the +Northern army under Meade, who had succeeded Hooker. Although great +numbers of the Confederates had seen their homes wasted and their +property<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> wantonly destroyed, they preserved the most perfect order in +their march through the North, and the Federals themselves testify to +the admirable behavior of the troops, and to the manner in which they +abstained from plundering or inflicting annoyance upon the inhabitants.</p> + +<p>At Gettysburg there was three days' fighting. In the first a portion +only of the forces were engaged, the Federals being defeated and 5000 of +their men taken prisoners. Upon the second the Confederates attacked the +Northerners, who were posted in an extremely strong position, but were +repulsed with heavy loss. The following day they renewed the attack, but +after tremendous fighting again failed to carry the height. Both parties +were utterly exhausted. Lee drew up his troops the next day, and invited +an attack from the Federals; but contented with the success they had +gained they maintained their position, and the Confederates then fell +back, Stuart's cavalry protecting the immense trains of wagons loaded +with the stores and ammunition captured in Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>But little attempt was made by the Northerners to interfere with their +retreat. On reaching the Potomac, they found that a sudden rise had +rendered the fords impassable. Intrenchments and batteries were thrown +up, and for a week the Confederate army held the lines, expecting an +attack from the enemy, who had approached within two miles; but the +Federal generals were too well satisfied with having gained a success, +when acting on the defensive in a strong position, to risk a defeat in +attacking the position of the Confederates, and their forces remained +impassive until pontoon bridges were thrown across the river, and the +Confederate army, with their vast baggage train, had again crossed into +Virginia. The campaign had cost the Northern army 23,000 men in killed, +wounded, and prisoners, besides a considerable number of guns. The +Confederates lost only two guns, left behind in the mud, and 1500 +prisoners, but their loss in killed and wounded at Gettysburg exceeded +10,000 men. Even the most sanguine among the ranks of the Confederacy +were now conscious that the position was a desperate one. The Federal +armies seemed to spring from the ground. Strict discipline had taken +the place of the disorder and insubordination that had first prevailed +in their ranks. The armies were splendidly equipped. They were able to +obtain any amount of the finest guns, rifles, and ammunition of war from +the workshops of Europe; while the Confederates, cut off from the world, +had to rely solely upon the make-shift factories they had set up, and +upon the guns and stores they captured from the enemy.</p> + +<p>The Northerners had now, as a blow to the power of the South, abolished +slavery, and were raising regiments of negroes from among the free +blacks of the North, and from the slaves they took from their owners +wherever their armies penetrated the Southern States. Most of the +Confederate ports had been either captured or were so strictly blockaded +that it was next to impossible for the blockade-runners to get in or +out, while the capture of the forts on the Mississippi enabled them to +use the Federal flotillas of gunboats to the greatest advantage, and to +carry their armies into the center of the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>Still, there was no talk whatever of surrender on the part of the South, +and, indeed, the decree abolishing slavery, and still more the action of +the North in raising black regiments, excited the bitterest feeling of +animosity and hatred. The determination to fight to the last, whatever +came of it, animated every white man in the Southern States, and, +although deeply disappointed with the failure of Lee's invasion of the +North, the only result was to incite them to greater exertions and +sacrifices. In the North an act authorizing conscription was passed in +1863, but the attempt to carry it into force caused a serious riot in +New York, which was only suppressed after many lives had been lost and +the city placed under martial law.</p> + +<p>While the guns of Gettysburg were still thundering, a Federal army of +18,000 men under General Gillmore, assisted by the fleet, had laid siege +to Charleston. It was obstinately attacked and defended. The siege +continued until the 5th of September, when Fort Wagner was captured; but +all attempts to take Fort Sumter and the town of Charleston itself +failed, although the city suffered greatly from the bombardment. In +Tennessee there was severe fighting in the autumn, and two desperate +battles were fought at Chickamauga on the 19th and 20th of September, +General Bragg, who commanded the Confederate army there, being +reinforced by Longstreet's veterans from the army of Virginia. After +desperate fighting the Federals were defeated, and thirty-six guns and +vast quantities of arms captured by the Confederates. The fruits of the +victory, however, were very slight, as General Bragg refused to allow +Longstreet to pursue, and so to convert the Federal retreat into a rout, +and the consequence was that this victory was more than balanced by a +heavy defeat inflicted upon them in November at Chattanooga by Sherman +and Grant. At this battle General Longstreet's division was not present.</p> + +<p>The army of Virginia had a long rest after their return from Gettysburg, +and it was not until November that the campaign was renewed. Meade +advanced, a few minor skirmishes took place, and then, when he reached +the Wilderness, the scene of Hooker's defeat, where Lee was prepared to +give battle, he fell back again across the Rappahannock.</p> + +<p>The year had been an unfortunate one for the Confederates. They had lost +Vicksburg, and the defeat at Chattanooga had led to the whole State of +Tennessee falling into the hands of the Federals, while against these +losses there was no counterbalancing success to be reckoned.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1864 both parties prepared to the utmost for the +struggle. General Grant, an officer who had shown in the campaign in the +West that he possessed considerable military ability, united with +immense firmness and determination of purpose, was chosen as the new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +commander-in-chief of the whole military force of the North. It was a +mighty army, vast in numbers, lavishly provided with all materials of +war. The official documents show that on the 1st of May the total +military forces of the North amounted to 662,000 men. Of these the force +available for the advance against Richmond numbered 284,630 men. This +included the Army of the Potomac, that of the James River, and the army +in the Shenandoah Valley—the whole of whom were in readiness to move +forward against Richmond at the orders of Grant.</p> + +<p>To oppose these General Lee had less than 53,000 men, including the +garrison of Richmond and the troops in North Carolina. Those stationed +in the seaport towns numbered in all another 20,000; so that, if every +available soldier had been brought up, Lee could have opposed a total of +but 83,000 men against the 284,000 invaders.</p> + +<p>In the West the numbers were more equally balanced. General Sherman, who +commanded the army of invasion there, had under his orders 230,000 men, +but as more than half this force was required to protect the long lines +of communication and to keep down the conquered States, he was able to +bring into the field for offensive operations 99,000 men, who were faced +by the Confederate army under Johnston of 58,000 men. Grant's scheme was +that, while the armies of the North were, under his own command, to +march against Richmond, the Army of the West was to invade Georgia and +march upon Atlanta.</p> + +<p>His plan of action was simple, and was afterward stated by himself to be +as follows: "I determined first to use the greatest number of troops +practicable against the main force of the enemy, preventing him from +using the same force at different seasons against first one and then +another of our armies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and +producing necessary supplies for carrying on resistance. Second, to +hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his +resources, until, by mere attrition if in no other way, there should be +nothing left to him but submission."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> +<p>This was a terrible programme, and involved an expenditure of life far +beyond anything that had taken place. Grant's plan, in fact, was to +fight and to keep on fighting, regardless of his own losses, until at +last the Confederate army, whose losses could not be replaced, melted +away. It was a strategy that few generals have dared to practice, fewer +still to acknowledge.</p> + +<p>On the 4th of May the great Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan and +advanced toward Chancellorsville. Lee moved two divisions of his army to +oppose them. Next morning the battle began at daybreak on the old ground +where Lee had defeated Hooker the year before. All day long the division +of Ewell supported the attack of the army corps of Sedgwick and Hancock. +Along a front of six miles, in the midst of the thick forest, the battle +raged the whole of the day. The Confederates, in spite of the utmost +efforts of the Northerners, although re-enforced in the afternoon by the +army corps of General Burnside, held their position, and when night put +an end to the conflict the invaders had not gained a foot of ground.</p> + +<p>As soon as the first gleam of light appeared in the morning the battle +recommenced. The Federal generals, Sedgwick, Warren, and Hancock, with +Burnside in reserve, fell upon Hill and Ewell. Both sides had thrown up +earthworks and felled trees as a protection during the night. At first +the Confederates gained the advantage; but a portion of Burnside's corps +was brought up and restored the battle, while on the left flank of the +Federals Hancock had attacked with such vigor that the Confederates +opposed to him were driven back.</p> + +<p>At the crisis of the battle Longstreet, who had marched all night, +appeared upon the ground, drove back Hancock's men, and was on the point +of aiding the Confederates in a decisive attack upon the enemy, when, +riding rapidly forward into the wood to reconnoiter, he was, like +Jackson, struck down by the fire of his own men. He was carried to the +rear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>desperately, and it was feared for a time mortally, wounded; and +his loss paralyzed the movement which he had prepared. Nevertheless, +during the whole day the fight went on with varying success; sometimes +one side obtaining a slight advantage, the other then regaining the +ground they had lost.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/292.png" border="5" width="800" height="689" alt="THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS May 5th. to 9th. 1864." title="THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS May 5th. to 9th. 1864." /> +<span class="caption">THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS May 5th. to 9th. 1864.</span> +</div> + +<p>Just as evening was closing in a Georgia brigade, with two other +regiments, made a detour, and fell furiously upon two brigades of the +enemy, and drove them back in headlong rout for a mile and a half, +capturing their two generals and many prisoners. The artillery, as on +the previous day, had been little used on either side, the work being +done at short range with the rifle, the loss being much heavier among +the thick masses of the Northerners than in the thinner lines of the +Confederates. Grant had failed in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>his efforts to turn Lee's right and to +accomplish his direct advance; he therefore changed his base and moved +his army round toward Spottsylvania.</p> + +<p>Lee soon perceived his object, and succeeded in carrying his army to +Spottsylvania before the Federals reached it.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of Monday the 9th, there was heavy fighting, and on the +10th another pitched battle took place. This time the ground was more +open, and the artillery was employed with terrible effect on both sides. +It ended, however, as the previous battles had done, by the Confederates +holding their ground.</p> + +<p>Upon the next day there was but little fighting. In the night the +Federals moved quietly through the wood and at daybreak four divisions +fell upon Johnston's division of Ewell's corps, took them completely by +surprise, and captured the greater part of them.</p> + +<p>But Lee's veterans soon recovered from their surprise and maintained +their position until noon. Then the whole Federal army advanced, and the +battle raged till nightfall terminated the struggle, leaving Lee in +possession of the whole line he had held, with the exception of the +ground lost in the morning.</p> + +<p>For the next six days the armies faced each other, worn out by incessant +fighting, and prevented from moving by the heavy rain which fell +incessantly. They were now able to reckon up the losses. The Federals +found that they had lost, in killed, wounded, or missing, nearly 30,000 +men; while Lee's army was diminished by about 12,000.</p> + +<p>While these mighty battles had been raging the Federal cavalry under +Sheridan had advanced rapidly forward, and, after several skirmishes +with Stuart's cavalry, penetrated within the outer intrenchments round +Richmond. Here Stuart, with two regiments of cavalry, charged them and +drove them back, but the gallant Confederate officer received a wound +that before night proved fatal. His loss was a terrible blow to the +Confederacy, although his successor in the command of the cavalry, +General Wade Hampton, was also an officer of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>highest merit.</p> + +<p>In the meantime General Butler, who had at Fortress Monroe under his +command two corps of infantry, 4000 cavalry, and a fleet of gunboats and +transports, was threatening Richmond from the east. Shipping his men on +board the transports he steamed up the James River, under convoy of the +fleet, and landed on a neck of land known as Bermuda Hundred. To oppose +him all the troops from North Carolina had been brought up, the whole +force amounting to 19,000 men, under the command of General Beauregard. +Butler, after various futile movements, was driven back again to his +intrenched camp at Bermuda Hundred, where he was virtually besieged by +Beauregard with 10,000 men, the rest of that general's force being sent +up to re-enforce Lee.</p> + +<p>In West Virginia, Breckenridge, with 3500 men, was called upon to hold +in check Sigel, with 15,000 men. Advancing to Staunton, Breckenridge was +joined by the pupils of the military college at Lexington, 250 in +number, lads of from fourteen to seventeen years of age. He came upon +Sigel on the line of march and attacked him at once. The Federal general +placed a battery in a wood and opened fire with grape. The commander of +the Lexington boys ordered them to charge, and, gallantly rushing in +through the heavy fire, they charged in among the guns, killed the +artillerymen, drove back the infantry supports, and bayoneted their +colonel. The Federals now retired down the valley to Strasburg, and +Breckenridge was able to send a portion of his force to aid Lee in his +great struggle.</p> + +<p>After his six days' pause in front of Lee's position at Spottsylvania, +Grant abandoned his plan of forcing his way through Lee's army to +Richmond, and endeavored to outflank it; but Lee again divined his +purpose, and moved round and still faced him. After various movements +the armies again stood face to face upon the old battle-grounds on the +Chickahominy. On the 3d of June the battle commenced at half-past four +in the morning. Hancock at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>first gained an advantage, but Hill's +division dashed down upon him and drove him back with great slaughter; while +no advantage was gained by him in other parts of the field. The Federal +loss on this day was 13,000, and the troops were so dispirited that they +refused to renew the battle in the afternoon.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<img src="images/295.png" border="5" width="800" height="672" alt="BATTLE of COLD HARBOR May 31st. to June 12th. 1864." title="BATTLE of COLD HARBOR May 31st. to June 12th. 1864." /> +<span class="caption">BATTLE of COLD HARBOR May 31st. to June 12th. 1864.</span> +</div> + +<p>Grant then determined to alter his plan altogether, and sending +imperative orders to Butler to obtain possession of Petersburg, embarked +Smith's corps in transports, and moved with the rest of his army to join +that general there. Smith's corps entered the James River, landed, and +marched against Petersburg. Beauregard had at Petersburg only two +infantry and two cavalry regiments under General Wise, while a single +brigade fronted Butler at Bermuda Hundred. With this handful of men he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +was called upon to defend Petersburg and to keep Butler bottled up in +Bermuda Hundred until help could reach him from Lee. He telegraphed to +Richmond for all the assistance that could be sent to him, and was +re-enforced by a brigade, which arrived just in time, for Smith had +already captured a portion of the intrenchments, but was now driven out.</p> + +<p>The next day Beauregard was attacked both by Smith's and Hancock's +corps, which had now arrived. With 8000 men he kept at bay the assaults +of two whole army corps, having in the meantime sent orders to Gracie, +the officer in command of the brigade before Butler, to leave a few +sentries there to deceive that general, and to march with the rest of +his force to his aid. It arrived at a critical moment. Overwhelmed by +vastly superior numbers, many of the Confederates had left their posts, +and Breckenridge was in vain trying to rally them when Gracie's brigade +came up. The position was reoccupied and the battle continued.</p> + +<p>At noon Burnside with his corps arrived and joined the assailants; while +Butler, discovering at last that the troops in front of him were +withdrawn, moved out and barred the road against re-enforcements from +Richmond. Nevertheless, the Confederates held their ground all the +afternoon and until eleven o'clock at night, when the assault ceased.</p> + +<p>At midnight Beauregard withdrew his troops from the defenses that they +were too few to hold, and set them to work to throw up fresh +intrenchments on a shorter line behind. All night the men worked with +their bayonets, canteens, and any tools that came to hand.</p> + +<p>It was well for them that the enemy were so exhausted that it was noon +before they were ready to advance again, for by this time help was at +hand. Anderson, who had succeeded to the command of Longstreet's corps, +and was leading the van of Lee's army, forced his way through Butler's +troops and drove him back into Bermuda Hundred, and leaving one brigade +to watch him marched with another into Petersburg just as the attack was +recommenced. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>Thus re-enforced, Beauregard successfully defeated all the +assaults of the enemy until night fell. Another Federal army corps came +up before morning, and the assault was again renewed, but the +defenders, who had strengthened their defenses during the night, drove +their assailants back with terrible loss. The whole of Lee's army now +arrived, and the rest of Grant's army also came up, and that general +found that, after all his movements, his way to Richmond was barred as +before. He was indeed in a far worse position than when he had crossed +the Rapidan, for the morale of his army was much injured by the repeated +repulses and terrible losses it had sustained. The new recruits that had +been sent to fill up the gaps were far inferior troops to those with +which he had commenced the campaign. To send forward such men against +the fortifications of Petersburg, manned by Lee's veteran troops, was to +court defeat, and he therefore began to throw up works for a regular +siege.</p> + +<p>Fighting went on incessantly between the outposts, but only one great +attempt was made during the early months of the siege to capture the +Confederate position. The miners drove a gallery under the works, and +then drove other galleries right and left under them. These were charged +with eight thousand pounds of powder. When all was ready, masses of +troops were brought up to take advantage of the confusion which would be +caused by the explosion, and a division of black troops were to lead the +assault. At a quarter to five in the morning of the 30th of July the +great mine was exploded, blowing two guns, a battery, and its defenders +into the air, and forming a huge pit two hundred feet long and sixty +feet wide. Lee and Beauregard hurried to the scene, checked the panic +that prevailed, brought up troops, and before the great Federal columns +approached the breech the Confederates were ready to receive them. The +assault was made with little vigor, the approaches to the breech were +obstructed by abattis, and instead of rushing forward in a solid mass +they occupied the great pit, and contented themselves with firing over +the edge of the crater, whe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>re regiments and divisions were huddled +together. But the Confederate batteries were now manned, and from the +works on either side of the breech, and from behind, they swept the +approaches, and threw shell among the crowded mass. The black division +was now brought up and entered the crater, but only added to the +confusion. There was no officer of sufficient authority among the +crowded mass there to assume the supreme command. No assistance could be +sent to them, for the arrival of fresh troops would but have added to +the confusion. All day the conflict went on, the Federals lining the +edge of the crater, and exchanging a heavy musketry fire with the +Confederate infantry, while the mass below suffered terribly from the +artillery fire. When night closed, the survivors of the great column +that had marched forward in the morning, confident that victory was +assured to them, and that the explosion would lay Petersburg open to +capture, made their retreat, the Confederates, however, taking a +considerable number of prisoners. The Federal loss in killed, wounded, +and captured was admitted by them to be 4000; the Confederate accounts +put it down at 6000.</p> + +<p>After this terrible repulse it was a long time before Grant again +renewed active operations, but during the months that ensued his troops +suffered very heavily from the effects of fever, heightened by the +discouragement they felt at their want of success, and at the tremendous +losses they had suffered since they entered Virginia on their forward +march to Richmond.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING.</h3> + + +<p>Vincent Wingfield had had an arduous time of it with his squadron of +cavalry. He had taken part in the desperate charge that checked the +advance of Sheridan's great column of cavalry, which approached within +three miles of Richmond—the ch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>arge that had cost the gallant Stuart his +life; and the death of his beloved general had been a heavy blow for +him. Jackson and Stuart, two of the bravest and noblest spirits of the +Confederate army, were gone. Both had been personally dear to Vincent, +and he felt how grievous was their loss to the cause for which he was +fighting; but he had little time for grief. The enemy, after the +tremendous battles of the Wilderness, swung their army round to Cold +Harbor, and Vincent's squadron was called up to aid Lee in his struggle +there. Then they were engaged night and day in harassing the enemy as +they marched down to take up their new base at Petersburg, and finally +received orders to ride round at full speed to aid in the defense of +that place.</p> + +<p>They had arrived in the middle of the second day's fighting, and +dismounting his men, Vincent had aided the hard-pressed Confederates in +holding their lines till Longstreet's division arrived to their +assistance. A short time before the terrible disaster that befell the +Federals in the mine they exploded under the Confederate works, he was +with General Wade Hampton, who had succeeded General Stuart in the +command of the cavalry, when General Lee rode up.</p> + +<p>"They are erecting siege works in earnest," General Lee said. "I do not +think that we shall have any more attacks for the present. I wish I knew +exactly where they are intending to place their heavy batteries. If I +did, we should know where to strengthen our defenses and plant our +counter-batteries. It is very important to find this out; and now that +their whole army has settled down in front of us, and Sheridan's cavalry +are scouring the woods, we shall get no news, for the farmers will no +longer be able to get through to tell us what is going on."</p> + +<p>"I will try and ride round if you like, general," Vincent said. "By +making a long detour one could get into the rear of their lines and pass +as a farmer going into camp to sell his goods."</p> + +<p>"It would be a very dangerous service, sir," General Lee said. "You know +what the consequence would be if you were caught?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>"</p> + +<p>"I know the consequence," Vincent said; "but I do not think, sir, that +the risk is greater than one runs every time one goes into battle."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," General Lee replied; "but in one case one dies fighting +for one's country, by an honorable death; in the other——" and he +stopped.</p> + +<p>"In the other one is shot in cold blood," Vincent said quietly. "One +dies for one's country in either case, sir; and it does not much matter, +so far as I can see, whether one is killed in battle or shot in cold +blood. As long as one is doing one's duty, one death is surely as +honorable as the other."</p> + +<p>"That is true enough," General Lee said, "although it is not the way men +generally view the matter. Still, sir, if you volunteer for the work, I +shall not feel justified in refusing the opportunity of acquiring +information that may be of vital consequence to us. When will you +start?"</p> + +<p>"In half an hour, sir. I shall ride back to Richmond, obtain a disguise +there, and then go round by train to Burksville Junction, and then ride +again until I get round behind their lines. Will you give me an order +for my horse and myself to be taken?"</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," General Lee said. "So be it! May God be with you on +your way and bring you safely back!"</p> + +<p>Vincent rode off to his quarters.</p> + +<p>"Dan," he said, "I am going away on special duty for at least three +days. I have got a couple of letters to write, and shall be ready to +start in half an hour. Give the horse a good feed and have him at the +door again by that time."</p> + +<p>"Am I to go with you, sah?"</p> + +<p>"No, Dan; I must go by myself this time."</p> + +<p>Dan felt anxious as he went out, for it was seldom that his master ever +went away without telling him where he was going, and he felt sure that +the serv<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>ice was one of unusual danger; nor was his anxiety lessened +when, at the appointed time, Vincent came out and handed him two +letters.</p> + +<p>"You are to keep these letters, Dan, until I return, or till you hear +that something has happened to me. If you hear that, you are to take one +of these letters to my mother, and take the other yourself to Miss +Kingston. Tell her before you give it her what has happened, as gently +as you can. As for yourself, Dan, you had your letters of freedom long +ago, and I have left you five hundred dollars; so that you can get a +cabin and patch of your own, and settle down when these troubles are +over."</p> + +<p>"Let me go with you, master," Dan said, with the tears streaming down +his cheeks. "I would rather be killed with you a hundred times than get +on without you."</p> + +<p>"I would take you if I could, Dan; but this is a service that I must do +alone. Good-by, my boy; let us hope that, in three or four days at the +outside, I shall be back here again, safe and sound."</p> + +<p>He wrung Dan's hand, and then started at a canter and kept on at that +pace until he reached Richmond. A train with stores was starting for the +south in a few minutes; General Lee's order enabled Vincent to have a +horse-box attached at once, and he was soon speeding on his way. He +alighted at Burksville Junction, and there purchased some rough clothes +for himself and some country-fashioned saddlery for his horse. Then, +after changing his clothes at an inn and putting the fresh saddlery on +his horse, he started.</p> + +<p>It was getting late in the afternoon, but he rode on by unfrequented +roads, stopping occasionally to inquire if any of the Federal cavalry +had been seen in the neighborhood, and at last stopped for the night at +a little village inn. As soon as it was daybreak he resumed his journey. +He had purchased at Burksville some colored calico and articles of +female clothing, and fastened the parcel to the back of his saddle. As +he rode forward now he heard constant tales of the passing of parties of +the enemy's cavalry, but he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> was fortunate enough to get well round to +the rear of the Federal lines before he encountered any of them. Then he +came suddenly upon a troop.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to, and where have you come from?"</p> + +<p>"Our farm is a mile away from Union Grove," he said, "and I have been +over to Sussex Courthouse to buy some things for my mother."</p> + +<p>"Let me see what you have got there," the officer said. "You are rebels +to a man here, and there's no trusting any of you."</p> + +<p>Vincent unfastened the parcel and opened it. The officer laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well, we won't confiscate them as contraband of war."</p> + +<p>So saying, he set spurs to his horse and galloped on with his troop. +Vincent rode on to Union Grove, and then, taking a road at random, kept +on till he reached a small farmhouse. He knocked at the door, and a +woman came out.</p> + +<p>"Mother," he said, "can you put me up for a couple of days? I am a +stranger here, and all the villages are full of soldiers."</p> + +<p>The woman looked at him doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" she asked at last. "This aint a time for +strangers; besides, a young fellow like you ought to be ashamed to show +yourself when you ought to be over there with Lee. My boys are both +there and my husband. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a +strong-looking young fellow like you, to be riding about instead of +fighting the Yankees. Go along! you will get no shelter here. I would +scorn to have such as you inside the door."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I have been fighting there," Vincent said significantly. "But +one can't be always fighting, and there are other things to do +sometimes. For instance, to find out what the Yankees are doing and what +are their plans."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" the woman asked doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"That is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>so," he answered earnestly. "I am an officer in Wade Hampton's +cavalry, and now Sheridan's troopers have cut off all communication, I +have come out to find for General Lee where the Yankees are building +their batteries before Petersburg."</p> + +<p>"In that case you are welcome," the woman said. "Come straight in! I +will lead your horse out and fasten him up in the bush, and give him a +feed there. It will never do to put him in the stable; the Yankees come +in and out, and they'd take him off sharp enough if their eyes fell on +him. I think you will be safe enough, even if they do come. They will +take you for a son of mine, and if they ask any questions I will answer +them sharp enough."</p> + +<p>"I wonder they have left you a feed of corn," Vincent said, when the +woman returned after taking away his horse.</p> + +<p>"It's no thanks to them," she answered; "they have cleared out +everything that they could lay their hands on. But I have been expecting +it for months, and, as I have had nothing to do since my man and boys +went away, I have been digging a great pit in the wood over there, and +have buried most all my corn, and have salted my pigs down and buried +them in barrels; so they didn't find much. They took the old horse and +two cows; but I hope the old horse will fall down the first time they +uses him, and the cow meat will choke them as eats it. Now, is there +anything as I can do to help you?"</p> + +<p>"I want a basket with some eggs and chickens or vegetables to take into +their camp to sell, but I am afraid I have not much chance of getting +them."</p> + +<p>"I can help you there, too," the woman said, "I turned all my chickens +into the wood the day I heard the Yankees had landed. They have got +rather wild like; but I go out and give them some corn every evening. I +expect, if we look about, we shall find some nests; indeed I know there +are one or two of them sitting. So, if you will come out with me, we can +soon knock down five or six of the creatures, and maybe get a score or +two of eggs. As for vegetables, a horde of locusts couldn't have +stripped the country cleaner than they have don<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>e."</p> + +<p>They went out into the wood. Six hens were soon killed, and hunting +about they discovered several nests and gathered about three dozen eggs. +Vincent aided in plucking the chickens, and they then returned to the +house.</p> + +<p>"You had best take a bite before you go," she said. "It's noon now, and +you said you started at daybreak. Always get a meal when you can, say +I."</p> + +<p>She produced a loaf and some bacon from a little cupboard hidden by her +bed, and Vincent, who, now he thought of it, was feeling hungry, made a +hearty meal.</p> + +<p>"I will pay you for these chickens and eggs at once," he said. "There's +no saying whether I shall come back again."</p> + +<p>"I will not say no to your paying for the chickens and eggs," she said, +"because money is scarce enough, and I may have long to wait before my +man and the boys come back; but as to lodging and food I would not touch +a cent. You are welcome to all I have when it's for the good cause."</p> + +<p>Vincent started with the basket on his arm, and after walking three +miles came upon the Federal camps.</p> + +<p>Some of the regiments were already under canvas, others were still +bivouacked in the open air, as the storeships carrying the heavy baggage +had not yet arrived. The generals and their staffs had taken up their +quarters in the villages. Vincent had received accurate instructions +from his hostess as to the position of the various villages, and avoided +them carefully, for he did not want to sell out his stock immediately. +He had indeed stowed two of the fowls away in his pocket, so that, in +case anyone insisted upon buying up all his stock, he could place these +in his basket and still push on.</p> + +<p>He avoided the camps as much as he could. He could see the smoke rising +in front of him, and the roar of guns was now close at hand. He saw on +his right an elevated piece of ground, from which a good view could be +obtained of the fort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>ifications upon which the Federals were working. A +camp had been pitched there, and a large tent near the summit showed +that some officer of superior rank had his quarters here. He made a +detour so as to come up at the back of the hill, and when he reached the +top he stood looking down upon the line of works.</p> + +<p>They were nearly half a mile distant. The intervening ground had already +been stripped of its hedges, and the trees cut down to form gabions, +fascines, and platforms for the cannon. Thousands of men were at work; +but in some parts they were clustered much more thickly than in others, +and Vincent had no difficulty in determining where the principal +batteries were in course of construction along this portion of the +position. He was still gazing intently when two horsemen rode up from +behind.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, you, sir! What are you looking at?" one of them asked sharply. +"What are you spying about here?"</p> + +<p>Vincent turned slowly round with a silly smile on his lips.</p> + +<p>"I am spying all them chaps at work," he said. "It reminds me for all +the world of an ant-hill. Never did see so many chaps before. What be +they a-doing? Digging a big drain or making a roadway, I guess."</p> + +<p>"Who are you, sir?" the officer asked angrily.</p> + +<p>"Seth Jones I be, and mother's sent me to sell some fowls and eggs. Do +you want to buy any? Fine birds they be."</p> + +<p>"Why, Sheridan," laughed the other officer, "this is a feather out of +your cap. I thought your fellows had cleared out every hen-roost within +twenty miles of Petersburg already."</p> + +<p>"I fancy they have emptied most of them," the general said grimly. +"Where do you come from, lad?"</p> + +<p>"I comes from over there," Vincent said, jerking his thumb back. "I +lives there with mother. Father and the other boys they have gone +fighting Yanks; but they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>wouldn't take me with them 'cause I aint sharp +in my wits, though I tells them I could shoot a Yank as well as they +could if they showed me."</p> + +<p>"And who do you suppose all those men are?" General Sheridan asked, +pointing toward the trenches.</p> + +<p>"I dunno," Vincent replied. "I guess they be niggers. There be too many +of them for whites; besides, whites aint such fools to work like that. +Doesn't ye want any fowl?" and he drew back the cloth and showed the +contents of the basket.</p> + +<p>"Take them as a matter of curiosity, general," the other officer +laughed. "It will be a downright novelty to you to buy chickens."</p> + +<p>"What do you want for them, boy?"</p> + +<p>"Mother said as I wasn't to take less nor a dollar apiece."</p> + +<p>"Greenbacks, I suppose?" the officer asked.</p> + +<p>"I suppose so. She didn't say nothing about it; but I have not seen +aught but greenbacks for a long time since."</p> + +<p>"Come along, then," the officer said; "we will take them."</p> + +<p>They rode up to the large tent, and the officers alighted, and gave +their horses to two of the soldiers.</p> + +<p>"Give your basket to this soldier."</p> + +<p>"I want the basket back again. Mother would whop me if I came back +without the basket again."</p> + +<p>"All right," the officer said; "you shall have it back in a minute."</p> + +<p>Vincent stood looking anxiously after the orderly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think that boy is as foolish as he seems?" General Sheridan +asked his companion. "He admits that he comes of a rebel family."</p> + +<p>"I don't think he would have admitted that if he hadn't been a fool. I +fancy he is a half-witted chap. They never would have left a fellow of +his age behind."</p> + +<p>"No, I think it's safe," Sheridan said; "but one can't be too particular +just at present. See, the trees in front hide our work altogether from +the rebels, and it would be a serious thing if they were to find out +what we are doing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That boy could not tell them much, even if he got there," the other +said; "and from this distance it would need a sharp eye and some +military knowledge to make out anything of what is going on. Where does +your mother live, boy?"</p> + +<p>"I aint going to tell you," Vincent said doggedly. "Mother said I wasn't +to tell no one where I lived, else the Yankee thieves would be a-coming +down and stealing the rest of our chickens."</p> + +<p>The officers laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well, go along, boy; and I should advise you not to say anything about +Yankee thieves another time, for likely enough, you will get a broken +head for your pains."</p> + +<p>Vincent went off grumbling, and with a slow and stumbling step made his +way over the brow of the hill and down through the camps behind. Here he +sold his last two fowls and his eggs, and then walked briskly on until +he reached the cottage from which he had started.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you back," the woman said as he entered. "How have you +got on?"</p> + +<p>"Capitally," he said. "I pretended to be half an idiot, and so got +safely out, though I fell into Sheridan's hands. He suspected me at +first, but at last he thought I was what I looked—a fool. He wanted to +know where you lived, but I wouldn't tell him. I told him you told me +not to tell anyone, 'cause, if I did, the Yankee thieves would be +clearing out the rest of the chickens."</p> + +<p>"Did you tell him that, now?" the woman said in delight; "he must have +thought you was a fool. Well, it's a good thing the Yanks should hear +the truth sometimes. Well, have you done now?"</p> + +<p>"No, I have only seen one side of their works yet. I must try round the +other flank to-morrow. I wish I could get something to sell that +wouldn't get bought up by the first people I came to—something I could +peddle among the soldiers."</p> + +<p>"What sort of thing?"</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> +<p>"Something in the way of drinks, I should say," Vincent said. "I saw a +woman going among the camps. She had two tin cans and a little mug. I +think she had lemonade or something of that sort."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be lemonade," the woman said. "I haven't seen a lemon for +the last two years; but they do get some oranges from Florida. Maybe it +was that, or perhaps it was spirits and water."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was," Vincent agreed; "though I don't think they would let +anyone sell spirits in the camp."</p> + +<p>"I can't get you any lemons or oranges neither," the woman said; "but I +might make you a drink out of molasses and herbs, with some spirits in +it. I have got a keg of old rye buried away ever since my man went off, +six months ago; I am out of molasses, but I dare say I can borrow some +from a neighbor, and as for herbs they are about the only thing the +Yankees haven't stole. I think I could fix you up something that would +do. As long as it has got spirits in it, it don't much matter what you +put in besides, only it wouldn't do to take spirits alone. You can call +it plantation drink, and I don't suppose anyone will ask too closely +what it's made of."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, that will do capitally."</p> + +<p>The next morning Vincent again set out, turning his steps this time +toward the right flank of the Federal position. He had, in the course of +the evening, made a sketch of the ground he had seen, marking in all the +principal batteries, with notes as to the number of guns for which they +seemed to be intended.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said to the woman before leaving; "I may not be as lucky +to-day as I was yesterday. If I do not come back to-night, can you find +anyone you can trust to take this piece of paper round to Richmond? Of +course he would have to make his way first up to Burksville Junction, +and then take train to Richmond. When he gets there he must go down to +Petersburg and ask for General Lee. I have written a line to go with it, +saying what I have done this for, and asking the general to give the +bearer a hundred dollars."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> +<p>"I will take it myself," the woman said; "not for the sake of the +hundred dollars, though I aint saying as it wouldn't please the old +man, when he comes back, to find I had a hundred dollars stored away; +but for the cause. My men are all doing their duty, and I will do mine. +So you trust me, and if you don't come back by daybreak to-morrow +morning, I will start right away with these letters. I will go out at +once and hide them somewhere, in case the Yanks should come and make a +search. If you are caught they might, like enough, trace you here, and +then they would search the place all over and maybe set it alight. If +you aint here by nightfall I shall sleep out in the wood, so if they +come they won't find me here. If anything detains you, and you aint back +till after dark, you will find me somewhere near the tree where your +horse is tied up."</p> + +<p>Provided with a large can full of a liquor that the woman compounded, +and which Vincent, on tasting, found to be by no means bad, he started +from the cottage. Again he made his way safely through the camps, and +without hindrance lounged up to a spot where a large number of men +belonging to one of the negro regiments were at work.</p> + +<p>"Plantation liquor?" he said, again assuming a stupid air, to a black +sergeant who was with them. "First-rate stuff, and only fifteen cents a +glass."</p> + +<p>"What plantation liquor like?" the negro asked. "Me not know him."</p> + +<p>"First-rate stuff!" Vincent repeated. "Mother makes it of spirit and +molasses and all sorts. Fifteen cents a glass."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will take a glass," the sergeant said. "Mighty hot work dis in +de sun; but don't you say nuffin about the spirit. Ef dey ask you, just +you say molasses and all sorts, dat's quite enough. De white officer +won't let spirits be sold in de camp.</p> + +<p>"Dat berry good stuff," he said, smacking his lips as he handed back the +little tin measure. "You sell him all in no time." Several <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>of the +negroes now came round, and Vincent disposed of a considerable quantity +of his plantation liquor. Then he turned to go away, for he did not +want to empty his can at one place. He had not gone many paces when a +party of three or four officers came along.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, you, sir, what the deuce are you doing here?" one asked angrily. +"Don't you know nobody is allowed to pass through the lines?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't see no lines. What sort of lines are they? No one told me +nothing about lines. My mother sent me out to sell plantation liquor, +fifteen cents a glass."</p> + +<p>"What's it like?" one of the officers said, laughing. "Spirits, I will +bet a dollar, in some shape or other. Pour me out a glass. I will try it +anyhow."</p> + +<p>Vincent filled the little tin mug and handed it to the officer. As he +lifted his face to do so there was a sudden exclamation:</p> + +<p>"Vincent Wingfield!" and another officer, drawing his sword, attacked +him furiously, shouting, "A spy! Seize him! A Confederate spy!"</p> + +<p>Vincent recognized with astonishment, in the Federal officer rushing at +him with uplifted sword, his old antagonist, Jackson. Almost +instinctively he whirled the can, which was still half full of liquor, +round his head and dashed it full in the face of his antagonist, who was +knocked off his feet by the blow. With a yell of rage he started up +again and rushed at Vincent. The latter snatched up a shovel that was +lying close by and stood his ground. The officers were so surprised at +the suddenness of the incident and the overthrow of their companion, and +for a moment so amused at the latter's appearance, covered as he was +from head to foot with the sticky liquor and bleeding from a cut +inflicted by the edge of the can, that they were incapable of +interference.</p> + +<p>Blinded with rage, and with the liquid streaming into his eyes, Jackson +rushed at Vincent. The latter caught the blow aimed at him on the edge +of the shovel, and then swinging his weapon round, smote his antagonist +with all his strength, the edge of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> the shovel falling fairly upon his +head. Without a cry the traitor fell dead in his tracks. The other +officers now drew their swords and rushed forward. Vincent, seeing the +futility of resistance, threw down his shovel. He was instantly seized.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, there!" the senior officer called to the men, who had stopped in +their work and were gazing at the sudden fray that had arisen, "a +sergeant and four men!" Four of the negro soldiers and a sergeant at +once stepped forward. "Take this man and conduct him to the village. Put +him in a room, and stay there with him. Do you, sergeant, station +yourself at the door, so that I shall know where to find you. Put on +your uniforms and take your guns." The men put on their coats, which +they had removed while at work, shouldered their muskets, and took their +places, two on each side of the prisoner. The officers then turned to +examine their prostrate comrade.</p> + +<p>"It's all over with him," one said, stooping down; "the shovel has cut +his skull nearly in half. Well, I fancy he was a bad lot. I don't +believe in Southerners who come over to fight in our ranks; besides, he +was at one time in the rebel army."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he was taken prisoner," another said. "Then his father, who had to +bolt from the South, because, he said, of his Northern sympathies, but +likely enough for something else, came round, made interest somehow and +got his son released, and then someone else got him a commission with +us. He always said he had been obliged to fight on the other side, but +that he had always been heart and soul for the North; anyhow, he was +always blackguarding his old friends. I always doubted the fellow. Well, +there's an end of him; and anyhow he has done useful service at last by +recognizing this spy. Fine-looking young fellow that! He called him +Vincent Wingfield. I seem to remember the name; perhaps I have read it +in some of the rebel newspapers we got hold of; likely enough someone +will know it. Well, I suppose we had better have Jackson carried into +camp."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> +<p>Four more of the negroes were called out, and these carried the body +into the camp of his regiment. An officer was also sent from the +working party to report the capture of a spy to his colonel.</p> + +<p>"I will report it to the general," the latter said; "he rode along here +about a quarter of an hour ago, and may not be back again for some +hours. As we have got the spy fast it cannot make any difference."</p> + +<p>As he marched back to the village Vincent felt that there was no hope +for him whatever. He had been denounced as a spy, and, although the lips +that had denounced him had been silenced forever, the mischief had been +done. He could give no satisfactory account of himself. He thought for a +moment of declaring that a mistake had been made, but he felt that no +denial would counterbalance the effect of Jackson's words. The fury, +too, with which the latter had attacked him would show plainly enough +that his assailant was absolutely certain as to his identity, and even +that there had been a personal feud between them. Then he thought that +if he said that he was the son of the woman in the hut she would bear +him out in the assertion. But it was not likely that this would be +accepted as against Jackson's testimony; besides, inquiry among her +neighbors would certainly lead to the discovery that she was speaking an +untruth, and might even involve her in his fate as his abettor. But most +of all he decided against this course because it would involve the +telling of a lie.</p> + +<p>Vincent considered that while in disguise, and doing important service +for his country, he was justified in using deceit; but merely for the +purpose of saving his own life, and that perhaps uselessly, he would not +lie. His fate, of course, was certain. He was a spy, and would be shot. +Vincent had so often been in the battlefield, so often under a fire from +which it seemed that no one could come alive, that the thought that +death was at hand had not for him the terrors that possess those +differently circumstanc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>ed. He was going to die for the Confederacy as +tens of thousands of brave men had died before, and he rejoiced over the +precaution he had taken as to the transmission of his discoveries on +the previous day, and felt sure that General Lee would do full justice +to his memory, and announce that he had died in doing noble service to +the country.</p> + +<p>He sighed as he thought of his mother and sisters; but Rose had been +married in the spring, and Annie was engaged to an officer in General +Beauregard's staff. Then he thought of Lucy away in Georgia, and for the +first time his lips quivered and his cheek paled.</p> + +<p>The negro guards, who had been enlisted but a few weeks, were wholly +ignorant of their duties, and having once conveyed their prisoner into +the room, evidently considered that all further necessity for military +strictness was at an end. They had been ordered to stay in the room with +the prisoner, but no instruction had been given as to their conduct +there. They accordingly placed their muskets in one corner of the room, +and proceeded to chatter and laugh without further regarding him.</p> + +<p>Under other circumstances this carelessness would have inspired Vincent +with the thought of escape, but he knew that it was out of the question +here. There were Federal camps all round, and a shout from the negroes +would send a hundred men in instant pursuit of him. There was nothing +for him to do but to wait for the end, and that end would assuredly come +in the morning. From time to time the door opened, and the negro +sergeant looked in. Apparently his ideas on the subject of discipline +were no stricter than those of his men, for he made no remark as to +their carelessness. Presently, when he looked in, the four soldiers were +standing at the window, watching a regiment passing by on its way to +take its share of the work in the trenches. Vincent, who was sitting at +a table, happened to look up, and was astonished at seeing the sergeant +first put his finger on his lips, then take off his cap, put one hand on +his heart, and gesticulate with the other.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> +<p>Vincent gazed at him in blank surprise, then he started and almost +sprang to his feet, for in the Yankee sergeant he recognized Tony +Moore; but the uplifted hand of the negro warned him of the necessity of +silence. The negro nodded several times, again put his hand on his +heart, and then disappeared. A thrill of hope stirred every vein in +Vincent's body. He felt his cheeks flush and had difficulty in +maintaining his passive attitude. He was not, then, utterly deserted; he +had a friend who would, he was sure, do all in his power to aid him.</p> + +<p>It was extraordinary indeed that it should be Tony who was now his +jailer; and yet, when he thought it over, it was not difficult to +understand. It was natural enough that he should have enlisted when the +black regiments were raised. He had doubtless heard his name shouted out +by Jackson, and had, as Vincent now remembered, stepped forward as a +sort of volunteer when the officer called for a sergeant and four men.</p> + +<p>Yes, Tony would doubtless do all in his power to save him. Whether it +would be possible that he could do so was doubtful; but at least there +was a hope, and with it the feeling of quiet resignation with which +Vincent had faced what appeared to be inevitable at once disappeared, +and was succeeded by a restless longing for action. His brain was busy +at once in calculating the chances of his being ordered for instant +execution or of the sentence being postponed till the following morning, +and, in the latter case, with the question of what guard would be +probably placed over him, and how Tony would set about the attempt to +aid him to escape.</p> + +<p>Had the general been in camp when he was brought in he would probably +have been shot at sunset, but if he did not return until the afternoon +he would most likely order the sentence to be carried out at daybreak. +In any case, as he was an officer, some time might be granted him to +prepare for death. Then there was the question whether he would be +handed over to a white regiment for safe-ke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>eping or left in the hands of +the black regiment that had captured him. No doubt, after the sentence +was passed, the white officers of that regiment would see that a much +stricter watch than that now put over him was set.</p> + +<p>It was not probable that he would still be in charge of Tony, for as the +latter would be on duty all day, he would doubtless be relieved. In that +case how would he manage to approach him, and what means would he use to +direct the attention of the sentries in another direction? He thought +over the plans he himself would adopt were he in Tony's place. The first +thing would be, of course, to make the sentries drunk if possible. This +should not be a difficult task with men whose notions of discipline were +so lax as those of the negroes; but it would be no easy matter for Tony +to obtain spirits, for these were strictly prohibited in the Federal +camp. Perhaps he might help Tony in this way. He fortunately had a small +notebook with a pencil in his pocket, and as his guards were still at +the window he wrote as follows:</p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am captured by the Yankees. So far as I can see, my only chance of +escape is to make the sentries drunk. The bearer is absolutely to be +trusted. Give him his canteen full of spirits, and tell him what I have +written here."</p></div> + + +<p>He tore this page out, folded it up, and directed it to Mrs. Grossmith, +Worley Farm, near Union. Presently Tony looked in again and Vincent held +up the note. The sergeant stepped quickly forward and took it, and then +said sharply to the men:</p> + +<p>"Now den, dis not keeping guard. Suppose door open and dis fellow run +away. What dey say to you? Two of you keep your eye on dis man. Suppose +Captain Pearce come in and find you all staring out window. He kick up +nice bobbery."</p> + +<p>Thus admonished to do their duty, two of the negroes took up their +muskets and stood with their backs to th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>e door, with their eyes fixed on +the prisoner with such earnestness that Vincent could not suppress a +smile. The negroes grinned responsively.</p> + +<p>"Dis bad affair young sah," one said; "bery bad affair. Ob course we +soldiers ob de Union, and got to fight if dey tell us; but no like dis +job ob keeping guard like dis."</p> + +<p>"It can't be helped," Vincent said; "and of course you must do your +duty. I am not going to jump up the chimney or fly through the window, +and as there are four of you, to say nothing of the sergeant outside, +you needn't be afraid of my trying to escape."</p> + +<p>"No, sah, dat not possible nohow; we know dat bery well. Dat's why we no +trouble to look after you. But as de sargeant say watch, of course we +must watch. We bery pleased to see you kill dat white officer. Dat +officer bery hard man and all de men hate him, and when you knock him +down we should like to hab given cheer. We all sorry for you; still you +see, sah, we must keep watch. If you were to get away, dar no saying +what dey do to us."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," Vincent said; "I don't blame you at all. As you say, +that was a very bad fellow. I had quarreled with him before, because he +treated his slaves so badly."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>FREE!</h3> + + +<p>It was not until late in the afternoon that a white officer entered, and +ordered the soldiers to conduct the prisoner to the general's tent.</p> + +<p>"What is your name, sir, and who are you?" the general asked as he was +brought in. "I hear that you were denounced by Lieutenant Jackson as +being a spy, and that he addressed you as Vincent Wingfield. What have +you got to say to the charge?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Vincent Wingfield, sir," Vincent replied quietly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> "I am upon +the staff of General Wade Hampton, and in pursuance of my duty I came +here to learn what I could of your movements and intentions."</p> + +<p>The general was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Then, sir, as you are an officer, you must be well aware of the +consequence of being discovered in disguise here. I regret that there is +no course open to me but to order you to be shot as a spy to-morrow +morning."</p> + +<p>One of the officers who were standing by the general here whispered to +him.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! I remember," he said. "Are you the same officer, sir, who +escaped from Elmira?"</p> + +<p>"I am, sir," Vincent replied; "and at the same time aided in the escape +of the man who denounced me to-day, and who then did his best to have me +arrested by sending an anonymous letter stating the disguise in which I +was making my way through the country. I was not surprised to find that +he had carried his treachery further, and was now fighting against the +men whom he had formerly served."</p> + +<p>"He deserved the fate that has befallen him," the general said. "Still +this does not alter your position. I regret that I must order my +sentence to be carried out."</p> + +<p>"I do not blame you, sir. I knew the risks I ran when I accepted the +mission. My only regret is that I failed in supplying my general with +the information he required."</p> + +<p>The general then turned to the officer who had brought Vincent up.</p> + +<p>"This officer will remain in charge of your men for to-night, Captain +Pearce. You will see that the sentence is carried into effect at +daybreak. I need not tell you that a vigilant guard must be placed over +him."</p> + +<p>Vincent was again marched back to the village, but the officer halted +the party when he arrived there.</p> + +<p>"Stop here a few minutes, sergeant," he said. "That room is required for +an officer's quarters. I will look round and find another place."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes he returned, and Vincent was conducted to a shed +standing in the garden of one of the houses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Place one man on guard at the door and another behind," the officer +said to the sergeant. "Let the other two relieve them, and change the +watch once an hour."</p> + +<p>The sergeant saluted.</p> + +<p>"De men hab been on duty since daylight, sah, and none ob us hab had +anyting to eat."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot that!" the officer replied. "Very well, I will send +another party to relieve you at once."</p> + +<p>In ten minutes another sergeant and four men arrived at the spot, and +Tony and his companions returned to the camp.</p> + +<p>As soon as Tony had devoured a piece of bread he left the camp, walked +with careless gait through the camps behind, and went on until he +reached a village in which were comparatively few soldiers. He went up +to a woman who was standing at a door.</p> + +<p>"Missus," he said, "I hab got a letter to take, and I aint bery sure as +to de name. Will you kindly tell me what is de address writ on this +paper?"</p> + +<p>The woman looked at it.</p> + +<p>"'Mrs. Grossmith, Worley Farm, near Union.' That's about two miles along +the road. If you go on, anyone will tell you which is Mrs. Grossmith's."</p> + +<p>Tony hurried on, for he wanted to get back to the camp before it was +dark. He had no difficulty in finding Worley Farm.</p> + +<p>"Now then, what do you want?" its owner said sharply, as she opened the +door in reply to his knock. "There's nothing for you here. You can look +round if you like. It's been all stripped clean days ago, so I tell +you."</p> + +<p>"Me no want anyting, ma'am. Me hab a letter for you."</p> + +<p>The woman in surprise took the note and opened it. She read it through +and looked earnestly at Tony.</p> + +<p>"He says you are to be trusted," she said. "Is that so?"</p> + +<p>"I would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>gib my life for him twenty times over," Tony replied. "He got +me away from a brutal master and bought my wife out of slavery for me. +What does he say, ma'am? For de Lord sake tell me. Perhaps he tell me +how to get him clar."</p> + +<p>The woman read out the contents of the note.</p> + +<p>"Dat's it, missus, sure enough; dat's the way," he exclaimed in delight. +"Me tink and tink all day, and no manage to tink of anyting except to +shoot de sentry and fight wid de oders and get him out; but den all de +oder sojers come running down, and no chance to escape. If me can get de +spirits dat's easy enough. Me make dem all drunk as hogs."</p> + +<p>"I can give you that," the woman said. "Is there anything else you will +want? What are you going to do with him if you get him free? They will +hunt you down like vermin."</p> + +<p>"I tought we might get down to de river and get ober somehow. Dere will +be no getting troo der cavalry. Dey will hab dem on ebery road."</p> + +<p>"Well, you want some clothes, anyhow; you can't go about in these +soldier clothes. The first Yank you came across would shoot you for a +deserter, and the first of our men as a traitor. Well, by the time you +get back to-night,—that is, if you do come back,—I will get up a chest +I've got buried with my men's clothes in them. They didn't want to take +them away to the war with them, so I hid them up."</p> + +<p>She had by this time dug up the keg from its hiding-place, and now +filled Tony's canteen.</p> + +<p>"Tank you, missus; de Lord bress you for what you've done, wheder I get +Massa Wingfield off or wheder we bofe get killed ober de job. But I must +get back as fast as I can. Ef it was dark before I got back to camp dey +would wonder whar I had been."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you have plenty of time," the woman said; "it won't be dark till +eight o'clock, and it's not seven yet. I will set to and boil a big +chunk of pork and bake some cakes. It's no use getting out of the hands +of the Yanks and then going and getting starved in the swamps."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> +<p>When Tony got back to his regiment he strolled over to the shed where +Vincent was confined. Two sentinels were on duty, the sergeant and the +two other men were lying at full length on the ground some twenty yards +away. Their muskets were beside them, and it was evident to Tony, by the +vigilant watch that they kept on the shed, that their responsibility +weighed heavily upon them, and that Captain Pearce had impressed upon +them that, if the prisoner escaped, they would certainly be shot.</p> + +<p>"Well, Sergeant John Newson," Tony began, "I hab just walked over to see +how you getting on. It am a mighty 'sponsible business dis. I had six +hours of him, and it make de perspiration run down my back to tink what +a job it would be for me if dat fellow was to run away."</p> + +<p>"Dat's just what dis chile feel, Sergeant Tony Moore; I am zactly like +dat, and dat's what these men feel, too. We am all on guard. De captain +say put two on guard at de shed and let de oders relieb dem ebery hour. +So dey shall; but dose off duty must watch just de same. When it gets +dark we get close up, so as to be ready to jump in directly we hear a +stir. Dis fellow no fool us."</p> + +<p>"Dat's the way Sergeant Newson, dat am de way. Neber close your eye, but +keep a sharp look on dem. It's a pity dat you not in camp to-night."</p> + +<p>"How am dat, how am dat?" the sergeant asked.</p> + +<p>"To tell you de truf, sergeant, tree or four ob us hab smuggled in some +spirits, and you are one of dose who would hab come in for a share of it +if you had been dere."</p> + +<p>"Golly!" the sergeant exclaimed; "but dat is bery unfortunate. Can't you +manage to bring me a little here?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you know, it's difficult to get out ob camp."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you could get through! Dere is no fear about you being caught."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Tony replied with an air of reluctance. "Well, I will +see ab<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>out it. Ef I can crawl troo de sentries, and bring some for you +and de oders, I will. It will help keep you awake and keep out de +damp."</p> + +<p>"Dat's right down good ob you," the other said cordially. "You a good +man, Tony Moore; and if I can do as much for you anoder time, I do it."</p> + +<p>Having settled this, Tony went round to the hospital tent in rear of the +regiment, having tied up his face with a handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it, sergeant?" the negro who acted as an orderly, and +sometimes helped the surgeon mix his drugs, asked. "De doctor am gone +away, and I don't 'spect he come back again to-night."</p> + +<p>"Dat am bery bad ting," Tony said dolefully. "Can't you do something for +me, Sam Smith? I tink you know quite as much about de medicines as de +doctor himself."</p> + +<p>"Not quite so much, sergeant, not quite so much; but I'se no fool, and +my old mother she used to make medicine for de plantation and knew a +heap about herbs, so it am natural dat I should take to it. What can I +gib you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Sam, you see, sometimes I'se 'flicted dre'fful wid de +faceache—him just go jump, jump, jump, as if he bust right up. Mose +times I find de best ting am to put a little laudabun in my mouf, and a +little on bit of rag and put him outside. De best ting would be for you +to gib me little bottle of him; den when de pain come on I could jes +take him, and not be troubling you ebery day. And, Sam, jus you +whisper—I got hold of a little good stuff. You gib me tin mug; me share +what I hab got with you."</p> + +<p>The negro grinned with delight, and going into the tent brought out a +tin mug.</p> + +<p>"Dat's all right, Sam; but you hab no brought de bottle of laudabun. You +just fetch dat, and I gib you de spirit."</p> + +<p>The negro went in again, and in two minutes returned with a small bottle +of laudanum.</p> + +<p>"Dat's a fair exchange," Tony said, taking it, and handing to the man +his mug half full of spirit.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Dat am someting like," the black said, looking with delight at the +liberal allowance. "Me drink him de last ting at night, den me go to +sleep and no one 'spect nuffin'. Whereber you get dat spirit?"</p> + +<p>"Neber you mind, Sam!" Tony said with a grin. "Dar's more where dat +comes from, and maybe you will get anoder taste ob it."</p> + +<p>Then, after leaving the hospital tent, he poured half the spirits away, +for he had not now to depend upon the effect of that alone; and it were +better not to give it too strong, for that might arouse the suspicion of +the guard. Then he uncorked the bottle of laudanum.</p> + +<p>"I don't know how much to gib," he said to himself. "No good to kill +dem. Me don't 'spect dis stuff bery strong. Dose rogues sell all sorts +of stuff to de Government. Anyting good enough for de soldier. Dey gib +him rotten boots, and rotten cloth, and bad powder, and all sorts of +tings. I 'spect dey gib him bad drugs, too. However, me must risk it. +Dis bottle not bery big, anyhow—won't hold more dan two or three +teaspoon. Must risk him."</p> + +<p>So saying, he poured the contents of the vial into the canteen, and +then, going to a water-cart, filled it up. He waited until the camp was +quiet, and then, taking off his boots and fastening in his belt his own +bayonet and that of one of the men sleeping near, he quietly and +cautiously made his way out of camp. There were no sentries placed here, +for there was no fear whatever of an attack, and he had little +difficulty in making his way round to the back of the village to the +spot where Vincent was confined. He moved so quietly that he was not +perceived until he was within a few yards of the shed.</p> + +<p>"Sergeant Newson, am you dere?"</p> + +<p>"Bless me! what a start you hab given me, for suah," the sergeant said. +"I did not hear you coming."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> +<p>"You didn't s'pose I was coming along shouting and whistling, Sergeant +Newson? Don't you talk so loud! Dar am no saying who's about."</p> + +<p>"Hab you brought de stuff?"</p> + +<p>"You don't suppose I should hab come all dis way to tell you I hab not +got it. How am do prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's dere all right. My orders was to look in at dat little winder +ebery five minutes, and dat when it began to get dark me was to tie him +quite tight, and me hab done so. And one ob de sentries goes in every +five minutes and feels to see if de ropes are tight. He am dar, sure +enough."</p> + +<p>"Dat's quite right, Sergeant Newson. I knew, when you came to 'lieve me, +as de captain knew what he was doing when he choose you for dis job. He +just pick out de man he considers de very best in de regiment. Now, here +is de spirit; and fuss-rate stuff it am, too."</p> + +<p>"Golly, but it am strong!" the sergeant said, taking a long gulp at the +canteen. "Dat warm de cockles ob de heart in no time. Yes, it am good +stuff—just de ting for dis damp air. I hear as a lot of de white +soldiers are down wid de fever already, and dere will be lots and lots +more ef we stop here long. Here, you two men, take a drink of dis; but +mind, you mustn't tell no one 'bout it. Dis a secret affair."</p> + +<p>The two negroes each took a long drink, and returned the canteen with +expressions of approval.</p> + +<p>"De oder men are on duty," the sergeant said with the air of a man who +knew his business; "dey mustn't hab none of it, not until dey comes off. +As we are de relief, it am proper and right dat we drink a drop out ob a +canteen ef we want it."</p> + +<p>"Quite so, Sergeant Newson," Tony said in a tone of admiration. "Dat's +de way to manage dese tings—duty first and pleasure afterward."</p> + +<p>"It am nearly time to relieve guard," the other said; "and den dey can +hab a drink."</p> + +<p>In five minutes the two soldiers relieved those on guard, and they, +also, took a long drink at the canteen, to which the sergeant also again +applied his lips.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> +<p>"Now I must be going," Tony said. "I will leave the canteen with you, +sergeant. I have got some more of the stuff over there, and I dare say +you will like another drink before morning."</p> + +<p>Then he stole away, but halted and lay down twenty yards distant. In ten +minutes he heard the sergeant say:</p> + +<p>"I feel as if I could do jus five minutes' sleep. You keep your eyes on +de shed, and ef you hear any officer coming his rounds you wake me up."</p> + +<p>Tony waited another half hour and then crawled up. The sergeant was +lying on his back sound asleep; the two men with him were on their +faces, with their rifles pointing toward the shed, as if they had +dropped off to sleep while they were staring at it. Then he crawled on +to the shed. The soldier on sentry at the back had grounded his musket +and was leaning against the shed fast asleep, while the one at the door +had apparently slid down in a sitting position and was snoring.</p> + +<p>"I hope I haben't given it to dem too strong," Tony said to himself; +"but it can't be helped anyhow."</p> + +<p>He opened the door and entered the shed.</p> + +<p>"Are you awake, Marse Wingfield?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am awake, Tony. Thank God you have come! How did you manage it?"</p> + +<p>"I hab managed it, sah, and dey are all fast asleep," Tony said, as he +cut the ropes which bound Vincent.</p> + +<p>"Now, sah, let's be going, quick. Dar am no saying when dey may come +round to look after de guards. Dat's what I hab been worrying about de +last quarter ob an hour."</p> + +<p>Vincent sprang to his feet as the ropes fell from him, and grasped +Tony's hand.</p> + +<p>"Here am a baynet, sah. I hope we shan't want to use dem, but dar am no +saying."</p> + +<p>They made their way cautiously across the fields till they approached +another camp. A few sentries were walking up and down in front of it, +but they crawled round these and pass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>ed through the space between the +regiment and that next to it. Several other camps were passed and then, +when Vincent knew that they were well in rear of the whole of them, +they rose to their feet and started forward at a run. Suddenly Tony +touched Vincent, and they both stood still. A distant shout came through +the air, followed by another and another.</p> + +<p>"I 'spect dey hab found out we have gone, sah. Dey go round two or three +times in de night to see dat de sentries are awake. Now, sah, come +along."</p> + +<p>They were on the road now, and ran at full speed until they approached +Union. They left the track as they neared the village, and as they did +so they heard the sound of a horse at full gallop behind them.</p> + +<p>"That's an orderly taking the news of our escape. Sheridan's cavalry are +scattered all over the country, and there are two squadrons at Union +Grove. The whole country will be alive at daybreak."</p> + +<p>Making their way through the fields they soon struck the track leading +to Worley Farm, and in a few minutes were at the door. The woman opened +it at once.</p> + +<p>"I have been watching for you," she said, "and I am real glad you have +got safe away. Wait a minute and I will strike a light."</p> + +<p>"You had better not do that," Vincent said. "They have got the alarm at +Union Grove already, and if anyone caught sight of a light appearing in +your window, it would bring them down here at once.</p> + +<p>"They can't see the house from Union," the woman said. "Still, perhaps +it will be best. Now, sir, I can't do anything for you, because my men's +clothes are the same sort of cut as yours; but here's a suit for this +man."</p> + +<p>Thanking her warmly Vincent handed the things to Tony.</p> + +<p>"Make haste and slip them on, Tony; and make your other things up into a +bundle and bring them with you for a bit. We must leave nothing here, +for they will search the whole country to-morrow. We will take the horse +away, too; not that we want it, but it would never do for it to be found +here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will you take your letter again?" the woman asked.</p> + +<p>"No, I will leave it with you. It will be no use now, if I get through, +but if you hear to-morrow or next day that I am caught, please carry it +as we arranged. What is this?" he asked, as the woman handed him a +bundle.</p> + +<p>"Here are eight or ten pounds of pork," she said, "and some corn cakes. +If you are hiding away you will want something, and I reckon, anyhow, +you won't be able to make your way to our people for a bit. Now, if you +are ready, I will start with you."</p> + +<p>"You will start with us!" Vincent repeated in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Certainly I will start with you," the woman said. "How do you think you +would be able to find your way a dark night like this? No, sir; I will +put you on your way till morning. But, in the first place, which line do +you mean to take?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think there is much chance of getting back the way I came," +Vincent said. "By morning Sheridan's cavalry will have got a description +of me, and they will be scouring the whole country. The only chance will +be to go north and cross the river somewhere near Norfolk."</p> + +<p>"I think, sah, you better go on wid your horse at once. No use wait for +me. I come along on foot, find my own way."</p> + +<p>"No, Tony, I shall certainly not do that. We will either get off or be +taken together. Well, I think the best plan will be to go straight down +to the river. How far is it away?"</p> + +<p>"About fifteen miles," the woman said.</p> + +<p>"If we get there we can get hold of a boat somehow, and either cross and +then make straight for Richmond on foot, or go up the river in the boat +and land in the rear of our lines. That we can settle about afterward. +The first thing is to get to the river bank. We are not likely to meet +with any interruption in that direction. Of course the cavalry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>are all +on the other flank, and it will be supposed that I shall try either to +work round that way or to make straight through the lines. They would +hardly suspect that I shall take to the river, which is covered with +their transports and storeships."</p> + +<p>"I think that is the best plan," the woman said. "There are scarcely any +villages between this and the river. It's only just when you cross the +road between Petersburg and Williamsburg that you would be likely to +meet a soul, even in the daytime. There is scarce even a farmhouse +across this section. I know the country pretty well. Just stop a minute +and I will run up to the wood and fetch down the horse. There's a big +wood about a mile away, and you can turn him in there."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later they started, Vincent leading the horse and Tony +carrying the bundle of food and his cast-off uniform. The woman led them +by farm roads, sometimes turning off to the right or left, but keeping +her way with a certainty which showed how well she was acquainted with +the country. Several times they could hear the dull sound of bodies of +cavalry galloping along the roads; but this died away as they got +further into the country. The horse had been turned loose a mile from +their starting place. Vincent removed the bridle and saddle, saying: "He +will pick up enough to feed on here for some time. When he gets tired of +the woods he can work his way out into a clearing."</p> + +<p>Here Tony hid away his uniform among some thick bushes, and the three +walked steadily along until the first tinge of daylight appeared on the +sky. Then the woman stopped.</p> + +<p>"The river is not more than half a mile in front of you," she said; "so +I will say good-by."</p> + +<p>"What will you do?" Vincent asked. "You might be questioned as you get +near home."</p> + +<p>"I am going to put up at the last house we passed," she said; "about +three miles back. I know the people there, and they will take me in. I +will stop there for a day or two, maybe, then walk back, so I shall have +a true story to tell. That's all right."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<p>Vincent said good-by to her, with many hearty thanks for the services +she had rendered him, and had almost to force her to take notes for two +hundred dollars from the bundle he had sewn up in the lining of his +coat.</p> + +<p>"You have saved my life," he said, "and some day I hope to be able to do +more to show my gratitude; but you must take this, anyhow, to tide you +over the hard time, and find food for your husband and sons when they +come back from the war."</p> + +<p>As soon as the woman had turned back Vincent and Tony continued on their +way. The former had, as soon as they were fairly out from the Federal +camp, told Tony in a few words that his wife was safe at home and their +boy flourishing, and he now gave him further details of them.</p> + +<p>"And how came you to enter the army, Tony?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sah, dare wasn't much choice about it. De Northern people, dey +talk mighty high about der love for de negro, but I don't see much of it +in der ways. Why, sah, dey is twice as scornful ob a black man as de +gentlemen in de Souf. I list in de army, sah, because dey say dey go to +Richmond, and den I find Dinah and de boy."</p> + +<p>"Well, Tony, I little thought when I did you a service that it would be +the means of you being able to save my life some day."</p> + +<p>"Not much in dat, sah. You sabe my life, because dey would, for suah, +hab caught me and killed me. Den you save my wife for me, den you pay +out dat Jackson, and now you hab killed him. I could hab shouted for +joy, sah, when I saw you hit him ober de head wid de shovel, and I saw +dat dis time he gib no more trouble to no one. I should hab done for him +bery soon, sah. I had my eye upon him, and the fust time we got into +battle he got a ball in his back. Lucky he didn't see me. He not officer +ob my company, and me look quite different in de unifo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>rm to what me was +when I worked on de plantation; but I knew him, and wheneber I see him +pass I hang down my head and I say to myself, 'My time come soon, Massa +Jackson; my time come bery soon, and den we get quits.'"</p> + +<p>"It is wrong to nourish revenge, Tony; but I really can't blame you very +much as to that fellow. Still, I should have blamed you if you had +killed him—blamed you very much. He was a bad man, and he treated you +brutally, but, you see, he has been already punished a good deal."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you knock him down, sah. Dat bery good, but not enough for Tony."</p> + +<p>"But that wasn't all, Tony. You see, the affair set all my friends +against him, and his position became a very unpleasant one. Then, you +see, if it hadn't been for you he would probably have got through to our +lines again after he had escaped with me. Then, you see, his father, out +of revenge, stole Dinah away."</p> + +<p>"Stole Dinah!" Tony exclaimed, stopping in his walk. "Why, sah, you hab +been telling me dat she is safe and well wid Mrs. Wingfield."</p> + +<p>"So she is, Tony. But he stole her for all that, and had her carried +down into Carolina; but I managed to bring her back. It's a long story, +but I will tell you about it presently. Then the knowledge that I had +found Dinah, and the fear of punishment for his share of taking her +away, caused old Jackson to fly from the country, getting less than a +quarter of the sum his estate would have fetched two or three years ago. +That was what made him and his son turn Unionists. So, you see, Jackson +was heavily punished for his conduct to you, and it did not need for you +to revenge yourself."</p> + +<p>"So he was, sah, so he was," Tony said thoughtfully. "Yes, it does seem +as if all dese tings came on kinder one after de oder, just out ob dat +flogging he gabe me: and now he has got killed for just de same cause, +for if he hadn't been obliged to turn Unionist he wouldn't have been in +dat dar battery at de time you came dere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>. Yes, I sees dat is so, sah; +and I'se glad now I didn't hab a chance ob shooting him down, for I +should have done so for suah, ef I had."</p> + +<p>They had now reached the river. The sun was just showing above the +horizon, and the broad sheet of water was already astir. Steamers were +making their way up from the mouth of the river, laden with stores for +the army. Little tugs were hurrying to and fro. Vessels that had +discharged their cargo were dropping down with the tide, while many +sailing vessels lay at anchor, waiting for the turn of tide to make +their way higher up. Norfolk was, however, the base from which the +Federal army drew the larger portion of its stores; as there were great +conveniences for landing here, and a railway thence ran up to the rear +of their lines. But temporary wharves and stages had been erected at the +point of the river nearest to their camps in front of Petersburg, and +here the cattle and much of the stores required for the army were +landed. At the point at which Vincent and Tony had struck the river the +banks were somewhat low. Here and there were snug farms, with the ground +cultivated down to the river. The whole country was open and free from +trees, except where small patches had been left. It was in front of one +of these that Vincent and Tony were now standing.</p> + +<p>"I do not think there is any risk of pursuit now, Tony. This is not the +line on which they will be hunting us. The question is—how are we to +get across?"</p> + +<p>"It's too far to swim, sah."</p> + +<p>"I should think it was," Vincent said with a laugh. "It's three or four +miles, I should say, if it's a foot. The first question is—where are we +to get a boat? I should think that some of these farmhouses are sure to +have boats, but the chances are they have been seized by the Yankees +long ago. Still they may have some laid up. The Yanks would not have +made much search for these, though they would no doubt take all the +larger boats for the use of the troops or for getting stores ashore. +Anyhow, I will go to the next farmhouse and ask."</p> + +<p>"Shall I go, sah?"</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> +<p>"No, Tony, they would probably take you for a runaway. No, I will go. +There can be no danger. The men are all away, and the women are sure to +be loyal. I fancy the few who were the other way before will have +changed their minds since the Yanks landed."</p> + +<p>They followed the bank of the river for a quarter of a mile, and then +Vincent walked on to a small farmhouse standing on the slope fifty yards +from the water. Two or three children, who were playing outside, at once +ran in upon seeing a stranger, and a moment later two women came out. +They were somewhat reassured when they saw Vincent approaching alone.</p> + +<p>"What is it, stranger?" one of them asked. "Do you want a meal? We have +got little enough to offer you, but what there is you are welcome to. +The Yanks have driven off our cows and pigs and the two horses, and have +emptied the barns, and pulled up all the garden stuff, and stole the +fowls, and carried off the bacon from the beams, so we have got but an +empty larder. But, as far as bread and molasses go, you are welcome."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," Vincent said; "I am not in want of food. What I am in want +of is a boat."</p> + +<p>"Boat!" the woman repeated in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I want to get across to the other side, or else to get up the +river and land between Petersburg and Bermuda."</p> + +<p>"Sakes alive!" the woman exclaimed; "what do you want to do that for?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," Vincent replied. "I know I can trust my life to any +woman in the Confederacy. I am one of General Wade Hampton's officers, +and I have come through their lines to find out what they are doing. I +have been caught once, but managed to slip through their hands, but +there is no possibility of making my way back across the country, for +the Yankee cavalry are patrolling every road, and the only chance I have +is of getting away by boat."</p> + +<p>"Step right in, sir," the woman said. "It's a real pleasure to us to +have one of our officers under our roof."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have a friend with me," Vincent said; "a faithful negro, who has +helped me to escape, and who would be hung like a dog if they could lay +hands on him."</p> + +<p>"Bring him in, sir," the woman said hospitably. "I had four or five +niggers till the Yanks came, but they all ran away 'cause they knew they +would either be set to work or made to fight; so they went. They said +they would come back again when the trouble is over; maybe they will and +maybe they won't. At first the niggers about here used to look for the +Yanks coming, but as the news got about of what happened to those they +took from their masters, they concluded they were better off where they +were. Call your boy in, sir; call him in!"</p> + +<p>Vincent gave a shout, and Tony at once came up. "Thank you, we don't +want anything to eat," Vincent went on, as the woman began to put some +plates on the table. "We have just had a hearty meal, and have got +enough food for three or four days in that bundle. But we want a boat, +or, if we can't find that, some sailors' clothes. If I had them I would +keep along the river down to Norfolk. The place will be full of sailors. +We should not be likely to be noticed there."</p> + +<p>"I can't help you in that," the woman said; "but there are certainly +some boats laid up along the shore. Now, Maria, who has got boats that +haven't been taken?"</p> + +<p>"I expect the Johnsons have got one," the other woman replied. "They had +a small boat the boys and girls used to go out fishing in. I don't think +the Yanks have got that. I expect they hid it away somewhere; but I +don't know as they would let you have it. She is a close-fisted woman is +Sarah Johnson."</p> + +<p>"I could pay her for its value," Vincent said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, if you could pay her she would let you have it. I don't say +she wouldn't, anyhow, seeing as you are an officer and the Yanks are +after you. Still, she is close is Sarah Johnson, and I don't know as she +is so set on the Confed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>eracy as most people. I tell you what I will do, +sir. I will go down and say as a stranger wants to buy her boat, and no +questions asked. She is just to show where the boat is hidden, and you +are to pay for it and take it away when you want it."</p> + +<p>"That would be a very good plan," Vincent said, "if you wouldn't mind +the trouble."</p> + +<p>"The trouble is nothing," she said. "Johnson's place aint above a mile +along the shore."</p> + +<p>"I will go with you until you get close to the house," Vincent said; +"then, when you hear what she wants for the boat, I will give you the +money for it, and you can show me where it is hidden."</p> + +<p>This was accordingly done. Mrs. Johnson, after a considerable amount of +bargaining with Vincent's guide, agreed to take twenty dollars for the +boat, and, upon receiving the money, sent one of her boys with her to +show her where it was hidden. It was in a hole that had been scooped out +in the steep bank some ten feet above the water's edge, and was +completely hidden from the sight of anyone rowing past by a small clump +of bushes. When the boy had returned to the farmhouse the woman took +Vincent to the spot, and they then went back together.</p> + +<p>Here he and Tony had a long talk as to whether it would be better to put +out at once or to wait till nightfall. It was finally determined that it +was best to make an immediate start. A boat rowed by two men would +attract little attention. It might belong to any of the ships at anchor +in the river, and might be supposed to have gone on shore to fetch eggs +or chickens, or with a letter or a message.</p> + +<p>"You see, both shores are in the hands of the Yankees," Vincent said, +"and there will not be any suspicion of a boat in the daytime. At night +we might be hailed, and, if we gave no answer, fired upon, and that +might bring a gunboat along to see what was the matter. No, I think it +will be far best to go on boldly. There are not likely to be any bodies +of Federal troops on the opposite shore excep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>t at Fortress Monroe, and +perhaps opposite the point where they have got their landing below +Petersburg. Once ashore we shall be safe. The peninsula opposite is +covered with forest and swamp, and we shall have no difficulty in +getting through, however many troops they may have across it. You know +the place pretty well, don't you, Tony?"</p> + +<p>Tony nodded. "Once across, sah, all de Yank army wouldn't catch us. Me +know ob lots ob hiding places."</p> + +<p>"Them broad hats will never do," the woman said; "but I have got some +blue nightcaps I knitted for my husband. They are something like the +caps I have seen some sailors wear; anyhow, they will pass at a +distance, and when you take your coats and vests off, them colored +flannel shirts will be just the right thing."</p> + +<p>"That will do capitally, and the sooner we are off the better," Vincent +said, and after heartily thanking the two women, and bestowing a present +upon each of the children, they started along the shore.</p> + +<p>The boat was soon got into the water, the oars put out, and they +started. The tide was just low now, and they agreed to pull along at a +short distance from the shore until it turned. As soon as it did so the +vessels at anchor would be getting up sail to make up to the landing +place, and even had anyone on board noticed the boat put out, and had +been watching it, they would have other things to think about.</p> + +<p>"It is some time since we last rowed in a boat together, Tony."</p> + +<p>"About three years, sah; dat time when you get me safe away. I had a bad +fright dat day you left me, sah. It came on to blow bery hard, and some +ob de men told me dat dey did not tink you would ever get back to shore. +Dat made me awful bad, sah; and me wish ober and ober again dat me hab +died in de forest instead of your taking me off in a boat and trowing +away your life. I neber felt happy again, sah, till I got your letter up +in Canady, and knew you had got back safe dat day."</p> + +<p>"We had a narrow squeak of it, Tony, and were blown some dist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>ance up. We +were nearly swamped a score of times, and Dan quite made up his mind +that it was all up with us. However, we got through safe, and I don't +think a soul except perhaps Jackson and that rascally overseer of ours, +who afterward had a hand in carrying off your wife, and lost his life in +consequence, ever had a suspicion we had been doing more than a long +fishing expedition. I will tell you all about it when we are going +through the woods. Now I think it's pretty nearly dead water, and we +will begin to edge across."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3>THE END OF THE STRUGGLE.</h3> + + +<p>Vincent directed his course so that, while the boat's head was still +pointing up the stream, and she was apparently moving in the same +direction as the ships, she was gradually getting out to the middle of +the river. Had he tried to row straight across, suspicion might at once +have been excited. In half an hour they were in the middle of the +stream. A vessel passing under full sail swept along at a distance of a +hundred yards, and they were hailed. Vincent merely waved his hand and +continued his course.</p> + +<p>"I dare say those fellows wonder what we are up to, Tony; but they are +not likely to stop to inquire. In another quarter of an hour we shall be +pretty safe. Ah! there's a fellow who might interfere with us," he +added, looking round. "Do you see that little black thing two miles +ahead of us? That's a steam launch. If she sees us making over, she's +likely enough to come and ask us some questions. We had better head a +little more toward the shore now. If it comes to a race, every foot is +of importance."</p> + +<p>Up to now they had been rowing in an easy and leisurely manner, avoiding +all appearance of haste. They now bent t<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>o their oars, and the boat began +to travel a good deal faster through the water. Vincent glanced over his +shoulder frequently at the steam launch.</p> + +<p>"She is keeping straight on in the middle of the channel, Tony; +evidently she hasn't noticed us yet."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes after passing the ship he exclaimed sharply:</p> + +<p>"Row, Tony, as hard as you can! The launch has just passed that ship, +and has changed her course. I expect the captain has called their +attention to us. It's a race now."</p> + +<p>The boat, at the moment the launch changed her course, was rather more +than halfway between the center of the channel and the shore. The launch +was in the center of the channel, and three-quarters of a mile higher +up. She had evidently put on steam as she started to cut off the boat, +for there was now a white wave at her bow.</p> + +<p>"I think we shall do it, Tony," Vincent said. "I don't suppose she can +go above eight miles an hour, and we are certainly going four, and she +has more than twice as far to travel as we have."</p> + +<p>Those on board the launch were evidently conscious that they were likely +to lose the race, for in a few minutes they began to open fire with +their rifles.</p> + +<p>"Fire away!" Vincent said. "You aint likely to hit us a thousand yards +off, and we haven't another three hundred to row."</p> + +<p>The bullets whistled overhead, but none of them struck the water within +many yards of the boat, and the launch was still four or five hundred +yards away when the bow of the boat touched the shore. Several muskets +were discharged, and Vincent and Tony leaped out and plunged into the +bushes that came down to the water's edge. The launch sent up a sharp +series of whistles, and random shots were for some time fired into the +bushes.</p> + +<p>"It is lucky she didn't carry a small gun in her bows," Vincent said, +"for though seven or eight hundred yards is a long ran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>ge for a rifle, +they might likely enough have hit us if they had had a gun. Now, Tony, +we shall have to be careful, for those whistles are no doubt meant as +an alarm; and although she cannot tell who we are, she will probably +steam up, and if they have any forces opposite Bermuda will give them +news that two suspicious characters have landed, and they will have +parties out to look for us."</p> + +<p>"Dey can look as long as dey like, sah. Ef dose slave-hunters can't find +people in de swamps what chance you tink dose soldiers have? None at +all! Dey haven't got no reward before dere eyes, and dey won't want to +be going in ober dere shoes into the mud and dirting dere uniforms. No +fear ob dem, sah. Dey make as much noise when dey march in de wood as a +drove ob pigs. You can hear dem a quarter ob a mile away."</p> + +<p>They tramped on through the woods through which McClellan's force had so +painfully made their way during their first advance against Richmond. +From time to time they could hear noises in the forest—shouts, and once +or twice the discharge of firearms.</p> + +<p>"Dey call dat hunting, I s'pose," Tony said scornfully.</p> + +<p>They kept steadily on until it began to grow dark in the forest. They +were now in the White Oak Swamp and not eight miles from Richmond, and +they thought it better to pause until it became quite dark, for they +might be picked up by any raiding party of cavalry. Vincent was in high +spirits. Now that he had succeeded in his enterprise, and had escaped +almost by a miracle, he was eager to get back to Richmond and carry his +news down to General Lee. Tony was even more anxious to push on. At +last, after three years' absence, he was to see his wife and child +again, and he reluctantly agreed to Vincent's proposal for a halt.</p> + +<p>"We shan't stop very long, Tony; and I own I am waiting quite as much +because I am hungry and want to eat, and because I am desperately tired, +as from any fear of the enemy. We walked twenty miles last night from +Union Grove <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>to the river; then I walked to the boat, back to the farm, +and then back to the boat again—that's three more miles—and we have +gone another twenty now. I am pretty nearly dead beat, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"I'se tired, too, sah; but I feel I could go on walking all night if I +was to see Dinah in de morning."</p> + +<p>"Well, I couldn't, Tony; not to see anyone. I might be willing enough, +but my legs wouldn't take me."</p> + +<p>They ate a hearty meal, and almost as soon as they had finished Vincent +stood up again.</p> + +<p>"Well, Tony, I can feel for your impatience, and so we'll struggle on. I +have just been thinking that when I last left my mother, a week since, +she said she was thinking of going out to the Orangery for a month +before the leaves fell, so it is probable that she may be there now. It +is only about the same distance as it is to Richmond, so we will go +straight there. I shall lose a little time, of course; but I can be +driven over to Richmond, so it won't be too much. Besides, I can put on +a pair of slippers. That will be a comfort, for my feet feel as if they +were in vises. A cup of tea won't be a bad thing, too."</p> + +<p>During their walk through the wood Vincent related the circumstances of +the carrying away of Dinah, and of her rescue. When he had finished Tony +said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Massa Wingfield, I don't know what to say to you. I tought I owed +you enuff before, but it war nothing to dis. Just to tink dat you should +take all dat pains to fetch Dinah back for me! I dunno how it came to +you to do it. It seems to me like as if you been sent special from +heaben to do dis poor nigger good. Words aint no good, sah; but if I +could give my life away a hundred times for you I would do it."</p> + +<p>It took them nearly three hours' walking before they came in sight of +the Orangery.</p> + +<p>"There are lights in the windows," Vincent said. "Thank goodness, they +are there!"</p> + +<p>Vincent limped slowly along until he reached the h<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>ouse.</p> + +<p>"You stay out here, Tony. I will send Dinah out to you directly. It +will be better for her to meet you here alone."</p> + +<p>Vincent walked straight into the drawing room, where his mother and +Annie were sitting.</p> + +<p>"Why, Vincent!" Mrs. Wingfield exclaimed, starting up, "what has +happened to you? What are you dressed up like that for? Is anything the +matter?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing is the matter, mother, except that I am as tired as a dog. Yes, +my dress is not quite fit for a drawing room," he laughed, looking down +at the rough trousers, splashed with mud to the waist, and his flannel +shirt, for they had not waited to pick up their coats as they left the +boat; "but nothing is the matter, I can assure you. I will tell all +about it directly, but first please send for Dinah here."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wingfield rang the bell on the table beside her.</p> + +<p>"Tell Dinah I want to speak to her at once," she said to the girl that +answered it. Dinah appeared in a minute.</p> + +<p>"Dinah," Vincent said, "has your boy gone to bed?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah; been gone an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"Well, just go to him, and put a shawl round him, and go out through the +front door. There is someone standing there you will be glad to see."</p> + +<p>Dinah stood with open eyes, then her hands began to tremble.</p> + +<p>"Is it Tony, sah; for de Lord's sake, is it Tony?"</p> + +<p>Vincent nodded, and, with a little scream of joy, she turned and ran +straight to the front door. She could not wait now even to fetch her +boy, and in another moment she was clasped in her husband's arms.</p> + +<p>"Now, Vincent, tell us all about it," his mother said. "Don't you see we +are dying of curiosity?"</p> + +<p>"And I am dying of fatigue," Vincent said; "which is a much more painful +sort of death, and I can think of nothing else until I have got these +boots <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>off. Annie, do run and tell them to bring me a pair of slippers +and a cup of tea, and I shall want the buggy at the door in half an +hour."</p> + +<p>"You are not going away again to-night, Vincent, surely?" his mother +said anxiously. "You do look completely exhausted."</p> + +<p>"I am exhausted, mother. I have walked seven or eight and forty miles, +and this cavalry work spoils one for walking altogether."</p> + +<p>"Walked forty-eight miles, Vincent! What on earth have you done that +for?"</p> + +<p>"Not from choice, I can assure you, mother; but you know the old saying, +'Needs must when the devil drives,' and in the present case you must +read 'Yankee' instead of 'the gentleman in black.'"</p> + +<p>"But has Petersburg fallen?" Mrs. Wingfield asked in alarm.</p> + +<p>"No; Petersburgh is safe, and is likely to continue so. But you must +really be patient, mother, until I have had some tea, then you can hear +the story in full."</p> + +<p>When the servant came in with the tea, Vincent told her that she was to +tell Dinah, whom she would find in the veranda, to bring her husband +into the kitchen, and to give him everything he wanted. Then, as soon as +he had finished tea, he told his mother and sister the adventures he had +gone through. Both were crying when he had finished.</p> + +<p>"I am proud of you, Vincent," his mother said. "It is hard on us that +you should run such risks; still I do not blame you, my boy, for, if I +had ten sons, I would give them all for my country."</p> + +<p>Vincent had just finished his story when the servant came in and said +that the buggy was at the door.</p> + +<p>"I will go in my slippers, mother, but I will run up and change my other +things. It's lucky I have got a spare suit here. Any of our fellows who +happened to be going down to-night in the train would think that I was +mad, were I to go like this."</p> + +<p>It was one o'clock in the morning when Vincent reached Petersburg. H<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>e +went straight to his quarters, as it would be no use waking General Lee +at that hour. A light was burning in his room, and Dan was asleep at +the table with his head on his arms. He leaped up with a cry of joy as +his master entered.</p> + +<p>"Well, Dan, here I am safe again," Vincent said cheerily. "I hope you +had not begun to give me up."</p> + +<p>"I began to be terribly frightened, sir—terribly frightened. I went dis +afternoon and asked Captain Burley if he had any news ob you. He said +'No'; and asked me ef I knew where you were. I said 'No, sah;' that I +knew nuffin about it except that you had gone on some dangerous job. He +said as dey had heard nuffin had happened to you. Still I was bery +anxious, and tought I would sit up till de last train came in from +Richmond. Den I tink I dropped off to sleep."</p> + +<p>"I think you did, Dan. Well, I am too tired to tell you anything about +it now, but I have one piece of news for you: Tony has come back to his +wife."</p> + +<p>"Dat's good news, sah; bery good news. I had begun to be afraid dat Tony +had been shot or hung or someting. I know Dinah hab been fretting about +him, though she neber said much, but when I am at home she allus asks me +all sorts of questions 'bout him. She bery glad woman now."</p> + +<p>The next morning Vincent went to General Lee's quarters.</p> + +<p>"I am heartily glad to see you back," the general said warmly as he +entered. "I have blamed myself for letting you go. Well, what success +have you had?"</p> + +<p>"Here is a rough plan of the works, general. I have not had time to do +it out fairly, but it shows the positions of all their principal +batteries, with a rough estimate as to the number of guns that each is +intended to carry."</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" the general said, glancing over the plan. "This will give +us exactly the information we want. We must set to with our +counter-works at once. The country is indeed indebted to you, sir. So +you managed to cheat the Yankees altogether?"</p> + +<p>"I sho<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>uld have cheated them, sir; but, unfortunately, I came across an +old acquaintance who denounced me, and I had a narrow escape of being +shot."</p> + +<p>"Well, Captain Wingfield, I must see about this business and give orders +at once. Will you come and breakfast with me at half-past eight? Then +you can give me an account of your adventures."</p> + +<p>Vincent returned to his quarters, and spent the next two hours in making +a detailed drawing of the enemy's positions and batteries, and then, at +half-past eight, walked over to General Lee's quarters. The general +returned in a few minutes with General Wade Hampton and several other +officers, and they at once sat down to breakfast. As the meal was +proceeding an orderly entered with a telegram for the general. General +Lee glanced through it.</p> + +<p>"This, gentlemen, is from the minister of war. I acquainted him by +telegraph this morning that Captain Wingfield, who had volunteered for +the dangerous service, had just returned from the Federal lines with a +plan of the positions and strength of all the works that they are +erecting. I said that I trusted that such distinguished service as he +had rendered would be at once rewarded with promotion, and the minister +telegraphs to me now that he has this morning signed this young +officer's commission as major. I heartily congratulate you, sir, on your +well-earned step. And now, as I see you have finished your breakfast, +perhaps you will give us an account of your proceedings."</p> + +<p>Vincent gave a detailed account of his adventures, which were heard with +surprise and interest.</p> + +<p>"That was a narrow escape indeed," the general said, as he finished. "It +was a marvelous thing your lighting upon this negro, whom you say you +had once had an opportunity of serving, just at that moment; and +although you do not tell us what was the nature of the service you had +rendered him, it must have been a very considerable service or he would +never have risked his life in that way to save yours. When these negroes +do feel attachment for their m<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>asters, there are no more faithful and +devoted fellows. Well, in your case certainly a good action has met with +its reward; if it had not been for him there could be no question that +your doom was sealed. It is a strange thing, too, your meeting that +traitor. I remember reading about that escape of yours from the Yankee +prison. He must have been an ungrateful villain, after your taking him +with you."</p> + +<p>"He was a bad fellow altogether, I am afraid," Vincent said; "and the +quarrel between us was a long-standing one."</p> + +<p>"Whatever your quarrel was," the general said hotly, "a man who would +betray even an enemy to death in that way is a villain. However, he has +gone to his account, and the country can forgive his treachery to her, +as I have no doubt you have already done his conduct toward yourself."</p> + +<p>A short time afterward Vincent had leave for a week, as things were +quiet at Petersburg.</p> + +<p>"Mother," he said, on the morning after he got home, "I fear that there +is no doubt whatever now how this struggle will end. I think we might +keep Grant at bay here, but Sherman is too strong for us down in +Georgia. We are already cut off from most of the Southern States, and in +time Sherman will sweep round here, and then it will be all over. You +see it yourself, don't you, mother?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am afraid it cannot continue much longer, Vincent. Well, of +course, we shall fight to the end."</p> + +<p>"I am not talking of giving up, mother; I am looking forward to the +future. The first step will be that all the slaves will be freed. Now, +it seems to me that, however attached they may be to their masters and +mistresses, they will lose their heads over this, flock into the towns, +and nearly starve there; or else take up little patches of land, +cultivate them, and live from hand to mouth, which will be ruin to the +present owners as well as to them. Anyhow, for a time all will be +confusion and disorder. Now, my idea is this: If you give all your +slaves their freedom at once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>, offer them patches of land for their own +cultivation, and employ them for wages, you will find that a great many +of them will stop with you." There is nowhere for them to go at present +and nothing to excite them, so, before the general crash comes, they +will have settled down quietly to work here in their new positions, and +will not be likely to go away.</p> + +<p>"It is a serious step to take, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield said, after +thinking the matter over in silence for some time. "You do not think +there is any probability of the ultimate success of our cause?"</p> + +<p>"None, mother; I do not think there is even a possibility. One by one +the Southern States have been wrested from the Confederacy. Sherman's +march will completely isolate us. We have put our last available man in +the field, and tremendous as are the losses of the enemy they are able +to fill up the gaps as fast as they are made. No, mother, do not let us +deceive ourselves on that head. The end must come, and that before long. +The slaves will unquestionably be freed, and the only question for us is +how to soften the blow. There is no doubt that our slaves, both at the +Orangery and at the other plantations, are contented and happy; but you +know how fickle and easily led the negroes are, and in the excitement of +finding themselves free and able to go where they please, you may be +sure that the greater number will wander away. My proposal is that we +should at once mark out a plot of land for each family, and tell them +that as long as they stay here it is theirs, rent free; they will be +paid for their work upon the estates, three, four, or five days a week, +as they can spare time from their own plots. In this way they will be +settled down, and have crops upon their plots of land, before the whole +black population is upset by the sudden abolition of slavery."</p> + +<p>"But suppose they won't work at all, even for wages, Vincent?"</p> + +<p>"I should not give them the option, mother; it will be a condition of +their having their plots of land free that they shall work at least +three days a week for wages."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will think over what you say, Vincent, and tell you my decision in +the morning. I certainly think your plan is a good one."</p> + +<p>The next morning Mrs. Wingfield told Vincent that she had decided to +adopt his plan. He at once held a long consultation with the overseer, +and decided which fields should be set aside for the allotments, +choosing land close to the negroes' quarters and suitable for the +raising of vegetables for sale in the town.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Mrs. Wingfield went down with him. The bell was rung +and the whole of the slaves assembled. Vincent then made them a speech. +He began by reminding them of the kind treatment they had always +received, and of the good feeling that had existed between the owners of +the Orangery and their slaves. He praised them for their good conduct +since the beginning of the troubles, and said that his mother and +himself had agreed that they would now take steps to reward them, and to +strengthen the tie between them. They would all be granted their freedom +at once, and a large plot of land would be given to each man, as much as +he and his family could cultivate with an average of two days a week +steady labor.</p> + +<p>Those who liked would, of course, be at liberty to leave; but he hoped +that none of them would avail themselves of this freedom, for nowhere +would they do so well as by accepting the offer he made them. All who +accepted the offer of a plot of land, rent free, must understand that it +was granted them upon the condition that they would labor upon the +estate for at least three days a week, receiving a rate of pay similar +to that earned by other freed negroes. Of course they would be at +liberty to work four or five days a week if they chose; but at least +they must work three days, and anyone failing to do this would forfeit +his plot of land. "Three days' work," he said, "will be sufficient to +provide all necessaries for yourselves and families, and the produce of +your land you can s<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>ell, and will so be able to lay by an ample sum to +keep yourselves in old age. I have already plotted out the land, and you +shall cast lots for choice of the plots. There will be a little delay +before all your papers of freedom can be made out, but the arrangement +will begin from to-day, and henceforth you will be paid for all labor +done on the estate."</p> + +<p>Scarcely a word was spoken when Vincent concluded. The news was too +surprising to the negroes for them to be able to understand it all at +once. Dan and Tony, to whom Vincent had already explained the matter, +went among them, and they gradually took in the whole of Vincent's +meaning. A few received the news with great joy, but many others were +depressed rather than rejoiced at the responsibilities of their new +positions. Hitherto they had been clothed and fed, the doctor attended +them in sickness, their master would care for them in old age. They had +been literally without a care for the morrow, and the thought that, in +the future, they would have to think of all these things for themselves +almost frightened them. Several of the older men went up to Mrs. +Wingfield and positively declined to accept their freedom. They were +quite contented and happy, and wanted nothing more. They had worked on +the plantation since they had been children, and freedom offered them no +temptations whatever.</p> + +<p>"What had we better do, Vincent?" Mrs. Wingfield asked.</p> + +<p>"I think, mother, it will be best to tell them that all who wish can +remain upon the old footing, but that their papers will be made out, and +if, at any time, they wish to have their freedom they will only have to +say so. No doubt they will soon become accustomed to the idea, and, +seeing how comfortable the others are with their pay and the produce of +their gardens, they would soon fall in with the rest. Of course it will +decrease the income from the estate, but not so much as you would think. +They will be paid for their labor, but we shall have neither to feed nor +clothe them; and I think we shall get better labor than we do now, for +the knowledge that those who do not work <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>steadily will lose their plots +of land and have to go out in the world to work, their places being +filled by others, will keep them steady."</p> + +<p>"It's an experiment, Vincent, and we shall see how it works."</p> + +<p>"It's an experiment I have often thought I should like to make, mother, +and now, you see, it is almost forced upon us. To-morrow I will ride +over to the other plantations and make the same arrangements."</p> + +<p>During the month of August many battles took place round Petersburg. On +the 12th the Federals attacked, but were repulsed with heavy loss, and +2500 prisoners were taken. On the 21st the Confederates attacked, and +obtained a certain amount of success, killing, wounding, and capturing +2400 men. Petersburg was shelled day and night, and almost continuous +fighting went on. Nevertheless, up to the middle of October the +positions of the armies remained unaltered. On the 27th of that month +the Federals made another general attack, but were repulsed with a loss +of 1500 men. During the next three months there was little fighting, the +Confederates having now so strengthened their lines by incessant toil +that even General Grant, reckless of the lives of his troops as he was, +hesitated to renew the assault.</p> + +<p>But in the South General Sherman was carrying all before him. Generals +Hood and Johnston, who commanded the Confederate armies there, had +fought several desperate battles, but the forces opposed to them were +too strong to be driven back. They had marched through Georgia to +Atlanta and captured that important town on the 1st of September, and +obtained command of the network of railways, and thus cut off a large +portion of the Confederacy from Richmond. Then Sherman marched south, +wasting the country through which he marched, and capturing Savannah on +the 21st of September.</p> + +<p>While he was so doing, General Hood had marched into Tennessee, and +after various petty successes, was defeated, after two days' hard +fighting, near Nashville. In the third week in January, 1865, Sherman +set out with 60,000 in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>fantry and 10,000 cavalry from Savannah, laying +waste the whole country—burning, pillaging, and destroying. The town of +Columbia was occupied, sacked, and burned, the white men and women and +even the negroes being horribly ill-treated.</p> + +<p>The Confederates evacuated Charleston at the approach of the enemy, +setting it in flames rather than allow it to fall into Sherman's hands. +The Federal army then continued its devastating route through South +Carolina, and at the end of March had established itself at Goldsboro, +in North Carolina, and was in readiness to aid Grant in his final attack +on Richmond.</p> + +<p>Lee, seeing the imminence of the danger, made an attack upon the enemy +in front of Petersburg, but was repulsed. He had now but 37,000 men with +which to oppose an enemy of nearly four times that strength in front of +him, while Sheridan's cavalry, 10,000 strong, threatened his flank, and +Sherman with his army was but a few days' march distant. There was +fierce fighting on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of March, and on the 2d of +April the whole Federal army assaulted the positions at Petersburg, and +after desperate fighting succeeded in carrying them. The Confederate +troops, outnumbered and exhausted as they were by the previous week's +marching and fighting, yet retained their discipline, and Lee drew off +with 20,000 men and marched to endeavor to effect a junction with +Johnston, who was still facing Sherman.</p> + +<p>But his men had but one day's provisions with them. The stores that he +had ordered to await them at the point to which he directed his march +had not arrived there when they reached it, and, harassed at every foot +of their march by Sheridan's cavalry and Ord's infantry, the force +fought its way on. The horses and mules were so weak from want of food +that they were unable to drag the guns, and the men dropped in numbers +from fatigue and famine. Sheridan and Ord cut off two corps, but General +Lee, with but 8000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, still pressed forward +toward Lynchburg. But Sheridan threw himself in the way, and, finding +that no more could be done,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> General Lee and the infantry surrendered and +a few days later Generals Lee and Grant met and signed terms of peace. +General Johnston's army surrendered to General Sherman, and the long +and desperate struggle was at an end.</p> + +<p>It was a dreadful day in Richmond when the news came that the lines of +Petersburg were forced, and that General Lee no longer stood between the +city and the invaders. The President and ministers left at once, and +were followed by all the better class of inhabitants who could find +means of conveyance. The negroes and some of the lower classes at once +set to work to pillage and burn, and the whole city would have been +destroyed had not a Federal force arrived and at once suppressed the +rioting.</p> + +<p>Whatever had been the conduct of the Federal troops during the last year +of the war, however great suffering they had inflicted upon the unarmed +and innocent population of the country through which they marched, the +terms of peace that General Grant agreed upon, and which were, although +with some reluctance, ratified by the government, were in the highest +degree liberal and generous. No one was to be injured or molested for +the share he had taken in the war. A general amnesty was granted to all, +and the States were simply to return to the position in the Union that +they occupied previous to the commencement of the struggle.</p> + +<p>More liberal terms were never granted by a conqueror to the vanquished.</p> + +<p>Vincent was with the cavalry who escaped prior to Lee's surrender, but +as soon as the terms of peace were ratified the force was disbanded and +he returned home. He was received with the deepest joy by his mother and +sister.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, my dear boy, that all is over, and you have been preserved +to us. We are beaten, but no one can say that we are disgraced. Had +every State done its duty as Virginia has we should never have been +overpowered. It has been a terrible four years, and there are few +families indeed that have no losses to mourn."</p> + +<p>"It was well you were not in Richmond, mother, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> day of the riots."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but we had our trouble here, too, Vincent. A number of the slaves +from the plantations came along this way, and wanted our hands to join +them to burn down their quarters and the house, and to march to +Richmond. Tony and Dan, hearing of their approach, armed themselves with +your double-barreled guns, went down and called out the hands, and armed +them with hoes and other implements. When the negroes came up there was +a desperate quarrel, but our hands stood firm, and Tony and Dan declared +that they would shoot the first four men that advanced, and at last they +drew off and made their way to Richmond.</p> + +<p>"Your plan has succeeded admirably. One or two of the hands went to +Richmond next day, but returned a day or two afterward and begged so +hard to be taken on again that I forgave them. Since then everything has +been going on as quietly and regularly as usual, while there is scarcely +a man left on any of the estates near."</p> + +<p>"And now, mother, that I find things are quiet and settled here, I shall +go down to Georgia and fetch Lucy home. I shall be of age in a few +months, and the house on the estate that comes to me then can be +enlarged, and will do very well."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Vincent. Annie will be married next month. Herbert Rowsell +was here two days ago, and it's all settled. So I shall be alone here. +It will be very lonely and dull for me, Vincent, and I would rather give +up the reins of government to Lucy and live here with you, if you like +the plan."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, I should like it, mother; and so, I am sure, would Lucy."</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, Vincent, we will try the experiment, and if it does +not work well I will take possession of the other house."</p> + +<p>"There is no fear of that, mother—none whatever."</p> + +<p>"And when are you thinking of getting married, Vincent?"</p> + +<p>"At once, mother. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>I wrote to Lucy the day we were disbanded, saying that +I should come in a week, and would allow another week and no longer for +her to get ready."</p> + +<p>"Then, in that case, Vincent, Annie and I will go down with you. Annie +will not have much to do to get ready for her own wedding. It must, of +course, be a very quiet one, and there will be no array of dresses to +get; for I suppose it will be some time yet before the railways are open +again and things begin to come down from the North."</p> + +<p>Happily Antioch had escaped the ravages of war, and there was nothing to +mar the happiness of the wedding. Lucy's father had returned, having +lost a leg in one of the battles of the Wilderness a year before, and +her brother had also escaped. After the wedding they returned to their +farm in Tennessee, and Mrs. Wingfield, Annie, Vincent, and Lucy went back +to the Orangery.</p> + +<p>For the next three or four years times were very hard in Virginia, and +Mrs. Wingfield had to draw upon her savings to keep up the house in its +former state; while the great majority of the planters were utterly +ruined. The negroes, however, for the most part remained steadily +working on the estate. A few wandered away, but their places were easily +filled; for the majority of the freed slaves very soon discovered that +their lot was a far harder one than it had been before, and that freedom +so suddenly given was a curse rather than a blessing to them.</p> + +<p>Thus, while so many went down, the Wingfields weathered the storm, and +the step that had been taken in preparing their hands for the general +abolition of slavery was a complete success.</p> + +<p>With the gradual return of prosperity to the South the prices of produce +improved, and ten years after the conclusion of the rebellion the income +of the Orangery was nearly as large as it had been previous to its +outbreak. Vincent, two years after the conclusion of the struggle, took +his wife over to visit his relations in England, and, since the death of +his mother, in 1879, has every year spent three or four months at home, +and will not improbably, ere long sell his estates in Virginia and +settle here altogether.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With Lee in Virginia, by G. A. 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A. Henty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: With Lee in Virginia + A Story of the American Civil War + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Release Date: September 1, 2006 [EBook #19154] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Paul Ereaut and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcribers note: Some inconsistencies of spelling, punctuation and +hyphenation have been normalised. + + +WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA + +_A STORY OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR_ + +BY + +G. A. HENTY + +AUTHOR OF "WITH CLIVE IN INDIA," "WITH WOLFE IN CANADA," "BY ENGLAND'S +AID," "IN THE REIGN OF TERROR," "THE DRAGON AND THE RAVEN" + + +NEW YORK +HURST AND COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + + + + +PREFACE. + + +My Dear Lads: + +The Great War between the Northern and Southern States of America +possesses a peculiar interest to us, not only because it was a struggle +between two sections of a people akin to us in race and language, but +because of the heroic courage with which the weaker party, with ill-fed, +ill-clad, ill-equipped regiments, for four years sustained the contest +with an adversary not only possessed of immense numerical superiority, +but having the command of the sea, and being able to draw its arms and +munitions of war from all the manufactories of Europe. Authorities still +differ as to the rights of the case. The Confederates firmly believed +that the States, having voluntarily united, retained the right of +withdrawing from the Union when they considered it for their advantage +to do so. The Northerners took the opposite point of view, and an appeal +to arms became inevitable. During the first two years of the war the +struggle was conducted without inflicting unnecessary hardship upon the +general population. But later on the character of the war changed, and +the Federal armies carried widespread destruction wherever they marched. +Upon the other hand, the moment the struggle was over the conduct of the +conquerors was marked by a clemency and generosity altogether unexampled +in history, a complete amnesty being granted, and none, whether soldiers +or civilians, being made to suffer for their share in the rebellion. The +credit of this magnanimous conduct was to a great extent due to Generals +Grant and Sherman, the former of whom took upon himself the +responsibility of granting terms which, although they were finally +ratified by his government, were at the time received with anger and +indignation in the North. It was impossible, in the course of a single +volume, to give even a sketch of the numerous and complicated operations +of the war, and I have therefore confined myself to the central point of +the great struggle--the attempts of the Northern armies to force their +way to Richmond, the capital of Virginia and the heart of the +Confederacy. Even in recounting the leading events in these campaigns, I +have burdened my story with as few details as possible, it being my +object now, as always, to amuse, as well as to give instruction in the +facts of history. + +Yours sincerely, + +G. A. Henty. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + + I. A Virginia Plantation, + + II. Buying a Slave, + + III. Aiding a Runaway, + + IV. Safely Back, + + V. Secession, + + VI. Bull Run, + + VII. The "Merrimac" and the "Monitor," + + VIII. McClellan's Advance, + + IX. A Prisoner, + + X. The Escape, + + XI. Fugitives, + + XII. The Bushwhackers, + + XIII. Laid Up, + + XIV. Across the Border, + + XV. Fredericksburg, + + XVI. The Search for Dinah, + + XVII. Chancellorsville, + +XVIII. A Perilous Undertaking, + + XIX. Free! + + XX. The End of the Struggle, + + + + +WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A VIRGINIA PLANTATION. + + +"I won't have it, Pearson; so it's no use your talking. If I had my way +you shouldn't touch any of the field hands. And when I get my way--that +won't be so very long--I will take very good care you shan't. But you +shan't hit Dan." + +"He is not one of the regular house hands," was the reply; "and I shall +appeal to Mrs. Wingfield as to whether I am to be interfered with in the +discharge of my duties." + +"You may appeal to my mother if you like, but I don't think that you +will get much by it. You are too fond of that whip, Pearson. It never +was heard on the estate during my father's time, and it shan't be again +when it comes to be mine, I can tell you. Come along, Dan; I want you at +the stables." + +Vincent Wingfield turned on his heel, and followed by Dan, a negro lad +of some eighteen years old, he walked toward the house, leaving Jonas +Pearson, the overseer of the Orangery Estate, looking after him with an +evil expression of face. + +Vincent Wingfield was the son of an English officer, who, making a tour +in the States, had fallen in love with and won the hand of Winifred +Cornish, a Virginia heiress, and one of the belles of Richmond. After +the marriage he had taken her to visit his family in England; but she +had not been there many weeks before the news arrived of the sudden +death of her father. A month later she and her husband returned to +Virginia, as her presence was required there in reference to business +matters connected with the estate, of which she was now the mistress. + +The Orangery, so called from a large conservatory built by Mrs. +Wingfield's grandfather, was the family seat, and the broad lands around +it were tilled by upward of two hundred slaves. There were in addition +three other properties lying in different parts of the State. Here +Vincent, with two sisters, one older and one younger than himself, had +been born. When he was eight years old Major and Mrs. Wingfield had gone +over with their children to England, and had left Vincent there for four +years at school, his holidays being spent at the house of his father's +brother, a country gentleman in Sussex. Then he had been sent for +unexpectedly; his father saying that his health was not good, and that +he should like his son to be with him. A year later his father died. + +Vincent was now nearly sixteen years old, and would upon coming of age +assume the reins of power at the Orangery, of which his mother, however, +would be the actual mistress as long as she lived. The four years +Vincent had passed in the English school had done much to render the +institution of slavery repugnant to him, and his father had had many +serious talks with him during the last year of his life, and had shown +him that there was a good deal to be said upon both sides of the +subject. + +"There are good plantations and bad plantations, Vincent; and there are +many more good ones than bad ones. There are brutes to be found +everywhere. There are bad masters in the Southern States just as there +are bad landlords in every European country. But even from self-interest +alone, a planter has greater reason for caring for the health and +comfort of his slaves than an English farmer has in caring for the +comfort of his laborers. Slaves are valuable property, and if they are +over-worked or badly cared for they decrease in value. Whereas if the +laborer falls sick or is unable to do his work the farmer has simply to +hire another hand. It is as much the interest of a planter to keep his +slaves in good health and spirits as it is for a farmer to feed and +attend to his horses properly. + +"Of the two, I consider that the slave with a fairly kind master is to +the full as happy as the ordinary English laborer. He certainly does not +work so hard, if he is ill he is carefully attended to, he is well fed, +he has no cares or anxieties whatever, and when old and past work he has +no fear of the workhouse staring him in the face. At the same time I am +quite ready to grant that there are horrible abuses possible under the +laws connected with slavery. + +"The selling of slaves, that is to say, the breaking up of families and +selling them separately, is horrible and abominable. If an estate were +sold together with all the slaves upon it, there would be no more +hardship in the matter than there is when an estate changes hands in +England, and the laborers upon it work for the new master instead of the +old. Were I to liberate all the slaves on this estate to-morrow and to +send them North, I do not think that they would be in any way benefited +by the change. They would still have to work for their living as they do +now, and being naturally indolent and shiftless would probably fare much +worse. But against the selling of families separately and the use of the +lash I set my face strongly. + +"At the same time, my boy, whatever your sentiments may be on this +subject, you must keep your mouth closed as to them. Owing to the +attempts of Northern Abolitionists, who have come down here stirring up +the slaves to discontent, it is not advisable, indeed it is absolutely +dangerous, to speak against slavery in the Southern States. The +institution is here, and we must make the best we can of it. People here +are very sore at the foul slanders that have been published by Northern +writers. There have been many atrocities perpetrated undoubtedly, by +brutes who would have been brutes wherever they had been born; but to +collect a series of such atrocities, to string them together into a +story, and to hold them up, as Mrs. Beecher Stowe has, as a picture of +slave life in the Southern States, is as gross a libel as if anyone were +to make a collection of all the wife-beatings and assaults of drunken +English ruffians, and to publish them as a picture of the average life +of English people. + +"Such libels as these have done more to embitter the two sections of +America against each other than anything else. Therefore, Vincent, my +advice to you is, be always kind to your slaves--not over-indulgent, +because they are very like children and indulgence spoils them--but be +at the same time firm and kind to them, and with other people avoid +entering into any discussions or expressing any opinion with regard to +slavery. You can do no good, and you can do much harm. Take things as +you find them and make the best of them. I trust that the time may come +when slavery will be abolished; but I hope, for the sake of the slaves +themselves, that when this is done it will be done gradually and +thoughtfully, for otherwise it would inflict terrible hardship and +suffering upon them as well as upon their masters." + +There were many such conversations between father and son, for feeling +on the subject ran very high in the Southern States, and the former felt +that it was of the utmost importance to his son that he should avoid +taking any strong line in the matter. Among the old families of Virginia +there was indeed far less feeling on this subject than in some of the +other States. Knowing the good feeling that almost universally existed +between themselves and their slaves, the gentry of Virginia regarded +with contempt the calumnies of which they were the subject. Secure in +the affection of their slaves, an affection which was afterward +abundantly proved during the course of the war, they scarcely saw the +ugly side of the question. The worst masters were the smallest ones; the +man who owned six slaves was far more apt to extort the utmost possible +work from them than the planter who owned three or four hundred. And +the worst masters of all, were those who, having made a little money in +trade or speculation in the towns, purchased a dozen slaves, a small +piece of land, and tried to set up as gentry. + +In Virginia the life of the large planters was almost a patriarchal one; +the indoor slaves were treated with extreme indulgence, and were +permitted a far higher degree of freedom of remark and familiarity than +is the case with servants in an English household. They had been the +nurses or companions of the owners when children, had grown up with +them, and regarded themselves, and were regarded by them, as almost part +of the family. There was, of course, less connection between the +planters and their field hands; but these also had for the most part +been born on the estate, had as children been taught to look up to their +white masters and mistresses, and to receive many little kindnesses at +their hands. + +They had been cared for in sickness, and knew that they would be +provided for in old age. Each had his little allotment, and could raise +fruit, vegetables, and fowls, for his own use or for sale, in his +leisure time. The fear of loss of employment, or the pressure of want, +ever present to our English laborers, had never fallen upon them. The +climate was a lovely one, and their work far less severe than that of +men forced to toil in cold and wet, winter and summer. The institution +of slavery assuredly was capable of terrible abuses, and was marked in +many instances by abominable cruelty and oppression; but taken all in +all, the negroes on a well-ordered estate, under kind masters, were +probably a happier class of people than the laborers upon any estate in +Europe. + +Jonas Pearson had been overseer in the time of Major Wingfield, but his +authority had at that time been comparatively small, for the major +himself personally supervised the whole working of the estate, and was +greatly liked by the slaves, whose chief affections were, however, +naturally bestowed upon their mistress, who had from childhood been +brought up in their midst. Major Wingfield had not liked his overseer, +but he had never any ground to justify him making a change. Jonas, who +was a Northern man, was always active and energetic; all Major +Wingfield's orders were strictly and punctually carried out, and +although he disliked the man, his employer acknowledged him to be an +excellent servant. + +After the major's death, Jonas Pearson had naturally obtained greatly +increased power and authority. Mrs. Wingfield had great confidence in +him, his accounts were always clear and precise, and although the +profits of the estate were not quite so large as they had been in her +husband's lifetime, this was always satisfactorily explained by a fall +in prices, or by a part of the crops being affected by the weather. She +flattered herself that she herself managed the estate, and at times rode +over it, made suggestions, and issued orders, but this was only in fits +and starts; and although Jonas came up two or three times a week to the +house nominally to receive her orders, he managed her so adroitly, that +while she believed that everything was done by her directions, she in +reality only followed out the suggestions which, in the first place, +came from him. + +She was aware, however, that there was less content and happiness on the +estate than there had been in the old times. Complaints had reached her +from time to time of overwork and harsh treatment. But upon inquiring +into these matters, Jonas had always such plausible reasons to give that +she was convinced he was in the right, and that the fault was among the +slaves themselves, who tried to take advantage of the fact that they had +no longer a master's eye upon them, and accordingly tried to shirk work, +and to throw discredit upon the man who looked after the interests of +their mistress; and so gradually Mrs. Wingfield left the management of +her affairs more and more in the hands of Jonas, and relied more +implicitly upon him. + +The overseer spared no pains to gain the good will of Vincent. When the +latter declared that the horse he rode had not sufficient life and +spirit for him, Jonas had set inquiries on foot, and had selected for +him a horse which, for speed and bottom, had no superior in the State. +One of Mrs. Wingfield's acquaintances, however, upon hearing that she +had purchased the animal, told her that it was notorious for its vicious +temper, and she spoke angrily to Jonas on the subject in the presence of +Vincent. The overseer excused himself by saying that he had certainly +heard that the horse was high spirited and needed a good rider, and that +he should not have thought of selecting it had he not known that Mr. +Vincent was a first-class rider, and would not care to have a horse that +any child could manage. + +The praise was not undeserved. The gentlemen of Virginia were celebrated +as good riders; and Major Wingfield, himself a cavalry man, had been +anxious that Vincent should maintain the credit of his English blood, +and had placed him on a pony as soon as he was able to sit on one. A +pony had been kept for his use during his holidays at his uncle's in +England, and upon his return Vincent had, except during the hours he +spent with his father, almost lived on horseback, either riding about +the estate, or paying visits to the houses of other planters. + +For an hour or more everyday he exercised his father's horses in a +paddock near the house, the major being wheeled down in an easy-chair +and superintending his riding. As these horses had little to do and were +full of spirit, Vincent's powers were often taxed to the utmost, and he +had many falls; but the soil was light, and he had learned the knack of +falling easily, and from constant practice was able at the age of +fourteen to stick on firmly even without a saddle, and was absolutely +fearless as to any animal he mounted. + +In the two years which had followed he had kept up his riding. Every +morning after breakfast he rode to Richmond, six miles distant, put up +his horse at some stable there, and spent three hours at school; the +rest of the day was his own, and he would often ride off with some of +his schoolfellows who had also come in from a distance, and not return +home till late in the evening. Vincent took after his English father +rather than his Virginia mother, both in appearance and character, and +was likely to become as tall and brawny a man as the former had been +when he first won the love of the Virginia heiress. + +He was full of life and energy, and in this respect offered a strong +contrast to most of his schoolfellows of the same age. For although +splendid riders and keen sportsmen, the planters of Virginia were in +other respects inclined to indolence; the result partly of the climate, +partly of their being waited upon from childhood by attendants ready to +carry out every wish. He had his father's cheerful disposition and good +temper, together with the decisive manner so frequently acquired by a +service in the army, and at the same time he had something of the warmth +and enthusiasm of the Virginia character. + +Good rider as he was, he was somewhat surprised at the horse the +overseer had selected for him. It was certainly a splendid animal, with +great bone and power; but there was no mistaking the expression of its +turned-back eye, and the ears that lay almost flat on the head when +anyone approached him. + +"It is a splendid animal, no doubt, Jonas," he said the first time he +inspected it; "but he certainly looks as if he had a beast of a temper. +I fear what was told my mother about him is no exaggeration; for Mr. +Markham told me to-day, when I rode down there with his son, and said we +had bought Wildfire, that a friend of his had had him once, and only +kept him for a week, for he was the most vicious brute he ever saw." + +"I am sorry I have bought him now, sir," Jonas said. "Of course I should +not have done so if I had heard these things before; but I was told he +was one of the finest horses in the country, only a little tricky, and +as his price was so reasonable I thought it a great bargain. But I see +now I was wrong, and that it wouldn't be right for you to mount him; so +I think we had best send him in on Saturday to the market and let it go +for what it will fetch. You see, sir, if you had been three or four +years older it would have been different; but naturally at your age you +don't like to ride such a horse as that." + +"I shan't give up without a trial," Vincent said shortly. "It is about +the finest horse I ever saw; and if it hadn't been for its temper, it +would have been cheap at five times the sum you gave for it. I have +ridden a good many bad-tempered horses for my friends during the last +year, and the worst of them couldn't get me off." + +"Well, sir, of course you will do as you please," Jonas said; "but +please to remember if any harm comes of it, that I strongly advised you +not to have anything to do with it, and I did my best to dissuade you +from trying." + +Vincent nodded carelessly, and then turned to the black groom. + +"Jake, get out that cavalry saddle of my father's, with the high cantle +and pommel, and the rolls for the knees. It's like an armchair, and if +one can't stick on on that, one deserves to be thrown." + +While the groom was putting on the saddle, Vincent stood patting the +horse's head and talking to it, and then taking its rein led it down +into the inclosure. + +"No, I don't want the whip," he said, as Jake offered him one. "I have +got the spurs, and likely enough the horse's temper may have been +spoiled by knocking it about with a whip; but we will try what kindness +will do with it first." + +"Me no like his look, Massa Vincent; he debble of a hoss dat." + +"I don't think he has a nice temper, Jake; but people learn to control +their temper, and I don't see why horses shouldn't. At any rate we will +have a try at it. He looks as if he appreciates being patted and spoken +to already. Of course if you treat a horse like a savage he will become +savage. Now, stand out of the way." + +Gathering the reins together, and placing one hand upon the pommel, +Vincent sprang into the saddle without touching the stirrups; then he +sat for a minute or two patting the horse's neck. Wildfire, apparently +disgusted at having allowed himself to be mounted so suddenly, lashed +out viciously two or three times, and then refused to move. For half an +hour Vincent tried the effect of patient coaxing, but in vain. + +"Well, if you won't do it by fair means you must by foul," Vincent said +at last, and sharply pricked him with his spurs. + +Wildfire sprang into the air, and then began a desperate series of +efforts to rid himself of his rider, rearing and kicking in such quick +succession that he seemed half the time in the air. Finding after a +while that his efforts were unavailing, he subsided at last into sulky +immovability. Again Vincent tried coaxing and patting, but as no success +attended these efforts, he again applied the spur sharply. This time the +horse responded by springing forward like an arrow from a bow, dashed at +the top of his speed across the inclosure, cleared the high fence +without an effort, and then set off across the country. + +He had attempted to take the bit in his teeth, but with a sharp jerk as +he drove the spurs in, Vincent had defeated his intention. He now did +not attempt to check or guide him, but keeping a light hand on the reins +let him go his own course. Vincent knew that so long as the horse was +going full speed it could attempt no trick to unseat him, and he +therefore sat easily in his saddle. + +For six miles Wildfire continued his course, clearing every obstacle +without abatement to his speed, and delighting his rider with his power +and jumping qualities. Occasionally, only when the course he was taking +would have led him to obstacles impossible for the best jumper to +surmount, Vincent attempted to put the slightest pressure upon one rein +or the other, so as to direct it to an easier point. + +At the end of six miles the horse's speed began slightly to abate, and +Vincent, abstaining from the use of his spurs, pressed it with his knees +and spoke to it cheerfully, urging it forward. He now from time to time +bent forward and patted it, and for another six miles kept it going at a +speed almost as great as that at which it had started. Then he allowed +it gradually to slacken its pace, until at last first the gallop and +then the trot ceased, and it broke into a walk. + +"You have had a fine gallop, old fellow," Vincent said, patting it; "and +so have I. There's been nothing for you to lose your temper about, and +the next road we come upon we will turn your face homeward. Half a dozen +lessons like this, and then, no doubt, we shall be good friends." + +The journey home was performed at a walk, Vincent talking the greater +part of the time to the horse. It took a good deal more than six lessons +before Wildfire would start without a preliminary struggle with his +master, but in the end kindness and patience conquered. Vincent often +visited the horse in the stables, and, taking with him an apple or some +pieces of sugar, spent some time there talking to and petting it. He +never carried a whip, and never used the spurs except in forcing it to +make its first start. + +Had the horse been naturally ill-tempered Vincent would probably have +failed, but, as he happened afterward to learn, its first owner had been +a hot-tempered and passionate young planter, who, instead of being +patient with it, had beat it about the head, and so rendered it restive +and bad-tempered. Had Vincent not laid aside his whip before mounting it +for the first time, he probably would never have effected a cure. It was +the fact that the animal had no longer fear of his old enemy the whip, +as much as the general course of kindness and good treatment, that had +effected the change in his behavior. + +It was just when Vincent had established a good understanding between +himself and Wildfire that he had the altercation with the overseer, whom +he found about to flog the young negro Dan. Pearson had sent the lad +half an hour before on a message to some slaves at work at the other end +of the estate, and had found him sitting on the ground watching a tree +in which he had discovered a 'possum. That Dan deserved punishment was +undoubted. He had at present no regular employment upon the estate. +Jake, his father, was head of the stables, and Dan had made himself +useful in odd jobs about the horses, and expected to become one of the +regular stable hands. The overseer was of opinion that there were +already more negroes in the stable than could find employment, and had +urged upon Mrs. Wingfield that one of the hands there and the boy Dan +should be sent out to the fields. She, however, refused. + +"I know you are quite right, Jonas, in what you say. But there were +always four hands in the stable in my father's time, and there always +have been up to now; and though I know they have an easy time of it, I +certainly should not like to send any of them out into the fields. As to +Dan, we will think about it. When his father was about his age he used +to lead my pony when I first took to riding, and when there is a vacancy +Dan must come into the stable. I could not think of sending him out as a +field hand; in the first place for his father's sake, but still more for +that of Vincent. Dan used to be told off to see that Vincent did not get +into mischief when he was a little boy, and he has run his messages and +been his special boy since he came back. Vincent wanted to have him as +his regular house servant; but it would have broken old Sam's heart if, +after being my father's boy and my husband's, another had taken his +place as Vincent's." + +And so Dan had remained in the stable, but regarding Vincent as his +special master, carrying messages for him to his friends, or doing any +odd jobs he might require, and spending no small portion of his time in +sleep. Thus he was an object of special dislike to the overseer; in the +first place because he had not succeeded in having his way with regard +to him, and in the second because he was a useless hand, and the +overseer loved to get as much work as possible out of everyone on the +estate. The message had been a somewhat important one, as he wanted the +slaves for some work that was urgently required; and he lost his temper, +or he would not have done an act which would certainly bring him into +collision with Vincent. + +He was well aware that the lad did not really like him, and that his +efforts to gain his good will had failed, and he had foreseen that +sooner or later there would be a struggle for power between them. +However, he relied upon his influence with Mrs. Wingfield, and upon the +fact that she was the life owner of the Orangery, and believed that he +would be able to maintain his position even when Vincent came of age. +Vincent on his side objected to the overseer's treatment of the hands of +which he heard a good deal from Dan, and had already remonstrated with +his mother on the subject. + +He, however, gained nothing by this. Mrs. Wingfield had replied that he +was too young to interfere in such matters, that his English ideas would +not do in Virginia, and that naturally the slaves were set against the +overseer; and that now Pearson had no longer a master to support him, he +was obliged to be more severe than before to enforce obedience. At the +same time it vexed her at heart that there should be any severity on the +Orangery Estate, where the best relations had always prevailed between +the masters and slaves and she had herself spoken to Jonas on the +subject. + +He had given her the same answer that she had given her son: "The slaves +will work for a master, Mrs. Wingfield, in a way they will not for a +stranger. They set themselves against me, and if I were not severe with +them I should get no work at all out of them. Of course, if you wish it, +they can do as they like; but in that case they must have another +overseer. I cannot see a fine estate going to ruin. I believe myself +some of these Abolition fellows have been getting among them and doing +mischief, and that there is a bad spirit growing up among them. I can +assure you that I am as lenient with them as it is possible to be. But +if they won't work I must make them, so long as I stay here." + +And so the overseer had had his way. She knew that the man was a good +servant, and that the estate was kept in excellent order. After all, the +severities of which she had heard complaints were by no means excessive, +and it was not to be expected that a Northern overseer could rule +entirely by kindness, as the owner of an estate could do. A change would +be most inconvenient to her, and she would have difficulty in suiting +herself so well another time. Besides, the man had been with her sixteen +years, and was, as she believed, devoted to her interests. Therefore she +turned a deaf ear to Vincent's remonstrances. + +She had always been somewhat opposed to his being left in England at +school, urging that he would learn ideas there that would clash with +those of the people among whom his life was to be spent; and she still +considered that her views had been justified by the result. + +The overseer was the first to give his version of the story about Dan's +conduct; for on going to the house Vincent found his sisters, Rosa and +Annie, in the garden, having just returned from a two days' visit to +some friends in Richmond, and stayed chatting with them and listening to +their news for an hour, and in the meantime Jonas had gone in and seen +Mrs. Wingfield and told his story. + +"I think, Mrs. Wingfield," he said when he had finished, "that it will +be better for me to leave you. It is quite evident that I can have no +authority over the hands if your son is to interfere when I am about to +punish a slave for an act of gross disobedience and neglect. I found +that all the tobacco required turning, and now it will not be done this +afternoon, owing to my orders not being carried out, and the tobacco +will not improbably be injured in quality. My position is difficult +enough as it is; but if the slaves see that instead of being supported I +am thwarted by your son, my authority is gone altogether. No overseer +can carry on his work properly under such circumstances." + +"I will see to the matter, Jonas," Mrs. Wingfield said decidedly. "Be +assured that you have my entire support, and I will see that my son does +not again interfere." + +When, therefore, Vincent entered the house and began his complaint, he +found himself cut short. + +"I have heard the story already, Vincent. Dan acted in gross +disobedience, and thoroughly deserved the punishment Jonas was about to +give him. The work of the estate cannot be carried on if such conduct is +to be tolerated; and once for all, I will permit no interference on your +part with Jonas. If you have any complaints to make, come to me and make +them; but you are not to interfere in any way with the overseer. As for +Dan, I have directed Jonas that the next time he gives cause for +complaint he is to go into the fields." + +Vincent stood silent for a minute, then he said quietly: + +"Very well, mother. Of course you can do as you like; but at any rate I +will not keep my mouth shut when I see that fellow ill-treating the +slaves. Such things were never done in my father's time, and I won't see +them done now. You said the other day you would get me a nomination to +West Point as soon as I was sixteen. I should be glad if you would do +so. By the time I have gone through the school, you will perhaps see +that I have been right about Jonas." + +So saying, he turned and left the room and again joined his sisters in +the drawing room. + +"I have just told mother that I will go to West Point, girls," he said. +"Father said more than once that he thought it was the best education I +could get in America." + +"But I thought you had made up your mind that you would rather stop at +home, Vincent?" + +"So I had, and so I would have done, but mother and I differ in +opinion. That fellow Jonas was going to flog Dan, and I stopped him this +morning, and mother takes his part against me. You know, I don't like +the way he goes on with the slaves. They are not half so merry and happy +as they used to be, and I don't like it. We shall have one of them +running away next, and that will be a nice thing on what used to be +considered one of the happiest plantations in Virginia. I can't make +mother out; I should have thought that she would have been the last +person in the world to have allowed the slaves to be harshly treated." + +"I am sure we don't like Jonas any more than you do, Vincent; but you +see mamma has to depend upon him so much. No, I don't think she can like +it; but you can't have everything you like in a man, and I know she +thinks he is a very good overseer. I suppose she could get another?" + +Vincent said he thought that there could not be much difficulty about +getting an overseer. + +"There might be a difficulty in getting one she could rely on so +thoroughly," Rosa said. "You see a great deal must be left to him. Jonas +has been here a good many years now, and she has learned to trust him. +It would be a long time before she had the same confidence in a +stranger; and you may be sure that he would have his faults, though, +perhaps, not the same as those of Jonas. I think you don't make +allowance enough for mamma, Vincent. I quite agree with you as to Jonas, +and I don't think mamma can like his harshness to the slaves any more +than you do; but everyone says what a difficulty it is to get a really +trustworthy and capable overseer, and, of course, it is all the harder +when there is no master to look after him." + +"Well, in a few years I shall be able to look after an overseer," +Vincent said. + +"You might do so, of course, Vincent, if you liked; but unless you +change a good deal, I don't think your supervision would amount to very +much. When you are not at school you are always on horseback and away, +and we see little enough of you, and I do not think you are likely for a +long time yet to give up most of your time to looking after the estate." + +"Perhaps you are right," Vincent said, after thinking for a minute; "but +I think I could settle down, too, and give most of my time to the +estate, if I was responsible for it. I dare say mother is in a +difficulty over it, and I should not have spoken as I did; I will go in +and tell her so." + +Vincent found his mother sitting as he had left her. Although she had +sided with Jonas, it was against her will; for it was grievous to her to +hear complaints of the treatment of the slaves at the Orangery. Still, +as Rosa had said, she felt every confidence in her overseer, and +believed that he was an excellent servant. She was conscious that she +herself knew nothing of business, and that she must therefore give her +entire confidence to her manager. She greatly disliked the strictness of +Jonas, but if, as he said, the slaves would not obey him without this +strictness, he must do as he thought best. + +"I think I spoke too hastily, mother," Vincent said as he entered; "and +I am sure that you would not wish the slaves to be ill-treated more than +I should. I dare say Jonas means for the best." + +"I feel sure that he does, Vincent. A man in his position cannot make +himself obeyed like a master. I wish it could be otherwise, and I will +speak to him on the subject; but it will not do to interfere with him +too much. A good overseer is not easy to get, and the slaves are always +ready to take advantage of leniency. An easy master makes bad work, but +an easy overseer would mean ruin to an estate. I am convinced that Jonas +has our interests at heart, and I will tell him that I particularly wish +that he will devise some other sort of punishment, such as depriving men +who won't work of some of their privileges, instead of using the lash." + +"Thank you, mother. At any rate, he might be told that the lash is never +to be used without first appealing to you." + +"I will see about it, Vincent, and talk it over with him." And with that +Vincent was satisfied. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BUYING A SLAVE. + + +Mrs. Wingfield did talk the matter over with the overseer, and things +went on in consequence more smoothly. Vincent, however, adhered to his +wish, and it was arranged that as soon as he could get a nomination he +should go to West Point, which is to the American army what Sandhurst +and Woolwich are to England. Before that could be done, however, a great +political agitation sprang up. The slave States were greatly excited +over the prospect of a Republican president being chosen, for the +Republicans were to a great extent identified with the abolition +movement; and public feeling, which had for some time run high, became +intensified as the time approached for the election of a new president, +and threats that if the Democrats were beaten and a Republican elected +the slave States would secede from the Union, were freely indulged in. + +In Virginia, which was one of the most northern of the slave States, +opinion was somewhat divided, there being a strong minority against any +extreme measures being taken. Among Vincent's friends, however, who were +for the most part the sons of planters, the Democratic feeling was very +strongly in the ascendant and their sympathies were wholly with the +Southern States. That these had a right to secede was assumed by them as +being unquestionable. + +But, in point of fact, there was a great deal to be said on both sides. +The States which first entered the Union in 1776 considered themselves +to be separate and sovereign States, each possessing power and authority +to manage its own affairs, and forming only a federation in order to +construct a central power, and so to operate with more effect against +the mother country. Two years later the Constitution of the United +States was framed, each State giving up a certain portion of its +authority, reserving its own self-government and whatever rights were +not specifically resigned. + +No mention was made in the Constitution of the right of a State to +secede from the Union, and while those who insisted that each State had +a right to secede if it chose to do so declared that this right was +reserved, their opponents affirmed that such a case could never have +been contemplated. Thus the question of absolute right had never been +settled, and it became purely one of force. + +Early in November, 1860, it became known that the election of Mr. +Lincoln, the Republican candidate, was assured, and on the 9th of that +month the representatives of South Carolina met at Charleston, and +unanimously authorized the holding of a State convention to meet on the +third week in December. The announcement caused great excitement, for it +was considered certain that the convention would pass a vote of +secession, and thus bring the debated question to an issue. Although +opinion in Virginia was less unanimous than in the more southern States, +it was generally thought that she would imitate the example of South +Carolina. + +On the day following the receipt of the news, Vincent, who had ridden +over to the plantations of several of his friends to talk the matter +over, was returning homeward, when he heard the sound of heavy blows +with a whip, and loud curses, and a moment later a shrill scream in a +woman's voice rose in the air. + +Vincent checked his horse mechanically with an exclamation of anger. He +knew but too well what was going on beyond the screen of shrubs that +grew on the other side of the fence bordering the road. For a moment he +hesitated, and then muttering, "What's the use!" was about to touch the +horse with the whip and gallop on, when the shriek again rose louder and +more agonizing than before. With a cry of rage Vincent leaped from his +horse, threw the reins over the top of the fence, climbed over it in a +moment, and burst his way through the shrubbery. + +Close by, a negro was being held by four others, two having hold of each +wrist and holding his arms extended to full length, while a white lad, +some two years Vincent's senior, was showering blows with a heavy whip +upon him. The slave's back was already covered with weals, and the blood +was flowing from several places. A few yards distant a black girl, with +a baby in her arms, was kneeling on the ground screaming for mercy for +the slave. Just as Vincent burst through the bushes, the young fellow, +irritated at her cries, turned round and delivered a tremendous blow +with the whip on her bare shoulders. + +This time no cry came from her lips, but the slave, who had stood +immovable while the punishment was being inflicted upon himself, made a +desperate effort to break from the men who held him. He was +unsuccessful, but before the whip could again fall on the woman's +shoulders, Vincent sprang forward, and seizing it, wrested it from the +hands of the striker. With an oath of fury and surprise at this sudden +interruption, the young fellow turned upon Vincent. + +"You are a coward and a blackguard, Andrew Jackson!" Vincent exclaimed, +white with anger. "You are a disgrace to Virginia, you ruffian!" + +Without a word the young planter, mad with rage at this interference, +rushed at Vincent; but the latter had learned the use of his fists at +his English school, and riding exercises had strengthened his muscles, +and as his opponent rushed at him, he met him with a blow from the +shoulder which sent him staggering back with the blood streaming from +his lips. He again rushed forward, and heavy blows were exchanged; then +they closed and grappled. For a minute they swayed to and fro; but +although much taller, the young planter was no stronger than Vincent, +and at last they came to the ground with a crash, Vincent uppermost, +Jackson's head as he fell coming with such force against a low stump +that he lay insensible. + +The contest had been so sudden and furious that none had attempted to +interfere. Indeed the negroes were so astonished that they had not moved +from the moment when Vincent made his appearance upon the scene. The lad +rose to his feet. + +"You had better carry him up to the house and throw water on him," he +said to the negroes, and then turned away. As he did so, the slave who +had been flogged broke from the others, who had, indeed, loosened their +hold, and ran up to Vincent, threw himself on his knees, and taking the +lad's hand pressed it to his lips. + +"I am afraid I haven't done you much good," Vincent said. "You will be +none the better off for my interference; but I couldn't help it." So +saying he made his way through the shrubbery, cleared the fence, +mounted, and rode homeward. + +"I have been a fool," he said to himself as he rode along. "It will be +all the worse for that poor beggar afterward; still I could not help it. +I wonder will there be any row about it. I don't much expect there will, +the Jacksons don't stand well now, and this would not do them any good +with the people round; besides I don't think Jackson would like to go +into court to complain of being thrashed by a fellow a head shorter than +himself. It's blackguards like him who give the Abolitionists a right to +hold up the slave-owners as being tyrants and brutes." + +The Jacksons were newcomers in Virginia. Six years before, the estate, +of which the Cedars, as their place was called, formed a part, was put up +for sale. It was a very large one, and having been divided into several +portions to suit buyers, the Cedars had been purchased by Jackson, who, +having been very successful as a storekeeper at Charleston, had decided +upon giving up the business and leaving South Carolina, and settling +down as a landowner in some other State. His antecedents, however, were +soon known at Richmond, and the old Virginian families turned a cold +shoulder to the newcomer. + +Had he been a man of pleasant manners, he would gradually have made his +way; but he was evidently not a gentleman. The habits of trade stuck to +him, and in a very short time there were rumors that the slaves, whom he +had bought with the property, found him a harsh and cruel master. This +in itself would have been sufficient to bring him into disrepute in +Virginia, where as a rule the slaves were treated with great kindness, +and, indeed, considered their position to be infinitely superior to that +of the poorer class of whites. Andrew Jackson had been for a few months +at school with Vincent; he was unpopular there, and from the rumors +current as to the treatment of the slaves on the estate was known by the +nickname of the "slave-driver." + +Had Vincent been the son of a white trader, or a small cultivator, he +knew well enough that his position would be a very serious one, and that +he would have had to ride to the border of the State with all speed. He +would have been denounced at once as an Abolitionist, and would have +been accused of stirring up the slaves to rebellion against their +masters; a crime of the most serious kind in the Southern States. But +placed as he was, as the heir of a great estate worked by slaves, such a +cry could hardly be raised against him. He might doubtless be fined and +admonished for interfering between a master and his slave; but the +sympathy of the better classes in Virginia would be entirely with him. +Vincent, therefore, was but little concerned for himself; but he doubted +greatly whether his interference had not done much more harm than good +to the slave and his wife, for upon them Andrew Jackson would vent his +fury. He rode direct to the stables instead of alighting as usual at the +door. Dan, who had been sitting in the veranda waiting for him, ran down +to the stables as he saw him coming. + +"Give the horse to one of the others, Dan, I want to speak to you. Dan," +he went on when he had walked with him a short distance from the +stables, "I suppose you know some of the hands on Jackson's plantation." + +Dan grinned, for although there was not supposed to be any communication +between the slaves on the different estates, it was notorious that at +night they were in the habit of slipping out of their huts and visiting +each other. + +"I know some ob dem, Marse Vincent. What you want ob dem? Bery bad +master, Marse Jackson. Wust master hereabout." + +Vincent related what had happened, to Dan's intense delight. + +"Now, Dan," he went on, "I am afraid that after my interference they +will treat that poor fellow and his wife worse than before. I want you +to find out for me what is going on at Jackson's. I do not know that I +can do anything, however badly they treat them; but I have been thinking +that if they ill-treat them very grossly, I will get together a party of +fifteen or twenty of my friends, and we will go in a body to Jackson's +and warn him that, if he behaves with cruelty to his slaves, we will +make it so hot for him that he will have to leave the State. I don't say +that we could do anything; but as we should represent most of the large +estates round here, I don't think old Jackson and his son would like +being sent to coventry. The feeling is very strong at present against +ill-treatment of the slaves. If these troubles lead to war, almost all +of us will go into the army, and we do not like the thought of the +possibility of troubles among the hands when the whites are all away." + +"I will find out all about it for you to-night, sah. I don't suspect dat +dey will do nuffin to-day. Andrew Jackson too sick after dat knock +against de tump. He keep quiet a day or two." + +"Well, Dan, you go over to-night and find out all about it. I expect I +had better have left things alone, but now I have interfered I shall go +on with it." + +Mrs. Wingfield was much displeased when Vincent told her at dinner of +his incident at Jackson's plantation, and even his sisters were shocked +at the interference between a master and his slave. + +"You will get yourself into serious trouble with these fanciful notions +of yours," Mrs. Wingfield said angrily. "You know as well as I do how +easy it is to get up a cry against anyone as an Abolitionist, and how +difficult to disprove the accusation; and just at present, when the +passions of every man in the South are inflamed to the utmost, such an +accusation will be most serious. In the present instance there does not +seem that there is a shadow of excuse for your conduct. You simply heard +cries of a slave being flogged. You deliberately leave the road and +enter these people's plantation, and interfere without, so far as I can +see, the least reason for doing so. You did not inquire what the man's +offense was; and he may, for aught you know, have half murdered his +master. You simply see a slave being flogged, and you assault his owner. +If the Jacksons lay complaints against you, it is quite probable that +you may have to leave the State. What on earth can have influenced you +to act in such a mad-brained way?" + +"I did not interfere to prevent his flogging the slave, mother, but to +prevent his flogging the slave's wife, which was pure wanton brutality. +It is not a question of slavery one way or the other. Anyone has a right +to interfere to put a stop to brutality. If I saw a man brutally +treating a horse or a dog, I should certainly do so; and if it is right +to interfere to save a dumb animal from brutal ill-treatment, surely it +must be justifiable to save a woman in the same case. I am not an +Abolitionist. That is to say, I consider that slaves on a properly +managed estate, like ours for instance, are just as well off as are the +laborers on an estate in Europe; but I should certainly like to see laws +passed to protect them from ill-treatment. Why, in England there are +laws against cruelty to animals; and a man who brutally flogged a dog or +a horse would get a month's imprisonment with hard labor. I consider it +a disgrace to us that a man here may ill-treat a human being worse than +he might in England a dumb animal." + +"You know, Vincent," his mother said more quietly, "that I object as +much as you do to the ill-treatment of the slaves, and that the slaves +here, as on all well-conducted plantations in Virginia, are well +treated; but this is not a time for bringing in laws or carrying out +reforms. It is bad enough to have scores of Northerners doing their best +to stir up mischief between masters and slaves, without a Southern +gentleman mixing himself up in the matter. We have got to stand together +as one people and to protect our State rights from interference." + +"I am just as much in favor of State rights as anyone else, mother; and +if, as seems likely, the present quarrel is to be fought out, I hope I +shall do my best for Virginia as well as other fellows of my own age. +But just as I protest against any interference by the Northerners with +our laws, I say that we ought to amend our laws so as not to give them +the shadow of an excuse for interference. It is brutes like the Jacksons +who afford the materials for libels like 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' upon us as +a people; and I can't say that I am a bit sorry for having given that +young Jackson what he deserved." + +"Well, I hope there will be no trouble come of it," Mrs. Wingfield said. +"I shouldn't think the Jacksons would like the exposure of their doings, +which would be caused by bringing the matter into court; but if they do, +you may be quite sure that a jury in Richmond at the present time would +find against you." + +"I don't suppose that they will do anything, mother. But if they must, +they must; and I don't suppose anything serious will come of it, +anyway." + +The next morning Vincent went down early to the stables. As he +approached them Dan came out to meet him. + +"Well, Dan, what's your news?" + +"Bery great bobbery ober at Jackson's last night, Massa Vincent. Fust of +all I crept round to de huts ob de field hands. Dey all knew nuffin +about it; but one of dem he goes off and gets to hab a talk with a gal +employed in de house who was in de habit of slipping out to see him. She +say when de young un war carried in de old man go on furious; he bring +suit against you, he hab you punished berry much--no saying what he not +going to do. After a time de young un come round, he listen to what the +old man say for some time; den he answer: 'No use going on like dat. Set +all de county families against us if we have suit. As to dat infernal +young villain, me pay him out some other way.' Den de old man say he cut +de flesh off de bones ob dat nigger; but de young one say: 'Mustn't do +dat. You sure to hear about it, and make great bobbery. Find some oder +way to punish him.' Den dey talk together for some time, but girl not +hear any more." + +"Well, then, there will be no suit anyhow," Vincent said. "As to paying +me out some other way, I will look after myself, Dan. I believe that +fellow Jackson is capable of anything, and I will be on the lookout for +him." + +"Be sure you do, Massa Vincent. You ride about a great deal, dat fellow +bery like take a shot at you from behind tree. Don't you go near dat +plantation, or sure enuff trouble come." + +"I will look out, Dan. There is one thing, I always ride fast; and it +wants a very good shot to hit one at a gallop. I don't think they will +try that; for if he missed, as he would be almost sure to do, it would +be a good deal worse for him than this affair would have been had he +brought it into court. You keep your ears open, Dan, and find out how +they are thinking of punishing that poor follow for my interference on +his behalf." + +After breakfast a negro arrived with a note for Mrs. Wingfield from Mr. +Jackson, complaining of the unwarrantable and illegal interference by +her son on behalf of a slave who was being very properly punished for +gross misconduct; and of the personal assault upon his son. The writer +said that he was most reluctant to take legal proceedings against a +member of so highly respected a family, but that it was impossible that +he could submit to such an outrage as this. + +Although Mrs. Wingfield had expressed her disapproval of Vincent's +conduct on the evening before, there was no trace of that feeling in her +reply to this letter. She wrote in the third person, coldly +acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Jackson's letter, and saying that she +had heard from her son of his interference to put a stop to one of those +brutal scenes which brought discredit upon the Southern States, and that +she considered he had most rightly punished Mr. Jackson, Jr., for his +inhuman and revolting conduct; that she was perfectly aware the +interference had been technically illegal, but that her son was fully +prepared to defend his conduct if called upon to do so in the courts, +and to pay any fine that might be inflicted for his suffering himself to +be carried away by his righteous indignation. She ended by saying that +as Mr. Jackson was a stranger in Virginia, he was perhaps not aware that +the public sentiment of that State was altogether opposed to such acts +of brutality as that of which his son had been guilty. + +"What have you been doing to that fellow Andrew Jackson?" one of +Vincent's friends, a young fellow two years older than himself, said to +him a few days later. "There were a lot of us talking over things +yesterday, in Richmond, and he came up and joined in. Something was said +about Abolitionists, and he said that he should like to see every +Abolitionist in the State strung up to a tree. He is always pretty +violent, as you know; but on the present occasion he went further than +usual, and then went on to say that the worst and most dangerous +Abolitionists were not Northern men, but Southerners, who were traitors +to their State. He said: 'For example, there is that young Wingfield. He +has been to England, and has come back with his head filled with +Abolitionist notions;' and that such opinions at the present time were a +danger to the State. + +"Two or three of us took the matter up, as you might guess, and told him +he had better mind what he was saying or it would be the worse for him. +Harry Furniss went so far as to tell him that he was a liar, and that if +he didn't like that he could have satisfaction in the usual way. Master +Jackson didn't like it, but muttered something and slunk off. What's the +matter between you?" + +"I should not have said anything about it," Vincent replied, "if Jackson +had chosen to hold his tongue; but as he chooses to go about attacking +me, there is no reason why I should keep the matter secret." And he then +related what had taken place. + +The young Virginian gave a low whistle. + +"I don't say I blame you, Wingfield; but I tell you, you might have got +yourself into an awful mess if the Jacksons had chosen to take it up. +You know how hot the feeling is at present, and it is a serious matter +at any time to interfere between a master and his slaves in the Southern +States. Of course among us our feelings would be all against Jackson; +but among the poorer class of whites, who have been tremendously excited +by the speeches, both in the North and here, the cry of Abolitionist at +the present moment is like a red rag to a bull. However, I understand +now the fellow's enmity to you. + +"None of us ever liked him when he was at school with us. He is an +evil-tempered brute, and I am afraid you may have some trouble with him. +If he goes about talking as he did to us, he would soon get up a feeling +against you. Of course it would be nonsense to openly accuse a member of +an old Virginian family of being an Abolitionist; but it would be easy +enough to set a pack of the rough classes of the town against you, and +you might get badly mauled if they caught you alone. The fellow is +evidently a coward, or he would have taken up what Furniss said; but a +coward who is revengeful is a good deal more dangerous than an open foe. +However, I will talk it over with some of the others, and we will see if +we can't stop Andrew Jackson's mouth." + +The result of this was that the next day half a dozen of Vincent's +friends wrote a joint letter to Andrew Jackson, saying that they +regarded his statements respecting Vincent as false and calumnious, and +that if he repeated them they would jointly and severally hold him +responsible; and that if, as a result of such accusations, any harm +happened to Vincent, they should know where to look for the originator +of the mischief, and punish him accordingly. + +"You should be more careful, Andrew," his father said, as, white with +fury, he showed him his letter. "It was you who were preaching prudence +the other day and warning me against taking steps that would set all the +county families against us; and now, you see, you have been letting your +tongue run, and have drawn this upon yourself. Keep quiet for the +present, my son; all sorts of things may occur before long, and you will +get your chance. Let this matter sleep for the present." + +A day or two later when Vincent went down to the stables he saw that Dan +had something to tell him and soon found out that he wished to speak to +him alone. + +"What is your news, Dan?" + +"I heard last night, Marse Vincent, dat old man Jackson is going to sell +Dinah; dat de wife ob de man dey flogged." + +"They are going to sell her!" Vincent repeated indignantly. "What are +they going to do that for?" + +"To punish Tony, sah. Dar am no law against dar selling her. I hear dat +dey are going to sell two oder boys, so dat it cannot be said dat dey do +it on purpose to spite Tony. I reckon, sah, dey calculate dat when dey +sell his wife Tony get mad and run away, and den when dey catch him +again dey flog him pretty near to death. Folk always do dat with runaway +slaves; no one can say nuffin agin dem for dat." + +"It's an infamous shame that it should be lawful to separate man and +wife," Vincent said. "However, we will see what we can do. You manage to +pass the word to Tony to keep up his spirits, and not let them drive him +to do anything rash. Tell him I will see that his wife does not get +into bad hands, I suppose they will sell the baby too?" + +"Yes. Marse Vincent. Natural the baby will go wid de modder." + +Vincent watched the list of advertisements of slaves to be sold, and a +day or two later saw a notice to the effect that Dinah Moore, age +twenty-two, with a male baby at her breast, would be sold on the +following Saturday. He mounted his horse and rode into Richmond. He had +not liked to speak to his mother on the subject, for she had not told +him of the letter she had written to Jackson; and he thought that she +might disapprove of any interference in the matter, consequently he went +down to Mr. Renfrew, the family solicitor. + +"Mr. Renfrew," he said, "I want some money; can you lend it me?" + +"You want money," the solicitor said in surprise. "What on earth do you +want money for? and if you want it why don't you ask your mother for it? +How much do you want?" + +"I don't know exactly. About eight hundred dollars, I should think; +though it may be a thousand. I want to buy a slave." + +"You want to buy a slave!" repeated Mr. Renfrew. "What on earth do you +want to buy a slave for? You have more than you want now at the +Orangery." + +"It's a slave that man Jackson is going to sell next Saturday, on +purpose to spite the poor creature's husband and drive him to +desperation," and Vincent then repeated the whole story of the +circumstances that had led up to the sale. + +"It is very abominable on the part of these Jacksons," Mr. Renfrew said, +"but your interference was most imprudent, my young friend; and as you +see, it has done harm rather than good. If you are so quixotic as to +become the champion of every ill-treated slave in the State, your work +is pretty well cut out for you." + +"I know that, sir," Vincent replied, smiling, "and I can assure you I +did not intend to enter upon any such crusade; but, you see, I have +wrongly or rightly mixed myself up in this, and I want to repair the +mischief which, as you say, I have caused. The only way I can see is to +buy this negress and her baby." + +"But I do not see that you will carry out your object if you do, +Vincent. She will be separated just as much from her husband if you buy +her as if anyone else does. He is at one plantation and she is at +another, and were they ten miles apart or a hundred, they are equally +separated." + +"I quite see that, Mr. Renfrew; but, at least she will be kindly +treated, and his mind will be at rest on that score. Perhaps some day or +other the Jacksons may put him up for sale, and then I can buy him, and +they will be reunited. At any rate, the first step is to buy her. Can +you let me have the money? My mother makes me a very good allowance." + +"And I suppose you spend it," the lawyer interrupted. + +"Well, yes, I generally spend it; but then, you see, when I come of age +I come in for the outlying estates." + +"And if you die before, or get shot, or any other accident befalls you," +Mr. Renfrew said, "they go to your sisters. However, one must risk +something for a client, so I will lend you the money. I had better put +somebody up to bid for you, for after what has happened the Jacksons +would probably not let her go if they knew that you were going to be the +purchaser." + +"Thank you very much," Vincent said warmly; "it will be a great weight +off my mind," and with a light heart he rode back to the Orangery. + +Vincent said nothing during the next two days to any of his friends as +to the course the Jacksons were taking in selling Tony's wife; for he +thought that if the news got about, some one of his friends who had +heard the circumstances might go down to the auction and make such a +demonstration that Jackson would be obliged to withdraw Dinah from the +sale, in which case he could no doubt dispose of her privately. On the +Saturday he mounted his horse and rode into Richmond, telling Dan to +meet him there. At the hour the sale was announced he went to the yard +where it was to take place. + +This was a somewhat quiet and secluded place; for although the sale of +slaves was permitted by law in Virginia, at any rate these auctions were +conducted quietly and with as little publicity as possible. For although +the better classes still regarded slavery as a necessary institution, +they were conscious that these sales, involving as they did the +separation of families, were indefensible, and the more thoughtful would +gladly have seen them abolished, and a law passed forbidding the sale of +negroes save as part and parcel of the estate upon which they worked, an +exception only being made in the case of gross misconduct. Many of the +slave-owners, indeed, forbade all flogging upon their estates, and +punished refractory slaves, in the first place, by the cutting off of +the privileges they enjoyed in the way of holidays, and if this did not +answer, threatened to sell them--a threat which was, in the vast +majority of cases, quite sufficient to insure good behavior; for the +slaves were well aware of the difference between life in the +well-managed establishments in Virginia and that in some of the other +Southern States. Handing his horse to Dan, Vincent joined a knot of four +or five of his acquaintances who had strolled in from mere curiosity. + +There were some thirty or forty men in the yard, a few of whom had come +in for the purpose of buying; but the great majority had only attended +for the sake of passing an idle hour. Slaves had fallen in value; for +although all in the South professed their confidence that the law would +never attempt by force of arms to prevent their secession, it was felt +that slave property would in future be more precarious, for the North +would not improbably repeal the laws for the arrest of fugitive slaves, +and consequently all runaways who succeeded in crossing the border would +be lost to their masters. + +Upon the other side of the yard Vincent saw Andrew Jackson talking to +two or three men who were strangers to him, and who, he guessed, were +buyers from some of the more southern States. There were in all twelve +lots to be disposed of. Of these two or three were hands who were no +longer fit for field work, and who were bought at very low prices by men +who owned but a few acres of land, and who could utilize them for odd +jobs requiring but little strength. Then there was a stir of attention. +Dinah Moore took her stand upon the platform, with her baby in her arms. +The message which Dan had conveyed from Vincent to her husband had given +her some hope, and though she looked scared and frightened as she +clasped her babe to her breast, she was not filled with such utter +despair as would otherwise have been the case. + +The auctioneer stated the advantages of the lot in the same business +like tone as if he had been selling a horse. + +"Lot 6. Negro wench, Dinah; age twenty-two; with male child. Strong and +well made, as you see, gentlemen; fit for field work, or could be made a +useful hand about the house; said to be handy and good-tempered. Now +gentlemen, what shall we say for this desirable lot?" + +One of the men standing by Andrew Jackson bid a hundred dollars. The bid +was raised to a hundred and fifty by a rough-looking fellow standing in +front of the platform. For some time the bidding was confined to these +two, and it rose until it reached seven hundred and fifty, at which +point the man near the platform retired, and there was a pause. + +Vincent felt uncomfortable. He had already been round to Mr. Renfrew, +who had told him that he had deputed an agent to buy; and until the man +near the platform stopped he had supposed that he was the solicitor's +agent. + +"Now, gentlemen," the auctioneer said, "surely you are not going to let +this desirable piece of property go for seven fifty? She would be cheap +at double the price. I have sold worse articles for three thousand." + +"I will go another twenty-five dollars," a tall man in homespun and a +planter's broad straw hat said quietly. + +The contest now recommenced, and by bids of twenty-five dollars at a +time the amount was raised to twelve hundred and fifty dollars. + +"That's enough for me," the man standing by Andrew Jackson said; "he may +have her at twelve fifty, and dear enough, too, as times go." + +"Will anyone else make an offer?" the auctioneer asked. There was no +response, and the hammer fell. + +"What name?" + +"Nathaniel Forster," the tall man said; and advancing to the table he +counted out a roll of notes and gave them to the auctioneer, who handed +to him a formal note certifying to his having legally purchased Dinah +Moore and her infant, late the property of Andrew Jackson, Esquire, of +the Cedars, State of Virginia. + +The purchaser had evidently made up his mind beforehand to secure the +lot, for he handed a parcel he had been holding to Dinah, and said +briefly, "Slip those things on, my lass." + +The poor girl, who had before been simply attired in the scantiest of +petticoats, retired to a corner of the yard, and speedily came forward +again dressed in a neat cotton gown. There were several joking remarks +made by the bystanders, but Dinah's new master took no notice of them, +but with a motion of his hand to her to follow him, walked out of the +yard. + +A minute later Vincent followed, and although he had no doubt that the +man was the agent Mr. Renfrew had employed, he did not feel thoroughly +satisfied until he saw them enter the lawyer's office. He quickly +followed. They had just entered the private room of Mr. Renfrew. + +"That's right, Wingfield," the lawyer said. "You see we have settled the +business satisfactorily, and I think you have got a fairly cheap +bargain. Just wait a minute and we will complete the transaction." + +Dinah gave a start as Vincent entered, but with the habitual +self-repression of a slave, she stood quietly in the corner to which she +had withdrawn at the other end of the room. + +The lawyer was busy drawing up a document, and, touching a bell, ordered +a clerk to go across to Mr. Rawlins, justice of the peace, and ask him +to step across the road. + +In a minute Mr. Rawlins entered. + +"I want you to witness a deed of sale of a slave," Mr. Renfrew said. +"Here are the particulars: 'Nathaniel Forster sells to Vincent Wingfield +his slave, Dinah Moore and her male infant, for the sum of fourteen +hundred dollars.' These are the parties. Forster, sign this receipt." + +The man did so. The justice put his signature as witness to the +transaction, dropped into his pocket the fee of five dollars that the +lawyer handed to him, and without a word strolled out again. + +"There, Dinah," Mr. Renfrew said, "Mr. Wingfield is now your master." + +The girl ran forward, fell on her knees before Vincent, seized his hand +and kissed it, sobbing out her thanks as she did so. + +"There, that will do, Dinah," the lawyer said, seeing that Vincent was +confused by her greeting. "I think you are a lucky girl, and have made a +good exchange for the Orangery instead of the Cedars. I don't suppose +you will find Mr. Wingfield a very hard master. What he is going to do +with you I am sure I don't know." + +Vincent now went to the door and called in Dan and told him to take +Dinah to the Orangery, then mounting his horse he rode off home to +prepare his mother for the reception of his new purchase. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +AIDING A RUNAWAY. + + +"Well, you are an extraordinary boy, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield said as +her son told her the story, while his sister burst into fits of laughter +at the idea of Vincent owning a female slave with a baby. "Why did you +not tell me that you wanted the money, instead of going to Mr. Renfrew? +I shall tell him I am very angry with him for letting you have it for +such a purpose." + +"I was not sure whether you would let me have it, mother; and if you had +refused, and I had got it afterward from Mr. Renfrew, I should not have +liked to bring her home here." + +"That would have been fun," Annie said. "Fancy Vincent's troubles with a +female slave on his hands and nowhere to put her. What would you have +done, Vincent?" + +"I suppose I could have got a home for her somewhere," Vincent said +quietly. "I don't think there would have been any difficulty about that. +Still I am glad I didn't have to do so, and one slave more or less can +make no difference here." + +"Not at all," Mrs. Wingfield said; "I dare say Chloe will find something +for her to do in the way of washing, and such other light work that she +is fit for about the house. It is not that, but it is years since a +slave was brought into the Orangery; never since I can remember. We +raise more than we want ourselves; and when I see all those children +about, I wonder sometimes what on earth we are to find for them all to +do. Still, it was a scandalous thing of that man Jackson selling the +girl to punish her husband; and, as you say, it was your foolish +interference in the matter that brought it about, so I do not know that +I can blame you for doing what you can to set the matter straight. +Still, except that the knowledge that she is here, and will be well +treated, will be a comfort to the man, I do not see that he will be much +better off, unless, indeed, the Jacksons should try to sell him also, in +which case I suppose you will want to buy him." + +"I am afraid they won't do that, mother. Still, somehow or other, in +time they may come together again." + +"I don't see how they can, Vincent. However, we need not think of that +now. At any rate I hope there will be no further opportunity for your +mixing yourself up in this business. You have made two bitter enemies +now, and although I do not see that such people as these can do you any +harm, it is always well not to make enemies, especially in times like +these when no one can foresee exactly what may occur." + +And so Dinah Moore became an inmate of the Orangery; and though the +girls had laughed at their brother, they were very kind to her when she +arrived with Dan, and made much of her and of her baby. The same night +Dan went over to the Cedars, and managed to have an interview with Tony, +and to tell him that his wife had been bought by Vincent. The joy of the +negro was extreme. The previous message had raised his hopes that +Vincent would succeed in getting her bought by someone who would be kind +to her, but he knew well that she might nevertheless fall to the lot of +some higher bidder and be taken hundreds of miles away, and that he +might never again get news of her whereabouts. He had then suffered +terrible anxiety all day, and the relief of learning that Vincent +himself had bought her, and that she was now installed as a house +servant at the Orangery, but a few miles away, was quite overpowering, +and for some minutes he could only gasp out his joy and thankfulness. He +could hope now that when better times came he might be able to steal +away some night and meet her, and that some day or other, though how he +could not see, they might be reunited. The Jacksons remained in +ignorance that their former slave was located so near to them. + +It was for this reason that Mr. Renfrew had instructed his agent to buy +her in his own name instead of that of Vincent; and the Jacksons, having +no idea of the transfer that had subsequently taken place, took no +further interest in the matter, believing that they had achieved their +object of torturing Tony, and avenging upon him the humiliation that +Andrew had suffered at Vincent's hands. Had they questioned their +slaves, and had these answered them truly, they would have discovered +the facts. For although Tony himself said no word to anyone of what he +had learned from Dan, the fact that Dinah was at the Orangery was +speedily known among the slaves; for the doings at one plantation were +soon conveyed to the negroes on the others by the occasional visits +which they paid at night to each other's quarters, or to some common +rendezvous far removed from interruption. + +Occasionally Tony and Dinah met. Dan would come up late in the evening +to the house, and a nod to Dinah would be sufficient to send her flying +down the garden to a clump of shrubs, where he would be waiting for her. +At these stolen meetings they were perfectly happy; for Tony said no +word to her of the misery of his life--how he was always put to the +hardest work and beaten on the smallest pretext, how in fact his life +was made so unendurable that the idea of running away and taking to the +swamps was constantly present to him. + +As to making his way north, it did not enter his mind as possible. +Slaves did, indeed, at times succeed in traveling through the Northern +States and making their way to Canada, but this was only possible by +means of the organization known as the underground railway, an +association consisting of a number of good people who devoted themselves +to the purpose, giving shelter to fugitive slaves during the day, and +then passing them on to the next refuge during the night. For in the +Northern States as well as the Southern any negro unprovided with papers +showing that he was a free man was liable to be arrested and sent back +to the South a prisoner, large rewards being given to those who arrested +them. + +As he was returning from one of these interviews with his wife, Tony was +detected by the overseer, who was strolling about around the slaves' +quarters, and was next morning flogged until he became insensible. So +terrible was the punishment that for some days he was unable to walk. As +soon as he could get about he was again set to work, but the following +morning he was found to be missing. Andrew Jackson at once rode into +Richmond, and in half an hour placards and handbills were printed +offering a reward for his capture. These were not only circulated in the +neighborhood, but were sent off to all the towns and villages through +which Tony might be expected to pass in the endeavor to make his way +north. Vincent soon learned from Dan what had taken place. + +"You have no idea, I suppose, Dan, as to which way he is likely to go?" + +Dan shook his head. + +"Me suppose, massa, dat most likely he gone and hidden in de great woods +by the James River. Bery difficult to find him dere." + +"Difficult to find him, no doubt," Vincent agreed. "But he could not +stop there long--he would find nothing to eat in the woods; and though +he might perhaps support himself for a time on corn or roots from the +clearings scattered about through the James Peninsula, he must sooner or +later be caught." + +"Dar are runaways in de woods now, Marse Vincent," Dan said; "some ob +dem hab been dar for months." + +"But how do they live, Dan?" + +"Well, sar, you see dey hab friends on de plantations; and sometimes at +night one of de slaves will steal away wid a basket ob yams and corn +cakes and oder things and put dem down in a certain place in de forest, +and next morning, sure enough, dey will be gone. Dangerous work, dat, +massa; because if dey caught with food, it know for sure dat dey carry +it to runaway, and den you know dey pretty well flog the life out of +dem." + +"Yes, I know, Dan; it is a very serious matter hiding a runaway slave, +and even a white man would be very heavily punished, and perhaps +lynched, if caught in the act. Well, make what inquiries you can among +the slaves, and find out if you can whether any of those Jacksons have +an idea which way Tony has gone. But do not go yourself on to Jackson's +place; if you were caught there now it would be an awkward matter for +both of us." + +"I will find out, Marse Vincent; but I don't s'pose Tony said a word to +any of the others. He know well enough dat de Jacksons question +eberyone pretty sharp, and perhaps flog dem all round to find out if dey +know anything. He keep it to himself about going away, for suah." + +The Jacksons kept up a vigorous hunt after their slave, and day after +day parties of men ranged through the woods, but without discovering any +traces of him. Bloodhounds were employed the first day, but before these +could be fetched from Richmond the scent had grown cold; for Tony had +gone off as soon as the slaves had been shut up for the night, and had +directly he left the hut wrapped leaves round his feet, therefore the +hounds when they arrived from Richmond were unable to take up the scent. + +A week after Tony's escape Vincent returned late one evening from a +visit to some friends. Dan, as he took his horse, whispered to him: +"Stop a little on your way to house, Marse Vincent; me hab someting to +tell you." + +"What is it, Dan?" Vincent asked as the lad, after putting up his horse +in the stable, came running up to him. + +"Me have seen Tony, sah. He in de shrubs ober dar. He want to see Dinah, +but me no take message till me tell you about him. He half starved, sah; +me give him some yams." + +"That's right, Dan." + +"He pretty nigh desperate, sah; he say dey hunt him like wild beast." + +"I will see him, Dan. If I can help him in any way I will do so. +Unfortunately I do not know any of the people who help to get slaves +away, so I can give him no advice as to the best way to proceed. Still I +might talk it over with him. When I have joined him, do you go up to the +house and tell Chloe from me to give you a pile of corn cakes--it's no +use giving him flour, for he would be afraid to light a fire to cook it. +Tell her to give you, too, any cold meat there may be in the house. +Don't tell Dinah her husband is here till we have talked the matter +over." + +Dan led Vincent up to a clump of bushes. + +"It am all right, Tony," he said; "here is Massa Vincent come to see +you." + +The bushes parted and Tony came out into the full moonlight. He looked +haggard and worn; his clothes were torn into strips by the bushes. + +"My poor fellow," Vincent said kindly, "I am sorry to see you in such a +state." + +A great sob broke from the black. + +"De Lord bless you, sah, for your goodness and for saving Dinah from de +hands of dose debils! Now she safe wid you and de child, Tony no care +bery much what come to him--de sooner he dead de better. He wish dat one +day when dey flog him dey had kill him altogether; den all de trouble at +an end. Dey hunt him ebery day with dogs and guns, and soon they catch +him. No can go on much longer like dis. To-day me nearly gib myself up. +Den me thought me like to see Dinah once more to say good-by, so make +great effort and ran a bit furder." + +"I have been thinking whether it would be possible to plan some way for +your escape, Tony." + +The negro shook his head. + +"Dar never escape, sah, but to get to Canada; dat too far, anyway. Not +possible to walk all dat way and get food by the road. Suah to be +caught." + +"No, I do not think it will be possible to escape that way, Tony. The +only possible plan would be to get you on board some ship going to +England." + +"Ships not dare take negro on board," Tony said. "Me heard dat said many +times--dat against de law." + +"Yes, I know it's against the law," Vincent said, "and it's against the +law my talking to you here, Tony; but you see it's done. The difficulty +is how to do it. All vessels are searched before they start, and an +officer goes down with them past Fortress Monroe to see that they take +no one on board. Still it is possible. Of course there is risk in the +matter; but there is risk in everything. I will think it over. Do not +lose heart. Dan will be back directly with enough food to last you for +some days. If I were you I would take refuge this time in White Oak +Swamp. It is much nearer, and I hear it has already been searched from +end to end, so they are not likely to try again; and if you hear them +you can, if you are pressed, cross the Chickahominy and make down +through the woods. Do you come again on Saturday evening--that will give +me four days to see what I can do. I may not succeed, you know; for the +penalty is so severe against taking negroes on board that I may not be +able to find anyone willing to risk it. But it is worth trying." + +"De Lord bless you, sah!" Tony said. "I will do juss what you tell me; +but don't you run no risks for me, my life aint worth dat." + +"I will take care, Tony. And now here comes Dan with the provisions." + +"Can I see Dinah, sah?" Tony pleaded. + +"I think you had better not," Vincent replied. "You see the Jacksons +might at any moment learn that she is here, and then she might be +questioned whether she had seen you since your escape; and it would be +much better for her to be able to deny having done so. But you shall see +her next time you come, whether I am able to make any arrangements for +your escape or not. I will let her know to-morrow morning that I have +seen you, and that you are safe at present." + +The next morning Vincent rode over to City Point, where ships with a +large draught of water generally brought up, either transferring their +goods into smaller craft to be sent up by river to Richmond, or to be +carried on by rail through the town of Petersburg. Leaving his horse at +a house near the river, he crossed the James in a boat to City Point. +There were several vessels lying here, and for some hours he hung about +the wharf watching the process of discharging. By the end of that time +he had obtained a view of all the captains, and had watched them as they +gave their orders, and had at last come to the conclusion as to which +would be the most likely to suit his purpose. Having made up his mind, +he waited until the one he had fixed upon came ashore. He was a man of +some five and thirty years old, with a pleasant face and good-natured +smile. He first went into some offices on the wharf, and half an hour +later came out and walked toward the railway station. Vincent at once +followed him, and as he overtook him said: + +"I want very much to speak to you, sir, if you could spare me a minute +or two." + +"Certainly," the sailor said, with some surprise. "The train for +Petersburg does not go for another half hour. What can I do for you?" + +"My name is Vincent Wingfield. My father was an English officer, and my +mother is the owner of some large estates near Richmond. I am most +anxious to get a person in whom I am interested on board ship, and I do +not know how to set about it." + +"There's no difficulty about that," the captain said, smiling; "you have +only to go to an office and pay for his passage to where he wants to +go." + +"I can't do that," Vincent replied; "for unfortunately it is against the +law for any captain to take him." + +"You mean he is a negro?" the captain asked, stopping short in his walk +and looking sharply at Vincent. + +"Yes, that is what I mean," Vincent said. "He is a negro who has been +brutally ill-treated and has run away from his master, and I would +willingly give a hundred pounds to get him safely away." + +"This is a very serious business in which you are meddling, young sir," +the sailor said. "Putting aside the consequences to yourself, you are +asking me to break the law and to run the risk of the confiscation of my +ship. Even if I were willing to do what you propose, it would be +impossible, for the ship will be searched from end to end before the +hatches are closed, and an official will be on board until we discharge +the pilot after getting well beyond the mouth of the river." + +"Yes, I know that," Vincent replied; "but my plan was to take a boat +and go out beyond the sight of land, and then to put him on board after +you have got well away." + +"That might be managed, certainly," the captain said. "It would be +contrary to my duty to do anything that would risk the property of my +employers; but if when I am out at sea a boat came alongside, and a +passenger came on board, it would be another matter. I suppose, young +gentleman, that you would not interfere in such a business, and run the +risk that you certainly would run if detected, unless you were certain +that this was a deserving case, and that the man has committed no sort +of crime; for I would not receive on board my ship a fugitive from +justice, whether he was black or white." + +"It is indeed a deserving case," Vincent said earnestly. "The poor +fellow has the misfortune of belonging to one of the worst masters in +the State. He has been cruelly flogged on many occasions, and was +finally driven to run away by their selling his wife and child." + +"The brutes!" the sailor said. "How you people can allow such a thing to +be done is a mystery to me. Well, lad, under those circumstances I will +agree to do what you ask me, and if your boat comes alongside when I am +so far away from land that it cannot be seen, I will take the man to +England." + +"Thank you very much indeed," Vincent said; "you will be doing a good +action. Upon what day do you sail?" + +"I shall drop down on Monday into Hampton Roads, and shall get up sail +at daylight next morning. I shall pass Fortress Monroe at about seven in +the morning, and shall sail straight out." + +"And how shall I know your ship?" Vincent asked. "There may be others +starting just about the same time." + +The sailor thought for a moment. "When I am four or five miles out I +will hoist my owner's flag at the fore-masthead. It is a red flag with a +white ball, so you will be able to make it out a considerable distance +away. You must not be less than ten or twelve miles out, for the pilot +often does not leave the ship till she is some miles past Fortress +Monroe, and the official will not leave the ship till he does. I will +keep a sharp lookout for you, but I cannot lose any time in waiting. If +you do not come alongside I shall suppose that you have met with some +interruption to your plans." + +"Thank you very much, sir. Unless something goes wrong I shall be +alongside on Tuesday." + +"That's settled," the captain said, "and I must be off, or else I shall +lose my train. By the way, when you come alongside do not make any sign +that you have met me before. It is just as well that none of my crew +should know that it is a planned thing, for if we ever happen to put in +here again they might blab about it, and it is just as well not to give +them the chance. Good-by, my lad; I hope that all will go well. But, you +know, you are doing a very risky thing; for the assisting a runaway +slave to escape is about as serious an offense as you can commit in +these parts. You might shoot half a dozen men and get off scot free, but +if you were caught aiding a runaway to escape, there is no saying what +might come of it." + +After taking leave of the captain, Vincent recrossed the river and rode +home. He had friends whose fathers' estates bordered some on the James +and others on the York River, and all of these had pleasure boats. It +was obviously better to go down the York River, and thence round to the +mouth of the James at Fortress Monroe, as the traffic on the York was +comparatively small, and it was improbable that he would be noticed +either going down or returning. He had at first thought of hiring a +fishing boat from some of the free negroes who made their living on the +river. But he finally decided against this; for the fact of the boat +being absent so long would attract its owner's attention, and in case +any suspicion arose that the fugitive had escaped by water, the hiring +of a boat by one who had already befriended the slave and its absence +for so long a time, would be almost certain to cause suspicion to be +directed toward him. He therefore decided upon borrowing a boat from a +friend, and next morning rode to the plantation of the father of Harry +Furniss, this being in a convenient position on the Pamunky, one of the +branches of the York River. + +"Are you using that sailboat of yours at present, Harry? Because, if +not, I wish you would let me have the use of it for a week or so." + +"With pleasure, Vincent; and my fishing lines and nets as well, if you +like. We very seldom use the boat. Do you mean to keep it here or move +it higher up the river, where it would be more handy for you, perhaps?" + +"I think I would rather leave it here, Furniss. A mile or two extra to +ride makes no difference. I suppose it's in the water?" + +"Yes; at the foot of the boathouse stairs. There is a padlock and chain. +I will give you the key, so you can go off whenever you like without +bothering to come up to the house. If you just call in at the stable as +you ride by, one of the boys will go down with you and take your horse, +and put him up till you come back again." + +"That will do capitally," Vincent replied. "It is some time since I was +on the water, and I seem to have a fancy for a change at present. One is +sick of riding into Richmond and hearing nothing but politics talked of. +Don't be alarmed if you hear at any time that the boat has not come back +at night, for if tide and wind are unfavorable at any time, I might stop +at Cumberland for the night." + +"I have often had to do that," Furniss said. "Besides, if you took it +away for a week I don't suppose anyone would notice it; for no one goes +down to the boathouse unless to get the boat ready for a trip." + +The next day Vincent rode over to his friend's plantation, sending Dan +off an hour beforehand to bale out the boat and get the masts and sails +into her from the boathouse. The greater part of the next two days was +spent on the water, sometimes sailing, sometimes fishing. The evening +of the second of these days was that upon which Vincent had arranged to +meet Tony again, and an hour after dark he went down through the garden +to the stable; for that was the time the fugitive was to meet him, for +he could not leave his place of concealment until night fell. After +looking at the horses, and giving some instructions to the negroes in +charge, he returned to the shrubbery, and, sending Dan up to summon +Dinah, he went to the bushes where he had before met Tony. The negro +came out as he approached. + +"How are you, Tony?" + +"Much better dan I was, massa. I have not been disturbed since I saw +you, and, thanks to dat and to de good food and to massa's kind words, +I'm stronger and better now, and ready to do whatever massa think best." + +"Well, Tony, I am glad to say that I think I have arranged a plan by +which you will be got safely out of the country. Of course, it may fail; +but there is every hope of success. I have arranged for a boat, and +shall take you down the river, and put you on board a ship bound for +England." + +The black clapped his hands in delight at the news. + +"When you get there you will take another ship out to Canada, and as +soon as I learn from you that you are there, and what is your address, I +will give Dinah her papers of freedom and send her on to you." + +"Oh! massa, it is too much," Tony said, with the tears running down his +cheeks; "too much joy altogeder." + +"Well, I hope it will all come right, Tony. Dinah will be here in a +minute or two. Do not keep her long, for I do not wish her absence from +the house to be observed just now. Now, listen to my instructions. Do +you know the plantation of Mr. Furniss, on the Pamunky, near Coal +Harbor?" + +"No, sir; but me can find out." + +"No, you can't; because you can't see anyone or ask questions. Very +well, then, you must be here again to-morrow night at the same hour. Dan +will meet you here, and act as your guide. He will presently bring you +provisions for to-morrow. Be sure you be careful, Tony, and get back to +your hiding place as soon as you can, and lie very quiet to-morrow until +it is time to start. It would be terrible if you were to be caught now, +just as we have arranged for you to get away." + +On the following afternoon Vincent told his mother that he was going +over that evening to his friend Furniss, as an early start was to be +made next morning; they intended to go down the river as far as +Yorktown, if not further; that he certainly should not be back for two +days, and probably might be even longer. + +"This new boating freak of yours, Vincent, seems to occupy all your +thoughts. I wonder how long it will last." + +"I don't suppose it will last much longer, mother," Vincent said, with a +laugh. "Anyhow, it will make a jolly change for a week. One has got so +sick of hearing nothing talked about but secession, that a week without +hearing the word mentioned will do one lots of good, and I am sure I +felt that if one had much more of it, one would be almost driven to take +up the Northern side, just for the sake of a change." + +"We should all disown you, Vin," Annie said, laughing; "we should have +nothing to say to you, and you would be cut by all your friends." + +"Well, you see, a week's sailing and fishing will save me from all that, +Annie; and I shall be able to begin again with a fresh stock of +patience." + +"I believe you are only half in earnest in the cause, Vincent," his +mother said gravely. + +"I am not, indeed, mother. I quite agree with what you and everyone say +as to the rights of the State of Virginia, and if the North should +really try to force us and the other Southern States to remain with +them, I shall be just as ready to do everything I can as anyone else; +but I can't see the good of always talking about it, and I think it's +very wrong to ill-treat and abuse those who think the other way. In +England in the Civil War the people of the towns almost all thought one +way, and almost all those of the counties the other, and even now +opinions differ almost as widely as to which was right. I hate to hear +people always laying down the law as if there could not possibly be two +sides to the case, and as if everyone who differed from them must be a +rascal and a traitor. Almost all the fellows I know say that if it comes +to fighting they shall go into the State army, and I should be quite +willing, if they would really take fellows of my age for soldiers, to +enlist too; but that is no reason why one should not get sick of hearing +nothing but one subject talked of for weeks." + +It was nearly dark when Vincent started for his walk of ten miles; for +he had decided not to take his horse with him, as he had no means of +sending it back, and its stay for three days in his friend's stables +would attract attention to the fact of his long absence. + +After about three hours' walking he reached the boathouse, having seen +no one as he passed through the plantation. He took the oars and sails +from the boathouse and placed them in the boat, and then sat down in the +stern to await the coming of the negroes. In an hour they arrived; Tony +carrying a bundle of clothes that Dan had by Vincent's orders bought for +him in Richmond, while Dan carried a large basket of provisions. Vincent +gave an exclamation of thankfulness as he saw the two figures appear, +for the day having been Sunday, he knew that a good many men would be +likely to join the search parties in hopes of having a share in the +reward offered for Tony's capture, and he had felt very anxious all day. + +"You sit in the bottom of the boat, Tony, and do you steer, Dan. You +make such a splashing with your oar that we should be heard a mile away. +Keep us close in shore in the shadow of the trees; the less we are +noticed the better at this time of night." + +Taking the sculls, Vincent rowed quietly away. He had often been out on +boating excursions with his friends, and had learned to row fairly. +During the last two days he had diligently instructed Dan, and after +two long days' work the young negro had got over the first difficulties, +but he was still clumsy and awkward. Vincent did not exert himself. He +knew he had a long night's row before him, and he paddled quietly along +with the stream. The boat was a good-sized one, and when not under sail +was generally rowed by two strong negroes accustomed to the work. + +Sometimes for half an hour at a time Vincent ceased rowing, and let the +boat drift along quietly. There was no hurry, for he had a day and two +nights to get down to the mouth of the river, a distance of some seventy +miles, and out to sea, far enough to intercept the vessel. At four +o'clock they arrived at Cumberland, where the Pamunky and Mattapony +Rivers unite and form the York River. Here they were in tidal waters; +and as the tide, though not strong, was flowing up, Vincent tied the +boat to the branch of a tree, and lay down in the bottom for an hour's +sleep, telling Dan to wake him when the tide turned, or if he heard any +noise. Day had broken when the boat drifted round, and Dan aroused him. + +The boat was rowed off to the middle of the river, as there could be no +longer any attempt at concealment. Dan now took the bow oar, and they +rowed until a light breeze sprang up. Vincent then put up the mast, and, +having hoisted the sail, took his place at the helm, while Dan went +forward into the bow. They passed several fishing boats, and the smoke +was seen curling up from the huts in the clearings scattered here and +there along the shore. The sun had now risen, and its heat was pleasant +after the damp night air. + +Although the breeze was light, the boat made fair way with the tide, and +when the ebb ceased, at about ten o'clock, the mouth of the river was +but a few miles away. The mast was lowered and the sails stowed. The +boat was then rowed into a little creek and tied up to the bushes. The +basket of provisions was opened, and a hearty meal enjoyed, Tony being +now permitted for the first time to sit up in the boat. After the meal +Vincent and Dan lay down for a long sleep, while Tony, who had slept +some hours during the night, kept watch. + +At four in the afternoon the tide again slackened, and as soon as it had +fairly turned they pushed out from the creek and again set sail. In +three hours they were at the mouth of the river. A short distance out +they saw several fishing boats, and dropping anchor a short distance +away from these, they lowered their sail, and taking the fishing lines +from the locker of the boat, set to to fish. As soon as it was quite +dark the anchor was hauled up, and Vincent and Dan took the oars, the +wind having now completely dropped. For some time they rowed steadily, +keeping the land in sight on their right hand. + +Tony was most anxious to help, but as he had never had an oar in his +hand in his life, Vincent thought that he would do more harm than good. +It was, he knew, some ten miles from the mouth of the York River to +Fortress Monroe, at the entrance to Hampton Roads, and after rowing for +three hours he thought that he could not be far from that point, and +therefore turned the boat's head toward the sea. They rowed until they +could no longer make out the land astern, and then laying on their oars +waited till the morning, Vincent sitting in the stern and often nodding +off to sleep, while the two negroes kept up a constant conversation in +the bow. + +As soon as it was daylight the oars were again got out. They could +clearly make out the outline of the coast, and saw the break in the +shore that marked the entrance to Hampton Roads. There was a light +breeze now, but Vincent would not hoist the sail lest it might attract +the attention of someone on shore. He did not think the boat itself +could be seen, as they were some eight or nine miles from the land. They +rowed for a quarter of an hour, when Vincent saw the white sails of a +ship coming out from the entrance. + +The breeze was so light that she would, he thought, be nearly three +hours before she reached the spot where they were now, and whether she +headed to the right or left of it he would have plenty of time to cut +her off. For another two hours he and Dan rowed steadily. The wind had +freshened a good deal, and the ship was now coming up fast to them. Two +others had come out after her, but were some miles astern. They had +already made out that the ship was flying a flag at her masthead, and +although they had not been able to distinguish its colors, Vincent felt +sure that it was the right ship; for he felt certain that the captain +would get up sail as soon as possible, so as to come up with them before +any other vessels came out. They had somewhat altered their course, to +put themselves in line with the vessel. When she was within a distance +of about a mile and a half Vincent was able to make out the flag, and +knew that it was the right one. + +"There's the ship, Tony," he said; "it is all right, and in a few +minutes you will be on your way to England." + +Tony had already changed his tattered garments for the suit of sailor's +clothes that Dan had bought for him. Vincent had given him full +instructions as to the course he was to pursue. The ship was bound for +Liverpool; on his arrival there he was at once to go round the docks and +take a passage in the steerage of the next steamer going to Canada. + +"The fare will be about five pounds," he said. "When you get to Canada +you will land at Quebec, and you had better go on by rail to Montreal, +where you will, I think, find it easier to get work than at Quebec. As +soon as you get a place you are likely to stop in, get somebody to write +for you to me, giving me your address. Here are a hundred dollars, which +will be sufficient to pay your expenses to Montreal and leave you about +fifty dollars to keep you till you can get something to do." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SAFELY BACK. + + +When the ship came within a few hundred yards, Vincent stood up and +waved his cap, and a minute later the ship was brought up into the wind +and her sails thrown aback. The captain appeared at the side and shouted +to the boat, now but fifty yards away. + +"What do you want, there?" + +"I have a passenger for England," Vincent replied. "Will you take him?" + +"Come alongside," the captain said. "Why didn't he come on board before +I started?" + +The boat was rowed alongside, and Vincent climbed on board. The captain +greeted him as a stranger and led the way to his cabin. + +"You have managed that well," he said, when they were alone, "and I am +heartily glad that you have succeeded. I made you out two hours ago. We +will stop here another two or three minutes, so that the men may think +you are bargaining for a passage for the negro, and then the sooner he +is on board and you are on your way back the better, for the wind is +rising, and I fancy it is going to blow a good deal harder before +night." + +"And won't you let me pay for the man's passage, captain? It is only +fair, anyhow, that I should pay for what he will eat." + +"Oh, nonsense!" the captain replied. "He will make himself useful, and +pay for his keep. I am only too glad to get the poor fellow off. Now, we +will have a glass of wine together and then say good-by." + +Two minutes later they returned to the deck. Vincent went to the side. + +"Jump on board, Tony. I have arranged for your passage." The negro +climbed up the side. + +"Good-by, captain, and thank you heartily. Good-by, Tony." + +The negro could not speak, but seized the hand Vincent held out to him +and pressed it to his lips. Vincent dropped lightly into his boat and +pushed off from the side of the vessel. As he did so he heard orders +shouted, the yards swung round, and the vessel almost at once began to +move through the water. + +"Now, Dan, up with the mast and sail again; but let me put two reefs in +first, the wind is getting up." + +In five minutes the sail was hoisted, and with Vincent at the helm and +Dan sitting up to windward, was dashing through the water. Although +Vincent understood the management of a sailing-boat on the calm waters +of the rivers, this was his first experience of sea-sailing; and +although the waves were still but small, he felt somewhat nervous as the +boat dashed through them, sending up at times a sheet of spray from her +bows. But he soon got over this sensation, and enjoyed the lively motion +and fresh wind. The higher points of the land were still visible; but +even had they not been so it would have mattered little, as he had taken +the precaution to bring with him a small pocket-compass. The wind was +from the southwest, and he was therefore able, with the sheet hauled in, +to make for a point where he judged the mouth of the York River lay. + +"Golly, massa! how de boat do jump up and down." + +"She is lively, Dan, and it would be just as well if we had some ballast +on board; however, she has a good beam and walks along splendidly. If +the wind keeps as it is, we shall be back at the mouth of the York in +three or four hours. You may as well open that basket again and hand me +that cold chicken and a piece of bread; cut the meat off the bones and +put it on the bread, for I have only one hand disengaged, and hand me +that bottle of cold tea. That's right. Now you had better take something +yourself. You must be hungry. We forgot all about the basket in our +interest in the ship." + +Dan shook his head. + +"A little while ago, massa, me seem bery hungry, now me doesn't feel +hungry at all." + +"That's bad, Dan. I am afraid you are going to be seasick." + +"Me no feel seasick, massa; only me don't feel hungry." + +But in a few minutes Dan was forced to confess that he did feel ill, and +a few moments afterward was groaning in the agonies of seasickness. + +"Never mind, Dan," Vincent said cheerfully. "You will be better after +this." + +"Me not seasick, massa; de sea have nuffin to do with it. It's de boat +dat will jump up and down instead of going quiet." + +"It's all the same thing, Dan; and I hope she won't jump about more +before we get into the river." + +But in another half hour Vincent had to bring the boat's head up to the +wind, lower the lug, and tie down the last reef. + +"There she goes easier now, Dan," he said, as the boat resumed her +course; but Dan, who was leaning helplessly over the side of the boat, +could see no difference. + +Vincent, however, felt that under close sail the boat was doing better, +and rising more easily on the waves which were now higher and farther +apart than before. In another hour the whole of the shore-line was +visible; but the wind had risen so much that, even under her reduced +sail, the boat had as much as she could carry, and often heeled over +until her gunwale was nearly under water. Another hour and the shore was +but some four miles away, but Vincent felt he could no longer hold on. + +In the hands of an experienced sailor, who would have humored the boat +and eased her up a little to meet the seas, the entrance to the York +River could no doubt have been reached with safety; but Vincent was +ignorant of the art of sailing a boat in the sea, and she was shipping +water heavily. Dan had for some time been baling, having only undertaken +the work in obedience to Vincent's angry orders, being too ill to care +much what became of them. + +"Now, Dan, I am going to bring her head up to the wind, so get ready to +throw off that halyard and gather in the sail as it comes down. That's +right, man, now down with the mast." + +Vincent had read that the best plan, when caught in an open boat in a +gale, was to tie the oars and mast, if she had one, together, and to +throw them overboard with the head rope tied to them, as by this means +the boat would ride head to sea. The oars, sculls, mast, and sail were +firmly tied together and launched overboard, the rope being first taken +off the anchor and tied round the middle of the clump of spars. + +Vincent carefully payed out the rope till some fifteen yards were over, +then he fastened it to the ring of the head rope, and had the +satisfaction of finding that the boat rode easily to the floating +anchor, rising lightly over the waves, and not shipping a drop of water. +He then took the baler and got rid of the water that had found its way +on board, Dan, after getting down the sail, having collapsed utterly. + +"Now, Dan, sit up; there, man, the motion is much easier now, and we are +taking no water on board. I will give you a glass of rum, that will put +new strength into you. It's lucky we put it in the basket in case of +emergency." + +The negro, whose teeth were chattering from cold, fright, and +exhaustion, eagerly drank off the spirit. Vincent, who was wet to the +skin with the spray, took a little himself, and then settled himself as +comfortably as he could on the floorboards in the stern of the boat, and +quietly thought out the position. The wind was still rising, and a thick +haze obscured the land. He had no doubt that by night it would be +blowing a gale; but the boat rode so easily and lightly that he believed +she would get through it. + +They might, it was true, be blown many miles off the shore, and not be +able to get back for some time, for the gale might last two or three +days. The basket of provisions was, however, a large one. Dan had +received orders to bring plenty and had obeyed them literally, and +Vincent saw that the supply of food, if carefully husbanded, would last +without difficulty for a week. The supply of liquid was less +satisfactory. There was a bottle of rum, and a two-gallon jar, nearly +half empty, of water. The cold tea was finished. + +"That would be a poor supply for a week for two of us," Vincent +muttered, as he removed the contents of the basket and stored them +carefully in the locker; "however, if it's going to be a gale there is +sure to be some rain with it, so I think we shall manage very well." + +By night it was blowing real heavily, but although the waves were high +the boat shipped but little water. Dan had fallen off to sleep, and +Vincent had been glad to wrap himself in the thick coat he had brought +with him as a protection against the heavy dews when sleeping on the +river. At times sharp rain squalls burst upon them, and Vincent had no +difficulty in filling up the water-bottle again with the baler. + +The water was rather brackish, but not sufficiently so to be of +consequence. All night the boat was tossed heavily on the waves. Vincent +dozed off at times, rousing himself occasionally and baling out the +water, which came in the shape of spray and rain. The prospect in the +morning was not cheering. Gray clouds covered the sky and seemed to come +down almost on to the water, the angry sea was crested with white heads, +and it seemed to Vincent wonderful that the boat should live in such a +sea. + +"Now, Dan, wake yourself up and get some breakfast," Vincent said, +stirring up the negro with his foot. + +"Oh, Lor!" Dan groaned, raising himself into a sitting position from the +bottom of the boat, "dis am awful; we neber see the shore no more, +massa." + +"Nonsense, man," Vincent said cheerily; "we are getting on capitally." + +"It hab been an awful night, sah." + +"An awful night! You lazy rascal, you slept like a pig all night, while +I have been baling the boat and looking out for you. It is your turn +now, I can tell you. Well, do you feel ready for your breakfast?" + +Dan, after a moment's consideration, declared that he was. The feeling +of seasickness had passed off, and except that he was wet through and +miserable, he felt himself again, and could have eaten four times the +allowance of food that Vincent handed him. A pannikin of rum and water +did much to restore his life and vitality, and he was soon, with the +light-heartedness of his race, laughing and chatting cheerfully. + +"How long dis go on, you tink, sah?" + +"Not long, I hope, Dan. I was afraid last night it was going to be a big +gale, but I do not think it is blowing so hard now as it was in the +night." + +"Where have we got to now, sah?" + +"I don't exactly know, Dan; but I do not suppose that we are very many +miles away from shore. The mast and oars prevent our drifting fast, and +I don't think we are further off now than we were when we left that ship +yesterday. But even if we were four or five times as far as that, we +should not take very long in sailing back again when the wind drops; and +as we have got enough to eat for a week we need not be uncomfortable +about that." + +"Not much food for a week, Massa Vincent." + +"Not a great deal, Dan; but quite enough to keep us going. You can make +up for lost time when you get to shore again." + +In a few hours it was certain that the wind was going down. By midday +the clouds began to break up, and an hour later the sun was shining +brightly. The wind was still blowing strongly, but the sea had a very +different appearance in the bright light of the sun to that which it had +borne under the canopy of dark gray clouds. Standing up in the boat two +hours later, Vincent could see no signs of land. + +"How shall we find our way back, Marse Vincent?" + +"We have got a compass; besides, we should manage very well even if we +had not. Look at the sun, Dan. There it is right ahead of us. So, you +know that's the west--that's the way we have to go." + +"That very useful ob de sun, sah; but suppose we not live in de west de +sun not point de way den." + +"Oh, yes, he would, just the same, Dan. We should know whether to go +away from him, or to keep him on the right hand or on the left." + +This was beyond Dan. "And I s'pose the moon will show de way at night, +massa?" + +"The moon would show the way if she were up, but she is not always up; +but I have got a compass here, and so whether we have the sun or the +moon, or neither of them, I can find my way back to land." + +Dan had never seen a compass, and for an hour amused himself turning it +round and round and trying to get it to point in some other direction +than the north. + +"Now, Dan," Vincent said at last, "give me that compass, and get out the +food. We will have a better meal than we did this morning, for now that +the wind is going down there's no chance of food running short. When we +have had dinner we will get up the sail again. The sea is not so rough +as it was, and it is certainly not so high as it was before we lowered +the sail yesterday." + +"De waves bery big, massa." + +"They are big, Dan; but they are not so angry. The heads are not +breaking over as they did last night, and the boat will go better over +these long waves than she did through the choppy sea at the beginning of +the gale." + +Accordingly the bundle of spars was pulled up alongside and lifted. The +mast was set up and the sail hoisted. Dan in a few minutes forgot his +fears and lost even his sense of uneasiness as he found the boat mounted +wave after wave without shipping water. Several times, indeed, a shower +of spray flew high up in the air, but the gusts no longer buried her so +that the water came over the gunwale, and it was a long time before +there was any occasion to use the baler. As the sun set it could be seen +that there was a dark line between it and the water. + +"There is the land, Dan; and I do not suppose it is more than twenty +miles away, for most of the coast lies low." + +"But how we find de York River, massa? Will de compass tell you dat?" + +"No, Dan. I don't know whether we have drifted north or south of it. At +ordinary times the current runs up the coast, but the wind this morning +was blowing from the north of west, and may have been doing so all +through the night for anything I know. Well, the great thing is to make +land. We are almost sure to come across some fishing boats, but, if not, +we must run ashore and find a house." + +They continued sailing until Vincent's watch told him it was twelve +o'clock, by which time the coast was quite close. The wind now almost +dropped, and, lowering their sail, they rowed in until, on lowering the +anchor, they found that it touched the ground. Then they lay down and +slept till morning. Dan was the first to waken. + +"Dar are some houses dere close down by the shore, sah, and some men +getting out a boat." + +"That's all right, Dan," Vincent said, as he roused himself and looked +over. "We shall learn soon where we are." + +In a quarter of an hour the fishing boat put off, and the lads at once +rowed to it. + +"How far are we from the mouth of the York River?" Vincent asked the two +negroes on board. + +"About twenty miles, sah. Where you come from?" + +"We were off the mouth of the river, and were blown off in the gale." + +"You tink yourself bery lucky you get back," one of them said. "Bery +foolish to go out like dat when not know how to get back." + +"Well, we have managed to get back now, you see, and none the worse for +it. Now, Dan, up with the sail again." + +There was a light wind offshore, and all the reefs being shaken out the +boat ran along fast. + +"I should think we are going about five miles an hour, Dan. We ought to +be off the mouth of the river in four hours. We must look out sharp or +else we shall pass it, for many of these islets look just like the mouth +of the river. However, we are pretty sure to pass several fishing boats +on our way, and we shall be able to inquire from them." + +There was no need, however, to do this. It was just four hours from the +time of starting when they saw some eight or ten fishing boats ahead of +them. + +"I expect that that is the entrance to the river. When we get half a +mile further we shall see it open." + +On approaching the fishing boats they recognized at once the appearance +of the shore, as they had noticed it when fishing there before, and were +soon in the entrance to the river. + +"It will be high tide in about two hours," Vincent said, "according to +the time it was the other day. I am afraid when it turns we shall have +to get down our sails; there will be no beating against both wind and +tide. Then we must get out oars and row. There is very little tide close +in by the bank, and every little gain will be a help. We have been out +four days. It is Thursday now, and they will be beginning to get very +anxious at home, so we must do our best to get back." + +Keeping close under the bank, they rowed steadily, making on an average +about two miles an hour. After five hours' rowing they tied up to the +bank, had a meal, and rested until tide turned; then they again hoisted +their sail and proceeded on their way. Tide carried them just up to the +junction of the two rivers, and landing at Cumberland they procured beds +and slept till morning. + +Another long day's work took them up to the plantation of Mr. Furniss, +and fastening up the boat, and carrying the sails and oars on shore, +they started on their walk home. + +"Why, Vincent, where have you been all this time?" Mrs. Wingfield said +as her son entered. "You said you might be away a couple of nights, and +we expected you back on Wednesday at the latest, and now it is Friday +evening." + +"Well, mother, we have had great fun. We went sailing about right down +to the mouth of the York River. I did not calculate that it would take +me more than twice as long to get back as to get down; but as the wind +blew right down the river it was precious slow work, and we had to row +all the way. However, it has been a jolly trip, and I feel a lot better +for it." + +"You don't look any better for it," Annie said. "The skin is all off +your face, and you are as red as fire. Your clothes look shrunk as well +as horribly dirty. You are quite an object, Vincent." + +"We got caught in a heavy gale," Vincent said, "and got a thorough +ducking. As to my face, a day or two will set it all to rights again; +and so they will my hands, I hope, for I have got nicely blistered +tugging at those oars. And now, mother, I want some supper, for I am as +hungry as a hunter. I told Dan to go into the kitchen and get a good +square meal." + +The next morning, just after breakfast, there was the sound of horses' +hoofs outside the house, and, looking out, Vincent saw Mr. Jackson, with +a man he knew to be the sheriff, and four or five others. A minute later +one of the servants came in, and said that the sheriff wished to speak +to Mrs. Wingfield. + +"I will go out to him," Mrs. Wingfield replied. Vincent followed her to +the door. + +"Mrs. Wingfield," the sheriff said, "I am the holder of a warrant to +search your slave-huts and grounds for a runaway negro named Anthony +Moore, the property of Mr. Jackson here." + +"Do you suppose, sir," Mrs. Wingfield asked angrily, "that I am the sort +of person to give shelter to runaway slaves?" + +"No, madam, certainly not," the sheriff replied; "no one would suppose +for a moment that Mrs. Wingfield of the Orangery would have anything to +do with a runaway, but Mr. Jackson here learned only yesterday that the +wife of this slave was here and everyone knows that where the wife is +the husband is not likely to be far off." + +"I suppose, sir," Mrs. Wingfield said coldly, "that there was no +necessity for me to acquaint Mr. Jackson formally with the fact that I +had purchased through my agent the woman he sold to separate her from +her husband." + +"By no means, madam, by no means; though, had we known it before, it +might have been some aid to us in our search. Have we your permission to +see this woman and to question her?" + +"Certainly not," Mrs. Wingfield said; "but if you have any question to +ask I will ask her and give you her answer." + +"We want to know whether she has seen her husband since the day of his +flight from the plantation." + +"I shall certainly not ask her that question, Mr. Sheriff. I have no +doubt that, as the place from which he has escaped is only a few miles +from here, he did come to see his wife. It would have been very strange +if he did not. I hope that by this time the man is hundreds of miles +away. He was brutally treated by a brutal master, who, I believe, +deliberately set to work to make him run away, so that he could hunt him +down and punish him. I presume, sir, you do not wish to search this +house, and you do not suppose that the man is hidden here. As to the +slave-huts and the plantation, you can, of course, search them +thoroughly; but as it is now more than a fortnight since the man +escaped, it is not likely you will find him hiding within a few miles of +his master's plantation." + +So saying, she went into the house and shut the door behind her. + +Mr. Jackson ground his teeth with rage, but the sheriff rode off toward +the slave-huts without a word. The position of Mrs. Wingfield of the +Orangery, connected as she was with half the old families of Virginia, +and herself a large slave-owner, was beyond suspicion, and no one would +venture to suggest that such a lady could have the smallest sympathy for +a runaway slave. + +"She was down upon you pretty hot, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff said as +they rode off. "You don't seem to be in her good books." Jackson +muttered an imprecation. + +"It is certainly odd," the sheriff went on, "after what you were telling +me about her son pitching into Andrew over flogging this very slave, +that she should go and buy his wife. Still, that's a very different +thing from hiding a runaway. I dare say that, as she says, the fellow +came here to see his wife when he first ran away; but I don't think you +will find him anywhere about here now. It's pretty certain from what we +hear that he hasn't made for the North, and where the fellow can be +hiding I can't think. Still the woods about this country are mighty big, +and the fellow can go out on the farms and pick corn and keep himself +going for a long time. But he's sure to be brought up, sooner or later." + +A thorough search was made of the slave-huts, and the slaves were +closely questioned, but all denied any knowledge of the runaway. Dan +escaped questioning, as he had taken up Vincent's horse to the house in +readiness for him to start as soon as he had finished breakfast. + +All day the searchers rode about the plantation, examining every clump +of bushes, and assuring themselves that none of them had been used as a +place of refuge for the runaway. + +"It's no good, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff said at last. "The man may have +been here; he aint here now. The only place we haven't searched is the +house, and you may be quite sure the slaves dare not conceal him there. +Too many would get to know it. No, sir, he's made a bolt of it, and you +will have to wait now till he is caught by chance, or shot by some +farmer or other in the act of stealing." + +"I would lay a thousand dollars," Andrew Jackson exclaimed +passionately, "that young Wingfield knows something about his +whereabouts, and has lent him a hand!" + +"Well, I should advise you to keep your mouth shut about it till you get +some positive proof," the sheriff said dryly. "I tell you it's no joke +to accuse a member of a family like the Wingfields of helping runaway +slaves to escape." + +"I will bide my time," the planter said. "You said that some day you +would lay hands on Tony, dead or alive. You see if some day I don't lay +hands on young Wingfield." + +"Well, it seems, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff remarked with a sneer, for he +was out of temper at the ill success of the day's work, "that he has +already laid hands on your son. It seems to me quite as likely that he +will lay hands on you as you on him." + +Two days afterward, as Vincent was riding through the streets of +Richmond he saw to his surprise Andrew Jackson in close conversation +with Jonas Pearson. + +"I wonder what those two fellows are talking about!" he said to himself. +"I expect Jackson is trying to pump Pearson as to the doings at the +Orangery. I don't like that fellow, and never shall, and he's just the +sort of man to do one a bad turn if he had the chance. However, as I +have never spoken to him about that affair from beginning to end, I +don't see that he can do any mischief if he wants to." + +Andrew Jackson, however, had obtained information which he considered +valuable. He learned that Vincent had been away in a boat for five days, +and that his mother had been very uneasy about him. He also learned that +the boat was one belonging to Mr. Furniss, and that it was only quite +lately that Vincent had taken to going out sailing. + +After considerable trouble he succeeded in getting at one of the slaves +upon Mr. Furniss' plantation. But he could only learn from him that +Vincent had been unaccompanied, when he went out in the boat, either by +young Furniss or by any of the plantation hands; that he had taken with +him only his own slave, and had come and gone as he chose, taking out +and fastening up the boat himself, so that no one could say when he had +gone out, except that his horse was put up at the stables. The slave +said that certainly the horse had only stood there on two or three +occasions, and then only for a few hours, and that unless Mr. Wingfield +had walked over he could never have had the boat out all night, as the +horse certainly had not stood all night in the stables. + +Andrew Jackson talked the matter over with his son, and both agreed that +Vincent's conduct was suspicious. His own people said he had been away +for five days in the boat. The people at Furniss' knew nothing about +this, and therefore there must be some mystery about it, and they +doubted not that that mystery was connected with the runaway slave, and +they guessed that he had either taken Tony and landed him near the mouth +of the York River on the northern shore, or that he had put him on board +a ship. They agreed, however, that whatever their suspicions, they had +not sufficient grounds for openly accusing Vincent of aiding their +runaway. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +SECESSION. + + +While Vincent had been occupied with the affairs of Tony and his wife, +public events had moved forward rapidly. The South Carolina Convention +met in the third week in December, and on the 20th of that month the +Ordinance of Secession was passed. On the 10th of January, three days +after Vincent returned home from his expedition, Florida followed the +example of South Carolina and seceded. Alabama and Mississippi passed +the Ordinance of Secession on the following day; Georgia on the 18th, +Louisiana on the 23d, and Texas on the 1st of February. + +In all these States the Ordinance of Secession was received with great +rejoicings: bonfires were lit, the towns illuminated, and the militia +paraded the streets, and in many cases the Federal arsenals were seized +and the Federal forts occupied by the State troops. In the meantime the +Northern slave States--Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, +and Missouri--remained irresolute. The general feeling was strongly in +favor of their Southern brethren; but they were anxious for peace, and +for a compromise being arrived at. Whether the North would agree to +admit the constitutional right of secession, or whether it would use +force to compel the seceding States to remain in the Union, was still +uncertain; but the idea of a civil war was so terrible a one that the +general belief was that some arrangement to allow the States to go their +own way would probably be arrived at. + +For the time the idea of Vincent going to West Point was abandoned. +Among his acquaintances were several young men who were already at West +Point, and very few of these returned to the academy. The feeling there +was very strongly on the side of secession. A great majority of the +students came from the Southern States, as, while the sons of the +Northern men went principally into trade and commerce, the Southern +planters sent their sons into the army, and a great proportion of the +officers of the army and navy were Southerners. + +As the professors at West Point were all military men, the feeling among +them, as well as among the students, was in favor of State rights; they +considering that, according to the Constitution, their allegiance was +due first to the States of which they were natives, and in the second +place to the Union. Thus, then, many of the professors who were natives +of the seven States which had seceded resigned their appointments, and +returned home to occupy themselves in drilling the militia and the +levies, who were at once called to arms. + +Still all hoped that peace would be preserved, until on the 11th of +April General Beauregard, who commanded the troops of South Carolina, +summoned Major Anderson, who was in command of the Federal troops in +Fort Sumter, to surrender, and on his refusal opened fire upon the fort +on the following day. + +On the 13th the barracks of the fort being set on fire, Major Anderson, +seeing the hopelessness of a prolonged resistance, surrendered. The +effect of the news throughout the United States was tremendous, and Mr. +Lincoln at once called out 75,000 men of the militia of the various +States to put down the rebellion--the border States being ordered to +send their proportion. This brought matters to a climax. Virginia, North +Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri all refused to furnish +contingents to act against the Southern States; and Virginia and North +Carolina a few days later passed Ordinances of Secession and joined the +Southern States. Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware were divided in their +counsels. + +The struggle that was about to commence was an uneven one. The white +population of the Seceding States was about 8,000,000; while that of the +Northern States was 19,614,885. The North possessed an immense +advantage, inasmuch as they retained the whole of the Federal navy, and +were thereby enabled at once to cut off all communication between the +Southern States and Europe, while they themselves could draw unlimited +supplies of munitions of war of all kinds from across the Atlantic. + +Although the people of Virginia had hoped to the last that some peaceful +arrangement might be effected, the Act of Secession was received with +enthusiasm. The demand of Mr. Lincoln that they should furnish troops to +crush their Southern brethren excited the livliest indignation, and +Virginia felt that there was no course open to her now but to throw in +her lot with the other slave States. Her militia was at once called out, +and volunteers called for to form a provisional army to protect the +State from invasion by the North. + +The appeal was answered with enthusiasm; men of all ages took up arms; +the wealthy raised regiments at their own expense, generally handing +over the commands to experienced army officers, and themselves taking +their places in the ranks; thousands of lads of from fifteen to sixteen +years of age enrolled themselves, and men who had never done a day's +work in their lives prepared to suffer all the hardships of the campaign +as private soldiers. + +Mrs. Wingfield was an enthusiastic supporter of State rights; and when +Vincent told her that numbers of his friends were going to enroll +themselves as soon as the lists were opened, she offered no objection to +his doing the same. + +"Of course you are very young, Vincent; but no one thinks there will be +any serious fighting. Now that Virginia and the other four States have +cast in their lot with the seven that have seceded, the North can never +hope to force the solid South back into the Union. Still it is right you +should join. I certainly should not like an old Virginian family like +ours to be unrepresented; but I should prefer your joining one of the +mounted corps. + +"In the first place, it will be much less fatiguing than carrying a +heavy rifle and knapsack; and in the second place, the cavalry will for +the most part be gentlemen. I was speaking only yesterday, when I went +into Richmond, to Mr. Ashley, who is raising a corps. He is one of the +best riders in the country, and a splendid specimen of a Virginian +gentleman. He tells me that he has already received a large number of +applications from young volunteers, and that he thinks he shall be able +without any difficulty to get as many as he wants. I said that I had a +son who would probably enroll himself, and that I should like to have +him in his corps. + +"He said that he would be glad to put down your name, and that he had +had many applications from lads no older than yourself. He considered +that for cavalry work, scouting, and that sort of thing age mattered +little, and that a lad who was at once a light weight, a good rider, +and a good shot was of as much good as a man." + +"Thank you, mother. I will ride into Richmond to-morrow morning and see +Ashley. I have often met him and should like to serve under him very +much. I should certainly prefer being in the cavalry to the infantry." + +Rosie and Annie, who were of course enthusiastic for the South, were +almost as pleased as was Vincent when they heard that their mother had +consented to his enrolling himself. So many of the girls of their +acquaintance had brothers or cousins who were joining the army, that +they would have felt it as something of a slur upon the family name had +Vincent remained behind. + +On the following morning Vincent rode over and saw Mr. Ashley, who had +just received his commission as major. He was cordially received. + +"Mrs. Wingfield was speaking to me about you, and I shall be glad to +have you with me--the more so as you are a capital rider and a good +shot. I shall have a good many in my ranks no older than you are. Did I +not hear a few months since that you bought Wildfire? I thought, when I +heard it, that you would be lucky if you did not get your neck broken in +the course of a week. Peters, who owns the next estate to mine, had the +horse for about three weeks, and was glad enough to get rid of it for +half what he had given for it. He told me that the horse was the most +savage brute he ever saw. I suppose you didn't keep it many days?" + +"I have got it still, and mean to ride it with you. The horse is not +really savage. It was hot-tempered, and had, I think, been badly treated +by its first owner. It only wanted kindness and a little patience; and +as soon as it found that it could not get rid of me, and that I had no +intention of ill-treating it, it settled down quietly, after running +away a few times and giving me some little trouble at starting. And now +I would not change it for any horse in the State." + +"You must be a first-rate rider," Major Ashley said, "to be able to tame +Wildfire. I never saw the horse, for I was away when Peters had her; +but from his description it was a perfect savage." + +"Are we allowed to bring a servant with us?" Vincent asked. + +"Yes, if you like. I know that a good many are going to do so, but you +must not make up your mind that you will get much benefit from one. We +shall move rapidly, and each man must shift for himself, but at the same +time we shall of course often be stationary; and then servants will be +useful. At any rate I can see no objection to men having them. We must +be prepared to rough it to any extent when it is necessary, but I see no +reason why at other times a man should not make himself comfortable. I +expect the order to-morrow or next day to begin formally to enroll +volunteers. As I have now put down your name there will be no occasion +for you to come in then. You will receive a communication telling you +when to report yourself. + +"I shall not trouble much about uniform at first. High boots and +breeches, a thick felt hat that will turn the edge of a sword, and a +loose coat-jacket of dark-gray cloth. Here is the name of the tailor who +has got the pattern, and will make them. So I should advise you to go to +him at once, for he will be so busy soon that there is no saying when +the whole troop will get their uniforms." + +Upon his return home Vincent related to his mother and sisters the +conversation that he had had with Major Ashley. + +"Certainly you had better take a servant with you," his mother said. "I +suppose, when you are riding about you will have to cook your dinner and +do everything for yourself; but when you are in a town you should have +these things done for you. Who would you like to take?" + +"I should like to take Dan, mother, if you have no objection. He is very +strong and active, and I think would generally be able to keep up with +us; besides, I know he would always stick to me." + +"You shall have him certainly, Vincent; I will make him over formally to +you." + +"Thank you, mother," Vincent said joyfully; for he had often wished that +Dan belonged to him, as he would then be able to prevent any +interference with him by the overseer or anyone else, and could, if he +liked, give him his freedom--although this would, he knew, be of very +doubtful advantage to the lad as long as he remained in the South. + +The next morning the necessary papers were drawn up, and the ownership +of Dan was formally transferred to Vincent. Dan was wild with delight +when he heard that Vincent was now his master, and that he was to +accompany him to the war. It had been known two days before that Vincent +was going, and it seemed quite shocking to the negroes that the young +master should go as a private soldier, and have to do everything for +himself--"just," as they said, "like de poor white trash"; for the +slaves were proud to belong to an old family, and looked down with +almost contempt upon the poorer class of whites, regarding their own +position as infinitely superior. + +Four days later Vincent received an official letter saying that the +corps would be mustered in two days' time. The next day was spent in a +long round of farewell visits, and then Vincent mounted Wildfire, and, +with Dan trotting behind, rode off from the Orangery amidst a chorus of +blessings and good wishes from all the slaves who could on any pretext +get away from their duties, and who had assembled in front of the house +to see him start. + +The place of meeting for the regiment was at Hanover Courthouse--a +station on the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railway, close to the Pamunky +River, about eighteen miles from the city. + +The Orangery was a mile from the village of Gaines, which lay to the +northeast of Richmond, and was some twelve miles from Hanover +Courthouse. + +A month was spent in drill, and at the end of that time the corps were +able to execute any simple maneuver. More than this Major Ashley did +not care about their learning. The work in which they were about to +engage was that of scouts rather than that of regular cavalry, and the +requirements were vigilance and attention to orders, good shooting, and +a quick eye. Off duty there was but little discipline. Almost the whole +of the men were in a good position in life, and many of them very +wealthy; and while strict discipline and obedience were expected while +on duty, at all other times something like equality existed between +officers and men, and all were free to live as they chose. + +The rations served out were simple and often scanty, for at present the +various departments were not properly organized, and such numbers of men +were flocking to the standards that the authorities were at their wits' +end to provide them with even the simplest food. This mattered but +little, however, to the regiment, whose members were all ready and +willing to pay for everything they wanted, and the country people round +found a ready market for all their chickens, eggs, fruit, and vegetables +at Hanover Courthouse, for here there were also several infantry +regiments, and the normally quiet little village was a scene of bustle +and confusion. + +The arms of the cavalry were of a very varied description. Not more than +a dozen had swords; the rest were armed with rifles or shot-guns, with +the barrels cut short to enable them to be carried as carbines. Many of +them were armed with revolvers and some carried pistols so antiquated +that they might have been used in the Revolutionary War. A certain +number of tents had been issued for the use of the corps. These, +however, were altogether insufficient for the numbers, and most of the +men preferred to sleep in shelters composed of canvas, carpets, +blankets, or any other material that came to hand, or in arbors +constructed of the boughs of trees, for it was now April and warm enough +to sleep in the open air. + +In the third week in May the order came that the corps was to march at +once for Harper's Ferry--an important position at the point where the +Shenandoah River runs into the Potomac, at the mouth of the Shenandoah +Valley. The order was received with the greatest satisfaction. The +Federal forces were gathering rapidly upon the northern banks of the +Potomac, and it was believed that, while the main army would march down +from Washington through Manassas Junction direct upon Richmond, another +would enter by the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing the Blue Ridge +Mountains, come down on the rear of the Confederate army, facing the +main force at Manassas. The cavalry marched by road, while the infantry +were dispatched by rail as far as Manassas Junction, whence they marched +to Harper's Ferry. The black servants accompanied the infantry. + +The cavalry march was a pleasant one. At every village through which +they passed the people flocked out with offerings of milk and fruit. The +days were hot, but the mornings and evenings delightful; and as the +troops always halted in the shade of a wood for three or four hours in +the middle of the day, the marches, although long, were not fatiguing. +At Harper's Ferry General Johnston had just superseded Colonel Jackson +in command. The force there consisted of eleven battalions of infantry, +sixteen guns, and after Ashley's force arrived, three hundred cavalry. +Among the regiments there Vincent found many friends, and learned what +was going on. + +He learned that Colonel Jackson had been keeping them hard at work. Some +of Vincent's friends had been at the Virginia Military Institute at +Lexington, where Jackson was professor of natural philosophy and +instructor of artillery. + +"He was the greatest fun," one of the young men said; "the stiffest and +most awkward-looking fellow in the Institute. He used to walk about as +if he never saw anything or anybody. He was always known as Old Tom, and +nobody ever saw him laugh. He was awfully earnest in all he did, and +strict, I can tell you, about everything. There was no humbugging him. +The fellows liked him because he was really so earnest about +everything, and always just and fair. But he didn't look a bit like a +soldier except as to his stiffness, and when the fellows who had been at +Lexington heard that he was in command here they did not think he would +have made much hand at it; but I tell you, he did. You never saw such a +fellow to work. + +"Everything had to be done, you know. There were the guns, but no horses +and no harness. The horses had to be got somehow, and the harness +manufactured out of ropes; and you can imagine the confusion of nine +battalions of infantry, all recruits, with no one to teach them except a +score or two of old army and militia officers. Old Tom has done wonders, +I can tell you. You see, he is so fearfully earnest himself everyone +else has got to be earnest. There has been no playing about anything, +but just fifteen hours' hard work a day. Fellows grumbled and growled +and said it was absurd, and threatened to do all sorts of things. You +see, they had all come out to fight, if necessary, but hadn't bargained +for such hard work as this. + +"However, Jackson had his way, and I don't suppose anyone ever told him +the men thought they were too hard worked. He is not the sort of man one +would care about remonstrating with. I don't know yet whether he is as +good at fighting as he is at working and organizing; but I rather expect +a fellow who is so earnest about everything else is sure to be earnest +about fighting, and I fancy that, when he once gets into the thick of +it, he will go through with it. He had such a reputation as an oddity at +Lexington that there were a lot of remarks when he was made colonel and +sent here; but there is no doubt that he has proved himself the right +man so far, and although his men may grumble they believe in him. + +"My regiment is in his brigade, and I will bet any money that we have +our share of fighting. What sort of man is Johnston? He is a fine +fellow--a soldier, heart and soul. You could tell him anywhere, and we +have a first-rate fellow in command of the cavalry--Colonel Stuart--a +splendid, dashing fellow, full of life and go. His fellows swear by him. +I quite envy you, for I expect you will astonish the Yankee horsemen. +They are no great riders up there, you know, and I reckon the first time +you meet them you will astonish them." + +[Illustration: Map--GENL. LEE'S CAMPAIGNS IN VIRGINIA.] + +Here he suddenly stopped, stood at attention, and saluted. + +Vincent at once did the same, although, had he not been set the example +by his friend, he would never have thought of doing so to the figure who +had passed. + +"Who is it?" he asked, as his companion resumed his easy attitude. + +"Why, that's Old Tom." + +"What! Colonel Jackson!" Vincent said in surprise, "Well, he is an +odd-looking fellow!" + +The figure that had passed was that of a tall, gaunt man, leaning +awkwardly forward in his saddle. He wore an old gray coat, and there was +no sign of rank, nor particle of gold lace upon the uniform. He wore on +his head a faded cadet cap, with the rim coming down so far upon his +nose that he could only look sideways from under it. He seemed to pay +but little attention to what was going on around him, and did not enter +into conversation with any of the officers he met. + +The brigade commanded by Jackson was the 1st of the Army of the +Shenandoah, and consisted of the 2d, 4th, 5th, and 27th Virginians, to +which was shortly added the 33d. They were composed of men of all ranks +and ages, among them being a great number of lads from fifteen and +upward; for every school had been deserted. Every boy capable of +carrying a musket had insisted upon joining, and among them were a whole +company of cadets from Lexington. The regiments selected their own +officers, and among these were many who were still lads. Many of the +regiments had no accouterments, and were without uniforms, and numbers +carried no better arms than a double-barreled shot-gun; but all were +animated with the same spirit of enthusiasm in their cause, and a +determination to die rather than to allow the invaders to pass on +through the fertile valleys of their native land. + +Of all these valleys that of the Shenandoah was the richest and most +beautiful. It was called the Garden of Virginia; and all writers agreed +in their praises of the beauties of its fields and forests, mountains +and rivers, its delicious climate, and the general prosperity which +prevailed among its population. + +It was a pleasant evening that Ashley's horse spent at Harper's Ferry on +the day they marched in. All had many friends among the other Virginia +regiments, and their campfires were the center toward which men trooped +by scores. The rest was pleasant after their hard marches; and, although +ready to do their own work when necessary, they appreciated the +advantage of having their servants again with them to groom their horses +and cook their food. + +The negroes were not less glad at being again with their masters. Almost +all were men who had, like Dan, been brought up with their young owners, +and felt for them a strong personal attachment, and, if it had been +allowed, would gladly have followed them in the field of battle, and +fought by their side against the "Yankees." Their stay at Harper's Ferry +was to be a short one. Colonel Stuart, with his 200 horse, was scouting +along the whole bank of the Potomac, watching every movement of the +enemy, and Ashley's horse was to join them at once. + +It was not difficult for even young soldiers to form an idea of the +general nature of the operations. They had to protect the Shenandoah +Valley, to guard the five great roads by which the enemy would advance +against Winchester, and not only save the loyal inhabitants and rich +resources of the valley from falling into the hands of the Federals, but +what was of even greater importance, to prevent the latter from marching +across the Blue Ridge Mountains, and falling upon the flank of the main +Confederate army at Manassas. + +The position was a difficult one, for while "the grand army" was +assembling at Alexandria to advance against Manassas Junction, McClellan +was advancing from the northwest with 20,000 men, and Patterson from +Pennsylvania with 18,000. + +In the morning, before parading his troop, 100 strong, Ashley called +them together and told them that, as they would now be constantly on the +move and scattered over a long line, it was impossible that they could +take their servants with them. + +"I should never have allowed them to be brought," he said, "had I known +that we should be scouting over such an extensive country; at the same +time, if we can manage to take a few on it would certainly add to our +comfort. I propose that we choose ten by lot to go on with us. They must +be servants of the troop and not of individuals. We can scatter them in +pairs at five points, with instructions to forage as well as they can, +and to have things in readiness to cook for whoever may come in off duty +or may for the time be posted there. Henceforth every man must groom and +see to his own horse, but I see no reason, military or otherwise, why we +shouldn't get our food cooked for us; and it will be just as well, as +long as we can, to have a few bundles of straw for us to lie on instead +of sleeping on the ground. + +"Another ten men we can also choose by lot to go to Winchester; which +is, I imagine, the point we shall move to if the enemy advance, as I +fancy they will, from the other side of the Shenandoah Valley. The rest +must be sent home." + +Each man accordingly wrote his name on a piece of paper, and placed it +in a haversack. Ten were then drawn out; and their servants were to +accompany the troop at once. The servants of the next ten were to +proceed by train to Winchester, while the slaves of all whose names +remained in the bag were to be sent home at once, provided with passes +permitting them to travel. To Vincent's satisfaction his name was one of +the first ten drawn, and Dan was therefore to go forward. The greater +part of the men evaded the obligation to send their servants back to +Richmond by dispatching them to friends who had estates in the +Shenandoah Valley, with letters asking them to keep the men for them +until the troop happened to come into their neighborhood. + +At six o'clock in the morning the troop mounted and rode to Bath, thirty +miles away. It was here that Stuart had his headquarters, whence he sent +out his patrols up and down the Potomac, between Harper's Ferry on the +east and Cumberland on the west. Stuart was away when they arrived, but +he rode in a few hours afterward. + +"Ah, Ashley! I am glad you have arrived," he said as he rode up to the +troop, who had hastily mounted as he was seen approaching. "There is +plenty for you to do, I can tell you; and I only wish you had brought a +thousand men instead of a hundred. I am heartily glad to see you all, +gentlemen," he said to the troop. "I am afraid just at first that the +brightness of your gray jackets will put my men rather to shame; but we +shall soon get rid of that. But dismount your men, Ashley; there is +plenty for them and their horses to do without wasting time in parade +work. There is very little of that here, I can tell you. I have not seen +a score of my men together for the last month." + +Vincent gazed with admiration at the young leader, whose name was soon +to be celebrated throughout America and Europe. The young Virginian--for +he was not yet twenty-eight years old--was the _beau ideal_ of a cavalry +officer. He was singularly handsome, and possessed great personal +strength and a constitution which enabled him to bear all hardships. He +possessed unfailing good spirits, and had a joke and laugh for all he +met; and while on the march, at the head of his regiment, he was always +ready to lift up his voice and lead the songs with which the men made +the woods resound. + +He seemed to live in his saddle, and was present at all hours of the +night and day along the line he guarded, seeing that the men were +watchful and on the alert, instructing the outposts in their duty, and +infusing his own spirit and vigilance among them. He had been educated +at West Point, and had seen much service with the cavalry against the +Indians in the West. Such was the man who was to become the most famous +cavalry leader of his time. So far he had not come in contact with the +enemy, and his duties were confined to obtaining information regarding +their strength and intentions, to watching every road by which they +could advance, and to seeing that none passed North to carry information +to the enemy as to the Confederate strength and positions, for even in +the Shenandoah Valley there were some whose sympathies were with the +Federals. + +These were principally Northern men settled as traders in the towns, and +it was important to prevent them from sending any news to the enemy. So +well did Stuart's cavalry perform this service, and so general was the +hostility of the population against the North, that throughout the whole +of the war in Virginia it was very seldom that the Northern generals +could obtain any trustworthy information as to the movements and +strength of the Confederates, while the latter were perfectly informed +of every detail connected with the intentions of the invaders. + +The next morning Ashley's troop took up their share of the work at the +front. They were broken up into parties of ten, each of which was +stationed at a village near the river, five men being on duty night and +day. As it happened that none of the other men in his squad had a +servant at the front, Vincent was able without difficulty to have Dan +assigned to his party. A house in the village was placed at their +disposal, and here the five off duty slept and took their meals while +the others were in the saddle. Dan was quite in his element, and turned +out an excellent cook, and was soon a general favorite among the mess. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BULL RUN. + + +The next fortnight passed by without adventure. Hard as the work was, +Vincent enjoyed it thoroughly. When on duty by day he was constantly on +the move, riding through the forest, following country lanes, +questioning everyone he came across; and as the men always worked in +pairs, there was no feeling of loneliness. Sometimes Ashley would draw +together a score of troopers, and crossing the river in a ferry-boat, +would ride twenty miles north, and dashing into quiet villages, astonish +the inhabitants by the sight of the Confederate uniform. Then the +villagers would be questioned as to the news that had reached them of +the movements of the troops; the post-office would be seized and the +letters broken open; any useful information contained in them being +noted. But in general questions were readily answered; for a +considerable portion of the people of Maryland were strongly in favor of +the South, and were only prevented from joining it by the strong force +that held possession of Baltimore, and by the constant movement of +Federal armies through the State. Vincent was often employed in carrying +dispatches from Major Ashley to Stuart, being selected for that duty as +being the best mounted man in the troop. The direction was always a +vague one. "Take this letter to Colonel Stuart, wherever he may be," and +however early he started, Vincent thought himself fortunate if he +carried out his mission before sunset; for Stuart's front covered over +fifty miles of ground, and there was no saying where he might be. +Sometimes, after riding thirty or forty miles, and getting occasional +news that Stuart had passed through ahead of him, he would learn from +some outpost that the colonel had been there but ten minutes before, and +had ridden off before he came, and then Vincent had to turn his horse +and gallop back again, seldom succeeding in overtaking his active +commander until the latter had halted for his supper at one or other of +the villages where his men were stationed. Sometimes by good luck he +came upon him earlier, and then, after reading the dispatch, Stuart +would, if he were riding in the direction where Ashley's command lay, +bid him ride on with him, and would chat with him on terms of friendly +intimacy about people they both knew at Richmond, or as to the details +of his work, and sometimes they would sit down together under the shade +of some trees, take out the contents of their haversacks, and share +their dinners. + +"This is the second time I have had the best of this," the colonel +laughed one day; "my beef is as hard as leather, and this cold chicken +of yours is as plump and tender as one could wish to eat." + +"I have my own boy, colonel, who looks after the ten of us stationed at +Elmside, and I fancy that in the matter of cold rations he gives me an +undue preference. He always hands me my haversack when I mount with a +grin, and I quite understand that it is better I should ask no questions +as to its contents." + +"You are a lucky fellow," Stuart said. "My own servant is a good man, +and would do anything for me; but my irregular hours are too much for +him. He never knows when to expect me; and as he often finds that when I +do return I have made a meal an hour before at one of the outposts, and +do not want the food he has for hours been carefully keeping hot for me, +it drives him almost to despair, and I have sometimes been obliged to +eat rather than disappoint him. But he certainly has not a genius for +cooking, and were it not that this riding gives one the appetite of a +hunter, I should often have a good deal of difficulty in devouring the +meal he puts into my haversack." + +But the enemy were now really advancing, and on the 12th of June a +trooper rode in from the extreme left, and handed Vincent a dispatch +from Colonel Stuart. + +"My orders were," he said, "that, if you were here, you were to carry +this on at all speed to General Johnston. If not, someone else was to +take it on." + +"Any news?" Vincent asked, as, aided by Dan, he rapidly saddled +Wildfire. + +"Yes," the soldier said; "2000 of the enemy have advanced up the western +side, and have occupied Romney, and they say all Patterson's force is on +the move." + +"So much the better," Vincent replied, as he jumped into the saddle. "We +have been doing nothing long enough, and the sooner it comes the +better." + +It was a fifty-mile ride; but it was done in five hours, and at the end +of that time Vincent dismounted in front of General Johnston's quarters. + +"Is the general in?" he asked the sentry at the door. + +"No, he is not in; but here he comes," the soldier replied, and two +minutes later the general, accompanied by three or four officers, rode +up. + +Vincent saluted, and handed him the dispatch. The general opened it and +glanced at the contents. + +"The storm is going to burst at last, gentlemen," he said to the +officers. "Stuart writes me that 2000 men, supposed to be the advance of +McClellan's army, are at Romney, and that he hears Patterson is also +advancing from Chambersburg on Williamsport. His dispatch is dated this +morning at nine o'clock. He writes from near Cumberland. No time has +been lost, for that is eighty miles away, and it is but five o'clock +now. How far have you brought this dispatch, sir?" + +"I have brought it from Elmside, general; twenty miles on the other side +of Bath. A trooper brought it in just at midday, with orders for me to +carry it on at once." + +"That is good work," the general said. "You have ridden over fifty miles +in five hours. You must be well mounted, sir." + +"I do not think there is a better horse in the State," Vincent said, +patting Wildfire's neck. + +The general called an orderly. + +"Let this man picket his horse with those of the staff," he said, "and +see that it has forage at once. Take the man to the orderlies' quarters, +and see that he is well cared for." + +Vincent saluted, and, leading Wildfire, followed the orderly. When he +had had a meal, he strolled out to see what was going on. Evidently some +movement was in contemplation. Officers were riding up or dashing off +from the general's headquarters. Two or three regiments were seen +marching down from the plateau on which they were encamped into the +town. Bells rang and drums beat, and presently long trains of railway +wagons, heavily laden, began to make their way across the bridge. Until +next morning the movement continued unceasingly; by that time all the +military stores and public property, together with as much private +property, belonging to inhabitants who had decided to forsake their +homes for a time rather than to remain there when the town was occupied +by the enemy, as could be carried on in the available wagons, had been +taken across the bridge. A party of engineers, who had been all night +hard at work, then set fire both to the railway bridge across the river +and the public buildings in the town. The main body of troops had moved +across in the evening. The rearguard passed when all was in readiness +for the destruction of the bridge. + +General Johnston had been preparing for the movement for some time; he +had foreseen that the position must be evacuated as soon as the enemy +began to advance upon either of his flanks, and a considerable portion +of his baggage and military stores had some time previously been sent +into the interior of Virginia. The troops, formed up on the high grounds +south of the river, looked in silence at the dense volumes of smoke +rising. This was the reality of war. Hitherto their military work had +been no more than that to which many of them were accustomed when called +out with the militia of their State; but the scene of destruction on +which they now gazed brought home to them that the struggle was a +serious one--that it was war in its stern reality which had now begun. + +The troops at once set off on their march, and at night bivouacked in +the woods around Charleston. The next day they pushed across the country +and took up a position covering Winchester; and then the enemy, finding +that Johnston's army was in front of them, ready to dispute their +advance, recrossed the river, and Johnston concentrated his force round +Winchester. + +Vincent joined his corps on the same afternoon that the infantry marched +out from Harper's Ferry, the general sending him forward with dispatches +as soon as the troops had got into motion. + +"You will find Colonel Stuart in front of the enemy; but more than that +I cannot tell you." + +This was quite enough for Vincent, who found the cavalry scouting close +to Patterson's force, prepared to attack the enemy's cavalry, should it +advance to reconnoiter the country, and to blow up bridges across +streams, fell trees, and take every possible measure to delay the +advance of Patterson's army, in its attempt to push on toward Winchester +before the arrival of General Johnston's force upon the scene. + +"I am glad to see you back, Wingfield," Major Ashley said, as he rode +up. "The colonel tells me that in the dispatch he got last night from +Johnston the general said that Stuart's information reached him in a +remarkably short time, having been carried with great speed by the +orderly in charge of the duty. We have scarcely been out of our saddles +since you left. However, I think we have been of use, for we have been +busy all round the enemy since we arrived here in the afternoon, and I +fancy he must think us a good deal stronger than we are. At any rate, he +has not pushed his cavalry forward at all; and, as you say Johnston will +be up to-morrow afternoon, Winchester is safe anyhow." + +After the Federals had recrossed the river, and Johnston had taken up +his position round Winchester, the cavalry returned to their old work of +scouting along the Potomac. + +On the 20th of June movements of considerable bodies of the enemy were +noticed; and Johnston at once dispatched Jackson with his brigade to +Martinsburg, with orders to send as much of the rolling-stock of the +railroad as could be removed to Winchester, to destroy the rest, and to +support Stuart's cavalry when they advanced. A number of locomotives +were sent to Winchester along the highroad, drawn by teams of horses. +Forty engines and three hundred cars were burned or destroyed, and +Jackson then advanced and took up his position on the road to +Williamsport, the cavalry camp being a little in advance of him. This +was pleasant for Vincent, as, when off duty, he spent his time with his +friends and schoolfellows in Jackson's brigade. + +On the 2d of July the scouts rode into camp with the news that a strong +force was advancing from Williamsport. Jackson at once advanced with the +5th Virginia Infantry, numbering 380 men and one gun, while Stuart, with +100 cavalry, started to make a circuitous route, and harassed the flank +and rear of the enemy. There was no intention on the part of Jackson of +fighting a battle, his orders being merely to feel the enemy, whose +strength was far too great to be withstood, even had he brought his +whole brigade into action, for they numbered three brigades of infantry, +500 cavalry, and some artillery. + +For some hours the little Confederate force skirmished so boldly that +they checked the advance of the enemy, whose general naturally supposed +that he had before him the advanced guard of a strong force, and +therefore moved forward with great caution. Then the Confederates, being +threatened on both flanks by the masses of the Federals, fell back in +good order. The loss was very trifling on either side, but the fact that +so small a force had for hours checked the advance of an army greatly +raised the spirits and confidence of the Confederates. Stuart's small +cavalry force, coming down upon the enemy's rear, captured a good many +prisoners--Colonel Stuart himself capturing forty-four infantry. Riding +some distance ahead of his troop to find out the position of the enemy, +he came upon a company of Federal infantry sitting down in a field, +having no idea whatever that any Confederate force was in the +neighborhood. Stuart did not hesitate a moment, but riding up to them +shouted the order, "Throw down your arms, or you are all dead men!" +Believing themselves surrounded, the Federals threw down their arms, and +when the Confederate cavalry came up were marched off as prisoners. + +Jackson, on reaching his camp, struck his tents and sent them to the +rear, and formed up his whole brigade in order of battle. The Federals, +however, instead of attacking, continued their flank movement, and +Jackson fell back through Martinsburg and halted for the night a mile +beyond the town. + +Next day he again retired, and was joined six miles further on by +Johnston's whole force. For four days the little army held its position, +prepared to give battle if the enemy advanced; but the Federals, though +greatly superior in numbers, remained immovable at Martinsburg, and +Johnston, to the great disgust of his troops, retired to Winchester. The +soldiers were longing to meet the invaders in battle, but their general +had to bear in mind that the force under his command might at any moment +be urgently required to join the main Confederate army and aid in +opposing the Northern advance upon Richmond. + +Stuart's cavalry kept him constantly informed of the strength of the +enemy gathering in his front. Making circuits round Martinsburg, they +learned from the farmers what number of troops each day came along; and +while the Federals knew nothing of the force opposed to them, and +believed that it far outnumbered their own, General Johnston knew that +Patterson's force numbered about 22,000 men, while he himself had been +joined only by some 3000 men since he arrived at Winchester. + +On the 18th of July a telegram from the government at Richmond announced +that the Federal grand army had driven in General Beauregard's pickets +at Manassas, and had begun to advance, and Johnston was directed, if +possible, to hasten to his assistance. A few earthworks had been thrown +up at Winchester, and some guns mounted upon them, and the town was left +under the protection of the local militia. Stuart's cavalry was posted +in a long line across the country to prevent any news of the movement +reaching the enemy. As soon as this was done the infantry, 8300 strong, +marched off. The troops were in high spirits now, for they knew that +their long period of inactivity was over, and that, although ignorant +when and where, they were on their march to meet the enemy. + +They had no wagons or rations; the need for speed was too urgent even to +permit of food being cooked. Without a halt they pressed forward +steadily, and after two days' march, exhausted and half famished, they +reached the Manassas Gap Railroad. Here they were put into trains as +fast as these could be prepared, and by noon on the 20th joined +Beauregard at Manassas. The cavalry had performed their duty of +preventing the news of the movement from reaching the enemy until the +infantry were nearly a day's march away, and then Stuart reassembled his +men and followed Johnston. Thus the Confederate plans had been +completely successful. Over 30,000 of the enemy, instead of being in +line of battle with the main army, were detained before Winchester, +while the little Confederate force which had been facing them had +reached Beauregard in time to take part in the approaching struggle. + +In the North no doubt as to the power of the grand army to make its way +to Richmond was entertained. The troops were armed with the best weapons +obtainable, the artillery was numerous and excellent, the army was well +fed, and so confident were the men of success that they regarded the +whole affair in the light of a great picnic. The grand army numbered +55,000 men, with nine regiments of cavalry and forty-nine rifle-guns. To +oppose these, the Confederate force, after the arrival of Johnston's +army, numbered 27,833 infantry, thirty-five smooth-bore guns, and 500 +cavalry. Many of the infantry were armed only with shot-guns and old +fowling-pieces, and the guns were small and ill-supplied with +ammunition. There had been some sharp fighting on the 18th, and the +Federal advance across the river of Bull Run had been sharply repulsed, +therefore their generals determined, instead of making a direct attack +on the 31st against the Confederate position, to take a wide sweep +round, cross the river higher up, and falling upon the Confederate left +flank, to crumple it up. + +All night the Federal troops had marched, and at daybreak on the 21st +nearly 40,000 men were in position on the left flank of the +Confederates. The latter were not taken by surprise when Stuart's +cavalry brought in news of the Federal movement, and General Beauregard, +instead of moving his troops toward the threatened point, sent orders to +General Longstreet on the right to cross the river as soon as the battle +began, and to fall upon the Federal flank and rear. + +Had this movement been carried out, the destruction of the Federal army +would probably have been complete; but by one of those unfortunate +accidents which so frequently occur in war and upset the best laid +plans, the order in some way never came to hand, and when late in the +day the error was discovered, it was too late to remedy it. + +At eight o'clock in the morning two of the Federal divisions reached the +river, and while one of them engaged the Confederate force stationed at +the bridge, another crossed the river at a ford. Colonel Evans, who +commanded the Confederate forces, which numbered but fifteen companies, +left 200 men to continue to hold the bridge, while with 800 he hurried +to oppose General Hunter's division, which had crossed at the ford. + +This consisted of 16,000 infantry, with cavalry and artillery, and +another division of equal force had crossed at the Red House Ford, +higher up. To check so great a force with this handful of men seemed all +but impossible; but Colonel Evans determined to hold his ground to the +last, to enable his general to bring up re-enforcements. His force +consisted of men of South Carolina and Louisiana, and they contested +every foot of the ground. + +The regiment which formed the advance of the Federals charged, supported +by an artillery fire, but was repulsed. As the heavy Federal line +advanced, however, the Confederates were slowly but steadily pressed +back, until General Bee, with four regiments and a battery of artillery, +came up to their assistance. The newcomers threw themselves into the +fight with great gallantry, and maintained their ground until almost +annihilated by the fire of the enemy, who outnumbered them by five to +one. As, fighting desperately, they fell back before Hunter's division, +the Federals, who had crossed at Red House Ford, suddenly poured down +and took them in flank. + +Swept by a terrible musketry fire, these troops could no longer resist, +and in spite of the efforts of their general, who rode among them +imploring them to stand firm until aid arrived, they began to fall back. +Neither entreaties nor commands were of avail; the troops had done all +that they could, and broken and disheartened they retreated in great +confusion. But at this moment, when all seemed lost, a line of +glittering bayonets was seen coming over the hill behind, and the +general, riding off in haste toward them, found Jackson advancing with +the first brigade. + +Unmoved by the rush of the fugitives of the brigades of Bee and Evans, +Jackson moved steadily forward, and so firm and resolute was their +demeanor that Bee rode after his men, and pointing with his sword to the +first brigade, shouted, "Look, there is Jackson standing like a stone +wall!" The general's words were repeated, and henceforth the brigade was +known as the Stonewall Brigade, and their general by the nickname of +Stonewall Jackson, by which he was ever afterward known. The greater +part of the fugitives rallied, and took up their position on the right +of Jackson, and the Federal forces, who were hurrying forward assured of +victory, found themselves confronted suddenly by 2600 bayonets. After a +moment's pause they pressed forward again, the artillery preparing a way +for them by a tremendous fire. + +Jackson ordered his men to lie down until the enemy arrived within fifty +yards, and then to charge with the bayonet. Just at this moment Generals +Johnston and Beauregard arrived on the spot, and at once seeing the +desperate nature of the situation, and the whole Federal army pressing +forward against a single brigade, they did their best to prepare to meet +the storm. First they galloped up and down the disordered lines of Bee, +exhorting the men to stand firm; and seizing the colors of the 4th +Alabama, Johnston led them forward and formed them up under fire. + +Beauregard hurried up some re-enforcements and formed them on the left +of Jackson, and thus 6500 infantry and artillery, and Stuart's two +troops of cavalry, stood face to face with more than 20,000 infantry and +seven troops of regular cavalry, behind whom, at the lower fords, were +35,000 men in reserve. While his men were lying down awaiting the +attack, Jackson rode backward and forward in front of them as calm and +as unconcerned to all appearance as if on the parade ground, and his +quiet bravery greatly nerved and encouraged the young troops. + +All at once the tremendous artillery fire of the enemy ceased, and their +infantry came on in massive lines. The four Confederate guns poured in +their fire and then withdrew behind the infantry. When the line came +within fifty yards of him, Jackson gave the word, his men sprang to +their feet, poured in a heavy volley, and then charged. A wild yell rose +from both ranks as they closed, and then they were mingled in a +desperate conflict. For a time all was in wild confusion, but the ardor +and courage of Jackson's men prevailed, and they burst through the +center of the Federal line. + +Immediately Jackson had charged, Beauregard sent forward the rest of the +troops, and for a time a tremendous struggle took place along the whole +line. Generals Bee and Barlow fell mortally wounded at the head of +their troops. General Hampton was wounded, and many of the colonels +fell. So numerous were the Federals, that although Jackson had pierced +their center, their masses drove back his flanks and threatened to +surround him. With voice and example he cheered on his men to hold their +ground, and the officers closed up their ranks as they were thinned by +the enemy's fire, and for an hour the struggle continued without marked +advantage on either side. + +Jackson's calmness was unshaken even in the excitement of the fight. At +one time an officer rode up to him from another portion of the field and +exclaimed, "General, I think the day is going against us!" To which +Jackson replied in his usual curt manner, "If you think so, sir, you had +better not say anything about it." + +The resolute stand of the Confederates enabled General Beauregard to +bring up fresh troops, and he at last gave the word to advance. + +Jackson's brigade rushed forward on receiving the order, burst through +the Federals with whom they were engaged, and, supported by the +reserves, drove the enemy from the plateau. Then the Federals, though +vastly superior in force, brought up the reserves, and prepared to renew +the attack; but 1700 fresh men of the Army of the Shenandoah came upon +the field of battle, Smith and Early brought up their divisions from the +river, and the whole Southern line advanced at the charge, and drove the +enemy down the slopes and on toward the ford. + +A panic seized them, and their regiments broke up and took to headlong +flight, which soon became an utter rout. Many of them continued their +flight for hours, and for a time the Federal army ceased to exist; and +had the Confederates advanced, as Jackson desired that they should do, +Washington would have fallen into their hands without a blow being +struck in its defense. + +This, the first great battle of the war, is sometimes known as the +battle of Manassas, but more generally as Bull Run. + +With the exception of one or two charges, the little body of Confederate +horse did not take any part in the battle of Bull Run. Had they been +aware of the utter stampede of the Northern troops, they could safely +have pressed forward in hot pursuit as far as Washington, but being +numerically so inferior to the Federal cavalry, and in ignorance that +the Northern infantry had become a mere panic-stricken mob, it would +have been imprudent in the extreme for such a handful of cavalry to +undertake the pursuit of an army. + +Many of the Confederates were of opinion that this decisive victory +would be the end of the war, and that the North, seeing that the South +was able as well as willing to defend the position it had taken up, +would abandon the idea of coercing it into submission. This hope was +speedily dissipated. The North was indeed alike astonished and +disappointed at the defeat of their army by a greatly inferior force, +but instead of abandoning the struggle, they set to work to retrieve the +disaster, and to place in the field a force which would, they believed, +prove irresistible. + +Vincent Wingfield saw but little of the battle at Bull Run. As they were +impatiently waiting the order to charge, while the desperate conflict +between Jackson's brigade and the enemy was at its fiercest, a shell +from one of the Federal batteries burst a few yards in front of the +troop, and one of the pieces, striking Vincent on the side, hurled him +insensible from his horse. He was at once lifted and carried by Dan and +some of the other men-servants, who had been told off for this duty, to +the rear, where the surgeons were busily engaged in dressing the wounds +of the men who straggled back from the front. While the conflict lasted +those unable to walk lay where they fell, for no provision had at +present been made for ambulance corps, and not a single man capable of +firing a musket could be spared from the ranks. The tears were flowing +copiously down Dan's cheeks as he stood by while the surgeons examined +Vincent's wound. + +"Is he dead, sah?" he sobbed as they lifted him up from his stooping +position. + +"Dead!" the surgeon repeated. "Can't you see he is breathing, and did +you not hear him groan when I examined his side? He is a long way from +being a dead man yet. Some of his ribs are broken, and he has had a very +nasty blow; but I do not think there is any cause for anxiety about him. +Pour a little wine down his throat, and sprinkle his face with water. +Raise his head and put a coat under it, and when he opens his eyes and +begins to recover, don't let him move. Then you can cut up the side of +his jacket and down the sleeve, so as to get it off that side +altogether. Cut his shirt open, and bathe the wound with some water and +bit of rag of any sort; it is not likely to bleed much. When it has +stopped bleeding put a pad of linen upon it, and keep it wet. When we +can spare time we will bandage it properly." + +But it was not until late at night that the time could be spared for +attending to Vincent; for the surgeons were overwhelmed with work, and +the most serious cases were, as far as possible, first attended to. He +had soon recovered consciousness. At first he looked with a feeling of +bewilderment at Dan, who was copiously sprinkling his face with water, +sobbing loudly while he did so. As soon as the negro perceived that his +master had opened his eyes he gave a cry of delight. + +"Thank de Lord, Marse Vincent! Dis child tought you dead and gone for +sure." + +"What's the matter, Dan? What has happened?" Vincent said, trying to +move, and then stopping suddenly with a cry of pain. + +"You knocked off your horse, sah, wid one of de shells of dem cussed +Yanks." + +"Am I badly hurt, Dan?" + +"Bery bad, sah; great piece of flesh pretty nigh as big as my hand come +out ob your side, and doctor says some ob de ribs broken. But de doctor +not seem to make much ob it; he hard sort ob man dat. Say you get all +right again. No time to tend to you now. Hurry away just as if you some +poor white trash instead of Massa Wingfield ob de Orangery." + +Vincent smiled faintly. + +"It doesn't make much difference what a man is in a surgeon's eyes, Dan. +The question is how badly he is hurt, and what can be done for him? +Well, thank God it's no worse. Wildfire was not hurt, I hope?" + +"No, sah; he is standing tied up by dat tree. Now, sah, de doctor say me +cut your jacket off and bave de wound." + +"All right, Dan; but be a little careful with the water, you seem to be +pretty near drowning me as it is. Just wipe my face and hair, and get +the handkerchief from the pocket of my jacket, and open the shirt collar +and put the handkerchief inside round my neck. Then see how the battle +is going on. The roar seems louder than ever." + +Dan went forward to the crest of a slight rise of the ground whence he +could look down upon the field of battle, and made haste to return. + +"Can't see bery well, sah; too much smoke. But dey in de same place +still." + +"Look round, Dan, and see if there are any fresh troops coming up." + +Dan again went to the rise of ground. + +"Yes, sah; lot of men coming ober de hill behind." + +"That's all right, Dan. Now you can see about this bathing my side." + +As soon as the battle was over, Major Ashley rode up to where Vincent +and five or six of his comrades of the cavalry were lying wounded. + +"How are you getting on, lads? Pretty well, I hope?" he asked as he +dismounted. + +"First-rate, major," one of the men answered. "We all of us took a turn +as soon as we heard that the Yanks were whipped." + +"Yes, we have thrashed them handsomely," the major said. "Ah, Wingfield! +I am glad to see you are alive. I thought, when you fell, it was all +over with you." + +"I am not much hurt, sir," Vincent replied. "A flesh wound and some ribs +are broken, I hear; but they won't be long mending, I hope." + +"It's a nasty wound to look at," the major said, as Dan lifted the pad +of wet linen. "But with youth and health you will soon get round it, +never fear." + +"Ah, my poor lad! yours is a worse case," he said as he bent over a +young fellow who was lying a few paces from Vincent. + +"It's all up with me, major," he replied faintly; "the doctor said he +could do nothing for me. But I don't mind, now we have beaten them. You +will send a line to the old people, major, won't you, and say I died +doing my duty? I've got two brothers, and I expect they will send one on +to take my place." + +"I will write to them, my lad," the major said, "and tell them all about +you." He could give the lad no false hopes, for already a gray shade was +stealing over the white face, and the end was close at hand; in a few +minutes he ceased to breathe. + +Late in the evening the surgeons, having attended to more urgent cases, +came round. Vincent's wound was now more carefully examined than before, +but the result was the same. Three of the ribs were badly fractured, but +there was no serious danger. + +"You will want quiet and good nursing for some time," the principal +surgeon said. "There will be a train of wounded going off for Richmond +the first thing in the morning, and you shall go by it. You had better +get a door," he said to some of the troopers, who had come across from +the spot where the cavalry were bivouacked to see how their comrades +were getting on, "and carry him down and put him in the train. One has +just been sent off and another will be made up at once, so that the +wounded can be put in it as they are taken down. Now I will bandage the +wound, and it will not want any more attention until you get home." + +A wad of lint was placed upon the wound and bandaged tightly round the +body. + +"Remember you have got to lie perfectly quiet, and not attempt to move +till the bones have knit. I am afraid that they are badly fractured, and +will require some time to heal up again." + +A door was fetched from an outhouse near, and Vincent and two of his +comrades, who were also ordered to be sent to the rear, were one by one +carried down to the nearest point on the railway, where a train stood +ready to receive them, and they were then laid on the seats. + +All night the wounded kept arriving, and by morning the train was packed +as full as it would hold, and with two or three surgeons in charge +started for Richmond. Dan was permitted to accompany the train, at +Vincent's urgent request, in the character of doctor's assistant, and he +went about distributing water to the wounded, and assisting the surgeons +in moving such as required it. + +It was night before the train reached Richmond. A number of people were +at the station to receive it; for as soon as the news of the battle had +been received, preparations had been made for the reception of the +wounded, several public buildings had been converted into hospitals, and +numbers of the citizens had come forward with offers to take one or more +of the wounded into their houses. The streets were crowded with people, +who were wild with joy at the news of the victory which, as they +believed, had secured the State from further fear of invasion. Numbers +of willing hands were in readiness to carry the wounded on stretchers to +the hospitals, where all the surgeons of the town were already waiting +to attend upon them. + +Vincent, at his own request, was only laid upon a bed, as he said that +he would go home to be nursed the first thing in the morning. This being +the case, it was needless to put him to the pain and trouble of being +undressed. Dan had started, as soon as he saw his master carried into +the hospital, to take the news to the Orangery; being strictly charged +by Vincent to make light of his injury, and on no account whatever to +alarm them. He was to ask that the carriage should come to fetch him the +first thing in the morning. + +It was just daybreak when Mrs. Wingfield drove up to the hospital. Dan +had been so severely cross-examined that he had been obliged to give an +accurate account of Vincent's injury. There was bustle and movement even +at that early hour, for another train of wounded had just arrived. As +she entered the hospital she gave an exclamation of pleasure, for at the +door were two gentlemen in conversation, one of whom was the doctor who +had long attended the family at the Orangery. + +"I am glad you are here, Dr. Mapleston; for I want your opinion before I +move Vincent. Have you seen him?" + +"No, Mrs. Wingfield; I did not know he was here. I have charge of one of +the wards, and have not had time to see who are in the others. I +sincerely hope Vincent is not seriously hurt." + +"That's what I want to find out, doctor. His boy brought us news late +last night that he was here. He said the doctors considered that he was +not in any danger; but as he had three ribs broken, and a deep flesh +wound from the explosion of a shell, it seems to me that it must be +serious." + +"I will go up and see him at once, Mrs. Wingfield, and find out from the +surgeon in charge of his ward exactly what is the matter with him." Dan +led the way to the bed upon which Vincent was lying. He was only dozing, +and opened his eyes as they came up. + +"My poor boy!" Mrs. Wingfield said, struggling with her tears at the +sight of his pale face, "this is sad indeed." + +"It is nothing very bad, mother," Vincent replied cheerfully; "nothing +at all to fret about. The wound is nothing to the injuries of most of +those here. I suppose, doctor, I can be moved at once?" + +Dr. Mapleston felt his pulse. + +"You are feverish, Vincent; but perhaps the best thing for you would be +to get you home while you can be moved. You will do far better there +than here. But I must speak to the surgeon in charge of you first, and +hear what he says." + +"Yes, I think you can move him," the surgeon of the ward said. "He has +got a nasty wound, and the ticket with him said that three ribs were +badly fractured; but I made no examination, as he said he would be +fetched the first thing this morning. I only put on a fresh dressing and +bandaged it. The sooner you get him off the better, if he is to be +moved. Fever is setting in, and he will probably be wandering by this +evening. He will have a much better chance at home, with cool rooms and +quiet and careful nursing, than he can have here; though there would be +no lack of either comforts or nurses, for half the ladies in the town +have volunteered for the work, and we have offers of all the medical +comforts that could be required were the list of wounded ten times as +large as it is." + +A stretcher was brought in, and Vincent was lifted as gently as possible +upon it. Then he was carried down stairs and the stretcher placed in the +carriage; which was a large open one, and afforded just sufficient +length for it. Mrs. Wingfield took her seat beside him, Dan mounted the +box beside the coachman. + +"I will be out in an hour, Mrs. Wingfield," Dr. Mapleston said. "I have +got to go round the ward again, and will then drive out at once. Give +him lemonade and cooling drinks; don't let him talk. Cut his clothes off +him, and keep the room somewhat dark, but with a free current of air. I +will bring out some medicine with me." + +The carriage drove slowly to avoid shaking, and when they approached the +house Mrs. Wingfield told Dan to jump down and come to the side of the +carriage. Then she told him to run on as fast as he could ahead, and to +tell her daughters not to meet them upon their arrival, and that all the +servants were to be kept out of the way, except three men to carry +Vincent upstairs. The lad was consequently got up to his room without +any excitement, and was soon lying on his bed with a sheet thrown +lightly over him. + +"That is comfortable," he said, as his mother bathed his face and hands +and smoothed his hair. "Where are the girls, mother?" + +"They will come in to see you now, Vincent; but you are to keep quite +quiet, you know, and not to talk." The girls stole in and said a few +words, and left him alone again with Mrs. Wingfield. He did not look to +them so ill as they had expected, for there was a flush of fever on his +cheeks. Dr. Mapleston arrived a little later, examined and redressed the +wound, and comforted Mrs. Wingfield with the assurance that there was +nothing in it likely to prove dangerous to life. + +"Our trouble will be rather with the effect of the shock than with the +wound itself. He is very feverish now, and you must not be alarmed if by +this evening he is delirious. You will give him this cooling draught +every three hours; he can have anything in the way of cooling drinks he +likes. If he begins to wander, put cloths dipped in cold water and wrung +out on his head, and sponge his hands with water with a little Eau de +Cologne in it. If he seems very hot set one of the women to fan him, but +don't let her go on if it seems to worry him. I will come round again at +half-past nine this evening and will make arrangements to pass the night +here. We have telegrams saying that surgeons are coming from Charleston +and many other places, so I can very well be spared." + +When the doctor returned in the evening, he found, as he had +anticipated, that Vincent was in a high state of fever. This continued +four or five days, and then gradually passed off; and he woke up one +morning perfectly conscious. His mother was sitting on a chair at the +bedside. + +"What is the time, mother?" he asked. "Have I been asleep long?" + +"Some time, dear," she answered gently; "but you must not talk. You are +to take this draught and go off to sleep again; when you wake you may +ask any questions you like." She lifted the lad's head, gave him the +draught and some cold tea, then darkened the room, and in a few minutes +he was asleep again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE "MERRIMAC" AND THE "MONITOR." + + +It was some weeks before Vincent was able to walk unaided. His +convalescence was somewhat slow, for the shock to the system had been a +severe one. The long railway journey had been injurious to him, for the +bandage had become somewhat loose and the broken pieces of bone had +grated upon each other, and were much longer in knitting together than +they would have been had he been treated on the spot. + +As soon as he could walk he became anxious to rejoin his troop, but the +doctor said that many weeks must elapse before he would be able to +undergo the hardships of a campaign. He was reconciled to some extent to +the delay by letters from his friends with the troop and by the perusal +of the papers. There was nothing whatever doing in Virginia. The two +armies still faced each other, the Northerners protected by the strong +fortifications they had thrown up round Washington--fortifications much +too formidable to be attacked by the Confederates, held as they were by +a force immensely superior to their own, both in numbers and arms. + +The Northerners were indeed hard at work, collecting and organizing an +army which was to crush out the rebellion. General Scott had been +succeeded by McClellan in the supreme command, and the new general was +indefatigable in organizing the vast masses of men raised in the North. +So great were the efforts that, in a few months after the defeat of Bull +Run, the North had 650,000 men in arms. + +But while no move had at present been made against Virginia there was +sharp fighting in some of the border States, especially in Missouri and +Kentucky, in both of which public opinion was much divided, and +regiments were raised on both sides. + +Various operations were now undertaken by the Federal fleet at points +along the coast, and several important positions were taken and +occupied, it being impossible for the Confederates to defend so long a +line of seacoast. The South had lost rather than gained ground in +consequence of their victory at Bull Run. For a time they had been +unduly elated, and were altogether disposed to underrate their enemies +and to believe that the struggle was as good as over. Thus, then, they +made no effort at all corresponding to the North; but as time went on, +and they saw the vastness of the preparations made for their conquest, +the people of the Southern States again bestirred themselves. + +Owing to the North having the command of the sea, and shutting up all +the principal ports, they had to rely upon themselves for everything, +while the North could draw arms and ammunition and all the requisites of +war from the markets of Europe. Foundries were accordingly established +for the manufacture of artillery, and factories for muskets, ammunition, +and percussion caps. The South had, in fact, to manufacture everything +down to the cloth for her soldiers' uniforms and the leather for their +shoes; and, as in the past she had relied wholly upon the North for such +goods, it was for a time impossible to supply the troops with even the +most necessary articles. + +The women throughout the States were set to work spinning and weaving +rough cloth and making uniforms from it. Leather, however, cannot be +produced all at once, and indeed, with all their efforts, the +Confederate authorities were never, throughout the war, able to provide +a sufficient supply of boots for the troops, and many a battle was won +by soldiers who fought almost barefooted, and who reshod themselves for +the most part by stripping the boots from their dead foes. Many other +articles could not be produced in the Southern States, and the +Confederates suffered much from the want of proper medicines and +surgical appliances. + +For these and many other necessaries they had to depend solely upon the +ships which succeeded in making their way through the enemy's cruisers +and running the blockade of the ports. Wine, tea, coffee, and other +imported articles soon became luxuries beyond the means of all, even the +very wealthy. All sorts of substitutes were used; grain, roasted and +ground, being chiefly used as a substitute for coffee. Hitherto the +South had been principally occupied in raising cotton and tobacco, +depending chiefly upon the North for food; and it was necessary now to +abandon the cultivation of products for which they had no sale, and to +devote the land to the growth of maize and other crops for food. + +By the time that the long period of inaction came to a close, Vincent +had completely recovered his strength, and was ready to rejoin the ranks +as soon as the order came from Colonel Stuart, who had promised to send +for him directly there was a prospect of active service. + +One of Vincent's first questions, as soon as he became convalescent, was +whether a letter had been received from Tony. It had come, he was told, +among the last batch of letters that crossed the frontier before the +outbreak of hostilities, and Mrs. Wingfield had, as he had requested, +opened it. As had been arranged, it had merely contained Tony's address +at a village near Montreal; for Vincent had warned him to say nothing in +the letter, for there was no saying, in the troubled times which were +approaching when Tony left, into whose hands it might fall. + +Vincent had, before starting, told his mother of the share he had taken +in getting the negro safely away, and Mrs. Wingfield, brought up, as she +had been, to regard those who assisted runaway slaves to escape in the +same light as those who assisted to steal any other kind of property, +was at first greatly shocked when she heard that her son had taken part +in such an enterprise, however worthy of compassion the slave might be, +and however brutal the master from whose hands he had fled. However, as +Vincent was on the point of starting for the war to meet danger, and +possibly death, in the defense of Virginia, she had said little, and +that little was in reference rather to the imprudence of the course he +had taken than to what she regarded in her own mind as its folly, and +indeed its criminality. + +She had, however, promised that as soon as Tony's letter arrived she +would, if still possible, forward Dinah and the child to him, supplying +her with money for the journey, and giving her the papers freeing her +from slavery which Vincent had duly signed in the presence of a justice. +When the letter came, however, it was already too late. Fighting was on +the point of commencing, all intercourse across the border was stopped, +the trains were all taken up for the conveyance of troops, and even a +man would have had great difficulty in passing northward, while for an +unprotected negress with a baby such a journey would have been +impossible. + +Mrs. Wingfield had therefore written four times at fortnightly intervals +to Tony, saying that it was impossible to send Dinah off at present, but +that she should be dispatched as soon as the troubles were over, upon +receipt of another letter from him saying that his address was +unchanged, or giving a new one. These letters were duly posted, and it +was probable that one or other of them would in time reach Tony, as +mails were sent off to Europe, whenever an opportunity offered for them +to be taken by a steamer running the blockade from a Southern port. +Dinah, therefore, still remained at the Orangery. She was well and +happy, for her life there was a delightful one indeed after her toil and +hardship at the Jacksons'; and although she was anxious to join her +husband, the knowledge that he was well and safe from all pursuit, and +that sooner or later she would join him with her child, was sufficient +to make her perfectly contented. + +During Vincent's illness she had been his most constant attendant; for +her child now no longer required her care, and passed much of its time +down at the nursery, where the young children of the slaves were looked +after by two or three aged negresses past active work. She had therefore +begged Mrs. Wingfield to be allowed to take her place by the bedside of +her young master, and, after giving her a trial, Mrs. Wingfield found her +so quiet, gentle, and patient that she installed her there, and was able +to obtain the rest she needed, with a feeling of confidence that Vincent +would be well attended to in her absence. + +When Vincent was well enough to be about again, his sisters were +surprised at the change that had taken place in him since he had started +a few months before for the war. It was not so much that he had grown, +though he had done so considerably, but that he was much older in manner +and appearance. He had been doing man's work,--work requiring vigilance, +activity, and courage,--and they could no longer treat him as a boy. As +he became stronger he took to riding about the plantation; but not upon +Wildfire, for his horse was still with the troop, Colonel Stuart having +promised to see that the animal was well cared for, and that no one +should ride upon it but himself. + +"I hope you like Jonas Pearson better than you used to do, Vincent," +Mrs. Wingfield said a day or two before he started to rejoin his troop. + +"I can't say I do, mother," he replied shortly. "The man is very civil +to me now--too civil, in fact; but I don't like him, and I don't believe +he is honest. I don't mean that he would cheat you, though he may do so +for anything I know; but he pretends to be a violent Secessionist, +which, as he comes from Vermont, is not natural, and I imagine he would +sing a different tune if the bluecoats ever get to Richmond. Still I +have nothing particular to say against him, except that I don't like +him, and I don't trust him. So long as everything goes on well for the +Confederacy I don't suppose it matters, but if we should ever get the +worst of it you will see that fellow will be mischievous. + +[Illustration: Map--THE COUNTRY BETWEEN RICHMOND AND FORT MONROE.] + +"However, I hear that he has obeyed your orders, and that there has been +no flogging on the estate since I went away. In fact, as far as I can +see, he does not keep anything like such a sharp hand over the slaves as +he used to do; and in some of the fields the work seems to be done in a +very slovenly way. What his game is I don't know; but I have no doubt +whatever that he has some game in his mind." + +"You are a most prejudiced boy," Mrs. Wingfield said, laughing. "First +of all the man is too strict, and you were furious about it; now you +think he is too lenient, and at once you suspect he has what you call a +game of some sort or other on. You are hard to please, indeed." + +Vincent smiled. "Well, as I told you once before, we shall see. I hope I +am wrong, and that Pearson is all that you believe him to be. I own that +I may be prejudiced against him, but nothing will persuade me that it +was not from him that Jackson learned that Dinah was here, and it was to +that we owe the visit of the sheriff and the searching the plantation +for Tony. However, whatever the man is at heart, he can, as far as I +see, do you no injury as long as things go on as they are, and I +sincerely trust he will never have an opportunity of doing so." + +During the winter Vincent had made the acquaintance of many of the +Southern leaders. The town was the center of the movement, the heart of +the Confederacy. It was against it, as the capital of the Southern +States, that the efforts of the Northerners were principally directed, +and to it flocked the leading men from all parts of the country. +Although every Virginian family had some of its members at the front, +and a feeling of anxiety reigned everywhere, a semblance of gayety was +kept up. The theater was opened, and parties and balls given in order to +keep up the spirits of the people by the example of those of higher +rank. + +These balls differed widely in appearance from those of eighteen months +before. The gentlemen were almost all in uniform, and already calicoes +and other cheap fabrics were worn by many of the ladies, as foreign +dress materials could no longer be purchased. Mrs. Wingfield made a +point of always attending these entertainments with her daughters, which +to the young people afforded a cheerful break in the dullness and +monotony of their usual life; for owing to the absence of almost all the +young men with the army, there had been a long cessation of the pleasant +interchange of visits, impromptu parties, and social gatherings that had +formed a feature in the life of Virginia. + +The balls would have been but dull affairs had only the residents of +Richmond been present; but leave was granted as much as possible to +officers stationed with regiments within a railway run of the town, and +as these eagerly availed themselves of the change from the monotony of +camp life, the girls had no reason to complain of want of partners. +Here, and at the receptions given by President Davis, Vincent met all +the leaders of the Confederacy, civil and military. Many of them had +been personal friends of the Wingfields before the Secession movement +began, and among them was General Magruder, who commanded the troops +round Richmond. + +Early in the winter the general had called at the Orangery. "We are +going to make a call upon the patriotism of the planters of this +neighborhood, Mrs. Wingfield," he said, during lunch time. "You see our +armies are facing those of the Federals opposite Washington, and can +offer a firm front to any foe marching down from the North; but +unfortunately they have command of the sea, and there is nothing to +prevent their embarking an army on board ship and landing it in either +the James or the York rivers, and in that case they might make a rush +upon Richmond before there would be time to bring down troops to our +aid. I am therefore proposing to erect a chain of works between the two +rivers, so as to be able to keep even a large army at bay until +re-enforcements arrive; but to do this a large number of hands will be +required, and we are going to ask the proprietors of plantations to +place as many negroes as they can spare at our disposal." + +"There can be no doubt as to the response your quest will meet with, +general. At present we have scarcely enough work for our slaves to do. I +intend to grow no tobacco next year, for it will only rot in the +warehouse, and a comparatively small number of hands are required to +raise corn crops. I have about a hundred and seventy working hands on +the Orangery, and shall be happy to place a hundred at your disposal for +as long a time as you may require them. If you want fifty more, you can +of course have them. Everything else must at present give way to the +good of the cause." + +"I thank you much, Mrs. Wingfield, for your offers, and will put your +name down the first on the list of contributors." + +"You seem quite to have recovered now," he said to Vincent a few minutes +afterward. + +"Yes; I am ashamed of staying here so long, general. But I feel some +pain at times; and as there is nothing doing at the front, and my doctor +says that it is of importance I should have rest as long as possible, I +have stayed on. Major Ashley has promised to recall me as soon as there +is a prospect of active work." + +"I think it is quite likely that there will be active work here as soon +as anywhere else," the general said. "We know pretty well what is doing +at Washington, and though nothing has been decided upon, there is a +party in favor of a landing in force here; and if so, we shall have hot +work. What do you say? If you like, I will get you a commission and +appoint you one of my aids-de-camp. Your knowledge of the country will +make you useful, and as Ashley has specially mentioned your name in one +of his dispatches, you can have the commission by asking for it. + +"If there is to be fighting round here, it will be of more interest to +you defending your own home than in taking part in general engagements +for the safety of the State. It will, too, enable you to be a good deal +at home; and although, so far, the slaves have behaved extremely well, +there is no saying exactly what may happen if the Northerners come among +us. You can rejoin your own corps afterward, you know, if nothing comes +of this." + +Vincent was at first inclined to decline the offer, but his mother and +sisters were so pleased at having him near them that he finally accepted +with thanks, being principally influenced by the general's last +argument, that possibly there might be trouble with the slaves in the +event of a landing in the James Peninsula by the Northerners. A few days +later there came an official intimation that he had received a +commission in the cavalry, and had at General Magruder's request been +appointed to his staff, and he at once entered upon his new duties. + +Fortress Monroe, at the entrance of Hampton Roads, was still in the +hands of the Federals, and a large Federal fleet was assembled here, and +was only prevented from sailing up the James River by the _Merrimac_, a +steamer which the Confederates had plated with railway iron. They had +also constructed batteries upon some high bluffs on each side of the +river. In a short time 5000 negroes were set to work erecting batteries +upon the York River at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, and upon a line of +works extending from Warwick upon the James River to Ship Point on the +York, through a line of wooded and swampy country intersected by streams +emptying themselves into one or other of the rivers. + +This line was some thirty miles in length, and would require 25,000 men +to guard it; but Magruder hoped that there would be sufficient warning +of an attack to enable re-enforcements to arrive in time to raise his +own command of about 10,000 men to that strength. The negroes worked +cheerfully, for they received a certain amount of pay from the State; +but the work was heavy and difficult, and different altogether to that +which they were accustomed to perform. The batteries by the sides of the +rivers made fair progress, but the advance of the long line of works +across the peninsula was but slow. Vincent had, upon receiving his +appointment, written at once to Major Ashley, sending his letter by Dan, +who was ordered to bring back Wildfire. Vincent stated that, had he +consulted his personal feeling, he should have preferred remaining in +the ranks of his old corps; but that, as the fighting might be close to +his home, and there was no saying what might be the behavior of the +slave population in the event of a Northern invasion, he had, for the +sake of his mother and sisters, accepted the appointment, but as soon as +the danger was over he hoped to rejoin the corps and serve under his +former commander. + +Dan, on his return with Wildfire, brought a letter from the major saying +that, although he should have been glad to have had him with him, he +quite agreed with the decision at which he had, under the circumstances, +arrived. Vincent now took up his quarters at the camp formed a short +distance from the city, and much of his time was spent in riding to and +from the peninsula, seeing that the works were being carried out +according to the plan of the general, and reporting upon the manner in +which the contractors for the supply off food to the negroes at work +there performed their duties. Sometimes he was away for two or three +days upon this work; but he generally managed once or twice a week to +get home for a few hours. + +The inhabitants of Richmond and its neighborhood were naturally greatly +interested in the progress of the works for their defense, and parties +were often organized to ride or drive to Yorktown, or to the batteries +on the James River, to watch the progress made. Upon one occasion +Vincent accompanied his mother and sisters, and a party of ladies and +gentlemen from the neighboring plantations, to Drury's Bluff, where an +intrenched position named Fort Darling had been erected, and +preparations made to sink vessels across the river, and close it against +the advance of the enemy's fleet, should any misfortune happen to the +_Merrimac_. + +Several other parties had been made up, and each brought provisions with +them, General Magruder and some of his officers received them upon their +arrival, and conducted them over the works. After this the whole party +sat down to a picnic meal on the ground, and no stranger could have +guessed that the merry party formed part of a population threatened with +invasion by a powerful foe. There were speeches and toasts, all of a +patriotic character, and General Magruder raised the enthusiasm to the +highest point by informing them that in a few days--the exact day was a +secret, but it would be very shortly--the _Merrimac_, or, as she had +been rechristened, the _Virginia_, would put out of Norfolk Harbor, and +see what she could do to clear Hampton Roads of the fleet that now +threatened them. As they were riding back to Richmond the general said +to Vincent: + +"I will tell you a little more than I told the others, Wingfield. I +believe the _Merrimac_ will go out the day after to-morrow. I wish I +could get away myself to see the affair; but, unfortunately, I cannot do +so. However, if you like to be present, I will give you three days' +leave, as you have been working very hard lately. You can start early +to-morrow, and can get down by train to Norfolk in the evening. I should +advise you to take your horse with you, and then you can ride in the +morning to some spot from which you will get a fair view of the Roads, +and be able to see what is going on." + +"Thank you very much, sir," Vincent said. "I should like it immensely." + +The next morning Vincent went down to Norfolk. Arriving there, he found +that, although there was a general expectation that the _Merrimac_ +would shortly go out to try her strength with the enemy, nothing was +known of the fact that the next morning had been fixed for the +encounter; the secret being kept to the last, lest some spy or adherent +of the North might take the news to the fleet. After putting up his +horse Vincent went down to the navy yard, off which the _Merrimac_ was +lying. + +This ship had been sunk by the Federals when, at the commencement of +hostilities, they had evacuated Norfolk. Having been raised by the +Confederates, the ship was cut down, and a sort of roof covered with +iron was built over it, so that the vessel presented the appearance of a +huge sunken house. A ram was fixed to her bow, and she was armed with +ten guns. Her steam-power was very insufficient for her size, and she +could only move through the water at the rate of five knots an hour. + +"She is an ugly-looking thing," a man observed to Vincent, as he gazed +at the ship. + +"Frightfully ugly," Vincent agreed. "She may be a formidable machine in +the way of fighting, but one can scarcely call her a ship." + +"She is a floating battery, and if they tried their best to turn out the +ugliest thing that ever floated they could not have succeeded better. +She is just like a Noah's ark sunk down to the eaves of her roof." + +"Yes, she is a good deal like that," Vincent agreed. "The very look of +her ought to be enough to frighten the Federals, even if she did nothing +else." + +"I expect it will not be long before she gives them a taste of her +quality," the man said. "She has got her coal and ammunition on board, +and there's nothing to prevent her going out this evening if she wants +to." + +"It will be worth seeing when she does go out to fight the Northerners," +Vincent said. "It will be a new experiment in warfare, and, if she turns +out a success, I suppose all the navies in the world will be taking to +cover themselves up with iron." + +The next morning, which was the 8th of March,--a date forever memorable +in naval annals,--smoke was seen pouring out from the funnels of the +_Merrimac_, and there were signs of activity on board the _Patrick +Henry_, of six guns, and the _Jamestown_, _Raleigh_, _Beaufort_, and +_Teazer_, little craft carrying one gun each, and at eleven o'clock they +all moved down the inlet on which Norfolk is situated. The news that the +_Merrimac_ was going out to attack the enemy had now spread, and the +whole population of Norfolk turned out and hastened down toward the +mouth of the inlet on horseback, in vehicles, or on foot, while Vincent +rode to the batteries on Sewell's Point, nearly facing Fortress Monroe. + +He left his horse at a farmhouse a quarter of a mile from the battery; +for Wildfire was always restless under fire, and it was probable that +the batteries would take a share in the affair. At one o'clock some of +the small Federal lookout launches were seen to be at work signaling, a +bustle could be observed prevailing among the large ships over by the +fortress, and it was evident that the _Merrimac_ was now visible to them +as she came down the inlet. The _Cumberland_ and _Congress_ men-of-war +moved out in that direction, and the _Minnesota_ and the _St. Lawrence_, +which were at anchor, got under way, assisted by steam tugs. + +The _Merrimac_ and the fleet of little gunboats were now visible from +the battery, advancing against the _Cumberland_ and _Congress_. The +former opened fire upon her at a distance of a mile with the heavy pivot +guns, but the _Merrimac_, without replying, continued her slow and +steady course toward them. She first approached the _Congress_, and as +she did so a puff of smoke burst, from the forward end of her +pent-house, and the water round the _Congress_ was churned up by a hail +of grape-shot. As they passed each other both vessels fired a broadside. +The officers in the fort, provided with glasses, could see the effect of +the _Merrimac's_ fire in the light patches that showed on the side of +the _Congress_, but the _Merrimac_ appeared entirely uninjured. She now +approached the _Cumberland_, which poured several broadsides into her, +but altogether without effect. + +The _Merrimac_, without replying, steamed straight on and struck the +_Cumberland_ with great force, knocking a large hole in her side, near +the water line. Then backing off, she opened fire upon her. + +For half an hour the crew of the _Cumberland_ fought with great bravery. +The ships lay about three hundred yards apart, and every shot from the +_Merrimac_ told on the wooden vessel. The water was pouring in through +the breach. The shells of the _Merrimac_ crushed in through her side, +and at one time set her on fire; but the crew worked their guns until +the vessel sank beneath their feet. Some men succeeded in swimming to +land, which was not far distant, others were saved by small boats from +the shore, but nearly half of the crew of 400 men were either killed in +action or drowned. + +The _Merrimac_ now turned her attention to the _Congress_, which was +left to fight the battle alone, as the _Minnesota_ had got aground, and +the _Roanoke_ and _St. Lawrence_ could not approach near enough to +render them assistance from their draught of water. The _Merrimac_ +poured broadside after broadside into her, until the officer in command +and many of the crew were killed. The lieutenant who succeeded to the +command, seeing there was no prospect of help, and that resistance was +hopeless, hauled down the flag. A gunboat was sent alongside, with +orders that the crew should leave the _Congress_ and come on board, as +the ship was to be burned. But the troops and artillery lining the shore +now opened fire on the little gunboat, which consequently hauled off. +The _Merrimac_, after firing several more shells into the _Congress_, +moved away to attack the _Minnesota_, and the survivors of the 200 men +who composed the crew of the _Congress_ were conveyed to shore in small +boats. The vessel was set on fire either by her own crew or the shells +of the _Merrimac_, and by midnight blew up. + +Owing to the shallowness of the water the _Merrimac_ could not get near +enough to the _Minnesota_ to use her own small guns to advantage, and +the gunboat was driven off by the heavy ten-inch gun of the Federal +frigate, and, therefore, at seven o'clock the _Merrimac_ and her +consorts returned to Norfolk. The greatest delight was felt on shore at +the success of the engagement, and on riding back to Norfolk Vincent +learned that the ram would go out again next morning to engage the rest +of the Federal fleet. + +She herself had suffered somewhat in the fight. Her loss in men was only +two killed and eight wounded; but two of her guns had the muzzles shot +off, the armor was damaged in some places, and, most serious of all, she +had badly twisted her ram in running into the _Cumberland_. Still it +appeared that she was more than a match for the rest of the Federal +fleet, and that these must either fly or be destroyed. + +As the general had given him three days' leave, Vincent was able to stay +to see the close of the affair, and early next morning again rode down +to Sewell's Point, as the _Merrimac_ was to start at daybreak. At six +o'clock the ironclad came out from the river and made for the +_Minnesota_, which was still aground. The latter was seen to run up a +signal, and the spectators saw an object which they had not before +perceived coming out as if to meet the ram. The glasses were directed +toward it, and a general exclamation of surprise was heard. + +"What is the thing? It looks like a raft with two round turrets upon it, +and a funnel." A moment's consideration, and the truth burst upon them. +It was the ship they had heard of as building at New York, and which had +been launched six weeks before. It was indeed the _Monitor_, which had +arrived during the night, just in time to save the rest of the Federal +fleet. She was the first regular ironclad ever built. She was a turret +ship, carrying two very heavy guns, and showing only between two and +three feet above the water. + +The excitement upon both shores as these adversaries approached each +other was intense. They moved slowly, and not until they were within a +hundred yards distance did the _Monitor_ open fire, the _Merrimac_ +replying at once. The fire for a short time was heavy and rapid, the +distance between the combatants varying from fifty to two hundred yards. +The _Monitor_ had by far the greatest speed, and was much more easily +turned than the Confederate ram, and her guns were very much heavier, +and the _Merrimac_, while still keeping up the fight, made toward the +mouth of the river. + +Suddenly she turned and steamed directly at the _Monitor_, and before +the latter could get out of her way struck her on the side; but the ram +was bent, and her weak engines were insufficient to propel her with the +necessary force. Consequently she inflicted no damage on the _Monitor_, +and the action continued, the turret ship directing her fire at the iron +roof of the ram, while the latter pointed her guns especially at the +turret and pilot-house of the _Monitor_. At length, after a battle which +had lasted six hours, the _Monitor_ withdrew, one of the plates of her +pilot house being seriously damaged and her commander injured in the +eyes. + +When her foe drew off the _Merrimac_ steamed back to Norfolk. There were +no men killed in either battle, and each side claimed a victory; the +Federals upon the ground that they had driven off the _Merrimac_, the +Confederates because the _Monitor_ had retreated from the fight. Each +vessel, however, held the strength of the other in respect; the +_Monitor_ remaining as sentinel over the ships and transports at +Fortress Monroe, while the _Merrimac_ at Norfolk continued to guard the +entrance into the James River. + +As soon as the fight was over Vincent Wingfield, greatly pleased that he +had witnessed so strange and interesting a combat, rode back to Norfolk, +and the same evening reached Richmond, where his description of the +fight was received with the greatest interest and excitement. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +McCLELLAN'S ADVANCE. + + +It was not until three weeks after the fight between the ironclads that +the great army under General McClellan arrived off Fortress Monroe, the +greater portion of the troops coming down the Potomac in steam +transports. Vast quantities of stores had been accumulated in and around +the fortress. Guns of a size never before used in war were lying on the +wharfs in readiness to be placed in batteries, while Hampton Roads were +crowded with transports and store vessels watched over by the _Monitor_ +and the other warships. McClellan's army was a large one, but not so +strong a force as he had intended to have taken with him, and as soon as +he arrived at Fortress Monroe he learned that he would not be able to +expect much assistance from the fleet. The _Merrimac_ completely closed +the James River; and were the more powerful vessels of the fleet to move +up York River, she would be able to sally out and destroy the rest of +the fleet and the transports. + +As it was most important to clear the peninsula between the two rivers +before Magruder should receive strong re-enforcements, a portion of the +troops were at once landed, and on the 4th of April 56,000 men and one +hundred guns disembarked and started on their march against Yorktown. As +soon as the news of the arrival of the Northern army at Fortress Monroe +reached Richmond fresh steps were taken for the defense of the city. +Magruder soon found that it would be impossible with the force at his +command to hold the line he had proposed, and a large body of negroes +and troops were set to work to throw up defenses between Yorktown and a +point on the Warwick River thirteen and a half miles away. + +A portion of this line was covered by the Warwick Creek which he dammed +up to make it unfordable, and erected batteries to guard the dams. +Across the intervening ground a weak earthwork with trenches was +constructed, there being no time to raise stronger works; but Magruder +relied chiefly upon the swampy and difficult nature of the country, and +the concealment afforded by the forest, which rendered it difficult for +the enemy to discover the weakness of the defenders. + +He posted 6000 men at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, and the remaining +5000 troops under his command were scattered along the line of works to +the Warwick River. He knew that if McClellan pushed forward with all his +force he must be successful; but he knew also that, if the enemy could +be held in check for a few days, assistance would reach him from General +Johnston's army. + +Fortunately for the Confederates the weather, which had been fine and +clear during the previous week, changed on the very day that McClellan +started. The rain came down in torrents, and the roads became almost +impassable. The columns struggled on along the deep and muddy tracks all +day, and bivouacked for the night in the forests. The next morning they +resumed their march, and on reaching the first line of intrenchments +formed by the Confederates found them deserted, and it was not until +they approached the Warwick Creek that they encountered serious +opposition. Had they pushed forward at once they would have +unquestionably captured Richmond. But McClellan's fault was +over-caution, and he believed himself opposed by a very much larger +force than that under the command of Magruder; consequently, instead of +making an attack at once, he began regular siege operations against the +works on Warwick Creek and those at Yorktown. + +The delay saved Richmond. Every day re-enforcements arrived, and by the +time that McClellan's army, over 100,000 strong, had erected their +batteries and got their heavy guns into position, Magruder had been +re-enforced by some 10,000 men under General Johnston, who now assumed +the command, while other divisions were hurrying up from Northern and +Western Virginia. Upon the very night before the batteries were ready to +open, the Confederates evacuated their positions and fell back, carrying +with them all their guns and stores to the Chickahominy River, which ran +almost across the peninsula at a distance of six miles only from +Richmond. + +The Confederates crossed and broke down the bridges, and prepared to +make another stand. The disappointment of the Federals was great. After +ten days of incessant labor and hardship they had only gained possession +of the village of Yorktown, and a tract of low, swampy country. The +divisions in front pressed forward rapidly after the Confederates; but +these had managed their plan so well that all were safely across the +stream before they were overtaken. + +The dismay in Richmond had for a few days been great. Many people left +the town for the interior, taking their valuables with them, and all was +prepared for the removal of the State papers and documents. But as the +Federals went on with their fortifications, and the re-enforcements +began to arrive, confidence was restored, and all went on as before. + +The great Federal army was so scattered through the forests, and the +discipline of some of the divisions was so lax, that it was some days +before McClellan had them ranged in order on the Chickahominy. Another +week elapsed before he was in a position to undertake fresh operations; +but General Johnston had now four divisions on the spot, and he was too +enterprising a general to await the attack. Consequently he crossed the +Chickahominy, fell upon one of the Federal divisions and almost +destroyed it, and drove back the whole of their left wing. The next +morning the battle was renewed, and lasted for five hours. + +It was fortunate indeed for the Confederates that the right wing of the +Northern army did not, while the action was going on, cross the river +and march straight upon Richmond; but communication was difficult from +one part of the army to another, owing to the thick forests and the +swampy state of the ground, and being without orders they remained +inactive all day. The loss on their side had been 7000 men, while the +Confederates had lost 4500; and General Johnston being seriously +wounded, the chief command was given to General Lee, by far the ablest +soldier the war produced. Satisfied with the success they had gained, +the Confederates fell back across the river again. + +On the 4th of June, General Stuart--for he had now been +promoted--started with 1200 cavalry and two guns and in forty-eight +hours made one of the most adventurous reconnoissances ever undertaken. +First the force rode out to Hanover Courthouse, where they encountered +and defeated, first, a small body of cavalry, and afterward a whole +regiment. Then, after destroying the stores there, they rode round to +the Pamunky, burned two vessels and a large quantity of stores, captured +a train of forty wagons, and burned a railway bridge. + +Then they passed right round the Federal rear, crossed the river, and +re-entered the city with 165 prisoners and 200 horses, having effected +the destruction of vast quantities of stores, besides breaking up the +railways and burning bridges. + +Toward the end of June McClellan learned that Stonewall Jackson, having +struck heavy blows at the two greatly superior armies which were +operating against him in the valley of the Shenandoah, had succeeded in +evading them, and was marching toward Richmond. + +He had just completed several bridges across the river, and was about to +move forward to fight a great battle when the news reached him. +Believing that he should be opposed by an army of 200,000 men, although, +in fact, the Confederate army, after Jackson and all the available +re-enforcements came up, was still somewhat inferior in strength to his +own, he determined to abandon for the present the attempt upon Richmond, +and to fall back upon the James River. + +Here his ships had already landed stores for his supply, for the river +was now open as far as the Confederate defenses at Fort Darling. +Norfolk Navy Yard had been captured by the 10,000 men who formed the +garrison of Fortress Monroe. No resistance had been offered, as all the +Confederate troops had been concentrated for the defense of Richmond. +When Norfolk was captured the _Merrimac_ steamed out to make her way out +of the river; but the water was low, and the pilot declared that she +could not be taken up. Consequently she was set on fire and burned to +the water's edge, and thus the main obstacle to the advance of the +Federal fleet was removed. + +They had advanced as far as Fort Darling, and the ironclad gunboats had +engaged the batteries there. Their shot, however, did little damage to +the defenders upon the lofty bluffs, while the shot from the batteries +so injured the gunboats that the attempt to force the passage was +abandoned. While falling back to a place called Harrison's Landing on +the James River, the Federals were attacked by the Confederates, but +after desperate fighting on both sides, lasting for five days, they +succeeded in drawing off from the Chickahominy with a loss of fifty +guns, thousands of small-arms, and the loss of the greater part of their +stores. + +All idea of a further advance against Richmond was for the present +abandoned. President Lincoln had always been opposed to the plan, and a +considerable portion of the army was moved round to join the force under +General Pope, which was now to march upon Richmond from the north. + +From the commencement of the Federal advance to the time when, beaten +and dispirited, they regained the James River, Vincent Wingfield had +seen little of his family. The Federal lines had at one time been within +a mile of the Orangery. The slaves had some days before been all sent +into the interior, and Mrs. Wingfield and her daughters had moved into +Richmond, where they joined in the work, to which the whole of the +ladies of the town and neighborhood devoted themselves, of attending to +the wounded, of whom, while the fighting was going on, long trains +arrived every day at the city. + +Vincent himself had taken no active part in the fighting. Magruder's +division had not been engaged in the first attack upon McClellan's +force; and although it had taken a share in the subsequent severe +fighting, Vincent had been occupied in carrying messages from the +general to the leaders of the other divisions, and had only once or +twice come under the storm of fire to which the Confederates were +exposed as they plunged through the morasses to attack the enemy. As +soon as it was certain that the attack was finally abandoned, and that +McClellan's troops were being withdrawn to strengthen Pope's army, +Vincent resigned his appointment as aid-de-camp, and was appointed to +the 7th Virginia Cavalry, stationed at Orange, where it was facing the +Federal cavalry. Major Ashley had fallen while protecting the passage of +Jackson's division, when hard pressed by one of the Federal armies in +West Virginia. + +No action in the war had been more brilliant than the manner in which +Stonewall Jackson had baffled the two armies--each greatly superior in +force to his own--that had been specially appointed to destroy him if +possible, or at any rate to prevent his withdrawing from the Shenandoah +Valley and marching to aid in the defense of the Confederate capital. +His troops had marched almost day and night, without food, and depending +entirely upon such supplies as they could obtain from the scattered +farmhouses they passed. + +Although Richmond was for the present safe, the prospect of the +Confederates was by no means bright. New Orleans had been captured; the +blockade of the other ports was now so strict that it was difficult in +the extreme for a vessel to make her way in or out; and the Northerners +had placed flotillas of gunboats on the rivers, and by the aid of these +were gradually making their way into the heart of several of the States. + +"Are you thinking of going out to the Orangery again soon, mother?" +Vincent asked on the evening before setting out on the march north. + +"I think not, Vincent. There is so much to do in the hospitals here +that I cannot leave. I should be ashamed to be living in luxury at the +Orangery with the girls while other women are giving up their whole time +nursing the wounded. Besides, although I do not anticipate that after +the way they have been hurled back the Northerners will try again for +some time, now they are in possession of Harrison's Landing they can at +any moment advance. Besides, it is not pleasant being obliged to turn +out of one's house and leave everything to their mercy. I wrote +yesterday to Pearson to bring the slaves back at once and take up the +work, and I shall go over occasionally to see that everything is in +order; but at any rate for a time we will stop here." + +"I think that is best, mother. Certainly I should feel more comfortable +knowing that you are all at Richmond than alone out there." + +"We should be no worse off than thousands of ladies all over the State, +Vincent. There are whole districts where every white capable of using a +gun has gone to the war, leaving nothing but women and slaves behind, +and we have not heard of a single case in which there has been trouble." + +"Certainly there is no chance of trouble with your slaves, mother; but +in some of the other plantations it may not be so. At any rate the quiet +conduct of the slaves everywhere is the very best answer that could be +given to the accusations that have been made as to their cruel +treatment. At present the whole of the property of the slave-owners +throughout the Southern States is at their mercy, and they might burn, +kill, and destroy; and yet in no single instance have they risen against +what are called their oppressors, even when the Federals have been close +at hand. + +"Please keep your eye on Dinah, mother. I distrust that fellow Jackson +so thoroughly that I believe him capable of having her carried off and +smuggled away somewhere down south, and sold there if he saw a chance. I +wish, instead of sending her to the Orangery, you would keep her as one +of your servants here." + +"I will if you wish it, Vincent; but I cannot believe for a moment that +Jackson or anyone else would venture to meddle with any of my slaves." + +"Perhaps not, mother; but it is best to be on the safe side. Anyhow, I +shall be glad to know that she is with you. Young Jackson will be away, +for I know he is in one of Stuart's troops of horse, though I have never +happened to run against him since the war began." + +The firing had hardly ceased before Harrison's Landing, when General +Jackson, with a force of about 15,000 men, composed of his own division, +now commanded by General Winder, General Ewell's division, and a portion +of that of General Hill, started for the Rapidan to check General Pope, +who, plundering and wasting the country as he advanced, was marching +south, his object being to reach Gordonsville, where he would cut the +line of railway connecting Richmond with West Virginia. Vincent was glad +that the regiment to which he had been appointed would be under +Jackson's command, and that he would be campaigning again with his old +division, which consisted largely of Virginian troops and contained so +many of his old friends. + +With Jackson, too, he was certain to be engaged in stirring service, for +that general ever kept his troops upon the march; striking blows where +least expected, and traversing such an extent of country by rapid +marches that he and his division seemed to the enemy to almost +ubiquitous. + +It was but a few hours after he received his appointment that Vincent +took train from Richmond to Gordonsville, Dan being in the horse-box +with Wildfire in the rear of the train. His regiment was encamped a mile +or two away, and he at once rode on and reported himself to Colonel +Jones, who commanded it. + +"I am glad to have you with me, sir," the colonel said. "I had the +pleasure of knowing your father, and am an old friend of your mother's +family. As you were in Ashley's horse and have been serving on +Magruder's staff, you are well up in your duties; and it is a comfort +to me that the vacancy has been filled up by one who knows his work +instead of a raw hand. We have had a brush or two already with the +enemy; but at present we are watching each other, waiting on both sides +till the generals have got their infantry to the front in readiness for +an advance. Jackson is waiting for Hill's division to come up, and I +believe Pope is expecting great re-enforcements from McClellan." + +A few days later Colonel Jones was ordered to take charge of the pickets +posted on the Rapidan, but before reaching Orange a gentleman rode up at +full speed and informed them that the enemy were in possession of that +town. Colonel Jones divided his regiment into two parts, and with one +charged the Federal cavalry in the main street of Orange, while the +other portion of the regiment, under Major Marshall, attacked them on +the flank. After a sharp fight the enemy were driven from the place; but +they brought up large re-enforcements, and pouring in a heavy fire, +attacked the town on both sides, and the Confederates had to fall back. +But they made another stand a little way out of the town, and drove back +the Federal cavalry who were pressing them. + +Although the fight had been but a short one, the losses in the cavalry +ranks had been serious. Colonel Jones, while charging at the head of his +men, had received a saber-wound, and Major Marshall was taken prisoner. + +Five days later, on the 7th of August, Jackson received intelligence +that General Burnside, with a considerable portion of McClellan's force, +had embarked, and was on the way to join Pope. He determined to strike a +blow at once, and marched with his entire force from Gordonsville for +Barnett Ford on the Rapidan. + +At daybreak next morning the cavalry crossed the river and attacked and +routed a body of Federal cavalry on the road to Culpeper Courthouse. On +the following day Jackson came up with his infantry to a point about +eight miles from Culpeper, where Pope's army, 32,000 strong, were +stationed upon the crest of a hill. General Ewell's division, which was +the only one then up, at once advanced, and after a severe artillery +fight, gained a point on a hill where his guns could command the enemy's +position. + +Jackson's division now came up, and as it was moving into position +General Winder was killed by a shell. For some hours Jackson did not +attempt to advance, as Hill's division had not come up. Encouraged by +this delay, the enemy at five o'clock in the afternoon took the +offensive and advanced through some cornfields lying between the two +armies and attacked Ewell's division on the Confederate right; while +shortly afterward they fell with overwhelming strength on Jackson's +left, and, attacking it in front, flank, and rear, drove it back, and +pressed upon it with such force that the day appeared lost. + +At this moment Jackson himself rode down among the confused and wavering +troops, and by his voice and example rallied them. At the same moment +the old Stonewall Brigade came up at a run and poured their fire into +the advancing enemy. Jackson led the troops he had rallied forward. The +Stonewall Brigade fell upon the enemy's flank and drove them back with +terrible slaughter. Other brigades came up, and there was a general +charge along the whole Confederate line, and the Federals were driven +back a mile beyond the position they had occupied at the commencement of +the fight to the shelter of some thick woods; 400 prisoners were taken +and over 5000 small-arms. + +The battle was known as Cedar Run, and it completely checked Pope's +advance upon Richmond. The troops were too much exhausted to follow up +their victory, but Jackson urged them to press forward. They moved a +mile and a half in advance, and then found themselves so strongly +opposed that Jackson, believing that the enemy must have received +re-enforcements, halted his men. Colonel Jones was sent forward to +reconnoiter, and discovered that a large force had joined the enemy. + +For two days Jackson remained on the field he had won; his troops had +been busy in burying the dead, in collecting the wounded and sending +them to the rear, and in gathering the arms thrown away by the enemy in +their flight. Being assured that the enemy were now too strong to be +attacked by the force under his command, Jackson fell back to Orange +Courthouse. There was now a few days' delay, while masses of troops were +on both sides moving toward the new field of action. McClellan marched +his troops across the James Peninsula from Harrison's Landing to +Yorktown, and there the greater portion were embarked in transports and +taken up the Rappahannock to Aquia Creek, landed there, and marched to +Fredericksburg. + +Lee, instead of attacking McClellan on his march across the peninsula, +determined to take his army north at once to join Jackson and attack +Pope before he was joined by McClellan's army. But Pope, although +already largely re-enforced, retired hastily and took up a new position +so strongly fortified that he could not be attacked. General Stuart had +come up with Lee, and was in command of all the cavalry. + +"We shall see some work now," was the remark round the fires of the 7th +Virginia Cavalry. Hitherto, although they had been several times engaged +with the Federals, they had been forced to remain for the most part +inactive owing to the vast superiority in force of the enemy's cavalry; +but now that Stuart had come up they felt certain that, whatever the +disparity of numbers, there would soon be some dashing work to be done. + +Except when upon actual duty the strict lines of military discipline +were much relaxed among the cavalry, the troopers being almost all the +sons of farmers and planters and of equal social rank with their +officers, many of whom were their personal friends or relatives. Several +of Vincent's schoolfellows were in the ranks, two or three of them were +fellow-officers, and these often gathered together round a camp fire and +chatted over old schooldays and mutual friends. + +Many of these had already fallen, for the Virginia regiments of +Stonewall Jackson's brigade had been terribly thinned; but the loss of +so many friends and the knowledge that their own turn might come next +did not suffice to lessen the high spirits of these brave young men. The +hard work, the rough life, the exposure and hardship, had braced and +invigorated them all, and they were attaining a far more vigorous +manhood than they would ever have possessed had they grown up in the +somewhat sluggish and enervating life led by young planters. + +Many of these young men had, until the campaign began, never done half +an hour's hard work in their lives. They had been waited upon by slaves, +and their only exercise had been riding. For months now they had almost +lived in the saddle, had slept in the open air, and had thought +themselves lucky if they could obtain a sufficient meal of the roughest +food to satisfy their hunger once a day. In this respect, however, the +cavalry were better off than their comrades of the infantry, for +scouting as they did in small parties over a wide extent of country, +they were sure of a meal and a hearty welcome whenever they could spare +time to stop for half an hour at the house of a farmer. + +"It's a glorious life, Wingfield! When we chatted over the future at +school we never dreamed of such a life as this, though some of us did +talk of entering the army; but even then an occasional skirmish with +Indians was the limit of our ideas." + +"Yes, it is a glorious life!" Vincent agreed. "I cannot imagine anything +more exciting. Of course, there is the risk of being shot, but somehow +one never seems to think of that. There is always something to do and to +think about; from the time one starts on a scout at daybreak to that +when one lies down at night one's senses are on the stretch. Besides we +are fighting in defense of our country and not merely as a profession, +though I don't suppose, after all, that makes much difference when one +is once in for it. As far as I have read, all soldiers enjoy +campaigning, and it does not seem to make any difference to them who are +the foe or what they are fighting about. But I should like to feel a +little more sure that we shall win in the long run." + +There was a chorus of indignant protests against there being any +possible doubts as to the issue. + +"Why, we have thrashed them every time we have met them, Wingfield." + +"That is all very well," Vincent said. "Here in Virginia we have held +our own, and more than held it. We have beat back Scott and McClellan, +and now we have thrashed Pope; and Stonewall Jackson has won a dozen +battles in West Virginia. But you must remember that in other parts they +are gradually closing in; all the ports not already taken are closely +blockaded. They are pushing all along the lines of the great rivers; and +worst of all, they can fill up their vacancies with hired emigrants, and +as fast as one army disappears another takes its place. I believe we +shall beat them again and again, and shall prove, as we have proved +before, that one Southerner fighting for home and liberty is more than a +match for two hired soldiers, even with a good large sprinkling of +Yankees among them. But in the long run I am not sure that we shall win, +for they can go on putting big armies into the field, while some day we +must get used up. + +"Of course it is possible that we may some day capture Washington, and +that the North may get weary of the tremendous drain of money and men +caused by their attempt to conquer us. I hope it may be so, for I should +like to think that we should win in the long run. I never feel any doubt +about our winning a battle when we begin. My only fear is that we may +get used up before the North are tired of it." + +"I did not expect to hear you talk so, Wingfield, for you always seem to +be in capital spirits." + +"I am in capital spirits," Vincent replied, "and ready to fight again +and again, and always confident we shall lick the Yankees; the fact that +I have a doubt whether in the long run we shall outlast them does not +interfere in the slightest degree with my comfort at present. I am very +sorry though that this fellow Pope is carrying on the war so brutally, +instead of in the manner in which General McClellan and the other +commanders have waged it. His proclamation that the army must subsist +upon the country it passes through gives a direct invitation to the +soldiers to pillage, and his order that all farmers who refuse to take +the oath to the Union are to be driven from their homes and sent down +South means ruin to all the peaceful inhabitants, for there is scarcely +a man in this part of Virginia who is not heartily with us." + +"I hear," one of the other officers said, "that a prisoner who was +captured this morning says that Pope already sees that he has made a +mistake, and that he yesterday issued a fresh order saying that the +proclamation was not meant to authorize pillage. He finds that the +inhabitants who before, whatever their private sentiments were, +maintained a sort of neutrality, are now hostile, that they drive off +their cattle into the woods, and even set fire to their stacks, to +prevent anything from being carried off by the Yanks; and his troops +find the roads broken up and bridges destroyed and all sorts of +difficulties thrown in their way." + +"It does not always pay--even in war--to be brutal. I am glad to see he +has found out his mistake so soon," another officer said. "McClellan +waged war like a gentleman; and if blackguards are to be allowed to +carry fire and sword through the land they will soon find it is a game +that two can play at, and matters will become horribly embittered." + +"We shall never do that," Vincent said. "Our generals are all gentlemen, +and Lee and Jackson and many others are true Christians as well as true +soldiers, and I am sure they will never countenance that on our side, +whatever the Northerners may do. We are ready to fight the hordes of +Yankees and their hired soldiers as often as they advance against us, +but I am sure that none of us would fire a homestead or ill-treat +defenseless men and women. It is a scandal that such brutalities are +committed by the ruffians who call themselves Southerners. The +guerrillas in Missouri and Tennessee are equally bad, whether on our +side or the other, and if I were the President I would send down a +couple of regiments, and hunt down the fellows who bring dishonor on our +cause. If the South cannot free herself without the aid of ruffians of +this kind, she had better lay down her arms at once." + +"Bravo, Wingfield! Spoken like a knight of chivalry!" one of the others +laughed. "But many of these bands have done good, nevertheless. They +have kept the enemy busy there, and occupied the attention of a very +large force who might otherwise have been in the woods yonder with Pope. +I agree with you, it would be better if the whole thing were fought out +with large armies, but there is a good deal to be said for these bands +you are so severe upon. They are composed of men who have been made +desperate by seeing their farms harried and their buildings burned by +the enemy. They have been denounced as traitors by their neighbors on +the other side, and if they retaliate I don't know that they are to be +altogether blamed. I know that if my place at home were burned down, and +my people insulted and ill-treated, I should be inclined to set off to +avenge it." + +"So would I," Vincent agreed, "but it should be upon those who did the +wrong, not upon innocent people." + +"That is all very well, but if the other side destroy your people's +farms, it is only by showing them that two can play at the game that you +can make them observe the laws of war. I grant it would be very much +better that no such thing should take place; but if the Northerners +begin this sort of work they may be sure that there will be retaliation. +Anyhow, I am glad that I am an officer in the 7th Virginia and not a +guerrilla leader in Missouri. Well, all this talking is dry work. Has no +one got a full canteen?" + +"I have," Vincent said. "Dan managed to buy a gallon of rum at a +farmhouse yesterday. I think the farmer was afraid that the enemy might +be paying him a visit before many days, and thought it best to get rid +of his spirits. Anyhow, Dan got the keg at ordinary city prices, as well +as that pair of fine turkeys he is just bringing along for our supper. +So you had better each get your ration bread and fall to." + +There was a cheer as Dan placed the turkeys down in the center of the +group, and soon the whole party, using their bread as plates, fell to +upon them, and afterward joined in many a merry song, while Dan handed +round the jar of spirits. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A PRISONER. + + +The party round the fire were just about to disperse when the captain of +Vincent's troop approached. He took the horn of spirits and water that +Vincent held up to him and tossed it off. + +"That is a stirrup-cup, Wingfield." + +"What! are we for duty, captain?" Vincent asked as he rose to his feet. + +"Yes; our troop and Harper's are to muster. Get the men together +quietly. I think it is a serious business; each of the regiments +furnishes troops, and I believe Stuart himself takes the command." + +"That sounds like work, indeed," Vincent said. "I will get the troop +together, sir." + +"There are to be no trumpet calls, Wingfield; we are to get off as +quietly as possible." + +Most of the men were already fast asleep, but as soon as they learned +that there was a prospect of active work all were full of life and +animation. The girths of the saddles were tightened, swords buckled on, +and revolvers carefully examined before being placed in the holsters. +Many of the men carried repeating rifles, and the magazines were filled +before these were slung across the riders' shoulders. + +In a few minutes the three troops were mounted and in readiness for a +start, and almost directly afterward Colonel Jones himself rode up and +took the command. A thrill of satisfaction ran through the men as he did +so, for it was certain that he would not himself be going in command of +the detachment unless the occasion was an important one. For a few +minutes no move was made. + +"I suppose the others are going to join us here," Vincent said to the +officer next him. + +"I suppose so," he replied. "We lie in the middle of the cavalry brigade +with two regiments each side of us, so it is likely enough this is the +gathering place. Yes, I can hear the tramping of horses." + +"I felt a spot of rain," Vincent said. "We have been having lightning +for some time, and I fear we are in for a wet ride." + +The contingent from the other regiments soon arrived, and just as the +last came up General Stuart himself appeared and took his place at the +head of the party, now some 500 strong. Short as the time had been since +Vincent felt the first drop, the rain was now coming down in torrents. +One by one the bright flames of the fires died down, and the darkness +became so intense that Vincent could scarcely see the officer on his +right hand. + +"I hope the man who rode up with the general, and is no doubt to be our +guide, knows the country well. It is no joke finding our way through a +forest on such a night as this." + +"I believe Stuart's got eyes like a cat," the officer said. "Sometimes +on a dark night he has come galloping up to a post where I was in +command, when one could scarcely see one's hand before one. It never +seems to make any difference to him; day or night he rides about at a +gallop." + +"He trusts his horse," Vincent said. "That's the only way in the dark. +They can see much better than we can, and if men would but let them go +their own way instead of trying to guide them, they would seldom run +against anything. The only thing is to lie well down on the horse's +neck, otherwise one might get swept out of the saddle by a bough. It's a +question of nerve. I think not many of us would do as Stuart does, and +trust himself entirely to his horse's instinct." + +The word was now passed down the line that perfect silence was to be +observed, and that they were to move forward in column, the ranks +closing up as much as possible, so as not to lose touch of each other. +With heads bent down, and blankets wrapped around them as cloaks, the +cavalry rode off through the pouring rain. The thunder was crashing +overhead, and the flashes of lightning enabled them to keep their places +in close column. They went at a rapid trot, and even those who were +ready to charge a body of the enemy, however numerous, without a +moment's hesitation, experienced a feeling of nervousness as they rode +on in the darkness through the thick forest on their unknown errand. +That they were going northward they knew, and knew also, after a short +time, that they must be entering the lines of the enemy. They saw no +signs of watch-fires, for these would long since have been quenched by +the downpour. After half an hour's brisk riding all knew, by the sharp +sound of the beat of the horses' hoofs, that they had left the soft +track through the forest and were now upon a regular road. + +"Thank goodness for that!" Vincent said in a low tone to his next +neighbor. "I don't mind a brush with the enemy, but I own I don't like +the idea that at any moment my brains may be knocked out by the branch +of a tree." + +"I agree with you," the other replied; "and I fancy every man felt the +same." + +There was no doubt as to this. Hitherto no sound had been heard save the +jingling of accouterments and the dull heavy sound of the horses' tread; +but now there could be heard mingled with these the buzz of voices, and +occasionally a low laugh. They were so accustomed to wet that the +soaking scarcely inconvenienced them. They were out of the forest now, +and felt sure of their guide; and as to the enemy, they only longed to +discover them. + +For another hour the rapid advance continued, and all felt sure that +they must now have penetrated through the enemy's lines and be well in +his rear. At last they heard a challenge of sentry. Then Stuart's voice +shouted, "Charge!" and at full gallop they rode into the village at +Catlet's Station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, where General +Pope had his headquarters. Another minute and they were in the midst of +the enemy's camp, where the wildest confusion reigned. The Federal +officers rushed from their tents and made off in the darkness; but the +soldiers, who were lying on the line of railroad, leaped to their feet +and opened a heavy fire on their invisible foes. Against this the +cavalry, broken up in the camp with its tents, its animals, and its +piles of baggage, could do little, for it was impossible to form them up +in the broken and unknown ground. + +The quarters of Pope were soon discovered; he himself had escaped, +leaving his coat and hat behind. Many of his officers were captured, and +in his quarters was found a box of official papers, which were +invaluable, as among them were copies of his letters asking for +re-enforcements, lists giving the strength and position of his troops, +and other particulars of the greatest value to the Confederates. No time +was lost, as the firing would set the whole Federal army on the alert, +and they might find their retreat cut off. Therefore, placing the +prisoners in the center, and taking the box of papers with them, the +cavalry were called off from the camp, and without delay started on +their return ride. + +They did not take the road by which they had come, but made a long +detour, and just as daylight was breaking re-entered the Confederate +lines, without having encountered a foe from the time of their leaving +Catlet's Station. Short as their stay in camp had been, few of the men +had returned empty-handed. The Northern army was supplied with an +abundance of excellent food of all descriptions, forming the strongest +possible contrast to the insufficient rations upon which the Confederate +troops existed, and the troopers had helped themselves to whatever they +could lay hands upon in the darkness and confusion. + +Some rode in with a ham slung on each side of their saddle, others had +secured a bottle or two of wine or spirits. Some had been fortunate +enough to lay hand on some tins of coffee or a canister of tea, luxuries +which for months had been unknown to them save when they were captured +from the enemy. The only article captured of no possible utility was +General Pope's coat, which was sent to Richmond, where it was hung up +for public inspection; a wag sticking up a paper beside it, "This is the +coat in which General Pope was going to ride in triumph into Richmond. +The coat is here, but the general has not yet arrived." + +The Confederates had lost but two or three men from the fire of the +Federal infantry, and they were in high spirits at the success of their +raid. No sooner had General Lee informed himself of the contents of the +papers and the position of the enemy's forces than he determined to +strike a heavy blow at him; and General Jackson, who had been sharply +engaged with the enemy near Warrenton, was ordered to make a long +detour, to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains through Thoroughfare Gap, to +fall upon Pope's rear and cut his communications with Washington, and, +if possible, to destroy the vast depot of stores collected at Manassas. + +The cavalry, under Stuart, were to accompany him. The march would be a +tremendous one, the danger of thus venturing into the heart of the +enemy's country immense, but the results of such an expedition would, if +successful, be great; for Lee himself was to advance with his army on +Pope's flank, and there was therefore a possibility of the utter defeat +of that general before he could be joined by the army marching to +re-enforce him from Fredericksburg. + +It was on Monday, the 25th of August, that Jackson started on his march, +ascending the banks of the Rapahannock, and crossed the river at the +ford, dragging his artillery with difficulty up the narrow and rocky +road beyond. There was not a moment to be lost, for if the news reached +the enemy the gorge known as Thoroughfare Gap would be occupied, and the +whole object of the movement would be defeated. Onward the force pushed, +pressing on through fields and lanes without a single halt, until at +night, hungry and weary but full of spirit, they marched into the little +town of Salem, twenty miles from their starting place. They had neither +wagons nor provisions with them, and had nothing to eat but some ears of +corn and green apples plucked on the road. + +It was midnight when they reached Salem, and the inhabitants turned out +in blank amazement at the sight of Confederate troops in that region, +and welcomed the weary soldiers with the warmest manifestations. At +daylight they were again upon the march, with Stuart's cavalry, as +before, out upon each flank. Thoroughfare Gap was reached, and found +undefended, and after thirty miles' marching the exhausted troops +reached the neighborhood of Manassas. The men were faint from want of +food, and many limped along barefooted; but they were full of +enthusiasm. + +Just at sunset, Stuart, riding on ahead, captured Bristoe, a station on +the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, four miles from Manassas. As they +reached it a train came along at full speed. It was fired at, but did +not stop, and got safely through to Manassas. Two trains that followed +were captured; but by this time the alarm had spread, and no more trains +arrived. Jackson had gained his point. He had placed himself on the line +of communication of the enemy, but his position was a dangerous one +indeed. Lee, who was following him, was still far away. An army was +marching from Fredericksburg against him, another would be dispatched +from Washington as soon as the news of his presence was known, and Pope +might turn and crush him before Lee could arrive to his assistance. + +Worn out as the troops were, it was necessary at once to gain possession +of Manassas, and the 21st North Carolina and 21st Georgia volunteered +for the service, and joined by Stuart with a portion of his cavalry, +marched against it. After a brief contest the place was taken, the enemy +stationed there being all taken prisoners. The amount of arms and stores +captured was prodigious. Eight pieces of artillery, 250 horses, 3 +locomotives, and tens of thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour, +with an enormous quantity of public stores and the contents of +innumerable sutlers' shops. + +The sight of this vast abundance to starving men was tantalizing in the +extreme. It was impossible to carry any of it away, and all that could +be done was to have at least one good meal. The troops therefore were +marched in, and each helped himself to as much as he could consume, and +the ragged and barefooted men feasted upon canned salmon and lobsters, +champagne, and dainties of every description forwarded for the use of +officers. Then they set to work to pile the enormous mass of stores +together and to set it on fire. While they were engaged at this a +brigade of New Jersey troops, which had come out from Washington to save +Manassas, was attacked and utterly routed. Ewell's division had remained +at Bristoe, while those of Hill and Jackson moved to Manassas, and in +the course of the afternoon Ewell saw the whole of Pope's army marching +against him. + +He held them in check for some hours, and thus gave the troops at +Manassas time to destroy completely the vast accumulation of stores, and +when Stuart's cavalry, covering the retreat, fell back at nightfall +through Manassas, nothing but blackened cinders remained where the +Federal depots had been situated. The blow to the Northerners was as +heavy as it was unexpected. Pope had no longer either provisions for his +men or forage for his cattle, and there was nothing left for him but to +force his way past Jackson and retire upon Washington. + +[Illustration: Map--THE SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.] + +Jackson had now the option of falling back and allowing the enemy to +pass, or of withstanding the whole Federal army with his own little +force until Lee came up to the rescue. He chose the latter course, and +took up a strong position. The sound of firing at Thoroughfare Gap was +audible, and he knew that Longstreet's division of Lee's army was hotly +engaged with a force which, now that it was too late, had been sent to +hold the gorge. It was nearly sunset before Pope brought up his men to +the attack. Jackson did not stand on the defensive, but rushed down and +attacked the enemy--whose object had been to pass the position and press +on--with such vigor that at nine o'clock they fell back. + +An hour later a horseman rode up with the news that Longstreet had +passed the Gap and was pressing on at full speed, and in the morning +his forces were seen approaching, the line they were taking bringing +them up at an angle to Jackson's position. Thus their formation as they +arrived was that of an open V, and it was through the angle of this V +that Pope had to force his way. Before Longstreet could arrive, however, +the enemy hurled themselves upon Jackson, and for hours the Confederates +held their own against the vast Federal army, Longstreet's force being +too far away to lend them a hand. Ammunition failed, and the soldiers +fought with piles of stones, but night fell without any impression being +made upon these veterans. General Lee now came up with General Hood's +division, and hurled this against the Federals and drove them back. In +the evening Longstreet's force took up the position General Lee had +assigned to it, and in the morning all the Confederate army had arrived, +and the battle recommenced. + +The struggle was long and terrible; but by nightfall every attack had +been repulsed, and the Confederates, advancing on all sides, drove the +Northerners, a broken and confused crowd, before them, the darkness +alone saving them from utter destruction. Had there been but one hour +more of daylight the defeat would have been as complete as was that in +the battle of Bull Run, which had been fought on precisely the same +ground. However, under cover of the darkness, the Federals retreated to +Centreville, whence they were driven on the following day. + +In the tremendous fighting in which Jackson's command had for three long +days been engaged, the cavalry bore a comparatively small part. The +Federal artillery was too powerful to permit the employment of large +bodies of cavalry, and although from time to time charges were made when +an opportunity seemed to offer itself, the battle was fought out by the +infantry and artillery. When the end came Jackson's command was for a +time _hors de combat_. During the long two-days' march they had at least +gathered corn and apples to sustain life; but during these three-days' +fighting they had had no food whatever, and many were so weak that they +could no longer march. + +They had done all that was possible for men to do; had for two days +withstood the attack of an enemy of five times their numbers, and had, +on the final day, borne their full share in the great struggle, but now +the greater part could do no more, thousands of men were unable to drag +themselves a step further, and Lee's army was reduced in strength for +the time by nearly 20,000 men. All these afterward rejoined it; some, as +soon as they recovered, limped away to take their places in the ranks +again, others made their way to the depot at Warrenton, where Lee had +ordered that all unable to accompany his force should rendezvous until +he returned and they were able to rejoin their regiments. + +Jackson marched away and laid siege to Harper's Ferry, an important +depot garrisoned by 11,000 men, who were forced to surrender just as +McClellan with a fresh army, 100,000 strong, which was pressing forward +to its succor, arrived within a day's march. As soon as Jackson had +taken the place he hurried away with his troops to join Lee, who was +facing the enemy at the Antietam River. Here, upon the following day, +another terrible battle was fought; the Confederates, though but 39,000 +strong, repulsing every attack by the Federals and driving them with +terrible slaughter back across the river. + +Their own loss, however, had been very heavy, and Lee, knowing that he +could expect no assistance, while the enemy was constantly receiving +re-enforcements, waited for a day to collect his wounded, bury his dead, +and send his stores and artillery to the rear, and then retired, +unpursued, across the Rappahannock. Thus the hard-fought campaign came +to an end. + +Vincent Wingfield was not with the army that retired across the +Rappahannock. A portion of the cavalry had followed the broken Federals +to the very edge of the stream, and just as they reined in their horses +a round shot from one of the Federal batteries carried away his cap, +and he fell as if dead from his horse. During the night some of the +Northerners crossed the stream to collect and bring back their own +wounded who had fallen near it, and coming across Vincent, and finding +that he still breathed, and was apparently without a wound, they carried +him back with them across the river as a prisoner. + +Vincent had indeed escaped without a wound, having been only stunned by +the passage of the shot that had carried away his cap, and missed him by +the fraction of an inch. He had begun to recover consciousness just as +his captors came up, and the action of carrying him completely restored +him. That he had fallen into the hands of the Northerners he was well +aware; but he was unable to imagine how this had happened. He remembered +that the Confederates had been, up to the moment he fell, completely +successful, and he could only imagine that in a subsequent attack the +Federals had turned the tables upon them. + +How he himself had fallen, or what had happened to him, he had no idea. +Beyond a strange feeling of numbness in the head he was conscious of no +injury, and he could only imagine that his horse had been shot under +him, and that he must have fallen upon his head. The thought that his +favorite horse was killed afflicted him almost as much as his own +capture. As soon as his captors perceived that their prisoner's +consciousness had returned they at once reported that an officer of +Stuart's cavalry had been taken, and at daybreak next morning General +McClellan, on rising, was acquainted with the fact, and Vincent was +conducted to his tent. + +"You are unwounded, sir," the general said in some surprise. + +"I am, general," Vincent replied. "I do not know how it happened, but I +believe that my horse must have been shot under me, and that I must have +been thrown and stunned; however, I remember nothing from the moment +when I heard the word halt, just as we reached the side of the stream, +to that when I found myself being carried here." + +"You belong to the cavalry?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Was Lee's force all engaged yesterday?" + +"I do not know," Vincent said. "I only came up with Jackson's division +from Harper's Ferry the evening before." + +"I need not have questioned you," McClellan said. "I know that Lee's +whole army, 100,000 strong, opposed me yesterday." + +Vincent was silent. He was glad to see that the Federal general, as +usual, enormously overrated the strength of the force opposed to him. + +"I hear that the whole of the garrison of Harper's Ferry were released +on parole not to serve again during the war. If you are ready to give me +your promise to the same effect I will allow you to return to your +friends; if not you must remain a prisoner until you are regularly +exchanged." + +"I must do so, then, general," Vincent said quietly. "I could not remain +home and remain inactive while every man in the South is fighting for +the defense of his country, so I will take my chance of being +exchanged." + +"I am sorry you choose that alternative," McClellan said. "I hate to see +brave men imprisoned if only for a day; and braver men than those across +yonder stream are not to be found. My officers and men are astonished. +They seem so thin and worn as to be scarce able to lift a musket, their +clothes are fit only for a scarecrow, they are indeed pitiful objects to +look at; but the way in which they fight is wonderful. I could not have +believed, had I not seen it, that men could have charged as they did +again and again across ground swept by a tremendous artillery and +musketry fire; it was wonderful! I can tell you, young man, that even +though you beat us we are proud of you as our countrymen; and I believe +that if your General Jackson were to ride through our camp, he would be +cheered as lustily and heartily by our men as he is by his own." + +Some fifty or sixty other prisoners had been taken; they had been +captured in the hand-to-hand struggle that had taken place on some parts +of the field, having got separated from their corps and mixed up with +the enemy, and carried off the field with them as they retired. These, +for the most part, accepted the offered parole; but some fifteen, like +Vincent, preferred a Northern prison to promising to abstain from +fighting in defense of their country, and in the middle of the day they +were placed together in a tent under a guard at the rear of the camp. + +The next morning came the news that Lee had fallen back. There was +exultation among the Federals, not unmingled with a strong sense of +relief; for the heavy losses inflicted in the previous fighting had +taken all the ardor of attack out of McClellan's army, and they were +glad indeed that they were not to be called upon to make another attempt +to drive the Confederates from their position. Vincent was no less +pleased at the news. He knew how thin were the ranks of the Confederate +fighting men, and how greatly they were worn and exhausted by fatigue +and want of food, and that, although they had the day before repulsed +the attacks of the masses of well-fed Northerners, such tremendous +exertions could not often be repeated, and a defeat, with the river in +their rear, approachable only by one rough and narrow road, would have +meant a total destruction of the army. + +The next morning Vincent and his companions were put into the train and +sent to Alexandria. They had no reason to complain of their treatment +upon the way. They were well fed, and after their starvation diet for +the last six weeks their rations seemed to them actually luxurious. The +Federal troops in Alexandria, who were for the most part young recruits +who had just arrived from the North and West, looked with astonishment +upon these thin and ragged men, several of whom were barefooted. Was it +possible that such scarecrows as these could in every battle have driven +back the well-fed and cared-for Northern soldiers! + +"Are they all like this?" one burly young soldier from a Western State +asked their guard. + +"That's them, sir," the sergeant in charge of the party replied. "Not +much to look at, are they? But, by gosh, you should see them fight! You +wouldn't think of their looks then." + +"If that's soldiering," the young farmer said solemnly, "the sooner I am +back home again the better. But it don't seem to me altogether strange +as they should fight so hard, because I should say they must look upon +it as a comfort to be killed rather than to live like that." + +A shout of laughter from the prisoners showed the young rustic that the +objects of his pity did not consider life to be altogether intolerable +even under such circumstances, and he moved away meditating on the +discomforts of war, and upon the remarks that would be made were he to +return home in so sorrowful a plight as that of these Confederate +prisoners. + +"I bargained to fight," he said, "and though I don't expect I shall like +it, I shan't draw back when the time comes; but as to being starved till +you are nigh a skeleton, and going about barefooted and in such rags as +a tramp wouldn't look at, it aint reasonable." And yet, had he known it, +among those fifteen prisoners more than half were possessors of wide +estates, and had been brought up from their childhood in the midst of +luxuries such as the young farmer never dreamed of. + +Among many of the soldiers sympathy took a more active form, and men +pressed forward and gave packets of tobacco, cigars, and other little +presents to them, while two or three pressed rolls of dollar notes into +their hands, with words of rough kindness. + +"There aint no ill feeling in us, Rebs. You have done your work like +men, and no doubt you thinks your cause is right, just as we does; but +it's all over now, and maybe our turn will come next to see the inside +of one of your prisons down south. So we are just soldiers together, and +can feel for each other." + +Discipline in small matters was never strictly enforced in the American +armies, and the sergeant in charge offered no opposition to the soldiers +mingling with the prisoners as they walked along. + +Two days later they were sent by railway to the great prison at Elmira, +in the State of New York. When they reached the jail the prisoners were +separated; Vincent, who was the only officer, being assigned quarters +with some twenty others of the same rank. The prisoners crowded round +him as he entered, eager to hear the last news from the front, for they +had heard from their guards only news of constant victories won by the +Northerners; for every defeat was transformed by the Northern papers +into a brilliant victory, and it was only when the shattered remains of +the various armies returned to Alexandria to be re-formed that the truth +gradually leaked out. Thus Antietam had been claimed as a great Northern +victory, for, although McClellan's troops had in the battle been hurled +back, shattered and broken, across the river, two days afterward Lee had +retired. + +One of the prisoners, who was also dressed in cavalry uniform, hung back +from the rest, and going to the window looked out while Vincent was +chatting with the others. Presently he turned round, and Vincent +recognized with surprise his old opponent Jackson. After a moment's +hesitation he walked across the room to him. + +"Jackson," he said, "we have not been friends lately, but I don't see +why we should keep up our quarrel any longer; we got on all right at +school together; and now we are prisoners together here it would be +foolish to continue our quarrel. Perhaps we were both somewhat to blame +in that affair. I am quite willing to allow I was, for one, but I think +we might well put it aside now." + +Jackson hesitated, and then took the hand Vincent held out to him. + +"That's right, young fellows," one of the other officers said. "Now that +every Southern gentleman is fighting and giving his life, if need be, +for his country, no one has a right to have private quarrels of his own. +Life is short enough as it is, certainly too short to indulge in +private animosities. A few weeks ago we were fighting side by side, and +facing death together; to-day we are prisoners; a week hence we may be +exchanged, and soon take our places in the ranks again. It's the duty of +all Southerners to stand shoulder to shoulder, and there ought to be no +such thing as ill-feeling among ourselves." + +Vincent was not previously aware that Jackson had obtained a commission. +He now learned that he had been chosen by his comrades to fill a vacancy +caused by the death of an officer in a skirmish just before Pope fell +back from the Rappahannock, and that he had been made prisoner a few +days afterward in a charge against a greatly superior body of Federal +cavalry. + +The great majority of the officers on both sides were at the +commencement of the war chosen by their comrades, the elections at first +taking place once a year. This, however, was found to act very badly. In +some cases the best men in the regiment were chosen; but too often the +men who had the command of money, and could afford to stand treat and +get in supplies of food and spirits, were elected. The evils of the +system were found so great, indeed, that it was gradually abandoned; but +in cases of vacancies occurring in the field, and there being a +necessity for at once filling them up, the colonels of the regiments had +power to make appointments, and if the choice of the men was considered +to be satisfactory, their nominee would be generally chosen. + +In the case of Jackson, the colonel had hesitated in confirming the +choice of the men. He did not for a moment suspect him to be wanting in +courage; but he regarded him as one who shirked his work, and who won +the votes of the men rather by a fluent tongue and by the violence of +his expressions of hatred against the North than by any soldierly +qualities. + +Some of the officers had been months in prison, and they were highly +indignant at the delays that had occurred in effecting their exchange. +The South, indeed, would have been only too glad to get rid of some of +their numerous prisoners, who were simply an expense and trouble to +them, and to get their own men back into their ranks. They could ill +spare the soldiers required to guard so large a number of prisoners, and +a supply of food was in itself a serious matter. + +Thus it was at Harper's Ferry, and upon a good many other occasions, +they released vast numbers of prisoners on their simple paroles not to +serve again. The North, however, were in no hurry to make exchange; and +moreover, their hands were so full with their enormous preparations that +they put aside all matters which had not the claim of urgency. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE ESCAPE. + + +The discipline in the prison at Elmira was not rigorous. The prisoners +had to clean up the cells, halls, and yard, but the rest of their time +they could spend as they liked. Some of those whose friends had money +were able to live in comparative luxury and to assist those who had no +such resources; for throughout the War there was never any great +difficulty in passing letters to and from the South. The line of +frontier was enormous and it was only at certain points that hostilities +were actively carried on, consequently letters and newspapers were +freely passed, and money could be sent in the same way from one part of +the country to another. + +At certain hours of the day hawkers and venders of such articles as were +in most demand by the prisoners were allowed to enter the yard and to +sell their wares to the Confederates. Spirits were not allowed to be +carried in, but tobacco and all kinds of food were permitted to pass. +Vincent had at Alexandria written a letter to his mother, and had given +it to a man who represented that he made it his business to forward +letters to an agent at Richmond, being paid for each letter the sum of a +dollar on its delivery. Vincent, therefore, felt confident that the +anxiety that would be felt at home, when they learned that he was among +the missing at the battle of Antietam, would be relieved. + +He was fairly supplied with money. He had, indeed, had several hundred +dollars with him at the time he was captured; but these were entirely in +Confederate notes, for which he got but half their value in Northern +paper at Alexandria. He himself found the rations supplied in the prison +ample, and was able to aid any of his fellow-prisoners in purchasing +clothes to replace the rags they wore when captured. + +One day Vincent strolled down as usual toward the gate, where, under the +eye of the guard, a row of men and women, principally negroes and +negresses, were sitting on the ground with their baskets in front of +them containing tobacco, pipes, fruit, cakes, needles and thread, +buttons, and a variety of other articles in demand, while a number of +prisoners were bargaining and joking with them. Presently his eye fell +upon a negro before whom was a great pile of watermelons. He started as +he did so, for he at once recognized the well-known face of Dan. As soon +as the negro saw that his master's eye had fallen upon him he began +loudly praising the quality of his fruit. + +"Here, massa officer, here bery fine melyons, ripe and sweet; no green +trash; dis un good right through. Five cents each, sah. Bery cheap, +dese." + +"I expect they cost you nothing, Sambo," one of the Confederate soldiers +said as he bought a melon. "Got a neighbor's patch handy, eh?" + +Dan grinned at the joke, and then selecting another from the bottom of +his pile in the basket, offered it to Vincent. + +"Dis fine fruit, sah. Me sure you please with him!" + +Vincent took the melon and handed Dan five cents. A momentary glance was +exchanged, and then he walked away and sat down in a quiet corner of the +yard and cut open the melon. As he expected, he found a note rolled up +in the center. A small piece of the rind had been cut out and the pulp +removed for its reception. The bit of rind had then been carefully +replaced so that the cut would not be noticed without close inspection. +It was from one of his fellow-officers, and was dated the day after his +capture. He read as follows: + +"My Dear Wingfield: + +"We are all delighted this afternoon to hear that instead, as we had +believed, of your being knocked on the head you are a prisoner among the +Yanks. Several of us noticed you fall just as we halted at the river, +and we all thought that, from the way in which you fell, you had been +shot through the head or heart. However, there was no time to inquire in +that terrific storm of shot and shell. In the morning, when the burying +parties went down, we could find no signs of you, although we knew +almost to a foot where you had fallen. + +"We could only conclude at last that you had been carried off in the +night by the Yanks, and as they would hardly take the trouble of +carrying off a dead body, it occurred to us that you might, after all, +be alive. So the colonel went to Lee, who at once sent a trumpeter with +a flag down to the river to inquire, and we were all mightily pleased, +as you may imagine, when he came back with the news that you were not +only a prisoner, but unwounded, having been only stunned in some way. +From the way you fell we suppose a round shot must have grazed your +head; at least that is the only way we can account for it. + +"Your horse came back unhurt to the troop, and will be well cared for +until you rejoin us, which we hope will not be long. Your boy kept the +camp awake last night with his howlings, and is at present almost out of +his mind with delight. He tells me he has made up his mind to slip +across the lines and make his way as a runaway to Alexandria, where you +will, of course, be taken in the first place. He says he's got some +money of yours; but I have insisted on his taking another fifty dollars, +which you can repay me when we next meet. As he will not have to ask +for work, he may escape the usual lot of runaways, who are generally +pounced upon and set to work on the fortifications of Alexandria and +Washington. + +"He intends to find out what prison you are taken to, and to follow you, +with some vague idea of being able to aid you to escape. As he cannot +write, he has asked me to write this letter to you, telling you what his +idea is. He will give it to you when he finds an opportunity, and he +wishes you to give him an answer, making any suggestion that may occur +to you as to the best way of his setting about it. He says that he shall +make acquaintances among the negroes North, and will find someone who +will read your note to him and write you an answer. I have told him that +if he is caught at the game he is likely to be inside a prison a bit +longer than you are, even if worse doesn't befall him. However, he makes +light of this, and is bent upon carrying out his plans, and I can only +hope he will succeed. + +"I have just heard that we shall fall back across the Rappahannock +to-morrow, and I imagine there will not be much hard fighting again +until spring, long before which I hope you will be in your place among +us again. We lost twenty-three men and two officers (Ketler and Sumner) +yesterday. Good-by, old fellow! I need not say keep up your spirits, for +that you are pretty sure to do. + +"Yours truly, +"James Sinclair." + +After the first start at seeing Dan, Vincent was scarcely surprised, for +he had often thought over what the boy would do, and had fancied that +while, if he supposed him dead, he would go straight back to the +Orangery, it was quite possible that, should he hear that he was a +prisoner, Dan might take it into his head to endeavor to join him. As to +his making his escape, that did not appear to be a very difficult +undertaking now that he had a friend outside. The watch kept up was not +a very vigilant one, for such numbers of prisoners were taken on both +sides that they were not regarded as of very great importance, and +indeed the difficulty lay rather in making across the country to the +Southern border than in escaping from prison; for with a friend outside, +with a disguise in readiness, that matter was comparatively easy. All +that was required for the adventure was a long rope, a sharp file, and a +dark night. + +The chief difficulty that occurred to Vincent arose from the fact that +there were some twenty other prisoners in the same ward. He could hardly +file through the bars of the window unnoticed by them, and they would +naturally wish to share in his flight; but where one person might +succeed in evading the vigilance of the guard, it was unlikely in the +extreme that twenty would do so, and the alarm once given all would be +recaptured. He was spared the trouble of making up his mind as to his +plans, for by the time he had finished his letter the hour that the +hucksters were allowed to sell their goods was passed, and the gates +were shut and all was quiet. + +After some thought he came to the conclusion that the only plan would be +to conceal himself somewhere in the prison just before the hour at which +they were locked up in their wards. The alarm would be given, for the +list of names was called over before lock-up, and a search would of +course be made. Still, if he could find a good place for concealment, it +might succeed, since the search after dark would not be so close and +minute as that which would be made next morning. The only disadvantage +would be that the sentries would be specially on the alert, as, unless +the fugitive had succeeded in some way in passing out of the gates in +disguise, he must still be within the walls, and might attempt to scale +them through the night. This certainty largely increased the danger, and +Vincent went to bed that night without finally determining what had +better be done. + +The next morning, while walking in the grounds, he determined the place +he would choose for his concealment if he adopted the plan he had +thought of the evening before. The lower rooms upon one side of the +building were inhabited by the governor and officers of the prison, and +if he were to spring through an open window unnoticed just as it became +dusk, and hide himself in a cupboard or under a bed there, he would be +safe for a time, as, however close the search might be in other parts of +the building, it would be scarcely suspected, at any rate on the first +alarm, that he had concealed himself in the officers' quarters. There +would, of course, be the chance of his being detected as he got out of +the window again at night, but this would not be a great risk. It was +the vigilance of the sentries that he most feared, and the possibility +that, as soon as the fact of his being missing was known, a cordon of +guards might be stationed outside the wall in addition to those in the +yard. The danger appeared to him to be so great that he was half +inclined to abandon the enterprise. It would certainly be weary work to +be shut up there for perhaps a year while his friends were fighting the +battles of his country; but it would be better after all to put up with +that than to run any extreme risk of being shot. + +When he arrived at this conclusion he went upstairs to his room to write +a line to Dan. The day was a fine one, and he found that the whole of +the occupants of the room had gone below. This was an unexpected bit of +good fortune, and he at once went to the window and examined the bars. +They were thick and of new iron, but had been hastily put up. The +building had originally been a large warehouse, and when it had been +converted into a prison for the Confederate prisoners the bars had been +added to the windows. Instead, therefore, of being built into solid +stone and fastened in by lead, they were merely screwed on to the wooden +framework of the windows, and by a strong screw-driver a bar could be +removed in five minutes. This altogether altered the position. He had +only to wait until the rest of the occupants of the room were asleep and +then to remove the bar and let himself down. + +He at once wrote: + +"I want twenty yards of strong string, and the same length of rope that +will bear my weight; also a strong screw-driver. When I have got this I +will let you know night and hour. Shall want disguise ready to put on." + +He folded the note up into a small compass, and at the hour at which Dan +would be about to enter he sauntered down to the gate. In a short time +the venders entered, and were soon busy selling their wares. Dan had, as +before, a basket of melons. Vincent made his way up to him. + +"I want another melon," he said, "as good as that you sold me last +night." + +"Dey all de same, sah. First-rate melyons, dese; just melt away in your +mouf like honey." + +He held up one of the melons, and Vincent placed in his hands the +coppers in payment. Between two of them he had placed the little note. +Dan's hands closed quickly on the coins, and dropping them into his +pocket he addressed the next customer, while Vincent sauntered away +again. This time the melon was a whole one, and Vincent divided it with +a couple of other prisoners, for the fruit was too large for one person +to consume, being quite as large as a man's head. + +The next day another melon was bought, but this time Vincent did not +open it in public. Examining it closely, he perceived that it had been +cut through the middle, and no doubt contained a portion of the rope. He +hesitated as to his next step. If he took the melon up to his room he +would be sure to find some men there, and would be naturally called upon +to divide the fruit; and yet there was nowhere else he could hide it. +For a long time he sat with his back to the wall and the melon beside +him, abusing himself for his folly in not having told Dan to send the +rope in small lengths that he could hide about him. The place where he +had sat down was one of the quietest in the yard, but men were +constantly strolling up and down. He determined at last that the only +possible plan was in the first place to throw his coat over his melon, +to tuck it up underneath it, then to get hold of one end of the ball of +rope that it doubtless contained and to endeavor to wind it round his +body without being observed. It was a risky business, and he would +gladly have tossed the melon over the wall had he dared to do so; for if +he were detected, not only would he be punished with much more severe +imprisonment, but Dan might be arrested and punished most severely. + +Unfortunately the weather was by no means hot, and it would look strange +to take off his coat; besides, if he did so, how could he coil the rope +round him without being observed? So that idea was abandoned. He got up +and walked to an angle in the wall, and there sat down again, concealing +the melon as well as he could between him and the wall when anyone +happened to come near him. He pulled the halves apart and found, as he +had suspected, it was but a shell, the whole of the fruit having been +scooped out. But he gave an exclamation of pleasure on seeing that +instead, as he feared, of a large ball of rope being inside, the +interior was filled with neatly made hanks, each containing several +yards of thin but strong rope, together with a hank of strong string. + +Unbuttoning his coat, he thrust them in; then he took the melon rind and +broke it into very small pieces and threw them about. He then went up to +his room and thrust the hanks, unobserved, one by one among the straw +which, covered by an army blanket, constituted his bed. To-morrow, no +doubt, Dan would supply him somehow with a screw-driver. On going down +to the gate next day he found that the negro had changed his commodity, +and that this time his basket contained very large and fine cucumbers. +These were selling briskly, and Vincent saw that Dan was looking round +anxiously, and that an expression of relief came over his face as he +perceived him. He had, indeed, but eight or ten cucumbers left. + +"Cucumbers to-day, sah? Bery fine cucumbers--first-rate cucumbers dese." + +"They look rather over-ripe," Vincent said. + +"Not a bit, sah; dey just ripe. Dis bery fine one--ten cents, dis." + +"You are putting up your prices, darky, and are making a fortune out of +us," Vincent said as he took the cucumber, which was a very large and +straight one. He had no difficulty with this, as with the melon; a sharp +twist broke it in two as he reached the corner he had used the day +previously. It had been cut in half, one end had been scooped out for +the reception of the handle of the screw-driver and the metal been +driven in to the head in the other half. Hiding it under his jacket, he +felt that he was now prepared for escape. + +He now asked himself whether he should go alone or take one or more of +his comrades into his confidence, and finally determined to give a young +Virginian officer named Geary, with whom he had been specially friendly +during his imprisonment, and Jackson, a chance of escape. He did not +like the latter, but he thought that, after the reconciliation that had +taken place between them, it was only right to take him rather than a +stranger. Drawing them aside, then, he told them that he had arranged a +mode of escape; it was impossible that all could avail themselves of it, +but that they were welcome to accompany him. They thanked him heartily +for the offer, and, when he explained the manner in which he intended to +make off, agreed to try their fortunes with him. + +"I propose," he said, "as soon as we are fairly beyond the prison, we +separate, and each try to gain the frontier as best he can. The fact +that three prisoners have escaped will soon be known all over the +country, and there would be no chance whatever for us if we kept +together. I will tell my boy to have three disguises ready; and when we +once put aside our uniforms I see no reason why, traveling separately, +suspicion should fall upon us; we ought to have no difficulty until at +any rate we arrive near the border, and there must be plenty of points +where we can cross without going anywhere near the Federal camps." + +The others at once agreed that the chances of making their way +separately were much greater than if together. This being arranged, +Vincent passed a note next day to Dan, telling him to have three +disguises in readiness, and to be at the foot of the western wall, +halfway along, at twelve o'clock on the first wet night. A string would +be thrown over, with a knife fastened to it. He was to pull on the +string till the rope came into his hand, and to hold that tight until +they were over. Vincent chose this spot because it was equally removed +from the sentry-boxes at the corners of the yard, and because there was +a stone seat in the yard to which one end of the rope could be attached. + +That night was fine, but the next was thick and misty. At nine o'clock +all were in bed, and he lay listening to the clocks in the distance. Ten +struck, and eleven, and when he thought it was approaching twelve he got +up and crept to the window. He was joined immediately by the others; the +screw-driver was set to work; and, as he expected, Vincent found no +trouble whatever with the screws, which were not yet rusted in the wood, +and turned immediately when the powerful screw-driver was applied to +them. When all were out the bar was carefully lifted from its place and +laid upon the floor. + +The rope was then put round one of the other bars and drawn through it +until the two ends came together. These were then dropped to the ground +below. Geary went first, Jackson followed, and Vincent was soon standing +beside them. Taking one end of the rope, he pulled it until the other +passed round the bar and fell at their feet. All three were barefooted, +and they stole noiselessly across the yard to the seat, which was nearly +opposite their window. Vincent had already fastened his clasp-knife to +the end of the string, and he now threw it over the wall, which was +about twenty feet high. + +He had tied a knot at forty feet from the end, and, standing close to +the wall, he drew in the string until the knot was in his hand. Another +two yards, and he knew that the knife was hanging a yard from the ground +against the wall. He now drew it up and down, hoping that the slight +noise the knife made against the wall might aid Dan in finding it. In +two or three minutes he felt a jerk, and knew that Dan had got it. He +fastened the end of the string to the rope and waited. The rope was +gradually drawn up; when it neared the end he fastened it to the stone +seat. + +"Now," he said, "up you go, Geary." + +The order in which they were to ascend had been settled by lot, as Geary +insisted that Vincent, who had contrived the whole affair, should be the +first to escape; but Vincent declined to accept the advantage, and the +three had accordingly tossed up for precedence. + +Geary was quickly over, and lowered himself on the opposite side. The +others followed safely, but not without a good deal of scraping against +the wall, for the smallness of the rope added to the difficulty of +climbing it. However, the noise was so slight that they had little fear +of attracting attention, especially as the sentries would be standing in +their boxes, for the rain was now coming down pretty briskly. As soon as +they were down Vincent seized Dan by the hand. + +"My brave boy," he said, "I owe you my freedom, and I shan't forget it. +Now, where are the clothes?" + +"Here dey are, sah. One is a rough suit, like a working man's, another +is a black-and-white sort of suit--a check suit; de oder one is for +you--a clargy's suit, sir. You make very nice young minister, for sure." + +"All right, Dan!" Vincent said, laughing; "give me the minister's suit." + +"Then I will be the countryman," Geary said. + +There was a little suppressed laughter as they changed their clothes in +the dark; and then, leaving their uniforms by the wall, they shook hands +and started at once in different directions, lest they might come across +someone who would, when the escape was known, remember four men having +passed him in the dark. + +"Now, Dan, what is the next move?" Vincent asked, as they walked off. +"Have you fixed upon any plan?" + +"No special plan, sah, but I have brought a bag; you see I have him in +my hand." + +"I suppose that's what you carried the clothes in?" + +"No, sir; I carried dem in a bundle. Dis bag has got linen, and boots, +and oder tings for you, sah. What I tink am de best way dis. Dar am a +train pass trou here at two o'clock and stop at dis station. Some people +always get out. Dar is an hotel just opposite the station, and some of +de passengers most always go there. I thought de best way for you would +be to go outside the station. Just when the train come in we walk across +de road wid the oders and go to hotel. You say you want bedroom for +yo'self, and that your sarvant can sleep in de hall. Den in de morning +you get up and breakfast and go off by de fust train." + +"But then they may send down to look at the passengers starting, and I +should be taken at once." + +"De train go out at seven o'clock, sah. I don't expect they find that +you have got away before dat." + +"No, Dan. We all turn out at seven, and I shall be missed then; but it +will be some little time before the alarm is given, and they find out +how we got away, and send out search-parties. If the train is anything +like punctual we shall be off long before they get to the station." + +"Besides, sah, dar are not many people knows your face, and it not +likely de bery man dat know you come to the station. Lots of oder places +to search, and dey most sure to tink you go right away--not tink you +venture to stop in town 'til the morning." + +"That is so, Dan, and I think your plan is a capital one." + +Dan's suggestion was carried out, and at seven o'clock next morning they +were standing on the platform among a number of other persons waiting +for the train. Just as the locomotive's whistle was heard the sound of a +cannon boomed out from the direction of the prison. + +"That means some of the prisoners have escaped," one of the porters on +the platform said. "There have been five or six of them got away in the +last two months, but most of them have been caught again before they +have gone far. You see, to have a chance at all, they have got to get +rid of their uniforms, and as we are all Unionists about here that aint +an easy job for 'em to manage." + +Everyone on the platform joined in the conversation, asking which way +the fugitive would be likely to go, whether there were any cavalry to +send after him, what would be done to him if he were captured, and other +questions of the same kind, Vincent joining in the talk. It was a relief +to him when the train drew up, and he and Dan took their place in it, +traveling, however, in different cars. Once fairly away, Vincent had no +fear whatever of being detected, and could travel where he liked, for +outside the prison there were not ten people who knew his face +throughout the Northern States. It would be difficult for him to make +his way down into Virginia from the North, as the whole line of frontier +there was occupied by troops, and patrols were on the watch night and +day to prevent persons from going through the lines. He therefore +determined to go west to St. Louis, and from there work his way down +through Missouri. After two days' railway traveling they reached St. +Louis, a city having a large trade with the South, and containing many +sympathizers with the Confederate cause. Vincent, having now no fear of +detection, went at once to an hotel, and taking up a newspaper, one of +the first paragraphs that met his eye was headed: + +"ESCAPE OF THREE CONFEDERATE OFFICERS FROM ELMIRA. + +"Great excitement was caused on Wednesday at Elmira by the discovery +that three Confederate officers had, during the night, effected their +escape from prison. One of the bars of the window of the ward on the +first floor in which they were, with fifteen other Confederate officers, +confined, had been removed; the screws having been taken out by a large +screw-driver which they left behind them. They had lowered themselves +to the yard, and climbed over the wall by means of a rope which was +found in position in the morning. The rest of the prisoners professed an +entire ignorance of the affair, and declared that, until they found the +beds unoccupied in the morning, they knew nothing of the occurrence. + +"This is as it may be, but it is certain they must have been aided by +traitors outside the prison, for the rope hung loose on the outside of +the wall, and must have been held by someone there as they climbed it. +The inside end was fastened to a stone seat, and they were thus enabled +to slide down it on the other side. Their uniforms were found lying at +the foot of the wall, and their accomplice had doubtless had disguises +ready for them. The authorities of the prison are unable to account for +the manner in which the screw-driver and rope were passed in to them, or +how they communicated with their friends outside." + + * * * * * + +Then followed the personal description of each of the fugitives, and a +request that all loyal citizens would be on the lookout for them, and +would at once arrest any suspicious character unable to give a +satisfactory account of himself. As Vincent sat smoking in the hall of +the hotel he heard several present discussing the escape of the +prisoners. + +"It does not matter about them one way or the other," one of the +speakers said. "They seem to be mere boys, and whether they escape or +not will not make any difference to anyone. The serious thing is that +there must be some traitors among the prison officials, and that next +time perhaps two or three generals may escape, and that would be a +really serious misfortune." + +"We need not reckon that out at present," another smoker said. "We +haven't got three of the rebel generals yet, and as far as things seem +to be going on, we may have to wait some time before we have. They are +pretty well able to take care of themselves, I reckon." + +"They are good men, some of them, I don't deny," the first speaker +said; "but they might as well give up the game. In the spring we shall +have an army big enough to eat them up." + +"So I have heard two or three times before. Scott was going to eat them +up, McClellan was going to eat them up, then Pope was going to make an +end of 'em altogether. Now McClellan is having a try again, but somehow +or other the eating up hasn't come off yet. It looks to me rather the +other way." + +There was an angry growl from two or three of those sitting round, while +others uttered a cordial "That's so." + +"It seems to me, by the way you put it, that you don't wish to see this +business come to an end." + +"That's where you are wrong now. I do wish to see it come to an end. I +don't want to see tens of thousands of men losing their lives because +one portion of these States wants to ride rough-shod over the other. The +sooner the North looks this affair squarely in the face and sees that it +has taken up a bigger job than it can carry through, and agrees to let +those who wish to leave it go if they like, the better for all parties. +That's what I think about it." + +"I don't call that Union talk," the other said angrily. + +"Union or not Union, I mean to talk it, and I want to know who is going +to prevent me?" + +The two men rose simultaneously from their chairs, and in a second the +cracks of two revolvers sounded. As if they had only been waiting for +the signal, a score of other men leaped up and sprang at each other. +They had, as the altercation grew hotter, joined in with exclamations of +anger or approval, and Vincent saw that although the Unionists were the +majority, the party of sympathizers with the South was a strong one. +Having neither arms nor inclination to join in a broil of this kind he +made his escape into the street the instant hostilities began, and +hurried away from the sound of shouts, oaths, the sharp cracks of +pistols, and the breaking of glass. Ten minutes later he returned. The +hotel was shut up, but an angry mob were assembled round the door +shouting, "Down with the rebels! down with the Secessionists!" and were +keeping up a loud knocking at the door. Presently a window upstairs +opened, and the proprietor put out his head. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I can assure you that the persons who were the +cause of this disturbance all left the hotel by the back way as soon as +the affair was over. I have sent for the police commissioner, and upon +his arrival he will be free to search the house, and to arrest anyone +concerned in this affair." + +The crowd were not satisfied, and renewed their knocking at the door; +but two or three minutes later an officer, with a strong body of police, +arrived on the spot. In a few words he told the crowd to disperse, +promising that the parties concerned in the affair would be arrested and +duly dealt with. He then entered the house with four of his men, leaving +the rest to wait. Vincent entered with the constables, saying that he +was staying at the house. The fumes of gunpowder were still floating +about the hall, three bodies were lying on the floor, and several men +were binding up their wounds. The police officer inquired into the +origin of the broil, and all present concurred in saying that it arose +from some Secessionists speaking insultingly of the army of the Union. + +Search was then made in the hotel, and it was found that eight persons +were missing. One of the killed was a well-known citizen of the town; he +was the speaker on the Union side of the argument. The other two were +strangers, and no one could say which side they espoused. All those +present declared that they themselves were Union men, and it was +supposed that the eight who were missing were the party who had taken +the other side of the question. The evidence of each was taken down by +the police officer. Vincent was not questioned, as, having entered with +the constables, it was supposed he was not present at the affair. + +In the morning Vincent read in the local paper a highly colored account +of the fray. After giving a large number of wholly fictitious details, +it went on to say: "The victims were Cyrus D. Jenkins, a much-esteemed +citizen and a prominent Unionist; the other two were guests at the +hotel; one had registered as P. J. Moore of Vermont, the other as James +Harvey of Tennessee. Nothing is as yet known as to the persons whose +rooms were unoccupied, and who had doubtless made their escape as soon +as the affray was over; but the examination of their effects, which will +be made by the police in the morning, will doubtless furnish a clew by +which they will be brought to justice." + +Having read this, Vincent looked for the news as to the escape from +Elmira, being anxious to know whether his companions had been as +fortunate as himself in getting clear away. He was startled by reading +the following paragraph: "We are enabled to state that the police have +received a letter stating that one of the officers who escaped from +Elmira prison has adopted the disguise of a minister, and is traveling +through the country with a black servant. At present the authorities are +not disposed to attach much credit to this letter, and are inclined to +believe that it has been sent in order to put them on a wrong scent. +However, a watch will doubtless be kept by the police throughout the +country for a person answering to this description." Accustomed to rise +early, Vincent was taking his breakfast almost alone, only two or three +of the other guests having made their appearance. He finished his meal +hastily, and went out to Dan, who was lounging in front of the hotel. + +"Dan, go upstairs at once, pack the bag, bring it down and go out with +it immediately. I will pay the bill. Don't stop to ask questions now." + +Vincent then walked up to the desk at the end of the hall, at which a +clerk was sitting reading the paper. Sincerely hoping that the man's eye +had not fallen on this paragraph, he asked if his account was made out. +As he had fortunately mentioned on the preceding evening that he should +be leaving in the morning, the bill was ready; and the clerk, scarce +looking up from the paper, handed it to him. Vincent paid him the +amount, saying carelessly, "I think I have plenty of time to catch the +train for the East?" + +The clerk glanced at the clock. + +"Yes, it goes at eight, and you have twenty minutes. It's only five +minutes' walk to the station." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +FUGITIVES. + + +On leaving the hotel Vincent walked a short distance and then stopped +until Dan came up to him. + +"Anything de matter, sah?" + +"Yes, Dan. There is a notice in the paper that the police have obtained +information that I am traveling disguised as a minister, and have a +negro servant with me." + +"Who told dem dat?" Dan asked in surprise. + +"We can talk about that presently, Dan; the great thing at present is to +get away from here. The train for the South starts at ten. Give me the +bag, and follow me at a distance. I will get you a ticket for Nashville, +and as you pass me in the station I will hand it to you. It must not be +noticed that we are traveling together. That is the only clew they have +got." + +Dan obeyed his instructions. The journey was a long one. The train was +slow and stopped frequently; passengers got in and out at every station. +The morning's news from the various points at which the respective +forces were facing each other was the general topic of conversation, and +Vincent was interested in seeing how the tone gradually changed as the +passengers from St. Louis one by one left the train and their places +were taken by those of the more southern districts. At first the +sentiment expressed had been violently Northern, and there was no +dissent from the general chorus of hope and expectation that the South +were on their last legs and that the rebellion would shortly be stamped +out; but gradually, as the train approached the State of Tennessee, the +Unionist opinion, although expressed with even greater force and +violence, was by no means universal. Many men read their papers in +silence and took no part whatever in the conversation, but Vincent could +see from the angry glances which they shot at the speakers that the +sentiments uttered were distasteful to them. He himself had scarcely +spoken during the whole journey. He had for some time devoted himself to +the newspaper, and had then purchased a book from the newsboy who +perambulated the cars. Presently a rough-looking man, who had been among +the wildest and most violent in his denunciation of the South, said, +looking at Vincent: + +"I see by the papers to-day that one of the cursed rebel officers who +gave them the slip at Elmira is traveling in the disguise of a minister. +I guess it's mighty unpleasant to know that even if you meet a parson in +a train, like as not he is a rebel in disguise. Now, mister, may I ask +where you have come from and where you are going to?" + +"You may ask what you like," Vincent said quietly; "but I am certainly +not going to answer impertinent questions." + +A hum of approval was heard from several of the passengers. + +"If you hadn't got that black coat on," the man said angrily, "I would +put you off the car in no time." + +"Black coat or no black coat," Vincent said, "you may find it more +difficult than you think. My profession is a peaceful one; but even a +peaceful man, if assaulted, may defend himself. You say it's unpleasant +to know that if you travel with a man in a black coat he may be a +traitor. It's quite as unpleasant to me to know that if I travel with a +man in a brown one he may be a notorious ruffian, and may as likely as +not have just served his time in a penitentiary." + +Two or three of the passengers laughed loudly. The man, starting up, +crossed the car to where Vincent was sitting and laid his hand roughly +on his shoulder. + +"You have got to get out!" he said. "No man insults Jim Mullens twice." + +"Take your hand off my shoulder," Vincent said quietly, "or you will be +sorry for it." + +The man shifted his hold to the collar of Vincent's coat amid cries of +shame from some of the passengers, while the others were silent, even +those of his own party objecting to an assault upon a minister. It was +only the fact that the fellow was a notorious local ruffian that +prevented their expressing open disapproval of the act. As the man +grasped Vincent's collar with his right hand Vincent saw his left go +under his coat toward the pocket in the back of the trousers where +revolvers were always carried. In an instant he sprang to his feet, and +before the man, who was taken by surprise at the suddenness of the +movement, could steady himself, he struck him a tremendous blow and at +the same moment springing at his throat, threw him backward on to the +floor of the carriage. As he fell the man drew out his revolver, but +Vincent grasped his arm and with a sharp twist wrenched the revolver +from his grasp, and, leaping up, threw it out of the open window. The +ruffian rose to his feet for a moment half-dazed by the violence with +which he had fallen, and poured out a string of imprecations upon +Vincent. The latter stood calmly awaiting a fresh attack. For a moment +the ruffian hesitated, and then, goaded to fury by the taunting laughter +of the lookers-on, was about to spring upon him when he was seized by +two or three of the passengers. + +"I reckon you have made a fool enough of yourself already," one of them +said; "and we are not going to see a minister ill-treated, not if we +know it." + +"You need not hold him," Vincent said. "It is not because one wears a +black coat and is adverse to fighting that one is not able to defend +one's self. We all learn the same things at college, whether we are +going into the Church or any other profession. You can let him alone if +he really wants any more, which I do not believe. I should be ashamed of +myself if I could not punish a ruffian of his kind." + +"Let me get at him!" yelled Mullens; and the men who held him, taking +Vincent at his word, released him. He rushed forward, but was received +with another tremendous blow on the mouth. He paused a moment in his +rush, and Vincent, springing forward, administered another blow upon the +same spot, knocking him off his legs on to the floor. On getting up he +gave no sign of a desire to renew the conflict. His lips were badly cut +and the blood was streaming from his mouth, and he looked at Vincent +with an air of absolute bewilderment. The latter, seeing that the +conflict was over, quietly resumed his seat; while several of the +passengers came up to him, and, shaking him warmly by the hand, +congratulated him upon having punished his assailant. + +"I wish we had a few more ministers of your sort down this way," one +said. "That's the sort of preaching fellows like this understand. It was +well you got his six-shooter out of his hand, for he would have used it +as sure as fate. He ought to have been lynched long ago, but since the +troubles began, these fellows have had all their own way. But look to +yourself when he gets out; he belongs to a gang who call themselves +Unionists, but who are nothing but plunderers and robbers. If you take +my advice, when you get to the end of your journey you will not leave +the station, but take a ticket straight back North. I tell you your life +won't be safe five minutes when you once get outside of the town. They +daren't do anything there, for, though folks have had to put up with a +great deal, they wouldn't stand the shooting of a minister; still, +outside the town I would not answer for your life for an hour." + +"I have my duties to perform," Vincent said, "and I shall certainly +carry them through; but I am obliged to you for your advice. I can quite +understand that ruffian," and he looked at Mullens, who, with his +handkerchief to his mouth, was sitting alone in a corner--for the rest +had all drawn away from him in disgust--and glaring ferociously at him, +"will revenge himself, if he has the opportunity. However, as far as +possible, I shall be on my guard." + +"At any rate," the man said, "I should advise you, when you get to +Nashville, to charge him with assault. We can all testify that he laid +hands on you first. That way he will get locked up for some days anyhow, +and you can go away about your business, and he won't know where to find +you when he gets out." + +"Thank you--that would be a very good plan; but I might lose a day or +two in having to appear against him. I am pressed for time and have some +important business on hand, and I have no doubt I shall be able to throw +him off my track, finish my business, and be off again before he can +come across me." + +"Well, I hope no harm will come of it," the other said. "I like you, and +I never saw anyone hit so quickly and so hard. It's a downright pity you +are a preacher. My name's John Morrison, and my farm is ten miles from +Nashville, on the Cumberland River. If you should be going in that +direction, I should be right glad if you would drop in on me." + +The real reason that decided Vincent against following the advice to +give his assailant in charge was that he feared he himself might be +questioned as to the object of his journey and his destination. The +fellow would not improbably say that he believed he was the Confederate +officer who was trying to escape in the disguise of a clergyman and that +he had therefore tried to arrest him. He could, of course, give no +grounds for the accusation, still questions might be asked which would +be impossible for him to answer; and, however plausible a story he might +invent, the lawyer whom the fellow would doubtless employ to defend him +might suggest that the truth of his statements might be easily tested by +the dispatch of a telegram, in which case he would be placed in a most +awkward situation. It was better to run the risk of trouble with the +fellow and his gang than to do anything which might lead to inquiries +as to his identity. + +When the train reached Nashville, Vincent proceeded to an hotel. It was +already late in the afternoon, for the journey had occupied more than +thirty hours. As soon as it was dark he went out again and joined Dan, +whom he had ordered to follow him at a distance and to be at the corner +of the first turning to the right of the hotel as soon as it became +dark. Dan was at the point agreed upon, and he followed Vincent until +the latter stopped in a quiet and badly lighted street. + +"Things are going badly, Dan. I had a row with a ruffian in the train, +and he has got friends here, and this will add greatly to our danger in +getting to our lines. I must get another disguise. What money have you +left?" + +"Not a cent, sah. I had only a five-cent piece left when we left St. +Louis, and I spent him on bread on de journey." + +"That is bad, Dan. I did not think your stock was so nearly expended." + +"I had to keep myself, sah, and to pay for de railroad, and to buy dem +t'ree suits of clothes, and to make de nigger I lodged with a present to +keep him mouth shut." + +"Oh, I know you have had lots of expenses, Dan, and I am sure that you +have not wasted your money; but I had not thought about it. I have only +got ten dollars left, and we may have a hundred and fifty miles to +travel before we are safe. Anyhow, you must get another disguise, and +trust to luck for the rest. We have tramped a hundred and fifty miles +before now without having anything beyond what we could pick up on the +road. Here's the money. Get a rough suit of workingman's clothes, and +join me here in an hour's time. Let us find out the name of the street +before we separate, for we may miss our way and not be able to meet +again." + +Passing up into the busy streets, Vincent presently stopped and +purchased a paper of a newsboy who was running along shouting, "News +from the war! Defeat of the rebels! Fight in a railway car near +Nashville! A minister punishes a border ruffian!" + +"Confound those newspaper fellows!" Vincent muttered to himself as he +walked away. "They pick up every scrap of news. I suppose a reporter got +hold of someone who was in the car." Turning down a quiet street, he +opened the paper and, by the light of the lamp, read a graphic and +minute account of the struggle in the train. + +"I won't go back to the hotel," he said to himself. "I shall be having +reporters to interview me. I shall be expected to give them a history of +my whole life: where I was born, and where I went to school, and whether +I prefer beef to mutton, and whether I drink beer, and a thousand other +things. No, the sooner I am away the better. As to the hotel, I have +only had one meal, and they have got the bag with what clothes there +are; that will pay them well." Accordingly, when he rejoined Dan, he +told him that they would start at once. + +"It is the best way, anyhow," he said. "To-morrow, no doubt, the fellow +I had the row with will be watching the hotel to see which way I go off, +but after once seeing me go to the hotel he will not guess that I shall +be starting this evening. What have you got left, Dan?" + +"I got two dollars, sah." + +"That makes us quite rich men. We will stop at the first shop we come to +and lay in a stock of bread and a pound or two of ham." + +"And a bottle of rum, sah. Bery wet and cold, sleeping out of doors now, +sah. Want a little comfort, anyhow." + +"Very well, Dan; I think we can afford that." + +"Get one for half a dollar, massa. Could not lay out half a dollar +better." + +Half an hour later they had left Nashville behind them, and were +tramping along the road toward the east, Dan carrying a bundle in which +the provisions were wrapped, and the neck of the bottle of rum sticking +out of his pocket. As soon as they were well in the country Vincent +changed his clothes for those Dan had just brought him, and making the +others up into a bundle, continued his way. + +"Why you not leave dem black clothes behind, sah? What good take dem wid +you?" + +"I am not going to carry them far, Dan. The first wood or thick clump of +bushes we come to I shall hide them away; but if you were to leave them +here they would be found the first thing in the morning, and perhaps be +carried into the town and handed over to the police, and they might put +that and the fact of my not having returned to the hotel--which is sure +to be talked about--together, and come to the conclusion that either +Mullens was right and that I was an escaped Confederate, or that I had +been murdered by Mullens. In either case they might get up a search, and +perhaps send telegrams to the troops in the towns beyond us. Anyhow, +it's best the clothes should not be found." + +All night they tramped along, pausing only for half an hour about +midnight, when Dan suggested that as he had only had some bread to +eat--and not too much of that--during the last forty-eight hours, he +thought that he could do with some supper. Accordingly the bundle was +opened, and they sat down and partook of a hearty meal. Dan had wisely +taken the precaution of having the cork drawn from the bottle when he +bought it, replacing it so that it could be easily extracted when +required, and Vincent acknowledged that the spirit was a not unwelcome +addition to the meal. When morning broke they had reached Duck's River, +a broad stream crossing the road. + +Here they drew aside into a thick grove, and determined to get a few +hours' sleep before proceeding. It was nearly midday before they woke +and proceeded to the edge of the trees. Vincent reconnoitered the +position. + +"It is just as well we did not try to cross, Dan. I see the tents of at +least a regiment on the other bank. No doubt they are stationed there +to guard the road and railway bridge. This part of the country is pretty +equally divided in opinion, though more of the people are for the South +than for the North; but I know there are guerrilla parties on both sides +moving about, and if a Confederate band was to pounce down on these +bridges and destroy them it would cut the communication with their army +in front, and put them in a very ugly position if they were defeated. No +doubt that's why they have stationed that regiment there. Anyhow, it +makes it awkward for us. We should be sure to be questioned where we are +going, and as I know nothing whatever of the geography of the place, we +should find it very difficult to satisfy them. We must cross the river +somewhere else. There are sure to be some boats somewhere along the +banks; at any rate, the first thing to do is to move further away from +the road." + +They walked for two or three miles across the country. The fields for +the most part were deserted, and although here and there they saw +cultivated patches, it was evident that most of the inhabitants had +quitted that part of the country, which had been the scene of almost +continued fighting from the commencement of the war; the sufferings of +the inhabitants being greatly heightened by the bands of marauders who +moved about plundering and destroying under the pretense of punishing +those whom they considered hostile to the cause in whose +favor--nominally, at least--they had enrolled themselves. The sight of +ruined farms and burned houses roused Vincent's indignation; for in +Virginia private property had, up to the time of Pope's assuming command +of the army, been respected, and this phase of civil war was new and +very painful to him. + +"It would be a good thing," he said to Dan, "if the generals on both +sides in this district would agree to a month's truce, and join each +other in hunting down and hanging these marauding scoundrels. On our +side Mosby and a few other leaders of bands composed almost entirely of +gentlemen have never been accused of practices of this kind; but, with +these exceptions, there is little to choose between them." + +After walking for four or five miles they again sat down till evening, +and then, going down to the river, endeavored to find a boat by which +they could cross, but to their disappointment no craft of any kind was +visible, although in many places there were stages by the riverside, +evidently used by farmers for unloading their produce into boats. +Vincent concluded at last that at some period of the struggle all the +boats must have been collected and either sunk or carried away by one of +the parties to prevent the other crossing the river. + +Hitherto they had carefully avoided all the farmhouses that appeared to +be inhabited; but Vincent now determined to approach one of them and +endeavor to gain some information as to the distance from the next +bridge, and whether it was guarded by troops, and to find out, if +possible, the position in which the Northern forces in Tennessee were at +present posted--all of which points he was at present ignorant of. He +passed two or three large farmhouses without entering, for although the +greater part of the male population were away with one or other of the +armies, he might still find two or three hands in such buildings. +Besides, it was now late, and whatever the politics of the inmates they +would be suspicious of such late arrivals, and would probably altogether +refuse them admittance. Accordingly another night was spent in the wood. + +The next morning, after walking a mile or two, they saw a house at which +Vincent determined to try their fortune. It was small, but seemed to +have belonged to people above the class of farmer. It stood in a little +plantation, and was surrounded by a veranda. Most of the blinds were +down, and Vincent judged that the inmates could not be numerous. + +"You remain here, Dan, and I will go and knock at the door. It is better +that we should not be seen together." Vincent accordingly went forward +and knocked at the door. An old negress opened it. + +"We have nothing for tramps," she said. "De house am pretty well cleared +out ob eberything." She was about to shut the door when Vincent put his +foot forward and prevented its closing. "Massa Charles," the negress +called out, "bring yo' shot-gun quick; here am tief want to break into +the house." + +"I am neither a thief nor a tramp," Vincent said; "and I do not want +anything, except that I should be glad to buy a loaf of bread if you +have one that you could spare. I have lost my way, and I want to ask +directions." + +"Dat am pretty likely story," the old woman said. "Bring up dat +shot-gun, quick, Massa Charles." + +"What is it, Chloe?" another female voice asked. + +"Here am a man pretend he hab lost his way and wants to buy a loaf. You +stand back, Miss Lucy, and let your brudder shoot de villain dead." + +"I can assure you I am not a robber, madam," Vincent said through the +partly opened door. "I am alone, and only beg some information, which I +doubt not you can give me." + +"Open the door, Chloe," the second voice said inside; "that is not the +voice of a robber." + +The old woman reluctantly obeyed the order and opened the door, and +Vincent saw in the passage a young girl of some sixteen years old. He +took off his hat. + +"I am very sorry to disturb you," he said, "but I am an entire stranger +here, and am most desirous of crossing the river, but can find no boat +with which to do so." + +"Why did you not cross by the bridge?" the girl asked. "How did you miss +the straight road?" + +"Frankly, because there were Northern troops there," Vincent said, "and +I wish to avoid them, if possible." + +"You are a Confederate?" the girl asked, when the old negress +interrupted her: + +"Hush, Miss Lucy! don't you talk about dem tings; der plenty of mischief +done already. What hab you to do wid one side or de oder?" + +The girl paid no attention to her words, but stood awaiting Vincent's +answer. He did not hesitate. There was something in her face that told +him that, friend or foe, she was not likely to betray a fugitive, and he +answered: + +"I am a Confederate officer, madam. I have made my escape from Elmira +prison, and I am trying to find my way back into our lines." + +"Come in, sir," the girl said, holding out her hand. "We are +Secessionists, heart and soul. My father and my brother are with our +troops--that is, if they are both alive. I have little to offer you, for +the Yankee bands have been here several times, have driven off our +cattle, emptied our barns, and even robbed our hen nests, and taken +everything in the house they thought worth carrying away. But whatever +there is, sir, you are heartily welcome to. I had a paper yesterday--it +is not often I get one--and I saw there that three of our officers had +escaped from Elmira. Are you one of them?" + +"Yes, madam. I am Lieutenant Wingfield." + +"Ah! then you are in the cavalry. You have fought under Stuart," the +girl said. "The paper said so. Oh, how I wish we had Stuart and +Stonewall Jackson on this side! We should soon drive the Yankees out of +Tennessee." + +"They would try to, anyhow," Vincent said, smiling, "and if it were +possible they would assuredly do it. I was in Ashley's horse with the +Stonewall division through the first campaign in the Shenandoah Valley +and up to Bull Run, and after that under Stuart. But is not your brother +here? Your servant called to him." + +"There is no one here but ourselves," the girl replied. "That was a +fiction of Chloe's, and it has succeeded sometimes when we have had +rough visitors. And now, what can I do for you, sir? You said you wanted +to buy a loaf of bread, and therefore, I suppose, you are hungry. Chloe, +put the bacon and bread on the table, and make some coffee. I am afraid +that is all we can do, sir, but such as it is you are heartily welcome +to it." + +"I thank you greatly," Vincent replied, "and will, if you will allow me, +take half my breakfast out to my boy, who is waiting over there." + +"Why did you not bring him in?" the girl asked. "Of course he will be +welcome, too." + +"I did not bring him in before because two men in these days are likely +to alarm a lonely household; and I would rather not bring him in now, +because, if by any possibility the searchers, who are no doubt after me, +should call and ask you whether two men, one a white and the other a +negro, had been here, you could answer no." + +"But they cannot be troubling much about prisoners," the girl said. +"Why, in the fighting here and in Missouri they have taken many +thousands of prisoners, and you have taken still more of them in +Virginia; surely they cannot trouble themselves much about one getting +away." + +"I am not afraid of a search of that kind," Vincent said; "but, +unfortunately, on my way down I had a row in the train with a ruffian +named Mullens, who is, I understand, connected with one of these bands +of brigands, and I feel sure that he will hunt me down, if he can." + +The girl turned pale. + +"Oh!" she said, "I saw that in the paper too, but it said that it was a +minister. And it was you who beat that man and threw his revolver out of +the window? Oh, then, you are in danger indeed, sir. He is one of the +worst ruffians in the State, and is the leader of the party who stripped +this house and threatened to burn it to the ground. Luckily I was not at +home, having gone away to spend the night with a neighbor. His band have +committed murders all over the country, hanging up defenseless people on +pretense that they were Secessionists. They will show you no mercy, if +they catch you." + +"No. I should not expect any great mercy, if I fell into their hands, +Miss Lucy. I don't know your other name." + +"My name is Kingston. I ought to have introduced myself to you at once." + +"Now you understand, Miss Kingston, how anxious I am to get across the +river, and that brings me to the question of the information I want you +to give me. How far is it from the next bridge on the south, and are +there any Federal troops there?" + +"It is about seven miles to the bridge at Williamsport; we are just +halfway between that and the railway bridge at Columbus. Yes, there are +certainly troops there." + +"Then I see no way for it but to make a small raft to carry us across, +Miss Kingston. I am a good swimmer, but the river is full and of +considerable width; still, I think I can get across. But my boy cannot +swim a stroke." + +"I know where there is a boat hid in the wood near the river," the girl +said. "It belongs to a neighbor of ours, and when the Yankees seized the +boats he had his hauled up and hidden in the woods. He was a Southerner, +heart and soul, and thought that he might be able sometimes to take +useful information across the river to our people; but a few weeks +afterward his house was attacked by one of these bands--it was always +said it was that of Mullens--and he was killed, defending it to the +last. He killed several of the band before he fell, and they were so +enraged that, after plundering it, they set it on fire and fastened the +door, and his wife and two maidservants were burned to death." + +"I wish instead of throwing his pistol out of the window, I had blown +his brains out with it," Vincent said; "and I would have done so, if I +had known what sort of fellow he was. However, as to the boat, can you +give me instructions where to find it, and is it light enough for two +men to carry?" + +"Not to carry, perhaps, but to push along. It is a light boat he had for +pleasure. He had a large one, but that was carried away with the +others. I cannot give you directions, but I can lead you to the place." + +"I should not like you to do that," Vincent said. "We might be caught, +and your share in the affair might be suspected." + +"Oh there is no fear of that," the girl said; "besides, I am not afraid +of danger." + +"I don't think it is right, Miss Kingston, for a young lady like you to +be living here alone with an old servant in such times as these. You +ought to go into a town until it's all over." + +"I have no one to go to," the girl said simply. "My father bought this +place and moved here from Georgia only six years ago, and all my friends +are in that State. Except our neighbors round here I do not know a soul +in Tennessee. Besides, what can I do in a town? We can manage here, +because we have a few fowls, and some of our neighbors last spring +plowed an acre or two of ground and planted corn for us, and I have a +little money left for buying other things; but it would not last us a +month if we went into a town. No, I have nothing to do but to stay here +until you drive the Yankees back. I will willingly take you down to the +boat to-night. Chloe can come with us and keep me company on the way +back. Of course it would not be safe to cross in the daytime." + +"I thank you greatly, Miss Kingston, and shall always remember your +kindness. Now, when I finish my meal, I will go out and join my boy, and +will come to you at eight o'clock; it will be quite dark then." + +"Why should you not stay here till then, Mr. Wingfield? It is very +unlikely that anyone will come along." + +"It is unlikely, but it is quite possible," Vincent replied; "and were I +caught here by Mullens, the consequence would be very serious to you as +well as to myself. No, I could not think of doing that. I will go out, +and come back at eight o'clock. I shall not be far away; but if anyone +should come and inquire, you can honestly say that you do not know where +I am." + +"I have two revolvers here, sir; in fact I have three. I always keep one +loaded, for there is never any saying whether it may not be wanted; and +the other two I picked up last spring. There was a fight about a quarter +of a mile from here, and it was after it was over and they had moved +away, for the Confederates won that time and chased them back toward +Nashville, I went with Chloe with some water and bandages to see if we +could do anything for the wounded. We were at work there till evening, +and I think we did some good. As we were coming back I saw something in +a low bush, and going there found a Yankee officer and his horse both +lying dead; they had been killed by a shell, I should think. Stooping +over to see if he was quite dead I saw a revolver in his belt and +another in the holster of his saddle, so I took them out and brought +them home, thinking I might give them to some of our men, for we were +then, as we have always been, very short of arms; but I have never had +an opportunity of giving them away, and I am very glad now that I have +not. Here they are, sir, and two packets of cartridges, for they are of +the same size as those of the pistol my father gave me when he went +away. You are heartily welcome to them." + +"Thank you extremely," Vincent said as he took the pistols and placed +the packets of ammunition in his pocket. "We cut two heavy sticks the +night we left Nashville so as to be able to make something of a fight; +but with these weapons we shall feel a match for any small parties we +may meet. Then at eight o'clock I will come back again." + +"I shall be ready," the girl said; "but I wish you would have stopped, +there are so many things I want to ask you about, and these Yankee +papers, which are all we see now, are full of lies." + +"They exaggerate their successes and to some extent conceal their +defeats," Vincent said; "but I do not think it is the fault of the +newspapers, whose correspondents do seem to me to try and tell the truth +to their readers, but of the official dispatches of the generals. The +newspapers tone matters down, no doubt, because they consider it +necessary to keep up the public spirit; but at times they speak out +pretty strongly, too. I am quite as sorry to leave as you can be that I +should go, Miss Kingston, but I am quite sure that it is very much the +wisest thing for me to do. By the way, if I should not be here by +half-past eight I shall not come at all, and you will know that +something has occurred to alter our plans. I trust there is no chance of +anything doing so, but it is as well to arrange so that you should not +sit up expecting me. Should I not come back you will know that I shall +be always grateful to you for your kindness, and that when this war is +over, if I am alive, I will come back and thank you personally." + +"Good-by till this evening!" the girl said. "I will not even let myself +think that anything can occur to prevent your return." + +"Golly, Massa Vincent, what a time you hab been!" Dan said when Vincent +rejoined him. "Dis chile began to tink dat somefing had gone wrong, and +was going in anoder five minutes to knock at the door to ask what dey +had done to you." + +"It is all right, Dan. I have had breakfast, and have brought some for +you; here is some bread and bacon and a bottle of coffee." + +"Dat good, massa; my teeth go chatter, chatter wid sleeping in these +damp woods; dat coffee do me good, sah. After dat I shall feel fit for +anyting." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE BUSHWHACKERS. + + +"By the way, Dan," Vincent said when the negro had finished his meal, +"we have not talked over that matter of my clothes. I can't imagine how +that letter saying that one of us was disguised as a minister and would +have a negro servant came to be written. Did you ever tell the people +you lodged with anything about the disguise?" + +"No, sah, neber said one word to dem about it; dey know nothing +whatsoeber. De way me do wid your letter was dis. Me go outside town and +wait for long time. At last saw black fellow coming along. Me say to +him, 'Can you read?' and he said as he could. I said 'I got a letter, I +want to read him. I gib you a quarter to read him to me;' so he said +yes, and he read the letter. He a long time of making it out, because he +read print, but not read writing well. He spell it out word by word, but +I don't tink he understand dat it come from prison, only dat it come +from someone who wanted some rope and a turn-screw. Me do just the same +way wid de second letter. As for de clothes, me buy dem dat day, make +dem up in bundle, and not go back to lodging at all. Me not know how +anyone could know dat I buy dat minister clothes for you, sah. Me told +de storekeeper dat dey was for cousin of mine, who preach to de colored +folk, and dat I send him suit as present. Onless dat man follow me and +watch me all de time till we go off together, sah, me no see how de +debbil he guess about it." + +"That's quite impossible, Dan; it never could have been that way. It is +very strange, for it would really seem that no one but you and I and the +other two officers could possibly know about it." + +"Perhaps one ob dem want to do you bad turn, massa, and write so as to +get you caught and shut up again." + +Vincent started at this suggestion. Was it possible that Jackson could +have done him this bad turn after his having aided him to make his +escape! It would be a villainous trick; but then he had always thought +him capable of villainous tricks, and it was only the fact that they +were thrown together in prison that had induced him to make up his +quarrel with him; but though Jackson had accepted his advances, it was +probable enough that he had retained his bad feeling against him, and +had determined, if possible, to have his revenge on the first +opportunity. + +"The scoundrel," he said to himself, "after my getting him free, to +inform against me! Of course I have no proof of it, but I have not the +least doubt that it was he. If we ever meet again, Mr. Jackson, I will +have it out with you." + +"You got two pistols, sah," Dan said presently. "How you get dem?" + +"The lady of the house gave them to me, Dan; they are one for you and +one for me." + +"Dis chile no want him, sah; not know what to do wid him. Go off and +shoot myself, for sure." + +"Well, I don't suppose you would do much good with it, Dan. As I am a +good shot, perhaps I had better keep them both. You might load them for +me as I fire them." + +"Bery well, sah: you show me how to load, me load." + +Vincent showed Dan how to extricate the discharged cartridge cases and +to put in fresh ones, and after a quarter of an hour's practice Dan was +able to do this with some speed. + +"When we going on, sah?" he said as, having learned the lesson, he +handed the pistol back to Vincent. + +"We are not going on until the evening, Dan. When it gets dark the lady +is going to take us to a place where there is a boat hidden, and we +shall then be able to cross the river." + +"Den I will hab a sleep, sah. Noting like sleeping when there is a +chance." + +"I believe you could sleep three-quarters of your time, Dan. However, +you may as well sleep now if you can, for there will be nothing to do +till night." + +Vincent went back to the edge of the wood, and sat down where he could +command a view of the cottage. The country was for the most part covered +with wood, for it was but thinly inhabited except in the neighborhood of +the main roads. Few of the farmers had cleared more than half their +ground; many only a few acres. The patch, in which the house with its +little clump of trees stood nearly in the center, was of some forty or +fifty acres in extent, and though now rank with weeds, had evidently +been carefully cultivated, for all the stumps had been removed, and the +fence round it was of a stronger and neater character than that which +most of the cultivators deemed sufficient. + +Presently he heard the sound of horses' feet in the forest behind him, +and he made his way back to a road which ran along a hundred yards from +the edge of the wood. He reached it before the horseman came up, and lay +down in the underwood a few yards back. In a short time two horsemen +came along at a walking pace. + +"I call this a fool's errand altogether," one of them said in a +grumbling tone. "We don't know that they have headed this way; and if +they have, we might search these woods for a month without finding +them." + +"That's so," the other said; "but Mullens has set his heart on it, and +we must try for another day or two. My idea is that when the fellow +heard what sort of a chap Mullens was, he took the train back that night +and went up North again." + +Vincent heard no more, but it was enough to show him that a sharp hunt +was being kept up for him; and although he had no fear of being caught +in the woods, he was well pleased at the thought that he would soon be +across the water and beyond the reach of his enemy. He went back again +to the edge of the clearing and resumed his watch. It was just getting +dusk, and he was about to join Dan when he saw a party of twelve men +ride out from the other side of the wood and make toward the house. +Filled with a vague alarm that possibly someone might have caught sight +of him and his follower on the previous day, and might, on being +questioned by the searchers, have given them a clew as to the direction +in which they were going, Vincent hurried to the spot where he left Dan. +The negro jumped up as he approached. + +"Me awake long time, sah. Began to wonder where you had got to." + +"Take your stick and come along, Dan, as fast as you can." + +Without another word Vincent led the way along the edge of the wood to +the point where the clump of trees at the back of the house hid it from +his view. + +"Now, Dan, stoop low and get across to those trees." + +Greatly astonished at what was happening, but having implicit faith in +his master, Dan followed without a question. + +It was but ten minutes since Vincent had seen the horsemen, but the +darkness had closed in rapidly, and he had little fear of his approach +being seen. He made his way through the trees, and crept up to the +house, and then kept close along it until he reached the front. There +stood the horses with the bridles thrown over their necks. The riders +were all inside the house. + +"Look here, Dan," he whispered, "you keep here perfectly quiet until I +join you again or you hear a pistol shot. If you do hear a shot, rush at +the horses with your stick and drive them off at full gallop. Drive them +right into the woods if you can, and then lie quiet till you hear me +whistle for you. If you don't hear my whistle you will know something +has happened to me, and then you must make your way home as well as +can." + +"Oh, Master Vincent!" Dan began; but Vincent stopped him. + +"It's no use talking, Dan; you must do as I order you. I hope all will +be well; but it must be done, anyhow." + +"Let me come and load your pistol and fight with you, sah." + +"You can do more good stampeding the horses, Dan. Perhaps, after all, +there will be no trouble." + +So saying, leaving Dan with the tears running down his cheeks, Vincent +went to the back of the house and tried the door there. It was fastened. +Then he went to the other side; and here the light streaming through the +window, which was open, and the sound of loud voices, showed him the +room where the party were. He crept cautiously up and looked in. Mullens +was standing facing Lucy Kingston; the rest of the men were standing +behind him. The girl was as pale as death, but was quiet and composed. + +"Now," Mullens said, "I ask you for the last time. You have admitted +that a man has been here to-day and that you gave him food. You say he +is not in the house; and as we have searched it pretty thoroughly, we +know that's right enough. You say you don't know where he is, and that +may be true enough in a sense; but I have asked you whether he is coming +back again, and you won't answer me. I just give you three seconds;" and +he held out his arm with a pistol in it. "One!" As the word "Two" left +his lips, a pistol cracked and Mullens fell back with a bullet in his +forehead. + +At the same time Vincent shouted at the top of his voice, "Come on, +boys; wipe 'em out altogether! Don't let one of them escape!" As he +spoke he discharged his pistol rapidly into the midst of the men, who +were for the moment too taken by surprise to move, and every shot took +effect upon them. At the same moment there was a great shouting outside, +and the trampling of horses' feet. One or two of the men hastily +returned Vincent's fire, but the rest made a violent rush to the door. +Several fell over the bodies of their comrades, and Vincent had emptied +one of his revolvers and fired three shots with the second before the +last of those able to escape did so. Five bodies remained on the floor. +As they were still seven to one against him, Vincent ran to the corner +of the house, prepared to shoot them as they came round; but the +ruffians were too scared to think of anything but escape, and they could +be heard running and shouting across the fields. + +Vincent ran into the house. He had seen Lucy Kingston fall prostrate at +the same instant as the ruffian facing her. Strung up to the highest +tension, and expecting in another second to be shot, the crack of +Vincent's pistol had brought her down as surely as the bullet of Mullens +would have done. Even in the excitement of firing, Vincent felt thankful +when he saw her fall, and knew that she was safe from the bullets +flying about. When he entered the room he found the old negress lying +beside her, and thought at first that she had fallen in the fray. He +found that she was not only alive, but unhurt, having, the instant she +saw her young mistress fall, thrown herself upon her to protect her from +harm. + +"Am dey all gone, sah?" she asked, as Vincent somewhat roughly pulled +her off the girl's body. + +"They have all gone, Chloe; but I do not know how soon they may be back +again. Get your mistress round as soon as you can. I am sure that she +has only fainted, for she fell the instant I fired, before another +pistol had gone off." + +Leaving the old woman to bring Miss Kingston round, he reloaded his +pistols and went to the door. In a few minutes the sound of horses +galloping was heard. + +"Halt, or I fire!" he shouted. + +"Don't shoot, sah! don't shoot! it am me!" and Dan rode up, holding a +second horse by the bridle. "I thought I might as well get two ob dem, +so I jump on de back ob one and get hold ob anoder bridle while I was +waiting to hear your pistol fire. Den de moment I heard dat, I set de +oders off, and chased dem to de corner where de gate was where dey came +in at, and along de road for half a mile; dey so frightened dey not stop +for a long time to come. Den I turn into de wood and went through de +trees, so as not to meet dem fellows, and lifted two of de bars of the +fence, and here am I. You are not hurt, massa?" + +"My left arm is broken, I think, Dan; but that is of no consequence. I +have shot five of these fellows--their leader among them--and I expect +three of the others have got a bullet somewhere or other in them. There +was such a crowd round the door that I don't think one shot missed. It +was well I thought of stampeding the horses; that gave them a greater +fright than my pistols. No doubt they thought that there was a party of +our bushwhackers upon them. Now, Dan, you keep watch, and let me know +if you see any signs of their returning. I think they are too shaken up +to want any more fighting; but as there are seven of them, and they may +guess there are only two or three of us, it is possible they may try +again." + +"Me don't tink dey try any more, sah. Anyhow, I look out sharp." So +saying, Dan, fastening up one of the horses, rode the other in a circle +round and round the house and little plantation, so that it would not be +possible for anyone to cross the clearing without being seen. Vincent +returned to the house, and found Miss Kingston just recovering +consciousness. She sat upon the ground in a confused way. + +"What has happened, nurse?" + +"Never mind at present, deary. Juss you keep yourself quiet, and drink a +little water." + +The girl mechanically obeyed. The minute she put down the glass her eye +fell upon Vincent, who was standing near the door. + +"Oh, I remember now!" she said, starting up. "Those men were here, and +they were going to shoot me. One--two--and then he fired, and it seemed +that I fell dead. Am I not wounded?" + +"He never fired at all, Miss Kingston; he will never fire again. I shot +him as he said 'two,' and no doubt the shock of the sudden shot caused +you to faint dead away. You fell the same instant that he did." + +"But where are the others?" the girl said with a shudder. "How imprudent +of you to come here! I hoped you had seen them coming toward the house." + +"I did see them, Miss Kingston, and that was the reason I came. I was +afraid they might try rough measures to learn from you where I was +hidden. I arrived at the window just as the scoundrel was pointing his +pistol toward you, and then there was no time to give myself up, and I +had nothing to do for it but to put a bullet through his head in order +to save you. Then I opened fire upon the rest, and my boy drove off +their horses. They were seized with a panic and bolted, thinking they +were surrounded. Of course I kept up my fire, and there are four of them +in the next room besides their captain. And now, if you please, I will +get you, in the first place, to bind my arm tightly across my chest, for +one of their bullets hit me in the left shoulder, and has, I fancy, +broken it." + +The girl gave an exclamation of dismay. + +"Do not be alarmed, Miss Kingston; a broken shoulder is not a serious +matter, only I would rather it had not happened just at the present +moment; there are more important affairs in hand. The question is, What +is to become of you? It is quite impossible that you should stay here +after what has happened. Those scoundrels are sure to come back again." + +"What am I to do, Chloe?" the girl asked in perplexity. "I am sure we +cannot stay here. We must find our way through the woods to Nashville, +and I must try and get something to do there." + +"There is another way, Miss Kingston, if you like to try it," Vincent +said. "Of course it would be toilsome and unpleasant, but I do not think +it would be dangerous, for even if we got caught there would be no fear +of your receiving any injury from the Federal troops. My proposal is +that you and Chloe should go with us. If we get safely through the +Federal lines I will escort you to Georgia and place you with your +friends there." + +The girl looked doubtful for a moment, and then she shook her head. + +"I could not think of that, sir. It would be difficult enough for you to +get through the enemy by yourselves. It would add terribly to your +danger to have us with you." + +"I do not think so," Vincent replied. "Two men would be sure to be +questioned and suspected, but a party like ours would be far less likely +to excite suspicion. Every foot we get south we shall find ourselves +more and more among people who are friendly to us, and although they +might be afraid to give shelter to men, they would not refuse to take +women in. I really think, Miss Kingston, that this plan is the best. In +the first place, it would be a dangerous journey for you through the +woods to Nashville, and if you fall into the hands of any of those +ruffians who have been here you may expect no mercy. At Nashville you +will have great difficulty in obtaining employment of any kind, and even +suppose you went further north your position as a friendless girl would +be a most painful one. As to your staying here, that is plainly out of +the question. I think that there is no time to lose in making a +decision. Those fellows may go to the camp at the bridge, give their +account of the affair, declare that they have been attacked by a party +of Confederate sympathizers, and return here with a troop of horse." + +"What do you say, Chloe?" Lucy asked. + +"I'se ready to go wid you whereber you like, Miss Lucy; but I do tink +dat, in times like dis, dat a young gal is best wid her own folk. It may +be hard work getting across, but as to danger dar can't be much more +danger than dar has been in stopping along here, so it seems to me best +to do as dis young officer says." + +"Very well, then, I will, sir. We will go under your protection, and +will give you as little trouble as we can. We will be ready in five +minutes. Now, Chloe, let us put a few things together. The fewer the +better. Just a small bundle which we can carry in our hands." + +In a few minutes they returned to the room, Chloe carrying a large +basket, and looking somewhat ruffled. + +"Chloe is a little upset," the girl said, smiling, "because I won't put +my best clothes on; and the leaving her Sunday gown behind is a sore +trouble to her." + +"No wonder, sah," Chloe said. "Why, dey say dat thar am no pretty +dresses in de 'Federacy, and dat blue gown wid red spots is just as good +as new, and it am downright awful to tink dat dose fellows will come +back and take it." + +"Never mind, Chloe," Vincent said, smiling. "No doubt we are short of +pretty dresses in the South, but I dare say we shall be able to find you +something that will be almost as good. But we must not stand talking. +You are sure you have got everything of value, Miss Kingston?" + +"I have got my purse," she said, "and Chloe has got some food. I don't +think there is anything else worth taking in the house." + +"Very well, we will be off," Vincent said, leading the way to the door. + +A minute later Dan rode past, and Vincent called him and told him they +were going to start. + +"Shall we take de horses, sah?" + +"No, Dan. We are going to carry out our original plan of crossing the +river in a boat, and I think the horses would be rather in our way than +not. But you had better not leave them here. Take them to the farther +side of the clearing, and get them through the fence into the forest, +then strike across as quickly as you can and join us where we were +stopping to-day. Miss Kingston and her servant are going with us. They +cannot stay here after what has taken place." + +Dan at once rode off with the two horses, and the others walked across +to the edge of the clearing and waited until he rejoined them. + +"Now, Miss Kingston, you must be our guide at present." + +"We must cross the road, first," the girl said. "Nearly opposite to +where we are there is a little path through the wood, leading straight +down to the river. The boat lies only a short distance from it." + +The path was a narrow one, and it was very dark under the trees. + +"Mind how you go," Vincent said, as the girl stepped lightly on ahead. +"You might get a heavy fall if you caught your foot in a root." + +She instantly moderated her pace. "I know the path well, but it was +thoughtless of me to walk so fast. I forgot you did not know it, and if +you were to stumble you might hurt your arm terribly. How does it feel +now?" + +"It certainly hurts a bit," Vincent replied in a cheerful tone; "but now +it is strapped tightly to me it cannot move much. Please do not worry +about me." + +"Ah!" she said, "I cannot forget how you got it--how you attacked twelve +men to save me!" + +"Still less can I forget, Miss Kingston, how you, a young girl, +confronted death rather than say a word that would place me in their +power." + +"That was quite different, Mr. Wingfield. My own honor was pledged not +to betray you, who had trusted me." + +"Well, we will cry quits for the present, Miss Kingston; or, rather, we +will be content to remain for the present in each other's debt." + +A quarter of an hour's walking brought them to the river. + +"Now," Lucy said, "we must make our way about ten yards through these +bushes to the right." + +With some difficulty they passed through the thick screen of bushes, the +girl still leading the way. + +"Here it is," she said; "I have my hand upon it." Vincent was soon +beside her, and the negress quickly joined them. + +"There are no oars in the boat," Vincent said, feeling along the seat. + +"Oh, I forgot! They are stowed away behind the bushes on the right; they +were taken out, so that if the Yankees found the boat it would be of no +use to them." + +Dan made his way through the bushes, and soon found the oars. Then, +uniting their strength, they pushed the boat through the high rushes +that screened it from the river. + +"It is afloat," Vincent said. "Now, Dan, take your place in the bow." + +"I will row, Mr. Wingfield. I am a very good hand at it. So please take +your seat with Chloe in the stern." + +"Dan can take one oar, anyhow," Vincent replied; "but I will let you row +instead of me. I am afraid I should make a poor hand of it with only one +arm." + +The boat pushed quietly out. The river was about a hundred yards wide at +this point. They had taken but a few strokes when Vincent said: + +"You must row hard, Miss Kingston, or we shall have to swim for it. The +water is coming through the seams fast." + +The girl and Dan exerted themselves to the utmost; but, short as was the +passage, the boat was full almost to the gunwale before they reached the +opposite bank, the heat of the sun having caused the planks to open +during the months it had been lying ashore. + +"This is a wet beginning," Lucy Kingston said, laughing, as she tried to +wring the water out of the lower part of her dress. "Here, Chloe; you +wring me and I will wring you." + +"Now, Dan, get hold of that head-rope," Vincent said; "haul her up +little by little as the water runs out over the stern." + +"I should not trouble about the boat, Mr. Wingfield; it is not likely we +shall ever want it again." + +"I was not thinking of the boat; I was thinking of ourselves. If it +should happen to be noticed at the next bridge as it drifted down, it +would at once suggest to anyone on the lookout for us that we had +crossed the river; whereas, if we get it among the bushes here, they +will believe that we are hidden in the woods or have headed back to the +North; and we shall be a long way across the line, I hope, before they +give up searching for us in the woods on the other side." + +"Yes; I didn't think of that. We will help you with the rope." + +The boat was very heavy, now that it was full of water. Inch by inch it +was pulled up, until the water was all out except near the stern. Dan +and Vincent then turned it bottom upward, and it was soon hauled up +among the bushes. + +"Now, Miss Kingston, which do you think is our best course? I know +nothing whatever of the geography here." + +"The next town is Mount Pleasant; that is where the Williamsport road +passes the railway. If we keep south we shall strike the railway, and +that will take us to Mount Pleasant. After that the road goes on to +Florence on the Tennessee River. The only place that I know of on the +road is Lawrenceburg. That is about forty miles from here, and I have +heard that the Yankees are on the line from there right and left. I +believe our troops are at Florence; but I am not sure about that, +because both parties are constantly shifting their position, and I hear +very little, as you may suppose, of what is being done. Anyhow, I think +we cannot do better than go on until we strike the railway, keep along +by that till we get within a short distance of Mount Pleasant, and then +cross it. After that we can decide whether we will travel by the road or +keep on through the woods. But we cannot find our way through the woods +at night; we should lose ourselves before we had gone twenty yards." + +"I am afraid we should, Miss Kingston." + +"Please call me Lucy," the girl interrupted. "I am never called anything +else, and I am sure this is not a time for ceremony." + +"I think that it will be better; and will you please call me Vincent? It +is much shorter and pleasanter using our first names; and as we must +pass for brother and sister, if we get among the Yankees, it is better +to get accustomed to it. I quite agree with you that it will be too dark +to find our way through the woods unless we can discover a path. Dan and +I will see if we can find one. If we can, I think it will be better to +go on a little way at any rate, so as to get our feet warm and let our +clothes dry a little." + +"They will not dry to-night," Lucy said. "It is so damp in the woods +that even if our clothes were dry now they would be wet before morning." + +"I did not think of that. Yes, in that case I do not see that we should +gain anything by going farther; we will push on for two or three hundred +yards, if we can, and then we can light a fire without there being any +chance of its being seen from the other side." + +"That would be comfortable, Mr.--I mean Vincent," the girl agreed. "That +is, if you are quite sure that it would be safe. I would rather be wet +all night than that we should run any risks." + +"I am sure if we can get a couple of hundred yards into this thick wood +the fire would not be seen through it," Vincent said; "of course I do +not mean to make a great bonfire which would light up the forest." + +For half an hour they forced their way through the bushes, and then +Vincent said he was sure that they had come far enough. Finding a small +open space, Dan and Lucy, and the negress set to work collecting leaves +and dry sticks. Vincent had still in his pocket the newspaper he had +bought in the streets of Nashville, and he always carried lights. A +piece of the paper was crumpled up and lighted, a few of the driest +leaves that they could find dropped upon it, then a few twigs, until at +last a good fire was burning. + +"I think that is enough for the present," Vincent said. "Now we will +keep on adding wood as fast as it burns down, so as to get a great pile +of embers, and keep two or three good big logs burning all night." + +He then gave directions to Dan, who cut a long stick and fastened it to +two saplings, one of which grew just in front of the fire. Then he set +to work and cut off branches, and laid them sloping against it, and soon +had an arbor constructed of sufficient thickness to keep off the night +dews. + +"I think you will be snug in there," Vincent said when he had finished, +"The heat of the fire will keep you dry and warm, and if you lie with +your heads the other way I think your things will be dry by the morning. +Dan and I will lie down by the other side of the fire. We are both +accustomed to sleep in the open air and have done so for months." + +"Thank you very much," she said. "Our things are drying already, and I +am as warm as toast; but, indeed you need not trouble about us. We +brought these warm shawls with us on purpose for night work in the +forest. Now, I think we will try the contents of the basket Dan has been +carrying." + +The basket, which was a good-sized one, was opened. Chloe had, before +starting, put all the provisions in the house into it, and it contained +three loaves, five or six pounds of bacon, a canister of tea, +loaf-sugar, a small kettle, and two pint mugs, besides a number of odds +and ends. The kettle Dan had, by Chloe's direction, filled with water +before leaving the river, and this was soon placed among the glowing +embers. + +"But you have brought no teapot, Chloe!" + +"Dar was not no room for it, Miss Lucy. We can make tea bery well in de +kettle." + +"So we can. I forgot that. We shall do capitally." + +The kettle was not long in boiling. Chloe produced some spoons and +knives and forks from the basket. + +"Spoons and forks are luxuries, Chloe," Vincent said, laughing. "We +could have managed without them." + +"Yes, sah; but me not going to leave massa's silver for dose villains to +find." + +Lucy laughed. "At any rate, Chloe, we can turn the silver into money if +we run short. Now the kettle is boiling." + +It was taken off the fire, and Lucy poured some tea into it from the +canister, and then proceeded to cut up the bread. A number of slices of +bacon had already been cut-off, and a stick thrust through them, and +Dan, who was squatted at the other side of the fire holding it over the +flames, now pronounced them to be ready. The bread served as plates, and +the party were soon engaged upon their meal, laughing and talking over +it as if it had been an ordinary picnic in the woods, though at times +Vincent's face contracted from the sharp twitching of pain in his +shoulder. Vincent and Lucy first drank their tea, and the mugs were then +handed to Dan and Chloe. + +"This is great fun," Lucy said, "If it goes on like it all through our +journey, we shall have no need to grumble. Shall we, Chloe?" + +"If you don't grumble, Miss Lucy, you may be quite sure dat Chloe will +not. But we hab not begun our journey at present; and I spec dat we +shall find it pretty hard work before we get to de end. But neber mind +dat; anyting is better dan being all by ourselves in dat house. Terrible +sponsibility dat!" + +"It was lonely," the girl said, "and I am glad we are away from it, +whatever happens. What a day this has been! Who could have dreamed, when +I got up in the morning, that all this would take place before night? It +seems almost like a dream, and I can hardly believe"--and here she +stopped with a little shiver as she thought of the scene she had passed +through with the band of bushwhackers. + +"I would not think anything at all about it," Vincent said. "And now I +should recommend your getting to sleep as soon as you can. We will be +off at daybreak and it is just twelve o'clock now." + +Five minutes later Lucy and her old nurse were snugly ensconced in their +little bower, while Vincent and Dan stretched themselves at full length +on the other side of the fire. In spite of the pain in his shoulder +Vincent dozed off occasionally, but he was heartily glad when he saw the +first gleam of light in the sky. He woke Dan. + +"Dan, take the kettle down to the river and fill it. We had better have +some breakfast before we make our start. If you can't find your way +back, whistle, and I will answer you." + +Dan, however, had no occasion to give the signal. It took him little +more than five minutes to traverse the distance that had occupied them +half an hour in the thick darkness, and Vincent was surprised when he +appeared again with the kettle. Not until it was boiling, and the bacon +was ready, did Vincent raise his voice and call Lucy and the nurse. + +"This is reversing the order of things altogether," the girl said as +she came out and saw breakfast already prepared. "I shall not allow it +another time, I can tell you." + +"We are old campaigners, you see," Vincent said, "and accustomed to +early movements. Now please let us waste no time, as the sooner we are +off the better." + +In a quarter of an hour breakfast was eaten and the basket packed, and +they were on their way. Now the bright, glowing light in the east was +sufficient guide to them as to the direction they should take, and +setting their face to the south they started through the forest. Soon +they came upon a little stream running through the wood, and here +Vincent suggested that Lucy might like to bathe her face, a suggestion +which was gratefully accepted. He and Dan went a short distance down the +streamlet, and Vincent bathed his face and head. + +"Dan, I will get you to undo this bandage and get off my coat; then I +will make a pad of my handkerchief and dip it in the water and you can +lay it on my shoulder, and then help me on again with my coat. My arm is +getting horribly painful." + +Vincent's right arm was accordingly drawn through the sleeve and the +coat turned down so as to enable Dan to lay the wet pad on the shoulder. + +"It has not bled much," Vincent said, looking down at it. + +"No, sah; not much blood on de shirt." + +"Pull the coat down as far as the elbow, Dan, and bathe it for a bit." + +Using his cap as a baler, Dan bathed the arm for ten minutes, then the +wet pad was placed in position, and with some difficulty the coat got on +again. The arm was then bandaged across the chest, and they returned to +the women, who were beginning to wonder at the delay. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +LAID UP. + + +"You must see a surgeon, whatever the risk," Lucy said when the others +joined them, for now that it was light she could see by the paleness of +Vincent's face, and the drawn expression of the mouth, how much he had +suffered. + +"You have made so light of your wound that we have not thought of it +half as much as we ought to do, and you must have thought me terribly +heartless to be laughing and talking when you were in such pain. But it +will never do to go on like this; it is quite impossible for you to be +traveling so far without having your shoulder properly attended to." + +"I should certainly be glad to have it looked to," Vincent replied. "I +don't know whether the bullet's there or if it has made its way out, and +if that could be seen to, and some splints or something of that sort put +on to keep things in their right place, no doubt I should be easier; but +I don't see how it is to be managed. At any rate, for the present we +must go on, and I would much rather that you said nothing about it. +There it is, and fretting over it won't do it any good, while if you +talk of other things I may forget it sometimes." + +In two hours they came upon the railway, whose course lay diagonally +across that they were taking. They followed it until they caught sight +of the houses of Mount Pleasant, some two miles away, and then crossed +it. After walking some distance farther they came upon a small clearing +with a log-hut, containing apparently three or four rooms, in the +center. + +"We had better skirt round this," Vincent suggested. + +"No," Lucy said in a determined voice, "I have made up my mind I would +go to the first place we came to and see whether anything can be done +for you. I can see you are in such pain you can hardly walk, and it +will be quite impossible for you to go much further. They are sure to be +Confederates at heart here, and even if they will not take us in, there +is no fear of their betraying us; at any rate we must risk it." + +Vincent began to remonstrate, but without paying any attention to him +the girl left the shelter of the trees and walked straight toward the +house. The others followed her. Vincent had opposed her suggestion, but +he had for some time acknowledged to himself that he could not go much +further. He had been trying to think what had best be done, and had +concluded that it would be safest to arrange with some farmer to board +Lucy and her nurse for a time, while he himself with Dan went a bit +farther; and then, if they could get no one to take them in, would camp +up in the woods and rest. He decided that in a day or two, if no +improvement took place in his wound, he would give himself up to the +Federals at Mount Pleasant, as he would there be able to get his wound +attended to. + +"I don't think there is anyone in the house," Lucy said, looking back +over her shoulder; "there is no smoke coming from the chimney, and the +shutters are closed, and besides the whole place looks neglected." + +Upon reaching the door of the house it was evident that it had been +deserted. Lucy had now assumed the command. + +"Dan," she said, "there is no shutter to the window of that upper room. +You must manage to climb up there and get in at that window, and then +open the door to us." + +"All right, missie, me manage dat," Dan said cheerfully. Looking about +he soon found a long pole which would answer his purpose, placed the end +of this against the window and climbed up. It was not more than twelve +feet above the ground. He broke one of the windows, and inserting his +hand undid the fastening and climbed in at the window. A minute later +they heard a grating sound, and then the lock shut back under the +application of his knife, and the door swung open. + +"That will do nicely," Lucy said, entering. "We will take possession. +If the owners happen to come back we can pay them for the use of the +place." + +The furniture had been removed with the exception of a few of the heavy +articles, and Chloe and Lucy at once set to work, and with bunches of +long grass swept out one of the rooms. Dan cut a quantity of grass and +piled it upon an old bedstead that stood in the corner, and Lucy +smoothed it down. + +"Now, sir," she said peremptorily to Vincent, "you will lie down and +keep yourself quiet, but first of all I will cut your coat off." + +One of the table-knives soon effected the work, and the coat was rolled +up as a pillow. Dan removed his boots, and Vincent, who was now beyond +even remonstrating, laid himself down on his cool bed. + +"Now, Chloe," Miss Kingston said when they had left Vincent's room, "I +will leave him to your care. I am sure that you must be thoroughly +tired, for I don't suppose you have walked so many miles since you were +a girl." + +"I is tired, missie: but I am ready to do anything you want." + +"I only want you to attend to him, Chloe. First of all you had better +make some tea. You know what is a good thing to give for a fever, and if +you can find anything in the garden to make a drink of that sort, do; +but I hope he will doze off for some time. When you have done, you had +better get this place tidy a little; it is in a terrible litter. +Evidently no one has been in since they moved out." + +The room, indeed, was strewed with litter of all sorts, rubbish not +worth taking away, old newspapers, and odds and ends of every +description. Lucy looked about among these for some time, and with an +exclamation of satisfaction at last picked up two crumpled envelopes. +They were both addressed "William Jenkins, Woodford, near Mount +Pleasant." + +"That is just what I wanted," she said. + +"What am you going to do, Miss Lucy?" + +"I am going to Mount Pleasant," she said. + +"Lor a marcy, dearie, you are not going to walk that distance! You must +have walked twelve miles already." + +"I should, if it were twice as far, Chloe. There are some things we must +get. Don't look alarmed, I shall take Dan with me. Now, let me see. In +the first place there are lemons for making drink and linseed for +poultices, some meat for making broth, and some flour, and other things +for ourselves; we may have to stay here for some time. Tell me just what +you want and I will get it." + +Chloe made out a list of necessaries. + +"I shan't be gone long," the girl said. "If he asks after me or Dan, +tell him we are looking about the place to see what is useful. Don't let +him know I have gone to Mount Pleasant, it might worry him." + +Dan at once agreed to accompany the girl to Mount Pleasant when he heard +that she was going to get things for his master. Looking about he found +an old basket and they started without delay by the one road from the +clearing which led, they had no doubt, to the town. It was about two +miles distant, and was really but a large village. A few Federal +soldiers from the camp hard by were lounging about the streets, but +these paid no attention to them. Lucy soon made her purchases, and then +went to the house that had been pointed out to her as being inhabited by +the doctor who attended to the needs of the people of Mount Pleasant and +the surrounding district. Fortunately he was at home. Lucy looked at him +closely as he entered the room and took his seat. He was a middle-aged +man with a shrewd face, and she at once felt that she might have +confidence in it. + +"Doctor," she said, "I want you to come out to see someone who is very +ill." + +"What is the matter with him? or is it him or her?" + +"It is--it's----" and Lucy hesitated, "a hurt he has got." + +"A wound, I suppose?" the doctor said quietly. "You may as well tell me +at once, as for me to find out when I get there; then I can take +whatever is required with me." + +"Yes, sir. It is a wound," Lucy said. "His shoulder is broken, I +believe, by a pistol bullet." + +"Umph!" the doctor said. "It might have been worse. Do not hesitate to +tell me all about it, young lady. I have had a vast number of cases on +hand since these troubles began. By the way, I do not know your face, +and I thought I knew everyone within fifteen miles around." + +"I come from the other side of the Duck River. But at present he is +lying at a place called Woodford, but two miles from here." + +"Oh, yes! I know it. But I thought it was empty. Let me see, a man named +Jenkins lived there. He was killed at the beginning of the troubles in a +fight near Murfreesboro. His widow moved in here; and she has married +again and gone five miles on the other side. I know she was trying to +sell the old place." + +"We have not purchased it, sir; we have just squatted there. My friend +was taken so bad that we could go no further. We were trying, doctor, to +make our way further south." + +"Your friend, whoever he is, did a very foolish thing to bring a young +lady like yourself on such a long journey. You are not a pair of runaway +lovers, are you?" + +"No, indeed," Lucy said, flushing scarlet; "we have no idea of such a +thing. I was living alone, and the house was attacked by bushwhackers, +the band of a villain named Mullens." + +"Oh! I saw all about that in the Nashville paper this morning. They were +attacked by a band of Confederate plunderers, it said." + +"They were attacked by one man," the girl replied. "They were on the +point of murdering me when he arrived. He shot Mullens and four of his +band and the rest made off, but he got this wound. And as I knew the +villains would return again and burn the house and kill me, I and my old +nurse determined to go southward to join my friends in Georgia." + +"Well, you can tell me more about it as we go," the doctor said. "I will +order my buggy round to the door, and drive you back. I will take my +instruments with me. It is no business of mine whether a sick man is a +Confederate or a Federal; all my business is to heal him." + +"Thank you very much, doctor. While the horse is being put in I will go +down and tell the negro boy with me to go straight on with a basket of +things I have been buying." + +"Where is he now?" the doctor asked. + +"I think he is sitting down outside the door, sir." + +"Then you needn't go down," the doctor said. "He can jump up behind and +go with us. He will get there all the quicker." + +In five minutes they were driving down the village, with Dan in the back +seat. On the way the doctor obtained from Lucy a more detailed account +of their adventures. + +"So he is one of those Confederate officers who broke prison at Elmira," +he said. "I saw yesterday that one of his companions was captured." + +"Was he, sir? How was that?" + +"It seems that he had made his way down to Washington, and was staying +at one of the hotels there as a Mr. James of Baltimore. As he was going +through the streets he was suddenly attacked by a negro, who assaulted +him with such fury that he would have killed him had he not been dragged +off by passers-by. The black would have been very roughly treated, but +he denounced the man he had attacked as one of the Confederate officers +who had escaped from the prison. It seems that the negro had been a +slave of his who had been barbarously treated, and finally succeeded in +making his escape and reaching England, after which he went to Canada; +and now that it is safe for an escaped slave to live in the Northern +States without fear of arrest or ill-treatment, he had come down to +Washington with the intention of engaging as a teamster with one of the +Northern armies, in the hope, when he made his way to Richmond, of being +able to gain some news of his wife, whom his master had sold before he +ran away from him." + +"It served the man right!" Lucy said indignantly. "It's a good thing +that the slaves should turn the table sometimes upon masters who +ill-treat them." + +"You don't think my patient would ill-treat his slaves?" the doctor +asked with a little smile. + +"I am sure he wouldn't," the girl said indignantly. "Why, the boy behind +you is one of his slaves, and I am sure he would give his life for his +master." + +Dan had overheard the doctor's story and now exclaimed: + +"No, sah. Massa Vincent de kindest ob masters. If all like him, de +slaves eberywhere contented and happy. What was de name of dat man, sah, +you was speaking of?" + +"His name was Jackson," the doctor answered. + +"I tought so," Dan exclaimed in excitement. "Massa never mentioned de +names ob de two officers who got out wid him, and it war too dark for me +to see their faces, but dat story made me tink it must be him. Bery bad +man dat; he libs close to us, and Massa Vincent one day pretty nigh kill +him because he beat dat bery man who has catched him now on de street ob +Washington. When dat man sell him wife Massa Vincent buy her so as to +prevent her falling into bad hands. She safe now wid his mother at de +Orangery--dat's the name of her plantation." + +"My patient must be quite an interesting fellow, young lady," the doctor +said, with a rather slight twinkle of his eye. "A very knight-errant! +But there is the house now; we shall soon see all about him." + +Taking with him the case of instruments and medicines he had brought, +the doctor entered Vincent's room. Lucy entered first; and although +surprised to see a stranger with her, Vincent saw by her face that there +was no cause for alarm. + +"I have brought you a doctor," she said. "You could not go on as you +were, you know. So Dan and I have been to fetch one." + +The doctor now advanced and took Vincent's hand. + +"Feverish," he said, looking at his cheeks, which were now flushed. "You +have been doing too much, I fancy. Now let us look at this wound of +yours. Has your servant got any warm water?" he asked Lucy. + +Lucy left the room, and returned in a minute with a kettleful of warm +water and a basin, which was among the purchases she had made at Mount +Pleasant. + +"That is right," the doctor said, taking it from her. "Now we will cut +open the shirt-sleeve. I think, young lady, you had better leave us, +unless you are accustomed to the sight of wounds." + +"I am not accustomed to them, sir; but as thousands of women have been +nursing the wounded in the hospitals, I suppose I can do so now." + +Taking a knife from the case, the doctor cut open the shirt from the +neck to the elbow. The shoulder was terribly swollen and inflamed, and a +little exclamation of pain broke from Lucy. + +"That is the effect of walking and inattention," the doctor said. "If I +could have taken him in hand within an hour of his being hit, the matter +would have been simple enough; but I cannot search for the ball, or in +fact do anything, till we have reduced the swelling. You must put warm +poultices on every half hour, and by to-morrow I hope the inflammation +will have subsided, and I can then see about the ball. It evidently is +somewhere there still, for there is no sign of its having made its exit +anywhere. In the meantime you must give him two tablespoonfuls of this +cooling draught every two hours, and to-night give him this sleeping +draught. I will be over to-morrow morning to see him. Do not be uneasy +about him; the wound itself is not serious, and when we have got rid of +the fever and inflammation I have no doubt we shall pull him round +before long." + +"I know the wound is nothing," Vincent said; "I have told Miss Kingston +so all along. It is nothing at all to one I got at the first battle of +Bull Run, where I had three ribs badly broken by a shell. I was laid up +a long time over that business. Now I hope in a week I shall be fit to +travel." + +The doctor shook his head. "Not as soon as that. Still we will hope it +will not be long. Now all you have to do is to lie quiet and not worry, +and to get to sleep as quick as you can. You must not let your patient +talk, Miss Kingston. It will be satisfactory to you, no doubt," he went +on, turning to Vincent, "to know that there is no fear whatever of your +being disturbed here. The road leads nowhere, and is entirely out of the +way of traffic. I should say you might be here six months without even a +chance of a visitor. Everyone knows the house is shut up, and as you +have no neighbor within half a mile no one is likely to call in. Even if +anyone did by accident come here you would be in no danger; we are all +one way of thinking about here." + +"Shall we make some broth for him?" Lucy asked after they had left the +room. + +"No; he had better take nothing whatever during the next twenty-four +hours except his medicine and cooling drinks. The great thing is to get +down the fever. We can soon build him up afterward." + +By nightfall the exertions of Dan, Lucy, and Chloe had made the house +tidy. Beds of rushes and grass had been made in the room upstairs for +the women, and Dan had no occasion for one for himself, as he was going +to stop up with his master. He, however, brought a bundle of rushes into +the kitchen, and when it became dark threw himself down upon them for a +few hours' sleep, Lucy and her old nurse taking their place in Vincent's +room and promising to rouse Dan at twelve o'clock. + +During the early part of the night Vincent was restless and uneasy, but +toward morning he became more quiet and dozed off, and had but just +awoke when the doctor drove up at ten o'clock. He found the inflammation +and swelling so much abated that he was able at once to probe for the +ball. Chloe was his assistant. Lucy felt that her nerves would not be +equal to it, and Dan's hand shook so that he could not hold the basin. +In a quarter of an hour, which seemed to Lucy to be an age, the doctor +came out of the room. + +"There is the bullet, Miss Kingston." + +"And is he much hurt, sir?" + +"It is a nasty wound," the doctor replied. "The collar-bone is badly +broken, and I fancy the head of the bone of the upper arm, to put it in +language you will understand, is fractured; but of that I cannot be +quite sure. I will examine it again to-morrow, and will then bandage it +in its proper position. At present I have only put a bandage round the +arm and body to prevent movement. I should bathe it occasionally with +warm water, and you can give him a little weak broth to-day. I think, on +the whole, he is doing very well. The feeling that you are all for the +present safe from detection has had as much to do with the abatement of +the fever as my medicine." + +The next morning the report was still satisfactory. The fever had almost +disappeared, and Vincent was in good spirits. The doctor applied the +splints to keep the shoulder up in its proper position, and then tightly +bandaged it. + +"It depends upon yourself now," he said, "whether your shoulders are +both of the same width as before or not. If you will lie quiet, and give +the broken bones time to reunite, I think I can promise you that you +will be as straight as before; but if not--putting aside the chances of +inflammation--that shoulder will be lower than the other, and you will +never get your full strength in it again. Quiet and patience are the +only medicines you require, and as there can be no particular hurry for +you to get south, and as your company here is pleasant and you have two +good nurses, there is no excuse for your not being quiet and contented." + +"Very well, doctor. I promise that, unless there is a risk of our being +discovered, I will be as patient as you can wish. As you say, I have +everything to make me contented and comfortable." + +The doctor had a chat with Lucy, and agreed with her that perhaps it +would be better to inform the mistress of the house that there were +strangers there. Some of the people living along the road might notice +him going or coming, or see Dan on his way to market, and might learn +that the house was inhabited, and communicate the fact to their old +neighbor. + +"I will see her myself, Miss Kingston, and tell her that I have sent a +patient of mine to take up his quarters here. I will say he is ready to +pay some small sum weekly as long as he occupies the house. I have no +doubt she would be willing enough to let you have it without that; for, +although I shall say nothing actually, I shall let her guess from my +manner that it is a wounded Confederate, and that will be enough for +her. Still I have no doubt that the idea of getting a few dollars for +the rent of an empty house will add to her patriotism. People of her +class are generally pretty close-fisted, and she will look upon this as +a little pocket-money. Good-by! I shall not call to-morrow, but will be +round next day again." + +On his next visit the doctor told Lucy that he had arranged the matter +with her landlady, and that she was to pay a dollar a week as rent. "I +should not tell your patient about this," he said. "It will look to him +as if I considered his stay was likely to be a long one, and it might +fidget him." + +"How long will it be, doctor, do you think?" + +"That I cannot say. If all goes well, he ought in a month to be fairly +cured; but before starting upon a journey which will tax his strength, I +should say at least six weeks." + +Ten days later Vincent was up, and able to get about. A pile of grass +had been heaped up by the door, so that he could sit down in the sun and +enjoy the air. Lucy was in high spirits, and flitted in and out of the +house, sometimes helping Chloe, at others talking to Vincent. + +"What are you laughing at?" she asked as she came out suddenly on one of +these occasions. + +"I was just thinking," he said, "that no stranger who dropped in upon us +would dream that we were not at home here. There is Dan tidying up the +garden; Chloe is quite at her ease in the kitchen, and you and I might +pass very well for brother and sister." + +"I don't see any likeness between us--not a bit." + +"No, there is no personal likeness; but I meant in age and that sort of +thing. I think, altogether, we have a very homelike look." + +"The illusion would be very quickly dispelled if your stranger put his +head inside the door. Did anyone ever see such a bare place?" + +"Anyhow, it's very comfortable," Vincent said, "though I grant that it +would be improved by a little furniture." + +"By a great deal of furniture, you mean. Why, there isn't a chair in the +house, nor a carpet, nor a curtain, nor a cupboard, nor a bed; in fact +all there is is the rough dresser in the kitchen and that plank table, +and your bedstead. I really think that's all. Chloe has the kettle and +two cooking-pots, and there is the dish and six plates we bought." + +"You bought, you mean," Vincent interrupted. + +"We bought, sir; this is a joint expedition. Then there is the basin and +a pail. I think that is the total of our belongings." + +"Well, you see, it shows how little one can be quite comfortable upon," +Vincent said. "I wonder how long it will be before the doctor gives me +leave to move. It is all very well for me who am accustomed to +campaigning, but it is awfully rough for you." + +"Don't you put your impatience down to my account, at any rate until you +begin to hear me grumble. It is just your own restlessness, when you +are pretending you are comfortable." + +"I can assure you that I am not restless, and that I am in no hurry at +all to be off on my own account. I am perfectly contented with +everything. I never thought I was lazy before, but I feel as if I could +do with a great deal of this sort of thing. You will see that you will +become impatient for a move before I do." + +"We shall see, sir. Anyhow, I am glad you have said that, because now, +whatever you may feel, you will keep your impatience to yourself." + +Another four weeks passed by smoothly and pleasantly. Dan went into the +village once a week to do the shopping, and the doctor had reduced his +visits to the same number. He would have come oftener, for his visits to +the lonely cottage amused him; but he feared that his frequent passage +in his buggy might attract notice. So far, no one else had broken the +solitude of their lives. If the doctor's calls had been noticed, the +neighbors had not taken the trouble to see who had settled in Jenkins' +old place. His visits were very welcome, for he brought newspapers and +books, the former being also purchased by Dan whenever he went into the +village, and thus they learnt the course of events outside. + +Since Antietam nothing had been done in Northern Virginia; but Burnside, +who had succeeded McClellan, was preparing another great army, which was +to march to Richmond and crush out the rebellion. Lee was standing on +the defensive. Along the whole line of the frontier, from New Orleans to +Tennessee, desultory fighting was going on, and in these conflicts the +Confederates had generally the worse of things, having there no generals +such as Lee, Jackson, and Longstreet, who had made the army of Virginia +almost invincible. + +At the last of these visits the doctor told Vincent that he considered +he was nearly sufficiently restored in health to be able to start on +their journey. + +"At one time I was almost afraid that your shoulder would never be quite +square again. However, as you can see for yourself, it has come out +quite right; and although I should not advise you to put any great +strain on your left arm, I believe that in a very short time it will be +as strong as the other." + +"And now, doctor, how much am I in debt to you? Your kindness cannot be +repaid, but your medical bill I will discharge as soon as I get home. We +have not more than twenty dollars left, which is little enough for the +journey there is before us. You can rely that the instant I get to +Richmond I will send you the money. There is no great difficulty in +smuggling letters across the frontier." + +"I am very pleased to have been able to be of service to you," the +doctor said. "I should not think of accepting payment for aid rendered +to an officer of our army; but it will give me real pleasure to receive +a letter saying you have reached home in safety. It is a duty to do all +we can for the brave men fighting for our cause. As I have told you, I +am not a very hot partisan, for I see faults on both sides. Still I +believe in the principle of our forefathers that each State has its own +government and is master of its own army, joining with the others for +such purposes as it may think fit. If I had been a fighting man, I +should certainly have joined the army of my State; but as it is, I hope +I can do more good by staying and giving such aid and comfort as I can +to my countrymen. You will, I am sure, excuse my saying that I think you +must let me aid you a little farther. I understand you to say that Miss +Kingston will go to friends in Georgia, and I suppose you will see her +safely there. Then you have a considerable journey to make to Richmond, +and the sum that you possess is utterly inadequate for all this. It will +give me real pleasure if you will accept the loan of a hundred dollars, +which you can repay when you write to me from Richmond. You will need +money for the sake of your companions rather than your own. When you +have once crossed the line you will then be able to appear in your +proper character." + +Vincent grasped the doctor's hand, and with suffused eyes replied: +"Thank you greatly, doctor. I will accept your offer as frankly as it +was made. I had intended telegraphing for money as soon as I was among +our own people, but there would be delay in receiving it, and it will be +much more pleasant to push on at once." + +"By the way, you cannot cross at Florence, for I hear that Hood has +fallen back across the river, the forces advancing against him from this +side being too strong to be resisted. But I think that this is no +disadvantage to you, for it would have been far more difficult to pass +the Federals and get to Florence than to make for some point on the +river as far as possible from the contending armies." + +"We talked that over the last time you were here, doctor, and you know +we agreed it was better to run the risk of falling into the hands of the +Yankee troops than into those of one of those partisan bands whose +exploits are always performed at a distance from the army. However, if +Hood has retreated across the Tennessee, there is an end of that plan, +and we must take some other route. Which do you advise?" + +"The Yankees will be strong all around the great bend of the river to +the west of Florence and along the line to the east, which would, of +course, be your direct way. The passage, however, is your real +difficulty, and I should say that, instead of going in that direction, +you had better bear nearly due south. There is a road from Mount +Pleasant that strikes into the main road from Columbia up to Camden. You +can cross the river at that point without any question or suspicion, as +you would be merely traveling to the west of the State. Once across you +could work directly south, crossing into the State of Mississippi, and +from there take the cars through Alabama to Georgia. + +"It seems a roundabout way, but I think you would find it far the +safest, for there are no armies operating upon that line. The +population, at any rate as you get south, are for us, and there are, so +far as I have heard, very few of these bushwhacking bands about, either +on one side or the other. The difficult part of the journey is that up +to Camden, but as you will be going away from the seat of war instead of +toward it, there will be little risk of being questioned." + +"I had thought of buying a horse and cart," Vincent said. "Jogging along +a road like that, we should attract no attention. I gave up the idea +because our funds were not sufficient, but, thanks to your kindness, we +might manage now to pick up something of the sort." + +The doctor was silent for a minute. + +"If you will send Dan over to me to-morrow afternoon, I will see what +can be done," he said. "It would certainly be the safest plan by far; +but I must think it over. You will not leave before that, will you?" + +"Certainly not, doctor. In any case we should have stayed another day to +get a few more things for our journey." + +The next afternoon Dan went over to Mount Pleasant. He was away two +hours longer than they had expected, and they began to feel quite uneasy +about him, when the sound of wheels was heard, and Dan appeared, driving +a cart. Vincent gave a shout of satisfaction in which Lucy and Chloe +joined. + +"Here am de cart. Me had to go five miles from de town to get him. Dat +what took me so long. Here am a letter, sah, from the doctor. First-rate +man dat. Good man all ober." + +The letter was as follows: + +"My Dear Mr. Wingfield: + +"I did not see how you would be able to buy a cart, and I was sure that +you could not obtain one with the funds in your possession. As, from +what you have said, I knew that you would not in the least mind the +expense, I have taken the matter upon myself, and have bought from your +landlady a cart and horse, which will, I think, suit you well. I have +paid for them a hundred and fifty dollars, which you can remit me, with +the hundred I handed you yesterday. Sincerely trusting that you may +succeed in carrying out your plans in safety, and with kind regards to +yourself and Miss Kingston, + +"I remain, yours truly, +"James Spencer." + + +"That is a noble fellow," Vincent said, "and I trust, for his sake as +well as our own, that we shall get safely through. Now, Lucy, I think +you had better go into town the first thing, and buy some clothes of +good homely fashion. Dan can go with you and buy a suit for me--those +fitted for a young farmer. Then we shall look like a young farmer and +his sister jogging comfortably along to market; we can stop and buy a +stock of goods at some farm on the way." + +"That will be capital," the girl said. + +Lucy started early the next morning for the town, and the shopping was +satisfactorily accomplished. They returned by eleven o'clock. The new +purchases were at once donned, and half an hour later they set off in +the cart: Vincent sitting on the side driving; Lucy in the corner facing +him, on a basket turned upside down; Dan and Chloe on a thick bag of +rushes in the bottom of the cart. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ACROSS THE BORDER. + + +Dan, on his return with the cart, had brought back a message from its +late owner to say that if she could in any way be of use to them, she +should be glad to aid them. Her farm lay on the road they were now +following, and they determined therefore to stop there. As the cart drew +up at the door the woman came out. + +"Glad to see you," she said; "come right in. It's strange now you should +have been lodging in my house for more than six weeks and I should never +have set eyes on you before. The doctor talked to me a heap about you, +but I didn't look to see quite such a young couple." + +Lucy colored hotly, and was about to explain that they did not stand in +the supposed relationship to each other, but Vincent slightly shook his +head. It was not worth while to undeceive the woman, and although they +had agreed to pass as brother and sister, Vincent was determined not to +tell an untruth about it unless deceit was absolutely necessary for +their safety. + +"And you want to get out of the way without questions being asked, I +understand?" the woman went on. "There are many such about at present. I +don't want to ask no questions; the war has brought trouble enough on +me. Now is there anything I can do? If so, say it right out." + +"Yes, there is something you can do for us. We want to fill up our cart +with the sort of stuff you take to market--apples and pumpkins, and +things of that sort. If we had gone to buy them anywhere else, there +might have been questions asked. From what the doctor said you can let +us have some." + +"I can do that. The storeroom's chuck-full; and it was only a few days +ago I said to David it was time we set about getting them off. I will +fill your cart, sir, and not overcharge you neither. It will save us the +trouble of taking it over to Columbia or Camden, for there's plenty of +garden truck round Mount Pleasant, and one cannot get enough to pay for +the trouble of taking them there." + +The cart was soon filled with apples, pumpkins, and other vegetables, +and the price put upon them was very moderate. + +"What ought we to ask for these?" Vincent soon inquired. "One does not +want to be extra cheap or dear." + +The woman informed them of the prices they might expect to get for the +produce; and they at once started, amid many warm good wishes from her. + +Before leaving the farm the woman had given them a letter to her sister, +who lived a mile from Camden. + +"It's always awkward stopping at a strange place," she said, "and +farmers don't often put up at hotels when they drive in with garden +truck to a town, though they may do sometimes; besides it's always nice +being with friends. I will just write a line to Jane and tell her you +have been my tenants at Woodford, and where you are going, and ask her +to take you in for the night and give you a note in the morning to +anyone she or her husband may know, a good bit along that road." + +When they reached the house it was dark, but, directly Vincent showed +the note, the farmer and his wife heartily bade them come in. + +"Your boy can put up the horse at the stable, and you are heartily +welcome. But the house is pretty full, and we can't make you as +comfortable as we should wish at night; but still we will do our best." + +Vincent and Lucy were soon seated by the fire. Their hostess bustled +about preparing supper for them, and the children, of whom the house +seemed full, stared shyly at the newcomers. As soon as the meal was over +Chloe's wants were attended to, and a lunch of bread and bacon taken out +by the farmer to Dan in the stables. The children were then packed off +to bed, and the farmer and his wife joined Vincent and Lucy by the fire. + +"As to sleeping," the woman said, "John and I have been talking it over, +and the best way we can see is that you should sleep with me, ma'am, and +we will make up a bed on the floor here for my husband and yours." + +"Thank you, that will do very nicely; though I don't like interfering +with your arrangements." + +"Not at all, ma'am--not at all; it makes a nice change having someone +come in, especially of late, when there is no more pleasure in going +about in this country, and people don't go out after dark more than they +can help. Ah, it's a bad time! My sister says you are going west, but I +see you have got your cart full of garden truck. How you have raised it +so soon, I don't know; for Liza wrote to me two months since as she +hadn't been able to sell her place, and it was just a wilderness. Are +you going to get rid of it at Camden to-morrow?" + +Vincent had already been assured as to the politics of his present host +and hostess, and he therefore did not hesitate to say: + +"The fact is, madam, we are anxious to get along without being +questioned by any Yankee troops we may fall in with; and we have bought +the things you see in the cart from your sister, as, going along with a +cart full, anyone we met would take us for farmers living close by, on +their road to the next market town." + +"Oh, oh! that's it!" the farmer said significantly. "Want to get through +the lines, eh?" + +Vincent nodded. + +"Didn't I think so!" the farmer said, rubbing his hands. "I thought +directly my eyes hit upon you that you did not look the cut of a +granger. Been fighting--eh? and they are after you?" + +"I don't think they are after me here," Vincent said. "But I have seen a +good deal of fighting with Jackson and Stuart; and I am just getting +over a collar bone, which was smashed by a Yankee bullet." + +"You don't say!" the farmer exclaimed. "Well, I should have gone out +myself, if it hadn't been for Jane and the children. But there are such +a lot of them that I could not bring myself to run the chances of +leaving them all on her hands. Still, I am with our army, heart and +soul." + +"Your wife's sister told me that you were on the right side," Vincent +said, "and that I could trust you altogether." + +"Now, if you tell me which road you want to go, I don't mind if I get on +my horse to-morrow and ride with you a stage, and see you put up for the +night. I know lots of people, and I am sure to be acquainted with +someone, whichever road we may go. We are pretty near all the right side +about here, though, as you get further on, there are lots of Northern +men. Now, what are your ideas as to the roads?" + +Vincent told him the route he intended to take. + +"You ought to get through there right enough," the farmer said. "There +are some Yankee troops moving about to the west of the river, but not +many of them; and even if you fell in with them, with your cargo of +stuff they would not suspect you. Anyhow, I expect we can get you passed +down so as to be among friends. So you fought under Jackson and Stuart, +did you? Ah, they have done well in Virginia! I only wish we had such +men here. What made you take those two darkies along with you? I should +have thought you would have got along better by yourself." + +"We couldn't very well leave them," Vincent said; "the boy has been with +me all through the wars, and is as true as steel. Old Chloe was Lucy's +nurse, and would have broken her heart had she been left behind." + +"They are faithful creatures when they are well treated. Mighty few of +them have run away all this time from their masters, though in the parts +the Yankees hold there is nothing to prevent their bolting if they have +a mind to it. I haven't got no niggers myself. I tried them, but they +want more looking after than they are worth; and I can make a shift with +my boys to help me, and hiring a hand in busy times to work the farm. +Now, sir, what do you think of the lookout?" + +The subject of the war fairly started, his host talked until midnight, +long before which Lucy and the farmer's wife had gone off to bed. + +"We will start as soon as it is light," the farmer said, as he and +Vincent stretched themselves upon a heap of straw covered with blankets +that was to serve as their bed, Chloe having hours before gone up to +share the bed of the negro girl who assisted the farmer's wife in her +management of the house and children. + +"It's best to get through Camden before people are about. There are +Yankee soldiers at the bridge, but it will be all right you driving in, +however early, to sell your stuff. Going out you aint likely to meet +with Yankees; but as it would look queer, you taking your garden truck +out of the town, it's just as well to be on the road before people are +about. Once you get five or six miles the other side you might be going +to the next place to sell your stuff." + +"That is just what I have been thinking," Vincent said, "and I agree +with you the earlier we get through Camden the better." + +Accordingly, as soon as daylight appeared, the horse was put in the +cart, the farmer mounting his own animal, and with a hearty good-by from +his wife the party started away. The Yankee sentinels at each end of the +bridge were passed without questions, for, early as it was, the carts +were coming in with farm produce. As yet the streets of the town were +almost deserted, and the farmer, who, before starting, had tossed a +tarpaulin into the back of the cart, said: + +"Now, pull that over all that stuff, and then anyone that meets us will +think that you are taking out bacon and groceries, and such like, for +some store way off." + +This suggestion was carried out, and Camden was soon left behind. A few +carts were met as they drove along. The farmer knew some of the drivers +and pulled up to say a few words to them. After a twenty-mile drive they +stopped at another farm, where their friend's introduction insured them +as cordial a welcome as that upon the preceding evening. So, step by +step, they journeyed on, escorted in almost every case by their host of +the night before, and meeting with no interruption. Once they passed a +strong body of Federal cavalry, but these, supposing that the party +belonged to the neighborhood, asked no questions; and at last, after +eight days' traveling, they passed two posts which marked the boundary +between Tennessee and Alabama. + +For the last two days they had been beyond the point to which the +Federal troops had penetrated. They now felt that all risk was at an +end. Another day's journey brought them to a railway station, and they +learned that the trains were running as usual, although somewhat +irregular as to the hours at which they came along or as to the time +they took upon their journey. The contents of the cart had been left at +the farm at which they stopped the night before, and Vincent had now no +difficulty in disposing of the horse and cart, as he did not stand out +for price, but took the first offer made. Two hours later a train came +along, and the party were soon on their way to Rome in Georgia; after +their arrival there they went to Macon, at which place they alighted and +hired a conveyance to take them to Antioch, near which place Lucy's +relatives resided. + +The latter part of the journey by rail had been a silent one. Lucy felt +none of the pleasure that she had expected at finding herself safely +through her dangers and upon the point of joining relations who would be +delighted to see her, and she sat looking blankly out of the window at +the surrounding country. At last Vincent, who had been half an hour +without speaking said: + +"Are you sorry our journey is just over, Lucy?" + +The girl's lip quivered, but she did not speak for a moment. "Of course +it is unpleasant saying good-by when people have been together for some +time," she said with an effort. + +"I hope it will not be good-by for long," he said. "I shall be back here +as soon as this horrible war is over." + +"What for?" the girl asked, looking round in surprise. "You live a long +way from here, and you told me you knew nobody in these parts." + +"I know you," Vincent said, "and that is quite enough. Do you not know +that I love you?" + +The girl gave a start of surprise, her cheek flushed but her eyes did +not drop as she looked frankly at him. + +"No, Vincent," she said after a pause, "I never once thought you loved +me--never once. You have not been a bit like what I thought people were +when they felt like that." + +"I hope not, Lucy. I was your protector then, I have tried my best to +be what people thought me--your brother; but now that you are just home +and among your own people, I think I may speak and tell you how I feel +toward you, and how I loved you since the moment I first saw you. And +you, Lucy, do you think you could care for me?" + +"Not more than I do now, Vincent. I love you with all my heart. I have +been trying so hard to believe that I didn't because I thought you did +not care for me that way." + +For some minutes no further word was spoken. Vincent was the first to +speak: + +"It is horrid to have to sit here in this stiff, unnatural way, Lucy, +when one is inclined to do something outrageous from sheer happiness. +These long, open cars, where people can see from end to end what +everyone is doing, are hateful inventions. It is perfectly absurd, when +one finds one's self the happiest fellow living, that one is obliged to +look as demure and solemn as if one was in church." + +"Then you should have waited, sir," the girl said. + +"I meant to have waited, Lucy, until I got to your home; but as soon as +I felt that there was no longer any harm in speaking, out it came; but +it's very hard to have to wait for hours, perhaps." + +"To wait for what?" Lucy asked demurely. + +"You must wait for explanations until we are alone, Lucy. And now I +think the train begins to slacken, and it is the next station at which +we get out." + +"I think, Lucy," Vincent said, when they had approached the house of her +relatives, "you and Chloe had better get out and go in by yourselves and +tell your story. Dan and I will go to the inn, and I will come round in +an hour. If we were to walk in together like this, it would be next to +impossible for you to explain how it all came about." + +"I think that would be the best plan. My two aunts are the kindest +creatures possible, but no doubt they will be bewildered at seeing me so +suddenly. I do think it would be best to let me have a talk with them, +and tell them all about it, before you appear upon the scene." + +"Very well, then, in an hour I will come in." + +When they arrived at the gate, therefore, Vincent helped Lucy and Chloe +to alight, and then, jumping into the buggy again, told the driver to +take him to the hotel. + +After engaging a room and enjoying a bath, Vincent sallied out into the +little town, and was fortunate enough to succeed in purchasing a suit of +tweed clothes, which, although they scarcely fitted as if they had been +made for him, were still an immense improvement upon the rough clothes +in which he had traveled. Returning to the hotel, he put on his new +purchases, and then walked to the house of Lucy's aunts, which was a +quarter of a mile outside the town. + +Lucy had walked up the little path through the garden in front of the +house, and turning the handle of the door, had entered unannounced and +walked straight into the parlor. The two elderly ladies rose with some +surprise at the entry of a strange visitor. It was three years since she +had paid her last visit there, and for a moment they did not recognize +her. + +"Don't you know me, aunts?" + +"Why, goodness me!" the eldest exclaimed, "if it isn't our little Lucy +grown into womanhood! My dear child, where have you sprung from?" And +the two ladies warmly embraced their niece, who, as soon as they +released her from their arms, burst into a fit of crying, and it was +some time before she could answer the questions showered upon her. + +"It is nothing, aunts," she said at last, wiping her eyes; "but I am so +glad to be with you again, and I have gone through so much, and I am so +happy, and it's so nice being with you again! Here is Chloe waiting to +speak to you, aunts. She has come with me all the way." + +The old negress, who had been waiting in the passage, was now called in. + +"Why, Chloe, you look no older than when you went away from here six +years ago," Miss Kingston said. "But how did you get through the lines? +We have been terribly anxious about you. Your brother was here only a +fortnight ago, and he and your father were in a great way about you, and +reproached themselves bitterly that they did not send you to us before +the troubles began, which certainly would have been a wiser step, as I +told them. Of course your brother said that, when they left you to join +the army, they had no idea that matters were going so far, or that the +Yankees would drive us out of Tennessee, or they would never have +dreamed of leaving you alone. However, here you are, so now tell me all +about it." + +Lucy told the story of the various visits of the Federal bushwhackers to +the house, and how she had narrowly escaped death for refusing to betray +the Confederate officer who had come to the house for food. Her recital +was frequently interrupted by exclamations of indignation and pity from +her aunts. + +"Well, aunts, after that," she went on, "you see it was impossible for +me to stop there any longer. No doubt they came back again a few hours +afterward and burned the house, and had I been found there, I should +have been sure to be burned in it, so Chloe agreed with me that there +was nothing to do but to try and get through the lines and come to you." + +"Quite right, my dear. It was clearly the best thing for you to come to +us--indeed, the only thing. But how in the world did you two manage to +travel alone all that distance and get through the Federal lines?" + +"You see, we were not alone, aunts," Lucy said; "the Confederate officer +and his servant were coming through and, of course, they took care of +us. We could never have got through alone, and as Chloe was with me, we +got on very nicely; but we have been a long time getting through, for in +the fight, where he saved my life and killed five of the band, he had +his shoulder broken by a pistol bullet, and we had to stop in a +farmhouse near Mount Pleasant, and he was very ill for some time, but +the doctor who attended him was a true Southerner, and so we were quite +safe till he was able to move again." + +"And who is this officer, Lucy?" Miss Kingston asked rather anxiously. + +"He is a Virginia gentleman, auntie. His mother has large estates near +Richmond. He was in the cavalry with Stuart, and was made prisoner while +he was lying wounded and insensible at Antietam; and I think, auntie, +that--that--" and she hesitated--"some day we are going to be married." + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" the old lady said kindly. "Well, I can't say +anything about that until I see him, Lucy. Now tell us the whole story, +and then we shall be better able to judge about it. I don't think, my +dear, that, while you were traveling under his protection, he ought to +have talked to you about such things." + +"He didn't, auntie; not until we were half a mile from the station here. +I never thought he cared for me the least bit; he was just like a +brother to me--just like what Jack would have been, if he had been +bringing me here." + +"That's right, my dear; I am glad to hear it. Now, let us hear all about +it." + +Lucy told the whole story of her escape and her adventures, and when she +had finished, her aunts nodded to each other. + +"That's all very satisfactory, Lucy. It was a difficult position to be +placed in, though I don't see how it was to be avoided, and the young +man really seems to have behaved very well. Don't you think so, Ada?" +The younger Miss Kingston agreed, and both were prepared to receive +Vincent with cordiality when he appeared. + +The hour had been considerably exceeded when Vincent came to the door. +He felt it rather an awkward moment when he was ushered into the +presence of Lucy's aunts, who could scarcely restrain an exclamation of +surprise at his youth, for, although Lucy had said nothing about his +age, they expected to meet an older man--the impression being gained +from the recital of his bravery in attacking, single-handed, twelve +men, and by the manner in which he had piloted the party through their +dangers. + +"We are very glad to see you--my sister Ada and myself," Miss Kingston +said, shaking hands cordially with their visitor. "Lucy has been telling +us all about you; but we certainly expected, from what you had gone +through, that you were older." + +"I am two or three years older than she is, Miss Kingston, and I have +gone through so much in the last three years that I feel older than I +am. She has told you, I hope, that she has been good enough to promise +to be my wife some day?" + +"Yes, she has told us that, Mr. Wingfield; and although we don't know +you personally, we feel sure--my sister Ada and I--from what she has +told us of your behavior while you have been together, that you are an +honorable gentleman, and we hope and believe that you will make her +happy." + +"I will do my best to do so," Vincent said earnestly. "As to my +circumstances, I shall, in another year, come into possession of estates +sufficient to keep her in every comfort." + +"I have no doubt that that is all satisfactory, Mr. Wingfield, and that +her father will give his hearty approval when he hears all the +circumstances of the case. Now, if you will go into the next room, Mr. +Wingfield, I will call her down"--for Lucy had run upstairs when she +heard Vincent knock. "I dare say you will like a quiet talk together," +she added, smiling, "for she tells me you have never been alone together +since you started." + +Lucy required several calls before she came down. A new shyness, such as +she had never before felt, had seized her, and it was with flushed +cheeks and timid steps that she at last came downstairs, and it needed +an encouraging--"Go in, you silly child, your lover will not eat you," +before she turned the handle and went into the room where Vincent was +expecting her. + +Vincent had telegraphed from the first station at which he arrived +within the limits of the Confederacy to his mother, announcing his safe +arrival there, and asking her to send money to him at Antioch. Her +letter in reply reached him three days after his arrival. It contained +notes for the amount he wrote for; and while expressing her own and his +sisters' delight at hearing he had safely reached the limits of the +Confederacy, she expressed not a little surprise at the out-of-the-way +place to which he had requested the money to be sent. + +"We have been examining the maps, my dear boy," she said, "and find that +it is seventy or eighty miles out of your direct course, and we have +puzzled ourselves in vain as to why you should have made your way there. +The girls guess that you have gone there to deliver in person some +message from one of your late fellow-prisoners to his family. I am not +good at guessing, and am content to wait until you return home. We hope +that you will leave as soon as you get the remittance. We shall count +the hours until we see you. Of course we learned from a Yankee paper +smuggled through the lines that you had escaped from prison, and have +been terribly anxious about you ever since. We are longing to hear your +adventures." + +A few hours after the receipt of this letter, Vincent was on his way +home. It was a long journey. The distance was considerable, and the +train service greatly disordered and unpunctual. When within a few hours +of Richmond he telegraphed, giving the approximate time at which he +might be expected to arrive. The train, however, did not reach Richmond +until some hours later. The carriage was waiting at the station, and the +negro coachman shouted with pleasure at the sight of his young master. + +"Missis and the young ladies come, sah; but de station master he say de +train no arrive for a long time, so dey wait for you at de town house, +sah." + +Dan jumped up beside the coachman and Vincent leaped into the carriage, +and in a few minutes later he was locked in the arms of his mother and +sisters. + +"You grow bigger and bigger, Vincent," his mother said after the first +greeting was over. "I thought you must have done when you went away +last, but you are two or three inches taller and ever so much wider." + +"I think I have nearly done now, mother--anyhow as to height. I am six +feet one." + +"You are a dreadful trouble to us, Vincent," Annie said. "We have awful +anxiety whenever we hear of a battle being fought, and it was almost a +relief to us when we heard that you were in a Yankee prison. We thought +at least you were out of danger for some time; but since the news came +of your escape it has been worse than ever, and as week passed after +week without hearing anything of you we began to fear that something +terrible had happened to you." + +"Nothing terrible has happened at all, Annie. The only mishap I had was +getting a pistol bullet in my shoulder which laid me up for about six +weeks. There was nothing very dreadful about it," he continued, as +exclamations of alarm and pity broke from mother and sister. "I was well +looked after and nursed. And now I will tell you my most important piece +of news, and then I will give you a full account of my adventures from +the time when Dan got me out of prison, for it is entirely to him that I +owe my liberty." + +"Well, what is the piece of news?" Annie asked. + +"Guess!" Vincent replied, smiling. + +"You have got promoted?" his mother said. + +He shook his head. + +"Is it about a lady?" Annie asked. + +Vincent smiled. + +"Oh, Vincent, you are not engaged to be married! That would be too +ridiculous!" + +Vincent laughed and nodded. + +"Annie is right, mother; I am engaged to be married." + +Mrs. Wingfield looked grave, Rosie laughed, and Annie threw her arms +round his neck and kissed him. + +"You dear, silly old boy!" she said. "I am glad, though it seems so +ridiculous. Who is she, and what is she like?" + +"We needn't ask where she lives," Rosie said. "Of course it is in +Antioch, though how in the world you managed it all in the two or three +days you were there I can't make out." + +Mrs. Wingfield's brow cleared. "At any rate, in that case, Vincent, she +is a Southerner. I was afraid at first it was some Yankee woman who had +perhaps sheltered you on your way." + +"Is she older than you, Vincent?" Annie asked suddenly. "I shouldn't +like her to be older than you are." + +"She is between sixteen and seventeen," Vincent replied, "and she is a +Southern girl, mother, and I am sure you will love her, for she saved my +life at the risk of her own, besides nursing me all the time I was ill." + +"I have no doubt I shall love her, Vincent, for I think, my boy, that +you would not make a rash choice. I think you are young, much too young, +to be engaged; still, that is a secondary matter. Now tell us all about +it. We expected your story to be exciting, but did not dream that +love-making had any share in it." + +Vincent accordingly told them the whole story of his adventures from the +time of his first meeting Dan in prison. When he related the episode of +Lucy's refusal to say whether he would return, although threatened with +instant death unless she did so, his narrative was broken by the +exclamations of his hearers. + +"You need not say another word in praise of her," his mother said. "She +is indeed a noble girl, and I shall be proud of such a daughter." + +"She must be a darling!" Annie exclaimed. "Oh, Vincent, how brave she +must be! I don't think I ever could have done that, with a pistol +pointing straight at you, and all those dreadful men round, and no hope +of a rescue; it's awful even to think of." + +"It was an awful moment, as you may imagine," Vincent replied. "I shall +never forget the scene, or Lucy's steadfast face as she faced that man; +and you see at that time I was a perfect stranger to her--only a +fugitive Confederate officer whom she shielded from his pursuers." + +"Go on, Vincent; please go on," Annie said. "Tell us what happened +next." + +Vincent continued his narrative to the end, with, however, many +interruptions and questions on the part of the girls. His mother said +little, but sat holding his hand in hers. + +"It has been a wonderful escape, Vincent," she said when he had +finished. "Bring your Lucy here when you like and I shall be ready to +receive her as my daughter, and to love her for her own sake as well as +yours. She must be not only a brave girl but a noble girl, and you did +perfectly right to lose not a single day after you had taken her safely +home in asking her to be your wife. I am glad to think that some day the +Orangery will have so worthy a mistress. I will write to her at once. +You have not yet told us what she is like, Vincent." + +"I am not good at descriptions, but you shall see her photograph, when I +get it." + +"What, haven't you got one now?" + +"She had not one to give me. You see, when the troubles began she was +little more than a child, and since that time she has scarcely left +home, but she promised to have one taken at once and send it to me, and +then, if it is a good likeness, you will know all about it." + +"Mother, when you write to-night," Rosie said, "please send her your +photograph and ours, and say we all want one of our new relative that is +to be." + +"I think, my dear, you can leave that until we have exchanged a letter +or two. You will see Vincent's copy, and can then wait patiently for +your own." + +"And now, mother, I have told you all of my news; let us hear about +everyone here. How are all the old house hands, and how is Dinah? Tony +is at Washington, I know, because I saw in the paper that he had made a +sudden attack upon Jackson." + +Mrs. Wingfield's face fell. + +"That is my one piece of bad news, Vincent. I wish you hadn't asked the +question until to-morrow, for I am sorry that anything should disturb +the pleasure of this first meeting; still, as you have asked the +question, I must answer it. About ten days ago a negro came, as I +afterward heard from Chloe, to the back entrance and asked for Dinah. He +said he had a message for her. She went and spoke to him, and then ran +back and caught up her child. She said to Chloe, 'I have news of my +husband. I think he is here. I will soon be back again.' Then she ran +out, and she has never returned. We have made every inquiry we could, +but we have not liked to advertise for her, for it may be that she has +met her husband, and that he has persuaded her to make off at once with +him to Yorktown or Fortress Monroe." + +"This is bad news indeed, mother," Vincent said. "No, I do not think for +a moment that she has gone off with Tony. There could be no reason why +she should have left so suddenly without telling anyone, for she knew +well enough that you would let her go if she wished it; and I feel sure +that neither she nor Tony would act so ungratefully as to leave us in +this manner. No, mother, I feel sure that this has been done by Jackson. +You know I told you I felt uneasy about her before I went. No doubt the +old rascal has seen in some Northern paper an account of his son having +been attacked in the streets of Washington, and recaptured by Tony, and +he has had Dinah carried off from a pure spirit of revenge. Well, +mother," he went on in answer to an appealing look from her, "I will not +put myself out this first evening of my return, and will say no more +about it. There will be plenty of time to take the matter up to-morrow. +And now about all our friends and acquaintances. How are they getting +on? Have you heard of any more of my old chums being killed since I was +taken prisoner at Antietam?" + +It was late in the evening before Vincent heard all the news. +Fortunately, the list of casualties in the Army of Virginia had been +slight since Antietam; but that battle had made many gaps among the +circle of their friends, and of these Vincent now heard for the first +time, and he learned, too, that although no battle had been fought since +Antietam, on the 17th of September, there had been a sharp skirmish near +Fredericksburg, and that the Federal army, now under General Burnside, +who had succeeded McClellan, was facing that of Lee, near that town, and +that it was believed that they would attempt to cross the Rappahannock +in a few days. + +It was not until he had retired for the night that Vincent allowed his +thoughts to turn again to the missing woman. Her loss annoyed and vexed +him much more than he permitted his mother to see. In the first place, +the poor girl's eagerness to show her gratitude to him upon all +occasions, and her untiring watchfulness and care during his illness +from his wound, had touched him, and the thought that she was now +probably in the hands of brutal taskmasters was a real pain to him. In +the next place, he had, as it were, given his pledge to Tony that she +should be well cared for until she could be sent to join him. And what +should he say now when the negro wrote to claim her? Then, too, he felt +a personal injury that the woman should be carried off when under his +mother's protection, and he was full of indignation and fury at the +dastardly revenge taken by Jackson. Upon hearing the news he had at once +mentally determined to devote himself for some time to a search for +Dinah; but the news that a great battle was expected at the front +interfered with his plan. Now that he was back, capable of returning to +duty, his place was clearly with his regiment; but he determined that +while he would rejoin at once, he would, as soon the battle was over, if +he were unhurt, take up the search. His mother and sisters were greatly +distressed when, at breakfast, he told them that he must at once report +himself as fit for duty, and ready to join his regiment. + +"I was afraid you would think so," Mrs. Wingfield said, while the girls +wept silently; "and much as I grieve at losing you again so soon, I can +say nothing against it. You have gone through many dangers, Vincent, +and have been preserved to us through them all. We will pray that you +may be so to the end. Still, whether or not, I, as a Virginia woman, +cannot grudge my son to the service of my country, when all mothers are +making the same sacrifice; but it is hard to give you up when but +yesterday you returned to us." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +FREDERICKSBURG. + + +As soon as breakfast was over Vincent mounted Wildfire, which had been +sent back after he had been taken prisoner, and rode into Richmond. +There he reported himself at headquarters as having returned after +escaping from a Federal prison and making his way through the lines of +the enemy. + +"I had my shoulder-bone smashed in a fight with some Yankees," he said, +"and was laid up in hiding for six weeks; but have now fairly recovered. +My shoulder, at times, gives me considerable pain, and although I am +desirous of returning to duty and rejoining my regiment until the battle +at Fredericksburg has taken place, I must request that three months' +leave be granted to me after that to return home and complete my cure, +promising, of course, to rejoin my regiment at once should hostilities +break out before the spring." + +"We saw the news that you had escaped," the general said, "but feared, +as so long a time elapsed without hearing from you, that you had been +shot in attempting to cross the lines. Your request for leave is +granted, and a note will be made of your zeal in thus rejoining on the +very day after your return. The vacancy in the regiment has been filled +up, but I will appoint you temporarily to General Stuart's staff, and I +shall have great pleasure in to-day filling up your commission as +captain. Now let me hear how you made your escape. By the accounts +published in the Northern papers it seemed that you must have had a +confederate outside the walls." + +Vincent gave a full account of his escape from prison and a brief sketch +of his subsequent proceedings, saying only that he was in the house of +some loyal people in Tennessee when it was attacked by a party of Yankee +bushwhackers; that these were beaten off in the fight, but that he +himself had a pistol bullet in his shoulder. He then made his way on +until compelled by his wound to lay up for six weeks in a lonely +farmhouse near Mount Pleasant; that afterward, in the disguise of a +young farmer, he had made a long detour across the Tennessee River and +reached Georgia. + +"When do you leave for the front, Captain Wingfield?" + +"I shall be ready to start to-night, sir." + +"In that case I will trouble you to come here again this evening. There +will be a fast train going through with ammunition for Lee at ten +o'clock, and I shall have a bag of dispatches for him, which I will +trouble you to deliver. You will find me here up to the last moment. I +will give orders that a horse-box be attached to the train." + +After expressing his thanks Vincent took his leave. As he left the +general's quarters, a young man, just alighting from his horse, gave a +shout of greeting. + +"Why, Wingfield, it is good to see you! I thought you were pining again +in a Yankee dungeon, or had got knocked on the head crossing the lines. +Where have you sprung from, and when did you arrive?" + +"I only got in yesterday after sundry adventures which I will tell you +about presently. When did you arrive from the front?" + +"I came down a few days ago on a week's leave on urgent family +business," the young man laughed, "and I am going back again this +afternoon by the four o'clock train." + +"Stay till ten," Vincent said, "and we will go back together. There is a +special train going through with ammunition, and as everything will +make way for that it will not be long behind the four o'clock, and +likely enough may pass it on the way. There is a horse-box attached to +it, and as I only take one horse there will be room for yours." + +"I haven't brought my horse down," Harry Furniss said; "but I will +certainly go with you by the ten o'clock. Then we can have a long talk. +I don't think I have seen you since the day you asked me to lend you my +boat, two years ago." + +"Can you spare me two hours now?" Vincent asked. "You will do me a very +great favor if you will." + +Harry Furniss looked at his watch. "It is eleven o'clock now; we have a +lot of people to lunch at half-past one, and I must be back by then." + +"You can manage that easy enough," Vincent replied; "in two hours from +the time we leave here you can be at home." + +"I am your man, then, Vincent. Just wait five minutes--I have to see +someone in here." + +A few minutes later Harry Furniss came out again and mounted. + +"Now which way, Vincent? and what is it you want me for?" + +"The way is to Jackson's place at the Cedars; the why I will tell you +about as we ride." + +Vincent then recounted his feud with the Jacksons, of which, up to the +date of the purchase of Dinah Moore, his friend was aware, having been +present at the sale. He now heard of the attack upon young Jackson by +Tony, and of the disappearance of Dinah Moore. + +"I should not be at all surprised, Wingfield, if your surmises are +correct, and that the old scoundrel has carried off the girl to avenge +himself upon Tony. Of course, if you could prove it, it would be a very +serious offense; for the stealing of a slave, and by force too, is a +crime with a very heavy penalty, and has cost men their lives before +now. But I don't see that you have anything like a positive proof, +however strong a case of suspicion it may be. + +"I don't see what you are going to say when you get there." + +"I am going to tell him that, if he does not say what he has done with +the girl, I will have his son arrested for treachery as soon as he sets +foot in the Confederacy again." + +"Treachery?" Furniss said in surprise. "What treachery has he been +guilty of? I saw that he was one of those who escaped with you, and I +rather wondered at the time at you two being mixed up together in +anything. I heard that he had been recaptured through some black fellow +that had been his slave, but I did not read the account. Have you got +proof of what you say?" + +"Perhaps no proof that would hold in a court of law," Vincent replied, +"but proof enough to make it an absolute certainty to my mind." + +Vincent then gave an account of their escape, and of the anonymous +denunciation of himself and Dan. + +"Now," he said, "no one but Dan knew of the intended escape, no one knew +what clothes he had purchased, no one could possibly have known that I +was to be disguised as a preacher and Dan as my servant. Therefore the +information must have been given by Jackson." + +"I have not the least doubt but that the blackguard did give it, +Wingfield; but there is no proof." + +"I consider that there is a proof--an absolute and positive proof," +Vincent asserted, "because no one else could have known it." + +"Well, you see that, as a matter of fact, the other officer did know it, +and might possibly have given the information." + +"But why should he? The idea is absurd. He had never had a quarrel with +me, and he owed his liberty to me." + +"Just so, Wingfield. I am as certain that it was Jackson as you are, +because I know the circumstances; but you see there is no more absolute +proof against one man than against the other. It is true that you had +had a quarrel with Jackson some two years before, but you see you had +made it up and had become friends in prison--so much so that you +selected him from among a score of others in the same room to be the +companion of your flight. You and I, who know Jackson, can well believe +him guilty of an act of gross ingratitude--of ingratitude and treachery; +but people who do not know would hardly credit it as possible that a man +could be such a villain. The defense he would set up would be that in +the first place there is no shadow of evidence that he more than the +other turned traitor. In the second place he would be sure to say that +such an accusation against a Confederate officer is too monstrous and +preposterous to be entertained for a moment; and that doubtless your +negro, although he denies the fact, really chattered about his doings to +the negroes he was lodging with, and that it was through them that +someone got to know of the disguise you would wear. We know that it +wasn't so, Wingfield; but ninety-nine out of every hundred white men in +the South would rather believe that a negro had chattered than that a +Confederate officer had been guilty of a gross act of treachery and +ingratitude." + +Vincent was silent. He felt that what his companion said was the truth; +and that a weapon by which he had hoped to force the elder Jackson into +saying what he had done with Dinah would probably fail in its purpose. +The old man was too astute not to perceive that there was no real proof +against his son, and would therefore be unlikely at once to admit that +he had committed a serious crime and to forego his revenge. + +"I will try, at any rate," he said at last; "and if he refuses I will +publish the story in the papers. When the fellow gets back from +Yankee-land he may either call me out or demand a court of inquiry. I +may not succeed in getting a verdict from twelve white men, but I think +I can convince everyone of our own class that the fellow did it; and +when this battle that is expected is over I have got three months' +leave, and I will move heaven and earth to find the woman; and if I do, +Jackson will either have to bolt or to stand a trial, with the prospect +of ten years' imprisonment if he is convicted. In either case we are not +likely to have his son about here again; and if he did venture back and +brought an action against me, his chance of getting damages would be a +small one." + +Another half-hour's ride brought them to the Cedars. They dismounted at +the house, and fastening their horses to the portico knocked at the +door. It was opened by a negro. + +"Tell your master," Vincent said, "that Mr. Wingfield wishes to speak to +him." + +Andrew Jackson himself came to the door. + +"To what do I owe the very great pleasure of this visit, Mr. Wingfield?" +he said grimly. + +"I have come to ask you what you have done with Dinah Moore, whom, I +have every ground for believing, you have caused to be kidnaped from my +mother's house." + +"This is a serious charge, young gentleman," Andrew Jackson said, "and +one that I shall call upon you to justify in the law courts. Men are not +to be charged with criminal actions even by young gentlemen of good +Virginian families." + +"I shall be quite ready to meet you there, Mr. Jackson, whenever you +choose; but my visit here is rather to give you an opportunity of +escaping the consequences that will follow your detection as the author +of the crime; for I warn you that I will bring the crime home to you, +whatever it costs me in time and money. My offer is this: produce the +woman and her child, and not only shall no prosecution take place, but I +will remain silent concerning a fact which affects the honor of your +son." + +Andrew Jackson's face had been perfectly unmoved during this +conversation until he heard the allusion to his son. Then his face +changed visibly. + +"I know nothing concerning which you can attack the honor of my son, Mr. +Wingfield," he said with an effort to speak as unconcernedly as before. + +"My charge is as follows," Vincent said quietly: "I was imprisoned at +Elmira with a number of other officers, among them your son. Thinking +that it was time for the unpleasantness that had been existing between +us to come to an end, I offered him my hand. This he accepted and we +became friends. A short time afterward a mode of escape offered itself +to me, and I proved the sincerity of my feelings toward him by offering +to him and another officer the means of sharing my escape. This they +accepted. Once outside the walls, I furnished them with disguises that +had been prepared for them, assuming myself that of a minister. We then +separated, going in different directions, I myself being accompanied by +my negro servant, to whose fidelity I owed our escape. Two days +afterward an anonymous writer communicated to the police the fact that I +had escaped in the disguise of a minister, and was accompanied by my +black servant. This fact was only known to the negro, myself, and the +two officers. My negro, who had released me, was certainly not my +betrayer; the other officer could certainly have had no possible motive +for betraying me. There remains, therefore, only your son, whose +hostility to me was notorious, and who had expressed himself with +bitterness against me on many occasions, and among others in the hearing +of my friend Mr. Furniss here. Such being the case, it is my intention +to charge him before the military authorities with this act of +treachery. But, as I have said, I am willing to forego this and to keep +silence as to your conduct with reference to my slave Dinah Moore, if +you will restore her and her child uninjured to the house from which you +caused her to be taken." + +The sallow cheeks of the old planter had grown a shade paler as he +listened to Vincent's narrative, but he now burst out in angry tones: + +"How dare you, sir, bring such an infamous accusation against my son--an +accusation, like that against myself, wholly unsupported by a shred of +evidence? Doubtless your negro had confided to some of his associates +his plans for assisting you to escape from prison, and it is from one of +these that the denunciation has come. Go, sir, report where you will +what lies and fables you have invented; but be assured that I and my son +will seek our compensation for such gross libels in the courts." + +"Very well, sir," Vincent said, as he prepared to mount his horse; "if +you will take the trouble to look in the papers to-morrow, you will see +that your threats of action for libel have no effect whatever upon me." + +"The man is as hard as a rock, Wingfield," Furniss said, as they rode +off together. "He wilted a little when you were telling your story, but +the moment he saw you had no definite proofs he was, as I expected he +would be, ready to defy you. What shall you do now?" + +"I shall ride back into Richmond again and give a full account of my +escape from the jail, and state that I firmly believe that the +information as to my disguise was given by Jackson, and that it was the +result of a personal hostility which, as many young men in Richmond are +well aware, has existed for some time between us." + +"Well, you must do as you like, Wingfield, but I think it will be a +risky business." + +"It may be so," Vincent said; "but I have little doubt that long before +Jackson is exchanged I shall have discovered Dinah, and shall prosecute +Jackson for theft and kidnaping, in which case the young man will hardly +venture to prosecute me or indeed to show his face in this part of the +country." + +That evening the two young officers started for the front, and the next +morning the Richmond papers came out with a sensational heading, +"Alleged Gross Act of Treachery and Ingratitude by a Confederate +Officer." + +It was the 10th of December when Vincent joined the army at +Fredericksburg. He reported himself to General Stuart, who received him +with great cordiality. + +"You are just in time, Wingfield," he said. "I believe that in another +twenty-four hours the battle will be fought. They have for the last two +days been moving about in front, and apparently want us to believe that +they intend to cross somewhere below the town; but all the news we get +from our spies is to the effect that these are only feints and that they +intend to throw a bridge across here. We know, anyhow, they have got two +trains concealed opposite, near the river. Burnside is likely to find it +a hard nut to crack. Of course they are superior in number to us, as +they always are; but as we have always beat them well on level ground I +do not think their chances of getting up these heights are by any means +hopeful. Then, too, their change of commanders is against them. +McClellan fought a drawn battle against us at Antietam and showed +himself a really able general in the operations in front of Richmond. +The army have confidence in him, and he is by far the best man they have +got so far, but the fools at Washington have now for the second time +displaced him because they are jealous of him. Burnside has shown +himself a good man in minor commands, but I don't think he is equal to +command such a vast army as this; and besides, we know from our friends +at Washington that he has protested against this advance across the +river, but has been overruled. You will see Fredericksburg will add +another to the long list of our victories." + +Vincent shared a tent with another officer of the same rank in General +Stuart's staff. They sat chatting till late, and it was still dark when +they were suddenly aroused by an outbreak of musketry down at the river. + +"The general was right," Captain Longmore, Vincent's companion +exclaimed. "They are evidently throwing a bridge across the river, and +the fire we hear comes from two regiments of Mississippians who are +posted down in the town under Barksdale." + +It was but the work of a minute to throw on their clothes and hurry out. +The night was dark and a heavy fog hung over the river. A roar of +musketry came up from the valley. Drums and bugles were sounding all +along the crest. At the same moment they issued out General Stuart came +out from his tent, which was close by. + +"Is that you, Longmore? Jump on your horse and ride down to the town. +Bring back news of what is going on." + +A few minutes later an officer rode up. Some wood had been thrown on the +fire, and by its light Vincent recognized Stonewall Jackson. + +"Have you any news for us?" he asked. + +"Not yet; I have sent an officer down to inquire. The enemy have been +trying to bridge the river." + +"I suppose so," Jackson replied. "I have ordered one of my brigades to +come to the head of the bank as soon as they can be formed up, to help +Barksdale if need be, but I don't want to take them down into the town. +It is commanded by all the hills on the opposite side, and we know they +have brought up also all their artillery there." + +In a few minutes Captain Longmore returned. + +"The enemy have thrown two pontoon bridges across, one above and one +below the old railway bridge. The Mississippians have driven them back +once, but they are pushing on the work and will soon get it finished; +but General Barksdale bids me report that with the force at his command +he can repulse any attempt to cross." + +The light was now breaking in the east, but the roar of musketry +continued under the canopy of fog. Generals Lee, Longstreet, and others +had now arrived upon the spot, and Vincent was surprised that no orders +were issued for troops to re-enforce those under General Barksdale. +Presently the sun rose, and as it gained in power the fog slowly lifted, +and it was seen that the two pontoon bridges were complete; but the fire +of the Mississippians was so heavy that although the enemy several times +attempted to cross they recoiled before it. Suddenly a gun was fired +from the opposite height, and at the signal more than a hundred pieces +of artillery opened fire upon the town. Many of the inhabitants had left +as soon as the musketry fire began, but the slopes behind it soon +presented a sad spectacle. Men, women, and children poured out from the +town, bewildered with the din and terrified by the storm of shot and +shell that crashed into it. Higher and higher the crowd of fugitives +made their way until they reached the crest; among them were weeping +women and crying children, many of them in the scantiest attire and +carrying such articles of dress and valuables as they had caught up when +startled by the terrible rain of missiles. In a very few minutes smoke +began to rise over the town, followed by tongues of flame, and in half +an hour the place was on fire in a score of places. + +All day the bombardment went on without cessation and Fredericksburg +crumbled into ruins. Still, in spite of this terrible fire, the +Mississippians clung to the burning town amid crashing walls, falling +chimneys, and shells exploding in every direction. As night fell the +enemy poured across the bridges, and Barksdale, contesting every foot of +ground, fell back through the burning city and took up a position behind +a stone wall in its rear. + +Throughout the day not a single shot had been fired by the Confederate +artillery, which was very inferior in power to that of the enemy, as +General Lee had no wish finally to hinder the passage of the Federals; +the stubborn resistance of Barksdale's force being only intended to give +him time to concentrate all his army as soon as he knew for certain the +point at which the enemy was going to cross; and he did not wish, +therefore, to risk the destruction of any of his batteries by calling +down the Federal fire upon them. + +During the day the troops were all brought up into position. Longstreet +was on the left and Jackson on the right, while the guns, forty-seven in +number, were in readiness to take up their post in the morning on the +slopes in front of them. On the extreme right General Stuart was posted +with his cavalry and horse artillery. The night passed quietly and by +daybreak the troops were all drawn up in their positions. + +As soon as the sun rose it was seen that during the night the enemy had +thrown more bridges across and that the greater portion of the army was +already over. They were, indeed, already in movement against the +Confederate position, their attack being directed toward the portion of +the line held by Jackson's division. General Stuart gave orders to Major +Pelham, who commanded his horse artillery, and who immediately brought +up the guns and began the battle by opening fire on the flank of the +enemy. The guns of the Northern batteries at once replied, and for some +hours the artillery duel continued, the Federal guns doing heavy +execution. For a time attacks were threatened from various points, but +about ten o'clock, when the fog lifted, a mass of some 55,000 troops +advanced against Jackson. They were suffered to come within eight +hundred yards before a gun was fired, and then fourteen guns opened upon +them with such effect that they fell back in confusion. + +At one o'clock another attempt was made, covered by a tremendous fire of +artillery. For a time the columns of attack were kept at bay by the fire +of the Confederate batteries, but they advanced with great resolution, +pushed their way through Jackson's first line, and forced them to fall +back. Jackson brought up his second line and drove the enemy back with +great slaughter until his advance was checked by the fire of the +Northern artillery. + +All day the fight went on, the Federals attempting to crush the +Confederate artillery by the weight of their fire in order that their +infantry columns might again advance. But although outnumbered by more +than two to one, the Confederate guns were worked with great resolution, +and the day passed and darkness began to fall without their retiring +from the positions they had taken up. Just at sunset General Stuart +ordered all the batteries on the right to advance. This they did, and +opened their fire on the Northern infantry with such effect that these +fell back to the position near the town that they had occupied in the +morning. + +On the left an equally terrible battle had raged all day, but here the +Northern troops were compelled to cross open ground between the town +and the base of the hill and suffered so terribly from the fire that +they never succeeded in reaching the Confederate front. Throughout the +day the Confederates held their position with such ease that General Lee +considered the affair as nothing more than a demonstration in force to +feel his position and expected an even sterner battle on the following +day. Jackson's first and second lines, composed of less than 15,000 men, +had repulsed without difficulty the divisions of Franklin and Hooker, +55,000 strong; while Longstreet, with about the same force, had never +been really pressed by the enemy, although on that side they had a force +of over 50,000 men. + +In the morning the Northern army was seen drawn up in battle array as if +to advance for fresh assault, but no movement was made. General Burnside +was in favor of a fresh attack, but the generals commanding the various +divisions felt that their troops, after the repulse the day before, were +not equal to the work, and were unanimously of opinion that a second +assault should not be attempted. After remaining for some hours in order +of battle they fell back into the town and two days later the whole army +recrossed the Rappahannock River. The loss of the Confederates was 1800 +men, who were for the most part killed or wounded by the enemy's +artillery, while the Federal loss was no less than 13,771. General +Burnside soon afterward resigned his command, and General Hooker, an +officer of the same politics as the President and his advisers, was +appointed to succeed him. + +The cavalry had not been called upon to act during the day, and +Vincent's duties were confined to carrying orders to the commanders of +the various batteries of artillery posted in that part of the field, as +these had all been placed under General Stuart's orders. He had many +narrow escapes by shot and fragments of shells, but passed through the +day uninjured. + +General Lee has been blamed for not taking advantage of his victory and +falling upon the Federals on the morning after the battle; but although +such an assault might possibly have been successful he was conscious of +his immense inferiority in force, and his troops would have been +compelled to have advanced to the attack across ground completely swept +by the fire of the magnificently served Northern artillery posted upon +their commanding heights. He was, moreover, ignorant of the full extent +of the loss he had inflicted upon the enemy, and expected renewed attack +by them. He was therefore, doubtless, unwilling to risk the results of +the victory he had gained and of the victory he expected to gain should +the enemy renew their attack, by a movement which might not be +successful, and which would at any rate have cost him a tremendous loss +of men, and men were already becoming scarce in the Confederacy. + +As soon as the enemy had fallen back across the river and it was certain +that there was little chance of another forward movement on their part +for a considerable time, Vincent showed to General Stuart the permit he +had received to return home until the spring on leave, and at once +received the general's permission to retire from the staff for a time. + +He had not been accompanied by Dan on his railway journey to the front, +having left him behind with instructions to endeavor by every means to +find some clew as to the direction in which Dinah had been carried off. +He telegraphed on his way home the news of his coming, and found Dan at +the station waiting for him. + +"Well, Dan, have you obtained any news?" he asked as soon as his horse +had been moved from its box, and he had mounted and at a foot-pace left +the station, with Dan walking beside him. + +"No, sah; I hab done my best, but I cannot find out anything. The +niggers at Jackson's all say dat no strangers hab been dere wid de old +man for a long time before de day dat Dinah was carried off. I have been +over dar, massa, and hab talked wid the hands at de house. Dey all say +dat no one been dere for a month. Me sure dat dey no tell a lie about +it, because dey all hate Massa Jackson like pison. Den de lawyer, he am +put de advertisement you told him in the papers: Five hundred dollars +to whoever would give information about de carrying off of a female +slave from Missy Wingfield, or dat would lead to de discovery of her +hiding-place. But no answer come. Me heard Missy Wingfield say so last +night." + +"That's bad, Dan; but I hardly expected anything better. I felt sure the +old fox would have taken every precaution, knowing what a serious +business it would be for him if it were found out. Now I am back I will +take the matter up myself, and we will see what we can do. I wish I +could have set about it the day after she was carried away. It is more +than a fortnight ago now, and that will make it much more difficult than +it would have been had it been begun at once." + +"Well, Vincent, so you have come back to us undamaged this time," his +mother said after the first greeting. "We were very anxious when the +news came that a great battle had been fought last Friday; but when we +heard the next morning the enemy had been repulsed so easily we were not +so anxious, although it was not until this morning that the list of +killed and wounded was published, and our minds set at rest." + +"No, mother; it was a tremendous artillery battle, but it was little +more than that--at least on our side. But I have never heard anything at +all like it from sunrise to sunset. But, after all, an artillery fire is +more frightening than dangerous, except at comparatively close quarters. +The enemy must have fired at least fifty shots for every man that was +hit. I counted several times, and there were fully a hundred shots a +minute, and I don't think it lessened much the whole day. I should think +they must have fired two or three hundred rounds at least from each gun. +The roar was incessant, and what with the din they made, and the replies +of our own artillery, and the bursting of shells, and the rattle of +musketry, the din at times was almost bewildering. Wildfire was hit with +a piece of shell, but fortunately it was not a very large one, and he is +not much the worse for it, but the shock knocked him off his legs; of +course I went down with him, and thought for a moment I had been hit +myself. No; it was by far the most hollow affair we have had. The enemy +fought obstinately enough, but without the slightest spirit or dash, and +only once did they get up anywhere near our line, and then they went +back a good deal quicker than they came." + +"And now you are going to be with us for three months, Vincent?" + +"I hope so, mother; at least if they do not advance again. I shall be +here off and on. I mean to find Dinah Moore if it is possible, and if I +can obtain the slightest clew I shall follow it up and go wherever it +may lead me." + +"Well, we will spare you for that, Vincent. As you know, I did not like +your mixing yourself up in that business two years ago, but it is +altogether different now. The woman was very willing and well conducted, +and I had got to be really fond of her. But putting that aside, it is +intolerable that such a piece of insolence as the stealing of one of our +slaves should go unpunished. Therefore, if you do find any clew to the +affair, we will not grumble at your following it up, even if it does +take you away from home for a short time. By the bye, we had letters +this morning from a certain young lady in Georgia, inclosing her +photograph, and I rather fancy there is one for you somewhere." + +"Where is it, mother?" Vincent asked, jumping from his seat. + +"Let me think," Mrs. Wingfield replied. "Did either of you girls put it +away, or where can it have been stowed?" + +The girls both laughed. + +"Now, Vincent, what offer do you make for the letter? Well, we won't +tease you," Annie went on as Vincent gave an impatient exclamation. +"Another time we might do so, but as you have just come safely back to +us I don't think it would be fair, especially as this is the very first +letter. Here it is!" and she took out of the workbox before her the +missive Vincent was so eager to receive. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE SEARCH FOR DINAH. + + +"By the bye, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield remarked next morning at +breakfast, "I have parted with Pearson." + +"I am glad to hear it, mother. What! did you discover at last that he +was a scamp?" + +"Several things that occurred shook my confidence in him, Vincent. The +accounts were not at all satisfactory, and it happened quite +accidentally that when I was talking one day with Mr. Robertson, who, as +you know, is a great speculator in tobacco, I said that I should grow no +more tobacco, as it really fetched nothing. He replied that it would be +a pity to give it up, for so little was now cultivated that the price +was rising, and the Orangery tobacco always fetched top prices. 'I think +the price I paid for your crop this year must at any rate have paid for +the labor--that is to say, paid for the keep of the slaves and something +over.' He then mentioned the price he had given, which was certainly a +good deal higher than I had imagined. I looked at my accounts next +morning, and found that Pearson had only credited me with one-third of +the amount he must have received, so I at once dismissed him. Indeed, I +had been thinking of doing so some little time before, for money is so +scarce and the price of produce so low that I felt I could not afford to +pay as much as I had been giving him." + +"I am afraid I have been drawing rather heavily, mother," Vincent put +in. + +"I have plenty of money, Vincent. Since your father's death we have had +much less company than before, and I have not spent my income. Besides, +I have a considerable sum invested in house property and other +securities. But I have, of course, since the war began been subscribing +toward the expenses of the war--for the support of hospitals and so on. +I thought at a time like this I ought to keep my expenses down to the +lowest point, and to give the balance of my income to the State." + +"How did Jonas take his dismissal, mother?" + +"Not very pleasantly," Mrs. Wingfield replied, "especially when I told +him that I had discovered he was robbing me. However, he knew better +than to say much, for he has not been in good odor about here for some +time. After the fighting near here there were reports that he had been +in communication with the Yankees. He spoke to me about it at the time; +but as it was a mere matter of rumor, originating, no doubt, from the +fact that he was a Northern man by birth, I paid no attention to them." + +"It is likely enough to be true," Vincent said. "I always distrusted the +vehemence with which he took the Confederate side. How long ago did this +happen?" + +"It is about a month since I dismissed him." + +"So lately as that! Then I should not be at all surprised if he had some +hand in carrying off Dinah. I know he was in communication with Jackson, +for I once saw them together in the street, and I fancied at the time +that it was through him that Jackson learned that Dinah was here. It is +an additional clew to inquire into, anyhow. Do you know what has become +of him since he left you?" + +"No; I have heard nothing at all about him, Vincent, from the day I gave +him a check for his pay in this room. Farrell, who was under him, is now +in charge of the Orangery. He may possibly know something of his +movements." + +"I think Farrell is an honest fellow," Vincent said. "He was always +about, doing his work quietly; never bullying or shouting at the hands, +and yet seeing that they did their work properly. I will ride out and +see him at once." + +As soon as breakfast was over Vincent started, and found Farrell in the +fields with the hands. + +"I am glad to see you back, sir," the man said heartily. + +"Thank you, Farrell. I am glad to be back, and I am glad to find you in +Pearson's place. I never liked the fellow, and never trusted him." + +"I did not like him myself, sir, though we always got on well enough +together. He knew his work and got as much out of the hands as anyone +could do; but I did not like his way with them. They hated him." + +"Have you any idea where he went when he left here?" + +"No, sir; he did not come back after he got his dismissal. He sent a man +in a buggy with a note to me, asking me to send all his things over to +Richmond. I expect he was afraid the news might get here as soon as he +did, and that the hands would give him an unpleasant reception, as +indeed I expect they would have done." + +"You don't know whether he has any friends anywhere in the Confederacy +to whom he would be likely to go?" + +"I don't know about friends, sir; but I know he has told me he was +overseer, or partner, or something of that sort, in a small station down +in the swamps of South Carolina. I should think, from things he has let +drop, that the slaves must have had a bad time of it. I rather fancy he +made the place too hot for him, and had to leave; but that was only my +impression." + +"In that case he may possibly have made his way back there," Vincent +said. "I have particular reasons for wishing to find out. You don't know +anything about the name of the place?" The man shook his head. + +"He never mentioned the name in my hearing." + +"Well, I must try to find out; but I don't quite see how to set about +it," Vincent said. "By the way, do you know where his clothes were sent +to?" + +"Yes; the man said that he was to take them to Harker's Hotel. It's a +second-rate hotel not far from the railway station." + +"Thank you; that will help me. I know the house. It was formerly used by +Northern drummers and people of that sort." + +After riding back to Richmond and putting up his horse, Vincent went to +the hotel there. Although but a second-rate hotel it was well filled, +for people from all parts of the Confederacy resorted to Richmond, and +however much trade suffered, the hotels of the town did a good business. +He first went up to the clerk in a little office at the entrance. + +"You had a man named Pearson," he said, "staying here a month ago. Will +you please tell me on what day he left?" + +The clerk turned to the register, and said, after a minute's +examination: + +"He came on the 14th of November, and he left on the 20th." + +This was two days after the date on which Dinah had been carried off. + +In American hotels the halls are large and provided with seats, and are +usually used as smoking and reading rooms by the male visitors to the +hotel. At Harker's Hotel there was a small bar at the end of the hall, +and a black waiter supplied the wants of the guests seated at the +various little tables. Vincent seated himself at one of these and +ordered something to drink. As the negro placed it on the table he said: + +"I will give you a dollar if you will answer a few questions." + +"Very good, sah. Dat am a mighty easy to earn dollar." + +"Do you remember, about a month ago, a man named Pearson being here?" + +The negro shook his head. + +"Me not know de names ob de gentlemen, sah. What was de man like?" + +"He was tall and thin, with short hair and a gray goatee--a regular +Yankee." + +"Me remember him, sah. Dar used to be plenty ob dat sort here. Don't see +dem much now. Me remember de man, sah, quite well. Used to pass most of +de day here. Didn't seem to have nuffin to do." + +"Was he always alone, or did he have many people here to see him?" + +"Once dar war two men wid him, sah, sitting at dat table ober in de +corner. Rough-looking fellows dey war. In old times people like dat +wouldn't come to a 'spectable hotel, but now eberyone got rough clothes, +can't get no others, so one don't tink nuffin about it; but dose fellows +was rough-looking besides dar clothes. Didn't like dar looks nohow. Dey +only came here once. Dey was de only strangers that came to see him. But +once Massa Jackson--me know him by sight--he came here and talk wid him +for a long time. Dey talk in low voice, and I noticed dey stopped +talking when anyone sat down near dem." + +"You don't know where he went to from here, I suppose?" + +"No, sah; dat not my compartment. Perhaps de outside porter will know. +Like enough he takes his tings in hand-truck to station. You like to see +him, sah?" + +"Yes, I should like to have a minute's talk with him. Here is your +dollar." + +The waiter rang a bell, and a minute later the outdoor porter presented +himself. + +"You recommember taking some tings to station for a tall man with gray +goatee, Pomp?" the waiter asked. "It was more dan three weeks ago. I +tink he went before it was light in de morning. Me seem to remember +dat." + +The negro nodded. + +"Me remember him bery well, sah. Tree heavy boxes and one bag, and he +only gave me a quarter dollar for taking dem to de station. Mighty mean +man dat." + +"Do you know what train he went by?" + +"Yes, sah, it was de six o'clock train for de Souf." + +"You can't find out where his luggage was checked for?" + +"I can go down to station, sah, and see if I can find out. Some of de +men thar may remember." + +"Here is a dollar for yourself," Vincent said, "and another to give to +any of the men who can give you the news. When you have found out come +and tell me. Here is my card and address." + +"Bery well, sah. Next time me go up to station me find about it, for +sure, if anyone remember dat fellow." + +In the evening the negro called at the house and told Vincent that he +had ascertained that a man answering to his description, and having +luggage similar to that of Pearson, had had it checked to Florence in +South Carolina. + +Vincent now called Dan into his counsel and told him what he had +discovered. The young negro had already given proof of such intelligence +that he felt sure his opinion would be of value. + +"Dat all bery plain, sah," Dan said when Vincent finished his story. "Me +no doubt dat old rascal Jackson give money to Pearson to carry off de +gal. Ob course he did it just to take revenge upon Tony. Pearson he go +into de plot, because, in de fust place, it vex Missy Wingfield and you +bery much; in de second place, because Jackson gib him money; in de +third place, he get hold of negro slave worf a thousand dollar. Dat all +quite clear. He not do it himself, but arrange wid oder fellows, and he +stop quiet at de hotel for two days after she gone so dat no one can +'spect his having hand in de affair." + +"That is just how I make it out, Dan; and now he has gone off to join +them." + +Dan thought for some time. + +"Perhaps dey join him thar, sah, perhaps not; perhaps him send him +baggage on there and get out somewhere on de road and meet dem." + +"That is likely enough, Dan. No doubt Dinah was taken away in a cart or +buggy. As she left two days before he did, they may have gone from forty +to sixty miles along the road, or to some place where he may have joined +them. The men who carried her off may either have come back or gone on +with him. If they wanted to go South they would go on; if they did not, +he would probably have only hired them to carry her off and hand her +over to him when he overtook them. I will look at the time-table and see +where the train stops. It is a fast train I see," after consulting it. +"It stops at Petersburg, fifteen miles on, and at Hicks Ford, which is +about fifty miles. I should think the second place was most likely, as +the cart could easily have gone there in two days. Now, Dan, you had +better start to-morrow morning, and spend two days there, if necessary; +find out, if you can, if on the 20th of last month anyone noticed a +vehicle of any kind, with two rough-looking men in it, and with, +perhaps, a negro woman. She might not have been noticed, for she may +have been lying tied up in the bottom of the cart, although it is more +likely they frightened her by threats into sitting up quiet with them. +They are sure not to have stopped at any decent hotel, but will have +gone to some small place, probably just outside the town. + +"I will go with you to Mr. Renfrew the first thing in the morning and +get him to draw up a paper testifying that you are engaged in lawful +business, and are making inquiries with a view to discovering a crime +which has been committed, and recommending you to the assistance of the +police in any town you may go to. Then, if you go with that to the head +constable at Hicks Ford, he will tell you which are the places at which +such fellows as these would have been likely to put up for the night, +and perhaps send a policeman with you to make inquiries. If you get any +news, telegraph to me at once. I will start by the six o'clock train on +the following morning. Do you be on the platform to meet me, and we can +then either go straight on to Florence, or, should there be any +occasion, I will get out there; but I don't think that is likely. +Pearson himself will to a certainty, sooner or later, go to Florence to +get his luggage, and the only real advantage we shall get, if your +inquiries are successful, will be to find out for certain whether he is +concerned in the affair. We shall then only have to follow his traces +from Florence." + +Two days later Mr. Renfrew received a telegram from the head constable +at Hicks Ford: + + "The two men with cart spent day here, 20th ult. Were joined that + morning by another man--negro says Pearson. One man returned + afternoon, Richmond. Pearson and the other drove off in buggy. A + young negress and child were with them. Is there anything I can + do?" + +Mr. Renfrew telegraphed back to request that the men, who were kidnaping +the female slave, should if possible be traced, and the direction they +took ascertained. He then sent the message across to Vincent, who at +once went to his office. + +"Now," the lawyer said, "you must do nothing rashly in this business, +Vincent. They are at the best of times a pretty rough lot at the edge of +these Carolina swamps, and at present things are likely to be worse than +usual. If you were to go alone on such an errand you would almost +certainly be shot. In the first place these fellows would not give up a +valuable slave without a struggle; and, in the next place, they have +committed a very serious crime. Therefore it is absolutely necessary +that you should go armed with legal powers and backed by the force of +the law. In the first place, I will draw up an affidavit and sign it +myself, to the effect that a female slave, the property of Vincent +Wingfield, has, with her male child, been kidnaped and stolen by Jonas +Pearson and others, acting in association with him, and that we have +reason to know that she has been conveyed into South Carolina. This I +will get witnessed by a justice of the peace, and will then take it up +to the State House. There I will get the usual official request to the +Governor of South Carolina to issue orders that the aid of the law shall +be given to you in recovering the said Dinah Moore and her child, and +arresting her abductors. You will obtain an order to this effect from +the Governor, and armed with it you will, as soon as you have +discovered where the woman is, call upon the sheriff of the county to +aid you in recovering her and in arresting Pearson and his associates." + +"Thank you, sir. That will certainly be the best way. I run plenty of +risks in doing my duty as an officer of the State, and I have no desire +whatever to throw my life away at the hands of ruffians such as Pearson +and his allies." + +Two hours later Vincent received from Mr. Renfrew the official letter to +the Governor of South Carolina, and at six o'clock next morning started +for Florence. On the platform of the station at Hicks Ford Dan was +waiting for him. + +"Jump into the car at the end, Dan; I will come to you there, and you +can tell me all the news. We are going straight on to Columbia. Now, +Dan," Vincent went on when he joined him--for in no part of the United +States were negroes allowed to travel in any but the cars set apart for +them--"what is your news? The chief constable telegraphed that they had, +as we expected, been joined by Pearson here." + +"Yes, sah, dey war here for sure. When I got here I go straight to de +constable and tell him dat I was in search of two men who had kidnaped +Captain Wingfield's slave. De head constable he Richmond man, and ob +course knew all about de family; so he take de matter up at once and +send constable wid me to seberal places whar it likely dat the fellows +had put up, but we couldn't find nuffin about dem. Den next morning we +go out again to village four mile out of de town on de north road, and +dare we found sure 'nough dat two men, wid negro wench and chile, had +stopped dere. She seem bery unhappy and cry all de time. De men say dey +bought her at Richmond, and show de constable of de village de paper dat +dey had bought female slabe Sally Moore and her chile. De constable +speak to woman, but she seem frightened out of her life and no say +anyting. Dey drive off wid her early in de morning. Den make inquiries +again at de town and at de station. We find dat a man like Pearson get +out. He had only little hand-bag with him. He ask one of de men at de +station which was de way to de norf road. Den we find dat one of de +constables hab seen a horse and cart wid two men in it, with negro woman +and child. One of de men look like Yankee--dat what make him take notice +of it. We 'spose dat oder man went back to Richmond again." + +"That is all right, Dan, and you have done capitally. Now at Florence we +will take up the hunt. It is a long way down there; and if they drive +all the way, as I hope they will, it will take them a fortnight, so that +we shall have gained a good deal of time on them. The people at the +station are sure to remember the three boxes that lay there for so long +without being claimed. Of course they may have driven only till they got +fairly out of reach. Then they may either have sold the horse and cart, +or the fellow Pearson has with him may have driven it back. But I should +think they would most likely sell it. In that case they would not be +more than a week from the time they left Richmond to the time they took +train again for the South. However, whether they have got a fortnight or +three weeks' start of us will not make much difference. With the +description we can give of Pearson, and the fact that there was a +negress and child, and those three boxes, we ought to be able to trace +him." + +It was twelve at night when the train arrived at Florence. As nothing +could be done until next morning, Vincent went to an hotel. As soon as +the railway officials were likely to be at their offices he was at the +station again. The tip of a dollar secured the attention of the man in +the baggage room. + +"Three boxes and a black bag came on here a month ago, you say, and lay +here certainly four or five days--perhaps a good deal longer. Of course +I remember them. Stood up in that corner there. They had been checked +right through. I will look at the books and see what day they went. I +don't remember what sort of men fetched them away. Maybe I was busy at +the time, and my mate gave them out. However, I will look first and see +when they went. What day do you say they got here?" + +"They came by the train that left Richmond at six o'clock on the morning +of the 20th." + +"Then they got in late that night or early next morning. Ah, the train +was on time that day, and got in at half-past nine at night. Here they +are--three boxes and a bag, numbered 15,020, went out on the 28th. Yes, +that's right enough. Now I will just ask my mate if he remembers about +their going out." + +The other man was called. Oh, yes! he remembered quite well the three +boxes standing in the corner. They went out some time in the afternoon. +It was just after the train came in from Richmond. He noticed the man +that asked for them. He got him to help carry out the boxes and put them +into a cart. Yes, he remembered there was another man with him, and a +negress with a child. He wondered at the time what they were up to, but +supposed it was all right. Yes, he didn't mind trying to find out who +had hired out a cart for the job. Dare say he could find out by +to-morrow--at any rate he would try. Five dollars was worth earning, +anyway. + +Having put the matter in train, Vincent, leaving Dan at Florence, went +down at once to Charleston. Here, after twenty-four hours' delay, he +obtained a warrant for the arrest of Jonas Pearson and others on the +charge of kidnaping, and then returned to Florence. He found that the +railway man had failed in obtaining any information as to the cart, and +concluded it must have come in from the country on purpose to meet the +train. + +"At any rate," Vincent said, "it must be within a pretty limited range +of country. The railway makes a bend from Wilmington to this place and +then down to Charleston, so this is really the nearest station to only a +small extent of country." + +"That's so," the railway man said. He had heard from Dan a good deal +about the case, and had got thoroughly interested in it. "Either Marion +or Kingstree would be nearer, one way or the other, to most of the +swamp country. So it can't be as far as Conwayborough on the north, or +Georgetown on the south, and it must lie somewhere between Jeffries' +Creek and Lynch's Creek; anyhow it would be in Marion County--that's +pretty nigh sure. So, if I were you, I would take rail back to Marion +Courthouse, and see the sheriff there and have a talk over the matter +with him. You haven't got much to go upon, because this man you are +after has been away from here a good many years and won't be known; +besides, likely enough he went by some other name down here. Anyhow, the +sheriff can put you up to the roads and the best way of going about the +job." + +"I think that would be the best way," Vincent said. "We shall be able to +see the county map, too, and to learn all the geography of the place." + +"You have got your six-shooters with you, I suppose, because you are +likely as not to have to use them?" + +"Yes, we have each got a Colt; and as I have had a good deal of +practice, it would be awkward for Pearson if he gives me occasion to use +it." + +"After what I hear of the matter," the man said, "I should say your best +plan is just to shoot him at sight. It's what would serve him right. You +bet there will be no fuss over it. It will save you a lot of trouble +anyway." + +Vincent laughed. + +"My advice is good," the man went on earnestly. "They are a rough lot +down there, and hang together. You will have to do it sudden, whatever +you do, or you will get the hull neighborhood up agin you." + +On reaching Marion Courthouse they sought out the sheriff, produced the +warrant signed by the State authority, and explained the whole +circumstances. + +"I am ready to aid you in any way I can," the sheriff said when he +concluded; "but the question is, where has the fellow got to? You see he +may be anywhere in this tract," and he pointed out a circle on the map +of the county that hung against the wall. "That is about fifty mile +across, and a pretty nasty spot, I can tell you. There are wide swamps +on both sides of the creek, and rice grounds and all sorts. There aint +above three or four villages altogether, but there may be two or three +hundred little plantations scattered about, some big and some little. We +haven't got anything to guide us in the slightest; not a thing, as I can +see." + +"The man who was working under Pearson, when he was with us, told me he +had got the notion that he had had to leave on account of some trouble +here. Possibly that might afford a clew." + +"It might do so," the sheriff said. "When did he come to you?" + +"I think it was when I was six or seven years old. That would be about +twelve or thirteen years ago; but, of course, he may not have come +direct to us after leaving here." + +"We can look, anyway," the sheriff said, and, opening a chest, he took +out a number of volumes containing the records of his predecessors. +"Twelve years ago! Well, this is the volume. Now, Captain Wingfield, I +have got some other business in hand that will take me a couple of +hours. I will leave you out this volume and the one before it and the +one after it, and if you like to go through them you may come across the +description of some man that agrees with that of the man you are in +search of." + +It took Vincent two hours and a half to go through the volume, but he +met with no description answering to that of Pearson. + +"I will go through the first six months of the next year," he said to +himself, taking up that volume, "and the last six months of the year +before." + +The second volume yielded no better result, and he then turned back to +the first of the three books. Beginning in July, he read steadily on +until he came to December. Scarcely had he begun the record of that +month when he uttered an exclamation of satisfaction. + +"December the 2d.--Information laid against a gang at Porter's station, +near Lynch's Creek. Charged with several robberies and murders in +different parts of the country. Long been suspected of having stills in +the swamps. Gang consists of four besides Porter himself. Names of gang, +Jack Haverley, Jim Corben, and John and James Porter. Ordered out posse +to start to-morrow." + +"December 5th.--Returned from Porter's Station. Surprised the gang. They +resisted. Haverley, Corben, and Jas. Porter shot. John Porter escaped, +and took to the swamp. Four of posse wounded; one, William Hannay, +killed. Circulated description of John Porter through the country. Tall +and lean; when fifteen years old shot a man in a brawl, and went North. +Has been absent thirteen years. Assumed the appearance of a Northern man +and speaks with the Yankee twang. Father was absent at the time of +attack. Captured three hours after. Declares he knows nothing about +doings of the gang. Haverley and Corben were friends of his sons. Came +and went when they liked. Will be tried on the 15th." + +On the 16th there was another entry: + +"William Porter sentenced to three years' imprisonment for giving +shelter to a gang of robbers. Evidence wanting to show he took any +actual part in their crimes." + +The sheriff had been in and out several times during the five hours that +Vincent's search had taken up. When he returned again Vincent pointed +out the entry he had found. + +"I should not be at all surprised if that's our man," the sheriff said. +"I know old Porter well, for he is still alive and bears a pretty bad +reputation still, though we have never been able to bring him to book. I +remember all the circumstances of that affair, for I served upon the +posse. While Porter was in prison his house was kept for him by a +married daughter and her husband. There was a strong suspicion that the +man was one of the gang too, but we couldn't prove it. They have lived +there ever since. They have got five or six field hands, and are said to +be well off. We have no doubt they have got a still somewhere in the +swamps, but we have never been able to find it. I will send a man off +to-morrow to make inquiries whether any stranger has arrived there +lately. Of course, Pearson will not have kept that name, and he will not +have appeared as John Porter, for he would be arrested on a fresh +warrant at once for his share in that former business. I think, Captain +Wingfield, you had better register at the hotel here under some other +name. I don't suppose that he has any fear of being tracked here; still +it is just possible his father may have got somebody here and at +Florence to keep their eyes open and let him know if there are any +inquiries being made by strangers about a missing negress. One cannot be +too careful. If he got the least hint, his son and the woman would be +hidden away in the swamps before we could get there, and there would be +no saying when we could find him." + +Vincent took the sheriff's advice, and entered his name in the hotel +books as Mr. Vincent. Late in the evening the sheriff came round to him. + +"I have just sent summonses to six men. I would rather have had two or +three more, but young men are very scarce around here now; and as with +you and myself that brings it up to eight that ought to be sufficient, +as these fellows will have no time to summon any of their friends to +their assistance. Have you a rifle, Captain Wingfield?" + +"No; I have a brace of revolvers." + +"They are useful enough for close work," the sheriff said, "but if they +see us coming, and barricade their house and open fire upon us, you will +want something that carries further than a revolver. I can lend you a +rifle as well as a horse, if you will accept them." + +Vincent accepted the offer with thanks. The next morning at daylight he +went round to the sheriff's house, where six determined-looking men, +belonging to the town or neighboring farms, were assembled. Slinging the +rifle that the sheriff handed him across his back, Vincent at once +mounted, and the party set off at a brisk trot. + +"My man came back half an hour ago," the sheriff said to Vincent as they +rode along. "He found out that a man answering to your description +arrived with another at Porter's about a fortnight ago, and is staying +there still. Whether they brought a negress with them or not no one +seems to have noticed. However, there is not a shadow of doubt that it +is our man, and I shall be heartily glad to lay hold of him; for a +brother of mine was badly wounded in that last affair, and though he +lived some years afterward he was never the same man again. So I have a +personal interest in it, you see." + +"How far is it to Porter's?" + +"About thirty-five miles. We shall get there about two o'clock, I +reckon. We are all pretty well mounted and can keep at this pace, with a +break or two, till we get there. I propose that we dismount when we get +within half a mile of the place. We will try and get hold of someone who +knows the country well, and get him to lead three of us round through +the edge of the swamp to the back of the house. It stands within fifty +yards of the swamp. I have no doubt they put it there so that they might +escape if pressed, and also to prevent their being observed going +backward and forward to that still of theirs." + +This plan was followed out. A negro lad was found who, on the promise of +a couple of dollars, agreed to act as guide. Three of the party were +then told off to follow him, and the rest, after waiting for half an +hour to allow them to make the detour, mounted their horses and rode +down at a gallop to the house. When they were within a short distance of +it they heard a shout, and a man who was lounging near the door ran +inside. Almost instantly they saw the shutters swing back across the +windows, and when they drew up, fifty yards from the door, the barrels +of four rifles were pushed out through slits in the shutters. + +The sheriff held up his hand. "William Porter, I want a word with you." + +A shutter in an upper room opened, and an elderly man appeared with a +rifle in his hand. + +"William Porter," the sheriff said, "I have a warrant for the arrest of +two men now in your house on the charge of kidnaping a female slave, the +property of Captain Wingfield here. I have no proof that you had any +share in the matter, or that you were aware that the slave was not +honestly obtained. In the second place, I have a warrant for the arrest +of your son John Porter, now in your house and passing, recently, under +the name of Jonas Pearson, on the charge of resisting and killing the +officers of the law on the 5th of December, 1851. I counsel you to hand +over these men to me without resistance. You know what happened when +your sons defied the law before, and what will happen now if you refuse +compliance." + +"Yah!" the old man shouted. "Do you suppose we are going to give in to +five men? Not if we know it. Now, I warn you, move yourself off while I +let you; else you will get a bullet in you before I count three." + +"Very well, then. You must take the consequences," the sheriff replied, +and at once called the party to fall back. + +"We must dismount," he said in answer to Vincent's look of surprise. +"They would riddle us here on horseback in the open. Besides, we must +dismount to break in the door." + +They rode back a quarter of a mile, and then dismounted. The sheriff +took two heavy axes that hung from his saddle, and handed them to two of +the men. + +"I reckon we shall have trouble," he said. "However, I hope we shan't +have to use these. My idea is to crawl up through the cornfield until we +are within shooting distance, and then to open fire at the loopholes. +They have never taken the trouble to grub up the stumps, and each man +must look out for shelter. I want to make it so hot for them that they +will try to bolt to the swamp, and in that case they will be covered by +the men there. I told them not to fire until they got quite close; so +they ought to dispose of three of them, and as they have got pistols +they will be able to master the others; besides, when we hear firing +behind, we shall jump up and make a rush round. Do you, sir, and James +Wilkins here, stop in front. Two of them might make a rush out behind, +and the others, when they have drawn us off, bolt in front." + +Several shots were fired at the party as they made their way across to +the end of the field, where the tall stalks of maize were still +standing, though the corn had been gathered weeks before. As soon as +they reached the shelter they separated, each crawling through the maize +until they arrived within fifty yards of the house. There were, as the +sheriff had said, many stumps still standing, and each ensconced himself +behind one of these, and began to reply to the fire that the defenders +kept up whenever they saw a movement among the cornstalks. + +At such a distance the shutters were but of slight advantage to the +defenders of the house; for the assailants were all good shots, and the +loopholes afforded excellent targets at such a distance. After a few +shots had been fired from the house the fire of the defenders ceased, +the men within not daring to protrude the rifles through the loopholes, +as every such appearance was instantly followed by a couple of shots +from the corn patch. + +"Give me one of those axes," the sheriff said. "Now, Withers, do you +make a rush with me to the door. Get your rifle loaded before you start, +and have your revolver handy in your belt. Now, Captain Wingfield, do +you and the other two keep a sharp lookout at the loopholes, and see +that they don't get a shot at us as we run. Now, Withers!" and the +sheriff ran forward. Two rifles were protruded through the loopholes. +Vincent and his companions fired at once. One of the rifles gave a +sharp jerk and disappeared, the other was fired, and Withers dropped his +ax, but still ran forward. The sheriff began an onslaught at the door, +his companion's right arm being useless. A minute later the sharp crack +of rifles was heard in the rear, and the sheriff and two men rushed in +that direction, while Vincent and the other lay watching the door. +Scarcely had the sheriff's party disappeared round the house when the +door was thrown open, and Pearson ran out at full speed. Vincent leaped +to his feet. + +"Surrender," he said, "or you are a dead man!" + +Jonas paused for a moment with a loud imprecation, and then, leveling a +revolver, fired. Vincent felt a moment's pain in the cheek, but before +he could level his rifle his companion fired, and Pearson fell forward +dead. A minute later the sheriff and his party ran round. + +"Have you got him?" he asked. + +"He will give no more trouble, sheriff," the young man who fired said. +"I fancy I had him plum between the eyes. How about the others?" + +"Dick Matheson is killed; he got two bullets in his body. The other man +is badly wounded. There are no signs of old Porter." + +They now advanced to the door, which stood open. As the sheriff entered +there was a sharp report, and he fell back, shot through the heart. The +rest made a rush forward. Another shot was fired, but this missed them, +and before it could be repeated they had wrested the pistol from the +hand of Matheson's wife. She was firmly secured, and they then entered +the kitchen, where, crouched upon the floor, lay seven or eight negro +men and women in an agony of terror. Vincent's question, "Dinah, where +are you?" was answered by a scream of delight; and Dinah, who had been +covering her child with her body, leaped to her feet. + +"It's all right, Dinah," Vincent said; "but stay here, we haven't +finished this business yet." + +"I fancy the old man's upstairs," one of the men said. "It was his +rifle, I reckon, that disappeared when we fired." + +It was as he expected. Porter was found dead behind the loophole, a +bullet having passed through his brain. The deputy sheriff, who was with +the party, now took the command. A cart and horse were found in an +out-building; in these the wounded man, who was one of those who had +taken part in the abduction of Dinah, was placed, together with the +female prisoner and the dead body of the sheriff. The negroes were told +to follow; and the horses having been fetched, the party mounted and +rode off to the next village, five miles on their way back. Here they +halted for the night, and the next day they went on to Marion +Courthouse, Vincent hiring a cart for the conveyance of Dinah and the +other women. It was settled that Vincent's attendance at the trial of +the two prisoners would not be necessary, as the man would be tried for +armed resistance to the law, and the woman for murdering the sheriff. +The facts could be proved by other witnesses, and as there could be no +doubt about obtaining convictions, it would be unnecessary to try the +charge against the man for kidnaping. Next day, accordingly, Vincent +started with Dinah and Dan for Richmond. Two months afterward he saw in +the paper that Jane Matheson had been sentenced to imprisonment for +life, the man to fourteen years. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +CHANCELLORSVILLE. + + +The news of the fight between the sheriff's posse and the band at +Lynch's Creek was telegraphed to the Richmond papers by their local +agent upon the day after it occurred. The report said that Captain +Wingfield, a young officer who had frequently distinguished himself, had +followed the traces of a gang one of whom was a notorious criminal who +had evaded the pursuit of the law and escaped from that section fifteen +years ago, and had, under an assumed name, been acting as overseer at +Mrs. Wingfield's estate of the Orangery. These men had carried off a +negress belonging to Mrs. Wingfield, and had taken her South. Captain +Wingfield, having obtained the assistance of the sheriff with a posse of +determined men, rode to the place which served as headquarters of the +gang. Upon being summoned to surrender, the men opened fire upon the +sheriff and his posse. A sharp fight ensued, in which the sheriff was +killed and one of his men wounded; while the four members of the gang +were either killed or taken prisoners. It was reported that a person +occupying a position as a planter in the neighborhood of Richmond is +connected with this gang. + +The reporter had obtained his news from Vincent, who had purposely +refrained from mentioning the names of those who had fallen. He had +already had a conversation with the wounded prisoner. The latter had +declared that he had simply acted in the affair as he had been paid to +do by the man he knew in Richmond as Pearson, who told him that he +wanted him to aid in carrying off a slave woman, who was really his +property, but had been fraudulently taken from him. He had heard him say +that there was another interested in the affair, who had his own reasons +for getting the woman out of the way, and had paid handsomely for the +job. Who that other was Pearson had never mentioned. + +Vincent saw that he had no absolute evidence against Jackson, and +therefore purposely suppressed the fact that Pearson was among the +killed in hopes that the paragraph would so alarm Jackson that he would +at once decamp. His anticipations were entirely justified; for upon the +day of his return to Richmond he saw a notice in the paper that the +Cedars, with its field hands, houses, and all belonging to it, was for +sale. He proceeded at once to the estate agent, and learned from him +that Jackson had come in two days before and had informed him that +sudden and important business had called him away, and that he was +starting at once for New York, where his presence was urgently required, +and that he should attempt to get through the lines immediately. He had +asked him what he thought the property and slaves would fetch. Being +acquainted with the estate, he had given him a rough estimate, and had, +upon Jackson's giving him full powers to sell, advanced him two-thirds +of the sum. Jackson had apparently started at once; indeed, he had told +him that he should take the next train as far North as he could get. + +Vincent received the news with great satisfaction. He had little doubt +that Jackson had really made down to the South, and that he would try to +cross the lines there, his statement that he intended to go direct North +being merely intended to throw his pursuers off his track should a +warrant be issued against him. However, it mattered little which way +Jackson had gone, so that he had left the State. There was little chance +of his ever returning; for even when he learned that his confederate in +the business had been killed in the fight, he could not be certain that +the prisoner who had been taken was not aware of the share he had in the +business. + +A fortnight later Vincent went down into Georgia and brought back Lucy +Kingston for a visit to his mother. She had already received a letter +from her father in reply to one she had written after reaching her +aunts' protection, saying how delighted he was to hear that she had +crossed the lines, for that he had suffered the greatest anxiety +concerning her and had continually reproached himself for not sending +her away sooner. He said he was much pleased with her engagement to +Captain Wingfield, whom he did not know personally, but of whom he heard +the most favorable reports from various Virginia gentlemen to whom he +had spoken since the receipt of her letter. + +Lucy remained at Richmond until the beginning of March, when Vincent +took her home to Georgia again, and a week after his return rejoined the +army on the Rappahannock. Every effort had been made by the Confederate +authorities to raise the army of General Lee to a point that would +enable him to cope with the tremendous force the enemy were collecting +for the ensuing campaign. The drain of men was now telling terribly, and +Lee had at the utmost 40,000 to oppose the 160,000 collected under +General Hooker. + +The first fight of the campaign had already taken place when Vincent +rejoined the army. A body of 3000 Federal cavalry had crossed the river +on the 17th of March, at Kelly's Ford, but had been met by General Fitz +Lee with about 800 cavalry, and after a long and stubborn conflict had +been driven back with heavy loss across the river. It was not until the +middle of April that the enemy began to move in earnest. Every ford was +watched by Stuart's cavalry, and the frequent attempts made by the +Federal horse to push across to obtain information were always defeated. + +On the 27th of April General Hooker's preparations were complete. His +plan of action was that 20,000 men should cross the river near the old +battlefield of Fredericksburg, and thus lead the Confederates to believe +that this was the point of attack. The main body were, however, to cross +at Kelly's Ford, many miles higher up the river, and to march down +toward Fredericksburg. The other force was then to recross, march up the +river, cross at Kelly's Ford, and follow and join the main army. At the +same time the Federal cavalry, which was very numerous and +well-organized, was, under General Stoneman, to strike down through the +country toward Richmond, and thus cut the Confederate communication with +their capital, and so prevent Longstreet's division, which was lying +near Richmond, from rejoining Lee. + +The passage of the river was effected at the two fords without +resistance on the 29th of April, and upon the same day the cavalry +column marched South. General Lee directed a portion of his cavalry +under General Fitz Lee to harass and delay this column as much as +possible. Although he had with him but a few hundred men he succeeded in +doing good service in cutting off detached bodies of the enemy, +capturing many officers and men, and so demoralizing the invaders that, +after pushing on as far as the James River, Stoneman had to retreat in +great haste across the Rapidan River. + +Hooker, having crossed the river, marched on to Chancellorsville, where +he set to to intrench himself, having sent word to General Sedgwick, who +commanded the force that had crossed near Fredericksburg, to recross, +push round, and join him as soon as possible. Chancellorsville was a +large brick mansion standing in the midst of fields surrounded by +extensive forests. The country was known as the Wilderness. Within a +range of many miles there were only a few scattered houses, and dense +thickets and pine-woods covered the whole country. Two narrow roads +passed through the woods, crossing each other at Chancellorsville; two +other roads led to the fords known as Ely's Ford and the United States +Ford. As soon as he reached Chancellorsville Hooker set his troops to +work cutting down trees and throwing up earthworks for infantry and +redoubts for artillery, erecting a double line of defenses. On these he +mounted upward of a hundred pieces of artillery, commanding the narrow +roads by which an enemy must approach, for the thickets were in many +places so dense as to render it impossible for troops to force their way +through them. + +When Sedgwick crossed the river, Lee drew up his army to oppose him; but +finding that no more troops crossed, and that Sedgwick did not advance, +he soon came to the conclusion this was not the point at which the enemy +intended to attack, and in twenty-four hours one of Stuart's horsemen +brought the news that Hooker had crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's +Ford and the Rapidan at Ely's Ford. Lee at once left one division to +face General Sedgwick, and ordered the three others to join General +Anderson, who with 8000 men had fallen back before Hooker's advance, and +taken his post at Tabernacle Church, about halfway between +Fredericksburg and Tabernacle. Lee himself rode forward at once and +joined Anderson. + +Jackson led the force from Fredericksburg, and pressed the enemy back +toward Chancellorsville until he approached the tremendous lines of +fortifications, and then fell back to communicate with Lee. That night a +council of war was held, and it was agreed that an attack upon the front +of the enemy's position was absolutely impossible. Hooker himself was so +positive that his position was impregnable that he issued a general +order of congratulation to his troops, saying that "the enemy must now +ingloriously fly or give us battle on our own ground, where certain +destruction awaits him." + +Jackson then suggested that he should work right round the Wilderness in +front of the enemy's position, march down until well on its flank, and +attack it there, where they would be unprepared for an assault. The +movement was one of extraordinary peril. Lee would be left with but one +division in face of an immensely superior force; Jackson would have to +perform an arduous march, exposed to an attack by the whole force of the +enemy; and both might be destroyed separately without being able to +render the slightest assistance to each other. At daybreak on the 2d of +May Jackson mustered his troops for the advance. He had in the course of +the night caught a severe cold. In the hasty march he had left his +blankets behind him. One of his staff threw a heavy cape over him as he +lay on the wet ground. During the night Jackson woke, and thinking that +the young officer might himself be suffering from the want of his cape, +rose quietly, spread the cape over him, and lay down without it. The +consequence was a severe cold, which terminated in an attack of +pneumonia that, occurring at a time when he was enfeebled by his wounds, +resulted in his death. If he had not thrown that cape over the officer +it is probable that he would have survived his wounds. + +At daybreak the column commenced its march. It had to traverse a narrow +and unfrequented road through dense thickets, occasionally crossing +ground in sight of the enemy, and at the end to attack a tremendous +position held by immensely superior forces. Stuart with his cavalry +moved on the flank of the column whenever the ground was open, so as to +conceal the march of the infantry from the enemy. As the rear of the +column passed a spot called the Furnace, the enemy suddenly advanced and +cut off the 23d Georgia, who were in the rear of the column, and +captured the whole regiment with the exception of a score of men. At +this point the road turned almost directly away from Chancellorsville, +and the enemy believed that the column was in full retreat, and had not +the least idea of its real object. + +So hour after hour the troops pressed on until they reached the turnpike +road passing east and went through Chancellorsville, which now lay +exactly between them and the point that they had left in the morning. +Jackson's design was to advance upon this line of road, to extend his +troops to the left and then to swing round, cut the enemy's retreat to +the fords, and capture them all. Hooker had already been joined by two +of Sedgwick's army corps, and had now six army corps at +Chancellorsville, while Jackson's force consisted of 22,000 men. Lee +remained with 13,000 at Tabernacle. The latter general had not been +attacked, but had continued to make demonstrations against the Federal +left, occupying their attention and preventing them from discovering how +large a portion of his force had left him. + +It was at five o'clock in the evening that Jackson's troops, having +gained their position, advanced to the attack. In front of them lay +Howard's division of the Federals, intrenched in strong earthworks +covered by felled trees; but the enemy were altogether unsuspicious of +danger, and it was not until with tumultuous cheers the Confederates +dashed through the trees and attacked the intrenchment that they had any +suspicion of their presence. They ran to their arms, but it was too +late. The Confederates rushed through the obstacles, climbed the +earthworks, and carried those in front of them, capturing 700 prisoners +and five guns. The rest of the Federal troops here, throwing away +muskets and guns, fled in wild confusion. Steadily the Confederates +pressed on, driving the enemy before them, and capturing position after +position, until the whole right wing of the Federal army was routed and +disorganized. For three hours the Confederates continued their march +without a check; but owing to the denseness of the wood, and the +necessity of keeping the troops in line, the advance was slow, and night +fell before the movement could be completed. One more hour of daylight +and the whole Federal army would have been cut off and captured, but by +eight o'clock the darkness in the forest was so complete that all +movement had to be stopped. + +Half an hour later one of the saddest incidents of the war took place. +General Jackson with a few of his staff went forward to reconnoiter. As +he returned toward his lines, his troops in the dark mistook them for a +reconnoitering party of the enemy and fired, killing or wounding the +whole of them, General Jackson receiving three balls. The enemy, who +were but a hundred yards distant, at once opened a tremendous fire with +grape toward the spot, and it was some time before Jackson could be +carried off the field. The news that their beloved general was wounded +was for some time kept from the troops; but a whisper gradually spread, +and the grief of his soldiers was unbounded, for rather would they have +suffered a disastrous defeat than that Stonewall Jackson should have +fallen. + +General Stuart assumed the command; General Hill, who was second in +command, having, with many other officers, been wounded by the +tremendous storm of grape and canister that the Federals poured through +the wood when they anticipated an attack. At daybreak the troops again +moved forward in three lines, Stuart placing his thirty guns on a slight +ridge, where they could sweep the lines of the Federal defenses. Three +times the position was won and lost; but the Confederates fought with +such fury and resolution, shouting each time they charged the Federal +ranks, "Remember Jackson," that the enemy gradually gave way, and by ten +o'clock Chancellorsville itself was taken, the Federals being driven +back into the forest between the house and the river. + +[Illustration: Map--THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE May 2nd. & 3rd. 1863.] + +Lee had early in the morning begun to advance from his side to the +attack, but just as he was moving forward the news came that Sedgwick +had recrossed at Fredericksburg, captured a portion of the Confederate +force there, and was advancing to join Hooker. Lee at once sent two of +his three little divisions to join the Confederates who were opposing +Sedgwick's advance, while, with the three or four thousand men remaining +to him, he all day made feigned attacks upon the enemy's position, +occupying their attention there, and preventing them from sending +re-enforcements to the troops engaged with Stuart. At night he himself +hurried away, took the command of the troops opposed to Sedgwick, +attacked him vigorously at daybreak, and drove him with heavy loss back +across the river. The next day he marched back with his force to join in +the final attack upon the Federals; but when the troops of Stuart and +Lee moved forward they encountered no opposition. Hooker had begun to +carry his troops across the river on the night he was hurled back out of +Chancellorsville, and the rest of his troops had crossed on the two +following nights. + +General Hooker issued a pompous order to his troops, after getting +across the river, to the effect that the movement had met with the +complete success he had anticipated from it; but the truth soon leaked +out. General Sedgwick's force had lost 6000 men, Hooker's own command +fully 20,000 more; but splendid as the success was, it was dearly +purchased by the Confederates at the price of the life of Stonewall +Jackson. His arm was amputated the day after the battle; he lived for a +week, and died not so much from the effect of his wound as from the +pneumonia, the result of his exposure to the heavy dew on the night +preceding his march through the Wilderness. + +During the two days' fighting Vincent Wingfield had discharged his +duties upon General Stuart's staff. On the first day the work had been +slight, for General Stuart, with the cannon, remained in the rear, while +Jackson's infantry attacked and carried the Federal intrenchments. Upon +the second day, however, when Stuart assumed the command, Vincent's +duties had been onerous and dangerous in the extreme. He was constantly +carrying orders from one part of the field to the other, amid such a +shower of shot and shell that it seemed marvelous that anyone could +exist within it. To his great grief Wildfire was killed under him, but +he himself escaped without a scratch. When he came afterward to try to +describe the battle to those at home, he could give no account of it. + +"To me," he said, "it was simply a chaos of noise and confusion. Of what +was going on I knew nothing. The din was appalling. The roar of the +shells, the hum of grape and canister, the whistle of bullets, the +shouts of men, formed a mighty roar that seemed to render thinking +impossible. Showers of leaves fell incessantly, great boughs of trees +were shorn away, and trees themselves sometimes came crashing down as a +trunk was struck full by a shell. The undergrowth had caught fire, and +the thick smoke, mingled with that of the battle, rendered it difficult +to see or to breathe. I had but one thought, that of making my way +through the trees, of finding the corps to which I was sent, of +delivering my message, and finding the general again. No, I don't think +I had much thought of danger, the whole thing was somehow so tremendous +that one had no thought whatever for one's self. It was a sort of +terrible dream, in which one was possessed of the single idea to get to +a certain place. It was not till at last we swept across the open ground +down to the house, that I seemed to take any distinct notice of what was +going on around me. Then, for the first time, the exulting shouts of the +men, and the long lines advancing at the double, woke me up to the fact +that we had gained one of the most wonderful victories in history, and +had driven an army of four or five times our own strength from a +position that they believed they had made impregnable." + +The defeat of Hooker for a time put a stop to any further advance +against Richmond from the North. The Federal troops whose term of +service was up returned home, and it was months before all the efforts +of the authorities of Washington could place the army in a condition to +make a renewed advance. But the Confederates had also suffered heavily. +A third of the force with which Jackson had attacked had fallen, and +their loss could not be replaced, as the Confederates were forced to +send everyone they could raise to the assistance of the armies in the +West, where Generals Banks and Grant were carrying on operations with +great success against them. The important town of Vicksburg, which +commanded the navigation of the Mississippi, was besieged, and after a +resistance lasting for some months, surrendered, with its garrison of +25,000 men, on the 3d of July, and the Federal gunboats were thus able +to penetrate the Mississippi and its confluents into the heart of the +Confederacy. + +Shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville Vincent was appointed to +the command of a squadron of cavalry that was detached from Stuart's +force and sent down to Richmond to guard the capital from any raids by +bodies of Federal cavalry. It had been two or three times menaced by +flying bodies of horsemen, and during the cavalry advance before the +battle of Chancellorsville small parties had penetrated to within three +miles of the city, cutting all the telegraph wires, pulling up the +rails, and causing the greatest terror. Vincent was not sorry for the +change. It took him away from the great theater of the war, but after +Chancellorsville he felt no eager desire to take part in future battles. +His duties would keep him near his home, and would give ample scope for +the display of watchfulness, dash, and energy. Consequently he took no +part in the campaign that commenced in the first week in June. + +Tired of standing always on the defensive, the Confederate authorities +determined to carry out the step that had been so warmly advocated by +Jackson earlier in the war, and which might at that time have brought it +to a successful termination. They decided to carry the war into the +enemy's country. By the most strenuous efforts Lee's army was raised to +75,000 men, divided into three great army corps, commanded by +Longstreet, Ewell, and Hill. Striking first into Virginia, they drove +the Federals from Winchester, and chased them from the State with the +loss of nearly 4000 prisoners and thirty guns. Then they entered +Maryland and Pennsylvania, and concentrating at Gettysburg they met the +Northern army under Meade, who had succeeded Hooker. Although great +numbers of the Confederates had seen their homes wasted and their +property wantonly destroyed, they preserved the most perfect order in +their march through the North, and the Federals themselves testify to +the admirable behavior of the troops, and to the manner in which they +abstained from plundering or inflicting annoyance upon the inhabitants. + +At Gettysburg there was three days' fighting. In the first a portion +only of the forces were engaged, the Federals being defeated and 5000 of +their men taken prisoners. Upon the second the Confederates attacked the +Northerners, who were posted in an extremely strong position, but were +repulsed with heavy loss. The following day they renewed the attack, but +after tremendous fighting again failed to carry the height. Both parties +were utterly exhausted. Lee drew up his troops the next day, and invited +an attack from the Federals; but contented with the success they had +gained they maintained their position, and the Confederates then fell +back, Stuart's cavalry protecting the immense trains of wagons loaded +with the stores and ammunition captured in Pennsylvania. + +But little attempt was made by the Northerners to interfere with their +retreat. On reaching the Potomac, they found that a sudden rise had +rendered the fords impassable. Intrenchments and batteries were thrown +up, and for a week the Confederate army held the lines, expecting an +attack from the enemy, who had approached within two miles; but the +Federal generals were too well satisfied with having gained a success, +when acting on the defensive in a strong position, to risk a defeat in +attacking the position of the Confederates, and their forces remained +impassive until pontoon bridges were thrown across the river, and the +Confederate army, with their vast baggage train, had again crossed into +Virginia. The campaign had cost the Northern army 23,000 men in killed, +wounded, and prisoners, besides a considerable number of guns. The +Confederates lost only two guns, left behind in the mud, and 1500 +prisoners, but their loss in killed and wounded at Gettysburg exceeded +10,000 men. Even the most sanguine among the ranks of the Confederacy +were now conscious that the position was a desperate one. The Federal +armies seemed to spring from the ground. Strict discipline had taken +the place of the disorder and insubordination that had first prevailed +in their ranks. The armies were splendidly equipped. They were able to +obtain any amount of the finest guns, rifles, and ammunition of war from +the workshops of Europe; while the Confederates, cut off from the world, +had to rely solely upon the make-shift factories they had set up, and +upon the guns and stores they captured from the enemy. + +The Northerners had now, as a blow to the power of the South, abolished +slavery, and were raising regiments of negroes from among the free +blacks of the North, and from the slaves they took from their owners +wherever their armies penetrated the Southern States. Most of the +Confederate ports had been either captured or were so strictly blockaded +that it was next to impossible for the blockade-runners to get in or +out, while the capture of the forts on the Mississippi enabled them to +use the Federal flotillas of gunboats to the greatest advantage, and to +carry their armies into the center of the Confederacy. + +Still, there was no talk whatever of surrender on the part of the South, +and, indeed, the decree abolishing slavery, and still more the action of +the North in raising black regiments, excited the bitterest feeling of +animosity and hatred. The determination to fight to the last, whatever +came of it, animated every white man in the Southern States, and, +although deeply disappointed with the failure of Lee's invasion of the +North, the only result was to incite them to greater exertions and +sacrifices. In the North an act authorizing conscription was passed in +1863, but the attempt to carry it into force caused a serious riot in +New York, which was only suppressed after many lives had been lost and +the city placed under martial law. + +While the guns of Gettysburg were still thundering, a Federal army of +18,000 men under General Gillmore, assisted by the fleet, had laid siege +to Charleston. It was obstinately attacked and defended. The siege +continued until the 5th of September, when Fort Wagner was captured; but +all attempts to take Fort Sumter and the town of Charleston itself +failed, although the city suffered greatly from the bombardment. In +Tennessee there was severe fighting in the autumn, and two desperate +battles were fought at Chickamauga on the 19th and 20th of September, +General Bragg, who commanded the Confederate army there, being +reinforced by Longstreet's veterans from the army of Virginia. After +desperate fighting the Federals were defeated, and thirty-six guns and +vast quantities of arms captured by the Confederates. The fruits of the +victory, however, were very slight, as General Bragg refused to allow +Longstreet to pursue, and so to convert the Federal retreat into a rout, +and the consequence was that this victory was more than balanced by a +heavy defeat inflicted upon them in November at Chattanooga by Sherman +and Grant. At this battle General Longstreet's division was not present. + +The army of Virginia had a long rest after their return from Gettysburg, +and it was not until November that the campaign was renewed. Meade +advanced, a few minor skirmishes took place, and then, when he reached +the Wilderness, the scene of Hooker's defeat, where Lee was prepared to +give battle, he fell back again across the Rappahannock. + +The year had been an unfortunate one for the Confederates. They had lost +Vicksburg, and the defeat at Chattanooga had led to the whole State of +Tennessee falling into the hands of the Federals, while against these +losses there was no counterbalancing success to be reckoned. + +In the spring of 1864 both parties prepared to the utmost for the +struggle. General Grant, an officer who had shown in the campaign in the +West that he possessed considerable military ability, united with +immense firmness and determination of purpose, was chosen as the new +commander-in-chief of the whole military force of the North. It was a +mighty army, vast in numbers, lavishly provided with all materials of +war. The official documents show that on the 1st of May the total +military forces of the North amounted to 662,000 men. Of these the force +available for the advance against Richmond numbered 284,630 men. This +included the Army of the Potomac, that of the James River, and the army +in the Shenandoah Valley--the whole of whom were in readiness to move +forward against Richmond at the orders of Grant. + +To oppose these General Lee had less than 53,000 men, including the +garrison of Richmond and the troops in North Carolina. Those stationed +in the seaport towns numbered in all another 20,000; so that, if every +available soldier had been brought up, Lee could have opposed a total of +but 83,000 men against the 284,000 invaders. + +In the West the numbers were more equally balanced. General Sherman, who +commanded the army of invasion there, had under his orders 230,000 men, +but as more than half this force was required to protect the long lines +of communication and to keep down the conquered States, he was able to +bring into the field for offensive operations 99,000 men, who were faced +by the Confederate army under Johnston of 58,000 men. Grant's scheme was +that, while the armies of the North were, under his own command, to +march against Richmond, the Army of the West was to invade Georgia and +march upon Atlanta. + +His plan of action was simple, and was afterward stated by himself to be +as follows: "I determined first to use the greatest number of troops +practicable against the main force of the enemy, preventing him from +using the same force at different seasons against first one and then +another of our armies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and +producing necessary supplies for carrying on resistance. Second, to +hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his +resources, until, by mere attrition if in no other way, there should be +nothing left to him but submission." + +This was a terrible programme, and involved an expenditure of life far +beyond anything that had taken place. Grant's plan, in fact, was to +fight and to keep on fighting, regardless of his own losses, until at +last the Confederate army, whose losses could not be replaced, melted +away. It was a strategy that few generals have dared to practice, fewer +still to acknowledge. + +On the 4th of May the great Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan and +advanced toward Chancellorsville. Lee moved two divisions of his army to +oppose them. Next morning the battle began at daybreak on the old ground +where Lee had defeated Hooker the year before. All day long the division +of Ewell supported the attack of the army corps of Sedgwick and Hancock. +Along a front of six miles, in the midst of the thick forest, the battle +raged the whole of the day. The Confederates, in spite of the utmost +efforts of the Northerners, although re-enforced in the afternoon by the +army corps of General Burnside, held their position, and when night put +an end to the conflict the invaders had not gained a foot of ground. + +As soon as the first gleam of light appeared in the morning the battle +recommenced. The Federal generals, Sedgwick, Warren, and Hancock, with +Burnside in reserve, fell upon Hill and Ewell. Both sides had thrown up +earthworks and felled trees as a protection during the night. At first +the Confederates gained the advantage; but a portion of Burnside's corps +was brought up and restored the battle, while on the left flank of the +Federals Hancock had attacked with such vigor that the Confederates +opposed to him were driven back. + +At the crisis of the battle Longstreet, who had marched all night, +appeared upon the ground, drove back Hancock's men, and was on the point +of aiding the Confederates in a decisive attack upon the enemy, when, +riding rapidly forward into the wood to reconnoiter, he was, like +Jackson, struck down by the fire of his own men. He was carried to the +rear desperately, and it was feared for a time mortally, wounded; and +his loss paralyzed the movement which he had prepared. Nevertheless, +during the whole day the fight went on with varying success; sometimes +one side obtaining a slight advantage, the other then regaining the +ground they had lost. + +[Illustration: Map--THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS May 5th. to 9th. 1864.] + +Just as evening was closing in a Georgia brigade, with two other +regiments, made a detour, and fell furiously upon two brigades of the +enemy, and drove them back in headlong rout for a mile and a half, +capturing their two generals and many prisoners. The artillery, as on +the previous day, had been little used on either side, the work being +done at short range with the rifle, the loss being much heavier among +the thick masses of the Northerners than in the thinner lines of the +Confederates. Grant had failed in his efforts to turn Lee's right and to +accomplish his direct advance; he therefore changed his base and moved +his army round toward Spottsylvania. + +Lee soon perceived his object, and succeeded in carrying his army to +Spottsylvania before the Federals reached it. + +On the afternoon of Monday the 9th, there was heavy fighting, and on the +10th another pitched battle took place. This time the ground was more +open, and the artillery was employed with terrible effect on both sides. +It ended, however, as the previous battles had done, by the Confederates +holding their ground. + +Upon the next day there was but little fighting. In the night the +Federals moved quietly through the wood and at daybreak four divisions +fell upon Johnston's division of Ewell's corps, took them completely by +surprise, and captured the greater part of them. + +But Lee's veterans soon recovered from their surprise and maintained +their position until noon. Then the whole Federal army advanced, and the +battle raged till nightfall terminated the struggle, leaving Lee in +possession of the whole line he had held, with the exception of the +ground lost in the morning. + +For the next six days the armies faced each other, worn out by incessant +fighting, and prevented from moving by the heavy rain which fell +incessantly. They were now able to reckon up the losses. The Federals +found that they had lost, in killed, wounded, or missing, nearly 30,000 +men; while Lee's army was diminished by about 12,000. + +While these mighty battles had been raging the Federal cavalry under +Sheridan had advanced rapidly forward, and, after several skirmishes +with Stuart's cavalry, penetrated within the outer intrenchments round +Richmond. Here Stuart, with two regiments of cavalry, charged them and +drove them back, but the gallant Confederate officer received a wound +that before night proved fatal. His loss was a terrible blow to the +Confederacy, although his successor in the command of the cavalry, +General Wade Hampton, was also an officer of the highest merit. + +In the meantime General Butler, who had at Fortress Monroe under his +command two corps of infantry, 4000 cavalry, and a fleet of gunboats and +transports, was threatening Richmond from the east. Shipping his men on +board the transports he steamed up the James River, under convoy of the +fleet, and landed on a neck of land known as Bermuda Hundred. To oppose +him all the troops from North Carolina had been brought up, the whole +force amounting to 19,000 men, under the command of General Beauregard. +Butler, after various futile movements, was driven back again to his +intrenched camp at Bermuda Hundred, where he was virtually besieged by +Beauregard with 10,000 men, the rest of that general's force being sent +up to re-enforce Lee. + +In West Virginia, Breckenridge, with 3500 men, was called upon to hold +in check Sigel, with 15,000 men. Advancing to Staunton, Breckenridge was +joined by the pupils of the military college at Lexington, 250 in +number, lads of from fourteen to seventeen years of age. He came upon +Sigel on the line of march and attacked him at once. The Federal general +placed a battery in a wood and opened fire with grape. The commander of +the Lexington boys ordered them to charge, and, gallantly rushing in +through the heavy fire, they charged in among the guns, killed the +artillerymen, drove back the infantry supports, and bayoneted their +colonel. The Federals now retired down the valley to Strasburg, and +Breckenridge was able to send a portion of his force to aid Lee in his +great struggle. + +After his six days' pause in front of Lee's position at Spottsylvania, +Grant abandoned his plan of forcing his way through Lee's army to +Richmond, and endeavored to outflank it; but Lee again divined his +purpose, and moved round and still faced him. After various movements +the armies again stood face to face upon the old battle-grounds on the +Chickahominy. On the 3d of June the battle commenced at half-past four +in the morning. Hancock at first gained an advantage, but Hill's +division dashed down upon him and drove him back with great slaughter; +while no advantage was gained by him in other parts of the field. The +Federal loss on this day was 13,000, and the troops were so dispirited +that they refused to renew the battle in the afternoon. + +[Illustration: Map--BATTLE of COLD HARBOR May 31st. to June 12th. 1864.] + +Grant then determined to alter his plan altogether, and sending +imperative orders to Butler to obtain possession of Petersburg, embarked +Smith's corps in transports, and moved with the rest of his army to join +that general there. Smith's corps entered the James River, landed, and +marched against Petersburg. Beauregard had at Petersburg only two +infantry and two cavalry regiments under General Wise, while a single +brigade fronted Butler at Bermuda Hundred. With this handful of men he +was called upon to defend Petersburg and to keep Butler bottled up in +Bermuda Hundred until help could reach him from Lee. He telegraphed to +Richmond for all the assistance that could be sent to him, and was +re-enforced by a brigade, which arrived just in time, for Smith had +already captured a portion of the intrenchments, but was now driven out. + +The next day Beauregard was attacked both by Smith's and Hancock's +corps, which had now arrived. With 8000 men he kept at bay the assaults +of two whole army corps, having in the meantime sent orders to Gracie, +the officer in command of the brigade before Butler, to leave a few +sentries there to deceive that general, and to march with the rest of +his force to his aid. It arrived at a critical moment. Overwhelmed by +vastly superior numbers, many of the Confederates had left their posts, +and Breckenridge was in vain trying to rally them when Gracie's brigade +came up. The position was reoccupied and the battle continued. + +At noon Burnside with his corps arrived and joined the assailants; while +Butler, discovering at last that the troops in front of him were +withdrawn, moved out and barred the road against re-enforcements from +Richmond. Nevertheless, the Confederates held their ground all the +afternoon and until eleven o'clock at night, when the assault ceased. + +At midnight Beauregard withdrew his troops from the defenses that they +were too few to hold, and set them to work to throw up fresh +intrenchments on a shorter line behind. All night the men worked with +their bayonets, canteens, and any tools that came to hand. + +It was well for them that the enemy were so exhausted that it was noon +before they were ready to advance again, for by this time help was at +hand. Anderson, who had succeeded to the command of Longstreet's corps, +and was leading the van of Lee's army, forced his way through Butler's +troops and drove him back into Bermuda Hundred, and leaving one brigade +to watch him marched with another into Petersburg just as the attack was +recommenced. Thus re-enforced, Beauregard successfully defeated all the +assaults of the enemy until night fell. Another Federal army corps came +up before morning, and the assault was again renewed, but the +defenders, who had strengthened their defenses during the night, drove +their assailants back with terrible loss. The whole of Lee's army now +arrived, and the rest of Grant's army also came up, and that general +found that, after all his movements, his way to Richmond was barred as +before. He was indeed in a far worse position than when he had crossed +the Rapidan, for the morale of his army was much injured by the repeated +repulses and terrible losses it had sustained. The new recruits that had +been sent to fill up the gaps were far inferior troops to those with +which he had commenced the campaign. To send forward such men against +the fortifications of Petersburg, manned by Lee's veteran troops, was to +court defeat, and he therefore began to throw up works for a regular +siege. + +Fighting went on incessantly between the outposts, but only one great +attempt was made during the early months of the siege to capture the +Confederate position. The miners drove a gallery under the works, and +then drove other galleries right and left under them. These were charged +with eight thousand pounds of powder. When all was ready, masses of +troops were brought up to take advantage of the confusion which would be +caused by the explosion, and a division of black troops were to lead the +assault. At a quarter to five in the morning of the 30th of July the +great mine was exploded, blowing two guns, a battery, and its defenders +into the air, and forming a huge pit two hundred feet long and sixty +feet wide. Lee and Beauregard hurried to the scene, checked the panic +that prevailed, brought up troops, and before the great Federal columns +approached the breech the Confederates were ready to receive them. The +assault was made with little vigor, the approaches to the breech were +obstructed by abattis, and instead of rushing forward in a solid mass +they occupied the great pit, and contented themselves with firing over +the edge of the crater, where regiments and divisions were huddled +together. But the Confederate batteries were now manned, and from the +works on either side of the breech, and from behind, they swept the +approaches, and threw shell among the crowded mass. The black division +was now brought up and entered the crater, but only added to the +confusion. There was no officer of sufficient authority among the +crowded mass there to assume the supreme command. No assistance could be +sent to them, for the arrival of fresh troops would but have added to +the confusion. All day the conflict went on, the Federals lining the +edge of the crater, and exchanging a heavy musketry fire with the +Confederate infantry, while the mass below suffered terribly from the +artillery fire. When night closed, the survivors of the great column +that had marched forward in the morning, confident that victory was +assured to them, and that the explosion would lay Petersburg open to +capture, made their retreat, the Confederates, however, taking a +considerable number of prisoners. The Federal loss in killed, wounded, +and captured was admitted by them to be 4000; the Confederate accounts +put it down at 6000. + +After this terrible repulse it was a long time before Grant again +renewed active operations, but during the months that ensued his troops +suffered very heavily from the effects of fever, heightened by the +discouragement they felt at their want of success, and at the tremendous +losses they had suffered since they entered Virginia on their forward +march to Richmond. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING. + + +Vincent Wingfield had had an arduous time of it with his squadron of +cavalry. He had taken part in the desperate charge that checked the +advance of Sheridan's great column of cavalry, which approached within +three miles of Richmond--the charge that had cost the gallant Stuart his +life; and the death of his beloved general had been a heavy blow for +him. Jackson and Stuart, two of the bravest and noblest spirits of the +Confederate army, were gone. Both had been personally dear to Vincent, +and he felt how grievous was their loss to the cause for which he was +fighting; but he had little time for grief. The enemy, after the +tremendous battles of the Wilderness, swung their army round to Cold +Harbor, and Vincent's squadron was called up to aid Lee in his struggle +there. Then they were engaged night and day in harassing the enemy as +they marched down to take up their new base at Petersburg, and finally +received orders to ride round at full speed to aid in the defense of +that place. + +They had arrived in the middle of the second day's fighting, and +dismounting his men, Vincent had aided the hard-pressed Confederates in +holding their lines till Longstreet's division arrived to their +assistance. A short time before the terrible disaster that befell the +Federals in the mine they exploded under the Confederate works, he was +with General Wade Hampton, who had succeeded General Stuart in the +command of the cavalry, when General Lee rode up. + +"They are erecting siege works in earnest," General Lee said. "I do not +think that we shall have any more attacks for the present. I wish I knew +exactly where they are intending to place their heavy batteries. If I +did, we should know where to strengthen our defenses and plant our +counter-batteries. It is very important to find this out; and now that +their whole army has settled down in front of us, and Sheridan's cavalry +are scouring the woods, we shall get no news, for the farmers will no +longer be able to get through to tell us what is going on." + +"I will try and ride round if you like, general," Vincent said. "By +making a long detour one could get into the rear of their lines and pass +as a farmer going into camp to sell his goods." + +"It would be a very dangerous service, sir," General Lee said. "You know +what the consequence would be if you were caught?" + +"I know the consequence," Vincent said; "but I do not think, sir, that +the risk is greater than one runs every time one goes into battle." + +"Perhaps not," General Lee replied; "but in one case one dies fighting +for one's country, by an honorable death; in the other----" and he +stopped. + +"In the other one is shot in cold blood," Vincent said quietly. "One +dies for one's country in either case, sir; and it does not much matter, +so far as I can see, whether one is killed in battle or shot in cold +blood. As long as one is doing one's duty, one death is surely as +honorable as the other." + +"That is true enough," General Lee said, "although it is not the way men +generally view the matter. Still, sir, if you volunteer for the work, I +shall not feel justified in refusing the opportunity of acquiring +information that may be of vital consequence to us. When will you +start?" + +"In half an hour, sir. I shall ride back to Richmond, obtain a disguise +there, and then go round by train to Burksville Junction, and then ride +again until I get round behind their lines. Will you give me an order +for my horse and myself to be taken?" + +"Very well, sir," General Lee said. "So be it! May God be with you on +your way and bring you safely back!" + +Vincent rode off to his quarters. + +"Dan," he said, "I am going away on special duty for at least three +days. I have got a couple of letters to write, and shall be ready to +start in half an hour. Give the horse a good feed and have him at the +door again by that time." + +"Am I to go with you, sah?" + +"No, Dan; I must go by myself this time." + +Dan felt anxious as he went out, for it was seldom that his master ever +went away without telling him where he was going, and he felt sure that +the service was one of unusual danger; nor was his anxiety lessened +when, at the appointed time, Vincent came out and handed him two +letters. + +"You are to keep these letters, Dan, until I return, or till you hear +that something has happened to me. If you hear that, you are to take one +of these letters to my mother, and take the other yourself to Miss +Kingston. Tell her before you give it her what has happened, as gently +as you can. As for yourself, Dan, you had your letters of freedom long +ago, and I have left you five hundred dollars; so that you can get a +cabin and patch of your own, and settle down when these troubles are +over." + +"Let me go with you, master," Dan said, with the tears streaming down +his cheeks. "I would rather be killed with you a hundred times than get +on without you." + +"I would take you if I could, Dan; but this is a service that I must do +alone. Good-by, my boy; let us hope that, in three or four days at the +outside, I shall be back here again, safe and sound." + +He wrung Dan's hand, and then started at a canter and kept on at that +pace until he reached Richmond. A train with stores was starting for the +south in a few minutes; General Lee's order enabled Vincent to have a +horse-box attached at once, and he was soon speeding on his way. He +alighted at Burksville Junction, and there purchased some rough clothes +for himself and some country-fashioned saddlery for his horse. Then, +after changing his clothes at an inn and putting the fresh saddlery on +his horse, he started. + +It was getting late in the afternoon, but he rode on by unfrequented +roads, stopping occasionally to inquire if any of the Federal cavalry +had been seen in the neighborhood, and at last stopped for the night at +a little village inn. As soon as it was daybreak he resumed his journey. +He had purchased at Burksville some colored calico and articles of +female clothing, and fastened the parcel to the back of his saddle. As +he rode forward now he heard constant tales of the passing of parties of +the enemy's cavalry, but he was fortunate enough to get well round to +the rear of the Federal lines before he encountered any of them. Then he +came suddenly upon a troop. + +"Where are you going to, and where have you come from?" + +"Our farm is a mile away from Union Grove," he said, "and I have been +over to Sussex Courthouse to buy some things for my mother." + +"Let me see what you have got there," the officer said. "You are rebels +to a man here, and there's no trusting any of you." + +Vincent unfastened the parcel and opened it. The officer laughed. + +"Well, we won't confiscate them as contraband of war." + +So saying, he set spurs to his horse and galloped on with his troop. +Vincent rode on to Union Grove, and then, taking a road at random, kept +on till he reached a small farmhouse. He knocked at the door, and a +woman came out. + +"Mother," he said, "can you put me up for a couple of days? I am a +stranger here, and all the villages are full of soldiers." + +The woman looked at him doubtfully. + +"What are you doing here?" she asked at last. "This aint a time for +strangers; besides, a young fellow like you ought to be ashamed to show +yourself when you ought to be over there with Lee. My boys are both +there and my husband. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a +strong-looking young fellow like you, to be riding about instead of +fighting the Yankees. Go along! you will get no shelter here. I would +scorn to have such as you inside the door." + +"Perhaps I have been fighting there," Vincent said significantly. "But +one can't be always fighting, and there are other things to do +sometimes. For instance, to find out what the Yankees are doing and what +are their plans." + +"Is that so?" the woman asked doubtfully. + +"That is so," he answered earnestly. "I am an officer in Wade Hampton's +cavalry, and now Sheridan's troopers have cut off all communication, I +have come out to find for General Lee where the Yankees are building +their batteries before Petersburg." + +"In that case you are welcome," the woman said. "Come straight in! I +will lead your horse out and fasten him up in the bush, and give him a +feed there. It will never do to put him in the stable; the Yankees come +in and out, and they'd take him off sharp enough if their eyes fell on +him. I think you will be safe enough, even if they do come. They will +take you for a son of mine, and if they ask any questions I will answer +them sharp enough." + +"I wonder they have left you a feed of corn," Vincent said, when the +woman returned after taking away his horse. + +"It's no thanks to them," she answered; "they have cleared out +everything that they could lay their hands on. But I have been expecting +it for months, and, as I have had nothing to do since my man and boys +went away, I have been digging a great pit in the wood over there, and +have buried most all my corn, and have salted my pigs down and buried +them in barrels; so they didn't find much. They took the old horse and +two cows; but I hope the old horse will fall down the first time they +uses him, and the cow meat will choke them as eats it. Now, is there +anything as I can do to help you?" + +"I want a basket with some eggs and chickens or vegetables to take into +their camp to sell, but I am afraid I have not much chance of getting +them." + +"I can help you there, too," the woman said, "I turned all my chickens +into the wood the day I heard the Yankees had landed. They have got +rather wild like; but I go out and give them some corn every evening. I +expect, if we look about, we shall find some nests; indeed I know there +are one or two of them sitting. So, if you will come out with me, we can +soon knock down five or six of the creatures, and maybe get a score or +two of eggs. As for vegetables, a horde of locusts couldn't have +stripped the country cleaner than they have done." + +They went out into the wood. Six hens were soon killed, and hunting +about they discovered several nests and gathered about three dozen eggs. +Vincent aided in plucking the chickens, and they then returned to the +house. + +"You had best take a bite before you go," she said. "It's noon now, and +you said you started at daybreak. Always get a meal when you can, say +I." + +She produced a loaf and some bacon from a little cupboard hidden by her +bed, and Vincent, who, now he thought of it, was feeling hungry, made a +hearty meal. + +"I will pay you for these chickens and eggs at once," he said. "There's +no saying whether I shall come back again." + +"I will not say no to your paying for the chickens and eggs," she said, +"because money is scarce enough, and I may have long to wait before my +man and the boys come back; but as to lodging and food I would not touch +a cent. You are welcome to all I have when it's for the good cause." + +Vincent started with the basket on his arm, and after walking three +miles came upon the Federal camps. + +Some of the regiments were already under canvas, others were still +bivouacked in the open air, as the storeships carrying the heavy baggage +had not yet arrived. The generals and their staffs had taken up their +quarters in the villages. Vincent had received accurate instructions +from his hostess as to the position of the various villages, and avoided +them carefully, for he did not want to sell out his stock immediately. +He had indeed stowed two of the fowls away in his pocket, so that, in +case anyone insisted upon buying up all his stock, he could place these +in his basket and still push on. + +He avoided the camps as much as he could. He could see the smoke rising +in front of him, and the roar of guns was now close at hand. He saw on +his right an elevated piece of ground, from which a good view could be +obtained of the fortifications upon which the Federals were working. A +camp had been pitched there, and a large tent near the summit showed +that some officer of superior rank had his quarters here. He made a +detour so as to come up at the back of the hill, and when he reached the +top he stood looking down upon the line of works. + +They were nearly half a mile distant. The intervening ground had already +been stripped of its hedges, and the trees cut down to form gabions, +fascines, and platforms for the cannon. Thousands of men were at work; +but in some parts they were clustered much more thickly than in others, +and Vincent had no difficulty in determining where the principal +batteries were in course of construction along this portion of the +position. He was still gazing intently when two horsemen rode up from +behind. + +"Hallo, you, sir! What are you looking at?" one of them asked sharply. +"What are you spying about here?" + +Vincent turned slowly round with a silly smile on his lips. + +"I am spying all them chaps at work," he said. "It reminds me for all +the world of an ant-hill. Never did see so many chaps before. What be +they a-doing? Digging a big drain or making a roadway, I guess." + +"Who are you, sir?" the officer asked angrily. + +"Seth Jones I be, and mother's sent me to sell some fowls and eggs. Do +you want to buy any? Fine birds they be." + +"Why, Sheridan," laughed the other officer, "this is a feather out of +your cap. I thought your fellows had cleared out every hen-roost within +twenty miles of Petersburg already." + +"I fancy they have emptied most of them," the general said grimly. +"Where do you come from, lad?" + +"I comes from over there," Vincent said, jerking his thumb back. "I +lives there with mother. Father and the other boys they have gone +fighting Yanks; but they wouldn't take me with them 'cause I aint sharp +in my wits, though I tells them I could shoot a Yank as well as they +could if they showed me." + +"And who do you suppose all those men are?" General Sheridan asked, +pointing toward the trenches. + +"I dunno," Vincent replied. "I guess they be niggers. There be too many +of them for whites; besides, whites aint such fools to work like that. +Doesn't ye want any fowl?" and he drew back the cloth and showed the +contents of the basket. + +"Take them as a matter of curiosity, general," the other officer +laughed. "It will be a downright novelty to you to buy chickens." + +"What do you want for them, boy?" + +"Mother said as I wasn't to take less nor a dollar apiece." + +"Greenbacks, I suppose?" the officer asked. + +"I suppose so. She didn't say nothing about it; but I have not seen +aught but greenbacks for a long time since." + +"Come along, then," the officer said; "we will take them." + +They rode up to the large tent, and the officers alighted, and gave +their horses to two of the soldiers. + +"Give your basket to this soldier." + +"I want the basket back again. Mother would whop me if I came back +without the basket again." + +"All right," the officer said; "you shall have it back in a minute." + +Vincent stood looking anxiously after the orderly. + +"Do you think that boy is as foolish as he seems?" General Sheridan +asked his companion. "He admits that he comes of a rebel family." + +"I don't think he would have admitted that if he hadn't been a fool. I +fancy he is a half-witted chap. They never would have left a fellow of +his age behind." + +"No, I think it's safe," Sheridan said; "but one can't be too particular +just at present. See, the trees in front hide our work altogether from +the rebels, and it would be a serious thing if they were to find out +what we are doing." + +"That boy could not tell them much, even if he got there," the other +said; "and from this distance it would need a sharp eye and some +military knowledge to make out anything of what is going on. Where does +your mother live, boy?" + +"I aint going to tell you," Vincent said doggedly. "Mother said I wasn't +to tell no one where I lived, else the Yankee thieves would be a-coming +down and stealing the rest of our chickens." + +The officers laughed. + +"Well, go along, boy; and I should advise you not to say anything about +Yankee thieves another time, for likely enough, you will get a broken +head for your pains." + +Vincent went off grumbling, and with a slow and stumbling step made his +way over the brow of the hill and down through the camps behind. Here he +sold his last two fowls and his eggs, and then walked briskly on until +he reached the cottage from which he had started. + +"I am glad to see you back," the woman said as he entered. "How have you +got on?" + +"Capitally," he said. "I pretended to be half an idiot, and so got +safely out, though I fell into Sheridan's hands. He suspected me at +first, but at last he thought I was what I looked--a fool. He wanted to +know where you lived, but I wouldn't tell him. I told him you told me +not to tell anyone, 'cause, if I did, the Yankee thieves would be +clearing out the rest of the chickens." + +"Did you tell him that, now?" the woman said in delight; "he must have +thought you was a fool. Well, it's a good thing the Yanks should hear +the truth sometimes. Well, have you done now?" + +"No, I have only seen one side of their works yet. I must try round the +other flank to-morrow. I wish I could get something to sell that +wouldn't get bought up by the first people I came to--something I could +peddle among the soldiers." + +"What sort of thing?" + +"Something in the way of drinks, I should say," Vincent said. "I saw a +woman going among the camps. She had two tin cans and a little mug. I +think she had lemonade or something of that sort." + +"It wouldn't be lemonade," the woman said. "I haven't seen a lemon for +the last two years; but they do get some oranges from Florida. Maybe it +was that, or perhaps it was spirits and water." + +"Perhaps it was," Vincent agreed; "though I don't think they would let +anyone sell spirits in the camp." + +"I can't get you any lemons or oranges neither," the woman said; "but I +might make you a drink out of molasses and herbs, with some spirits in +it. I have got a keg of old rye buried away ever since my man went off, +six months ago; I am out of molasses, but I dare say I can borrow some +from a neighbor, and as for herbs they are about the only thing the +Yankees haven't stole. I think I could fix you up something that would +do. As long as it has got spirits in it, it don't much matter what you +put in besides, only it wouldn't do to take spirits alone. You can call +it plantation drink, and I don't suppose anyone will ask too closely +what it's made of." + +"Thank you, that will do capitally." + +The next morning Vincent again set out, turning his steps this time +toward the right flank of the Federal position. He had, in the course of +the evening, made a sketch of the ground he had seen, marking in all the +principal batteries, with notes as to the number of guns for which they +seemed to be intended. + +"Look here," he said to the woman before leaving; "I may not be as lucky +to-day as I was yesterday. If I do not come back to-night, can you find +anyone you can trust to take this piece of paper round to Richmond? Of +course he would have to make his way first up to Burksville Junction, +and then take train to Richmond. When he gets there he must go down to +Petersburg and ask for General Lee. I have written a line to go with it, +saying what I have done this for, and asking the general to give the +bearer a hundred dollars." + +"I will take it myself," the woman said; "not for the sake of the +hundred dollars, though I aint saying as it wouldn't please the old +man, when he comes back, to find I had a hundred dollars stored away; +but for the cause. My men are all doing their duty, and I will do mine. +So you trust me, and if you don't come back by daybreak to-morrow +morning, I will start right away with these letters. I will go out at +once and hide them somewhere, in case the Yanks should come and make a +search. If you are caught they might, like enough, trace you here, and +then they would search the place all over and maybe set it alight. If +you aint here by nightfall I shall sleep out in the wood, so if they +come they won't find me here. If anything detains you, and you aint back +till after dark, you will find me somewhere near the tree where your +horse is tied up." + +Provided with a large can full of a liquor that the woman compounded, +and which Vincent, on tasting, found to be by no means bad, he started +from the cottage. Again he made his way safely through the camps, and +without hindrance lounged up to a spot where a large number of men +belonging to one of the negro regiments were at work. + +"Plantation liquor?" he said, again assuming a stupid air, to a black +sergeant who was with them. "First-rate stuff, and only fifteen cents a +glass." + +"What plantation liquor like?" the negro asked. "Me not know him." + +"First-rate stuff!" Vincent repeated. "Mother makes it of spirit and +molasses and all sorts. Fifteen cents a glass." + +"Well, I will take a glass," the sergeant said. "Mighty hot work dis in +de sun; but don't you say nuffin about the spirit. Ef dey ask you, just +you say molasses and all sorts, dat's quite enough. De white officer +won't let spirits be sold in de camp. + +"Dat berry good stuff," he said, smacking his lips as he handed back the +little tin measure. "You sell him all in no time." Several of the +negroes now came round, and Vincent disposed of a considerable quantity +of his plantation liquor. Then he turned to go away, for he did not +want to empty his can at one place. He had not gone many paces when a +party of three or four officers came along. + +"Hallo, you, sir, what the deuce are you doing here?" one asked angrily. +"Don't you know nobody is allowed to pass through the lines?" + +"I didn't see no lines. What sort of lines are they? No one told me +nothing about lines. My mother sent me out to sell plantation liquor, +fifteen cents a glass." + +"What's it like?" one of the officers said, laughing. "Spirits, I will +bet a dollar, in some shape or other. Pour me out a glass. I will try it +anyhow." + +Vincent filled the little tin mug and handed it to the officer. As he +lifted his face to do so there was a sudden exclamation: + +"Vincent Wingfield!" and another officer, drawing his sword, attacked +him furiously, shouting, "A spy! Seize him! A Confederate spy!" + +Vincent recognized with astonishment, in the Federal officer rushing at +him with uplifted sword, his old antagonist, Jackson. Almost +instinctively he whirled the can, which was still half full of liquor, +round his head and dashed it full in the face of his antagonist, who was +knocked off his feet by the blow. With a yell of rage he started up +again and rushed at Vincent. The latter snatched up a shovel that was +lying close by and stood his ground. The officers were so surprised at +the suddenness of the incident and the overthrow of their companion, and +for a moment so amused at the latter's appearance, covered as he was +from head to foot with the sticky liquor and bleeding from a cut +inflicted by the edge of the can, that they were incapable of +interference. + +Blinded with rage, and with the liquid streaming into his eyes, Jackson +rushed at Vincent. The latter caught the blow aimed at him on the edge +of the shovel, and then swinging his weapon round, smote his antagonist +with all his strength, the edge of the shovel falling fairly upon his +head. Without a cry the traitor fell dead in his tracks. The other +officers now drew their swords and rushed forward. Vincent, seeing the +futility of resistance, threw down his shovel. He was instantly seized. + +"Hallo, there!" the senior officer called to the men, who had stopped in +their work and were gazing at the sudden fray that had arisen, "a +sergeant and four men!" Four of the negro soldiers and a sergeant at +once stepped forward. "Take this man and conduct him to the village. Put +him in a room, and stay there with him. Do you, sergeant, station +yourself at the door, so that I shall know where to find you. Put on +your uniforms and take your guns." The men put on their coats, which +they had removed while at work, shouldered their muskets, and took their +places, two on each side of the prisoner. The officers then turned to +examine their prostrate comrade. + +"It's all over with him," one said, stooping down; "the shovel has cut +his skull nearly in half. Well, I fancy he was a bad lot. I don't +believe in Southerners who come over to fight in our ranks; besides, he +was at one time in the rebel army." + +"Yes, he was taken prisoner," another said. "Then his father, who had to +bolt from the South, because, he said, of his Northern sympathies, but +likely enough for something else, came round, made interest somehow and +got his son released, and then someone else got him a commission with +us. He always said he had been obliged to fight on the other side, but +that he had always been heart and soul for the North; anyhow, he was +always blackguarding his old friends. I always doubted the fellow. Well, +there's an end of him; and anyhow he has done useful service at last by +recognizing this spy. Fine-looking young fellow that! He called him +Vincent Wingfield. I seem to remember the name; perhaps I have read it +in some of the rebel newspapers we got hold of; likely enough someone +will know it. Well, I suppose we had better have Jackson carried into +camp." + +Four more of the negroes were called out, and these carried the body +into the camp of his regiment. An officer was also sent from the +working party to report the capture of a spy to his colonel. + +"I will report it to the general," the latter said; "he rode along here +about a quarter of an hour ago, and may not be back again for some +hours. As we have got the spy fast it cannot make any difference." + +As he marched back to the village Vincent felt that there was no hope +for him whatever. He had been denounced as a spy, and, although the lips +that had denounced him had been silenced forever, the mischief had been +done. He could give no satisfactory account of himself. He thought for a +moment of declaring that a mistake had been made, but he felt that no +denial would counterbalance the effect of Jackson's words. The fury, +too, with which the latter had attacked him would show plainly enough +that his assailant was absolutely certain as to his identity, and even +that there had been a personal feud between them. Then he thought that +if he said that he was the son of the woman in the hut she would bear +him out in the assertion. But it was not likely that this would be +accepted as against Jackson's testimony; besides, inquiry among her +neighbors would certainly lead to the discovery that she was speaking an +untruth, and might even involve her in his fate as his abettor. But most +of all he decided against this course because it would involve the +telling of a lie. + +Vincent considered that while in disguise, and doing important service +for his country, he was justified in using deceit; but merely for the +purpose of saving his own life, and that perhaps uselessly, he would not +lie. His fate, of course, was certain. He was a spy, and would be shot. +Vincent had so often been in the battlefield, so often under a fire from +which it seemed that no one could come alive, that the thought that +death was at hand had not for him the terrors that possess those +differently circumstanced. He was going to die for the Confederacy as +tens of thousands of brave men had died before, and he rejoiced over the +precaution he had taken as to the transmission of his discoveries on +the previous day, and felt sure that General Lee would do full justice +to his memory, and announce that he had died in doing noble service to +the country. + +He sighed as he thought of his mother and sisters; but Rose had been +married in the spring, and Annie was engaged to an officer in General +Beauregard's staff. Then he thought of Lucy away in Georgia, and for the +first time his lips quivered and his cheek paled. + +The negro guards, who had been enlisted but a few weeks, were wholly +ignorant of their duties, and having once conveyed their prisoner into +the room, evidently considered that all further necessity for military +strictness was at an end. They had been ordered to stay in the room with +the prisoner, but no instruction had been given as to their conduct +there. They accordingly placed their muskets in one corner of the room, +and proceeded to chatter and laugh without further regarding him. + +Under other circumstances this carelessness would have inspired Vincent +with the thought of escape, but he knew that it was out of the question +here. There were Federal camps all round, and a shout from the negroes +would send a hundred men in instant pursuit of him. There was nothing +for him to do but to wait for the end, and that end would assuredly come +in the morning. From time to time the door opened, and the negro +sergeant looked in. Apparently his ideas on the subject of discipline +were no stricter than those of his men, for he made no remark as to +their carelessness. Presently, when he looked in, the four soldiers were +standing at the window, watching a regiment passing by on its way to +take its share of the work in the trenches. Vincent, who was sitting at +a table, happened to look up, and was astonished at seeing the sergeant +first put his finger on his lips, then take off his cap, put one hand on +his heart, and gesticulate with the other. + +Vincent gazed at him in blank surprise, then he started and almost +sprang to his feet, for in the Yankee sergeant he recognized Tony +Moore; but the uplifted hand of the negro warned him of the necessity of +silence. The negro nodded several times, again put his hand on his +heart, and then disappeared. A thrill of hope stirred every vein in +Vincent's body. He felt his cheeks flush and had difficulty in +maintaining his passive attitude. He was not, then, utterly deserted; he +had a friend who would, he was sure, do all in his power to aid him. + +It was extraordinary indeed that it should be Tony who was now his +jailer; and yet, when he thought it over, it was not difficult to +understand. It was natural enough that he should have enlisted when the +black regiments were raised. He had doubtless heard his name shouted out +by Jackson, and had, as Vincent now remembered, stepped forward as a +sort of volunteer when the officer called for a sergeant and four men. + +Yes, Tony would doubtless do all in his power to save him. Whether it +would be possible that he could do so was doubtful; but at least there +was a hope, and with it the feeling of quiet resignation with which +Vincent had faced what appeared to be inevitable at once disappeared, +and was succeeded by a restless longing for action. His brain was busy +at once in calculating the chances of his being ordered for instant +execution or of the sentence being postponed till the following morning, +and, in the latter case, with the question of what guard would be +probably placed over him, and how Tony would set about the attempt to +aid him to escape. + +Had the general been in camp when he was brought in he would probably +have been shot at sunset, but if he did not return until the afternoon +he would most likely order the sentence to be carried out at daybreak. +In any case, as he was an officer, some time might be granted him to +prepare for death. Then there was the question whether he would be +handed over to a white regiment for safe-keeping or left in the hands of +the black regiment that had captured him. No doubt, after the sentence +was passed, the white officers of that regiment would see that a much +stricter watch than that now put over him was set. + +It was not probable that he would still be in charge of Tony, for as the +latter would be on duty all day, he would doubtless be relieved. In that +case how would he manage to approach him, and what means would he use to +direct the attention of the sentries in another direction? He thought +over the plans he himself would adopt were he in Tony's place. The first +thing would be, of course, to make the sentries drunk if possible. This +should not be a difficult task with men whose notions of discipline were +so lax as those of the negroes; but it would be no easy matter for Tony +to obtain spirits, for these were strictly prohibited in the Federal +camp. Perhaps he might help Tony in this way. He fortunately had a small +notebook with a pencil in his pocket, and as his guards were still at +the window he wrote as follows: + + +"I am captured by the Yankees. So far as I can see, my only chance of +escape is to make the sentries drunk. The bearer is absolutely to be +trusted. Give him his canteen full of spirits, and tell him what I have +written here." + + +He tore this page out, folded it up, and directed it to Mrs. Grossmith, +Worley Farm, near Union. Presently Tony looked in again and Vincent held +up the note. The sergeant stepped quickly forward and took it, and then +said sharply to the men: + +"Now den, dis not keeping guard. Suppose door open and dis fellow run +away. What dey say to you? Two of you keep your eye on dis man. Suppose +Captain Pearce come in and find you all staring out window. He kick up +nice bobbery." + +Thus admonished to do their duty, two of the negroes took up their +muskets and stood with their backs to the door, with their eyes fixed on +the prisoner with such earnestness that Vincent could not suppress a +smile. The negroes grinned responsively. + +"Dis bad affair young sah," one said; "bery bad affair. Ob course we +soldiers ob de Union, and got to fight if dey tell us; but no like dis +job ob keeping guard like dis." + +"It can't be helped," Vincent said; "and of course you must do your +duty. I am not going to jump up the chimney or fly through the window, +and as there are four of you, to say nothing of the sergeant outside, +you needn't be afraid of my trying to escape." + +"No, sah, dat not possible nohow; we know dat bery well. Dat's why we no +trouble to look after you. But as de sargeant say watch, of course we +must watch. We bery pleased to see you kill dat white officer. Dat +officer bery hard man and all de men hate him, and when you knock him +down we should like to hab given cheer. We all sorry for you; still you +see, sah, we must keep watch. If you were to get away, dar no saying +what dey do to us." + +"That's all right," Vincent said; "I don't blame you at all. As you say, +that was a very bad fellow. I had quarreled with him before, because he +treated his slaves so badly." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FREE! + + +It was not until late in the afternoon that a white officer entered, and +ordered the soldiers to conduct the prisoner to the general's tent. + +"What is your name, sir, and who are you?" the general asked as he was +brought in. "I hear that you were denounced by Lieutenant Jackson as +being a spy, and that he addressed you as Vincent Wingfield. What have +you got to say to the charge?" + +"My name is Vincent Wingfield, sir," Vincent replied quietly. "I am upon +the staff of General Wade Hampton, and in pursuance of my duty I came +here to learn what I could of your movements and intentions." + +The general was silent for a moment. + +"Then, sir, as you are an officer, you must be well aware of the +consequence of being discovered in disguise here. I regret that there is +no course open to me but to order you to be shot as a spy to-morrow +morning." + +One of the officers who were standing by the general here whispered to +him. + +"Ah, yes! I remember," he said. "Are you the same officer, sir, who +escaped from Elmira?" + +"I am, sir," Vincent replied; "and at the same time aided in the escape +of the man who denounced me to-day, and who then did his best to have me +arrested by sending an anonymous letter stating the disguise in which I +was making my way through the country. I was not surprised to find that +he had carried his treachery further, and was now fighting against the +men whom he had formerly served." + +"He deserved the fate that has befallen him," the general said. "Still +this does not alter your position. I regret that I must order my +sentence to be carried out." + +"I do not blame you, sir. I knew the risks I ran when I accepted the +mission. My only regret is that I failed in supplying my general with +the information he required." + +The general then turned to the officer who had brought Vincent up. + +"This officer will remain in charge of your men for to-night, Captain +Pearce. You will see that the sentence is carried into effect at +daybreak. I need not tell you that a vigilant guard must be placed over +him." + +Vincent was again marched back to the village, but the officer halted +the party when he arrived there. + +"Stop here a few minutes, sergeant," he said. "That room is required for +an officer's quarters. I will look round and find another place." + +In a few minutes he returned, and Vincent was conducted to a shed +standing in the garden of one of the houses. + +"Place one man on guard at the door and another behind," the officer +said to the sergeant. "Let the other two relieve them, and change the +watch once an hour." + +The sergeant saluted. + +"De men hab been on duty since daylight, sah, and none ob us hab had +anyting to eat." + +"Oh, I forgot that!" the officer replied. "Very well, I will send +another party to relieve you at once." + +In ten minutes another sergeant and four men arrived at the spot, and +Tony and his companions returned to the camp. + +As soon as Tony had devoured a piece of bread he left the camp, walked +with careless gait through the camps behind, and went on until he +reached a village in which were comparatively few soldiers. He went up +to a woman who was standing at a door. + +"Missus," he said, "I hab got a letter to take, and I aint bery sure as +to de name. Will you kindly tell me what is de address writ on this +paper?" + +The woman looked at it. + +"'Mrs. Grossmith, Worley Farm, near Union.' That's about two miles along +the road. If you go on, anyone will tell you which is Mrs. Grossmith's." + +Tony hurried on, for he wanted to get back to the camp before it was +dark. He had no difficulty in finding Worley Farm. + +"Now then, what do you want?" its owner said sharply, as she opened the +door in reply to his knock. "There's nothing for you here. You can look +round if you like. It's been all stripped clean days ago, so I tell +you." + +"Me no want anyting, ma'am. Me hab a letter for you." + +The woman in surprise took the note and opened it. She read it through +and looked earnestly at Tony. + +"He says you are to be trusted," she said. "Is that so?" + +"I would gib my life for him twenty times over," Tony replied. "He got +me away from a brutal master and bought my wife out of slavery for me. +What does he say, ma'am? For de Lord sake tell me. Perhaps he tell me +how to get him clar." + +The woman read out the contents of the note. + +"Dat's it, missus, sure enough; dat's the way," he exclaimed in delight. +"Me tink and tink all day, and no manage to tink of anyting except to +shoot de sentry and fight wid de oders and get him out; but den all de +oder sojers come running down, and no chance to escape. If me can get de +spirits dat's easy enough. Me make dem all drunk as hogs." + +"I can give you that," the woman said. "Is there anything else you will +want? What are you going to do with him if you get him free? They will +hunt you down like vermin." + +"I tought we might get down to de river and get ober somehow. Dere will +be no getting troo der cavalry. Dey will hab dem on ebery road." + +"Well, you want some clothes, anyhow; you can't go about in these +soldier clothes. The first Yank you came across would shoot you for a +deserter, and the first of our men as a traitor. Well, by the time you +get back to-night,--that is, if you do come back,--I will get up a chest +I've got buried with my men's clothes in them. They didn't want to take +them away to the war with them, so I hid them up." + +She had by this time dug up the keg from its hiding-place, and now +filled Tony's canteen. + +"Tank you, missus; de Lord bress you for what you've done, wheder I get +Massa Wingfield off or wheder we bofe get killed ober de job. But I must +get back as fast as I can. Ef it was dark before I got back to camp dey +would wonder whar I had been." + +"Oh, you have plenty of time," the woman said; "it won't be dark till +eight o'clock, and it's not seven yet. I will set to and boil a big +chunk of pork and bake some cakes. It's no use getting out of the hands +of the Yanks and then going and getting starved in the swamps." + +When Tony got back to his regiment he strolled over to the shed where +Vincent was confined. Two sentinels were on duty, the sergeant and the +two other men were lying at full length on the ground some twenty yards +away. Their muskets were beside them, and it was evident to Tony, by the +vigilant watch that they kept on the shed, that their responsibility +weighed heavily upon them, and that Captain Pearce had impressed upon +them that, if the prisoner escaped, they would certainly be shot. + +"Well, Sergeant John Newson," Tony began, "I hab just walked over to see +how you getting on. It am a mighty 'sponsible business dis. I had six +hours of him, and it make de perspiration run down my back to tink what +a job it would be for me if dat fellow was to run away." + +"Dat's just what dis chile feel, Sergeant Tony Moore; I am zactly like +dat, and dat's what these men feel, too. We am all on guard. De captain +say put two on guard at de shed and let de oders relieb dem ebery hour. +So dey shall; but dose off duty must watch just de same. When it gets +dark we get close up, so as to be ready to jump in directly we hear a +stir. Dis fellow no fool us." + +"Dat's the way Sergeant Newson, dat am de way. Neber close your eye, but +keep a sharp look on dem. It's a pity dat you not in camp to-night." + +"How am dat, how am dat?" the sergeant asked. + +"To tell you de truf, sergeant, tree or four ob us hab smuggled in some +spirits, and you are one of dose who would hab come in for a share of it +if you had been dere." + +"Golly!" the sergeant exclaimed; "but dat is bery unfortunate. Can't you +manage to bring me a little here?" + +"Well, you know, it's difficult to get out ob camp." + +"Oh, you could get through! Dere is no fear about you being caught." + +"I don't know," Tony replied with an air of reluctance. "Well, I will +see about it. Ef I can crawl troo de sentries, and bring some for you +and de oders, I will. It will help keep you awake and keep out de +damp." + +"Dat's right down good ob you," the other said cordially. "You a good +man, Tony Moore; and if I can do as much for you anoder time, I do it." + +Having settled this, Tony went round to the hospital tent in rear of the +regiment, having tied up his face with a handkerchief. + +"Well, what is it, sergeant?" the negro who acted as an orderly, and +sometimes helped the surgeon mix his drugs, asked. "De doctor am gone +away, and I don't 'spect he come back again to-night." + +"Dat am bery bad ting," Tony said dolefully. "Can't you do something for +me, Sam Smith? I tink you know quite as much about de medicines as de +doctor himself." + +"Not quite so much, sergeant, not quite so much; but I'se no fool, and +my old mother she used to make medicine for de plantation and knew a +heap about herbs, so it am natural dat I should take to it. What can I +gib you?" + +"Well, Sam, you see, sometimes I'se 'flicted dre'fful wid de +faceache--him just go jump, jump, jump, as if he bust right up. Mose +times I find de best ting am to put a little laudabun in my mouf, and a +little on bit of rag and put him outside. De best ting would be for you +to gib me little bottle of him; den when de pain come on I could jes +take him, and not be troubling you ebery day. And, Sam, jus you +whisper--I got hold of a little good stuff. You gib me tin mug; me share +what I hab got with you." + +The negro grinned with delight, and going into the tent brought out a +tin mug. + +"Dat's all right, Sam; but you hab no brought de bottle of laudabun. You +just fetch dat, and I gib you de spirit." + +The negro went in again, and in two minutes returned with a small bottle +of laudanum. + +"Dat's a fair exchange," Tony said, taking it, and handing to the man +his mug half full of spirit. + +"Dat am someting like," the black said, looking with delight at the +liberal allowance. "Me drink him de last ting at night, den me go to +sleep and no one 'spect nuffin'. Whereber you get dat spirit?" + +"Neber you mind, Sam!" Tony said with a grin. "Dar's more where dat +comes from, and maybe you will get anoder taste ob it." + +Then, after leaving the hospital tent, he poured half the spirits away, +for he had not now to depend upon the effect of that alone; and it were +better not to give it too strong, for that might arouse the suspicion of +the guard. Then he uncorked the bottle of laudanum. + +"I don't know how much to gib," he said to himself. "No good to kill +dem. Me don't 'spect dis stuff bery strong. Dose rogues sell all sorts +of stuff to de Government. Anyting good enough for de soldier. Dey gib +him rotten boots, and rotten cloth, and bad powder, and all sorts of +tings. I 'spect dey gib him bad drugs, too. However, me must risk it. +Dis bottle not bery big, anyhow--won't hold more dan two or three +teaspoon. Must risk him." + +So saying, he poured the contents of the vial into the canteen, and +then, going to a water-cart, filled it up. He waited until the camp was +quiet, and then, taking off his boots and fastening in his belt his own +bayonet and that of one of the men sleeping near, he quietly and +cautiously made his way out of camp. There were no sentries placed here, +for there was no fear whatever of an attack, and he had little +difficulty in making his way round to the back of the village to the +spot where Vincent was confined. He moved so quietly that he was not +perceived until he was within a few yards of the shed. + +"Sergeant Newson, am you dere?" + +"Bless me! what a start you hab given me, for suah," the sergeant said. +"I did not hear you coming." + +"You didn't s'pose I was coming along shouting and whistling, Sergeant +Newson? Don't you talk so loud! Dar am no saying who's about." + +"Hab you brought de stuff?" + +"You don't suppose I should hab come all dis way to tell you I hab not +got it. How am do prisoner?" + +"Oh, he's dere all right. My orders was to look in at dat little winder +ebery five minutes, and dat when it began to get dark me was to tie him +quite tight, and me hab done so. And one ob de sentries goes in every +five minutes and feels to see if de ropes are tight. He am dar, sure +enough." + +"Dat's quite right, Sergeant Newson. I knew, when you came to 'lieve me, +as de captain knew what he was doing when he choose you for dis job. He +just pick out de man he considers de very best in de regiment. Now, here +is de spirit; and fuss-rate stuff it am, too." + +"Golly, but it am strong!" the sergeant said, taking a long gulp at the +canteen. "Dat warm de cockles ob de heart in no time. Yes, it am good +stuff--just de ting for dis damp air. I hear as a lot of de white +soldiers are down wid de fever already, and dere will be lots and lots +more ef we stop here long. Here, you two men, take a drink of dis; but +mind, you mustn't tell no one 'bout it. Dis a secret affair." + +The two negroes each took a long drink, and returned the canteen with +expressions of approval. + +"De oder men are on duty," the sergeant said with the air of a man who +knew his business; "dey mustn't hab none of it, not until dey comes off. +As we are de relief, it am proper and right dat we drink a drop out ob a +canteen ef we want it." + +"Quite so, Sergeant Newson," Tony said in a tone of admiration. "Dat's +de way to manage dese tings--duty first and pleasure afterward." + +"It am nearly time to relieve guard," the other said; "and den dey can +hab a drink." + +In five minutes the two soldiers relieved those on guard, and they, +also, took a long drink at the canteen, to which the sergeant also again +applied his lips. + +"Now I must be going," Tony said. "I will leave the canteen with you, +sergeant. I have got some more of the stuff over there, and I dare say +you will like another drink before morning." + +Then he stole away, but halted and lay down twenty yards distant. In ten +minutes he heard the sergeant say: + +"I feel as if I could do jus five minutes' sleep. You keep your eyes on +de shed, and ef you hear any officer coming his rounds you wake me up." + +Tony waited another half hour and then crawled up. The sergeant was +lying on his back sound asleep; the two men with him were on their +faces, with their rifles pointing toward the shed, as if they had +dropped off to sleep while they were staring at it. Then he crawled on +to the shed. The soldier on sentry at the back had grounded his musket +and was leaning against the shed fast asleep, while the one at the door +had apparently slid down in a sitting position and was snoring. + +"I hope I haben't given it to dem too strong," Tony said to himself; +"but it can't be helped anyhow." + +He opened the door and entered the shed. + +"Are you awake, Marse Wingfield?" + +"Yes, I am awake, Tony. Thank God you have come! How did you manage it?" + +"I hab managed it, sah, and dey are all fast asleep," Tony said, as he +cut the ropes which bound Vincent. + +"Now, sah, let's be going, quick. Dar am no saying when dey may come +round to look after de guards. Dat's what I hab been worrying about de +last quarter ob an hour." + +Vincent sprang to his feet as the ropes fell from him, and grasped +Tony's hand. + +"Here am a baynet, sah. I hope we shan't want to use dem, but dar am no +saying." + +They made their way cautiously across the fields till they approached +another camp. A few sentries were walking up and down in front of it, +but they crawled round these and passed through the space between the +regiment and that next to it. Several other camps were passed and then, +when Vincent knew that they were well in rear of the whole of them, +they rose to their feet and started forward at a run. Suddenly Tony +touched Vincent, and they both stood still. A distant shout came through +the air, followed by another and another. + +"I 'spect dey hab found out we have gone, sah. Dey go round two or three +times in de night to see dat de sentries are awake. Now, sah, come +along." + +They were on the road now, and ran at full speed until they approached +Union. They left the track as they neared the village, and as they did +so they heard the sound of a horse at full gallop behind them. + +"That's an orderly taking the news of our escape. Sheridan's cavalry are +scattered all over the country, and there are two squadrons at Union +Grove. The whole country will be alive at daybreak." + +Making their way through the fields they soon struck the track leading +to Worley Farm, and in a few minutes were at the door. The woman opened +it at once. + +"I have been watching for you," she said, "and I am real glad you have +got safe away. Wait a minute and I will strike a light." + +"You had better not do that," Vincent said. "They have got the alarm at +Union Grove already, and if anyone caught sight of a light appearing in +your window, it would bring them down here at once. + +"They can't see the house from Union," the woman said. "Still, perhaps +it will be best. Now, sir, I can't do anything for you, because my men's +clothes are the same sort of cut as yours; but here's a suit for this +man." + +Thanking her warmly Vincent handed the things to Tony. + +"Make haste and slip them on, Tony; and make your other things up into a +bundle and bring them with you for a bit. We must leave nothing here, +for they will search the whole country to-morrow. We will take the horse +away, too; not that we want it, but it would never do for it to be found +here." + +"Will you take your letter again?" the woman asked. + +"No, I will leave it with you. It will be no use now, if I get through, +but if you hear to-morrow or next day that I am caught, please carry it +as we arranged. What is this?" he asked, as the woman handed him a +bundle. + +"Here are eight or ten pounds of pork," she said, "and some corn cakes. +If you are hiding away you will want something, and I reckon, anyhow, +you won't be able to make your way to our people for a bit. Now, if you +are ready, I will start with you." + +"You will start with us!" Vincent repeated in surprise. + +"Certainly I will start with you," the woman said. "How do you think you +would be able to find your way a dark night like this? No, sir; I will +put you on your way till morning. But, in the first place, which line do +you mean to take?" + +"I do not think there is much chance of getting back the way I came," +Vincent said. "By morning Sheridan's cavalry will have got a description +of me, and they will be scouring the whole country. The only chance will +be to go north and cross the river somewhere near Norfolk." + +"I think, sah, you better go on wid your horse at once. No use wait for +me. I come along on foot, find my own way." + +"No, Tony, I shall certainly not do that. We will either get off or be +taken together. Well, I think the best plan will be to go straight down +to the river. How far is it away?" + +"About fifteen miles," the woman said. + +"If we get there we can get hold of a boat somehow, and either cross and +then make straight for Richmond on foot, or go up the river in the boat +and land in the rear of our lines. That we can settle about afterward. +The first thing is to get to the river bank. We are not likely to meet +with any interruption in that direction. Of course the cavalry are all +on the other flank, and it will be supposed that I shall try either to +work round that way or to make straight through the lines. They would +hardly suspect that I shall take to the river, which is covered with +their transports and storeships." + +"I think that is the best plan," the woman said. "There are scarcely any +villages between this and the river. It's only just when you cross the +road between Petersburg and Williamsburg that you would be likely to +meet a soul, even in the daytime. There is scarce even a farmhouse +across this section. I know the country pretty well. Just stop a minute +and I will run up to the wood and fetch down the horse. There's a big +wood about a mile away, and you can turn him in there." + +A few minutes later they started, Vincent leading the horse and Tony +carrying the bundle of food and his cast-off uniform. The woman led them +by farm roads, sometimes turning off to the right or left, but keeping +her way with a certainty which showed how well she was acquainted with +the country. Several times they could hear the dull sound of bodies of +cavalry galloping along the roads; but this died away as they got +further into the country. The horse had been turned loose a mile from +their starting place. Vincent removed the bridle and saddle, saying: "He +will pick up enough to feed on here for some time. When he gets tired of +the woods he can work his way out into a clearing." + +Here Tony hid away his uniform among some thick bushes, and the three +walked steadily along until the first tinge of daylight appeared on the +sky. Then the woman stopped. + +"The river is not more than half a mile in front of you," she said; "so +I will say good-by." + +"What will you do?" Vincent asked. "You might be questioned as you get +near home." + +"I am going to put up at the last house we passed," she said; "about +three miles back. I know the people there, and they will take me in. I +will stop there for a day or two, maybe, then walk back, so I shall have +a true story to tell. That's all right." + +Vincent said good-by to her, with many hearty thanks for the services +she had rendered him, and had almost to force her to take notes for two +hundred dollars from the bundle he had sewn up in the lining of his +coat. + +"You have saved my life," he said, "and some day I hope to be able to do +more to show my gratitude; but you must take this, anyhow, to tide you +over the hard time, and find food for your husband and sons when they +come back from the war." + +As soon as the woman had turned back Vincent and Tony continued on their +way. The former had, as soon as they were fairly out from the Federal +camp, told Tony in a few words that his wife was safe at home and their +boy flourishing, and he now gave him further details of them. + +"And how came you to enter the army, Tony?" + +"Well, sah, dare wasn't much choice about it. De Northern people, dey +talk mighty high about der love for de negro, but I don't see much of it +in der ways. Why, sah, dey is twice as scornful ob a black man as de +gentlemen in de Souf. I list in de army, sah, because dey say dey go to +Richmond, and den I find Dinah and de boy." + +"Well, Tony, I little thought when I did you a service that it would be +the means of you being able to save my life some day." + +"Not much in dat, sah. You sabe my life, because dey would, for suah, +hab caught me and killed me. Den you save my wife for me, den you pay +out dat Jackson, and now you hab killed him. I could hab shouted for +joy, sah, when I saw you hit him ober de head wid de shovel, and I saw +dat dis time he gib no more trouble to no one. I should hab done for him +bery soon, sah. I had my eye upon him, and the fust time we got into +battle he got a ball in his back. Lucky he didn't see me. He not officer +ob my company, and me look quite different in de uniform to what me was +when I worked on de plantation; but I knew him, and wheneber I see him +pass I hang down my head and I say to myself, 'My time come soon, Massa +Jackson; my time come bery soon, and den we get quits.'" + +"It is wrong to nourish revenge, Tony; but I really can't blame you very +much as to that fellow. Still, I should have blamed you if you had +killed him--blamed you very much. He was a bad man, and he treated you +brutally, but, you see, he has been already punished a good deal." + +"Yes, you knock him down, sah. Dat bery good, but not enough for Tony." + +"But that wasn't all, Tony. You see, the affair set all my friends +against him, and his position became a very unpleasant one. Then, you +see, if it hadn't been for you he would probably have got through to our +lines again after he had escaped with me. Then, you see, his father, out +of revenge, stole Dinah away." + +"Stole Dinah!" Tony exclaimed, stopping in his walk. "Why, sah, you hab +been telling me dat she is safe and well wid Mrs. Wingfield." + +"So she is, Tony. But he stole her for all that, and had her carried +down into Carolina; but I managed to bring her back. It's a long story, +but I will tell you about it presently. Then the knowledge that I had +found Dinah, and the fear of punishment for his share of taking her +away, caused old Jackson to fly from the country, getting less than a +quarter of the sum his estate would have fetched two or three years ago. +That was what made him and his son turn Unionists. So, you see, Jackson +was heavily punished for his conduct to you, and it did not need for you +to revenge yourself." + +"So he was, sah, so he was," Tony said thoughtfully. "Yes, it does seem +as if all dese tings came on kinder one after de oder, just out ob dat +flogging he gabe me: and now he has got killed for just de same cause, +for if he hadn't been obliged to turn Unionist he wouldn't have been in +dat dar battery at de time you came dere. Yes, I sees dat is so, sah; +and I'se glad now I didn't hab a chance ob shooting him down, for I +should have done so for suah, ef I had." + +They had now reached the river. The sun was just showing above the +horizon, and the broad sheet of water was already astir. Steamers were +making their way up from the mouth of the river, laden with stores for +the army. Little tugs were hurrying to and fro. Vessels that had +discharged their cargo were dropping down with the tide, while many +sailing vessels lay at anchor, waiting for the turn of tide to make +their way higher up. Norfolk was, however, the base from which the +Federal army drew the larger portion of its stores; as there were great +conveniences for landing here, and a railway thence ran up to the rear +of their lines. But temporary wharves and stages had been erected at the +point of the river nearest to their camps in front of Petersburg, and +here the cattle and much of the stores required for the army were +landed. At the point at which Vincent and Tony had struck the river the +banks were somewhat low. Here and there were snug farms, with the ground +cultivated down to the river. The whole country was open and free from +trees, except where small patches had been left. It was in front of one +of these that Vincent and Tony were now standing. + +"I do not think there is any risk of pursuit now, Tony. This is not the +line on which they will be hunting us. The question is--how are we to +get across?" + +"It's too far to swim, sah." + +"I should think it was," Vincent said with a laugh. "It's three or four +miles, I should say, if it's a foot. The first question is--where are we +to get a boat? I should think that some of these farmhouses are sure to +have boats, but the chances are they have been seized by the Yankees +long ago. Still they may have some laid up. The Yanks would not have +made much search for these, though they would no doubt take all the +larger boats for the use of the troops or for getting stores ashore. +Anyhow, I will go to the next farmhouse and ask." + +"Shall I go, sah?" + +"No, Tony, they would probably take you for a runaway. No, I will go. +There can be no danger. The men are all away, and the women are sure to +be loyal. I fancy the few who were the other way before will have +changed their minds since the Yanks landed." + +They followed the bank of the river for a quarter of a mile, and then +Vincent walked on to a small farmhouse standing on the slope fifty yards +from the water. Two or three children, who were playing outside, at once +ran in upon seeing a stranger, and a moment later two women came out. +They were somewhat reassured when they saw Vincent approaching alone. + +"What is it, stranger?" one of them asked. "Do you want a meal? We have +got little enough to offer you, but what there is you are welcome to. +The Yanks have driven off our cows and pigs and the two horses, and have +emptied the barns, and pulled up all the garden stuff, and stole the +fowls, and carried off the bacon from the beams, so we have got but an +empty larder. But, as far as bread and molasses go, you are welcome." + +"Thank you," Vincent said; "I am not in want of food. What I am in want +of is a boat." + +"Boat!" the woman repeated in surprise. + +"Yes, I want to get across to the other side, or else to get up the +river and land between Petersburg and Bermuda." + +"Sakes alive!" the woman exclaimed; "what do you want to do that for?" + +"I will tell you," Vincent replied. "I know I can trust my life to any +woman in the Confederacy. I am one of General Wade Hampton's officers, +and I have come through their lines to find out what they are doing. I +have been caught once, but managed to slip through their hands, but +there is no possibility of making my way back across the country, for +the Yankee cavalry are patrolling every road, and the only chance I have +is of getting away by boat." + +"Step right in, sir," the woman said. "It's a real pleasure to us to +have one of our officers under our roof." + +"I have a friend with me," Vincent said; "a faithful negro, who has +helped me to escape, and who would be hung like a dog if they could lay +hands on him." + +"Bring him in, sir," the woman said hospitably. "I had four or five +niggers till the Yanks came, but they all ran away 'cause they knew they +would either be set to work or made to fight; so they went. They said +they would come back again when the trouble is over; maybe they will and +maybe they won't. At first the niggers about here used to look for the +Yanks coming, but as the news got about of what happened to those they +took from their masters, they concluded they were better off where they +were. Call your boy in, sir; call him in!" + +Vincent gave a shout, and Tony at once came up. "Thank you, we don't +want anything to eat," Vincent went on, as the woman began to put some +plates on the table. "We have just had a hearty meal, and have got +enough food for three or four days in that bundle. But we want a boat, +or, if we can't find that, some sailors' clothes. If I had them I would +keep along the river down to Norfolk. The place will be full of sailors. +We should not be likely to be noticed there." + +"I can't help you in that," the woman said; "but there are certainly +some boats laid up along the shore. Now, Maria, who has got boats that +haven't been taken?" + +"I expect the Johnsons have got one," the other woman replied. "They had +a small boat the boys and girls used to go out fishing in. I don't think +the Yanks have got that. I expect they hid it away somewhere; but I +don't know as they would let you have it. She is a close-fisted woman is +Sarah Johnson." + +"I could pay her for its value," Vincent said. + +"Oh, well, if you could pay her she would let you have it. I don't say +she wouldn't, anyhow, seeing as you are an officer and the Yanks are +after you. Still, she is close is Sarah Johnson, and I don't know as she +is so set on the Confederacy as most people. I tell you what I will do, +sir. I will go down and say as a stranger wants to buy her boat, and no +questions asked. She is just to show where the boat is hidden, and you +are to pay for it and take it away when you want it." + +"That would be a very good plan," Vincent said, "if you wouldn't mind +the trouble." + +"The trouble is nothing," she said. "Johnson's place aint above a mile +along the shore." + +"I will go with you until you get close to the house," Vincent said; +"then, when you hear what she wants for the boat, I will give you the +money for it, and you can show me where it is hidden." + +This was accordingly done. Mrs. Johnson, after a considerable amount of +bargaining with Vincent's guide, agreed to take twenty dollars for the +boat, and, upon receiving the money, sent one of her boys with her to +show her where it was hidden. It was in a hole that had been scooped out +in the steep bank some ten feet above the water's edge, and was +completely hidden from the sight of anyone rowing past by a small clump +of bushes. When the boy had returned to the farmhouse the woman took +Vincent to the spot, and they then went back together. + +Here he and Tony had a long talk as to whether it would be better to put +out at once or to wait till nightfall. It was finally determined that it +was best to make an immediate start. A boat rowed by two men would +attract little attention. It might belong to any of the ships at anchor +in the river, and might be supposed to have gone on shore to fetch eggs +or chickens, or with a letter or a message. + +"You see, both shores are in the hands of the Yankees," Vincent said, +"and there will not be any suspicion of a boat in the daytime. At night +we might be hailed, and, if we gave no answer, fired upon, and that +might bring a gunboat along to see what was the matter. No, I think it +will be far best to go on boldly. There are not likely to be any bodies +of Federal troops on the opposite shore except at Fortress Monroe, and +perhaps opposite the point where they have got their landing below +Petersburg. Once ashore we shall be safe. The peninsula opposite is +covered with forest and swamp, and we shall have no difficulty in +getting through, however many troops they may have across it. You know +the place pretty well, don't you, Tony?" + +Tony nodded. "Once across, sah, all de Yank army wouldn't catch us. Me +know ob lots ob hiding places." + +"Them broad hats will never do," the woman said; "but I have got some +blue nightcaps I knitted for my husband. They are something like the +caps I have seen some sailors wear; anyhow, they will pass at a +distance, and when you take your coats and vests off, them colored +flannel shirts will be just the right thing." + +"That will do capitally, and the sooner we are off the better," Vincent +said, and after heartily thanking the two women, and bestowing a present +upon each of the children, they started along the shore. + +The boat was soon got into the water, the oars put out, and they +started. The tide was just low now, and they agreed to pull along at a +short distance from the shore until it turned. As soon as it did so the +vessels at anchor would be getting up sail to make up to the landing +place, and even had anyone on board noticed the boat put out, and had +been watching it, they would have other things to think about. + +"It is some time since we last rowed in a boat together, Tony." + +"About three years, sah; dat time when you get me safe away. I had a bad +fright dat day you left me, sah. It came on to blow bery hard, and some +ob de men told me dat dey did not tink you would ever get back to shore. +Dat made me awful bad, sah; and me wish ober and ober again dat me hab +died in de forest instead of your taking me off in a boat and trowing +away your life. I neber felt happy again, sah, till I got your letter up +in Canady, and knew you had got back safe dat day." + +"We had a narrow squeak of it, Tony, and were blown some distance up. We +were nearly swamped a score of times, and Dan quite made up his mind +that it was all up with us. However, we got through safe, and I don't +think a soul except perhaps Jackson and that rascally overseer of ours, +who afterward had a hand in carrying off your wife, and lost his life in +consequence, ever had a suspicion we had been doing more than a long +fishing expedition. I will tell you all about it when we are going +through the woods. Now I think it's pretty nearly dead water, and we +will begin to edge across." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE END OF THE STRUGGLE. + + +Vincent directed his course so that, while the boat's head was still +pointing up the stream, and she was apparently moving in the same +direction as the ships, she was gradually getting out to the middle of +the river. Had he tried to row straight across, suspicion might at once +have been excited. In half an hour they were in the middle of the +stream. A vessel passing under full sail swept along at a distance of a +hundred yards, and they were hailed. Vincent merely waved his hand and +continued his course. + +"I dare say those fellows wonder what we are up to, Tony; but they are +not likely to stop to inquire. In another quarter of an hour we shall be +pretty safe. Ah! there's a fellow who might interfere with us," he +added, looking round. "Do you see that little black thing two miles +ahead of us? That's a steam launch. If she sees us making over, she's +likely enough to come and ask us some questions. We had better head a +little more toward the shore now. If it comes to a race, every foot is +of importance." + +Up to now they had been rowing in an easy and leisurely manner, avoiding +all appearance of haste. They now bent to their oars, and the boat began +to travel a good deal faster through the water. Vincent glanced over his +shoulder frequently at the steam launch. + +"She is keeping straight on in the middle of the channel, Tony; +evidently she hasn't noticed us yet." + +Ten minutes after passing the ship he exclaimed sharply: + +"Row, Tony, as hard as you can! The launch has just passed that ship, +and has changed her course. I expect the captain has called their +attention to us. It's a race now." + +The boat, at the moment the launch changed her course, was rather more +than halfway between the center of the channel and the shore. The launch +was in the center of the channel, and three-quarters of a mile higher +up. She had evidently put on steam as she started to cut off the boat, +for there was now a white wave at her bow. + +"I think we shall do it, Tony," Vincent said. "I don't suppose she can +go above eight miles an hour, and we are certainly going four, and she +has more than twice as far to travel as we have." + +Those on board the launch were evidently conscious that they were likely +to lose the race, for in a few minutes they began to open fire with +their rifles. + +"Fire away!" Vincent said. "You aint likely to hit us a thousand yards +off, and we haven't another three hundred to row." + +The bullets whistled overhead, but none of them struck the water within +many yards of the boat, and the launch was still four or five hundred +yards away when the bow of the boat touched the shore. Several muskets +were discharged, and Vincent and Tony leaped out and plunged into the +bushes that came down to the water's edge. The launch sent up a sharp +series of whistles, and random shots were for some time fired into the +bushes. + +"It is lucky she didn't carry a small gun in her bows," Vincent said, +"for though seven or eight hundred yards is a long range for a rifle, +they might likely enough have hit us if they had had a gun. Now, Tony, +we shall have to be careful, for those whistles are no doubt meant as +an alarm; and although she cannot tell who we are, she will probably +steam up, and if they have any forces opposite Bermuda will give them +news that two suspicious characters have landed, and they will have +parties out to look for us." + +"Dey can look as long as dey like, sah. Ef dose slave-hunters can't find +people in de swamps what chance you tink dose soldiers have? None at +all! Dey haven't got no reward before dere eyes, and dey won't want to +be going in ober dere shoes into the mud and dirting dere uniforms. No +fear ob dem, sah. Dey make as much noise when dey march in de wood as a +drove ob pigs. You can hear dem a quarter ob a mile away." + +They tramped on through the woods through which McClellan's force had so +painfully made their way during their first advance against Richmond. +From time to time they could hear noises in the forest--shouts, and once +or twice the discharge of firearms. + +"Dey call dat hunting, I s'pose," Tony said scornfully. + +They kept steadily on until it began to grow dark in the forest. They +were now in the White Oak Swamp and not eight miles from Richmond, and +they thought it better to pause until it became quite dark, for they +might be picked up by any raiding party of cavalry. Vincent was in high +spirits. Now that he had succeeded in his enterprise, and had escaped +almost by a miracle, he was eager to get back to Richmond and carry his +news down to General Lee. Tony was even more anxious to push on. At +last, after three years' absence, he was to see his wife and child +again, and he reluctantly agreed to Vincent's proposal for a halt. + +"We shan't stop very long, Tony; and I own I am waiting quite as much +because I am hungry and want to eat, and because I am desperately tired, +as from any fear of the enemy. We walked twenty miles last night from +Union Grove to the river; then I walked to the boat, back to the farm, +and then back to the boat again--that's three more miles--and we have +gone another twenty now. I am pretty nearly dead beat, I can tell you." + +"I'se tired, too, sah; but I feel I could go on walking all night if I +was to see Dinah in de morning." + +"Well, I couldn't, Tony; not to see anyone. I might be willing enough, +but my legs wouldn't take me." + +They ate a hearty meal, and almost as soon as they had finished Vincent +stood up again. + +"Well, Tony, I can feel for your impatience, and so we'll struggle on. I +have just been thinking that when I last left my mother, a week since, +she said she was thinking of going out to the Orangery for a month +before the leaves fell, so it is probable that she may be there now. It +is only about the same distance as it is to Richmond, so we will go +straight there. I shall lose a little time, of course; but I can be +driven over to Richmond, so it won't be too much. Besides, I can put on +a pair of slippers. That will be a comfort, for my feet feel as if they +were in vises. A cup of tea won't be a bad thing, too." + +During their walk through the wood Vincent related the circumstances of +the carrying away of Dinah, and of her rescue. When he had finished Tony +said: + +"Well, Massa Wingfield, I don't know what to say to you. I tought I owed +you enuff before, but it war nothing to dis. Just to tink dat you should +take all dat pains to fetch Dinah back for me! I dunno how it came to +you to do it. It seems to me like as if you been sent special from +heaben to do dis poor nigger good. Words aint no good, sah; but if I +could give my life away a hundred times for you I would do it." + +It took them nearly three hours' walking before they came in sight of +the Orangery. + +"There are lights in the windows," Vincent said. "Thank goodness, they +are there!" + +Vincent limped slowly along until he reached the house. + +"You stay out here, Tony. I will send Dinah out to you directly. It +will be better for her to meet you here alone." + +Vincent walked straight into the drawing room, where his mother and +Annie were sitting. + +"Why, Vincent!" Mrs. Wingfield exclaimed, starting up, "what has +happened to you? What are you dressed up like that for? Is anything the +matter?" + +"Nothing is the matter, mother, except that I am as tired as a dog. Yes, +my dress is not quite fit for a drawing room," he laughed, looking down +at the rough trousers, splashed with mud to the waist, and his flannel +shirt, for they had not waited to pick up their coats as they left the +boat; "but nothing is the matter, I can assure you. I will tell all +about it directly, but first please send for Dinah here." + +Mrs. Wingfield rang the bell on the table beside her. + +"Tell Dinah I want to speak to her at once," she said to the girl that +answered it. Dinah appeared in a minute. + +"Dinah," Vincent said, "has your boy gone to bed?" + +"Yes, sah; been gone an hour ago." + +"Well, just go to him, and put a shawl round him, and go out through the +front door. There is someone standing there you will be glad to see." + +Dinah stood with open eyes, then her hands began to tremble. + +"Is it Tony, sah; for de Lord's sake, is it Tony?" + +Vincent nodded, and, with a little scream of joy, she turned and ran +straight to the front door. She could not wait now even to fetch her +boy, and in another moment she was clasped in her husband's arms. + +"Now, Vincent, tell us all about it," his mother said. "Don't you see we +are dying of curiosity?" + +"And I am dying of fatigue," Vincent said; "which is a much more painful +sort of death, and I can think of nothing else until I have got these +boots off. Annie, do run and tell them to bring me a pair of slippers +and a cup of tea, and I shall want the buggy at the door in half an +hour." + +"You are not going away again to-night, Vincent, surely?" his mother +said anxiously. "You do look completely exhausted." + +"I am exhausted, mother. I have walked seven or eight and forty miles, +and this cavalry work spoils one for walking altogether." + +"Walked forty-eight miles, Vincent! What on earth have you done that +for?" + +"Not from choice, I can assure you, mother; but you know the old saying, +'Needs must when the devil drives,' and in the present case you must +read 'Yankee' instead of 'the gentleman in black.'" + +"But has Petersburg fallen?" Mrs. Wingfield asked in alarm. + +"No; Petersburgh is safe, and is likely to continue so. But you must +really be patient, mother, until I have had some tea, then you can hear +the story in full." + +When the servant came in with the tea, Vincent told her that she was to +tell Dinah, whom she would find in the veranda, to bring her husband +into the kitchen, and to give him everything he wanted. Then, as soon as +he had finished tea, he told his mother and sister the adventures he had +gone through. Both were crying when he had finished. + +"I am proud of you, Vincent," his mother said. "It is hard on us that +you should run such risks; still I do not blame you, my boy, for, if I +had ten sons, I would give them all for my country." + +Vincent had just finished his story when the servant came in and said +that the buggy was at the door. + +"I will go in my slippers, mother, but I will run up and change my other +things. It's lucky I have got a spare suit here. Any of our fellows who +happened to be going down to-night in the train would think that I was +mad, were I to go like this." + +It was one o'clock in the morning when Vincent reached Petersburg. He +went straight to his quarters, as it would be no use waking General Lee +at that hour. A light was burning in his room, and Dan was asleep at +the table with his head on his arms. He leaped up with a cry of joy as +his master entered. + +"Well, Dan, here I am safe again," Vincent said cheerily. "I hope you +had not begun to give me up." + +"I began to be terribly frightened, sir--terribly frightened. I went dis +afternoon and asked Captain Burley if he had any news ob you. He said +'No'; and asked me ef I knew where you were. I said 'No, sah;' that I +knew nuffin about it except that you had gone on some dangerous job. He +said as dey had heard nuffin had happened to you. Still I was bery +anxious, and tought I would sit up till de last train came in from +Richmond. Den I tink I dropped off to sleep." + +"I think you did, Dan. Well, I am too tired to tell you anything about +it now, but I have one piece of news for you: Tony has come back to his +wife." + +"Dat's good news, sah; bery good news. I had begun to be afraid dat Tony +had been shot or hung or someting. I know Dinah hab been fretting about +him, though she neber said much, but when I am at home she allus asks me +all sorts of questions 'bout him. She bery glad woman now." + +The next morning Vincent went to General Lee's quarters. + +"I am heartily glad to see you back," the general said warmly as he +entered. "I have blamed myself for letting you go. Well, what success +have you had?" + +"Here is a rough plan of the works, general. I have not had time to do +it out fairly, but it shows the positions of all their principal +batteries, with a rough estimate as to the number of guns that each is +intended to carry." + +"Excellent!" the general said, glancing over the plan. "This will give +us exactly the information we want. We must set to with our +counter-works at once. The country is indeed indebted to you, sir. So +you managed to cheat the Yankees altogether?" + +"I should have cheated them, sir; but, unfortunately, I came across an +old acquaintance who denounced me, and I had a narrow escape of being +shot." + +"Well, Captain Wingfield, I must see about this business and give orders +at once. Will you come and breakfast with me at half-past eight? Then +you can give me an account of your adventures." + +Vincent returned to his quarters, and spent the next two hours in making +a detailed drawing of the enemy's positions and batteries, and then, at +half-past eight, walked over to General Lee's quarters. The general +returned in a few minutes with General Wade Hampton and several other +officers, and they at once sat down to breakfast. As the meal was +proceeding an orderly entered with a telegram for the general. General +Lee glanced through it. + +"This, gentlemen, is from the minister of war. I acquainted him by +telegraph this morning that Captain Wingfield, who had volunteered for +the dangerous service, had just returned from the Federal lines with a +plan of the positions and strength of all the works that they are +erecting. I said that I trusted that such distinguished service as he +had rendered would be at once rewarded with promotion, and the minister +telegraphs to me now that he has this morning signed this young +officer's commission as major. I heartily congratulate you, sir, on your +well-earned step. And now, as I see you have finished your breakfast, +perhaps you will give us an account of your proceedings." + +Vincent gave a detailed account of his adventures, which were heard with +surprise and interest. + +"That was a narrow escape indeed," the general said, as he finished. "It +was a marvelous thing your lighting upon this negro, whom you say you +had once had an opportunity of serving, just at that moment; and +although you do not tell us what was the nature of the service you had +rendered him, it must have been a very considerable service or he would +never have risked his life in that way to save yours. When these negroes +do feel attachment for their masters, there are no more faithful and +devoted fellows. Well, in your case certainly a good action has met with +its reward; if it had not been for him there could be no question that +your doom was sealed. It is a strange thing, too, your meeting that +traitor. I remember reading about that escape of yours from the Yankee +prison. He must have been an ungrateful villain, after your taking him +with you." + +"He was a bad fellow altogether, I am afraid," Vincent said; "and the +quarrel between us was a long-standing one." + +"Whatever your quarrel was," the general said hotly, "a man who would +betray even an enemy to death in that way is a villain. However, he has +gone to his account, and the country can forgive his treachery to her, +as I have no doubt you have already done his conduct toward yourself." + +A short time afterward Vincent had leave for a week, as things were +quiet at Petersburg. + +"Mother," he said, on the morning after he got home, "I fear that there +is no doubt whatever now how this struggle will end. I think we might +keep Grant at bay here, but Sherman is too strong for us down in +Georgia. We are already cut off from most of the Southern States, and in +time Sherman will sweep round here, and then it will be all over. You +see it yourself, don't you, mother?" + +"Yes, I am afraid it cannot continue much longer, Vincent. Well, of +course, we shall fight to the end." + +"I am not talking of giving up, mother; I am looking forward to the +future. The first step will be that all the slaves will be freed. Now, +it seems to me that, however attached they may be to their masters and +mistresses, they will lose their heads over this, flock into the towns, +and nearly starve there; or else take up little patches of land, +cultivate them, and live from hand to mouth, which will be ruin to the +present owners as well as to them. Anyhow, for a time all will be +confusion and disorder. Now, my idea is this: If you give all your +slaves their freedom at once, offer them patches of land for their own +cultivation, and employ them for wages, you will find that a great many +of them will stop with you." There is nowhere for them to go at present +and nothing to excite them, so, before the general crash comes, they +will have settled down quietly to work here in their new positions, and +will not be likely to go away. + +"It is a serious step to take, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield said, after +thinking the matter over in silence for some time. "You do not think +there is any probability of the ultimate success of our cause?" + +"None, mother; I do not think there is even a possibility. One by one +the Southern States have been wrested from the Confederacy. Sherman's +march will completely isolate us. We have put our last available man in +the field, and tremendous as are the losses of the enemy they are able +to fill up the gaps as fast as they are made. No, mother, do not let us +deceive ourselves on that head. The end must come, and that before long. +The slaves will unquestionably be freed, and the only question for us is +how to soften the blow. There is no doubt that our slaves, both at the +Orangery and at the other plantations, are contented and happy; but you +know how fickle and easily led the negroes are, and in the excitement of +finding themselves free and able to go where they please, you may be +sure that the greater number will wander away. My proposal is that we +should at once mark out a plot of land for each family, and tell them +that as long as they stay here it is theirs, rent free; they will be +paid for their work upon the estates, three, four, or five days a week, +as they can spare time from their own plots. In this way they will be +settled down, and have crops upon their plots of land, before the whole +black population is upset by the sudden abolition of slavery." + +"But suppose they won't work at all, even for wages, Vincent?" + +"I should not give them the option, mother; it will be a condition of +their having their plots of land free that they shall work at least +three days a week for wages." + +"I will think over what you say, Vincent, and tell you my decision in +the morning. I certainly think your plan is a good one." + +The next morning Mrs. Wingfield told Vincent that she had decided to +adopt his plan. He at once held a long consultation with the overseer, +and decided which fields should be set aside for the allotments, +choosing land close to the negroes' quarters and suitable for the +raising of vegetables for sale in the town. + +In the afternoon Mrs. Wingfield went down with him. The bell was rung +and the whole of the slaves assembled. Vincent then made them a speech. +He began by reminding them of the kind treatment they had always +received, and of the good feeling that had existed between the owners of +the Orangery and their slaves. He praised them for their good conduct +since the beginning of the troubles, and said that his mother and +himself had agreed that they would now take steps to reward them, and to +strengthen the tie between them. They would all be granted their freedom +at once, and a large plot of land would be given to each man, as much as +he and his family could cultivate with an average of two days a week +steady labor. + +Those who liked would, of course, be at liberty to leave; but he hoped +that none of them would avail themselves of this freedom, for nowhere +would they do so well as by accepting the offer he made them. All who +accepted the offer of a plot of land, rent free, must understand that it +was granted them upon the condition that they would labor upon the +estate for at least three days a week, receiving a rate of pay similar +to that earned by other freed negroes. Of course they would be at +liberty to work four or five days a week if they chose; but at least +they must work three days, and anyone failing to do this would forfeit +his plot of land. "Three days' work," he said, "will be sufficient to +provide all necessaries for yourselves and families, and the produce of +your land you can sell, and will so be able to lay by an ample sum to +keep yourselves in old age. I have already plotted out the land, and you +shall cast lots for choice of the plots. There will be a little delay +before all your papers of freedom can be made out, but the arrangement +will begin from to-day, and henceforth you will be paid for all labor +done on the estate." + +Scarcely a word was spoken when Vincent concluded. The news was too +surprising to the negroes for them to be able to understand it all at +once. Dan and Tony, to whom Vincent had already explained the matter, +went among them, and they gradually took in the whole of Vincent's +meaning. A few received the news with great joy, but many others were +depressed rather than rejoiced at the responsibilities of their new +positions. Hitherto they had been clothed and fed, the doctor attended +them in sickness, their master would care for them in old age. They had +been literally without a care for the morrow, and the thought that, in +the future, they would have to think of all these things for themselves +almost frightened them. Several of the older men went up to Mrs. +Wingfield and positively declined to accept their freedom. They were +quite contented and happy, and wanted nothing more. They had worked on +the plantation since they had been children, and freedom offered them no +temptations whatever. + +"What had we better do, Vincent?" Mrs. Wingfield asked. + +"I think, mother, it will be best to tell them that all who wish can +remain upon the old footing, but that their papers will be made out, and +if, at any time, they wish to have their freedom they will only have to +say so. No doubt they will soon become accustomed to the idea, and, +seeing how comfortable the others are with their pay and the produce of +their gardens, they would soon fall in with the rest. Of course it will +decrease the income from the estate, but not so much as you would think. +They will be paid for their labor, but we shall have neither to feed nor +clothe them; and I think we shall get better labor than we do now, for +the knowledge that those who do not work steadily will lose their plots +of land and have to go out in the world to work, their places being +filled by others, will keep them steady." + +"It's an experiment, Vincent, and we shall see how it works." + +"It's an experiment I have often thought I should like to make, mother, +and now, you see, it is almost forced upon us. To-morrow I will ride +over to the other plantations and make the same arrangements." + +During the month of August many battles took place round Petersburg. On +the 12th the Federals attacked, but were repulsed with heavy loss, and +2500 prisoners were taken. On the 21st the Confederates attacked, and +obtained a certain amount of success, killing, wounding, and capturing +2400 men. Petersburg was shelled day and night, and almost continuous +fighting went on. Nevertheless, up to the middle of October the +positions of the armies remained unaltered. On the 27th of that month +the Federals made another general attack, but were repulsed with a loss +of 1500 men. During the next three months there was little fighting, the +Confederates having now so strengthened their lines by incessant toil +that even General Grant, reckless of the lives of his troops as he was, +hesitated to renew the assault. + +But in the South General Sherman was carrying all before him. Generals +Hood and Johnston, who commanded the Confederate armies there, had +fought several desperate battles, but the forces opposed to them were +too strong to be driven back. They had marched through Georgia to +Atlanta and captured that important town on the 1st of September, and +obtained command of the network of railways, and thus cut off a large +portion of the Confederacy from Richmond. Then Sherman marched south, +wasting the country through which he marched, and capturing Savannah on +the 21st of September. + +While he was so doing, General Hood had marched into Tennessee, and +after various petty successes, was defeated, after two days' hard +fighting, near Nashville. In the third week in January, 1865, Sherman +set out with 60,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry from Savannah, laying +waste the whole country--burning, pillaging, and destroying. The town of +Columbia was occupied, sacked, and burned, the white men and women and +even the negroes being horribly ill-treated. + +The Confederates evacuated Charleston at the approach of the enemy, +setting it in flames rather than allow it to fall into Sherman's hands. +The Federal army then continued its devastating route through South +Carolina, and at the end of March had established itself at Goldsboro, +in North Carolina, and was in readiness to aid Grant in his final attack +on Richmond. + +Lee, seeing the imminence of the danger, made an attack upon the enemy +in front of Petersburg, but was repulsed. He had now but 37,000 men with +which to oppose an enemy of nearly four times that strength in front of +him, while Sheridan's cavalry, 10,000 strong, threatened his flank, and +Sherman with his army was but a few days' march distant. There was +fierce fighting on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of March, and on the 2d of +April the whole Federal army assaulted the positions at Petersburg, and +after desperate fighting succeeded in carrying them. The Confederate +troops, outnumbered and exhausted as they were by the previous week's +marching and fighting, yet retained their discipline, and Lee drew off +with 20,000 men and marched to endeavor to effect a junction with +Johnston, who was still facing Sherman. + +But his men had but one day's provisions with them. The stores that he +had ordered to await them at the point to which he directed his march +had not arrived there when they reached it, and, harassed at every foot +of their march by Sheridan's cavalry and Ord's infantry, the force +fought its way on. The horses and mules were so weak from want of food +that they were unable to drag the guns, and the men dropped in numbers +from fatigue and famine. Sheridan and Ord cut off two corps, but General +Lee, with but 8000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, still pressed forward +toward Lynchburg. But Sheridan threw himself in the way, and, finding +that no more could be done, General Lee and the infantry surrendered and +a few days later Generals Lee and Grant met and signed terms of peace. +General Johnston's army surrendered to General Sherman, and the long +and desperate struggle was at an end. + +It was a dreadful day in Richmond when the news came that the lines of +Petersburg were forced, and that General Lee no longer stood between the +city and the invaders. The President and ministers left at once, and +were followed by all the better class of inhabitants who could find +means of conveyance. The negroes and some of the lower classes at once +set to work to pillage and burn, and the whole city would have been +destroyed had not a Federal force arrived and at once suppressed the +rioting. + +Whatever had been the conduct of the Federal troops during the last year +of the war, however great suffering they had inflicted upon the unarmed +and innocent population of the country through which they marched, the +terms of peace that General Grant agreed upon, and which were, although +with some reluctance, ratified by the government, were in the highest +degree liberal and generous. No one was to be injured or molested for +the share he had taken in the war. A general amnesty was granted to all, +and the States were simply to return to the position in the Union that +they occupied previous to the commencement of the struggle. + +More liberal terms were never granted by a conqueror to the vanquished. + +Vincent was with the cavalry who escaped prior to Lee's surrender, but +as soon as the terms of peace were ratified the force was disbanded and +he returned home. He was received with the deepest joy by his mother and +sister. + +"Thank God, my dear boy, that all is over, and you have been preserved +to us. We are beaten, but no one can say that we are disgraced. Had +every State done its duty as Virginia has we should never have been +overpowered. It has been a terrible four years, and there are few +families indeed that have no losses to mourn." + +"It was well you were not in Richmond, mother, the day of the riots." + +"Yes; but we had our trouble here, too, Vincent. A number of the slaves +from the plantations came along this way, and wanted our hands to join +them to burn down their quarters and the house, and to march to +Richmond. Tony and Dan, hearing of their approach, armed themselves with +your double-barreled guns, went down and called out the hands, and armed +them with hoes and other implements. When the negroes came up there was +a desperate quarrel, but our hands stood firm, and Tony and Dan declared +that they would shoot the first four men that advanced, and at last they +drew off and made their way to Richmond. + +"Your plan has succeeded admirably. One or two of the hands went to +Richmond next day, but returned a day or two afterward and begged so +hard to be taken on again that I forgave them. Since then everything has +been going on as quietly and regularly as usual, while there is scarcely +a man left on any of the estates near." + +"And now, mother, that I find things are quiet and settled here, I shall +go down to Georgia and fetch Lucy home. I shall be of age in a few +months, and the house on the estate that comes to me then can be +enlarged, and will do very well." + +"Not at all, Vincent. Annie will be married next month. Herbert Rowsell +was here two days ago, and it's all settled. So I shall be alone here. +It will be very lonely and dull for me, Vincent, and I would rather give +up the reins of government to Lucy and live here with you, if you like +the plan." + +"Certainly, I should like it, mother; and so, I am sure, would Lucy." + +"Well, at any rate, Vincent, we will try the experiment, and if it does +not work well I will take possession of the other house." + +"There is no fear of that, mother--none whatever." + +"And when are you thinking of getting married, Vincent?" + +"At once, mother. I wrote to Lucy the day we were disbanded, saying that +I should come in a week, and would allow another week and no longer for +her to get ready." + +"Then, in that case, Vincent, Annie and I will go down with you. Annie +will not have much to do to get ready for her own wedding. It must, of +course, be a very quiet one, and there will be no array of dresses to +get; for I suppose it will be some time yet before the railways are open +again and things begin to come down from the North." + +Happily Antioch had escaped the ravages of war, and there was nothing to +mar the happiness of the wedding. Lucy's father had returned, having +lost a leg in one of the battles of the Wilderness a year before, and +her brother had also escaped. After the wedding they returned to their +farm in Tennessee, and Mrs. Wingfield, Annie, Vincent, and Lucy went back +to the Orangery. + +For the next three or four years times were very hard in Virginia, and +Mrs. Wingfield had to draw upon her savings to keep up the house in its +former state; while the great majority of the planters were utterly +ruined. The negroes, however, for the most part remained steadily +working on the estate. A few wandered away, but their places were easily +filled; for the majority of the freed slaves very soon discovered that +their lot was a far harder one than it had been before, and that freedom +so suddenly given was a curse rather than a blessing to them. + +Thus, while so many went down, the Wingfields weathered the storm, and +the step that had been taken in preparing their hands for the general +abolition of slavery was a complete success. + +With the gradual return of prosperity to the South the prices of produce +improved, and ten years after the conclusion of the rebellion the income +of the Orangery was nearly as large as it had been previous to its +outbreak. Vincent, two years after the conclusion of the struggle, took +his wife over to visit his relations in England, and, since the death of +his mother, in 1879, has every year spent three or four months at home, +and will not improbably, ere long sell his estates in Virginia and +settle here altogether. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With Lee in Virginia, by G. A. 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