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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40430 ***
+
+ THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--AFLOAT
+
+ Two colors cloth Emblematic Dies Illustrated
+ Price per volume $1.50
+
+ TAKEN BY THE ENEMY
+ WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES
+ ON THE BLOCKADE
+ STAND BY THE UNION
+ FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT
+ A VICTORIOUS UNION
+
+ THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--ON LAND
+
+ Two colors cloth Emblematic Dies Illustrated
+ Price per volume $1.50
+
+ BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
+ IN THE SADDLE
+ A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN (IN PRESS)
+
+ (Other volumes in preparation)
+
+
+ ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY.
+
+
+ LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS BOSTON
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Be you uns soldiers, mass'r?"]
+
+
+
+
+ THE
+ BLUE AND THE GRAY
+ ON LAND
+
+ BY OLIVER OPTIC
+
+ IN THE SADDLE
+
+
+ _The Blue and Gray Army Series_
+
+
+ IN THE SADDLE
+
+ BY
+ OLIVER OPTIC
+
+ AUTHOR OF "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD" FIRST
+ AND SECOND SERIES "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE GREAT WESTERN
+ SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD
+ SERIES" "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES"
+ "THE RIVERDALE STORIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES"
+ "THE BLUE AND GRAY NAVY SERIES" "A MISSING MILLION"
+ "A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN" "A YOUNG
+ KNIGHT-ERRANT" "STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD"
+ "AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT" "THE
+ YOUNG NAVIGATORS" ETC.
+
+ BOSTON
+ LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
+ 10 MILK STREET
+ 1895
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
+
+ _All Rights Reserved_
+
+ IN THE SADDLE
+
+
+ TO MY FRIEND
+
+ WILLIAM R. BEATTY
+
+ MY COMPANION IN MANY VERY AGREEABLE ASSOCIATIONS
+ THIS VOLUME
+ IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+"In The Saddle" is the second of the "Blue and Gray--On Land." In the
+first volume a New Hampshire family was transplanted to the southern
+part of one of the Border States just before the breaking out of the
+Great Rebellion, now happily an event of the somewhat distant past. An
+attempt is made in that book to describe the condition of the region in
+the progress of the story; and the material for it was diligently looked
+up in the records of those stormy times, in those of official character
+in the archives of the State in which the events transpired, as well as
+in "The Record of the Rebellion," Congressional Reports, and the
+multitude of histories, narratives, biographies, and miscellaneous works
+on the shelves of public and private libraries. The writer believes his
+material statements are correct, and that the pictures he has given of
+the disorderly condition of the State of Kentucky, especially in
+the southern portion, are not overdrawn.
+
+The story of the Lyon family introduces two branches of it, both from
+the same Northern locality, though, unhappily, not of the same way of
+thinking on the great question of loyalty to the national government and
+Secession with the South. Plantation life and manners are presented to
+some extent, as one of the brothers comes into possession of a large
+estate and half a hundred slaves by the will of a Kentucky member of the
+Lyon family. The first volume of the series is devoted to the "bringing
+out" of the loyal element in the county where the plantation is located,
+in opposition to the more demonstrative secession or neutral sentiment.
+A Union meeting in a schoolhouse, disturbed by the "ruffians," as they
+had come to be called, in which the loyal citizens vigorously defend
+themselves, and expel the intruders, brings the affairs of the
+neighborhood to a crisis. The planter is attacked by a mob, and with the
+assistance of a few of his friends, and by arming a portion of his
+negroes, successfully encounters the disturbers of the peace. Following
+these stirring events, two companies of cavalry are enlisted by an
+authorized officer, carefully drilled, and put in readiness to take the
+field.
+
+In the present volume this battalion enters upon active service. The
+same characters are presented in the uniform of cavalrymen, mounted on
+the fine equine stock of the plantation. Noah Lyon, the head of the
+family, obtains an actual military title, instead of the merely
+complimentary one given to him by his friends and neighbors. His two
+sons, Deck and Artie, appear in the front rank in the operations in
+which the squadron is engaged, though both of them enter the service as
+privates. The young men are of the loftiest moral character, actuated by
+the purest and most devoted patriotism. They are of good physique, in
+vigorous health, and do not seem to know the meaning of the word fear.
+If their individual exploits seem to any to be extravagant, they have
+been more than paralleled on the battle-field in hundreds of instances.
+Both of them are exceedingly fond of their steeds; and Deck, in the
+months devoted to drill, makes no insignificant figure as a
+horse-trainer. His steed, one of the blood stock of his deceased uncle,
+is so intelligent and so apt a scholar, that he enables his rider to
+achieve some rather wonderful feats in action. He is modest, and, when
+praised for his deeds, attributes them to "Ceph." This young soldier
+wins and obtains a promotion which will supply the title for the next
+volume.
+
+In contrast with the progressive fortunes of the loyal brother and his
+two sons, the disloyal one, who had become, through the influence of his
+money rather than his ability, the leader of the "ruffians," is again
+introduced, with his two boys, who follow in the footsteps of their
+father till they become disgusted with their lot.
+
+The operations of the loyal battalion of cavalry are confined to the
+protection of the bridges on the railroads, and to repressing "partisan"
+onslaughts and outrages upon towns and villages largely inhabited by
+citizens who are faithful to the national government. But the officers
+and privates are faithful where loyalty meant vastly more than in the
+North; and their zeal and earnestness in the discharge of their duty
+left a stirring record behind them wherever they went.
+
+ WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
+
+ DORCHESTER, Dec. 12, 1894.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER I. PAGE
+ COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARMS 15
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+ REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDSMAN 27
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+ SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILIES 39
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+ THE DAY'S MARCH OF THE SQUADRON 52
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+ THE LEADER OF THE SCOUTING-PARTY 64
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+ A VERY OBSTINATE PRISONER CAPTURED 76
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+ PREPARING FOR ACTIVE OPERATIONS 88
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+ THE ACTION BY THE RAILROAD BRIDGE 100
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+ AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY'S SCOUTS 112
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+ THE BATTLE BEGUN AT THE CROSS-ROADS 124
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+ A DESPERATE CHARGE ON BOTH SIDES 137
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+ THE YOUNG HERO OF THE BATTLE 149
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+ THE PERPLEXING MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEMY 161
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+ A LONG WAIT FOR THE ENEMY 173
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+ THE AMERICAN FLAG ON THE BRIDGE 185
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+ THE EXPLOSION ON THE BRIDGE 197
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+ THE CONFUSION OF THE DAY EXPLAINED 209
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+ INTRODUCING MR. BROWN KIPPS 221
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+ THE CONSPIRACY ON THE BRIDGE 234
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+ THE OPERATIONS OF THE BRIDGE-BURNERS 246
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+ A NEW DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES 258
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+ A DESPERATE DEED CONTEMPLATED 270
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+ THE SKIRMISH ON THE HILL ROAD 282
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+ CAPTAIN DINGFIELD'S STRATEGY 294
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+ SUNDRY FLANK MOVEMENTS ARRANGED 306
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+ THE ENEMY'S BATTLE WITH THE MUD 318
+
+ CHAPTER XXVII.
+ AT THE CAMP-FIRE NEAR THE ROAD 330
+
+ CHAPTER XXVIII.
+ A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE 342
+
+ CHAPTER XXIX.
+ THE RIVERLAWN CAVALRY CHANGES BASE 354
+
+ CHAPTER XXX.
+ THE MAGNATE OF GREELTOP'S VISIT 366
+
+ CHAPTER XXXI.
+ LIFE KNOX ON THE MOUNTAIN ROAD 378
+
+ CHAPTER XXXII.
+ THE SKIRMISH IN THE GREAT CIRCLE 390
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIII.
+ CAPTAIN STINGER THE FIRE-EATER 402
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIV.
+ THE RE-ENFORCEMENT FOR PLAIN HILL 414
+
+ CHAPTER XXXV.
+ SURROUNDED AND TOTALLY DEFEATED 426
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVI.
+ CAPTAIN VINEGOLD OF THE GUERILLAS 439
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+ "BE YOU UNS SOLDIERS, MASS'R?" _Frontispiece._
+
+ ILLUSTRATED TITLE.
+ PAGE
+ "HELP! HELP! SHOUTED THE VICTIM" 18
+
+ "ONE OF THE TEXANS TUMBLED FROM HIS HORSE" 123
+
+ "SLING CARBINES! CHARGE THEM!" 207
+
+ "HALT WHERE YOU ARE, KIPPS!" 282
+
+ "WHAT ARE YOU UNS DOING HERE?" 317
+
+ "THE RUFFIAN SEEMED TO BE AS POWERLESS AS
+ AN INFANT IN HIS GRASP" 383
+
+
+
+
+IN THE SADDLE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARMS
+
+
+"Help! Help!"
+
+This call for assistance came from a small house, poorly constructed by
+those who had little skill in the art of carpentry. It stood near the
+Spring Road, in a field of about ten acres of land, under cultivation,
+though the rank weeds among the useful plants indicated that it had been
+sorely neglected.
+
+Those familiar with the locality would have recognized it as the abode
+of one of those small farmers found all over the country, who were
+struggling to improve their worldly condition on a very insufficient
+capital. The house was hardly finished, and the want of skill was
+apparent in its erection from sill to ridgepole.
+
+Swinburne Pickford was the proprietor of the dwelling and land. He
+worked for farmers, planters, and mechanics, for any one who would give
+him employment, in addition to his labor in the cultivation of his land;
+and with the sum he had been able to save from his wages, he had bought
+the land, and started the small farm on his own account. He had a wife
+and two small children; and, as his time permitted, he had built the
+house with his own hands alone.
+
+The section of the State of Kentucky in which this little place was
+located had been sorely disturbed by the conflicts and outrages of the
+two parties at the beginning of the War of the Rebellion, one struggling
+to drag the State out of the Union, and the other to prevent its
+secession. As in the other States of the South, the advocates of
+disunion were more violent and demonstrative than the loyal people, and
+after the bombardment of Fort Sumter appeared to be in the ascendant for
+this reason.
+
+The entire South had been in a state of excitement from the inception of
+the presidential campaign which resulted in the election of Abraham
+Lincoln, and the industries of this region suffered in consequence; and
+it looked as though Pickford's house would never be entirely finished.
+With the exception of the chimney, placed outside of the building, after
+the fashion of the South, he had done all the work himself. Titus Lyon,
+the mason of the village of Barcreek, had done this portion of the
+labor, and the bill for its erection was still unpaid.
+
+Inside of the house two young men, the older about eighteen and the
+younger sixteen, both armed with muskets, had dragged the proprietor of
+the house to the floor. One of them had his foot on the chest of the
+fallen farmer, and the other was pointing his gun at him. Pickford had
+evidently endeavored to protect himself from the assault of his two
+assailants, who had got the better of him, and had only given up the
+battle when pinned to the floor by the foot of one of them.
+
+"Will you pay the bill I have brought to you?" demanded Sandy Lyon, who
+was the principal aggressor in the assault. "Dr. Falkirk paid you over
+fifty dollars to-day, and you have got the money to pay the bill, which
+has been standing two years."
+
+Swin Pickford made no reply to this statement; but just at that moment
+he heard the clippetty-clip of a galloping horse in the road in front of
+the house. With the foot of one of his assaulters on his chest, and the
+other with an old gun in his hand at his side, Pickford realized that
+nothing could be done but submit. Shooting in that locality and at that
+time was no uncommon occurrence; for there seemed to be no law in the
+land, and men generally settled their own grievances, or submitted to
+them.
+
+"Help! Help!" shouted the victim of the present outrage, with all the
+strength of his lungs, which gave him voice enough to make him heard a
+quarter of a mile distant.
+
+"Shut up your head!" savagely yelled Sandy Lyon, as he pressed his foot
+down with all his might by throwing all his weight upon the breast of
+the prostrate farmer.
+
+The sound of the horse's feet in the road seemed to give the victim a
+new hope, and he tried to shout again. But Sandy flew at his throat like
+a wolf, and choked him into silence.
+
+"Find a couple of ropes or cords, Orly, and we will tie his hands behind
+him!" called Sandy to his brother.
+
+[Illustration: "'Help! Help!' shouted the victim."]
+
+The younger brother hastened to obey the order. Finding nothing of the
+description required, he rushed into the rear room of the house. The
+pressure of the assailant's hands upon his throat, and the hope of
+assistance from outside, stimulated the victim to further resistance,
+for the gun in the hands of Orly no longer threatened him. With a
+desperate struggle he threw Sandy over backwards, and sprang to his
+feet. His persecutor picked himself up, and was about to throw himself
+upon him again. Pickford, who was nearly exhausted by the struggle and
+the choking, rushed to the open door; and as he was about to pass out he
+encountered a young man in the uniform of a cavalryman, with a sabre
+dangling at his side, and a carbine slung on his back.
+
+At the moment when the cry for help came from the house, the young man,
+mounted on a spirited horse, was riding along the Spring Road. He was a
+stout fellow, not more than eighteen years old, with a pleasant face,
+though a physiognomist would have observed upon it a look of
+determination, indicating that he could not be trifled with on a serious
+occasion. Neither the house nor the man who occupied it would have
+tempted the soldier to enter it for any other reason than the call that
+had just come from it.
+
+The cavalryman reined in his steed, and halted him with his head to a
+post in front of the dwelling. Dismounting in haste, he threw the reins
+over the hitching-hook and hurried to the front door, just in time to
+encounter Pickford as he was rushing out. The victim of the outrage was
+gasping for breath, and presented a really pitiable aspect to the young
+soldier, to whom he was not a stranger, though they had met as enemies
+and not as friends.
+
+"What's the trouble?" asked Deck Lyon, the cavalryman, as he encountered
+the owner of the miniature plantation.
+
+"I have been set upon, and nearly killed by your cousins, Sandy and Orly
+Lyon, and one of them has nearly choked me to death," gasped Pickford.
+
+"By my cousins!" exclaimed Deck Lyon, astonished at the reply of the
+victim.
+
+"Yes; both on 'em," groaned Swin, as he was generally called.
+
+"I supposed you had gone to the county town with the Home Guards," added
+Deck.
+
+"No; I never 'listed, 'cause I have a family to take care on."
+
+"Come in, and let me see what the trouble is," continued Deck, as he
+pushed Swin in ahead of him.
+
+Sandy had been in the act of throwing himself upon his victim again,
+when he discovered his cousin in the person of the cavalryman. The sight
+of him caused the angry young man to fall back; and Deck entered the
+room just as Orly appeared at the rear door with a piece of bed-cord in
+his hand.
+
+"Good-morning, Sandy," said Deck, as pleasantly as though nothing had
+called for his interference. "There seems to be some trouble here."
+
+"Trouble enough," replied Sandy in a sulky tone.
+
+"Swin Pickford calls for help as though you intended to murder him,"
+continued Deck, as he looked from one to the other of the belligerents,
+and took in Orly with the cord at the same time. "You are all on the
+same side of the national fight, and you ought to be friends."
+
+"We are not on the same side, for Pickford is a traitor," answered
+Sandy.
+
+"I'm no traitor!" protested Swin. "But I should like to ask what you and
+Orly are, if I'm one. I was willing to join the Home Guards for home
+service; but when they started to go inter the Confederate army, I took
+off my name, for I didn't j'in for no sech work. But Sandy and Orly went
+off with the company, and then deserted and come home. What's the sense
+of them callin' me a traitor when I'm not one, and they be."
+
+"If they deserted, they did a sensible thing," said Deck with a smile,
+as he glanced at his two cousins. "But I am not here to settle any such
+quarrel as this; for I don't care how much you ruffians fight among
+yourselves."
+
+"The trouble here has nothing to do with politics or the Home Guards,"
+replied Sandy.
+
+"Nothing at all, Deck," added Orly.
+
+"What is it all about, then?" inquired Deck. "I came in because a cry
+was heard from the house which made me think a murder was going on
+here."
+
+"That's jest what was goin' on here!" exclaimed Pickford.
+
+"Nothing of the sort," protested Sandy. "Not a word has been said here
+about the army or the Home Guards."
+
+"But your father has marched his company farther south, to join General
+Buckner's army."
+
+"That had nothing to do with our business here. Swin Pickford owes
+father twenty-seven dollars for building the chimney of this house, and
+he has owed it for about two years, and it is time the bill was paid."
+
+"That's all so, Deck Lyon; I don't deny none on't," added Pickford, who
+had recovered his breath and his temper by this time. "But I hain't had
+the money to pay the bill. I'm an honest man, and I allus pay my debts
+when I ken. Times have been hard with me for the last two years. Folks
+has been all over inter politics, and I couldn't hardly git money enough
+to pay for the bread and butter of my wife and children; for there
+wasn't next to no work at all."
+
+"That's a poor excuse in your case, Swin," added Sandy.
+
+"I went to Cap'n Titus more'n a year ago, and talked to him about that
+debt," continued Pickford, without heeding the remark of Sandy. "He got
+heaps of money out of his brother's property, and I didn't s'pose he
+needed the money. I offered him five dollars, and told him I'd try to
+pay him five every month. But he didn't want me to do it that way, and
+told me I could pay it all to once, when I had the money. Then he wanted
+me to help him git up the company, and I did; I hoofed it all over the
+county for him, sometimes when I might have worked."
+
+"But he has got money now!" Sandy broke in. "Dr. Falkirk paid him fifty
+dollars this morning at the grocery; for I saw him do it, and heard him
+say how much it was."
+
+"I don't deny that, nuther," said the unfortunate debtor. "But I haven't
+got three dollars left of that money now. I paid Grunge the grocer
+nineteen dollars on't; for he knows I'm an honest man, and trusted me.
+Then I paid a man that's poorer'n I am for some work he done on my
+place, seven dollars and a half, and I had to pay my taxes or lose my
+farm."
+
+"I saw Dr. Falkirk pay him that money, and Orly and I tramped all the
+way over here; for we have no horses at home now. He's got the money,
+and won't pay the bill. Mother wants the money very much," added Sandy.
+
+
+"She hasn't got a dollar in the house," Orly put in, perhaps telling
+more than his brother wished to have revealed.
+
+"Then you came over here to collect the bill at the muzzle of your gun,"
+suggested Deck, who had seen the younger brother pick up his weapon,
+which had fallen on the floor.
+
+"We meant to make him pay," said Sandy. "I believe he has the money, and
+I meant to search the house till I found it."
+
+"You would have s'arched till the last gun fires, and you wouldn't found
+it then," protested the victim, as he took an old wallet from his
+pocket, which was found to contain about three dollars in silver.
+"That's all I've got in this world, and none in the next."
+
+"I don't believe he has got any more money, Sandy," said Deck to his
+cousin, as he stepped up to him, and spoke to him in a low tone.
+
+"I'm willin' to give him two dollars outen the little I got, though he
+abused me wus'n any man ever did in this world, and sha'n't in the
+next," interposed Pickford.
+
+"I will take what I can get," replied Sandy, as he took the bill from
+his pocket.
+
+The debtor paid him two dollars in silver; and if his mother, as Orly
+affirmed, had not a single dollar in the house, this small sum would be
+gladly received by her. Deck led the way out of the house, and his two
+cousins followed, just as Mrs. Pickford and her two small children came
+into the room. The sight of them was enough to assure the visitors of
+the poverty of the husband and father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDSMAN
+
+
+Dexter Lyon was very much perplexed by the situation of his uncle's
+family in Barcreek; for he owned his place, which had cost five thousand
+dollars, unencumbered; and about two years before he had received from
+the estate of his deceased brother twenty thousand dollars in cash and
+stocks.
+
+"Of course the story that your mother had not a dollar in the house is a
+fiction, such as people who collect money, or don't want to pay it out,
+often tell," said the young cavalryman, as he went to the post where he
+had secured his horse.
+
+"Fiction? What do you mean by that?" asked Sandy Lyon, the expression on
+whose face was very sad and discontented.
+
+"You didn't mean that what you said was true?"
+
+"What did I say that was not true?" inquired Sandy, looking at his
+cousin as though he was in doubt whether or not to conceal the correct
+answer to the question.
+
+"Everybody in Barcreek knows that your father has gone to Bowling Green,
+and you said that your mother had not a dollar in the house," replied
+Deck, studying the expression on the face of his cousin. "You didn't
+mean that, did you?"
+
+Sandy looked at his cousin, and each seemed to be considering the
+meaning of the other's looks. They were own cousins, and their homes
+were not more than a mile apart; but they had not met for three months.
+Politics, as the people of this locality generally called the two great
+questions of the day, Unionism and Secession, had created a great gulf
+between the two families. Judging from the threadbare and semi-miserable
+condition of the two sons of Captain Titus, times had gone hardly with
+the family.
+
+"I did not say that mother had not a dollar in the house," said Sandy,
+after a long silence.
+
+"Orly said so, and you did not contradict him; so it is all the same
+thing," added Deck.
+
+"I did say so; and I said it because it was just as true as
+Breckinridge's long letter," said Orly earnestly.
+
+"That is not saying much for the truth of it," answered Deck, with a
+smile on his handsome face; for he had the reputation of being a
+good-looking fellow, especially since he had donned his uniform.
+
+"Well, it is true as that the sun shines in the sky," added Orly; and
+there was an expression of disgust on his face.
+
+"But your father has plenty of money," suggested the young soldier.
+
+"No, he hasn't," protested Orly.
+
+"You are talking too fast, Orly," interposed Sandy reproachfully.
+
+"We may as well let the cat out of the bag first as last, for she will
+scratch her way out very soon," replied Orly. "Mother will be glad
+enough to see that two dollars when Sandy offers it to her."
+
+Just at that moment the blast of a bugle, or several of them, was heard
+in the direction of the Cross Roads, the way Deck was going when he was
+arrested by the cry for help from Pickford's house.
+
+"What's that?" asked Sandy, as though he was glad to have the subject of
+the conversation changed, however it may have been with his more
+impulsive brother.
+
+"It must be my company, or the squadron to which it belongs," replied
+Deck rather indifferently.
+
+"How many companies have you, Deck?" asked Orly.
+
+"Only two yet, hardly enough for a battalion."
+
+"Where are they going now?"
+
+"Probably they are out for drill; and I must fall in as soon as the
+companies come up," said Deck, as he mounted his horse and straightened
+himself up in the saddle, as though he wished to present a proper
+appearance before his cousins.
+
+But the battalion or squadron was still at a considerable distance from
+him, and the young cavalryman could not help looking at the pinched
+faces of his cousins; for though they had ostensibly embraced the cause
+of Secession, he was full of sympathy for them. They looked as though
+they had been poorly fed, if not half-starved; and when the time had
+come for them to have new suits of clothes, they had not obtained
+them. But if Captain Titus's family was without money, it could be only
+a temporary matter, for he could hardly have exhausted his twenty
+thousand dollars in stocks and cash, though it was well known that he
+had contributed five thousand dollars for the purchase of arms and
+ammunition to be used by his company of Home Guards, which had now moved
+south to join the Confederate army.
+
+"As I said before, your father had plenty of money," continued Deck,
+though he was not disposed to be over-inquisitive.
+
+"He had at one time," Sandy admitted; and it was plain from his manner
+that he was not willing to tell all he knew about his father's financial
+affairs.
+
+"I don't understand how your mother should be so short of money, Sandy;
+but it is none of my business, and I won't ask any more questions,"
+added the cavalryman, as he whirled his restive horse about. "I thought
+you and Orly went with the company to Bowling Green, Sandy."
+
+"We did; but we came back again," replied the elder brother. But there
+appeared to be something to conceal in regard to their return.
+
+"There wasn't any fun in soldiering without any pay, and without even
+half enough to eat, with nothing to wear," added the plain-spoken
+younger brother.
+
+"You needn't tell all you know, Orly," interposed Sandy, with a frown at
+his brother.
+
+"You needn't snap at me, Sandy; for I told you before I had had enough
+of this thing, and I shall never join the company again," returned Orly
+earnestly. "Do you suppose I can enlist in one of your companies, Deck?"
+
+"Shut up, Orly!" exclaimed Sandy very sternly. "You don't know what you
+are talking about."
+
+"I'll bet I know what I'm talking about, and my stomach knows too,"
+retorted Orly.
+
+"Don't make a fool of yourself! You don't mean to turn traitor to your
+father and the cause, Orly?" pleaded Sandy; but he appeared to be trying
+to keep up appearances.
+
+"Hang the cause!" exclaimed Orly, as though he meant all he said. "My
+father got me into the scrape, and he will get enough of it before he is
+many months older."
+
+"Use your reason and common-sense," counselled the elder brother.
+
+"That's what we just haven't been using the last two years, and now I'm
+going to use my reason and common-sense on my own hook. If you like
+soldiering without pay or rations, Sandy, you can join the company again
+as soon as you like; but when you catch me there, you will find a
+Kentuckian without any eye-teeth," replied Orly, who was only two years
+younger than his brother, and was considered the brighter boy of the
+two; and his tones and his manner were vigorous enough to indicate that
+he meant all he said.
+
+"You are acting like a fool to talk like that before your cousin, who is
+an abolition soldier."
+
+"Before my cousin! His father and himself have been sensible from the
+first; and I only wonder that Deck don't quote Scripture to us, and
+gently remind us that 'the way of transgressors is hard;' for he can't
+help seeing the truth of the proverb in both of us."
+
+"I didn't know that things had become particularly hard with you," said
+Deck.
+
+"Orly is as wild as a goat, Deck. Don't mind what he says," interposed
+Sandy.
+
+"Or what Sandy says," interjected the younger of the two.
+
+"Our company has not been mustered in yet, and of course we could not
+draw pay or rations," added Sandy, who felt called upon to defend his
+father and the "cause" from the implied censure of his brother. "Father
+spent all the ready money he had to pay for rations and tents, and some
+other things the Confederate government will furnish, and will pay him
+back for all he has expended. That is the reason why my mother is so
+short of money just now."
+
+"That's all very good as far as it goes; but I don't believe the
+Confederate government has got any more money than the Bank of England;
+and it will be a long day before father gets his money back. We were
+nearly starved when we left the company."
+
+"But we did not desert, as some folks say we did," added Sandy, who was
+in favor of putting the best foot forward. "Father sent us home when we
+spoke of leaving, and he gave us a sort of furlough, in so many words.
+If he could hear you talk, Orly, he would be ashamed of you."
+
+"As I have been of him more than once," said the younger in a low tone,
+as though he did not feel fully justified in speaking in that manner of
+his father, who had a gross failing, which had recently been gaining
+upon him.
+
+Sandy heard the remark; and he was disgusted, though he could not deny
+the justness of it. He had been ashamed of his father, but his inborn
+pride did not permit him to say so outside of the family. If he had been
+as plain-spoken as his brother, he might have informed Deck, who was the
+only listener to the conversation, that the furlough had grown out of a
+quarrel between Captain Titus and his older son.
+
+The captain had always been what is known as a moderate drinker, but the
+habit had grown upon him after he went to Kentucky. Some of the Home
+Guard had been shot at while engaged in foraging among the farmers for
+food in the outskirts of the county-seat where the company was encamped,
+and it became a dangerous pursuit, as even the commander of the company
+would not authorize it; for in the status of the body it was nothing but
+plundering.
+
+Sandy noticed that his father had his whiskey ration in increased
+proportions, and he knew that it cost money. He and Orly were not half
+fed, and the father lived on his favorite beverage. It provoked him to
+wrath, and in a fit of desperation he spoke out to him as plainly as
+Orly could have done it. The quarrel followed; and when Sandy declared
+that he and his brother would leave the company, he had driven them from
+his presence, and ordered them not to return. This was the furlough, "in
+so many words," as Sandy put it.
+
+Perhaps the approach of the squadron of cavalry was a relief to Sandy
+Lyon, for it put an end to the conversation of a disagreeable nature to
+him. He realized the truth of nearly all that Orly had said in regard to
+the desperate situation of the Home Guard, and the family of its
+commander; but his pride was still superior to the groans of his
+stomach.
+
+"Mother and the girls are going back to Derry as soon as she can get
+money enough to pay the bills," said Orly in a low voice.
+
+"I am ashamed of you, Orly!" protested Sandy, who had heard the remark;
+for the bugle of the battalion had ceased its blast at that moment. "You
+have no business to tell family secrets like that."
+
+"Confound your family secrets!" exclaimed his brother. "I don't want to
+quarrel with you, my brother, as father has done with Uncle Noah; but I
+am not in favor of starving to death for the benefit of the Southern
+Confederacy. You have too much family pride when it don't pay, Sandy.
+You said that our sister Mabel should not go out to work in the family
+of Dr. Falkirk, when mother said she might."
+
+"Dr. Falkirk might have got a nigger woman to do his housework, instead
+of paying double wages to Mabel," replied Sandy.
+
+"That is nothing to do with the question. Mabel's wages have been all we
+had to live on since we got home," returned Orly, letting out more of
+the secrets of the family without any compunction.
+
+"I wish you would hold your tongue, Orly," added Sandy fretfully.
+
+"I said what I did for a purpose; but I shall have to stop now, for the
+squadron is nearly here," replied Orly. "When can I see you again,
+Deck?"
+
+"Almost any time when I am not at drill, or absent on an errand, as I
+have been to-day. You will find me at the camp or the house," replied
+Deck, as he rode forward to a point where he could fall into his
+position in his company.
+
+"Why, there is Uncle Noah at the head of the column!" said Sandy, as the
+squadron came near enough for him to recognize the familiar face of his
+relative, even in the midst of his present unwonted surroundings. "He
+looks like an officer."
+
+"He is what people have been calling him since he came to Kentucky, and
+is now actually Major Lyon," replied Deck, whom the boys had followed.
+
+"But are you not an officer, Deck?" asked Orly.
+
+"Not at all; Artie and I are high privates. They wanted to make us both
+sergeants; but after we had talked with father, we declined all
+positions," replied Deck, as he fell into his place.
+
+It is time to give something of the history of the two families who had
+emigrated to Kentucky, the family secrets of one of which had been so
+freely revealed to Deck by the young Home Guardsman with Union
+aspirations.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILIES
+
+
+The town of Derry in New Hampshire had contributed fourteen persons to
+the population of Kentucky, all of them by the name of Lyon. Colonel
+Duncan Lyon had gone there as a young man, and had made a very handsome
+fortune. But he died at the age of fifty, and bequeathed his property,
+consisting of a large plantation, which he had named Riverlawn, because
+it had a delightful lawn, with great trees scattered over it, though
+after the English fashion with none immediately in front of the large
+mansion, to his two brothers and the children of one deceased ten years
+before his death.
+
+The elder of the two living brothers was Titus Lyon. He had removed to
+his new home eight years before, and he appeared to be the black sheep
+of the fourteen who had departed from their native town. He was a mason
+by trade, and had done fairly well in his former home at his business.
+He was one of those men who believed that fate or circumstances had
+misused him, as he compared his worldly condition with that of his
+eldest brother, who had departed this life leaving a fortune behind him;
+or even of his other brother, who had always been a prosperous farmer.
+
+Titus had been informed by Colonel Lyon that there was an opening for a
+mason in the village of Barcreek, near which he resided, though he had
+not advised him to remove to that locality, and was really opposed to
+his coming. His discontent with his condition had induced him to change
+his residence to this far-off section of the country, probably with a
+motive which he concealed from both of his brothers. He had a wife, who
+was an excellent woman, belonging to a very respectable family, and five
+children, three girls and two boys, the latter already introduced.
+
+The mason did tolerably well at his trade in his new home for a few
+years, though it was not a business at which a fortune could be easily
+made in that rural section of the country. It was not a prohibition
+State, which seemed to make it all the worse for the head of this
+family; for he had contracted the habit of drinking moderately when, as
+a young man, he had been a stage-driver, and it had grown upon him in
+his new home.
+
+Titus had not become a sot, or even a very heavy drinker, before the
+death of his brother; but he regularly imbibed his whiskey, and to some
+extent his habit affected his manners and his morals. He had always
+appeared to be extremely devoted to the colonel, and even fawned upon
+him, during his residence in Barcreek; and he was always kindly treated
+and assisted financially when he needed help.
+
+Colonel Lyon died suddenly at the age of fifty. He had never been
+married, and had no children to whom he could leave his property. About
+a year before his decease he paid a visit of a month to his brother
+Noah, the youngest of the three brothers, in his native town. The latter
+was a substantial man, who held a very respectable position in the town;
+he had been somewhat distinguished among his fellow-citizens, and had
+been the incumbent of several town officers.
+
+Noah Lyon was forty years old at the time of his brother's death, with
+a good woman for a wife, who was in every sense a helpmate to her
+husband. They had two children of their own, a boy and a girl, Dexter
+and Hope. Cyrus, a fourth brother of the Lyons, had lost his life in a
+freshet in Vermont, where he had settled as a farmer; and his wife had
+perished with him, leaving two small children, Artemas and Dorcas. He
+had not left property enough to pay his debts; but Noah promptly adopted
+the little ones, and for ten years he had cared for and supported them
+as though they had been his own.
+
+Noah had suggested to Titus that he should take one of them to his home,
+while he received the other in his own family; but his brother pleaded
+the poor health of his wife for not doing so, and the little ones had
+reached the ages of seventeen and fifteen when they were removed to
+Kentucky. Noah and his wife treated them in every respect as their own
+children, and no one could have asked a better home for them. They
+called their uncle and aunt by the endearing names of father and mother.
+
+At the death of Colonel Lyon, the telegraphic message announcing the sad
+event had been immediately followed by a letter from Colonel Cosgrove,
+summoning Noah to the late home of the deceased. To the intense
+disappointment of Titus, the Riverlawn plantation had been left to Noah,
+with the fifty-one slaves, and everything connected with the place.
+Titus had set his heart upon the possession of the estate; for it would
+give him a generous support without manual labor.
+
+He was one of those men who contrive to believe in and expect what they
+most desire. He had been his wealthy brother's neighbor for eight years,
+and knew something about the estate. For this reason, and because he was
+next in age to the deceased, he had come to believe that the place
+belonged to him. The colonel had other views; for he realized that Titus
+was not an entirely reliable person, was not much of a business man, and
+his drinking habit was continually growing upon him.
+
+The eldest brother had, however, endeavored to make a fair division of
+his property among his nearest of kin. He had given some legacies to his
+personal friends, including his faithful overseer, who had served him
+for many years.
+
+Then he had given Noah ten thousand dollars in consideration of the fact
+that he had supported the children of Cyrus for ten years. To him also
+he bequeathed twenty-five thousand dollars in trust for these children.
+He had left the same sum to Titus, less a mortgage note given at the
+time the mason had purchased his residence in the village. The will was
+accompanied by an inventory of the entire property, indicating that the
+colonel had figured up his resources, and endeavored to make an
+equitable division among his legal heirs.
+
+With the will also came into the possession of Noah two letters, one
+enclosing the other. The open one directed him not to sell any of the
+slaves on the plantation, and the other was not to be opened for five
+years. The sum of money left to his successor on the plantation, in
+payment for the support of the niece and nephew of the testator, and the
+disposition of the negroes, were the principal grievances of Titus,
+apparently, though the real one had been the giving of the plantation to
+Noah. In some of his moments, when he had rather overcharged himself
+with whiskey, he had furiously assailed his innocent brother for what
+the dead one had done in his will.
+
+Noah was a mild and peaceful man under ordinary circumstances, and he
+did his best to preserve intact his fraternal relations with his angry
+and discontented brother. Some discussion had taken place between them,
+and Titus was as unreasonable as a mule. The subject rendered him
+furious, aided by the whiskey, and the difference on this matter became
+a decided rupture.
+
+Colonel Lyon had sometimes been charged with over-indulgence to his
+negroes; and it was true that he had treated them as kindly as though
+they had been hired servants instead of slaves, perhaps more so. The
+"people," as they were often called on the plantation, after the manner
+of a man-of-war, had not been valued in the inventory of the deceased
+planter, and had not been mentioned in the document, any more than the
+horses, mules, and cows.
+
+By this omission Titus believed that he had been cheated out of his
+share of about thirty thousand dollars. Noah exhibited the open letter
+of the colonel to him; but this only fanned his wrath. He appeared to
+believe that his deceased brother had no rights in his own property, all
+of which he had accumulated himself. He had nursed himself into the
+conviction that he was the victim of a gross injustice, and he had
+little patience, or even toleration, with his mild-mannered brother, who
+had never spoken to the colonel about his will, or the colonel to him.
+
+This family quarrel owed some of its bitterness, on the part of Titus,
+to other circumstances than the naked merits of the case, if there was a
+shadow of justice in the charges of his brother against him. Noah had
+not a particle of it in his composition; for he was a true Christian,
+and returned good for evil so far as he was permitted to do so. The
+political situation in Kentucky had complicated the relations of the
+brothers.
+
+Titus had belonged to one party, while his brother was an earnest member
+of the other; though with a very wide difference of opinion, one had
+proved to be as patriotic as the other. Probably because Noah was
+emphatically devoted to the Union, Titus had taken the other side of the
+question in Kentucky, where all was excitement and turmoil from the
+nomination of the candidates for the presidency. The agitation became
+that of Loyalty and Secession.
+
+The governor had issued his proclamation in favor of the neutrality of
+the State, and Home Guards were organized to enforce it. But it never
+amounted to anything; for the majority were demonstrated to be Union
+men, and appealed to the traditions of the past as the first State to
+join the original thirteen. Captain Titus had become the commander of
+one of these companies, on his promise to uniform and equip his men. He
+had expended a considerable portion of the money he had inherited in the
+purchase of arms and ammunition for his command, though he had never
+been able to supply his soldiers with uniforms.
+
+He had sent to New York for an abundant supply of weapons and
+cartridges, including two brass field-pieces, over a hundred
+breech-loading rifles, and nearly as many revolvers of several sizes. He
+intended that his company should be the best equipped in the region, and
+his newly acquired wealth made him very extravagant. But the Union
+forces had begun to show themselves in the State, and the loyal element
+exceeded in numbers the Secessionists; so that it was necessary for the
+commander of the Home Guards to take extraordinary precautions for the
+safety of the war material he had purchased.
+
+With some difficulty he had moved the cases from the train at Dripping
+Spring, carted them to a point on Bar Creek, from which he had conveyed
+them to one of the numerous sink-hole caverns which abound in this part
+of the State. He had carefully disposed of them, with the aid of his two
+sons and some trusted neighbors, intending to give them out to his men
+in a few days.
+
+An indiscretion on the part of his wife had given a hint of the
+existence of the arms at Riverlawn, which an exploration of Artie Lyon,
+the adopted son, had worked into tangible evidence of the place where
+the munitions had been concealed. Noah believed it was a duty he owed to
+his country to obtain possession of these arms. He had already been
+warned by his brother that he was regarded as an abolitionist, and that
+a mob, consisting mainly of the Home Guards, were agitating the question
+of burning his mansion and driving him out of the county.
+
+When the loss of the arms was discovered, Titus became absolutely
+furious, and, either with or without sufficient evidence, accused Noah
+of stealing the property. A very enthusiastic Union meeting was held at
+the Big Bend schoolhouse, and was attended by some of the most prominent
+citizens of the county. The action of Major Lyon, as he had come to be
+called very generally as a title of respect, in accordance with a
+prevailing custom, in securing the arms was heartily approved by the
+assembly.
+
+That very night the ruffians of the Home Guard, for such they were,
+which included most of the baser element of the locality, had made an
+attack on the plantation of Major Lyon, intending to burn and destroy
+it, if not, as was hinted, to hang the planter to one of the big trees
+on his lawn. But a few of his neighbors had rallied to his assistance,
+and his negroes were armed with the confiscated weapons, and the attack
+was an utter failure.
+
+Colonel Belthorpe, who had been a soldier in his earlier years,
+commanded the defenders of the estate, and the mob marched to his
+plantation to wreak their vengeance upon him by the destruction of his
+property; but the same forces defeated them there, with many wounds, and
+the loss of a few lives.
+
+At the Union meeting Major Lyon had proposed to raise a company of
+cavalry. He had offered to contribute a considerable number of horses
+for the service, and his neighbors had followed his example; and over a
+hundred steeds were pledged. Letters had been written to the commander
+of the Union army in Kentucky, relating to this project, and Lieutenant
+Burke Gordan had been sent to organize the company; and he was followed
+later by several non-commissioned officers to assist in the drill. The
+ruffians had made an attempt to stop the enlistments at Riverlawn, where
+the camp was located; but they had been beaten off.
+
+The recruiting had progressed very successfully; and instead of one
+company, two had been organized during the next three months. Major Lyon
+and his two sons had drilled and studied the military art in the most
+determined manner; for they were enthusiastic in the support of the
+government. The two companies, though hardly entitled to the name, were
+called a squadron. The planter, in spite of his protest, was made the
+major of the command; and he had become competent for the position. This
+was the squadron which marched by the house of Swin Pickford while Deck
+was talking with the two sons of Titus about the strait of the captain's
+family in Barcreek village.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE DAY'S MARCH OF THE SQUADRON
+
+
+It seemed to be almost a miracle that Noah Lyon had been transformed
+into a soldier; and those who had known him in the State of New
+Hampshire could hardly have recognized him. He had always been a
+dignified, peaceable, and quiet man--the very antipode of a fire-eater.
+At his former home he had been a justice of the peace, and was regarded
+as a person of eminent gravity.
+
+His anger, if he was ever stirred by any such passion, was nothing more
+than indignation. But he was not a milk-and-water man; and, gentle as
+were his manners, he was an earnest man. He had never developed any
+military ambition in his earlier years, though he was sorry he had not
+done so when he found himself on the very border of the Rebellion. He
+was still of the military age, and was a hearty and vigorous man at
+forty-two, when he was called into the service.
+
+He was an earnest and determined patriot; and nothing but the need of
+the nation could have induced him to put on a uniform, and drill
+laboriously for months in preparation for his new sphere. He belonged to
+the class who were said to make the best soldiers, because they went
+into the field as high-toned men, with whom a principle was at stake.
+Such soldiers had not been hurried into the camp by the excitement of
+the times, or by any motive but patriotic duty.
+
+Sandy and Orly Lyon stood in front of Pickford's house, and observed the
+approaching column of cavalry; but the most of their attention was given
+to Uncle Noah. It was a very strange sight for them to see him in the
+uniform of a soldier, riding at the head of the squadron. These boys had
+drilled and marched with the Home Guards, and their father had military
+aspirations, though he was a little past the military age. They could
+not help contrasting the appearance of Major Lyon's command with that of
+Captain Lyon's.
+
+Not all the Home Guards in the State were of the character of the
+ruffians forming the company which had marched to Bowling Green, and who
+had been the principal participants in the outrages and the ruffianism
+in the vicinity of Barcreek. Some of the companies were composed and
+officered by Union men, who did some of the first fighting in the State
+when the Confederates fortified Cumberland Gap in the eastern section.
+Such as these wheeled into the Union army, while those of the Secession
+stripe promptly joined the forces on the other side.
+
+No doubt many of these Home Guards believed sincerely in the neutrality
+policy, which was advocated by some of the best men in the State; but it
+afforded thousands of ruffians the advantages of an organization for
+plunder and outrage. But its day had gone by. Major Lyon insisted from
+the beginning that it was a fraud; and, in spite of the action of the
+governor, Kentucky adhered to the Union. It cost something there to be
+true to the old flag, and the State deserves all honor for the struggle
+it made against the breaking up of the Union.
+
+Major Lyon sat erect upon his horse, a valuable animal, which had been
+his favorite since his arrival. There was nothing like vanity in his
+expression, as might have been excusable at the head of such a fine
+body of men; but he looked as he always did, earnest and determined, his
+soldierly character resting more on his devotion to the cause than on
+any other motive. He wore a felt hat, ornamented with a black feather,
+which the mustering officer had prevailed upon him to adopt.
+
+The squadron was composed of rather young men as a rule, and they were
+the sons of farmers and others engaged in business. They were
+fine-looking men, and they had been diligently drilled by the officers
+sent to Riverlawn for the purpose. Perhaps the commander was the only
+real planter enlisted; for most of them in the vicinity were past the
+age for active service, though they had done their duty in repressing
+outrages and keeping the peace.
+
+Captain Gordon, who had been charged with the organization of the first
+company, was in command of it, while Captain Truman, a young lawyer,
+whose eloquent voice had been raised for the Union in the important
+meeting at the Big Bend schoolhouse, was in command of the second; but
+he had proved in the Riverlawn battle that he was a brave man, and would
+make a good soldier. Tom Belthorpe, who had taken part in the defence
+of Lyndhall and of Riverlawn, was first lieutenant of the first company;
+while Major Gadbury, whose military title was one of courtesy, held the
+corresponding rank in the second company.
+
+It had required a great deal of persuasion to induce the proprietor of
+Riverlawn to accept the position of major. He was a man of character;
+and some of the planters in the neighborhood, especially Colonel
+Cosgrove and Colonel Belthorpe, convinced him that it was his duty to
+the cause to take the place. He had proved to them, in the engagements
+with the ruffians, that he had the material in his composition of which
+reliable commanders are made.
+
+Deck Lyon had a tremendous reputation for courage and skill at Lyndhall;
+for he had rescued both of the daughters of its owner from the hands of
+the ruffians, who had captured them for the purpose of assisting in the
+recovery of the arms the major had secured. When it came to the matter
+of electing officers for the second company, Tom had advocated the
+choice of Deck as captain, though he was only eighteen years old, to the
+position.
+
+Of course the young man was elated at the idea of being elevated to such
+a position before he had been tried in the service; but it did not seem
+to be quite right to him, and he went to his father for advice. The
+major promptly advised him to accept no position in the company. He was
+too young to be the commander of a company, which might be ordered on
+duty by itself. As his father pointed out to him the difficulties in his
+way, Deck went to the other extreme, and declined to take a place even
+as a non-commissioned officer. Artie Lyon liked the stand he had taken
+so well, that he followed his example, and both remained privates.
+
+Deck and Artie did not forget the favorable mention of their names, and
+they electioneered very zealously for the choice of Tom Belthorpe as
+first lieutenant. In the case of the former, perhaps Deck was
+unconsciously influenced by the fact that he had a very pretty sister,
+who had manifested no little interest in him since he had attacked the
+ruffian who held her as a prisoner. In fact, Tom had two pretty sisters;
+but this fact affected Lieutenant Gadbury more than any other person.
+
+When the squadron had advanced a short distance, Major Lyon wheeled his
+horse, and faced his command, who were marching as usual on the road by
+fours. He had learned his lesson well at the camp; for the squadron had
+been thoroughly drilled from the beginning, up to the point where the
+"school of the battalion" had been their practice.
+
+"Battalion, halt!" he commanded, with a voice loud enough and clear
+enough to be heard far back of the place where the order was given.
+
+Captain Gordon declared that he had not caught the major in a single
+error or slip since he had begun to exercise the squadron. The command
+was repeated by the subordinate officers, and the force came to a full
+halt. Deck had stopped by the side of the road, to await the coming up
+of his section, and his father called him as soon as he had halted the
+battalion.
+
+The young man had been on a military errand for the major, rather than
+for his father, who insisted that his two sons should fare precisely the
+same as other soldiers of the companies. There was to be no favoritism
+on account of relationship. Deck could not report the result of his
+errand while the commander was marching at the head of his column, for
+the new companies had not reached the free-and-easy stage which came
+later.
+
+Deck saluted the major as though they had never met before in their
+lives, and his father acknowledged it. Then the private reported the
+result of his mission.
+
+"You have been making some stay at this house we are passing," continued
+Major Lyon, as he glanced back at the two boys who were still standing
+there.
+
+"Found a fight going on in the house, and I went in on account of a call
+for help," replied Deck.
+
+"But that is Pickford's house, and no ruffians would attack him,"
+suggested the major. "Are these Titus's boys standing here?"
+
+"They are. Uncle Titus has a bill against Pickford for twenty-seven
+dollars for building his chimney, and Sandy and Orly were trying to
+collect it by force of arms."
+
+"I will hear more of that another time, Dexter," added Major Lyon,
+cutting short the story. "I declare, I hardly knew those boys!"
+
+"They have had a hard time of it; but I must fall in," said Deck, as he
+began to turn his horse. "I suppose you are out for a drill, father."
+
+"We are not; we are going on duty this time. General Buckner is
+somewhere in this vicinity, and evidently intends to occupy Bowling
+Green. Colonel Cosgrove came over to see me this morning. He says
+Captain Titus's company have got into the Confederate army at last, and
+have been supplied with arms of a poor quality, though not with
+uniforms."
+
+"His men have been about half-starved while waiting, and that is the
+reason why Sandy and Orly came home," added the young soldier.
+
+"Another time for that, Dexter. Are you all ready to march with your
+company?" asked the major.
+
+"I have my sabre, carbine, and pistols; but I have no blanket, as I see
+the rest of the men have."
+
+"You can be supplied from the wagon in the rear. But fall in," said the
+major, as he prepared to resume the march.
+
+Deck galloped back to the section in which he belonged, where he had
+only to take his place at the side of Artie, though inside of him, for
+he was a trifle taller than his cousin. In the infantry, the tallest men
+are placed on the right, which is always the head of the column, while
+in the cavalry the tallest are placed in the middle.
+
+"What does all this mean, Deck? Didn't I see Sandy and Orly Lyon by that
+house?" asked Artie.
+
+"They are there, whether you saw them or not," replied Deck.
+
+"Battalion, at ease, march!"
+
+In the infantry, when the order for "route step!" is given, the men need
+not even keep step, and the formalities are relaxed in some other
+respects. In the cavalry, in which the horses take all the steps, the
+strain of precise position and movement is removed, and the soldiers may
+make the best of their journey. Artie wanted to know all about his two
+cousins he had seen at Pickford's, and Deck told him the whole story of
+what had occurred there.
+
+"Is it possible that Uncle Titus's family are reduced to such a strait?"
+demanded Artie, his pity and sympathy apparent on his face.
+
+"The boys say Aunt Meely and the girls are going back to Derry; and
+that looks as though the family were very hard up," replied Deck. "And
+Mabel has gone out to work in the family of Dr. Falkirk."
+
+"I think Sandy and Orly must be in a desperate situation when they try
+to collect a bill with a gun."
+
+"I have no doubt of it; though Sandy tried to put the best face on the
+matter, and said the part of the Confederate army that was to come to
+Bowling Green had not got there yet, and that they will be all right as
+soon as the company is mustered in. Orly speaks out loud, and tells all
+he knows about the condition of the family. He wants to join one of our
+companies."
+
+"Orly Lyon!" exclaimed Artie. "Why, he was one of the loudest
+Secessionists in the village!"
+
+"He has got enough of it, working without pay or rations," added Deck.
+"But where are we going, Artie?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know; why didn't you ask your father, if you want to
+know?"
+
+"Ask my father! You know better than that, Artie; for you are aware that
+commanding officers don't tell what they are going to do till they get
+ready to do it," returned Deck.
+
+"We are provided with ammunition and rations, and very likely we have
+come out to-day in order to get used to carrying them on a march,"
+suggested Artie.
+
+"Not at all; for father told me we were out on duty to-day, though he
+did not say what it was," replied Deck.
+
+The march continued all day long, and it began to look as though it
+would extend into the night. About nine o'clock in the evening Major
+Lyon called a halt at a point where a railroad could be seen in the
+gloom of the night. The column had just crossed a bridge of considerable
+length over a creek, and the position of the railroad indicated that it
+must be bridged over the same stream.
+
+While the commander and his officers were trying to make out the
+surroundings, half a dozen muskets were discharged from a covert of
+trees; but fortunately none of the cavalrymen appeared to be struck by
+the bullets. But it was evident that the time for action had come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE LEADER OF THE SCOUTING-PARTY
+
+
+As the squadron came to a region where Major Lyon was no longer familiar
+with the country, scouts had been sent out ahead of the column to give
+information in regard to any possible enemy. Confederate troops had been
+reported from several different directions by those who had occasion to
+travel about the State. As indicated by some of their operations, their
+present policy was to destroy the railroad bridges, so as to prevent the
+government from forwarding troops by them.
+
+General Buckner, or his forces, had destroyed one at Rolling Creek; but
+he was supposed to be falling back upon Bowling Green, as regiments from
+Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois began to reach this part of the State. It
+was possible that the squadron might come in contact with some of these
+forces; and the men were very anxious to find them.
+
+Sergeant Knox was at the head of the scouts. He was a man of forty-two,
+a tall, raw-boned Kentuckian, whose enterprise and love of adventure had
+led him into the region beyond the Mississippi, where he had been a
+regular soldier, a hunter, a trapper, and _voyageur_. For some reason he
+had become a strong friend of Deck Lyon, who was never tired of
+listening to his stories of the regions beyond the pale of civilization.
+He was a bluff, good-natured man with those who pleased his fancy; and,
+though he was not bitter or revengeful, he was capable of being a
+terrible enemy.
+
+Firing at a target was part of the regular drill of the cavalrymen in
+camp, and Life Knox always put his ball inside of every other. His name
+was Eliphalet, and he sometimes laughed at his parents for giving him
+such a long name. Captain Gordon had had no little difficulty in
+inducing him to sign his name in full on the enlistment papers. He had
+abbreviated it to "Life," and declared that he had never signed anything
+but that to any document in all his life.
+
+He was born and "raised" in Warren County, though he had wandered far
+from it at an early age, after the death of his father and mother. He
+had a brother who was a prosperous planter, and with him he had lived
+the last two years of his life. When he came to Riverlawn to enlist, he
+brought with him a long rifle, which was a load for an ordinary man to
+carry. He was told that he could make no use of it in the army; but he
+asked Deck to take care of it for him, and he put it in his room.
+
+It was occasionally brought out when the soldiers were firing at a
+target, and Life produced the most surprising results with it. He was
+pretty sure to hit the bull's-eye with it every time; for he had been
+trained where his daily existence depended upon the accuracy of his aim.
+He could bring down a squirrel as far as he could see him; and he always
+insisted that the rifle had as much to do with the result as himself.
+His shooting was observed with interest by the officers and men; and he
+was called, not simply a good, but a remarkable, shot. He was a dead
+shot to any living thing at which he aimed.
+
+Life Knox was a good-hearted man; but there was a sort of inborn
+aristocracy in him which would not permit him to associate intimately
+with all his comrades in the ranks, though he treated them well, and
+spoke pleasantly to them. Deck was always respectful to him, and Life
+had taken a decided fancy to him. When the tall Kentuckian was ordered
+upon the scout, he took care that Deck should be one of the party. They
+had ridden together all the afternoon, and Life had made the time seem
+short to the young man by relating all the details of a fight with a
+party of Indians.
+
+As the darkness of the evening came on, Life ordered his men to keep a
+sharp lookout on all sides, and suspended his thrilling narratives that
+his own watchfulness might not be impaired. The scouts were passing
+through what appeared to be a plantation, though they could not yet see
+any buildings. Suddenly the light of a fire flashed up at a considerable
+distance to the right of the scouts in the road.
+
+"A fire, Life!" shouted Deck, as he discovered the glare of the first
+flame that rose in the darkness.
+
+"Hush, little one!" interposed Knox. "Don't tell the neighbors about it,
+for it might astonish them."
+
+"I don't believe there are any neighbors very near us," replied Deck in
+a low tone. "But there is something going on in this vicinity."
+
+"We won't tell 'em, whoever's at work round here, that we are coming. By
+the light of the fire I can see a mansion or farmhouse over yonder."
+
+As he spoke, the report of the half-a-dozen muskets, more or less, that
+had attracted the attention of the main body of the squadron, was heard,
+though the scouts were half a mile distant. The building of the fire was
+possibly a signal for the discharge which had so soon followed it; but
+no other connection could be suggested between them.
+
+"One man can always do better in lookin' inter things than a dozen,"
+said Life, as he was trying to connect the fire and the firing in a
+reasonable manner. "Ride over towards that fire, Deck, and see what you
+can see."
+
+"Be you uns soldiers, Mars'r?" asked a negro, coming out of a cornfield
+at the side of the road, where the stalks had concealed his coming.
+
+"Of course we are, Cato," replied Deck, who was nearest to him.
+
+"Who done tole you my name, Mars'r?" asked the negro, whose surprise
+seemed to have driven everything else out of his head.
+
+"I guessed at it. But what do you want? I told you we were soldiers,"
+added Deck. "Do you come from that house beyond the cornfield?"
+
+"Yes, Mars'r; but if you uns is soldiers, which side was you on?"
+inquired Cato very cautiously.
+
+"Not gone, Deck?" asked Knox, riding up to him.
+
+"This contraband has just come out of the field, and belongs to the
+house we saw in the distance. I thought he could tell me better than I
+could see for myself what is going on here," replied Deck.
+
+"You are right, Deck."
+
+"But he wants to know which side we are on before he says anything,"
+added Deck.
+
+"Then he is a sensible nigger. Of course we uns belong on the Union
+side; and when you catch Life Knox on any other side, you'll catch a
+coon asleep," replied the sergeant, decidedly enough to satisfy any
+doubtful person. "What's gwine on at that fire, Minky?"
+
+"Bress de Lod if you was Union sodgers! and my name is Cato!" exclaimed
+the visitor, earnestly enough for a camp-meeting. "Dey is a hull
+regiment of Sesh sodgers ober dar!" he added, pointing in the direction
+from which the report of the firing had come.
+
+Without waiting for any further information, Knox called Lane, one of
+the scouts, and sent him back to report what the negro said to Major
+Lyon. He was directed to move slowly after he had gone the eighth of a
+mile; for the enemy were at some point on the right of the road, and he
+would get a shot if he disturbed them.
+
+"What are the Sesh soldiers here for, Cato?" asked Knox, as soon as his
+messenger had gone.
+
+"Gwine to burn de bridge ober dar," replied the man, pointing in the
+direction in which the structure had been made out in the gloom of the
+evening.
+
+"Well, why don't they burn it, then?"
+
+"Dey done got oder business at de mansion-house, sar."
+
+"What other business have they got there?"
+
+"I reckon de story's as long as Uncle Zeke's sarmints; but de fust thing
+is, dey's gwine to hang Mars'r Barkland to one ob dem trees, if he don't
+tell whar he hide his money," answered Cato, as he gave a hurried
+glance at the fire.
+
+"How many men are there at the house, or near it, Cato?" asked Knox with
+deep interest.
+
+"I done count six on 'em."
+
+"Then we won't allow a Union man to be hung to a tree. Scouts,
+attention, march!" called the sergeant hurriedly.
+
+With this order, Life dashed into the cornfield, closely followed by
+Deck and the others. The harvest had been gathered in the field, and
+there was nothing but the stalks that remained to obstruct the passage
+of the squad. The fire was at the edge of a grove, on ground slightly
+elevated, and not far in the rear of the mansion, which could now be
+distinctly seen. In approaching it, the cavalrymen came to a spot less
+elevated than the grove, where Knox halted to reconnoitre.
+
+"There's a lot of the villains coming from the house!" exclaimed the
+sergeant, as he brought his horse to a full stop all at once.
+
+"They have about finished hanging Union men in our county," said Deck,
+"and I don't believe they will hang this one here."
+
+"You can bet your horse they won't," added Life. "They can't see us
+yet, and I think we had better fix things a little before we begin
+business."
+
+"We obey orders, Sergeant. There's a knoll over on the right covered
+over with trees."
+
+"I was looking at that; and we will move over there, and take a position
+behind it, where they can't see us," replied Knox, as he led the way
+through a hollow, which brought the party to it.
+
+The mansion-house was on the highest ground in the vicinity, though it
+was not on a hill. The fire seemed to be plentifully supplied with wood;
+for it burned brightly, and shed its light on the road leading from the
+house to the grove. A group of men could be seen approaching the
+elevation where the fire burned. They moved very slowly, and appeared to
+have considerable trouble in making any progress at all. There was a
+prisoner in the midst of the party, and he was very unwilling to move in
+the direction indicated by his oppressors.
+
+While they were observing the spectacle, Cato joined them, for he had
+followed the cavalrymen as rapidly as he could on foot. He evidently
+belonged on the plantation, and knew all about the nature of the affair
+in progress, though the sergeant was not disposed to listen to a story
+as "long as Uncle Zeke's sermons."
+
+"Do you know what those villains are doing there, Cato?" he asked, when
+the negro had recovered his breath.
+
+"Dey drag ole Mars'r Barkland ober to de tree, whar dey will hang him,"
+answered Cato promptly.
+
+"Then your master has plenty of money?"
+
+"I dunno, Mars'r; he neber tole me notin' about dat."
+
+"I s'pose not. Are the men who came to the mansion in uniform, Cato?"
+
+"No, sar; no uniform but de rags dey wear. Cap'n Tites is out at bof
+elbows, and a nigger'd be 'shamed to wear sich a coat."
+
+"Did you hear what they said when they came to the house?"
+
+"Hear ebery word dey say, Mars'r, 'cause I waits on de table when dey
+done took supper."
+
+"Then they had supper at the mansion?"
+
+"Yes, sar; dey was all half-starbed, and dey eat more'n twenty men, and
+done drink whiskey enough to float a canal-boat."
+
+"Did that captain you spoke of drink whiskey, Cato?" asked Deck.
+
+"He done drink more as all de rest on 'em. Mars'r Barkland willin' to
+gib dem de supper and de whiskey, but he don't want to gib 'em any
+money. Cap'n Tites tell him he done got million money; but mars'r say he
+don't hab none. Den de cap'n say he hang 'im to a tree if he don't gib
+up de money."
+
+"That will do, Cato; I think I understand the matter now," said Knox, as
+he changed his position so that he could get a better view of the scene
+of action. "They have got nearly to the tree. It is about time to make a
+move."
+
+The sergeant questioned the negro in regard to the road which led to the
+rear of the house, and some other matters relating to the locality. Knox
+was a strategist in a small way, as he had been obliged to be in
+defending himself from Indians and wild beasts. In a moment he had his
+plan ready to put into operation.
+
+"I count nine men there, taking in the planter," said he. "Cato says
+there is a whole regiment camped in here somewhar. I don't believe it,
+Deck; but we don't want to stir 'em up just yet. You will take Owens
+and Fox, and ride round to that road Cato tells about, and I will go in
+on this side. I'll do most of the job with my four; but I don't want 'em
+to git off to their main body. Major Lyon'll tend to them."
+
+Deck started at once with his two followers, directed by Cato again; and
+the negro went himself with all the speed of his legs. He came to the
+road, which was simply a driveway over the plantation, and soon reached
+the house. He was galloping his steed; but when he came to the house he
+reined him in at the plaintive supplication of an elderly woman and a
+young lady, whose face he could not see in the gloom of the evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A VERY OBSTINATE PRISONER CAPTURED
+
+
+Deck Lyon's horse had been one of his father's best stock, and he had
+been selected by Levi Bedford, the overseer, for his use. He was a very
+spirited animal, and not every young fellow of eighteen would have felt
+at home in a saddle placed on his back. As the ladies from the house
+rushed forward to intercept him, Ceph, which was his abbreviated name,
+was startled, reared, and faced the music, as he had been taught to do.
+
+"I didn't mean to scare your horse, sir," said the elder of the ladies;
+"but for the love of Heaven, can't you do something for my husband?"
+demanded Mrs. Barkland, as she proved to be.
+
+"Oh, save my father, if you can!" added the younger woman. "Oh, my
+father! They are abusing him shamefully, and they have threatened to
+hang him."
+
+"That is the business in which I am engaged; and, if you will excuse
+me, I will attend to it," replied Deck, as he gave Ceph the signal to go
+ahead again with his legs.
+
+"Do save him!" repeated the old lady, who wanted to talk some more about
+the matter.
+
+But the young cavalryman waited to hear no more; and his horse went off
+at a dead run, the other two following him as rapidly as their steeds
+would permit, and he was several rods ahead of them. In a couple of
+minutes he had reached a point which commanded a view of the place
+chosen for the spectacle. The actors had evidently preferred to be at a
+distance from the mansion, where the women could not interfere with
+them, the better to carry their point with the owner of the plantation.
+
+They had the intended victim with a rope around his neck, and there
+could be no doubt in regard to their purpose. One man had the other end
+of the line, and was climbing a tree with it, to pass it over a branch.
+Five men were on the ground, and their attention had already been
+attracted by the approach of the horsemen from the direction of the
+house; and they did not appear to have observed the others, with Knox at
+their head, for they had passed behind a thicket of young trees on a
+knoll.
+
+"Halt!" shouted one of the five men in a voice loud enough to be heard
+half a mile. "If you come any nearer we will fire!"
+
+"Fire away!" yelled Deck with all the force of his lungs.
+
+But he reined in his steed; and Ceph obediently came to a full stop,
+while he unslung his carbine, his companions doing the same without any
+suggestion from him. They came up to him, and ranged their horses at his
+side. The carbines were ready for use in a moment, and all three of them
+were aimed at the five men surrounding the planter. The actors in the
+tragedy very plainly did not like this demonstration; for they did not
+fire, though all of them had aimed at the intruders on this side of
+them. The distance was still considerable, and probably they had no
+great faith in the arms in their hands.
+
+"Now we will go ahead, if you are ready, Fox and Owens," said Deck,
+though he had no authority whatever to direct their movements.
+
+The speed and sagacity of Ceph appeared to have placed him in command of
+the little squad, for his horse always kept away ahead of every other
+when he was permitted to do so. Deck was a brave fellow; he seemed to
+have no idea of anything like fear when he was required to face an
+enemy; but his father, who thought his son was inclined to be reckless,
+had carefully instilled into his mind the necessity of prudence.
+
+Knox had said that he intended to do most of the work on the present
+occasion; but just now it looked as though the whole of it had fallen on
+Deck's party. It was possible that he and his men had been entangled in
+the bushes and young trees, or had come to some water they could not
+easily pass. Deck led the way, and his companions kept close to him. The
+man in the tree had passed the line over the branch, and thrown the end
+down to the others.
+
+"Halt where you are!" shouted the man who had spoken before; and this
+time his voice gave Deck a thrill which caused him to stop his horse.
+
+The two parties were not more than two hundred feet apart; and the
+leader believed the speaker was his uncle, Captain Titus Lyon. This gave
+him much to think of besides the identity of the commander of the
+expedition upon which the squadron had fallen. It was evident to him
+that the first work of the cavalry squadron raised at Riverlawn was to
+be fighting the Home Guards, or "ruffians" as they had hitherto been
+called.
+
+Deck was annoyed and disconcerted at the discovery he had made, and it
+checked his enthusiasm; for the quarrel with Uncle Titus, which he
+insisted upon carrying to extremes, was in the family. The forces at
+Riverlawn had defeated and driven off him and his command three times,
+and it was an old story. He had hoped and expected that the campaign
+would present the war in a new aspect.
+
+It gave the young soldier his first lively impression of the results of
+civil war. He was not at all inclined to shoot his father's brother;
+though he was just as earnestly determined to do his whole duty to his
+country, without regard to his relationship with any of the combatants
+on the other side. They were there by their own choice, and were
+responsible for the consequences.
+
+With his carbine ready for instant use, Deck rode forward very slowly;
+and, more than at any time before, he wished Knox would arrive upon the
+scene of action. Captain Titus could now be clearly identified; and he
+had evidently made up his mind to proceed with the business in hand, as
+only three men had appeared so far to interfere with the operation. He
+had turned his attention from the intruders, and was talking to the
+unfortunate planter he had captured in a brutal manner, and shaking his
+fist frequently in his face.
+
+"Stand by the rope!" called he to the other men. "The fellow is as
+obstinate as a mule, and we must make an end of him."
+
+"Aim at the men who are holding the rope," said Deck to his companions,
+and the three carbines were promptly pointed at them. "This thing has
+gone far enough!" continued he, addressing the principal actor in the
+scene.
+
+"Who are you?" demanded Captain Titus, stopping long enough in his
+operation to examine the intruders.
+
+"I don't want to shoot you, but if you proceed any farther with this
+business we shall fire," replied Deck.
+
+Captain Titus was plainly astonished, if not confounded, when he
+recognized his nephew in the uniform of the cavalry. He did not like the
+looks of the three carbines pointed at his men. But Deck felt somewhat
+ashamed of the delay he had made in relieving the terrified planter from
+the extremity to which he had been reduced, and he decided to bring
+matters to a head at once. Starting his horse, he dashed to the rope,
+and seized it with one hand.
+
+"Fire at him!" yelled Captain Titus furiously, to two of the ruffians
+with muskets in their hands.
+
+One of them raised his weapon to aim at Deck, who instantly fired at
+him. He dropped his gun upon the ground, and grasped his right arm with
+the left hand. The other man then raised his musket; but both of the
+other horsemen fired at him at the same instant, and he dropped heavily
+on the sod.
+
+The three cavalrymen reloaded their weapons, and were immediately ready
+for the next move. The three men at the rope seemed to be appalled at
+the fate of their associates, and released their hold upon it. A moment
+later they began to skulk off in the direction of the grove.
+
+"Don't let them escape, Owens!" said Deck, to the one nearest to him.
+
+Both of them darted off at a gallop, and headed them off, driving them
+back to the tree from which the rope was hanging. Again Deck seized the
+line, and urged his horse up to the place where the planter was
+standing. Reaching down from his seat in the saddle, he cut the cords
+that bound the prisoner, and then directed him to remove the rope from
+his neck.
+
+"I owe my life to you, young man," said Mr. Barkland, panting with
+emotion and excitement.
+
+"I suppose you are a Union man, sir?" added Deck.
+
+"I am; and that is the reason why I am subjected to this outrage,"
+replied the intended victim.
+
+"What brought you here, Deck Lyon? Who sent you here to interfere with
+my business?" demanded Captain Titus, confronting his nephew with a
+savage frown.
+
+"We shall not allow any such business as this," answered Deck, who was
+not at all inclined to parley with the captain of the late Home Guards,
+now in the service of the Confederacy. "You and those with you will
+consider yourselves as prisoners of war."
+
+"Prisoners of war!" exclaimed Captain Titus. "I reckon we ain't nothin'
+of the sort. Do you mean to take six on us with only three?"
+
+"We shall not take the trouble to count your numbers. Mr. Barkland, you
+can return to your house, for your wife and daughter are very anxious
+about you. I hope you have not been injured, sir."
+
+"Only in my nerves," replied the planter, as he started for his mansion.
+
+At this moment Knox and his three men dashed upon the scene, to the
+great astonishment of Captain Titus.
+
+"Well, Deck, is the business finished?" asked the sergeant, as he reined
+up his steed. "We had to go about two miles to get here, and that is
+what made it so late."
+
+Deck reported what had happened so far. The man who had dropped so
+heavily on the ground was not killed; but he was bleeding from a wound
+in the side of the head, and the ball had only stunned him. The other
+man, with a bullet through his arm, was worse off.
+
+"This man who is in command of the company is my uncle, Captain Titus,"
+said Deck in a low voice to the sergeant.
+
+"What! Major Lyon's brother?" exclaimed Life. "I have heard all about
+him, and he is a pesky troublesome fellow."
+
+"I don't want anything more to do with him, Life, and I wish you would
+dispose of him," added Deck.
+
+"Do you want me to kill him? I can't do that; for"--
+
+"Nothing of the sort!" interposed the nephew warmly. "Of course I don't
+want you to do anything of the sort."
+
+"We have six prisoners of war, and we will march them down to the main
+body," added Knox.
+
+The sergeant proceeded to form his prisoners in a single rank; but
+Captain Titus appeared to have brought all his obstinacy and
+unreasonableness with him, and he refused to take the place assigned to
+him.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded the prisoner, as though he still ruled
+the roost, as he had doubtless done in his company.
+
+"None of your business where we are going," replied the sergeant. "If
+you don't take your place I shall put you into it."
+
+"This thing won't last long, for my company will take a hand in the
+business in the morning, and a battalion of Texan cavalry will make it
+warm for you."
+
+"We are not talking about your company or any Texan cavalry. Will you
+take your place in the line? That's the only question you have got to
+settle," returned Knox.
+
+"I won't take any place!" replied the captain with a volley of oaths.
+
+"Swear not at all, my man," continued Life, as he seized the rebellious
+prisoner by the back of his coat collar, lifted him clear of the ground,
+and then brought him down in the place assigned to him. "Stay there!"
+
+"I won't stay there!" growled he, as he attempted to leave the spot.
+
+But Knox seized hold of him again, lifted him up, and slapped him down
+across the pommel of his saddle, face down.
+
+"Any way you like, my man; but you are going with this crowd. Forward,
+my men!" and he placed himself at the head of the squad, and started in
+the direction of the road, in spite of the struggles of the prisoner.
+But they had not reached the road where they had first seen Cato, when
+the head of a column appeared in the act of turning into the field,
+doubtless guided by Hart, the messenger who had been sent to report to
+the major in command.
+
+Knox halted his little force, and threw his prisoner on the ground
+without any ceremony, ordering Owens to take charge of him. The column
+consisted of only the first company, the other having been sent to take
+another position. Captain Truman had been ordered to hold himself in
+readiness to cut off the retreat to the westward of the force which Lane
+had reported upon.
+
+"What have you here?" asked Major Lyon, as he saw the six prisoners in
+front of Knox's scouts.
+
+"Prisoners, Major; and I am sorry to say that your brother is one of
+them," replied the sergeant. "They were about to hang the planter, Mr.
+Barkland, who lives in the mansion yonder; but we saved him, and sent
+him home."
+
+"My brother a prisoner!" exclaimed the major very sadly.
+
+He gave the order to march, and the first company proceeded towards the
+planter's mansion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+PREPARING FOR ACTIVE OPERATIONS
+
+
+The discipline which Knox had administered to Captain Titus had taken
+some of the obstinacy out of him, and he was willing to march with the
+other prisoners. All of them had been engaged in the "Battle of
+Riverlawn," as it was called, when the mob had been driven away from the
+plantation. They were placed between a couple of ranks of troopers, and
+no further attention was given to them till the company halted, a short
+distance from the mansion.
+
+It was the camp for the night; and the horses were picketed, the tents
+pitched, and a cordon of sentinels stationed around the whole. The
+prisoners were provided for as comfortably as the soldiers, and the
+major had an opportunity to inquire into the situation. He had reached
+the point to which he had been ordered. The region in the vicinity of
+the railroad bridge had been examined by a large body of scouts, and
+nothing like an enemy had been discovered. A trio of negroes had been
+seen, and they were always ready to tell all they knew to persons
+wearing the national uniform.
+
+There was no military force near the bridge. After Knox had sent back a
+messenger with the information obtained from Cato, that "a whole
+regiment" was encamped at the right of the road, Major Lyon had sent a
+couple of trusty men to examine the locality. These soldiers had crept
+cautiously into the woods, and found the force indicated; but it
+consisted of only a single company, as they could see by the light of
+the camp-fires. They had no tents, and most of the men were lying about
+on the ground.
+
+It was now evident that this was Captain Titus's company. They were
+encamped near the railroad; but there were no bridges of any consequence
+near them, and they had doubtless postponed the work of the expedition
+till the next morning. Though the major had never even heard the name of
+Mr. Barkland, the planter, his brother must have had some information in
+regard to him, or he would hardly have visited his mansion and
+attempted to extort money from him.
+
+Major Lyon did not care to meet his brother, for his conduct had been
+explained to him, and he was in a bad frame of mind even for him; but he
+ordered Knox to bring another of the party engaged in the outrage to his
+tent. He had selected one who appeared to be a reasonable man, and his
+manner was quite different from that of the captain. The major had seen
+him before, but he knew nothing about him.
+
+"Do you belong to the company encamped in the woods farther down the
+road?" asked the major.
+
+"How do you know there is any company there?" demanded the fellow, who
+seemed to be somewhat surprised at the question.
+
+"I ask questions, but I don't answer them," replied Major Lyon with a
+smile.
+
+"That's jest my case," replied the Home Guardsman with a capacious grin.
+"I don't tell all I know every day 'n the week."
+
+"You don't know so much that you couldn't tell it as often as that,"
+added Captain Gordon, who was present at the interview, and thought the
+major was more pleasant than the occasion required.
+
+"But I know sunthin' you want to know," chuckled the man.
+
+"Not at all; I know all about your company," said the major.
+
+"Then what did you ask me if I belonged to it for?"
+
+"Knox, this man thinks he knows too much, and you may take him away,"
+called the major to the sergeant, who stood at the door of the tent.
+
+"Oh, I'm willin' t' answer you," grinned the fellow. "I belong to that
+company."
+
+"What were you doing up here, then?"
+
+"Cap'n Titus thought the man that lives on this plantation had more
+money 'n he could manage, and he was willin' to help him take care
+on't."
+
+"In other words, you intended to rob him."
+
+"I didn't intend nothin' o' the sort. I obey the orders of the cap'n. If
+you want to know anything more about it, you'll have to ask him."
+
+"Is your company the only body of troops about here?" asked the major,
+to whom Knox had reported what Captain Titus said about "Texan cavalry."
+
+"You'll have to ask the cap'n about that; for he didn't tell me all he
+know'd."
+
+It was evident that the man knew nothing of any importance, and the
+sergeant was directed to send him back to his quarters. At the entrance
+to the tent a visitor was waiting, who proved to be Mr. Barkland, and he
+was promptly admitted. He expressed his obligations for the important
+service rendered to him, and commended the energy of the young man who
+had been foremost in saving him from the fatal rope.
+
+"These ruffians must have known that you had your money concealed in the
+house," suggested the major.
+
+"I haven't any great amount in the house," replied Mr. Barkland. "I have
+a bank account in Louisville, and I had some money in the bank at
+Munfordville; but there are so many marauding parties about in this
+section of the State, that I took out the little I had in the latter,
+and had it in the house."
+
+"Hardly a safe place in these troublous times," added Major Lyon.
+
+"Safer than that bank, I thought," said the planter, "I am a Union man
+before anything else just now; and I think some Secessionist connected
+with the bank spread the news about that I had withdrawn my money,--only
+about thirty-five hundred dollars,--and the captain of this Home Guard
+had heard it."
+
+"That was unfortunate."
+
+"It would have been for me if your company had not come along. About
+dark half a dozen of them came to the house, and wanted to get some
+supper, which I was willing to give them; for I never turn away any one
+who wants something to eat. The captain wanted whiskey, and I gave it to
+him; but it seemed to make him crazy, for he did not behave like a
+gentleman."
+
+"That is apt to be the effect of whiskey," added the major, who was
+thinking of its results in the case of his brother.
+
+"Then they told me I had money in the house, or the captain did; for
+none of the rest of them said anything. I replied that I had no money
+for them; and then the captain became abusive, and threatened me if I
+did not give it up," continued the planter. "As I said, I am a Union
+man, and I decided to let them hang me to a tree, as he threatened to
+do, rather than give up my money to a lot of traitors, who would use it
+to assist in pulling down the government I believe in. My wife and
+daughter begged me to give up the money; but I was firm to the end, and
+even when the rope was around my neck."
+
+"Your fate would not have been an uncommon one with Union men,
+unhappily," added the major.
+
+"Could I see the young man that was foremost in saving me? I wish to
+express my personal gratitude to him for the service; for he was a brave
+fellow, and managed the affair well, or he would have failed. The
+ruffians were six to three; but the young man hit in the right place
+every time."
+
+"Who was he, Knox?" asked the major of the sergeant, who had listened to
+the narrative while standing at the entrance of the tent.
+
+"It was Deck, Major," replied Knox, with a smile on his wiry face.
+
+"Send for him."
+
+Deck soon appeared in the tent; and the planter grasped his hand,
+pouring out his thanks for what he had done. He desired to take him to
+his mansion, that his wife and daughter might have an opportunity to
+express their obligations to him; but Deck declined to go.
+
+"Now, Mr. Barkland, do you know of any other body of troops in this
+vicinity?" asked the major, changing the subject of the conversation.
+
+"Nothing within my own knowledge, Major Lyon," replied the planter.
+"Captain Tites and his men"--
+
+"Captain who?" interposed the major.
+
+"Captain Tites; that is what the others called him, or, at least, the
+name sounded like that."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Barkland, go on," replied the chief of the squadron.
+
+"They did not speak out very plainly; but they alluded to a body of
+Texan Rangers, as they called them, as though they were somewhere in
+this vicinity," the planter proceeded.
+
+"That captain spoke of them since we took him," said Knox.
+
+"I was just coming up to headquarters to report some information
+obtained by Sergeant Decker at the road," interposed Deck. "He stopped
+a negro on horse-back, who was going for a doctor. He said there was a
+company of cavalry, or more of them, camped about three miles on the
+road to Greensburg. He knew nothing at all about them."
+
+"It looks as though there was a considerable force in this vicinity,"
+added the major.
+
+"I have given you all the information in my power, Major Lyon, and I
+will return to my house. If I can be of any service to you, call upon
+me," said Mr. Barkland, as he took the hand of the commander.
+
+He left the tent, and Deck soon followed him, leaving the major and
+Captain Gordon alone. On the table in the centre of the tent was a map,
+which these two officers had been consulting when the guardsman was
+brought in. On it the major had made several crosses with a red pencil,
+indicating the location of the railroad bridge, which was believed to be
+the objective point of Captain Titus's company, the camp of this force,
+the mansion of the planter; and now he made another at the supposed
+location of the cavalry camp of the enemy.
+
+"There is a prospect of some fighting in this vicinity by to-morrow,"
+said Captain Gordon, as he looked at the crosses on the map.
+
+"Colonel Cosgrove rode over to Riverlawn yesterday to inform me that
+Captain Titus's company had left the day before, at an early hour in the
+morning, marching on the railroad. He had just obtained some news, which
+he considered reliable, to the effect that an order had come up for the
+destruction of the railroad bridges," added Major Lyon, as he put his
+pencil point on the road. "It was understood in Bowling Green that
+General Buell was about to send troops to the southward, and this is an
+attempt to break up the means of transportation by rail."
+
+"If there are any Texan Rangers about here, they must have been sent
+from some other point," said Captain Gordon. "But we know where the
+enemy are, and that is half the battle under present circumstances. The
+cavalry and the infantry of the enemy are at least five miles apart."
+
+"Captain Truman has the infantry where he can put his hands on them in
+the morning. His orders are to send Lieutenant Gadbury to the farther
+side of the railroad, with half his company, and station the other half
+behind this knoll, so that neither of them can be seen from the main
+road, and to have both forces in position before daylight in the
+morning. Neither force is to attack till the enemy begin operations upon
+the railroad."
+
+"I wondered that you did not bag the whole of this company of Home
+Guards while they were in camp," added the captain.
+
+"Under the name by which we know them, I am not quite sure of their
+status; and I prefer to have them make a beginning, which will prove
+them to be the enemies of the government," replied the major. "I gave
+Truman the most explicit orders, and I have no doubt he will do his
+whole duty. It is a part of my purpose to have the whole of Captain
+Titus's company captured."
+
+The major put a good deal of stress on the name by which his brother had
+been called, for he evidently did not like to pronounce his real name.
+
+"I think your plan of action will readily bring about such a result."
+
+"I put a low estimate upon the fighting character of the enemy in front
+of Truman; but I have stood up before them, though I believe they are
+better armed now than when they attempted to capture Riverlawn and
+Lyndhall. Your company will be held in reserve for the Texans, if there
+prove to be any."
+
+"I have no doubt, after all I have heard, that the information in regard
+to them is correct," added the captain. "It appears from their locality
+that they are likely to come to the railroad by the road which passes
+Mr. Barkland's mansion."
+
+The major and the captain arranged a plan for the reception of the
+Rangers, and then stretched themselves on their camp-bed, to obtain a
+little sleep before the exciting events which were expected the next
+day. At about midnight the sentinel awoke them, saying that the planter
+desired to see the commander. He was admitted, and reported that two men
+had just been to his house to inquire for "Captain Tites." One of them,
+he said, was Lieutenant Lagger, in command of the company in the absence
+of the captain.
+
+Major Lyon turned over and went to sleep again, satisfied that Buck
+Lagger would begin operations in the morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE ACTION BY THE RAILROAD BRIDGE
+
+
+It was hardly daylight the next morning when Major Lyon sprang from his
+camp-bed. The first thing he recalled was the visit to his tent in the
+night of Mr. Barkland. He thought it was rather strange that Captain
+Titus had not brought his lieutenant, as it now appeared that he was in
+reality, as he had been before only in appearance; for he was a ruffian
+of the rudest stripe.
+
+Three months before he had attempted to shoot Levi Bedford, the major's
+faithful overseer, as he drove past his house; and he had been his
+brother's principal supporter in the attacks of the mob upon Riverlawn
+and Lyndhall. He was just the desperado for such work as that in which
+the commander of the Home Guards had engaged the evening before.
+
+"Sentinel!" called the major to the guard at headquarters.
+
+"Here, Major!" replied the soldier.
+
+"Send for Dexter and Artemas Lyon. Have them report at headquarters
+mounted," added the major, as he proceeded to complete his simple
+toilet.
+
+The "assembly" was not sounded that morning, lest the noise should be
+heard in some other camp; but all the men had been called verbally, and
+were getting ready for the business of the day. The troopers assigned to
+that duty were watering the horses at a brook which flowed through the
+plantation, and others were striking the tents. A number of pickets on
+foot had patrolled the roads for a mile from the camp, but there had
+been no alarm during the night. Deck and Artie promptly reported at the
+major's tent as they had been ordered to do.
+
+"Good-morning, boys," said their father. "Do you know where the railroad
+bridge over the creek is?"
+
+"I do," replied Deck.
+
+"I have a message for Captain Truman. You will find his company in two
+divisions this morning, one on each side of the bridge, and both of them
+are in concealment by this time in the morning. The captain is behind
+the hill, just this side of the creek. Do you think you can find him?"
+
+"I know I can," replied Deck.
+
+"You must remember that he is keeping his men out of sight. My message
+is for him alone. He is not aware that Captain Titus and his companions
+at the mansion were captured last night. Whether the work will be
+carried on by his first lieutenant or not, I don't know. This officer is
+Buck Lagger; and I know that he will be glad to get the command of the
+company, even for a short time. I believe he will begin the destruction
+of the bridge early this morning; for, according to Levi Bedford, Buck
+believes he is a bigger man and an abler captain than his superior
+officer."
+
+"I have no doubt if there is any mischief to be done, Buck will do it as
+soon as possible," added Deck.
+
+"But if he fails to do so, tell Captain Truman to move over to the camp
+they occupied last night, and to keep his eye on the company. You will
+also inform him that there is a company of Texan cavalry in camp about
+three miles to the south-east of us, and they will probably be on the
+move this morning," continued Major Lyon.
+
+"Texan cavalry!" exclaimed Deck.
+
+"Music somewhere here to-day," added Artie with a smile.
+
+"The first company will be between this enemy and the second company,
+and you will tell Captain Truman to give no attention to them. Now go as
+soon as possible," added the major; and the boys started on their
+mission.
+
+The horses were in excellent condition, and the boys were pleased to
+have something to do that brought them out of the ranks for a time. The
+section of country which one could take in from the hill on which the
+mansion of the planter was located, included the railway and two common
+roads. South of the railroad, and extending in the same general
+direction, was the road by which the command had marched from Riverlawn.
+
+The camp of the Home Guards was at the south of it, and half a mile from
+it; for it appeared to have been a part of the purpose of Captain Titus
+to conceal his force. The half-dozen shots which had been fired as the
+troopers passed came from a party of strollers, it afterwards appeared;
+and Buck Lagger, in charge of the camp, had not discovered the presence
+of the cavalry from Riverlawn.
+
+At the point where Cato had been first seen, and who had given the
+information in regard to the outrage at the mansion, the road to the
+south branched off, or rather crossed the other at right angles. On this
+one was the mansion of Mr. Barkland, and about three miles farther south
+was the reported camp of the Texans. Deck had had no opportunity to
+study the panorama of the region as it might be seen in the daytime from
+the hill by the planter's house, for the darkness shut off his view.
+
+The camp of the first company was on the south road, and the boys rode
+in the direction of the railroad bridge. The day was breaking in the
+east, but it was not light enough to see distinctly the prominent object
+in the vicinity. They could make out the hill where they expected to
+find Captain Truman, but not the one on the other side of the railroad.
+
+"Hold on, Deck!" said Artie, when they came to the crossing of the
+roads. "I hear a noise off towards the west."
+
+"It is the tramp of men's feet; but that is none of our affair," replied
+Deck.
+
+"I have no doubt it is the Home Guards," added Artie.
+
+"I know it is; didn't father say they were to come over here to do their
+work? We can report to Captain Truman that the enemy are approaching,
+and he will be glad to get the information."
+
+Deck started his horse; but they had been directed to move with as
+little noise as possible, and they could not hurry. They took the
+cross-road, and the hill was on the right, and the railroad bridge on
+the left of it. Leaving the road, they struck into the field, and moved
+toward the station of the first half of the second company.
+
+"Who comes there?" called a voice from the grove that surrounded the
+hill.
+
+"Friends," replied Deck.
+
+"Advance, friends, and give the countersign."
+
+"Riverlawn," answered Deck, giving the word that had been selected the
+day before. "We have a message for Captain Truman from Major Lyon. Where
+is he?"
+
+"Not far from here," replied Blenks, who was in charge of the picket
+line. "I will conduct you to him."
+
+They found the captain seated on his horse, apart from his command,
+eating his breakfast from his haversack. The men were all mounted, and
+in readiness for immediate service, though they were standing at ease,
+some of them taking their morning meal.
+
+"Good-morning, Deck," said Captain Truman, as he recognized his early
+visitors. "You left your bunk in good time this morning."
+
+"We are the bearers of orders from Major Lyon," replied Deck, who was in
+the habit of doing most of the talking, though Artie had a tongue of his
+own; and he repeated all the orders and all the information with which
+they had been charged.
+
+"Captain Titus a prisoner!" exclaimed the captain, when he had finished.
+"Then it remains to be proved whether or not Lieutenant Buck Lagger will
+execute the orders received by Captain Titus."
+
+"We heard them down the road as we came along," said Artie.
+
+"I have no doubt they will be at work within half an hour," added Deck.
+"But we must hurry back, for our company will move farther to the south,
+I think, judging from the message we brought to you."
+
+"But you can't go now, for you will meet the Home Guards by the time you
+get to the south road. The ruffians would be glad to get a couple of
+prisoners like you and Artie; for then Buck Lagger could exchange you
+both for his captain."
+
+"Such an arrangement would not suit Buck Lagger at all," replied Deck.
+"When Levi Bedford brought Buck to the fort at Riverlawn, after he
+attempted to kill him on the road, the villain did not speak very
+handsomely of his captain, but said he should soon be in command of the
+company himself."
+
+"Be that as it may, you ought not to throw yourselves into the midst of
+these ruffians," the captain insisted. "If they don't capture you, they
+would take great pleasure in abusing you."
+
+"Mounted as we are, I think we could take care of ourselves against the
+whole of them," answered Deck.
+
+The soldiers of the squadron had an utter contempt for the fighting
+qualities of this company, and Deck and Artie shared it with the
+others. But the captain protested so earnestly against their exposing
+themselves to a needless peril, that they agreed to wait behind some
+bushes near the south road till the company had passed. They would
+gladly have learned something more in regard to the plan of the captain;
+but he was as reticent as military men usually are, and kept his own
+counsel. The messengers rode to the knoll covered with bushes which they
+had observed near the road when they entered the field.
+
+"We shall have a chance to see something of this affair," said Deck, as
+he stopped his horse at a point where the bushes would conceal them from
+those passing in the road.
+
+"Do you suppose the first company will remain where they are for any
+length of time?" asked Artie.
+
+"Father didn't say anything about that; but I imagine he will put the
+company in a position to meet the Texans."
+
+"There they come!" exclaimed Artie. "They are just turning into the
+south road. Buck Lagger looks big enough to be a brigadier-general."
+
+"But they are straggling along as though they were going to a picnic,"
+added Deck. "There are some of them half a mile in the rear."
+
+Then the boys observed two wagons drawn by mules, and the stragglers
+appeared to be the guard for their protection. Buck Lagger led the
+compact portion of his command, who were armed with axes as well as
+muskets. The south road ran under the railroad bridge, and the Guard
+halted there. The lieutenant lost no time in beginning his work. A
+portion of the men went to work at the abutment, trying to remove some
+of the stones in the wall, evidently with the intention of blowing up
+the end of the structure when the wagons arrived with the powder.
+
+About one-half of the men were sent to the platform of the bridge,
+climbing up the embankment a short distance beyond the wall. As soon as
+they reached the wooden portion of the bridge, they began to pull up the
+planks of the platform, and toss them over into the creek, a work which
+would not at all interfere with the usefulness of the structure for the
+passage of trains. These men were in so elevated a position that the
+boys could distinctly see their operations.
+
+Then they heard the crack of a rifle, and one of the soldiers dropped
+from the bridge into the creek. This single effective shot was followed
+by a volley; and, though they could not be seen, it was clear that
+Lieutenant Gadbury had led his command to the front, and they had opened
+fire on the destroyers of the bridge. His men were good marksmen; for
+not a few of them were hunters, and they had had abundant practice at
+the camp.
+
+"They can't stand much of that sort of thing," said Deck, much excited
+by what he saw.
+
+"Not they; they are coming down from the bridge now," added Artie.
+
+"Here come the rest of the company," exclaimed Deck, as Captain Truman,
+followed by his fifty men by fours, dashed through the field at full
+gallop. "I reckon I don't stay here any longer."
+
+"But the baggage-train of the enemy has not come up yet," suggested
+Artie.
+
+"But I want to see what is going on, and we can't see anything in the
+road from here, and that is where the fight is going to be," returned
+Deck, who was far more excited than his brother. "I suppose Lieutenant
+Gadbury is coming down to the bridge from the north, and now Captain
+Truman is approaching it from the south. They will have it out there."
+
+Both divisions of the company halted at some distance from the enemy,
+and began to pour a murderous fire into them, crushed as they were
+between the upper and nether millstones. The plan of Major Lyon had been
+carried out to the letter. The Guards returned the fire with all the
+energy they could muster; but it was very soon evident that their
+weapons were doing little harm to the cavalry.
+
+"This is little better than wholesale murder!" exclaimed Captain Truman;
+and he sent the second lieutenant, with half his men, into the field,
+with orders to charge the enemy in concert with him.
+
+This charge was made; and the enemy were ridden down by the horsemen,
+till they cried out for quarter. Buck Lagger lay dead upon the ground,
+with not less than a dozen others, while half the rest of them were
+wounded. The victory was complete, and the cavalrymen were only sorry
+they had not met a foe worthy of their steel. Eight of them were
+wounded, two of them severely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY'S SCOUTS
+
+
+The baggage-train of the Guards had seen from a distance that the battle
+had begun, and they had halted in the road. They still blocked the way
+for Deck and Artie; but they could no longer remain as spectators to the
+exciting scene which had just transpired, and had ridden down to the
+field of action; but the fighting had ceased. The cavalrymen were
+picking up their wounded; and Dr. Farnwright, the surgeon of the
+battalion, was attending to their needs.
+
+"Well, boys, this affair seems to be finished; and we made very short
+work of it," said Captain Truman, as they rode up to the spot where he
+was observing the labors of the men.
+
+"We have seen the whole of it, and now we are ready to return to our
+company," replied Deck.
+
+"The road is clear now, and there is nothing to prevent your return."
+
+"The wagons of the enemy have halted in the road, and there seems to be
+half-a-dozen men or more in charge of them," said Deck.
+
+"I will send a squad to bring them in," replied the captain, as he
+called a sergeant near him, and directed him to take ten men and perform
+this duty. "You will go with Sergeant Langford, boys, and I think you
+will be all right."
+
+"Have you any message for the major, Captain?" asked Deck.
+
+"You have seen the skirmish yourselves, and you can report it as it was.
+We were fired upon smartly for a time; but the muskets of the enemy were
+of all sorts and kinds, and most of them good for nothing. We have eight
+men wounded, two of them badly, and the rest slightly. Sergeant Langford
+has just reported to me that the enemy lost eight men killed, and
+fifteen wounded, some of them fatally. The rest of the command are
+prisoners."
+
+Sergeant Langford appeared with his ten men, and the boys went with him
+on their return to their company. It was not yet sunrise, and the
+principal task of the morning had been accomplished; for the action had
+lasted hardly more than a quarter of an hour. Lieutenant Blenks was
+compelling the Guards to pick up and care for their own wounded, and to
+bury their dead. The men were sulky, and the cavalrymen were compelled
+to drive them to this duty.
+
+"It was sharp work for a few minutes," said Langford to the boys, after
+he had called them to his side.
+
+"It was; but the thing was very handsomely done," replied Deck. "I think
+these ruffians have had quite enough of it."
+
+"They are as sulky as a bear that has lost her cubs. They were not
+willing to pick up their own dead and wounded, and wanted our boys to do
+it for them; but a few slaps with the flat of the sabres brought them to
+the point," added the sergeant. "I suppose the work in this quarter is
+done now."
+
+"I think not. I doubt whether we have finished," replied Deck; but he
+said nothing about the Texan Rangers, for he did not feel at liberty to
+use the information he had obtained as a messenger.
+
+The wagons of the enemy had halted where the men in charge of them could
+see what had happened at the bridge; but when the sergeant's squad
+approached them, they brought their muskets to their shoulders, as
+though they intended to defend their property.
+
+"Unsling carbines!" called Langford to his men; and they promptly obeyed
+the order.
+
+But the baggage guard did not fire; for some one among them seemed to
+have more sense than the others, and had interposed to prevent a useless
+sacrifice of life. A dispute followed among them, and the sergeant
+advanced upon them.
+
+"No more jaw!" interposed Langford. "Start your mules, and go ahead!"
+
+"Where are we going? We ain't no use over there now," said one of the
+men.
+
+"You are no use anywhere! Start your teams!" added Langford, as he
+slapped the last speaker with the flat of his sabre. "Shove them along,
+boys!"
+
+"We ain't goin' over there; we'll turn round and go back where we come
+from," added the spokesman of the party.
+
+"Are you all idiots?" demanded Langford. "Your wagons are wanted over at
+the bridge, and that is where you are going."
+
+The troopers soon started the teams with a vigorous use of the flat
+sides of their sabres. The guardsmen were disposed to resist; but they
+were vigorously pushed forward, and when a fellow hung back, he was
+gently pricked with the point of the sharp weapons.
+
+"I believe a good part of these ruffians are idiots, as Langford
+suggested," said Deck, as he and Artie rode forward. "They don't seem to
+understand that they are taking part in the war."
+
+"That's so," replied Artie, laughing. "If they find they cannot destroy
+the bridge, all they have to do is to go back where they came from, and
+call it square. But Langford has brought them to their senses."
+
+A smart gallop of a few minutes brought the messengers in sight of the
+mansion-house of the plantation. The first company was not where they
+had left it in the early morning; but they soon discovered a couple of
+the men, who seemed to be patrolling the south road.
+
+"Where is the company, Yowell?" asked Deck, when they came within
+speaking distance.
+
+"Behind the mansion. We were sent down to look for you," replied the
+soldier. "Major Lyon was afraid something had happened to you."
+
+"We are all right. Have you seen any of the enemy up this way?"
+
+"Not a man of them. If you take this path it will bring you to the
+house, and you will find the major there."
+
+The boys took the path indicated, and put their horses to their best
+speed. When they came to the house, they were greeted in the yard by the
+planter and his family, and the ladies poured forth their gratitude to
+Deck for the service he had rendered the evening before. But the young
+cavalryman could not stop to listen long to them.
+
+"Where is Major Lyon?" he asked, looking about him.
+
+"He is on the top of the house," replied Mr. Barkland.
+
+"Come up here, both of you!" shouted the major from his elevated
+position.
+
+Giving the reins of their bridles to the orderly, who was there with the
+commander's horse, Mr. Barkland showed them the way to a platform on the
+roof of the mansion, from which a full view of the surrounding country
+was obtained; only the railroad bridge was shut out by a hill.
+
+"What makes you so late, boys?" asked the major, as they presented
+themselves before him.
+
+"The baggage-train of the enemy stopped in the road, with half-a-dozen
+men in charge of it, so that we could not pass it without a fight,"
+replied Deck.
+
+"Has anything been done at the bridge?" asked the commander anxiously.
+
+"Yes, sir; the battle has been fought and won, and the whole company of
+Home Guards are prisoners," replied Deck, giving the entire story all in
+a heap.
+
+"That is good news, though I expected no other result. What was our
+loss?"
+
+"None killed; eight wounded, two of them seriously, the others slightly.
+The enemy's loss is eight killed and fifteen wounded, some of them
+fatally," replied Deck, who had studied over the report of the fight he
+was to make; and then he proceeded to give the details of the affair.
+
+This was in the beginning of the war, and before any battle of magnitude
+had been fought, so that the action at the railroad bridge seemed to be
+a considerable affair. The major listened with deep interest to all the
+particulars. Doubtless he was pleased with the report of the result;
+but he frequently raised the field-glass in his hands to his eyes as he
+listened, and it was evident that he was more concerned in regard to the
+approach of the enemy from the south.
+
+He put several questions to the boys, which were answered by both of
+them, and fully informed himself in regard to the situation at the
+bridge, which was about three miles distant from the mansion.
+
+"You will both return to the bridge; give my order to Captain Truman to
+leave a sufficient force on the ground to guard the prisoners, to
+dispose of the dead and wounded, and then to join me at this place with
+all the men that can be spared," said the major.
+
+The boys saluted him, and hastened to obey the order. In a few minutes
+they were galloping over the road again. On their way down the stairs
+they met Captain Gordon on his way to the roof. He had been the
+recruiting officer sent by the commanding general of the department to
+organize the first company, and the major had used all his influence to
+elect him to the office he filled himself. He had declined the position,
+for he thought it better that the planter of Riverlawn should fill that
+place. He had an apartment at the major's mansion, and they had been on
+the most intimate terms from the beginning.
+
+"I have posted Lieutenant Belthorpe behind the hill," said Captain
+Gordon, as he saluted his superior officer. "I have given him full
+instructions."
+
+"I have just sent for Captain Truman and as many of the second company
+as can be spared," replied Major Lyon. "They have beaten Captain Titus's
+command, and captured the whole of them."
+
+"Can you make out any movement of the enemy to the south of us, Major
+Lyon?" asked the captain.
+
+"Nothing yet. Everything is in readiness, I suppose, to carry out our
+plan."
+
+"Everything; and the men are in fine spirits."
+
+"The only thing I fear is that the Rangers will take the other road to
+the bridge," suggested the major.
+
+"But that would make the distance at least two miles farther," replied
+Captain Gordon. "Can it be possible that the commander of the Rangers
+has obtained information of our presence here, and of the result of the
+affair at the bridge?"
+
+"I think not; and yet it is possible, for not many in command could be
+so neglectful of all reasonable precautions as Captain Titus was."
+
+"If they come this way, we are all ready for them. I have scouts out to
+the eastward of our position, who will report to us the passage of any
+force by the east road, as they call it here," continued the captain.
+"The Texans are not early risers, or we should have seen them by this
+time. I will return to my company, and await further orders."
+
+The boys understood the necessity of haste, and in less than fifteen
+minutes their foaming steeds brought them into the presence of Captain
+Truman, to whom they delivered their message. He had already reduced
+everything to a condition of order. The wounded had been removed to a
+deserted shanty, probably used by the railroad workmen, and the
+prisoners were surrounded by a guard of twenty men. All was quiet on the
+ground, and the captain was glad to receive the order brought by the
+messengers.
+
+Lieutenant Blenks had already been placed in command of the camp, and
+the captain gave the order for Lieutenant Gadbury to have his men in
+marching order at once; and twenty men from the second platoon were
+added to their number. But Deck and Artie did not wait for this body to
+move, but started at once on their return; for they were anxious to be
+present in any engagement that might take place. They had little
+compassion for their horses, fond as they were of them, and dashed down
+the road at their best speed.
+
+"Hi!" exclaimed Artie, as they reached the cross-road.
+
+"What is it, Artie?" asked Deck, who was looking to the right.
+
+"Don't you see? There are a couple of mounted men wearing the gray!"
+exclaimed Artie with energy.
+
+"What are they?" asked Deck.
+
+"What are they? It is as plain as a stone wall to a blind man after he
+has stumbled over it, that they are the Texans who are expected over
+here."
+
+"Are there only two of them?" asked Deck facetiously. "Your head is
+level, Artie, and they are a couple of scouts who are feeling the way
+for a bigger body further back."
+
+[Illustration: "One of the Texans tumbled from his horse."]
+
+Just at that moment a bullet whistled between the two boys; for the
+scouts could have no difficulty in making out the uniform of the two
+messengers. Both of them unslung their carbines; and, without
+considering what consequences might ensue, both of them fired, Artie
+delivering the first shot. One of the Texans tumbled from his horse, and
+Deck aimed at the other; but he was less fortunate in his discharge, for
+the remaining man still clung to his horse. Raising his carbine, he
+fired.
+
+"I am hit," said Deck, as he held up his left arm.
+
+The man who had delivered his fire wheeled his horse as soon as he had
+done so, and galloped back by the way he came.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE BATTLE BEGUN AT THE CROSS-ROADS
+
+
+Deck and Artie Lyon were not veterans in military service; but on
+several occasions during the preceding six months they had been within
+the reach of flying bullets. They had not become hardened to the
+whizzing, boring sound they make in their passage through the air, for
+they carried wounds and death in their train; but they had considered
+and talked about the chances of being hit, and fully realized the
+possible consequences.
+
+"We are in the hands of the good Lord," Noah Lyon used to say; "and if
+it be his will that we suddenly pass the portals that divide the seen
+from the unseen, or that we languish for weeks or months upon the couch
+of pain, we can only submit to the divine will; and all we have to do is
+faithfully to discharge our duty to God and our country. God and our
+country! Let this be our watchword, boys; and with it on our tongues
+and in our hearts, we ought to fear no danger."
+
+Some appear to be brave in mere bravado, and the pride of many gives
+them courage: but the bravest men are those who are earnestly devoted to
+the discharge of their duty; for principle generates courage when it is
+founded upon religious faith. It was in this firm reliance that the
+father had schooled his sons. He was a faithful apostle, and they were
+loving disciples.
+
+"Where are you hit, Deck?" asked Artie, full of anxiety in regard to his
+brother, though he could see that he was not very severely wounded.
+
+"Right in the arm, half-way between the wrist and the elbow," replied
+Deck with a smile; for the time had come for him to feel something of
+what had only been talked about before. "It won't amount to much, though
+it doesn't feel good."
+
+"Let me see it, and I will fix it up as well as I can," added Artie, as
+he wheeled his horse till he was at the side of his companion.
+
+The noble steeds stood as quietly as though they understood what had
+occurred, while Artie rolled up the sleeve of the jacket, and disclosed
+the wound. The fond and devoted mother had provided each of them with a
+bandage and a handful of lint, and she had even practised them in doing
+up a leg and an arm. Artie wiped away the blood, and then applied the
+lint, around which he wound the bandage, as he had been instructed.
+
+"It is not a bad wound, as you say, Deck, and I hope you will never have
+a worse one," said Artie, as he pinned the end of the bandage.
+
+"Thank you, Artie, and you are quite a surgeon," replied Deck, as he
+straightened out his arm. "That feels better, though it is still rather
+warm. But we have business on our hands, and we can't fool away any more
+time. What do you suppose the presence of those two fellows here means?"
+
+"There is only one thing that it can mean," replied Artie, as he
+strained his vision to take in whatever might be seen in the direction
+from which the two scouts had come. "There must be a body of cavalrymen
+not far behind them."
+
+"I don't understand this business," added Deck. "Let's ride up the
+slope, and then we can see the enemy if there is any there."
+
+"It won't take both of us to do that. We know, if everybody in the
+company does not, that there is a company of Texan Rangers camped about
+three miles from Mr. Barkland's plantation. From their odd uniform we
+have a right to believe these two scouts belonged to that company. Very
+likely the captain of it is up to some mischief; and if a part of the
+force should come over here after Captain Truman has departed to join
+our first company, they could undo all that has been done, burn the
+bridge, and recapture all the prisoners."
+
+"That's so!" exclaimed Deck, taking in the argument of his brother, and
+fully agreeing with it.
+
+"As you are wounded, I will ride up the slope, and see what is to be
+seen, while you hurry back as fast as Ceph will take you to Captain
+Truman, and tell him all about it," suggested Artie.
+
+"All right; go ahead!" returned Deck, as he wheeled his horse, while
+Artie galloped up the slope, which was quite gentle for half a mile.
+
+When the latter reached the spot where the Texan had fallen, he saw that
+he was not dead, though the blood was oozing from a wound in his
+breast. His horse was quietly feeding on the bushes at the side of the
+road; but Artie could not stop to do anything for his wounded enemy,
+though his heart was big enough to do everything in his power. He rode
+on at the highest speed of Dolly, as he called her, though she had had
+another name before he made her acquaintance. He reached the top of the
+hill, if it could be called such, and the spot commanded a view of the
+country for several miles.
+
+It was not a plain which opened to him, for the prospect was bounded by
+a range of hills several miles distant, the intervening space having a
+sort of rolling surface. The first object that attracted his attention
+was a horseman, riding at full gallop up a slope about a mile distant
+from him. He concluded that he was the scout whose companion had fallen
+from his horse when he fired his carbine. He must have stopped by the
+way, or ridden more slowly than at present, or he would have been out or
+sight in the time he had taken.
+
+Artie had halted on the crown of the slope, for it was useless to go any
+farther. He could see the country for at least two miles; and it was
+not prudent for him to proceed alone. He sat upon his horse considering
+what he should do next. The only course left open to him was to return
+to the south road; but if an enemy was approaching by the east road, as
+the presence of the two scouts indicated, it was important that he
+should ascertain the fact.
+
+He kept his eyes busily engaged in wandering along the whole horizon to
+the east and south of him. If Captain Truman's command were not wanted,
+it would be an error to detain them. On the other hand, the result of
+the morning's work would be all undone if the enemy should advance after
+the larger portion of the second company had been withdrawn. It was a
+perplexing question for a boy of eighteen to settle; and he realized the
+responsibility that had accidentally, as it were, fallen upon him.
+
+If he was not at the cross-road when Deck returned from his visit to the
+camp at the bridge, Captain Truman would march his men up the slope,
+when they might be needed in the vicinity of the planter's house. He
+decided to compromise with the circumstances, and wait a reasonable time
+for some evidence of an advance on the part of the Texans. The two
+scouts had come from beyond the elevation where he stood; and unless
+they were simply messengers or spies, there must be a force behind them.
+As spies, they would not have appeared in full uniform.
+
+When he had waited perhaps ten minutes, he discovered something moving
+over the top of one of the hills south-east of him. With the utmost
+eagerness he observed the spot. He could not make out anything that
+looked like a road. But presently the moving object became more definite
+to his gaze. He wished he had his father's field-glass; but all he could
+do was to watch and wait. In a few minutes more the moving object
+resolved itself into a body of mounted men. They were marching along the
+summit of an elevation, and he saw them begin the descent.
+
+While still in sight the troop halted, and Artie concluded that the
+scout who had escaped had come up with them, and was making his report.
+But he could not leave yet; for it was important that he should report
+the strength of the enemy, as well as his actual presence in the
+vicinity. The young cavalryman had a full view of the valley into which
+the troop were descending; and as soon as they marched again he
+estimated, and even counted, the number of men.
+
+The Texans did not compel him to wait a great while, for they resumed
+the march at full gallop. They had been moving at a very moderate gait
+when Artie first saw them. The report of the scout doubtless assured the
+officer in command that a force of Union cavalry was located near the
+bridge, and he was hurrying his men forward to meet it. Artie had seen
+enough to assure him of the approach of an enemy, and he started on his
+return to the cross-road. He had seen the whole of the force, and had
+estimated its number at forty-four men in the ranks; for he had counted
+eleven sections of four in each.
+
+Dolly had had quite a rest while he was observing the approach of the
+enemy; and, as soon as he had obtained the facts, he was in a hurry. He
+urged his steed forward at her best speed. He reached the cross-road
+just as Deck appeared there; for the information he brought perplexed
+the captain not a little in regard to his duty under the changed
+circumstances, and he had been detained to answer a great many
+questions.
+
+"Where is Captain Truman?" shouted Artie, as soon as he was within
+speaking distance of his brother.
+
+"He will be here in a few minutes with his men," replied Deck, who had
+also remained, to have his wound properly dressed by the surgeon. "Have
+you seen the enemy, Artie?"
+
+"I have; and they are within a mile and a half of here now," replied
+Artie. "They are advancing with all speed, and they will be here in a
+few minutes."
+
+"Here is the captain," added Deck; and a minute later the troopers were
+halted.
+
+"Here is Artie, Captain Truman; and he has big news for you," said Deck,
+who appeared to have forgotten that he was wounded.
+
+"Your report, Artie," demanded the captain.
+
+"The Texan Rangers--at least, that is what I suppose they are--will be
+here in ten or fifteen minutes, if they don't stop by the way."
+
+"Is it a large force?" asked the captain, with some anxiety visible on
+his face.
+
+"Forty-four men, as I estimated them, besides the officers."
+
+"We outnumber them, then. But I am ordered to report at the planter's
+house," said the officer, who appeared to be musing upon the situation.
+
+He was not an experienced officer; and his mind was charged with the
+idea that the soldier must obey his superior officer, though his
+intellect was broad enough, and he had read in his military books that
+one in command of a force must use judgment and discretion. This was
+what he was thinking of when he alluded to his orders, which he would
+not have done if the boys had not been the sons of the major, and he was
+on very intimate terms with them.
+
+"But, if you obey your orders, the bridge will be destroyed, and the"--
+
+"I don't intend to obey them; I am not quite blind, my boy," interposed
+Captain Truman, with a smile on his face. "Less than fifty men, you say,
+Artie. I made up my mind, from what Deck said, that if there was a force
+approaching from that direction, the enemy were divided, and were coming
+to the bridge by the two roads."
+
+"There must be more than forty-four men in the whole company, besides
+the officers," added Artie.
+
+"No doubt of it," replied the captain, looking about him.
+
+Then he called for Lieutenant Gadbury, and sent him, with thirty men,
+back to the field where they had been concealed to await the attack of
+the Home Guards on the bridge. Then he ordered the rest of the men,
+about forty in number, to unsling their carbines, and formed them across
+the south road. In a somewhat longer time than Artie had predicted, the
+head of the enemy's column, arrived at the top of the hill, where they
+halted.
+
+A couple of officers appeared in front of the troop, and seemed to be
+surveying the situation. They could see the railroad bridge, and that it
+had not been destroyed by another division of the Confederates. But they
+could not see the camp that had been established at the side of the
+structure, for it was on much lower ground. They could also see the
+cavalry of Captain Truman, stationed about six feet apart, so that they
+extended both ways on the crossing along the south road.
+
+The Union cavalry doubtless looked like a small force to the officers
+who observed it. They had the reputation of being bold and brave men,
+and the order to attack was not long withheld. The officer in command
+led his men down the hill at full gallop, the men yelling like so many
+demons; for, at this early stage of the war, the troops of the enemy had
+acquired the notion that these hideous cries would intimidate their
+foes; but they did not in this instance.
+
+"Now, my boys, this will be no fool's play!" shouted Captain Truman at
+the top of his lungs. "These troopers are not Home Guards; and there
+will be fighting, and no child's play. Stand up to it like men--like
+Kentuckians, and, above all, like Union men!"
+
+The soldiers responded with a hearty cheer; and they kept it up till the
+enemy were within gunshot range, where they halted. They were formed
+across the road, but with only half-a-dozen men in a rank, so that they
+were still clustered in a rather solid mass. In this condition they
+delivered their first volley. One of the Union men dropped from his
+saddle, and only one. If others were wounded, they said nothing. The
+fire was promptly returned; but, so far as could be seen, with no
+greater effect than that of the Rangers.
+
+The Union men, as ordered, continued to fire at will; and it was soon
+evident that their carbines were superior to those in the hands of the
+enemy, for they discharged at least twice as many shots. The report of
+the muskets had brought the force of Lieutenant Gadbury into the rear of
+the enemy, and both divisions of the company were pouring bullets into
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A DESPERATE CHARGE ON BOTH SIDES
+
+
+The Texan Rangers were formed in a rather compact mass, while the Union
+line was considerably extended. Captain Truman had ideas of his own;
+and, though he was not a martinet, he was disposed to follow strictly
+the rules and precedents of military practice. His men could not very
+well fire into forty-five men huddled together in a small space without
+hitting some of them. On the other hand, the enemy might discharge a
+volley into his force, placed about six feet apart, with comparatively
+little effect.
+
+He was surprised to observe how few of the Rangers fell from their
+horses at the first discharge of his men; but their practice immediately
+began to improve, and as soon as the detachment of Lieutenant Gadbury
+dashed into the road in the rear of the enemy, the fire became very
+destructive. Many of the enemy were killed and wounded, and it looked
+as though they would all be destroyed.
+
+The Texans were brave men; they were impulsive and reckless, and they
+seemed to be perfectly satisfied that they could overcome the Union
+cavalry, and carry everything before them. In a few minutes it was
+evident to the captain of the second company that the officer of the
+enemy had made a fearful blunder, led into it by his impulsive ardor. He
+had conducted his men into the fight without sufficiently understanding
+the situation, and without taking the trouble to feel of the enemy
+beforehand. He had rushed blindly into the engagement with a feeling of
+contempt for his foe, and with the belief that the Texan cavalry could
+carry everything before them.
+
+In a few minutes he had discovered his mistake, as he saw his men drop
+before the fire in the front and rear of his force. He had been beyond
+the crown of the elevation in the road when Captain Truman stationed his
+flanking party behind the knoll, where they could not be seen by the
+enemy. He had recklessly regarded the force in front of him as the
+entire strength of his foe.
+
+The Rangers were between the upper and the nether millstone, as the
+Home Guards had been early in the morning; and it was only a question of
+time when they would all be shot down. In the village of Barcreek,
+Captain Truman had won a reputation as a chess-player among the better
+class of citizens who were fond of the game. He had reached the
+conclusion that warfare was to be conducted on similar principles, and
+he was on the lookout for an opportunity to "checkmate" his antagonist.
+He had fought the battle in the morning on the plan laid down for him by
+Major Lyon.
+
+By dividing his detachment, and placing forty of them in front of the
+Texans, and spreading them out so that they appeared to be even a
+smaller force, he had tempted the attack in which the enemy were
+suffering so severely. It was not in the power or the nerve of any body
+of soldiers to stand up against such a deadly fire from their front and
+rear. They must either be shot down or surrender. It evidently had not
+occurred to the lieutenant in command of the Rangers to resort to the
+last expedient to save his men; but he was plainly making a movement to
+extricate them from the trap into which he had so inconsiderately led
+them.
+
+"Attention, company!" shouted Captain Truman at the top of his lungs, as
+he interpreted the movement of the enemy. "Close order, march!"
+
+The file closed up in a more compact mass. The command was given to
+sling their carbines, and to draw their sabres; and it was given none
+too soon, for the captain had correctly divined the intention of the
+lieutenant on the other side of attempting to cut his way through the
+force in front of him.
+
+"Can you make out what Lieutenant Gadbury is doing, Deck?" asked the
+captain, who was rather near-sighted.
+
+Deck and Artie had both remained near the captain; and they had not been
+idle or indifferent, but acted as volunteers in the second company.
+
+"His men are slinging their carbines, as the enemy have done," replied
+Deck.
+
+"We are going to have some hot work, my boy. If you are ready to return
+to the first company"--
+
+"I am not ready to return, Captain Truman!" exclaimed Deck. "I think you
+need all the men you can have, and I shall add one to the number. I have
+not heard any firing to the south of us, and I don't believe the first
+company has been engaged yet."
+
+"But I am somewhat concerned about our prisoners at the bridge. There
+are a hundred of them, or very nearly that number. They must have heard
+our firing, and Lieutenant Blenks may have his hands full. You can
+render better service by looking after this part of the field," added
+the captain.
+
+"Of course I am ready to go wherever I can do the most good," replied
+Deck, who could not help wondering if the captain was not sending him
+out of the way because he was the major's son.
+
+"You are wounded, and you can be spared better than some other man. Some
+of our poor fellows have bitten the dust. Ride over to the bridge; and,
+if Blenks is having no trouble with the prisoners, go over to the rear
+of the enemy, and direct Gadbury to follow up the charge of the Texans."
+
+Deck saluted the captain, and dashed down the road towards the bridge
+with all the speed the willing Ceph could command. It was a few minutes
+that he required to reach the position of Lieutenant Blenks, who had
+heard the firing, and had drawn up his men for any duty that might be
+before them. No movement on the part of the prisoners was apparent to
+Deck, and they were surrounded by a guard, with their carbines in their
+hands; for the officer had ordered them to be on the lookout for any
+demonstration.
+
+"I am sent by Captain Truman to ascertain the condition of the
+prisoners," said Deck, as he saluted the lieutenant.
+
+"The prisoners are all right," replied the officer with a smile. "As
+soon as I heard heavy firing I strengthened the guards around them; for
+I thought they might want to take a hand in the fight over yonder. I had
+a talk with the second lieutenant of the Guards, now in command, and he
+told me that a company of Texan cavalry were to have connected with his
+force here."
+
+"But the force we have engaged cannot be more than half the company; and
+all of them must have known that at least one of our companies was in
+this vicinity," added Deck.
+
+"The lieutenant, whose name is Condor, tried to induce Lagger to wait
+till they had joined their forces before he meddled with the bridge; but
+he refused to do so."
+
+"Buck Lagger desired to win his spurs while the captain of the Guards
+was absent. But you need no assistance here," added Deck, as he wheeled
+his horse.
+
+"None at all; we could ride these fellows down in two minutes. But their
+arms are loaded into our baggage wagon, and they could do nothing if
+they tried," replied the officer.
+
+The messenger galloped up the road and into the field by the side of the
+east road. It was not cultivated, though it had been years before, and
+was now overgrown in places by small trees and bushes. Behind these Deck
+made his way to a point abreast of the enemy. He was in time to hear the
+order to charge upon the Union cavalry at the foot of the hill. The
+lieutenant had evidently delayed this order for some time; for when his
+men ceased to fire, the Union troopers had followed their example, and
+prepared for the decisive event of the conflict. The messenger rode into
+the road and saluted the officer in command of the flanking party.
+
+"Captain Truman's order is that you follow up the enemy in the rear as
+they charge down the hill," said Deck.
+
+"I am all ready to do that," replied the officer, as he pointed to his
+men, who sat upon their horses with their drawn sabres in their hands.
+
+They were not more than two hundred feet from the Texans, and Lieutenant
+Gadbury had already addressed some inspiring words to them. The other
+division could be plainly seen at the foot of the hill, and both parties
+were observing the enemy with the most intense interest. Judging from
+the impetuous and reckless conduct of the Rangers, the conclusion had
+been reached on both sides to charge the foe; for any other movement
+would be turning their backs to the enemy.
+
+During the tacit suspension of the conflict, both combatants had
+improved the opportunity to care for their wounded. Two of the men only
+had been killed so far, but half a dozen of them had been wounded; for
+the Texans had given most of their attention to those at the foot of the
+hill. Of these six, four kept in their saddles, and refused to take the
+rear. The wounds were dressed as far as possible, and Dr. Farnwright was
+a busy man at his post on the cross-roads.
+
+Suddenly the officer in command of the Texans appeared in the rear of
+his force, and made a furious gesture with his sword, pointing in the
+direction of Gadbury's men. This was not what was expected of the
+Rangers; and for the moment all the advantage was in favor of the enemy,
+so far as numbers were concerned.
+
+"Fours, right about, march!" shouted the Confederate lieutenant. "Now
+charge with all the blood there is in you! Ride them down, and use your
+sabres like men!"
+
+The order was promptly obeyed by the Texans, who appeared to be under
+excellent discipline; but they had hardly whirled around before the
+watchful eyes of Captain Truman discovered what they were doing, and his
+energetic shouts of orders could be heard by the force now in front of
+the Rangers. In another moment the main body of the company were
+spurring their steeds with all their might up the hill. Their sabres
+were in their hands, and they were using them in urging forward their
+horses. They came like a whirlwind, with the captain in advance; and
+there was not a man among them who would not have been ashamed to be a
+laggard under such leadership.
+
+It was well known that there were two or more companies of cavalry from
+Texas in this part of the State, and they had excited an unwholesome
+dread among the citizens by their desperate bravery and their reported
+prowess. In the squadron of Riverlawn cavalry, as it was sometimes
+called, the troopers had talked about them a great deal, and an
+emulation had been created among them to measure sabres with them. They
+had the opportunity on this occasion, and the pride of every soldier had
+been roused to the highest pitch.
+
+Though the flanking division of the company was now outnumbered for the
+moment, all the Union men looked upon the change of front in the enemy
+as something like the appearance of the white feather, and they were
+encouraged by this phase of the combat. Lieutenant Gadbury, as soon as
+he saw the change of front on the part of the Rangers, was disposed to
+take the bull by the horns.
+
+"Open order, march!" he shouted. "Sergeant Lingall, march half the
+column into the field on the left, and strike them on that side."
+
+With the twenty men left to him, he gave the order to move forward at a
+gallop, imitating the example of the Texan lieutenant in taking his
+place in advance. No mercy was shown to the poor horses, which were
+goaded with sabre and spurs to their highest speed. The two divisions
+were rushing upon each other with a fury that promised a tremendous
+shock when they came together. Deck had placed himself in the front
+rank, and added one to the number reduced by death and wounds.
+
+He was not a full-grown man; but he was a stout fellow, and as brave as
+a lion, which he had proved on some former occasions. Ceph, his
+intelligent horse, fully seconded him. The rider selected the point
+where he was likely to hit. It looked to him just as though the two
+officers in command would meet each other, and have a pass with their
+sabres, for which they had exchanged their dress swords. But the Texan,
+before the onslaught came, had moved over nearer the left flank of his
+force, in order to obtain a better view of his men; but he had started
+to regain his former position just as the crash of the two bodies
+ensued. He was directly in front of Deck, when Captain Truman shouted to
+his men to stand up to the work before them, and not yield a hair while
+the breath of life was in them.
+
+Ceph had been ridden a great deal by his master before he became his
+war-charger, and he had trained him to some tricks in which the other
+horses had not been drilled. One of these was to leap over a high bar.
+As the young cavalryman saw the lieutenant of the enemy directly in
+front of him, he drew his rein, as Ceph had been instructed; and the
+steed stood up on his hind-legs, Deck clinging with his wounded arm to
+his holsters.
+
+The gallant charger understood that he was to leap over the object in
+front of him; but it was more than he could do, and he came down with
+his fore-legs over the neck of the smaller horse of the lieutenant. The
+horse went down, the rider upon him, and Deck gave a sharp thrust with
+his sabre at the same moment. The officer was disabled at least, and
+Deck dashed over him into the thickest of the fight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE YOUNG HERO OF THE BATTLE
+
+
+The steed of the officer of the Texans was a diminutive animal, and was,
+perhaps, a mustang from Mexico, a tough little beast with nearly the
+endurance of a mule. Ceph, in the exercise through which his young
+master put him when they were alone by themselves, had leaped quite as
+high as the backbone of the officer's steed; but it was under favorable
+circumstances. In the furious conflict both the rider and the steed were
+excited in the highest degree.
+
+Ceph had failed to leap over the back of the mustang, but he had brought
+him to the ground, and the lieutenant upon him; for he could do nothing
+for himself, and Deck made a vigorous use of his sabre the moment the
+enemy was under him, as his gallant charger sprang from the wreck he had
+accomplished, and dashed forward into the _mêlée_.
+
+If Deck had won no prize for his sabre drill, it was only because none
+was offered. He was as quick as a flash in his movements, and had a
+strong arm. The Ranger nearest to his officer when the latter went down
+aimed a tremendous blow at the head of the young soldier, which would
+have cleft it in twain if Deck had not parried it skilfully and
+powerfully. In return, he inflicted the same kind of a blow upon his
+assailant, whose horse carried him out of the affray when he ceased to
+direct him, and he fell to the ground at the side of the road.
+
+The ringing voice of the Texan officer was no longer heard in the
+furious strife, and the Rangers were fighting each on his own
+responsibility. Captain Truman had brought up his men, and they had made
+a tremendous onslaught. The ten men sent to the flank had done their
+whole duty, and Deck found not a single one of the enemy who was not
+engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter with a Ranger. The enemy were
+surrounded, hemmed in, and discouraged by the fall of their brave
+leader. They were also outnumbered, and one of them was often engaged
+with two of the Union cavalrymen.
+
+The Texans had assuredly done all that could be done, and it was soon
+evident that they were only defending themselves till they could work
+out of the desperate _mêlée_. On the flanks, as they could detach
+themselves from the struggling mass, they fled into the field on the
+south of the road. Such a conflict could last but a few moments, for
+there was not breath enough in the human body to keep up such a strain.
+
+An observer would have supposed that more than half on both sides had
+been killed; yet very few had fallen to the ground, and fewer still had
+come out of it without wounds of greater or less magnitude. The Texans
+fought to free themselves from the embrace of the Unionists, as it were;
+and as soon as they had worked out of the confusion, they fled at the
+best speed of their half-exhausted animals. Some one among them had
+taken in the lay of the country; and they all fled in one direction,
+which was towards the road by which they had come from their camp.
+
+The battle was fought, and the Union cavalrymen remained in possession
+of the field. Most of the men were at least spotted with gore, and some
+of them looked as though they had been at work in a slaughter-house.
+Dr. Farnwright had already begun his work at the side of the road. Three
+of the company were silent and motionless, and the surgeon had
+pronounced them dead. The wagons were sent for, including those of the
+Guards, and the few who were severely wounded were sent to the hospital
+the surgeon had established.
+
+Deck had received no additional wound; and the bullet injury did not
+trouble him much, for he could handle his reins with the left hand
+nearly as well as ever. Artie had received three cuts upon his sword
+arm, but they happened to be all slight. In fact, the soldier who had
+not been damaged to some extent was hardly to be found. Only five men
+had been killed, nine wounded seriously enough to disable them.
+
+"You seem to be all right, Deck," said Captain Truman, when they met at
+the camp.
+
+"I am, Captain, and ready for another fight when you bring it along,"
+replied the young soldier, laughing, and putting a bold face on the
+situation.
+
+"Don't be too ambitious, my boy," replied the officer, shaking his head.
+"You have been reckless to-day."
+
+"But I have come out all right; and I don't think I was any more
+reckless than the rest of the fellows," added Deck.
+
+"You have fought like a veteran; and I think we owe more to you for the
+result of the action than to any other single individual, though all the
+boys behaved like heroes, and proved that they were the equals of even
+the Texan desperadoes."
+
+"I don't think I did anything more than the rest of our fellows,"
+suggested Deck; and he was not in this matter indulging in mere bravado:
+he really believed he had done nothing except what came naturally to his
+hands, as others had done.
+
+"Then I must differ in opinion from you; but while I commend your skill
+and bravery, I cannot wholly approve of the gymnastics in which you
+indulged at the beginning of the charge, for it was simply
+recklessness," said the captain very seriously. "It is your duty to
+fight courageously, my boy; but it is also a duty you owe to your
+country, as well as to your father and all the members of your family,
+to save your life and limbs with honor if you can."
+
+"Haven't I done so, Captain Truman?" asked Deck, with a very cheerful
+smile on his face. "I came out with hardly a wound after the bullet hit
+me in the arm at the beginning. I have nothing but half-a-dozen
+scratches to show for it."
+
+"You were excited to the highest pitch in the affair, and you have not
+got over it yet. When you do, you will feel your scratches more. But I
+hope you will not be so reckless another time, my boy."
+
+"I didn't know I was reckless. Lieutenant Gadbury fired our blood so
+that I could hardly hold in; and I went in for all I was worth, and only
+did the best I knew how," replied Deck, trying to cool off his heated
+blood.
+
+"You didn't know you were reckless, my boy!" exclaimed the captain. "You
+were a volunteer in the second company, and you advanced ahead of the
+first rank with the lieutenant. That was a bold exposure; but what I
+particularly refer to as reckless was your attempt to leap your horse
+over that of the Texan leader."
+
+"I did not intend to leap my horse over him; but I went for that
+officer. When I came up with him, and was going to use my sabre, Ceph
+thought I wanted him to leap over him, for he and I have practised
+together at that a great deal. He meant right; but I knew he couldn't
+clear the horse, small as he was, to say nothing of the rider. Ceph came
+down upon both of them, and I drove my weapon into the officer before he
+had a chance to stick me. That was the whole of it."
+
+"If you were not trying to make your steed leap over the horse and
+rider, I will acquit you of recklessness in that particular."
+
+This conversation occurred as they were moving back to the camp. The
+wounded on both sides were put into the wagons, the lieutenant in
+command of the Rangers among the others. He was badly wounded, and his
+chance of recovery was small. Those the doctor pronounced dead were
+placed by the side of the road, to be disposed of later.
+
+"How are you now, Artie?" asked Deck, as he rode up to his brother at
+the camp, and looked at him with anxiety, to ascertain the extent of his
+injuries, though he looked as rosy and vigorous as usual.
+
+"I'm all right, Deck, though I have a lot of scratches, and a cut on the
+sword arm which is beginning to make itself felt," replied his brother,
+quite as cheerfully as the other.
+
+"I didn't see you till the affair was about over," added Deck. "But you
+were putting in the dry licks as though you felt that your time for work
+was very short."
+
+"But I saw you just us soon as we started from the cross-roads, and I
+did not expect to see you come out of it alive, Deck," replied Artie;
+and he could not wholly conceal the admiration he felt for his brother
+since he saw him take his place in advance of his detachment, and
+vanquish the Texan lieutenant almost in the twinkling of an eye. "The
+captain said you were reckless at the time of it."
+
+"He don't say so now."
+
+"You tried to leap your horse over rider and steed."
+
+"Ceph did that on his own hook; and I could not very well help following
+his lead, as I was on his back, though I had nearly slidden off when he
+mounted in the air. I am not badly damaged, and I am ready to return to
+the first company; I am only waiting for the captain to write a note to
+the major."
+
+"I am all ready to go back, though I should like to have Dr. Farnwright
+dress the cut on my arm before I go," added Artie. "But he is too busy
+with the men who are worse off than I am, and I will let it go as it is.
+But here comes the captain with a paper in his hand. I suppose father
+will wonder what has become of us."
+
+"He must have heard the firing in this direction. Perhaps he has been
+fully occupied himself, or he would have sent more men over this way."
+
+No effort had been used to make prisoners of any of the Texans, for the
+captain had his hands full. He was satisfied that Major Lyon expected
+warm work where he was, for he would not have sent for the additional
+force otherwise. The rest of the company with which he had been engaged
+might be at no great distance from him, and doubtless this was the force
+the first company was expected to encounter.
+
+"Here is the letter, Deck, in which I have given a hasty statement of
+the action," said Captain Truman, as he handed him the paper, which
+could hardly be called a letter. "I believe we have met a portion of the
+enemy he expected to engage; and probably he is not in a hurry, for we
+have heard no firing at the south of us."
+
+"We are all ready to go; but Artie has a wound in his arm which troubles
+him, and there is no surgeon with the first company," interposed Deck.
+
+"Farnwright!" shouted the captain, as he saw that he had just finished
+his attention to one patient and was hastening to another.
+
+The surgeon came promptly at his call, and proceeded to dress the arm of
+the wounded soldier without his dismounting from his horse.
+
+"I wish I had no worse cases than that, my boy," said the doctor.
+
+"I am sorry you have, sir," replied Artie.
+
+"You will be all right in a few days, my young friend; and I learn that
+you have both fought like Trojans, though I believe Artie did not try to
+leap his horse over any Texan's head," added Dr. Farnwright, with a look
+of admiration at Deck, who appeared to have won the laurel of the day on
+the field.
+
+"Neither did I, Doctor. If any one tried to do a big thing, it was
+Ceph," protested the hero.
+
+"Ceph? Who is he?"
+
+"My horse;" and Deck hastily gave his version of the daring deed, as it
+appeared to be to those who had observed it.
+
+But the dressing of the wound was finished, and the young soldiers
+started on their return to the camp of the first company. The excitement
+of the morning had subsided, and they began to feel the wear and tear to
+which they had been subjected.
+
+"We don't get such a morning's work as this every day in the week," said
+Artie as they crossed the east road.
+
+"But I imagine we shall get some worse days than this has been," added
+Deck. "We haven't seen the end of this day yet, and we may be in another
+fight before noon. I suppose these Texan troopers have been sent over
+here to destroy the bridges on the railroad extending to Louisville."
+
+"It isn't a great while since the Confederates were trying to keep the
+road open," added Artie.
+
+"The situation has changed since that, and we are farther along into the
+war. Then they wanted to keep this road open, so that they could bring
+provisions down for the use of the armies of the enemy. Now they want to
+destroy them, to prevent the United States Government from sending
+troops for the invasion of the Southern States," replied Deck.
+
+The conversation the rest of the way was in regard to the events of the
+day, filled up with surmises as to what the first company was doing.
+When they left Major Lyon he was on the top of the planter's house,
+surveying the surrounding country, wishing to obtain the first
+intelligence of the approach of the enemy. Both of the messengers
+wondered that he had not seen the coming of the detachment with whom the
+second company had engaged; but they concluded that the road they had
+taken led them beyond certain hills in that direction.
+
+When the boys reached the mansion of Mr. Barkland, Major Lyon was still
+on the house, and shouted to them to join him at once.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE PERPLEXING MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEMY
+
+
+The commander of the squadron had not yet become familiar with the
+trials, doubts, and anxieties of military life in the midst of actual
+fighting; and though he was as calm and resolute as ever, he seemed to
+the boys to be greatly disturbed about something. Thus far all the
+fighting had been done by the second company; but before this time Major
+Lyon had confidently expected to be engaged with the cavalry which had
+encamped three miles from the mansion of the planter.
+
+The reputation of the Texans had been spread over this portion of the
+State; and they were regarded as terrible soldiers, real fire-eaters,
+and he had by no means underrated them. He had made the most careful
+preparations to meet them, and had sent the two messengers to obtain a
+re-enforcement from the second company, which had successfully
+completed its work at the railroad bridge, and could spare a portion of
+their strength.
+
+Deck handed his father the letter from Captain Truman as soon as he came
+into his presence. The major opened it without saying a word, for he
+expected it to give him the information he had been so anxiously
+awaiting. The firing to which he had listened, though it was so faint
+that he could hardly make it out, had assured him that something not
+laid down in his programme had been in progress. While he was reading
+the hurriedly written communication, Deck and Artie busied themselves in
+examining the region lying to the eastward of the mansion.
+
+"The road by which the Texans came must be just beyond that hill, a
+couple of miles from us," said Artie, as they went as far as they could
+from the major. "I know I saw them come out from behind it; for I sat on
+my horse, on the highest ground I crossed, watching them for some time."
+
+"There's father's map," added Deck, pointing to the sheet which lay on
+the railing that surrounded the platform; and then he went for it. "I
+wondered father did not see this force from his high perch on this
+house."
+
+The young soldiers spread out the map, and examined it very closely.
+They readily found the planter's house, and then a road, nearly parallel
+to the east one, passing over several hills. The high ground, as they
+made out the locality with the aid of the map, was covered with forest,
+as marked and as they could see with their own eyes.
+
+"They went behind that highest hill, and of course they could not be
+seen from the top of this house," said Deck, as he restored the map to
+the place where he had found it.
+
+"I wonder he did not send more messengers down, to ascertain what had
+become of the force he sent for," added Artie in a low tone.
+
+"He was expecting an engagement with the Texans all the time, and had
+prepared for it, so that he did not want to spare any of his men."
+
+Major Lyon had finished the reading of the letter, which had evidently
+given him some trouble, for it was written on horse-back with a pencil.
+He had not heard the conversation of the sons, so deeply had he been
+absorbed in the perusal of the missive from the bridge.
+
+"It appears that you have had a fight near the bridge," said he, as the
+boys approached him. "Both of you are very highly commended for your
+courage and steadiness, and I am glad to hear so good a report of you.
+And both of you have been wounded."
+
+"Only some scratches, father," replied Deck. "I got one in the beginning
+of the action; but it has hardly troubled me at all, and I was able to
+do my duty through the whole of it.
+
+"Deck was the hero of the day, and the whole company are talking about
+him down at the bridge," said Artie.
+
+"But I did no more than my brother. I think we both did our duty, if
+saying that is not vanity; and we had better let it go at that," replied
+Deck.
+
+"We will let the matter rest till another time, at least," added the
+major; "for I have something else to think of just now."
+
+Major Lyon took his field-glass, and directed it to the south, as he had
+done all the forenoon, looking for the approach of the main body of the
+Texans. He scanned the region in detail, but nothing was to be
+discovered. Then he proceeded to question his messengers respecting the
+action, especially in regard to the manner in which it had been brought
+about.
+
+"There is something concerning the situation here which I cannot
+understand," said he, with the same perplexed look he had worn since the
+arrival of the messengers. "I expected your return about two hours ago."
+
+"We started to come back as long ago as that," replied Deck. "When we
+came to the cross-roads we discovered two mounted scouts on the east
+road approaching us. One of them fired, and I was wounded in the arm. We
+returned the fire, and Artie brought down one of them. The other went
+back the way they had come. I returned to the camp to notify Captain
+Truman, and Artie followed the retreating trooper."
+
+Artie related his experience in looking for the Texans, and the result
+of his search. Between them both they gave the details of the fight.
+
+"Captain Truman stated that his orders were to join you here; but it was
+plain enough to him that the camp at the bridge would be captured if he
+took his force away," said Deck.
+
+"He did quite right; and the approach of the Texan detachment in that
+roundabout way put an entirely new phase on the situation," added the
+major, looking down at the roof of the building, while his brow was
+wrinkled by his active reflection. "We have been waiting since daylight
+for the coming of the enemy down this south road."
+
+"Do they know the Riverlawn Cavalry is here, father?" asked Deck.
+
+"Of course they know it; for it appears that they send out scouts a long
+way ahead, and they must have found out that we are here. I directed
+Captain Gordon to send scouts out till he discovered where the enemy
+were; and it is time we had a return from them."
+
+"I have a return from my scouts," said Captain Gordon, springing to the
+roof out of the skylight at this moment.
+
+"Where are the enemy now?" asked the major anxiously.
+
+"They were breaking camp when my men left," replied the captain. "I sent
+six men, the most intelligent in the company, in charge of Sergeant
+Knox, who has performed his duty very faithfully."
+
+"He always does. Have your six men returned?" asked Major Lyon.
+
+"No, sir; Knox returned alone to report. He left Sergeant Sluder and
+the other four as pickets in the road a mile and a half from here, to
+report the approach of the enemy if they came this way."
+
+"But if they were breaking camp, why have we not heard from them before
+this time?" demanded the major.
+
+"Some of the troopers that escaped from the fight on the east road must
+have reached the camp by this time," interposed Deck. "Of course they
+have informed the captain of the company what happened over there."
+
+"What fight?" asked the captain sharply, as he turned to Deck.
+
+The captain had to be informed of what the major had already learned.
+
+"This puts an entirely different complexion on the situation," said
+Captain Gordon, when he had heard something about the fight with the
+Texan cavalry. "That detachment of forty-five men were sent over to the
+bridge. Now, the question is, What were they sent for?"
+
+"I have no doubt the Texan captain is aware of the presence of the
+Riverlawn squadron in this vicinity. He has found the road here picketed
+by our men. It looks to me as though this detachment was sent round by
+that back road to take us in the flank and rear when the main body came
+down upon us in front. They have been waiting all this time for them to
+get a position," said the major, with less anxiety on his face than
+before.
+
+"But those who escaped from the fight have now given him full
+information that they were beaten off by our men," suggested Captain
+Gordon. "They were preparing for a move of some sort; for Knox left his
+horse in the road, and made his way through fields and groves, till he
+was in sight of their camp."
+
+"Have you anything to advise, Captain Gordon?" asked Major Lyon.
+
+"I think I should attack them where they are," he replied.
+
+"I cannot agree with you, Captain," added the superior officer.
+
+"But we are losing time whatever we do," said the captain.
+
+"We will march immediately, and with all the haste we can, to the
+cross-roads. Give your orders to that effect without any delay. Send
+the prisoners first, with a proper guard," said Major Lyon very
+decidedly.
+
+By this time Captain Gordon had acquired a great deal of respect for the
+judgment of the commander, even in military matters; for he had proved
+himself equal to the position in which he had been placed; and, mild as
+he was ordinarily, he had shown that he had a will of his own. But the
+captain proceeded to obey his orders without offering any objection, and
+the major had not time to explain his plans in detail.
+
+"Captain Truman and his detachment are coming," said Deck, who had been
+using his father's field-glass for his amusement, while he listened to
+the conversation at his side.
+
+"Mount your horse, Artie, and give him my order to return to the
+cross-roads!" added Major Lyon sharply.
+
+Artie departed on the instant, and Deck remained on the roof. He could
+see from his lofty position all that took place in the vicinity. He saw
+the six prisoners, including his uncle, Captain Titus, marched down the
+slope with an escort of half-a-dozen troopers. The baggage-wagons
+followed them; and the company was formed in the road by fours. Captain
+Gordon had hurried the preparations to the best of his ability.
+
+"The pickets are coming in, Dexter," said Major Lyon, as he returned the
+field-glass to the case slung at his side. "You can take your place in
+the ranks, my son. Whether the pickets have been sent for, or are driven
+in by the enemy, I don't know. We will see when we reach the ground."
+
+The young man followed his father down the stairs. In the lower entry
+they met the family; and the planter expressed regret that they were
+about to leave the vicinity of his house.
+
+"I have felt that I was protected from insult and depredation while your
+command was here, and I am sorry to have you go," said Mr. Barkland.
+
+"I am afraid we should do you more harm than good if we remained,"
+replied the major. "If we stayed here it might produce a fight, and that
+would imperil your family. I think the enemy will be too much in a hurry
+to stop to molest you if they march by this road, as they may or may
+not."
+
+"I had hoped to see more of your son who rendered such a great service
+last night," said Mrs. Barkland.
+
+"And I wanted to see him very much," said the daughter.
+
+"They have no time to meet you at present."
+
+"But what is the matter with your arm, Mr. Lyon?" asked Miss Barkland,
+when she discovered the extra bandage which the doctor had put on
+outside of his coat.
+
+"I got a scratch; but it wasn't the cat that did it," replied Deck,
+laughing.
+
+"Both of my boys have been slightly wounded to-day in the action down by
+the cross-roads; but they are still able to do their duty, and I thank
+God it was no worse," added Major Lyon, as he took the hand of the
+planter.
+
+They all took the hand of Deck, and repeated their thanks to him. He
+followed his father out of the house, in front of which they met Knox.
+
+"The enemy are moving down this road, Major Lyon," said the Kentuckian
+as he saluted.
+
+"All right; give the captain my order to march at a gallop," replied the
+commander, as he mounted his own horse.
+
+The column moved; and the major soon reached the head of it, where he
+took his place by the side of the captain.
+
+"The enemy have started upon this road," said he. "Whether or not they
+have sent another detachment around by that back road can hardly be
+known till we find them there."
+
+"The captain of the Texan Rangers does not seem to have any contempt for
+strategy, as was reported of him," replied Captain Gordon. "I have no
+doubt his scouts informed him that the Riverlawn Cavalry were in camp on
+the plantation."
+
+"And I have no doubt now, from the way things have worked, that the
+detachment were sent round to take us in the flank. They don't seem to
+have made any connection with Captain Titus's company, and did not
+expect to find one of our companies at the bridge."
+
+There was some confusion ahead, and the company were thrown back. The
+column had overtaken the prisoners and the baggage. The captain sent
+forward an order for both to take the side of the road. The major saw
+his brother drawn up with the others, and he shouted "Noah!" as he was
+passing; but the commander took no notice of him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A LONG WAIT FOR THE ENEMY
+
+
+The only feeling Major Lyon had in regard to his unfortunate brother was
+that of sorrow. If he had been disposed to do so, he could not leave his
+soldiers to converse with him, as Titus evidently desired; for he was
+hurrying the first company forward in order to unite his forces and
+secure a favorable position before the enemy in his rear could overtake
+him. Doubtless Titus desired to make a request of some kind; perhaps to
+be set at liberty, perhaps only to demand a ration of whiskey.
+
+The captain was so imprudent that he was as likely as otherwise to
+reproach him, call him a thief, or something of that kind, as he had
+done before, in the presence of his command. He had been captured in the
+act of committing a dastardly outrage, as well as being in the military
+service of the enemy. He was willing to extend to him every reasonable
+privilege; but he was a prisoner of war, to take the mildest view of his
+condition, and the major was not a man who could be conveniently blind
+to an obvious duty.
+
+The first company proceeded on its rapid march, and in a short time
+reached the cross-roads, where it was halted, with the head of the
+column near the camp at the railroad bridge. Captain Truman hastened to
+the major as soon as he halted, and the commander extended his hand to
+him.
+
+"I commend you, Captain Truman, for the good work you have accomplished;
+and I thank you for the skill, courage, and devotion with which you have
+done your duty. But the enemy are in motion in this direction on the
+south road, and we have no time for anything but preparation for the
+immediate future. It is possible that a detachment of the enemy may
+approach by the east road."
+
+"I have a picket stationed a mile up that road, and we shall have early
+notice of any force coming from that direction, Major Lyon," replied the
+captain of the second company, which had just been sent back by the
+order of which Artie had been the bearer.
+
+"Very well. You have fought a severe fight, Captain; in what condition
+are your men?" inquired the commander.
+
+"They are in excellent condition; for they have found that they are
+fully the equals of the Texans on fighting ground, and they are ready
+and anxious to meet the enemy again. We have buried our dead, and our
+wounded are doing well."
+
+Major Lyon had carefully studied the face of the country for several
+miles in the vicinity of the planter's mansion, from his elevated
+position on the building, and had observed it for the present situation
+as he rode down from the plantation. He had confidently expected an
+attack while he was near the house of Mr. Barkland. He had arranged his
+plan to receive the assault; and Lieutenant Belthorpe, with one-third of
+the company, had been sent around through the grove to a position behind
+a knoll, which would effectually conceal him from the enemy till the
+time came for him to assail the Texans in the flank and rear.
+
+Captain Gordon had heartily approved this plan, and they had force
+enough to carry it out successfully. Major Lyon regretted very much that
+the issue had not come in the manner he had anticipated. The plan
+of the captain of the Rangers had evidently failed because he had not
+heard from the detachment sent by the hill road, as the natives called
+it. He must have had some means of knowing where this flanking party
+were, or he would have moved sooner. Probably a swift rider was to have
+been sent back when the force reached the cross-roads; but they had not
+got so far as that. His first news must have been the defeat of this
+portion of his command.
+
+"Captain Truman, have you noticed a considerable knoll on the left of
+the south road, just above the cross-roads?" asked the major.
+
+"I have; and I thought of posting my reserve under Lieutenant Gadbury
+there; but I found it was too far off for the time at my command,"
+replied the captain.
+
+"Can it be reached without going by the south road?"
+
+"Very easily; by riding through this field, where we were posted this
+morning, crossing the east road, and then through a valley, which will
+conceal the force till they reach the shelter of the knoll."
+
+"How many men can you muster in your company?"
+
+"About eighty, if you are to remain in this vicinity; for ten or fifteen
+will be a sufficient guard for the prisoners."
+
+"Then you will march your available force to the point indicated. I see
+that you have hoisted the American flag on the railroad bridge," added
+the major.
+
+"It is the camp flag, and I wanted it in the most sightly place I could
+find," replied the captain.
+
+"It will answer a double purpose, then. Could you see it from behind the
+knoll?"
+
+"Perfectly; we did not get the flag-pole elevated till half an hour
+ago."
+
+"I shall send Deck to lower that flag, and remain by the staff till I
+give him the signal to hoist it again. Then you will march to the south
+road with all speed, and attack the enemy in the rear or on the flank."
+
+"I understand you perfectly, Major Lyon, and your order shall be carried
+out to the letter," replied Captain Truman, as he saluted, and hurried
+to his company, which had been formed in the field by the side of the
+road.
+
+"Dexter!" called the commander, when he had found his son in the ranks.
+
+
+Both of the boys had been used as messengers during the morning, and
+this service had led them into the most dangerous positions; and both of
+them had fought like heroes as volunteers while their company was at the
+plantation.
+
+Deck came out of his place in the ranks, saluted his father, and
+expected to be called upon for more messenger service, hoping it would
+lead him into the thickest of the action, as it had before.
+
+"Do you see that flag on the railroad bridge, Dexter?" asked his father,
+pointing at the ensign.
+
+"I do; and I take off my cap to it," replied Deck, suiting the action to
+the word.
+
+"You will go to it and haul it down, my son."
+
+"Haul down the American flag!" exclaimed Deck.
+
+"As long as it is not for a surrender or the abandonment of the camp,
+you need have no scruples about it," replied the major, with a smile at
+the boy's objection. "You will obey the order, and you will remain at
+the staff. When you see me wave my handkerchief three times in the air,
+you may set your conscience at ease by hoisting the flag again."
+
+The commander made the signal over his plumed hat, so that the
+messenger would be able to recognize it when it was given in the fight,
+if there should be one, of which he was not altogether sure after the
+disappointment of the morning.
+
+"I shall see that signal from the bridge if it is made three miles off."
+
+"Keep your eyes wide open after the engagement begins; for it is a
+signal, really an order from me, of the utmost importance, and the
+result of the action may depend upon it," added the major very
+impressively. "I have called upon you for this service because I know I
+can depend upon you, Dexter."
+
+"Of course I shall do my duty and obey my orders to the best of my
+ability," replied Deck; but judging from the expression on his face he
+was not pleased with the mission assigned to him.
+
+"You can go to the bridge at once; but you will not haul the flag down
+till I make the signal agreed upon to you," added Major Lyon.
+
+"But, father, do you expect to fight this battle without me?" asked
+Deck, with a very cheerful smile on his face; and he would not have said
+as much as that to any other person, even as a joke.
+
+"You have made yourself the hero of the day, and perhaps you ought to
+have a little rest," replied his father, quite as cheerfully as the son,
+for he took the question as it was intended.
+
+"I don't exactly like the idea of squatting on that bridge, and looking
+on while there is any fighting going on," continued the young soldier.
+
+"But the position to which I have assigned you is one of the most
+important on the field. I can trust you to be watchful, while another,
+interested in the action, might neglect his duty."
+
+"I have nothing more to say, father," replied Deck, as he rode off in
+the direction of the bridge.
+
+Major Lyon had made his dispositions and issued his orders before he
+spoke to his son. Captain Truman was galloping over the field towards
+the east road, with sixty men, which was the number finally designated
+for the service at the knoll. Captain Gordon had posted his men along
+the roads and the adjoining fields. The baggage-wagons and the prisoners
+had arrived from the plantations, and Captain Titus had an opportunity
+to rejoin his company; but the glory of his military life seemed to have
+passed away. He was treated the same as the rest of the prisoners, and
+no one took any notice of him. He was not in good odor even in his own
+company; for his men declared that he had deserted them the night
+before.
+
+The enemy had not yet appeared; and even the pickets that had been
+posted a mile down the south road had not been driven in, which would be
+the first indication that hostilities were at hand. Those from the
+second company who were scouting the east road had not been heard from;
+and they had been ordered to proceed as far as a certain hill, where
+Artie had first seen the detachment sent that way.
+
+Noon came, and the soldiers ate their dinner from their haversacks, and
+the horses took their oats from the grass. It was a very quiet time, and
+the Riverlawn battalion would have been glad to receive an order to
+march upon the enemy wherever they could be found. They were impatient
+for something to do, especially the first company, which had not yet
+seen any fighting.
+
+Major Lyon improved his time as he took his lunch with Captain Truman,
+in listening to a fuller report of the action on the east road. The
+commander asked particularly in regard to the lieutenant who had fallen
+under the onslaught of Deck Lyon. He had been wounded in the chest by a
+ball, and he had gone down from a cut of the young soldier's sabre. He
+had been stunned by the blow, and left on the field. But he had been
+conveyed to the camp in the wagon with other wounded men, and the
+surgeon had dressed his wounds. He believed he would recover.
+
+"I should like to see that man," said the major.
+
+"I saw him walking about the shanty hospital not long ago. I spoke with
+him, and he is a very gentlemanly fellow. You can send for him if you
+wish, Major. But it is time for me to join my company, as I sent the men
+in charge of Lieutenant Gadbury; for I had to give some orders in regard
+to the prisoners."
+
+"I will not send for him; but I will ride down to the hospital, which is
+only a few rods from the cross-roads. Captain Gordon, I wish to have
+some one near me to carry my orders, if need be," said the commander, as
+Captain Truman rode off.
+
+"Your orderly?" asked the captain.
+
+"I prefer Artie Lyon; I have already sent Dexter on duty upon the
+bridge. I am going down to the hospital; send me notice at once if any
+movement is apparent."
+
+Artie was sent to him at once; but Deck had told him where he was going,
+and he hoped he would not be sent to join him. He followed his father to
+the hospital, where Dr. Farnwright received him. He asked for the Texan
+lieutenant; and the surgeon pointed him out, seated on a log at the side
+of the road.
+
+"This is Major Lyon, commanding the squadron," said the doctor,
+introducing him.
+
+The officer rose from his seat, and saluted the major very politely.
+
+"This gentleman is Lieutenant Makepeace, of the Texan Rangers," added
+the surgeon.
+
+"That does not sound like a Southern name," replied Major Lyon, and he
+took the hand of the wounded officer.
+
+"I am a Northern man; but my home has been in Texas for seven years,
+though I came from a New England State."
+
+"I regret to see you on the wrong side in this war, though I am sorry
+that you have been wounded."
+
+"I don't know exactly how I came in this service; but I was very near
+being elected to the captaincy of this company, though I am not a
+Texan."
+
+"Who is the commander of the company?"
+
+"Captain Dingfield."
+
+"There comes the picket down the hill!" exclaimed Artie, who had
+discovered half-a-dozen men running their horses down the descent.
+
+"Then I must leave you; but I shall see you again," added the major, as
+he dashed up the road at full speed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE AMERICAN FLAG ON THE BRIDGE
+
+
+As Major Lyon rode out from the hospital he encountered Sergeant Sluder
+pressing his horse to the best of his speed; but it was hardly necessary
+for him to deliver the message of which he was the bearer, for there was
+movement enough among the men to assure him that the enemy were
+approaching, even if Artie had not seen the return of the pickets.
+
+The major waved his handkerchief three times above his plumed hat, and
+the American flag came down at once on the bridge. Deck had not fallen
+asleep at his post, though he found the situation very monotonous. The
+sergeant reached the commander, and delivered a message from Captain
+Gordon. The major had never been in a regular battle, only in the
+affairs with the ruffians at Riverlawn and Lyndhall.
+
+In fact, there had been nothing in the present campaign which could
+properly be called a battle. The second company had done all the
+fighting so far. At the bridge a few shots had demoralized the Home
+Guards; and though the action in the road had been severe, it was hardly
+more than a skirmish. But the commander had proved before that he had
+abundance of courage, though he had engaged in less actual fighting than
+his two sons.
+
+Major Lyon reached the position of Captain Gordon just as the pickets
+came in, headed by Life Knox. The men were all in position, and those of
+the first company were eager for the conflict; for they had done
+nothing, and rather envied their companions in the second company, who
+had fought and won a victory against a portion of the enemy. They were
+very much excited, and it would have suited them better if their captain
+had led them in a charge at once against the Texans; for the most trying
+position of the ordinary soldier is when he is in the presence of the
+enemy, and is permitted to do nothing but wait; and they had been doing
+that all day.
+
+"You have been driven in, Knox," said Captain Gordon, as the sergeant
+saluted him.
+
+"Not exactly driven in, Captain," replied the Kentuckian with a cheerful
+smile, as though events were not moving half fast enough for him. "The
+Texicans are marching as though they were going to a funeral, and they
+don't seem to be in no hurry to git here."
+
+"But you came down the slope as though you were not going to a funeral,"
+added the captain.
+
+"Where are the enemy now, Knox?" asked the major.
+
+"They are about half-way betwixt here and the mansion-house of the
+planter. I didn't hurry up to tell you they were coming, but to let you
+know that I had seen a force over on the road in the hills. I thought I
+saw something moving; and I climbed to the top of the tallest tree I
+could find, on the highest ground 'twixt here and the planter's house."
+
+"What did you see?" demanded the major.
+
+"I got a look through a small notch between two hills, and I saw some
+cavalry pass along; but I reckon I saw only the tail end on 'em, for
+they was out o' sight in two seconds, and I couldn't find nothin' more
+on 'em. I knew then why the company wasn't in no hurry."
+
+"Then, I suppose we are in no hurry," added the major. "I see that
+Captain Dingfield intends to carry out his plan as he laid it out for
+this forenoon."
+
+"Who?" asked the captain.
+
+"Captain Dingfield, who commands the Texans; I learned his name from the
+lieutenant who was wounded. I hardly supposed he would send another
+flanking party by that road," replied Major Lyon, "This news calls for
+some change in our plans."
+
+"I reckon that captain on the south road hain't got over fifty men with
+him, if he has that," continued the sergeant.
+
+"How could you estimate the number, Knox," asked the captain.
+
+"When I am sent out scouting, I generally find out all I can," replied
+the sergeant, who looked as though he felt that the correctness of his
+information had been questioned.
+
+"We know you do, Knox; and we only want to know your means of arriving
+at a conclusion, in order to judge of the accuracy of your report," the
+captain explained.
+
+"I looked them over when I climbed the tree," continued the scout with
+energy. "The force was just coming round a bend in the road down a hill,
+and I counted in fours up to forty. I don't know how many scouts they
+had out ahead, but I added ten to what I had counted."
+
+"I have no doubt you are quite correct, Sergeant," added the captain. "I
+did not doubt your statement in the first place, and I was only curious
+to know how you were able to make up your estimate."
+
+"I saw that six of you came down the hill together; have you left no
+pickets in front of the company?" inquired the major.
+
+"The captain gave me nine men to scout the region over there, and six of
+'em have come in, for I thought they might be wanted," answered Knox.
+
+"You knew that we had nearly two hundred men at this point," suggested
+the major, who realized that the sergeant had something in his mind to
+which he was slow to give utterance.
+
+"If this is a council of war, Major Lyon, I ain't in it, and I've told
+all I know," replied Knox. "I have reported that the Texicans is divided
+into two bodies, one on 'em comin' down the south road slower'n cold
+molasses runs, and the other's movin' over the hill road; and I reckon
+they ain't goin' to no funeral over yonder."
+
+"In other words, you think the two divisions of the enemy intend to
+attack at the same time," added the major.
+
+"What be they goin' over that way for if that ain't what they mean?"
+asked the Kentuckian in answer to the question. "But I don't feel sartin
+that they mean to come down here by the east road."
+
+"What else can they do?" inquired the major, much interested in drawing
+out the sergeant.
+
+"I don't reckon I'd better say anything more. I obey orders, but I don't
+give none," answered Knox, who was evidently afraid of thrusting himself
+into the counsels of his superiors. "Captain Dingbat"--
+
+"Dingfield," interposed the captain with a smile.
+
+"Captain Dingfield sent them men over here to knock down and burn that
+bridge; and I reckon he's go'n' to do it if he can."
+
+"And I am sent here to prevent him from doing it; and I shall do so if I
+can. You may speak out loud, Knox, just what you wish to say," said the
+major rather impatiently.
+
+"If you look at that map you had on the housetop, you will see that the
+hill road crosses the east road, just as this south one does here. Ain't
+that so, Artie? You have been over there, they say," said the sergeant,
+appealing to the major's aid.
+
+"It does; I was up there some time this morning; but I don't know where
+it leads to," replied Artie.
+
+"It stands to reason that it crosses this railroad somewhere within five
+miles of this cross-road. That's the way the Texicans are coming down
+here to destroy the bridge. I've said my say, and I hain't got nothin'
+more to say," added Knox, wheeling his horse out of the circle that
+surrounded the commander.
+
+"Artie, do you know where Captain Truman is posted with his command?"
+asked the major in rather hurried tones.
+
+"I do not," replied the aid, as he had now practically become, though
+the position was not regular for a private.
+
+The commander pointed out the knoll behind which the captain's force had
+been sent.
+
+"Follow the east road till you can see behind that hill. Captain Truman
+is there, and you can readily find him," continued Major Lyon. "Give
+him my order to move his command out to the east road, and there await
+further orders."
+
+Artie's steed was well rested after his several forenoon jaunts, and he
+went up the slope of the road like the wind. Sergeant Knox had retired
+from the immediate presence of the superior officers, afraid that he was
+getting to be too forward for his rank. He believed that the force
+moving by the hill road had been ordered to the railroad. While the
+major was not disposed to accept his view in full, he intended to be
+prepared for a movement of the kind suggested by the Kentuckian.
+
+"What do you think of the idea advanced by Knox, Captain Gordon?" asked
+the commander.
+
+"Of course it is possible that he has correctly divined the intention of
+the enemy," replied the captain. "But it would not be wise to ignore the
+enemy in front of us."
+
+"I have no intention of doing so; for I have ordered Truman to the east
+road, in readiness to act to the north of us, while we give our
+attention to the enemy in front of us. We have men enough to annihilate
+this force, if it is no larger than Knox states."
+
+"I believe he is entirely correct in his figures; and I am inclined to
+have considerable confidence in his theory of Captain Dingfield's plan."
+
+"Probably we have double the force of the enemy in this vicinity; and it
+would be a crying shame if the bridge were destroyed because we were
+outmanoeuvred," said the major, with more than usual vigor in his
+speech. "There is the structure within a quarter of a mile of us, and I
+wonder if they intend to destroy it under our very eyes. But where are
+the Texans in front of us? Even at a funeral march they ought to be near
+enough by this time to send in our pickets."
+
+"It begins to look as though they were amusing us while they were making
+arrangements to burn the bridge elsewhere," replied Captain Gordon,
+quite as anxious about the situation as his superior. "Artie has made
+quick work of his orders, for Captain Truman is half-way to the road,
+just coming out from behind the hill."
+
+Major Lyon thought of Deck on the bridge in this connection, and looked
+in that direction. The signal for Captain Truman's command to move into
+the rear of the force advancing by the south road would not be needed.
+If he deemed it advisable, he could send part of the first company to a
+point near the road he had already selected. He rode to a place where
+the ground was a little higher than where the conference had taken
+place, and there made the signal above his plume upon which he had
+agreed with Deck and the captain of the second company. He repeated it
+till he had made it three times; and he could not help thinking what a
+relief it would be to his son to be permitted to leave this solitary
+post.
+
+"A cheer for the American flag, which will be hoisted on the railroad
+again in a moment!" shouted Major Lyon to the soldiers near him; and the
+word was passed along through the column.
+
+The cavalrymen were always ready to cheer the flag; and in a few moments
+the eyes of the entire company were fixed upon the flagstaff on the
+bridge. The major watched it with as much interest as any one present;
+and he was ready to join in the cheer, and to lead it off. He waited
+patiently for a couple of minutes, and then he wondered if his son had
+gone to sleep at his solitary vigil; for the flag did not mount to the
+proud position it had held before it was lowered.
+
+Major Lyon waited full five minutes, but no flag appeared. He could not
+understand it after the careful charge he had given Deck in regard to
+the importance of the position to which he had been assigned. It was
+fortunate that the plan of receiving the assault had been changed; for
+Captain Truman's command would have remained behind the hill, and out of
+sight of the conflict, if there had been one, while his men were needed
+in the road.
+
+As the hoisting of the flag was no longer needed as a signal, the major
+was not inclined to say anything about his son's failure to do his duty;
+for all his men might be needed at any moment to repel an attack on the
+south road, and another on the east road. But he was very indignant, as
+well as very much grieved, at Deck's neglect of duty; for it did not
+occur to him that there could be any excuse for or justification of the
+boy's conduct.
+
+Major Lyon used his field-glass diligently for some time, while he was
+waiting for the appearance of the first company's pickets, as he had not
+thought to do at first. With this aid he examined the top of the bridge
+very closely; but he could see nothing of the absent soldier. It did not
+enter his mind that anything could have happened to the young man, for
+the bridge was a high one, and in sight of all in the ranks, and in the
+camp on the shore of the creek; though the stream was large enough to be
+called a river in any Northern State.
+
+Close by the flagstaff, over the abutment of the bridge, was a high
+fence extending a short distance. Some thought it had been built where
+the snow was troublesome in winter; others, that it was the side of a
+shanty which had stood there, and only the roof and ends had been
+removed. If Deck was not behind this fence, he was not on the bridge,
+was the conclusion of his father. But a movement on the east road called
+his attention away from the subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE EXPLOSION ON THE BRIDGE
+
+
+The movement on the east road, where the fight of the morning with the
+Texans had taken place, was occasioned by the simultaneous arrival of
+the second company from behind the knoll, and the hasty return of the
+pickets from the hill region. The former was there in accordance with
+the order of which Artie was the bearer to Captain Truman; but the
+latter event was the more important, inasmuch as it promised to reveal
+the operations of the enemy, which had hitherto been concealed.
+
+The sergeant in charge of the picket reported in hot haste to the
+captain of the second company, by whom he had been sent out; and a
+moment later Artie was flying down the hill to the major, with the
+substance, in a short sentence, of the intelligence brought in. The
+commander had noticed the rapid movement on the road, though Captain
+Truman had come out of the field half a mile from the cross-roads. The
+pickets came at a furious gallop; for the sergeant, though not admitted
+to the counsels of the officers, was intelligent enough to understand
+the importance of his report.
+
+Major Lyon, though he had begun to be alarmed at the non-appearance of
+Deck on the bridge, hastened back to the cross-roads, where Artie soon
+rode up to him. The delay of the enemy on the south road was generally
+understood to be caused by the non-arrival of an expected detachment
+from the hills. The major knew what the report of the pickets would be
+before it was brought to him; for his impression was that Life Knox was
+correct in his interpretation of the intention of the enemy. The
+disappearance of Deck confirmed his belief that operations had actually
+commenced on the bridge.
+
+"The pickets report that a detachment of about fifty has marched north
+by the hill road!" shouted Artie, as soon as he came within speaking
+distance of his father.
+
+"Ride back; give Captain Truman my order to march his command to the
+cross-roads!" added Major Lyon with more than usual energy, though he
+was still as cool and self-possessed as he had been all day.
+
+Artie wheeled his horse, and in a moment he was running Miss Dolly up
+the slope at a breakneck speed.
+
+"Captain Gordon!" called the major as he rode toward him.
+
+The captain dashed up to him on the instant.
+
+"Send Knox and his scouts to me!" added the commander.
+
+The Kentuckian and the men he had selected for the service in which he
+had been engaged were at hand; and Knox saluted the major, in readiness
+for any duty upon which he might be sent.
+
+"Ride to the bridge! Leave your horses below! Get up to the track with
+all the haste you can make! Deck was stationed there to hoist the flag
+at a signal from me, which I have made several times; but he does not
+obey the order, and I begin to fear that something has happened to him,"
+said the major in hurried tones.
+
+"I'll find him if he is there!" exclaimed Knox, with an expression of
+determination on his face.
+
+"I think you will find a small force of the enemy near the bridge, Knox.
+Don't fall into any trap; I will have at least half a company up there
+in a few minutes."
+
+"I will keep my eyes wide open, Major," replied the Kentuckian, as he
+rode off towards the bridge.
+
+"Captain Gordon, send Lieutenant Belthorpe with half your company to the
+bridge. Just beyond the camp he will find a practicable road up the
+embankment. He will be in abundant season to receive the force
+approaching by the hill road."
+
+The captain saluted his superior, and made no reply. It was evident
+enough to the commander that Captain Dingfield had been on the alert,
+and that he intended to destroy the bridge even in the face of, and
+under the very eyes of, the Riverlawn Cavalry, of double his own
+strength, though he might not be aware of its numbers. If Major Lyon did
+not manifest his chagrin and annoyance at the present situation, he felt
+it none the less.
+
+He realized that Captain Dingfield had been amusing him all day with the
+prospect of a fight, while he was carrying out his plan for destroying
+the bridge. It was all plain enough to him now, and he wondered that he
+had not placed a guard on the bridge early in the morning. It looked now
+like a serious omission; but he hoped it was not too late to remedy the
+defect in his plan. What had become of Deck was a mystery he could not
+fathom.
+
+After the hauling down of the flag, the major had been too fully
+occupied elsewhere to think of the bridge, and he had not even glanced
+at it till he made the signal. It had not occurred to him that the
+structure could be in any danger while his squadron was in sight of it.
+He watched the force of Lieutenant Belthorpe as they hurried by the road
+to the point where they could ascend to the track, and he believed he
+had done all that was necessary to save the bridge from destruction.
+
+Captain Truman was approaching the cross-roads with his company, and the
+attack of Captain Dingfield might be expected very soon. It was
+necessary to make a new arrangement of the troops. The major had already
+formed his plan, and he wheeled his horse to join Captain Gordon and
+give his orders. At this moment an explosion rent the air, which made a
+great deal of noise, though it had not the volume of an earthquake.
+
+Major Lyon turned his head, expecting to see the bridge a wreck, with
+the fragments of it flying in the air. He looked for Knox and his
+companions, who had been ordered to climb upon the bridge without
+waiting to ride around to the embankment. They had not yet mounted the
+abutment, and were then securing their horses near the bank of the
+creek. But the bridge was not a wreck, though some timbers and planks
+had been elevated in the air; but most of the matter that was thrown up
+appeared to be earth and stones.
+
+But where was Deck? Even with the pressure of duty upon him, he could be
+excused for thinking of his son, who had so strangely disappeared. He
+watched the movements of Knox and his men. If they had been a couple of
+minutes later they might have been hurled from the high structure by the
+force of the explosion. But he was greatly relieved when he saw that
+they were not harmed, or at least not disabled; for he saw the tall
+Kentuckian running with all his might to the abutment, followed by
+his five men. They were all there, and they began to climb up the wall.
+
+[Illustration: "Sling carbines! Charge them!"]
+
+Something like a shout from the direction of the cross-roads attracted
+the major's attention at this moment. Wheeling his horse again, he saw
+the pickets rushing down the hill beyond which they had been observing
+the enemy on their "funeral march." Their return could mean but one
+thing, which was that Captain Dingfield's command were advancing.
+
+Lieutenant Belthorpe was hurrying his force to the embankment; and if
+there were any Rangers there, he would soon confront them. Knox and his
+companions had reached the top of the bridge, and all of them were
+busily engaged about something; but the observer could not tell what it
+was, though the appearance of several small volumes of smoke indicated
+that the Texans had started several fires on the wooden structure.
+
+The head of the enemy's column had not yet appeared on the hill which
+shut off the view of the planter's mansion, and there was time enough
+for the major to make the dispositions of his force. Half of the first
+company were left, and the whole of the second, except the twenty men
+doing guard duty at the camp. The commander had in the neighborhood of
+a hundred and twenty-five men on the spot; and with this force he could
+soon annihilate the fifty troopers, more or less, who were marching to
+the attack, or were supposed to be doing so.
+
+"Captain Gordon, take what is left of the first company, and make a
+detour to that hill on the right of the road. It is nothing more than a
+knoll; and you will attack them on the flank as soon as Truman engages
+them in the road," said the major.
+
+"I was thinking of suggesting that as soon as you sent for Captain
+Truman at the knoll on the other side of the road," replied the captain,
+when he had ordered Gilder, his second lieutenant, to march the platoon
+to the place indicated.
+
+"I have no doubt that explosion was the signal for the advance of
+Captain Dingfield," added the major, as he looked back at the bridge,
+where the sergeant and his men were still at work.
+
+"It looks so; and the Rangers must have had some men over near the
+bridge who got up that attempt to blow it up. But it looks as though it
+was a failure," replied Captain Gordon, as he rode off to join his
+command.
+
+Captain Truman, with about seventy-five troopers, was at the
+cross-roads, waiting for orders. The major directed the head of the
+company to place the troopers in the road and at the side of it, with
+their carbines unslung. The commander had sent Artie for a sabre; and he
+had taken possession of it, indicating that he did not intend to be an
+idle spectator to the conflict if his personal service was needed.
+
+"Can I take my place in the ranks where I belong, father?" asked Artie.
+
+"No, my son; I may want you at any moment to carry an order," replied
+Major Lyon; and possibly he thought this might be the only son left to
+him since the disappearance of Deck.
+
+"There comes the head of the column!" exclaimed Captain Truman.
+
+"Have your men all ready to fire, Captain," added the major. "But don't
+be in a hurry to do so. I will give you the order."
+
+It was no longer a funeral march on the part of the enemy, for they were
+forcing their steeds to the utmost. The captain was in front of his
+platoon, and that was all the men he had. He had lost one lieutenant at
+the first action, and probably he had been compelled to send the second
+with the detachment by the hill road.
+
+"It looks as though they intended to begin with a charge," said Captain
+Truman.
+
+"Perhaps the captain will change his mind before he has gone much
+farther," replied the major very quietly.
+
+The soldiers acted as though they were very impatient. The major thought
+the Texan captain was reckless, and was making use of fire-eating
+tactics instead of cool military judgment. Possibly he expected to be
+able to cut his way through the force in front of him, and join the one
+he had sent to the bridge by the hills.
+
+Probably Captain Dingfield had not a little of the contempt for Northern
+soldiers which pervaded the ranks of the Confederate army at the
+beginning of the war. He was a brave and impulsive man, and doubtless
+believed that a vigorous charge would drive the Riverlawn Cavalry out of
+his way, as he would brush away the flies that annoyed him when he read
+his newspaper. The fact that one portion of his company had been soundly
+whipped and driven from the field appeared to have no influence over
+him.
+
+"Now is your time, Captain Truman," said the major, who had waited till
+the enemy were more than half-way down the hill. "Have your men take
+good aim, and fire."
+
+The captain gave his orders with a vim which indicated his impatience to
+begin his work. The carbines were all discharged almost as one, and the
+road was filled with the smoke of the volley; but the breeze was fresh
+enough to drive it away in a moment. At least seventy-five balls had
+been sent into the midst of the fifty men, and the troopers had been
+trained to do good work with their carbines.
+
+As the smoke cleared away, it was seen that a number of the Texans had
+fallen from their horses, while others were reeling in their saddles. A
+couple of minutes later another volley was heard at the right of the
+road, and more of the cavalrymen went down. The major could not see the
+command of Captain Gordon, but he had been prompt in the discharge of
+the duty assigned to him.
+
+"Sling carbines! charge them!" said the major.
+
+The order was promptly obeyed, and the commander rode forward with the
+captain of the second company. But in a minute more there was nothing
+there to charge. What was left of the enemy suddenly wheeled their
+horses and began a retreat in hot haste. If they had not done so not one
+of them would have been left to contest the field in five minutes more.
+
+The first company were just breaking out of the field when the second
+came up, and Major Lyon ordered the captain of the second to halt.
+Riding forward, he directed Captain Gordon to pursue the discomfited
+troopers, and capture them if he could. The fight was ended practically;
+and it had been little better than a slaughter, all owing to the
+reckless course of Captain Dingfield.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE CONFUSION OF THE DAY EXPLAINED
+
+
+A single volley from each company of the Riverlawn Cavalry proved to be
+enough to settle the affairs of the enemy in front. Major Lyon looked
+about him in the road, and he was surprised to find but eight forms
+lying on the ground. How so many bullets could have been fired into
+fifty men with no greater loss of life seemed strange to him; but he was
+just beginning to obtain his experience. The result did not prove that
+only that number had been hit; for the number lying in the road did not
+fully indicate the enemy's loss.
+
+Captain Gordon began a vigorous pursuit of the retreating enemy; but
+they had the start of him by at least a mile, for he had met with some
+obstructions in reaching the road after his men had delivered their
+fire. Both the pursuers and the pursued disappeared behind the hill, and
+there was nothing more that the second company could do. The major had
+looked over those left upon the field, to ascertain if the captain was
+among them; but he was not.
+
+"Captain Dingfield was a bold and reckless officer; and, as he rode at
+the head of his troop, I wonder that he is not lying here with the
+others who dropped from their horses," said Major Lyon, as he surveyed
+what had not yet ceased to be a sad sight.
+
+"He was exceedingly fortunate to escape, though he may have carried off
+with him half-a-dozen bullets in his body," replied Captain Truman.
+
+"Either he had no idea of how many men we have, or he intended to make
+only a demonstration against us, to enable the force he had sent to the
+bridge to finish their work," added the major. "The explosion seems to
+have been the signal for him to advance; and I am inclined to believe he
+intended only to prevent me from using my force to interfere with the
+work of those he had sent for the destruction of the bridge. Fortunately
+that matter had been attended to, and Belthorpe has men enough to
+overcome that sent by the hill road."
+
+"I should say that Dingfield had been thoroughly and completely routed,"
+replied Captain Truman with more enthusiasm than the major could feel;
+for the latter realized that the bridge had narrowly escaped destruction
+in the very face of his squadron, and under their very eyes.
+
+"I don't know yet," he returned. "We can tell better about that when we
+have ascertained the condition of the bridge."
+
+"We can still see it, and it does not appear to have suffered any very
+serious injury."
+
+"March your company back to the cross-roads, Captain Truman. We shall
+soon learn what more we have to do. The bridge does not appear to have
+suffered much, as you suggest," added the commander as he rode down the
+hill, with Artie at his side.
+
+"What do you suppose has become of Deck, father?" asked the young man;
+and there was a look of great anxiety on his face.
+
+"I don't know, and I cannot conjecture," replied the father with a blank
+look at the inquirer. "I saw him lower the flag as I had ordered him to
+do. It did not occur to me that there could be any movement in progress
+there then. For the next hour or more I had enough to think of near the
+cross-roads, and I don't know that I looked at the bridge once in that
+time; certainly not with the expectation of seeing anything there."
+
+"I can't understand it at all, father," added Artie; and he looked as
+though the tears might easily come into his eyes, for they had been
+together from their childhood, and had always been greatly devoted to
+each other.
+
+They had never been known to quarrel with each other, though each was
+rather tenacious of his own opinion. Deck was not his own brother, only
+his cousin, though the fraternal feeling had always been as warm and
+earnest as though they had been born of the same father and mother.
+Since the troubles in the vicinity of Riverlawn had begun, and they had
+served side by side in the fights with the ruffians, as well as in
+drilling together for three months, the tie that united them had become
+even more intimate. Artie was fearfully anxious in regard to the fate of
+his brother; and his father was not less so, though he was more
+successful in concealing his feeling.
+
+"I cannot understand it any better than you can," replied the major. "If
+I had thought of his safety at all, I should have considered him as
+more secure on the bridge than at the cross-roads, where we were liable
+to confront the enemy at any moment. Dexter had been so forward in the
+action on the east road, that I felt rather relieved to think that he
+was in a safe place. I wished him to do his duty faithfully; but he rode
+into the front rank of the company, being a volunteer, and threw
+himself, horse and all, upon the lieutenant in command of the enemy."
+
+"I saw him do that myself, though Deck says Ceph tried to leap over the
+officer's horse of his own accord," added Artie. "There must have been
+some of the enemy's men on the bridge when we supposed there was no one
+there."
+
+"For my part, I did not suppose anything at all about it, as I have said
+before; but I am confident now there must have been some of the Texans
+there, or men in their employ," continued the major. "It appears that
+the farther abutment of the bridge had been mined, though the work must
+have been done at the top. It seems to have been badly done, as though
+the workmen were laboring under great disadvantages."
+
+The father and son could explain nothing; for they had nothing to base
+their opinions on, the explosion and the smoke of the fires being all
+the facts in their possession. Life Knox and his scouts had doubtless
+obtained some information by this time which would enable them to
+conjecture the fate of poor Deck. They continued on their way, with the
+second company just behind them. There was nothing to be done, unless it
+was to send a re-enforcement to Lieutenant Belthorpe, though it was
+doubtful if he had encountered the enemy.
+
+As soon as Major Lyon and Artie reached the hospital they heard a
+vigorous yell, which seemed to come from the guards in charge of the
+camp. It was immediately followed by a hearty cheer from the second
+company. Both father and son looked about them without being able to see
+anything to call forth these cheers.
+
+"Up goes the flag, father!" shouted Artie, who had directed his gaze
+where others were looking, and saw that the American flag had just been
+hoisted on the pole upon the bridge.
+
+"Always a welcome sight, but more so now than usual," added the major,
+as he raised his field-glass and directed it to the flagstaff. "I see
+the tall form of Sergeant Knox at the halyards, and he has done this
+thing. I pray that it may be the herald of good news in regard to
+Dexter."
+
+"Do you suppose the flag means that he has found Deck, father?" asked
+Artie, as a flood of hope flashed through his mind.
+
+"It is impossible to tell what it means; but the sergeant seems to be
+climbing down the wall, and he will soon be here," replied the major.
+
+Artie started his horse, with the evident intention of going to the
+bridge; but the major called him back, and directed him to wait where he
+was till Knox joined them.
+
+"I may want you at any moment," said the father. "I have been using you
+and Dexter as my orderlies, and I appoint you to that position now."
+
+"Is there any news from up above, Major Lyon?" asked the wounded
+lieutenant, who had walked to the spot where the commander stopped his
+horse. "I heard a volley a little while ago; has there been another
+engagement?"
+
+"A very brief one," replied the major. "It was very soon decided, for
+Captain Dingfield retreated as soon as he had received our fire."
+
+"Captain Dingfield!" exclaimed the wounded lieutenant; "that is not at
+all like him."
+
+"It was the only thing he could do. He left eight of his men in the
+road, where they dropped from their horses; and of course he led away
+many others with bullets in their bodies. I should say that Captain
+Dingfield had been a very reckless commander, and I was almost sure I
+should find his body among the killed; but it was not there, and I
+suppose he is still carrying it with him."
+
+"We did not expect much of any difficulty in this expedition, and we
+were satisfied that we could ride over the Home Guards we heard had been
+sent here to protect the bridges," replied Lieutenant Makepeace rather
+languidly, for he had been severely wounded.
+
+"I have a squadron of United States cavalry under my command," said the
+major proudly.
+
+"So I discovered this forenoon; not that you had a squadron here, but
+that the troopers were regular cavalrymen; and I must say that no men
+ever fought better, for my command were beaten and driven off in less
+time than it takes to tell of it," added the prisoner with an attempt to
+smile. "But two full companies were sent over here, though I have not
+yet been able to find the other."
+
+"But the other company is here," said Major Lyon.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There they are," answered the commander, pointing to the camp. "They
+are prisoners of war now."
+
+"That accounts for it."
+
+"That company were Home Guards in the first of it, but now they have
+become regular Confederate soldiers."
+
+"They have made a mess of this expedition."
+
+"I suppose you have a force over at the north end of the railroad
+bridge, lieutenant," said the major very quietly, and not expecting the
+prisoner would answer the question.
+
+"If there is, it has been sent there since I was wounded. Everything has
+worked very differently from what we expected; for Captain Dingfield
+talked the whole thing over with me. We have fought the battle, and lost
+it. I suppose there is no harm in comparing notes after the affair is
+finished."
+
+"I should think not; for I don't believe you can give me any
+information that will be useful to me now," replied the major.
+
+"We ascertained that your company was camped near that plantation; and
+we had no idea that you had more than one. We believed the company sent
+from Bowling Green, which we have not seen yet, for we have not been
+there, was posted somewhere on what is called the east road. Dingfield's
+plan was to march down by the south road, use up your company near the
+plantation, and then effect a junction with the infantry company for the
+destruction of the bridge, which is said to be a matter of great
+importance to the South."
+
+"I should say that it was; and my orders came from the general in
+command to prevent it," interposed the major.
+
+"I was sent by Captain Dingfield round by the hill road, to attack you
+in the rear while he took you in front. As I said, we had no suspicion
+that you had another company of cavalry here. One of my scouts was shot,
+and is in this hospital with me. The other came back to me. But he had
+seen only two troopers; and I decided to push on, especially as I had
+four bridge-builders with me."
+
+"Four bridge-builders!" exclaimed the major, "And what became of them?"
+
+"I was ordered to send them by the nearest road to the bridge; and I was
+told, when I inquired on the way, that the hill road was the shortest
+cut to it. They had a six-mule wagon with them, containing their tools,
+tents, blasting-powder, and provisions. I came down the east road with
+my force, while they continued on their way by the hill road. My force
+was defeated as we approached the cross-roads, where I was to turn up."
+
+"I waited all the forenoon and some of the afternoon for Captain
+Dingfield to attack me," said the major.
+
+"The bridgemen made us late in starting, and the mules delayed us for
+hours on the road. Our surprise was in finding a whole company waiting
+for us at the cross-roads, where we had anticipated no obstacle."
+
+The arrival of Knox prevented the major from obtaining any further
+information from the obliging lieutenant; but later in the day he
+explained his own operations to him. The capture of Captain Titus's
+company early in the morning, and the superior force of the loyal
+troops, had saved the bridge, though there was still an enemy to fight
+by the force of Lieutenant Belthorpe.
+
+The account of the bridge-builders threw some light on the disappearance
+of Deck Lyon. It was evident that they had attempted to destroy the
+bridge; but when Knox reported to the major, he was compelled to
+acknowledge that he had been unable to find him, or to obtain any
+intelligence of him. But Deck had had a lively experience, and it
+becomes necessary to return to him while engaged in his solitary vigil
+at the foot of the flagstaff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+INTRODUCING MR. BROWN KIPPS
+
+
+Deck Lyon did not like the service to which he had been assigned on the
+bridge. The importance of the duty, as laid down to him by his father,
+did not make the situation any pleasanter.
+
+Though his conscience approved his conduct in taking the place without
+attempting to avoid the service, it would have suited him better to
+remain in the ranks, and have a part in the action which was soon to
+take place, as officers and privates all believed.
+
+He had nothing to do after he had hauled down the flag,--at least,
+nothing but watch his father, whose plumed hat was the only one of the
+kind on the field; and he had no difficulty in keeping it in sight all
+the time. He was not obliged to keep his eyes fixed on him every moment,
+for he knew when to expect the signal to hoist the flag; and it would
+not be given till the first company had engaged the enemy somewhere on
+the south road, between the top of the hill and the cross-roads.
+
+He was all alone, and he could speak to no one. He had rolled up the
+flag with the halyards still attached to it, and placed it at the foot
+of the pole. He had been sitting on his horse all day, and for a time he
+amused himself in walking up and down the bridge. It did not occur to
+him that there was a human being anywhere near him except those who were
+in the camp below, and they were some distance from him. He looked at
+the prisoners, and the cavalrymen who were keeping guard over them. They
+were not an interesting sight to him, for the former consisted mostly of
+the ruffians whom he had fought in the field and in the schoolhouse.
+
+"Nothing to do, and nobody to help me," said Deck to himself, as he
+seated himself at the foot of the flagstaff, with his legs dangling over
+the bank of the creek below. The pole had been set up where it was most
+convenient to fasten it, and the place was about ten feet from the
+abutment. The bridge spanned not only the stream of water, but the
+valley through which it flowed.
+
+This valley was crossed by the embankment to within forty feet of the
+creek; and the south road passed under the bridge, close to the
+abutment. The high fence, or side of the shanty that had stood there,
+was on the solid ground, which had been filled in, and Deck was hardly
+more than a rod from it. He had walked about here, and he concluded that
+some kind of a building had stood there; for he found a temporary
+workbench, which had doubtless been used by the bridge-builders.
+
+The signalman at the flagstaff was fully armed, as when he dismounted;
+and when he seated himself on the plank of the bridge, his sabre had
+nearly tripped him over the side of it to the ground below; but he was
+very active, and he saved himself. In this position he observed the
+occupation of the prisoners, who appeared to have no interest whatever
+in the impending fight at the cross-roads. Some of them were playing
+cards, to which they were more accustomed than to the routine of the
+soldier; some were asleep; and a few were mending their ragged garments.
+
+They were not an interesting sight to the watcher on the bridge. Among
+them was his Uncle Titus, who sat on a log in front of his tent. He
+wore a disgusted look, perhaps because he was deprived of his usual
+whiskey rations; for Major Lyon refused to allow liquor to be served to
+any prisoner. He had chosen for himself, and had joined the Confederate
+army. He considered himself a sort of family martyr, because his brother
+had chosen to give his plantation to Noah instead of to him; and this
+feeling largely influenced him in his political choice.
+
+Deck had only one wish, as he sat with his legs over the side of the
+bridge, and that was that the enemy would speedily appear on the south
+road; for then his father would give him the signal to hoist the flag.
+When he had done that his mission would be ended, and he could hasten
+back to his place in the ranks, in season, he hoped, to take part in the
+action. The more impatient he became, the more vigilant was his scrutiny
+of the plumed head of his father.
+
+Several times he thought, when any movement was made by the soldiers,
+that the time had come. The minutes seemed to be longer to him than any
+he had ever known before. He looked at his watch, after he had refrained
+from doing so several times by the thought of his own impatience, and
+he found he had been on the bridge only half an hour; though it seemed
+to him that he had been there four times as long as that. But just at
+that moment, and before he had restored the watch to his pocket, he
+heard sounds which turned his attention in another direction.
+
+He heard footsteps near him. No one but himself had been sent to the
+bridge, and the sound gave him a decided sensation. They came from the
+north end of the bridge; and the high fence prevented him from seeing
+the person whose tramp he heard. He was not alarmed; and he listened to
+the footsteps, waiting for the individual to come out from behind the
+obstruction. Then the steps were accompanied by the whistling of a tune,
+as though the person was an idler, who had no other means of employing
+his time.
+
+Deck Lyon was not a musician, though he had done some singing before his
+voice changed. The whistling began to have an interest to him, and he
+listened with all his might. The person was either a Union man or a
+Secessionist; and the young cavalryman thought the air he selected must
+give him some information on this delicate point. If he whistled
+"Dixie," either from choice or from the force of habit, it would not be
+difficult to determine on which side he had cast his political lot.
+
+On the other hand, if he piped "The Star Spangled Banner," "Hail,
+Columbia!" or "John Brown's Body," Deck thought he should be more
+rejoiced to meet him at this particular moment. Possibly the whistler
+had not kept up with the times in his musical education, for he piped
+none of the airs named; but presently the signalman recognized the notes
+of "Yankee Doodle," which answered his purpose even better than any of
+the melodies named. Secessionists had no taste for this ancient air at
+just this time.
+
+The man appeared to have stopped behind the high fence, and did not
+immediately reward the expectant waiter with a sight of his person. He
+heard some blows with an axe or heavy hammer upon the planks underfoot;
+then he resumed his whistling, which became more vigorous than artistic.
+It was evident even to Deck that the performer had not been trained in
+the art he was practising, but he seemed to be plentifully supplied
+with wind, and he had just doubled the quantity of sound he produced;
+and the melody intended was unmistakably "Yankee Doodle," and this was
+the important point to the listener.
+
+Still, the whistler did not show himself; though he was hardly more than
+forty feet distant from his audience, and seemed to be unconscious that
+he had a listener. Deck wanted to see that man, but he persistently kept
+his body corporate behind the obstruction to his view. Arranging his
+sabre, so that it should not trip him up and tumble him off the bridge,
+he sprang lightly to his feet. He stepped back a couple of paces, and
+then obtained a full view of the piper, who certainly was not skilful
+enough to have "played before Moses."
+
+He did not wear a uniform, and therefore he did not belong to the Texan
+Rangers; for Deck had fought them, and knew how they were clothed. This
+struck him as an important point; for he had made sure before he rose
+from his seat that his carbine, slung at his back, was in condition for
+instant service. His regulation pistols were in the holsters on his
+horse; but he had supplied himself with a small revolver at Fort
+Bedford, for there was a tendency with fresh recruits to overload
+themselves with weapons on entering active service, and thousands of
+dollars worth of such were thrown away when they became a burden.
+
+The stranger was dressed like a mechanic; and he seemed to be examining
+the planking of the bridge, which is not usually a matter of vital
+importance in such a structure for railroad purposes. The man stopped
+whistling, and began to use a middling-sized sledge-hammer, directing
+his blows at the heads of the spikes under his feet. Then he dropped the
+hammer, and picked up an adze, with which he trimmed off the projecting
+edge of a plank. Deck thought this was very strange work for a man to be
+doing at such a time, and in such a place.
+
+But the mechanic was whistling a Union air; and this fact seemed to make
+it all right, and prevented him from having a suspicion that all was not
+right in the presence of the man on the bridge. The railroad in Kentucky
+was a loyal institution, as it was a disloyal one farther South. Deck
+therefore came to the conclusion that he was an employee of the company.
+He decided to interview the stranger, and ascertain more precisely who
+and what he was.
+
+In matters of military duty Deck was a close constructionist; and the
+first question he asked himself was whether or not he ought to leave his
+post, even to go a distance of forty feet. His sole occupation till he
+received the signal to hoist the flag, was to watch for it; and he kept
+his father's plumed hat in sight all the time. But he could see the
+handkerchief when it was waved as well from behind the fence as at the
+flagstaff; or, at most, he had only to step back a few paces to enable
+him to command a full view of the expected battle-ground, and of the
+hill behind which Captain Truman was posted with his command.
+
+He did not for an instant lose sight of his sole duty; but he walked a
+few paces at a time towards the fence, and then looked back, to make
+sure that he could see the plume of the major. As it was in sight all
+the time, he continued to advance very slowly. When he reached the end
+of the fence the centre of his watch was still to be seen, and nothing
+seemed to be in progress in any of the roads visible from his position.
+
+Just at the moment when he was almost within speaking distance of the
+mechanic, who had ceased to whistle, the latter picked up his tools and
+moved to the other end of the fence, where he began to hammer the spikes
+again. The man appeared to take no notice of him, or even to be aware of
+his presence. Assured that he could see the skirmishers who had been
+sent beyond the hill if they were driven in, he continued to advance
+still farther, though he went to the middle of the bridge, where the
+fence did not obstruct his view.
+
+Deck wanted to know more about the man with the sledge and the adze. The
+flag was to be hoisted as a signal for the second company to attack the
+enemy in the flank or rear, while the first engaged them in front. The
+fight must begin before the signal could be required, and the signalman
+would have abundant notice when the firing began that his services would
+soon be required. The fence was less than a hundred feet in length, and
+he had not far to go to confront the mechanic.
+
+Keeping the cross-roads in view till the fence shut it out, he made a
+quick movement to the immediate vicinity of the workman, who was
+hammering away with the sledge with all his might. He made so much noise
+that he could not hear the steps of the soldier.
+
+"What are you doing here?" shouted Deck.
+
+The mechanic took no notice of him, and did not seem to have heard him.
+He repeated his inquiry, this time a great deal louder than before. The
+man stopped in his work, and looked at him with apparent astonishment,
+as though he had discovered his presence for the first time.
+
+"I am fixing the bridge, don't you see?" replied the workman, as though
+he deemed it a foolish question. "What are you doing here?"
+
+"I am on duty on the bridge," replied Deck.
+
+But he could not see the soldiers near the cross-roads, where his father
+had been most of the time, and his conscience smote him as though he had
+stolen the brood in a chicken-coop. He did not wait to say any more, but
+he ran with all his speed till he reached a point where he could see the
+plume of the commander of the squadron.
+
+"What's the matter? What you runnin' off fur?" shouted the mechanic.
+"You needn't run; I won't hurt you."
+
+Deck thought this was rather cool from a man apparently unarmed, to one
+with a carbine slung on his back, and a sabre at his side; but he judged
+that the fellow aspired to be a humorist, for he looked as good-natured
+as though he had just perpetrated a first-class witticism. But the
+cavalryman did not halt till he reached the end of the fence, where he
+made a careful survey on the field of the expected combat. He was too
+busy just then to notice the man.
+
+"What is the matter, Mr.----? I reckon I don't know your name," said
+the man; and the sound indicated that he had followed the other nearly
+to the end of the fence.
+
+"They call me Deck, those who know me best," replied the trooper,
+willing to humor the mechanic. "Now, who are you?"
+
+"My name is Brown Kipps; but most folks don't take the trouble to call
+me anything but Kipps, Mr. Deck."
+
+"My front name is Dexter; Deck for short," added the soldier.
+
+"What is your back name?"
+
+"Lyon."
+
+"You look like a lion," added Kipps. "Won't you take a seat on this old
+bench, and let us talk it over?"
+
+Deck declined the invitation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE CONSPIRACY ON THE BRIDGE
+
+
+Kipps appeared to be a good-natured man, and Deck declined to take a
+seat on the bench with him simply because it would place him where he
+could not see the signal when his father made it. The man did not seem
+to be so intent upon driving in the heads of the spikes in the planks as
+he had been, and perhaps he thought he had worked hard enough to entitle
+him to a rest.
+
+"Jest come and take a seat here, Deck Lyons; you look all worn out, and
+you need a little rest," said Kipps, as Deck placed himself at the end
+of the fence.
+
+"I'm not all worn out, and I think I can stand it to keep on my feet a
+while longer," replied the signalman.
+
+"Well, you must git tired luggin' them things round all day," persisted
+the mechanic.
+
+"What things?"
+
+"Why, that shooter on your back, and that broadsword a-danglin' agin
+your shins."
+
+"They are not very heavy, and not so much of a load as your
+sledge-hammer and adze."
+
+"I'm used to kerryin' them; but I'll bet a day's pay that gun on your
+back is heavier'n my hammer."
+
+"I don't bet, but my carbine is lighter than your sledge," replied Deck;
+and it seemed to him as though the workman was trying to accomplish some
+object, though he could not make out what it was. "Besides, I don't have
+to lug my arms without any help, for I am generally on horse-back."
+
+"Have you seen Tom Lobkill about here in your travels on this bridge?"
+asked Kipps, suddenly changing the subject of the conversation.
+
+"I don't happen to know Tom Lobkill, and I don't know whether I have
+seen him or not."
+
+"Don't you know Tom Lobkill? I thought every man in Tennessee knew Tom."
+
+"That may be; but as I never put foot in Tennessee yet, I never happened
+to meet him," replied Deck.
+
+"I reckon this is Kentucky," added Kipps, with a mild horse-laugh. "You
+see, we fellers that work on the railroad don't allers mind jest what
+State we're in, for we keep shiftin' from one to another all the time."
+
+"But I think you don't have to do much shifting between Kentucky and
+Tennessee at the present time," suggested Deck.
+
+"Not as much as we did a while ago. If you hain't seen Tom Lobkill, did
+you come across Lank Rablan in your travels on the road?" asked Kipps,
+as he rose from his seat, and walked to the end of the fence, though he
+still remained behind it.
+
+"I don't know him any better than I do the other fellow, and I haven't
+seen him. You seem to have a good many friends about here, Brown Kipps."
+
+"Not a great crowd; there ain't but four on us, and t'other is Sykes
+Wimble. I s'pose you hain't seen nothin' o' him, nuther?"
+
+"I don't know him," replied Deck, more curious yet to know what the man
+was driving at. "What are you four doing about here?"
+
+"We are on the railroad."
+
+"So I supposed; and I suppose one of you is the president of the
+company, and perhaps the other three are the vice-presidents," said the
+cavalryman, quite as good-natured as his companion.
+
+"Well, no, not exactly; I ought to be the president of the company, but
+I ain't," answered Mr. Kipps. "If I was, some of us bridgemen would get
+better pay, and a chance to sleep nights some o' the time."
+
+"Then you are bridgemen; and I saw you knocking in the heads of the
+spikes over there. I suppose you were sent down here to rebuild this
+bridge if the enemy destroyed it."
+
+"That's jest what we are here for; but I don't reckon the enemy'll
+destroy it this time."
+
+"I should say not."
+
+"But I was lookin' for my gang-mates, and I don't see what's become on
+'em;" and Kipps looked about him as though he really wished to find
+them. "I had to go down below to git a hunk o' t'backer out'n the wagon,
+and the t'other three went down this way;" and the bridgeman produced a
+great twist of the native weed, and bit off enough to load two pipes. "I
+reckon you hain't seen nothin' on 'em, hev yon, Deck Lyons? I reckoned
+they went over the creek."
+
+"I have not seen any of them, and no one has crossed the bridge since I
+came upon it," replied Deck.
+
+"I rather think I can fetch 'em if they are anywhere round here," added
+Kipps, as he took a whistle from his pocket and applied it to his lips,
+producing three short blasts. "All on us carries one o' these, because
+we sometimes get scattered on the work."
+
+The whistle seemed to be as potent as that of the boatswain on board of
+a man-of-war, for one after another three men mounted to the bridge just
+beyond the abutment on the farther side. Each of them had a pipe in his
+mouth, and they came upon the track as though they were in no hurry.
+They were dressed like Kipps, in workingmen's clothes, and one of them
+was about six feet and a half high. All of them had axes in their hands,
+but none of them seemed to be provided with firearms.
+
+"They weren't fur off, and they kept awful still, or I should have hearn
+them," said Kipps, as they crossed the track and placed themselves
+behind the fence.
+
+Deck wondered how they had secured a place down the embankment without
+being seen by him; but his attention had been directed the other way to
+the position of the squadron. But he realized that they could have
+crossed the track some distance farther up the road, and walked down
+from there under the shadow of the road-bed.
+
+"Well, boys, I reckoned you'd got lost, for I couldn't find nothin' on
+you," said Kipps, as the men approached the end of the fence at which
+Deck stood. "What you been doin', Lank Rablan?"
+
+"When you went down to the wagon, we uns dropped down the bank to have a
+smoke, and we got to talkin' about this business round here," replied
+the tallest of the three, who was about as lofty in his upper works as
+Life Knox, and about as spare in his filling up. "We consayted that this
+bridge was go'n' to get burnt up last night; but it's all here yet, and
+I reckon them so'diers down thar's done a big thing."
+
+"We hain't got no job on our hands for to-day," said another of them.
+
+"What was it that the nigger told you, Sykes Wimple?" asked Lank Rablan,
+who was the tall fellow.
+
+"He told me the troopers had captured the whole company sent here to
+destroy the bridge; and there they be down there, guarded by the horse
+soldiers," replied Sykes, pointing in the direction of the camp. "I
+suppose this fellow is one of them," he added, pointing to Deck.
+
+"I am one of them," replied the signalman.
+
+"What company do you belong to?" asked Lank.
+
+"To the Riverlawn Cavalry."
+
+"You hain't had no fightin', I reckon."
+
+"Yes, we have; the second company defeated the force that came here at
+daylight this morning, and captured the whole of them. The same company
+had a brush with the Texan Rangers, and they all took to the woods,
+except those that were killed or badly wounded. The hospital over there
+is full of them. If you stay on this bridge long enough, you will see
+more fighting over on the south road."
+
+The bridgemen looked at each other, and said nothing for a few moments.
+Deck began to feel as though he was neglecting his duty; for he had been
+giving his whole attention to the talk of the men, with only an
+occasional glance at the troopers below. He looked again, and for the
+moment he did not see the plume of his father. He had changed his
+position, though it was not likely that he had gone far, and he began a
+search for him with his eyes. He did not discover the major at once; for
+he had moved a short distance up the south road, to give his orders to
+Captain Gordon.
+
+While he was continuing his search, he was suddenly and violently drawn
+backwards behind the fence. If the bridgemen did not talk together in
+words they did by their looks. If any one had been regarding the scene
+described, it would have been sufficiently evident to him by this time
+that the bridgemen were engaged in a conspiracy, the first act of which
+was to secure the person of the Union soldier who had been posted at the
+flagstaff. But there was no one to observe what transpired on the
+bridge.
+
+At a nod from Brown Kipps, Lank Rablan sprang lightly forward; and,
+seizing hold of the carbine which was slung on his back, he dragged him
+into the shadow of the fence in the twinkling of an eye. As soon as Lank
+had drawn him within reach of the others, they all laid hold of him.
+Deck struggled with all his might, and struck out right and left with
+his fists till his hands were secured, each by a man, while the other
+two held his body. The tussle was quickly finished, for the young
+soldier could do nothing against four full-grown mechanics.
+
+Of course Deck realized that he was the victim of a plot prepared while
+none of the operators were in sight. His first feeling was one of
+humiliation that he had allowed himself to be captured at his post, or
+so near it. He blamed himself for leaving the flagstaff; but probably
+the result would have been the same if he had not left it, for a
+distance of fifty feet would not have prevented the conspirators from
+securing him where he was.
+
+The four ruffians who had carried out their plan appeared to be what
+they claimed; bridgemen, for they were all provided with the tools that
+are used in such work. But it was evident to him when the question came
+to his mind, that they were not Union men, and could not be in the
+employ of the railroad company, which was now a loyal institution, after
+a violent discussion with its Tennessee stockholders.
+
+"Don't kick, my little man," said Kipps, who appeared to be the foreman
+of the gang, whatever they were. "It won't do no good."
+
+Deck was painfully conscious of what the leader said; for the others had
+taken his carbine and sabre away from him, and laid them on the bench.
+With the slings of his firearm they were securing his arms behind him,
+while Lank Rablan held him by the collar of his jacket. It occurred to
+him then that the ruffians had not taken his small revolver from him,
+and had not even discovered that he had one; but it might as well have
+been at the bottom of the creek so far as being of any service to him in
+that important moment, for his hands were both in possession of the
+enemy.
+
+He had kicked with his long boots, and endeavored to bring his spurs to
+bear upon the shins of his antagonists; but Kipps had strapped his sabre
+belt around his ankles, thus depriving him of his only remaining natural
+means of defence. While they were securing his arms behind him, which
+their evidently intended to do with the greatest care, he was faced to
+the position of his company. Then it occurred to him that he had one
+resource left. His voice could not be tied up like his legs and arms,
+and he could use that if nothing else.
+
+"Help! Help! Help!" he shouted at the top of his lungs three times.
+"Below, there! Sentinels! I am"--
+
+This was as far as he was permitted to proceed; for Kipps caught his
+handkerchief from the opening of his jacket, and stuffed it into his
+mouth. If any of the sentinels around the prisoners' camp heard him,
+they could make nothing of the cries. If they looked about them, they
+could see nothing on the surface of the bridge, even if the shouts had
+not come from behind the fence.
+
+"No use, my little beauty!" exclaimed Kipps, as the two men completed
+the operation of strapping his arms behind him. "They can't hear you
+down below, and you only worry yourself, without doin' a bit of good.
+Now be a Christian, and keep quiet like a little lamb, as you are. We
+are going to be busy now for a little spell, and we shall have to fasten
+you to the bench. Be easy, and amuse yourself the best way you can. You
+can whistle 'Yankee Doodle' if you like, and I reckon you can do it
+better than I did."
+
+It was no use to say anything, or to attempt to do anything. He was
+tied to the bench, facing the track; and Kipps was considerate enough to
+take the handkerchief from his mouth, and return it to the inside of his
+jacket. The other three men had already hastened over to the place where
+they had come upon the bridge, and disappeared. The foreman took his
+carbine from the bench, and started to follow the others.
+
+"It would break my heart, my pretty dove, to have to shoot you with your
+own piece; but if you make a row, I shall have to do it. If you keep
+quiet we won't hurt you."
+
+Saying this, Kipps left him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE OPERATIONS OF THE BRIDGE-BURNERS
+
+
+Deck was alone, a prisoner, his ankles bound together, his wrists
+strapped behind him, and his body made fast to the old bench against the
+fence. He was not absolutely uncomfortable physically; for Brown Kipps
+had extended some consideration to him, so that he suffered no pain from
+the bonds which secured him. The fastenings were straps, taken from his
+accoutrements; and they did not cut into his flesh, as cords might have
+done if they had been tied too tight.
+
+All his pain was in the soul, which manacles are dramatically and
+metaphorically said to pierce when the victim is a high-spirited person.
+Deck had been captured at his post; and this fact humiliated him, though
+a court-martial would have acquitted him of all blame. No one below
+could possibly know that anything had happened to him, or a file of
+troopers would have been sent to release him before this time. He was
+almost in sight of his father and Artie; but they were busy watching and
+waiting for the fight which all believed would certainly take place.
+
+But the prisoner was not left entirely without occupation other than his
+needless and undeserved self-reproaches; for if any one was to blame it
+was his father, who had placed him alone at such a distance from the
+rest of the force, though no one suspected the presence of an enemy in
+that direction. He had enough to do to observe the operations of the
+bridgemen. The moment they had secured the prisoner to the satisfaction
+of the foreman, the other three hastened to disappear over the
+embankment. They were out of sight but a few minutes, and then one of
+them returned, while the other two passed up to him several gallon cans.
+By this time Kipps joined them; and a lot of small bundles of light
+wood, such as is much used in the South in kindling fires, were tossed
+up, and caught by the foreman.
+
+Deck understood that all these articles were combustibles, though he
+could not make out the nature of some of them. All of them were left
+where they had been received, on the platform of the bridge. It was
+evident enough to the manacled observer that the structure was doomed,
+and was to be burned in the very presence of the cavalry sent to protect
+it. Deck twisted, squirmed, and struggled when he realized the
+intentions of the bridgemen.
+
+It galled him to the inmost depths of the soul to think that the bridge
+was to be destroyed before his eyes, and he had not the power to do
+anything to save it. He did not believe he would be left to perish in
+the flames, if they reached the place where he was secured, and he had
+not a selfish fear. He was tempted to repeat the cries he had made
+before; but the threat of Kipps to shoot him if he "made a row"
+restrained him. It was folly to throw away his life; for he was vain
+enough to believe it might be of some service to his country in its hour
+of peril.
+
+When the men had finished passing up the material, which had plainly
+been collected in this place for the destruction of the bridge, each of
+them took a tin case under his arm, and they moved over to the shelter
+of the fence where they had left their tools. They stopped there long
+enough to obtain a couple of shovels and as many pickaxes, and then
+went to the end of the fence next to the bridge.
+
+If the occasion had been less serious, Deck would have been amused at
+the bridgemen's attempts to conceal themselves from the force below.
+They worked like miners following a vein of ore deep down in the bowels
+of the earth, as the witness had seen them in pictures, lying on their
+backs, or curled up in a heap, using the pickaxe as they could. Between
+the wall and the embankment the earth had settled so that there was a
+considerable cavity. Two of the men worked in this hole for a while, the
+others lying prone upon the ground and watching them.
+
+Then the four cans they had brought were deposited in the aperture,
+Kipps adjusting and preparing them with his own hands. Deck did not
+understand what they intended to accomplish by this operation, though he
+concluded that they meant to blow up the abutment, and that the cans
+contained powder or dynamite. Whatever the work was, it was soon
+completed; and then the movements of the men became more amusing than
+ever. They crawled about on their hands and knees, carrying the cans and
+bundles of light wood.
+
+They unbound the packages of wood, arranged the little sticks in heaps,
+and poured what Deck supposed was spirits of turpentine or kerosene over
+them and on the planks of the structure. The work of preparation was
+soon completed; for the men seemed to be skilled in the operation, as
+though they had had experience in these details. They all crawled back
+to the shelter of the fence, and straightened their backs again.
+
+"Now, my little lily of the valley, I shall have to put you under
+marching orders," Kipps said, as he stopped before the prisoner.
+
+"What are you going to do with me?" asked Deck, though he hardly
+expected a definite answer to the question.
+
+"I don't know, my butterfly; but I reckon you uns over there," he
+replied, pointing to the soldiers below, "would make mischief for we uns
+if we stay here a great while longer;" and he proceeded to release the
+victim from the bench.
+
+"I judge that you intend to blow up and burn this bridge," added Deck.
+
+"The whole Yankee army couldn't save it now!" exclaimed the chief
+bridgeman. "We uns, about two hundred so'diers along with us, was sent
+over here to make an opening between these two hills; and if you think
+we ain't go'n' to do it, why, you don't know Brown Kipps, that's all!"
+
+"I think I have been pretty well introduced to him," replied Deck, who
+had become somewhat accustomed to the situation; and he thought he
+should fare better with such a person as the foreman by being
+good-natured than by growling and annoying him. "When you whistled
+'Yankee Doodle,' I made up my mind that you were a true Union man, and
+my heart went out to you."
+
+"I ain't much on 'Yankee Doodle,' and I could done better with 'Dixie;'
+and I ain't none o' them carrion as whistles 'Yankee Doodle' for the fun
+on't. It did well enough to still your nerves," said Kipps, as he
+finished releasing the legs of his prisoner. "Now I want you to march up
+to that place where you see the wagon standin' down by the side of the
+railroad. You needn't keep step, nor nothin' o' that sort. I reckon the
+cheese-knife and the shooter are too heavy for a young feller like you
+to kerry, and I'll tote 'em for you," continued the bridge foreman, as
+he began to examine the lock of the carbine.
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Kipps," replied Deck.
+
+"That's me all over when you use me well; but, my little lion, if you
+should take into that small coon's head o' yourn to be ongrateful for my
+kindness to you, and make a row, or try to run away, I should have to
+shoot you jest the same as I should a 'possum if I wanted a Christmas
+dinner in the woods. Is this thing loaded with ball?"
+
+"Of course it is; it wouldn't be any better than a broomstick if it were
+not," replied Deck.
+
+"I don't know as I see through this thing edzactly," said Kipps, as he
+continued to study the mechanism of the lock. "I've got the cartridges,
+but I don't see any ramrod. Won't you just show me how to work it?"
+
+"Teach you how to use a carbine to shoot me with!" exclaimed Deck,
+trying to laugh. "You must excuse me, for that would be giving
+information to the enemy in time of war, and I should be court-martialed
+for it."
+
+"Jest as you like, Yank; but if there is one load in the pipestem, that
+will be enough to put you out of the way of any court-martial. I reckon
+I see into it now; you put the pill in here."
+
+"I haven't anything to say on that subject, Mr. Kipps; but if you
+should happen to shoot yourself with it, that would save some Union
+soldier the trouble of doing the job," added Deck.
+
+"But we uns hain't got no time to fool," said the foreman briskly.
+"You'll let the cat out jest as soon as you see us by the wagon. You can
+start things now, and open up the cat-bag as soon as you git 'em
+started."
+
+"What's all that gwine on down below?" asked Lank Rablan, as he looked
+cautiously by the end of the fence.
+
+"Well, what is it?" demanded Kipps impatiently.
+
+"They are all lookin' up hyer; and that feller with a squawrel's tail in
+his hat is shaking a white rag over his head as though he'd lost his
+senses, if he ever had any," Lank explained.
+
+"No matter what it is! Go to work, and hurry up, Sykes!" said Kipps in
+vigorous tones. "Now, my little Yankee angel, jest move over to the
+other side of the track, and march lively!"
+
+Sykes was already crawling along the bridge, lighting the fires he had
+prepared. There were not more than half a dozen of them, and they were
+soon blazing up, though in the bright sunshine they did not make much
+show. Deck followed Lobkill and Rablan, as he was directed, while Kipps,
+with the carbine in his hand, brought up the rear. The foreman changed
+his plan when he found that the attention of the soldiers below was
+directed to the bridge; and, still sheltered by the fence, the two in
+advance left the level of the track, and made their way along the slope
+of the embankment.
+
+Deck was ordered to follow them; but as his arms were still bound behind
+him, he found it was a rather difficult matter to preserve his balance.
+Kipps spoke to him quite savagely, perhaps believing he was making a
+movement to slide down the slope to the field below.
+
+"If you think it is an easy matter to walk along this steep bank with
+your hands tied behind you, just let Mr. Lobkill put you in the same
+condition that I am, and see how you will get along," replied Deck, as
+good-naturedly as before.
+
+"There may be sunthin' in that. Jest hold still a moment," said Kipps.
+
+Deck was glad enough to stop; for he was hardly able to keep on his
+feet, as the earth slipped away under him. The foreman unstrapped the
+fastening, and put the sling in his pocket, perhaps for the same use in
+the future.
+
+"Now, little lovely, trot again; but don't you forget that I have got
+the hang of this shooting-iron, and the ball can trot faster'n you can."
+
+The prisoner obeyed the order, and he was beginning to think that the
+foreman was a tolerably good sort of a fellow, aside from his politics.
+He followed his leaders; and he had now no difficulty in keeping up with
+them, for he could retain his balance as well as any of them. In a short
+time they reached the vicinity of the wagon, which stood in the field,
+with the six mules that drew it there fastened to the pole. The
+mule-driver was a negro, who was asleep on the grass by the side of the
+vehicle.
+
+"Now, my little Yankee saint, we are all right, and in about three
+minutes and three-quarters that bridge will go up the air; or some on't
+will, and the rest on't will go the same way in smoke," said Kipps, as
+he seated himself on a disused sleeper, and took a black pipe from his
+pocket. "Don't you think we uns are right smart down this way?"
+
+"I suppose you are;
+
+ 'For Satan finds some mischief still
+ For idle hands to do.'"
+
+"But Satan didn't find any for you uns in the ranks over yonder, fur
+they've been idle all day," retorted Kipps with an explosive
+horse-laugh.
+
+"But we whipped out a force of Texan Rangers over yonder, and I don't
+believe they have done running yet," answered Deck.
+
+"Them Texicans is gwine to wipe you uns out 'fore they git done with
+you," added Lank Rablan. "I consayt they see'd sunthin' on the bridge,
+fur they was all lookin' that way when we left."
+
+"There comes Sykes, and I reckon he can tell us sunthin' about it," said
+Kipps. "If anything's the matter down below there, I reckon we four had
+better go down and lick the Yankees out of their boots."
+
+"Don't you do it, Mr. Kipps," interposed Deck. "They might hang you for
+burning the bridge."
+
+"Wait till we hear what Sykes has got to say, and then"--
+
+But the remark, brilliant as it might have proved to be, was interrupted
+by the explosion which was heard on the south road, and which had been
+the signal for Captain Dingfield to make the attack.
+
+"There goes your bridge!" exclaimed Kipps, looking at his prisoner with
+a glow of exultation on his brown face. "Now I reckon you can see that
+your Yankee cavalry couldn't save it."
+
+"I cannot see the bridge from here, and I don't know whether or not they
+have been able to save it. Wait till we get further news, Mr. Kipps."
+
+"I reckon we don't stop here no longer, for we've done our work, and
+that bridge is burning lively before this time," added the foreman, as
+he shouted to the negro driver to hitch on his mules.
+
+In ten minutes more the bridgemen had loaded themselves in the covered
+wagon, with all their tools and material. Deck was given a place under
+the canvas, while the four men were seated at the forward end. The negro
+started his team, and the prisoner had no idea where he was going.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A NEW DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES
+
+
+Major Lyon listened with the most intense interest to Lieutenant
+Makepeace's statement in regard to the bridge-builders, as he called
+them, though bridge-burners proved to be a more appropriate designation.
+It was clear enough to him that his son had encountered these men; and
+the disappearance of Deck appeared to be explained, though what had
+become of him was still the vital question.
+
+Life Knox had returned alone, leaving his men to guard the bridge; and
+if it had been in order for the sergeant to express an opinion on the
+subject, he would have said that sentinels should have been placed on it
+as soon as the company of Captain Titus had been captured. The major had
+tardily arrived at this conclusion. As soon as he came to the vicinity
+of the hospital, Knox discovered the plumed hat of the commander, which
+Deck had watched all the time he was on the bridge.
+
+"I'm right sorry I don't bring you any good news of your son," said
+Life, riding up to the commander, and saluting him as soon as he turned
+away from the wounded prisoner. "The first thing we had to do was to put
+out the fires, and then I went about a mile up the track to look for
+Deck; but I could not find him."
+
+"Did you see anybody over there?" asked the major.
+
+"Not a solitary soul, Major Lyon."
+
+"The prisoner in the hospital, with whom I have been talking, said that
+four bridge-builders, with a wagon and six mules, went over that way,"
+suggested the major.
+
+"I reckon they've been to the bridge, and set it afire; but none of them
+was there when I come to it. If they had a wagon and six mules, they
+left as soon as they'd done the job they come to do."
+
+"What was the condition of the bridge when you reached it, Knox?" asked
+the major.
+
+"It was all afire, but it hadn't burnt much. If we'd got there ten
+minutes later, nothin' could saved it; and we had to work lively as it
+was."
+
+"But there was an explosion there."
+
+"That didn't amount to shucks. I reckon they stuck the cans of powder in
+between the 'butment and the bankin', and it only blowed out a lot of
+dirt, and knocked off a couple of stones from the top of the wall. They
+brought half-a-dozen bundles of light wood with them, pulled them to
+pieces, and then poured sperits turpentine over and all around 'em; for
+we found the cans on the platform. The fires were blazin' lively when we
+got there; but we poked the wood all off the bridge. We found some
+barrels o' water they kept on the platform to put out fires, and it
+didn't take long to make an end on't. That's all I know about it,
+major."
+
+"But what do you suppose has become of Dexter, Knox?" asked the father,
+concealing his feelings as much as he could.
+
+"The bridge-burners had gone when we got there, and I reckon they took
+Deck with 'em," replied the sergeant.
+
+"I suppose there is no other way to account for his absence. Lieutenant
+Belthorpe has been sent with half the first company to look out for the
+enemy in that direction," added the major. "Return to the bridge, Knox,
+and make sure that no further attempt is made to destroy it. The flag is
+still there, and I see that you have hoisted it again. If you need any
+assistance, haul down the flag as a signal to that effect."
+
+The sergeant hastened back to his post; and the major rode up to the
+cross-roads, just in time to meet the scouts who had been sent up the
+east road, coming down the hill at full speed. There were only two of
+them; but they had left two others at the hill road.
+
+The pair of riders who came in as the major reached the cross-roads were
+scouts; for they had been sent out with orders to go where they pleased
+in the hills to obtain all the information they could, especially in
+regard to the approach of any body of the enemy. They were not pickets
+nor skirmishers, who are sent out to act on fixed lines.
+
+"We have just come from the hill road," said one of the scouts, as he
+saluted the major. "A detachment of the Texans has just come down from
+the hills, and all four of us retreated behind a knoll to see where they
+were going."
+
+"And where were they going?" demanded the commander impatiently.
+
+"They kept on the hill road, going north."
+
+"How many of them were there?"
+
+"Forty-two, besides the officer in command, who had one arm in a sling,
+and his head bound up so that he could not wear his cap."
+
+"That must have been the troop that we engaged on the south road," said
+the major. "But how could they have got around to the point where you
+saw them?"
+
+The scouts could not answer this question, and the commander sent them
+back to the point from which they had come. The last he had seen of
+Captain Dingfield's command was on the south road, retreating at the
+best speed of their small horses. He had sent Captain Gordon in pursuit
+as soon as his men were available. So far as he knew, there was no
+highway by which the hill road could be reached short of six miles south
+of the cross-roads, near the place where the Texans had camped the night
+before.
+
+In order to have reached the position where they were reported to be by
+the scouts, they must have found a way across the country. He opened his
+map, and began to study it very diligently, to ascertain if there was a
+road which he had failed to notice before.
+
+"More scouts coming in, father!" exclaimed Artie, who retained his
+position near the field-officer, the only one present with the squadron,
+for the regiment had not been fully organized.
+
+Major Lyon turned his attention in the direction of the east road. He
+saw two riders galloping down the hill with all speed; and he folded up
+his map, restoring it to his pocket. The coming of these men meant
+something. The whole of the Texan company were accounted for, as half of
+them had been sent to the north by Captain Dingfield, and now the other
+half had been reported as having gone in hot haste in the same
+direction. Had any re-enforcement been sent to the Texan cavalry?
+
+The major had no doubt the officer at the head of the troop reported was
+Captain Dingfield. He had expected to find his body in the road after
+the action, for he had been the most prominent person for the aim of the
+men. The same bullet could hardly have hit him in the head and in the
+arm, and it was plain that he had been wounded at least in two places.
+
+"Where is Major Lyon?" shouted the foremost of the two scouts.
+
+"Here!" shouted Artie, though it was a needless question, for the plume
+of the commander distinguished him from all others.
+
+"Messenger from Captain Gordon," said the foremost scout, as he reined
+in his foaming steed, and saluted the major.
+
+"Where did you see him?" demanded the commander.
+
+"On the hill road, where I rode half a mile at his side; for he was
+chasing the enemy that went along just before, and Styles and Brehan
+came down here to report them to you."
+
+"What is your message from Captain Gordon?" asked the major sharply.
+
+"He told me to tell you he had pursued the enemy without getting near
+enough to fire at them."
+
+"But how came he on the hill road?" demanded the commander impatiently.
+
+"He told me to say to you that they had taken to the fields near the
+planter's house, and, after a good deal of winding about, had come to
+the hill road. When I told him we had seen the enemy, he wanted to know
+how far they were ahead of him; and I told him as near as I could guess
+they were about half a mile from him. That is all I know about it, Major
+Lyon."
+
+"Where are Styles and Brehan now?"
+
+"We passed them on our way down, and I suppose they will stay at the
+crossing till they get further orders."
+
+"Very well; return to your places in the company," added the commander,
+as he proceeded to consider the information he had just received.
+
+The situation was clearly defined in his mind. One-half of the first
+company, under Lieutenant Belthorpe, had been sent up the railroad; and
+the other half, under Captain Gordon, was pursuing the enemy. Captain
+Dingfield had sent half his force by the hill road to the north, and now
+he was retreating in the same direction with the other half. But the
+whole of the first company would come together somewhere in the vicinity
+of the railroad, and then there would be another fight.
+
+The commander had with him at the cross-roads and at the camp the whole
+of the second company, where they were not likely to be needed; for it
+was evident that Captain Dingfield had left none of his force behind
+him, as by this time he had realized the pressing need of all his men
+farther north. It was plain enough to the commander that another action
+was to be fought very soon, if it was not already in progress, though no
+firing could be heard.
+
+"Artie, tell Captain Truman I wish to speak with him," said he, as he
+took his map from his pocket again. It seemed to him that the seat of
+the fighting had been transferred to the north a few miles. But the
+bridge was still safe, and so far he had accomplished his mission.
+Captain Truman had proved to be an excellent officer, though all in the
+two companies had had no previous service in actual warfare; but they
+had shown that the only thing they lacked was military experience, and
+in that respect they were like a very large proportion of all the
+officers in the field.
+
+"I was just coming to you, Major Lyon, when you sent for me," said the
+captain, as he reined up his horse in front of the commander. "One of
+my men has just informed me that there is a train coming down the
+railroad from the north."
+
+"Artie," called the major, "hurry over to the bridge, and give Knox my
+order to detain the train that is approaching till he receives further
+orders from me."
+
+Artie did not wait an instant, but ran his horse down the road, calling
+to the idlers and prisoners to get out of the way. He was fortunate
+enough to find the sergeant where he could hail him from his horse, and
+delivered the order.
+
+By this time the train was moving very slowly towards the bridge, and
+Knox stopped it behind the fence which had done so much ill service in
+concealing the bridgemen. In front of the engine was a platform car, on
+which was a field-piece and half-a-dozen soldiers; but the messenger
+could not stay to examine the provisions for the protection of the
+train, which was doubtless a pioneer of another of more importance. He
+reported to his father what he had seen.
+
+"The wounded and the prisoners have now become an incumbrance to me, and
+I have decided to send them all back to our camp at Riverlawn," the
+major began, as soon as Artie left him. "So far the enemy have failed
+to destroy this bridge; but I have no doubt they will continue to
+operate as they have begun, until they have disabled the railroad."
+
+"The one over the Green River in Hart County is likely to be the next
+one threatened," added the captain.
+
+"That or some other. I have stopped this train because it affords me the
+means of transportation for the wounded and prisoners. I shall place the
+removal of them in your charge. You will have the train stopped where it
+crosses the swamp road beyond Dripping Spring, and march those who are
+able to walk to Riverlawn. Take the wagons of Captain Titus's company
+with you, mules and all, and convey the wounded in them. How many men do
+you require for this service?"
+
+"Twenty will be enough," replied Captain Truman, who appeared not to be
+pleased with the service upon which he was ordered.
+
+The commander directed him to proceed with his arrangements at once,
+communicating first with the officer of the troops on the train. In a
+few minutes Lieutenant Blenks, in charge of the camp, who was to go with
+the captain, had mustered the prisoners, while his superior was engaged
+with the officer on the train. This gentleman was a quartermaster, with
+the rank of lieutenant, who had been sent on a duty he did not explain;
+but he put a veto on the plan of the major at once. He had to make some
+observations near Bowling Green, and the train would return before
+night. He suggested that Riverlawn was not a proper place to send the
+prisoners or the wounded, and he proposed to convey them to Louisville.
+
+Captain Truman reported the result of his interview; and the major
+accepted the compromise, and was better pleased with it than with his
+own plan. The prisoners were marched to the railroad in charge of the
+guard selected, and at dark the train took them on board. It was not
+necessary for the captain to go with them, but the lieutenant was to
+return as soon as possible with the soldiers.
+
+Not long after the train started, Major Lyon marched with all his
+remaining force to the hill road, to form a junction, if possible, with
+the two divisions of his first company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A DESPERATE DEED CONTEMPLATED
+
+
+Deck Lyon was not at all satisfied with his situation in the wagon in
+which he had been loaded with the tools and materials of the
+bridge-burners; and from the bundles of light wood, cans of powder,
+turpentine, and kerosene in the vehicle, this appeared to be the proper
+name for the four men. With the men smoking their pipes on the front
+seat, it did not appear to him to be a very safe position.
+
+The wagon would have been called a "prairie schooner" farther west; and
+was of the kind used in Tennessee and North Carolina, and perhaps
+elsewhere in the South. It had a high front and rear, with a sheer
+between them like an ancient galley. It was provided with a canvas
+cover; and the bows at either end carried it out about three feet beyond
+the body, like an awning in front of a window. The driver rode on the
+nigh wheel mule, with a long whip in his hand. He was a skilled
+teamster, and did not soar to the refinement of reins, but did his
+driving by word of mouth, and the application of the whip.
+
+Deck had no idea where he was, or where he was going, for he had not
+studied the map of the present locality. He did not know where these men
+had come from. Captain Truman was evidently unaware of their existence
+in this section, or he would have set a guard over the bridge, after he
+had captured it in the early morning. If the son had listened to his
+father's conversation with the wounded prisoner, he would have learned
+that the bridge-burners had been sent over with the flanking detachment
+that had been defeated and driven off by the second company. They had
+made their way to the vicinity of the bridge with their wagon, and had
+watched for an opportunity to do their work.
+
+They had found the signalman in their way; and, doubtless, it had
+required some time to arrange their plan for getting him out of the way.
+Deck was alone, and was not a very dangerous opponent in himself; but he
+could give an alarm by firing his carbine or otherwise, which would
+bring an armed force to his assistance. It was necessary to resort to
+strategy; and the proceedings of Brown Kipps to get the troublesome
+signalman out of the way have already been detailed. If the young man
+had had more experience of the ways of the world in general, and of the
+methods of bridge-burners in particular, they would not have succeeded
+so well.
+
+The combustible goods and other articles in the wagon seemed to have
+been pitched into the vehicle at random; for they were not arranged in
+anything like order, and everything was in confusion. It seemed to the
+prisoner a piece of remarkably good fortune that he had not had his legs
+and arms bound, as when he was first taken. He was only a boy, though a
+stout one, and they did not seem to set a high estimate on his prowess
+as a fighting character; for they had not seen him in the skirmish on
+the east road, when he had given Lieutenant Makepeace the wounds which
+had disabled him.
+
+The sabre and carbine which had been taken from him had been carelessly
+thrown into the wagon, though they were within reach of the men. Deck
+was a young man of too much enterprise to be mentally inactive in the
+midst of his present misfortune, and the wagon had hardly started before
+he began to consider his chances of escaping from the custody of the
+four men. At the first glance he could see that the chances were all
+against him. If it came to a fight, there was no chance at all for him;
+and his inborn prudence did not permit him to think of such a thing as a
+physical contest with a threefold odds against him.
+
+But he was not discouraged at the mountain of difficulty in front of
+him, but proceeded to study the situation very carefully. It will be
+remembered that his captors had neglected to take from him the revolver
+he carried in one of his pockets; for, doubtless, it did not occur to
+Kipps that he was supplied with such a weapon. Deck set a very high
+value on the pistol in his present emergency. The trousers with which he
+had been supplied by the government were not made with hip pockets, a
+very serviceable improvement to the garment, not unknown even at the
+beginning of the war.
+
+This kind of pocket was very useful to those who were in the habit of
+carrying revolvers; but Deck's ingenuity had enabled him to provide for
+the deficiency. He had arranged a sort of hook under one of the back
+suspender buttons, about where the pocket would have been if the garment
+had been supplied with one, so that he could readily produce the weapon
+on occasion. He had a box of cartridges in his pocket, and the revolver
+was fully loaded for instant service.
+
+His carbine and sabre lay on the merchandise behind the men, all of whom
+were seated on a front seat under the projecting cover, and the wagon
+was wide enough to provide close quarters for all of them. The canvas
+could be drawn down so as to protect the contents of the body from the
+weather; but now it was fastened up, so that the vehicle was open in
+front.
+
+Deck thought he might work his way forward far enough to enable him to
+reach his regular weapons; and at first he thought he would take this
+step. If he succeeded in obtaining them, all the advantage he expected
+to gain was in preventing his custodians from using them on an
+emergency; for the revolver in his pocket was a more effective weapon in
+the wagon. He looked over the miscellaneous loading of the vehicle, and
+tried to find a place for each of his feet in his advance to the forward
+part of the wagon.
+
+His survey of the ground was not at all satisfactory; for there was no
+firm foundation for his feet. He must move noiselessly, or the attention
+of his captors would be called to him. He could not expect to go three
+feet without disturbing some of the articles; and his caution compelled
+him to abandon the attempt to recover his arms. They were not essential
+to his success in any plan he might adopt; and if Kipps discovered that
+he was trying to escape, he would certainly have his arms tied behind
+him again; and that might cut off all his chances. He was satisfied that
+it was not prudent for him to attempt to reach and obtain his carbine
+and sabre.
+
+Then a more desperate scheme occurred to him, and it seemed to be more
+feasible than the other. He had his revolver; and, after a great deal of
+practice with it, he had become quite skilful in its use. He had seated
+himself on a box close to the rear curtains of the wagon when Kipps
+committed him to his canvas prison. Though it seemed to him like
+"fastening a door with a boiled carrot," he had seen the foreman adjust
+and fasten a padlock on the curtains after he had drawn one over the
+other.
+
+Doubtless this was done to prevent thieves from stealing any of the
+stores in the vehicle in the night; but any enterprising robber, with a
+sharp knife in his hand, could speedily make an opening in the canvas.
+These men were not soldiers, so far as the prisoner knew; though perhaps
+they were more effectively opposing the plans of the government than if
+they had been, by destroying its facilities for the transportation of
+troops and supplies for the suppression of the rebellion. They were
+enemies as much as though they had worn the gray uniform.
+
+Deck sat on the box with his hand on his revolver. He could sit there,
+and with the six bullets in his pistol he could shoot every one of his
+captors, unless some of them fled before his fire. One of them might
+seize and use his carbine; but he would have a barrel in his weapon
+ready for him. This seemed to him to be the most promising scheme that
+suggested itself, so far as mere success was concerned. It would rid
+this vicinity of the State of four men who might do as much mischief to
+the loyal cause as a whole company of soldiers, even if they were Texan
+cavalry.
+
+Deck took the revolver from the hook inside his trousers, and assured
+himself that all the barrels were charged. Then he looked the wagon over
+again, and considered what he was about to do. Incidentally he asked
+himself what the mechanics intended to do with him. Doubtless they would
+hand him over to the military, and he would be sent to the South. It was
+not a pleasant prospect, and he prepared to use his weapon.
+
+It was war in which his lot was cast; and the business of war was the
+killing of men, and the more the better. He raised the weapon; but, in
+spite of his reasoning, his soul revolted at the thought of the act he
+had been ready to commit a few moments before. Brown Kipps had used him
+as kindly as the circumstances would permit, and had not confined his
+arms behind him when in his judgment it did not appear to require it. It
+looked like a cold-blooded murder, and a cowardly deed besides, to shoot
+these men in the back of the head.
+
+He believed that, if he committed the deed, the remembrance of it would
+haunt him as long as he lived; and the Confederate prison was better
+than such a black memory. He put the revolver in his pocket; and he felt
+more like a Christian when he had decided not to be guilty of the
+outrage to which he had been tempted. He wondered what his father, who
+was a true Christian, would say when he related this incident to him, if
+he ever saw him again.
+
+"Mr. Kipps," said he on an impulse which suddenly seized him.
+
+"Well, my little dandy, what now?" asked the foreman, as he turned his
+head as far as his crowded seat would permit.
+
+"Don't you think you have carried me about far enough?" demanded Deck.
+
+"I reckon not jest yet. You are a Yankee soldier, and you may be wuth
+sunthin' to us afore we get through with you," answered Kipps very
+good-naturedly. "I reckon you uns down below there got some prisoners
+out o' we uns."
+
+"No doubt of that," added Deck.
+
+"We know'd there had been a fight down there; but we don't know nothin'
+more about it."
+
+Deck told him something more about it, including the fact that
+Lieutenant Makepeace was a prisoner in the hospital.
+
+"You don't say so!" exclaimed Kipps, deeply interested in the statement.
+"Makepeace brought us over here part of the way; and he's a right down
+good feller, and I liked him better'n Dingfield. I'm sorry for him. Is
+he in a bad way?"
+
+"I can't say how bad; but he has a bullet in his chest, and a sabre-cut
+on the head," replied Deck. "Our surgeon is taking good care of him."
+
+"I'm glad you uns took care on him; and if you get hurt, we uns will do
+as much for you," said the foreman.
+
+"But I have already done a great deal more than that for you; and you
+may thank me that you four are not dead at this particular moment,"
+added the prisoner boldly, as he decided to adopt another method of
+proceeding.
+
+"How's that, little sonny? I don't edzactly see it," answered Kipps,
+standing up on the platform in front of the wagon, so that the other
+three could turn round and see the prisoner.
+
+"Not ten minutes ago I had made up my mind to shoot all four of you, and
+make my way back to my company," continued Deck, as he produced his
+revolver, and held it up so all four of them could see it.
+
+At this moment the wagon went over some obstacle like a large log; and,
+as the hind wheels descended from it with a heavy "jounce," Deck was
+thrown forward, and only saved himself from a fall among the assorted
+loading by grasping one of the bows.
+
+"We done com'd to de road, Mars'r Kipps!" shouted the driver, as he
+stopped his team after a succession of yells at the mules.
+
+"Stay where you are, Jube!" called the foreman. "I want to know how my
+life was saved, for one, afore we go any farther. What's the reason we
+uns ain't not all dead, little 'possum?"
+
+"Because I didn't shoot you all," replied Deck, as he stood holding to
+the bow with one hand, and the revolver with the other.
+
+"Do you expect, little po'k-eater, we uns should 'a' let you do such a
+wicked deed as that?"
+
+"But I could have done it without asking your permission," replied Deck.
+"I was sitting on that box, and I could have taken you first through the
+back of your head; and if one of you had moved to resist, I could have
+finished him in the twinkling of an eye. I don't like to boast, Mr.
+Brown Kipps, but I am a dead shot with this particular revolver; and it
+would have been ready for business again the instant I had disposed of
+the second man. It fires six shots, and I had a chance to complete the
+job, even if I missed my aim twice. Don't you see it?"
+
+"Where did you get that little shooter, Lyons?"
+
+"My name is Lyon; there is only one of us here. Of course I have had the
+revolver about me all the time, and you were so considerate as not to
+take it from me, simply because it did not come into your head to look
+for it."
+
+"Why didn't you do the shootin' when you had the chance, little coon?"
+
+"Because I concluded that it would be mean and cowardly to shoot four
+men in the back of the head, and that it would haunt me as long as I
+lived."
+
+Kipps suddenly jumped over the seat, and began to make his way to the
+place where the prisoner stood; but Deck pointed the revolver at him,
+and commanded him to halt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE SKIRMISH ON THE HILL ROAD
+
+
+Brown Kipps leaped over the seat, and acted as though he was in a hurry
+to reach Deck Lyon, after he had explained the desperate deed he had
+contemplated; and the latter thought the movement indicated violence on
+the part of the foreman.
+
+"Halt where you are, Kipps! Don't come any nearer!" exclaimed Deck; and
+the revolver in his hand enforced his command.
+
+"Don't shoot, sonny! I only wanted to catch you by the hand, and shake
+it with right good will," replied Kipps, as he halted where the carbine
+and sabre of the young cavalryman were lying between his two feet. "I
+b'lieve what you been tellin' on us; and I reckon it's right lucky some
+on us on this front seat ain't all ready to be put in the ground."
+
+[Illustration: "Halt where you are, Kipps!"]
+
+"I assure you that I have told you the exact truth," said Deck, as he
+dropped his revolver to his side.
+
+The moment he did so Kipps stooped as quick as a flash and picked up the
+carbine.
+
+"Don't shoot, little one!" he continued, as the prisoner raised his
+weapon again, ready to meet this new combination in front of him.
+
+Deck realized that he must act quick, and he was in the very act of
+firing at the foreman when he spoke. He looked his opponent in the eye;
+but the bridge-burner did not bring the carbine to his shoulder. He had
+grasped it near the muzzle, and he held it with the stock hanging down;
+but he proceeded no farther than this, and the revolver pointed at the
+head of Kipps, ready to fire if he elevated the piece. He was in doubt.
+The words of the foreman did not indicate that he meant violence; he
+felt that he had chance enough to save himself by shooting his opponent
+before he could bring the carbine to bear upon him. But perhaps this was
+the most exciting moment in the lifetime of the young soldier.
+
+"Don't shoot, sonny!" repeated Kipps, still holding the carbine in a
+position that rendered it entirely useless; and as he spoke he advanced
+towards his prisoner.
+
+"Don't come any nearer, Kipps, or there will be a breathless body in
+this wagon!" exclaimed Deck, with vim enough to convince the other that
+he was in dead earnest.
+
+"I won't come no nearer, if you say so, Lyons. I was only go'n' to bring
+this shootin'-iron and give it back to you, jest to show you that I was
+right friendly-like to you; and I wanted to catch you by the hand,
+'cause I believe you could 'a' killed some or all on us if you'd had a
+mind to. I reckon we won't quarrel after you've held up when you mou't
+have stuck some on us."
+
+"Drop that carbine, Kipps, and then I can better understand what you
+mean," replied Deck.
+
+"That's what's the matter, is it? I was only go'n' to give it back to
+you," protested the foreman, as he let go of the piece; and it dropped
+upon the loading of the wagon.
+
+Deck lowered his revolver to his side; and Kipps climbed over the
+bundles, boxes, tools, and cans, till he was within reach of his late
+prisoner, for he seemed no longer to regard him as such. He extended his
+big hand to the cavalryman, whose right still firmly held his weapon,
+and he took the hand of the other with his left.
+
+"That's a right-down honest Tennessee fist, Lyons, and the gizzard
+always goes with it," said he, as he squeezed the hand of Deck till he
+was on the point of crying out with the pain of the cracking bones.
+"There's that cheese-knife and shooter of yourn, and you can take 'em as
+soon as you get ready. You're a Yankee; but you've sunthin' more'n a
+rock for a gizzard."
+
+"There's my hand in yours, Kipps; it's the left, but that is nearest to
+the heart," replied Deck, now fully trusting the Tennesseean, as he
+thrust the revolver into his pocket, satisfied that he should have no
+further use for it at present.
+
+"You've got a rayle Tennessee gizzard in your bowels, Lyons, and I like
+you. If anybody wants to do you an ill turn, he's got to fight Brown
+Kipps, sure," added the foreman.
+
+"And the rest on us," put in Tom Lobkill.
+
+"That's so," chimed in Lank Rablan. "We ain't none on us gone dead yet;
+and if you hadn't got a gizzard tucked away somewhar in your bowels,
+some on us mou't 'a' been on t'other side o' Jordan's swellin' flood."
+
+"Here's your tools, Lyons," continued Kipps, as he brought the sabre and
+carbine to Deck. "Here's the trimmin's that goes along with 'em, and you
+can rig yourself out jest as you was when I fust laid eyes on you."
+
+As he spoke he took from his pockets the belt, sling, and other articles
+belonging to his equipment. Deck seated himself on the box again, and,
+after he had adjusted them, he put them on. He turned his back to his
+companions in the wagon, and restored his revolver to the hook where he
+carried it; for he did not care to show them where it had been
+concealed.
+
+"I suppose you don't intend to carry me any farther, Kipps," said Deck,
+when he had fully accoutred himself for a march; and he hoped to be in
+the ranks of his company within a couple of hours.
+
+With his companions, he believed the bridge had been destroyed, and that
+his father had failed in the principal object of his mission, though he
+had defeated the enemy in every engagement in which he had met them.
+
+"I reckon you can go jest where you like, and kerry that gizzard o'
+yourn with you," replied Kipps. "I'm only sorry you're a Yankee, for
+you've behaved handsome enough to be a Tennesseean."
+
+"I am equally sorry you are not all four Union soldiers, standing up
+like true men for your country and its government," replied Deck.
+
+"I reckon we'd better not talk on that subject, for we can't agree,
+nohow," answered the foreman, as he went to the front of the wagon. "Now
+you can git out at this end, for t'other's locked."
+
+This was a happy conclusion of the whole matter; and Deck realized that
+he had accomplished more by the course he had adopted than if he had
+carried out his cold-blooded intention to shoot his custodians. He went
+to the front, and Kipps assisted him to alight; for his weapons
+interfered with his movements in descent.
+
+"Where are we now, my friends?" asked Deck, as he looked about him.
+
+"I don't know, no more'n a goose in a poke," replied Kipps. "We've come
+some miles, more or less, from the railroad; and this is the road we
+come down on. Where are we, Jube?" he demanded of the negro driver.
+
+"I reckon we's here, Mars'r Kipps," replied the driver with a grin from
+ear to ear.
+
+"I reckon so too; but whar's here, Jupiter?"
+
+"Donno whar you be, Mars'r!" exclaimed the negro, who seemed to think
+the foreman was joking with him.
+
+"I don't know whar I am, Jube; do you?" replied Kipps, looking about him
+to identify anything in the surroundings.
+
+"I know for sartin; we done come dis way befo', Mars'r. Dis is jest de
+place whar we done struck in de field to find de roleraid," replied the
+driver confidently. "Dis wot de fo'kes here call de hill road."
+
+"But we didn't come over that log before."
+
+"No, sar; dis nigger runn'd ag'in it, and twis' it round."
+
+"I reckon we'd better camp here for the night, and wait for orders,"
+said Kipps, "You can go the way you come, Lyons."
+
+"I don't know that I can find my way," replied Deck. "I have been shut
+up in your wagon all the way, so that I could see nothing."
+
+"You can foller the wagon-track, and that will fotch you out all right,"
+added Lank.
+
+But Deck was in doubt about returning to the railroad. He knew that
+Lieutenant Belthorpe had been sent over to the railroad, and he had seen
+the troopers ride up the embankment. He thought it strange that he had
+not encountered his force; and he proceeded, Indian fashion, to examine
+the road for horse-tracks in the sand. The sod was so tough that it bore
+no indentation inside of the log; but in the road he found plenty of
+horseshoe marks, and he proceeded to study them.
+
+They all indicated that the riders were headed to the south, or in the
+direction of the east road, the latter of which led to the camp and
+cross-roads. Was it possible that Belthorpe had returned to the camp?
+This was what the marks suggested. Deck then walked by the log, and
+found the track extended towards the north. He followed them for about a
+quarter of a mile, and then he found where they began on the road.
+
+At this point he found the fence had been thrown down, and there were
+plenty of horse-tracks in the cornfield which it surrounded. These led
+up from the direction of the railroad. In the soft ground he found, on
+the left of the great body of the marks, which indicated that the
+detachment had marched by fours, the print of a bar shoe, often called a
+round shoe. He was aware that Tom Belthorpe rode a horse shod in this
+manner, for the steed had belonged in the stable of the planter of
+Riverlawn.
+
+His investigation proved that not only a company of cavalry had come up
+from the railroad to the highway, but that it was the force under
+command of the first lieutenant of the first company. He returned to the
+highway, wondering what had become of this detachment. But Deck did not
+know that a portion of the Texan Rangers had come down the hill road, as
+reported by the scouts of the squadron. He hastened back to the place
+where he had left the wagon. As he approached it he saw two mounted
+Rangers talking with the bridge-burners, or rather with the foreman of
+them; and the other three were helping the driver to hitch on his mules,
+for they had begun their preparations to camp there for the night.
+
+The two scouts turned their horses and rode away in the direction from
+which they had come. Deck had halted when he saw them, and put himself
+behind a big tree at the side of the road. But as soon as they rode off
+at a gallop, as though they were in a hurry, he advanced. The
+bridge-burners were all busy in getting the mules ready for a start.
+
+"You better make tracks with all your legs towards the railroad, sonny,"
+said Kipps earnestly.
+
+"What has turned up now?" asked Deck with interest.
+
+"Them men was the scouts of our company, and we are ordered to move to
+the north with all the speed we can get out of the mules," continued
+Kipps. "Our company, or a part on't, will be here soon; and I don't want
+'em to ketch you, Lyons, for I can't do nuthin' for you if they get hold
+on you."
+
+"All right, Kipps; and I am very much obliged to you for your kind
+service. But where are you going?" asked Deck.
+
+"I don't know no more'n the dead. I'm to foller this road, and I hain't
+the leastest idee whar it'll fetch out," replied the foreman, as he took
+his place on the front seat, and Jube started the unwilling team.
+
+The driver plied his whip with cruel vigor, and the wagon soon
+disappeared. Deck was perplexed. Belthorpe had marched up the hill road,
+as indicated by the tracks of the horses, and the Rangers were marching
+down the same road. How did it happen that they had not met, and a fight
+had not ensued? He could not explain it. Just above him was a grove, or
+a field covered with sparsely scattered trees.
+
+Deck was very anxious to ascertain the situation of affairs in this
+section, and he hoped to be able to give his father some important
+information when he met him. He placed himself behind a tree in the
+grove. He had hardly secured his position before he heard the clatter of
+horses' hoofs and the clangor of sabres in the road above him. In a
+minute he obtained a view of them, and they were Rangers. They were
+hurrying their horses as though they were engaged in some important
+movement.
+
+The troops had not come abreast of the observer before he heard a
+furious yell in the grove not far from him. The shout of "Riverlawn!"
+was heard, with other yells; and a body of the Union cavalry dashed into
+the road, and fired a volley from their carbines.
+
+"Sling carbines! Draw sabres!" shouted an officer; and Deck recognized
+the well-known voice of Tom Belthorpe. Then they charged into the enemy
+with a fury that promised to annihilate them in a very short time.
+
+Deck belonged in this portion of the first company; but he had no horse,
+and he could not join in the charge; but he began to use his carbine.
+The Texans fought bravely and desperately, and the two forces seemed to
+be about equal. The interested observer saw one of his company topple
+over from his horse, and the excited animal dragged him, with one foot,
+in the stirrup, off the field. Deck caught the horse, and reduced him to
+subjection with a vigorous arm. He released the soldier, who was
+insensible, and placed him under a tree. Then he mounted the steed, and
+dashed into the fight.
+
+He had hardly struck a blow with his sabre before he heard the clanging
+of sabres some distance in the rear. At the head of it was the officer
+in command, with one arm in a sling, and his head tied up with bandages.
+They were Texan cavalry, without a doubt; and Deck called the attention
+of the lieutenant to the fact.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+CAPTAIN DINGFIELD'S STRATEGY
+
+
+The officer at the head of the approaching force, wounded in the head
+and arm, could be no other than Captain Dingfield; but there was no one
+present who knew anything about the brief action in which the commander
+of the Texan force had been defeated, and from which he had made a very
+hasty retreat. Major Lyon had sent Captain Gordon with half his company
+in pursuit of the fleeing enemy; the passage of both the pursuers and
+the pursued across the east road had been reported by the scouts at the
+cross-roads.
+
+Deck had not been able to force his way into the thickest of the fight;
+and, being near the side of the road, he was the first to discover the
+approach of the second detachment of the enemy. The action was in
+progress in a broad, open space in the road, where the trees had been
+cut off from the land; and the ground occupied was partly in this
+field. He could readily determine that Belthorpe had chosen this place
+for the action because it presented more open space.
+
+Doubtless his scouts had reported to him the approach of the first
+section of the enemy, and he had concealed his force in the grove to
+which Deck had retreated to observe the movements of both parties in the
+conflict. But he thought the lieutenant had made a mistake in delaying
+his attack until the detachment of the enemy had advanced too far, and
+he had thrown his men upon the rear instead of the flank.
+
+The lieutenant had less than fifty men, and the enemy fought with
+desperate courage and determination. But his men were fresh; for they
+had been moving leisurely about in quest of the foe, and had been
+resting a short time in the grove, while the Rangers had ridden a long
+distance. The arrival of the rest of their company would throw all the
+advantage, both in position and numbers, over to the side of the enemy;
+and Deck saw in an instant that the battle would be lost if it continued
+under these unfavorable circumstances.
+
+"Lieutenant!" he shouted, flourishing his sabre to attract attention,
+when he had approached as near as he could to the officer.
+
+Tom Belthorpe was using his sabre vigorously, and he had just smote to
+the ground a trooper, when he heard the voice of Deck. He had not seen
+him before, and was not aware of his presence. He concluded on the
+instant that the son of the major was the bearer of an order from his
+father; and he knew the young man well enough to understand that he
+would not call him at such a time on an unimportant matter, and he rode
+towards him.
+
+"What is it, Deck?" he demanded, full of the excitement of the conflict.
+
+"Yon are flanked and outnumbered!" shouted Deck; though in the noise and
+fury of the action no one but the lieutenant heard or noticed his call.
+"There is another detachment of the Rangers coming up the road. You are
+beaten if you don't get out of it!"
+
+"I don't understand you, Deck," replied the officer, glancing at his men
+still engaged in the furious strife.
+
+"There is a force of the enemy of at least fifty men coming up the road,
+and in three minutes more they will fall upon your rear!" repeated
+Deck, speaking as clearly as though he had been reading his piece in
+school.
+
+"Where do they come from?" demanded Tom, as he looked back in the
+direction indicated by the sabre of his friend, and they were the best
+of friends.
+
+"I don't know anything at all about it," answered Deck impatiently.
+
+The fresh troopers of the lieutenant's command were driving the enemy
+before them by the vigorous fighting they had put into the attack, and
+they were somewhat superior in numbers. By the time Deck had given his
+warning the enemy had been forced back to the point where the wagon had
+emerged from the fields and woods. The lieutenant was obviously very
+unwilling to give an order to retreat when victory was almost within his
+grasp. It was the first action in which he had been engaged, and his
+pride as a soldier was implicated.
+
+Tom looked again at the approaching re-enforcement of the enemy; and
+then very reluctantly he summoned the bugler, and ordered him to sound
+the call, "To the rear." It was given in the quickest of time; and the
+faces of the troopers indicated their astonishment and chagrin at the
+nature of the call, when victory was only a question of minutes.
+
+The men fell back; but the enemy were not disposed to follow them, and
+perhaps believed they had gained a victory. They were facing down the
+road, and they could not help seeing that a re-enforcement for their
+side was approaching. The lieutenant in command reformed his men, but he
+did not order them to charge upon their retiring foe.
+
+"I don't understand this business, Deck," said Tom Belthorpe, when he
+realized that the officer in command of the enemy did not intend to
+pursue him.
+
+"I don't understand anything beyond what I can see with my own eyes,"
+replied Deck. "I have just come over this region in a wagon, and I
+advise you to retreat towards the railroad, if you will excuse me for
+saying so."
+
+The lieutenant gave the order for his men to retire in the direction
+indicated, and the officer and Deck followed them.
+
+"We were within two minutes of a victory, Deck," said Lieutenant
+Belthorpe, still panting with the exertion he had put forth in the
+combat.
+
+"But you would have lost it, and had the tables turned on you two
+minutes later," replied Deck.
+
+"What next?" asked the officer, who, in his inability to understand the
+situation, was perplexed and baffled. "I don't feel like running away
+just as we were whipping those Texans."
+
+"But it is easier to run away before you have been whipped yourself than
+it would be afterwards. I should judge that the force approaching is the
+other half of the Rangers' company. There they come," added Deck, as the
+furious riders seen in the distance halted in the road near where the
+bridge-burners had proposed to camp for the night.
+
+Without consulting his friend and companion in regard to the expediency
+of doing so, the lieutenant gave the order for his platoon to halt at
+the moment when they had encircled one of the knolls so common in that
+region. He and Deck were in the rear; and though the men could not see
+the road, it was in full view from the position occupied by the officer.
+
+"I am not feeling like doing any more running away just yet," said Tom,
+who was quite willing to forget that he was a lieutenant in the presence
+of Private Deck Lyon.
+
+"They have halted, and there is no occasion to run away just yet; but it
+is best to take the bull by the horns before he gores you," added the
+private. "I think we had better rest under that big tree, and keep out
+of sight till you get a better idea of this thing, Lieutenant."
+
+The suggestion was adopted, and they rode to a position under the tree
+where they could see without being seen.
+
+"They have come together, and they don't seem to know where they are any
+better than we do," said the lieutenant. "I should say they had had a
+hard ride by the looks of their horses;" and the officer had looked at
+the reunited company through a small opera-glass he carried in his
+pocket, though the distance was hardly more than five hundred feet.
+
+"Hold on a minute, Tom!" exclaimed Deck, as he slid from his horse, and
+fastened him to a branch.
+
+"What are you going to do now, Deck?" demanded the lieutenant.
+
+"I am going up there to find out what is going on," replied the private,
+as he detached his sabre, and fastened it to his saddle.
+
+"But you will be picked up," suggested Tom.
+
+"If I am I will let you know; but I am determined to get posted, so that
+I can give you reliable information," answered Deck. "But I obey your
+orders; and, if you tell me not to go, of course I shall not."
+
+"Do as you think best, Deck," replied the lieutenant, who found it
+difficult to realize that he was the military superior of his friend.
+
+Deck waited for nothing more. His carbine was still slung at his back;
+but he had provided that the clang of his sabre as he walked should not
+betray him. He had looked the ground over before that day, and knew
+where he was locally, though he was ignorant of the positions of the
+several bodies of troopers other than those before his eyes. He was on
+the border of the grove, consisting of large trees, rather far apart. He
+got behind the trunk of one of these, and then picked his way from one
+to another, till he was within thirty feet of the officers in command
+of the company.
+
+The lieutenant of the platoon which had done the fighting had ridden
+away from his command a short distance; and when Deck first saw him he
+was peering into the region between the railroad and the road, doubtless
+anxious to ascertain what had become of the force with which he had just
+been engaged. The man with his head tied up and his arm in a sling
+called upon a sergeant to rearrange the bandage on his head; and he had
+just completed his task when Deck reached the shelter of the tree he had
+selected. The wounded officer, for such his uniform and shoulder-straps
+indicated that he was, appeared to be ready for business.
+
+"Where is Lieutenant Redway?" he demanded very impatiently.
+
+"There he comes, Captain Dingfield," replied the sergeant at his side.
+
+The lieutenant hurried up his jaded steed, and saluted his captain.
+
+"I thought I saw a fight going on here," continued the commander of the
+company, though Deck had never heard his name before.
+
+"So there was, Captain Dingfield; and a very sharp one at that," replied
+Lieutenant Redway. "But we defeated the enemy, whipped them out of
+their boots, and they fled like a flock of frightened sheep down that
+opening;" and the reporter of this information pointed in the direction
+in which Tom's command had retired.
+
+"If the Father of Lies, who is always swinging his caudal appendage over
+the world in search of the biggest liars, should come here for one,
+where could Captain Dingfield hide you, Lieutenant Redway?" said Deck to
+himself; for it would not have been prudent to say it out loud.
+
+"Why didn't you follow them up?" demanded the captain, with some
+indignation in his tones and manner.
+
+"Because you were in sight with the rest of the company; and I deemed it
+my duty to wait for orders, especially as you had sent me directions to
+hurry forward the bridge brigade," replied the lieutenant.
+
+"But I am closely pursued by a force in the rear; and it cannot be far
+behind me by this time. How large was the detachment you fought,
+Redway?" asked the captain, looking behind him at the road, as though he
+believed his pursuers were close at hand.
+
+"About the size of my command; fifty men, I should say."
+
+"You ought to have wiped them out; and you have made a mess of it by not
+doing so," added the captain.
+
+The two officers had withdrawn from the immediate vicinity of their men,
+and chosen a place within twenty feet of Deck's tree, so that he could
+hear them very distinctly. The conversation was exceedingly interesting
+to him, especially the fact in regard to the pursuing force.
+
+"I acted upon my best judgment."
+
+"I had a rough fight in the road, on my way to the bridge, and I have
+hardly forty men left, while the Yankees will have a full company when
+the detachment behind me comes up," added the captain, who was evidently
+in a contemplative mood. "The force you whipped must be at no great
+distance from this road."
+
+"I think they will keep on running for the next three miles," said
+Redway. "I went up the road to look for them, but I could see nothing of
+them."
+
+"But we shall be outnumbered if we let the two parts of this company
+come together. I have found that they fight like Texans. If we meet the
+whole of them together, we shall be whipped, as Makepeace was. There is
+only one thing to do. Form the whole company in column by fours, and we
+must go back and beat our pursuers, before they get as far as this,"
+said Captain Dingfield, suddenly becoming very animated and energetic.
+
+Deck concluded that the time had come for him to leave his retreat; and
+he felt that he had not lost his time in carrying out the plan he had
+suggested. But it would be safer for him to retreat in five minutes more
+than at that moment. He looked on while the Rangers formed, and saw them
+march on their present mission. He had not a very high opinion of the
+strategy of Captain Dingfield; and if his subordinate officer had given
+him correct information, perhaps he would have adopted a different
+course.
+
+The Rangers could no longer see him, and he broke into a run as soon as
+they had gone. He found everything as he had left it, and he proceeded
+to report his intelligence to Lieutenant Belthorpe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+SUNDRY FLANK MOVEMENTS ARRANGED
+
+
+Captain Dingfield, with the portion of his company with which he had
+attacked Major Lyon near the cross-roads, where he had been badly beaten
+at the first assault, had fled across the country, and was continuing
+his flight along the hill road. Doubtless he did not intend to fight a
+battle at the point mentioned, but had made the attack immediately after
+the explosion on the bridge to occupy the attention of the force there
+until his men had completed the destruction of the structure.
+
+He appeared to have discovered that the squadron of cavalry he had
+encountered was not so easily annihilated as he had believed they would
+be by his invincible Rangers. On the contrary, he found his troop in a
+difficult situation, with a superior force near him. Doubtless he had
+read in what manner Napoleon I. defeated an army of superior numbers by
+taking it when divided into two parts, delivering battle to each in
+turn.
+
+Captain Gordon, with half his company, had been sent in pursuit of him,
+but had been somewhat delayed in his movements. Captain Dingfield had
+united the two portions of his company after the skirmish of one of them
+with Lieutenant Belthorpe, who was believed to have retreated to the
+railroad.
+
+Deck Lyon had listened to the interview between the captain and
+lieutenant of the Rangers, and fully understood their plan. As soon as
+the company had departed on their mission to annihilate the detachment
+of Captain Gordon, he hastened back to the big tree where he had left
+Lieutenant Belthorpe. Tom had just crossed swords with the enemy for the
+first time, and had fought like a lion; but he was nervous in regard to
+the situation. He had no superior officer near him, and he felt the
+responsibility of his position.
+
+"Well, Deck, what next?" he asked, before the young soldier could get
+within talking distance of him.
+
+"There is work for you," replied Deck; and though he knew precisely what
+ought to be done, he was very careful not to suggest anything. He did
+not wish to overstep the line of his duty as a private, though he and
+the lieutenant were on the most intimate and familiar terms of
+friendship. He hurried his steps; and in as few words as possible he
+related all he had seen and heard.
+
+"Then, Captain Dingfield has gone out with his whole company to
+intercept Gordon?" said the officer.
+
+"Precisely so; and I don't know what force Captain Gordon has with him,"
+added Deck. "The Rangers believe your command has retreated to the
+railroad, and are well out of the way."
+
+"We will convince them to the contrary very soon," said Tom with energy,
+and darted off at the best speed of his horse for the knoll where he had
+left his men.
+
+Deck restored his sabre to its place, and mounted his horse. He was
+ready to return to the ranks; but Tom called him, and he took his place
+at the side of his friend. The lieutenant asked him a great many
+questions; for the troop could not move at their best speed on account
+of the trees and bushes.
+
+"I suppose we have nothing to do but follow and pitch in when we find
+the enemy," said Tom, when they came out on the hill road. "We can't see
+anything of Dingfield's company yet."
+
+"He has not got over the top of that hill we see ahead, and is in the
+valley this side. Neither of us has been over this road, and we know
+nothing at all about it," replied Deck, careful not to wound the pride
+of his officer.
+
+"Why don't you speak out, Deck, and tell me what you are thinking
+about?" said the lieutenant somewhat impatiently. "You keep in your
+shell as tight as a Baltimore oyster. You did not hesitate to tell me
+what you had in your sconce when we were fighting that detachment in the
+road."
+
+"I only intended to give you the information that Dingfield's company
+was coming, and would then outnumber you," replied Deck.
+
+"You advised me to retreat, and I did so, for I saw that you were
+right."
+
+"But you are my superior officer, and my business consists in obeying
+your orders," replied the private with becoming humility.
+
+"None of that, Deck! We will keep up all the forms and ceremonies; but I
+want you to be Deck Lyon, while I am Tom Belthorpe, when we are side by
+side as we are at this moment. I say all we have to do is to ride ahead
+till we find the enemy, and then pitch in. Is that your idea, Deck?"
+
+"With all due deference, Tom, it is not," replied the private.
+
+"Confound your deference!" exclaimed the lieutenant. "I asked your
+advice, and you mumble about forms."
+
+"I will speak as plainly as I know how to speak. If you show yourself to
+Captain Dingfield, he will run away if he can. He has been badly
+punished to-day, and he can't stand much more of it. When he finds
+himself pinched between Captain Gordon and yourself, I don't believe he
+will feel like cutting his way out."
+
+"But he outnumbers Gordon just now," Tom objected.
+
+"Of course you will not let Captain Gordon suffer," continued Deck. "If
+you will allow me to say it, I will suggest what I should do if I were
+in your place."
+
+"Allow you! Confound you, Deck! Didn't I ask you point-blank what you
+would do?" demanded Tom.
+
+"We are moving at a dog-trot now, and that is just right. Before we get
+to the top of that hill yonder in the road, I should halt, and send a
+scout ahead to report on what there is to be seen," said Deck.
+
+"All right! I detail you as the scout," answered the lieutenant very
+promptly.
+
+"Then I will leave you. If I raise my cap over my head, hurry up. If I
+make no sign, come along leisurely," added Deck, as he urged his steed
+to a gallop, and dashed ahead.
+
+Just then he wished he had Ceph; but he had left him hitched near the
+bridge when he ascended it to take in the flag, though the horse he had
+was not a bad one. How far in the rear of Captain Dingfield's company
+Captain Gordon had been he had no means of judging. Deck reached the
+summit of the hill over which the road passed. He reined in his steed,
+and walked him till his own head was high enough to see over the crest
+in front of him.
+
+Captain Dingfield's company was not in sight. Not more than half a mile
+ahead of him was another hill, beyond which the enemy had disappeared.
+He took off his cap and waved it in the air above his head. Tom could
+not help seeing it; and his command were immediately galloping towards
+him. Deck did not wait for them, but ran his own horse till he reached
+the summit of the second hill. Here he halted again. There was a third
+hill, and probably one every mile or half-mile; for this was the hill
+road.
+
+Captain Dingfield had not hurried his men, and Deck discovered his force
+on the lowest ground between the two hills. He had halted there, and the
+men appeared to be watering their horses. Deck was sorry he had not a
+field-glass. He fell back a short distance, so that his horse should not
+be seen by the enemy, hitched him to a sapling, and returned to the top
+of the hill on foot. After examining the location of the enemy as well
+as he could, he concluded that a road crossed that upon which both
+forces were moving, though he was not sure.
+
+Returning to his horse, he mounted again, and descended the hill a few
+rods. The lieutenant had reached the top of the first hill, and Deck
+waved his cap again. As soon as Tom reached the spot where the private
+was, he halted his command. He hastily informed his officer that the
+enemy were at the foot of the hill on the other side.
+
+"I must not lose sight of them for long," said Deck. "I will go ahead
+again, and make the same signal for you to advance."
+
+"But you expect there will be a fight, don't you, Deck?" asked the
+lieutenant.
+
+"There will be if Captain Dingfield don't run away by a road I believe
+extends through the valley. I think the captain of the Rangers is
+waiting for Captain Gordon to come upon him in this place. I will keep a
+lookout for our men," replied Deck, as he rode up the hill again.
+
+The private was a very enthusiastic soldier; and he thought it would be
+a capital idea to bag the Rangers, and make prisoners of the whole
+company. It would be a feather in Tom Belthorpe's cap, and he would have
+been glad to place it there. He hitched his horse again, and then
+climbed a tree. Some of the hills in the vicinity were cultivated, and
+some were not. From his elevated perch he discovered a farmhouse on the
+road, of whose existence he had not before been confident. He had no
+doubt of the fact now.
+
+There was a cornfield on the left of the road where he was, but at some
+distance from it. Between this tilled land and the hill road was a
+considerable extent of wild land, covered with hillocks, and the whole
+of it overgrown with small trees and bushes. Near the place where the
+platoon had halted, Deck perceived a practicable passage through the
+tanglewood; and he went down the tree in a desperate hurry, to the
+imminent peril of his limbs, though he reached the ground in safety.
+
+A glance at the summit of the third hill assured him that Captain Gordon
+was not yet in sight. Slinging his carbine, and buckling on his belt, he
+hastened to the lieutenant, and, without any unnecessary manifestations
+of deference, stated the plan he had brewed in the top of the tree.
+
+"I should like to see the whole of that company bagged, Tom," said he,
+as he led the way to the opening he had seen. "I should like to see you
+do it, I am only afraid Dingfield will escape by that road, and I should
+like to have you block his way in that direction."
+
+"But if we shut up that road against him, we shall leave the hill road
+open to him," replied Tom.
+
+[Illustration: "What are you uns doing here!"]
+
+Deck bit his lip, for he had not thought of this; for he was not a
+full-fledged strategist any more than his officer.
+
+"You are right, Tom; and that is the end of my scheme," added Deck.
+
+"Not a bit of it, Deck. Why not compromise on your idea; send half our
+force across the cornfield, and leave the other half to take care of
+this road? I like that idea," said Tom with enthusiasm.
+
+"You would have but twenty-five men to hold this road against the whole
+of Dingfield's company," said Deck.
+
+"But we don't intend to move till Captain Gordon is here to take a hand
+in the game," answered Tom. "You will go with Sergeant Fronklyn to the
+cross-road, and I will stay here. As soon as I see the rest of our
+company coming down the hill, I will strike the enemy in the rear, while
+the captain goes in on the front. You will sail in from the by-road as
+soon as you hear the firing, Deck. That is fixed. Now have deference
+enough for your officer to hold your tongue, and obey your orders."
+
+"I am as dumb as a dead horse," replied Deck.
+
+Both of them were laughing; and Deck hastened to a place where he could
+see over the crest of the hill, while the lieutenant divided his force
+for the two undertakings. In a few moments all was ready, and Tom joined
+his friend.
+
+"It is time we were moving," said Deck.
+
+"All is ready for you; and Fronklyn will take counsel of you when
+necessary," replied the lieutenant.
+
+"Don't show yourself on the top of the hill, Tom; for that might let the
+cat out of the bag," added Deck.
+
+The scout, as Deck considered himself for the present, joined the
+detachment detailed for the by-road, and led them into the wild region,
+Fronklyn remaining some distance behind him. The enemy were in a deep
+hollow, and the guide soon assured himself that the detachment could be
+neither seen nor heard by them. The sergeant advanced in response to his
+signals. A spur of the hill concealed them, and they galloped across the
+field, from which the crop had been harvested. He guided the force to a
+point beyond the farmer's house. Leaving the sergeant and his men where
+the buildings shut off the view of the hill road, Deck rode cautiously
+to the other side of the house.
+
+"What you uns doin' here?" asked the farmer, showing himself from behind
+his barn.
+
+"We are attending to our own business, and it wouldn't be a bad idea for
+you to do the same," replied Deck, who did not like the looks of the
+man.
+
+"I reckon you uns is Confedrits," he added.
+
+"You are out of your reckoning."
+
+"There's some more on 'em over to the brook. I reckon I'll go over, and
+let 'em know you're here," suggested the farmer.
+
+"If you do, you will get a bit of lead through your upper story,"
+replied Deck, as he rode on.
+
+He had hardly started his horse before a volley was heard in the
+direction of the hill road.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE ENEMY'S BATTLE WITH THE MUD
+
+
+The sound of the volley did not come from the top of the hill, and
+Captain Gordon would not have been so simple as to waste the powder and
+balls in the carbines of his men at an impracticable distance from the
+object of his attack. Lieutenant Belthorpe must have seen his force as
+soon as he reached the top of the hill; and no doubt he had hurried to
+join in the attack at the right moment, so that it could be made in the
+front and rear at the same time.
+
+But plans do not always work precisely as they are arranged beforehand.
+Deck turned his steed as soon as he heard the volley, and hastened back
+to notify the sergeant; but Fronklyn had heard the discharge, and
+marched on the instant. For a non-commissioned officer, he was decidedly
+a man of parts, though he had not been in a fight till that day.
+
+"Hurry up, Sergeant! I think we shall have warm work over on the hill
+road as soon as we can reach it. They are firing lively now on both
+hills," said Deck, as he took his place by the side of the officer.
+
+"We are all ready for it; and the men were as mad as a bull in a swarm
+of hornets as the recall was sounded back there a while ago, when they
+were licking the enemy out of his boots," replied Fronklyn.
+
+"They are likely to get enough of it now," added Deck, as they galloped
+forward at the best speed they could get out of the horses.
+
+But the firing suddenly ceased, and there was a noise ahead other than
+the sounds of battle, which attracted the attention of Deck and the
+sergeant. It was the clang of sabres and the rattle of accoutrements,
+and the sounds came from a less distance than to the hill road.
+
+"What does this mean?" asked Deck, as he reined in his horse. "Halt your
+men here!" he added, as he obtained a full view ahead.
+
+Fronklyn promptly accepted the suggestion, and gave the order; but he
+did not understand the reason for making it. The cross-road extended
+through the wild region over which the detachment had passed farther up
+the hill. In this part of it the surface was more irregular than above;
+on the left was a meadow, through which flowed the brook that crossed
+the main road. Just ahead of the force the road wound through a narrow
+pass, between lofty pinnacles of rock.
+
+From a point in the road Deck had obtained a glance across the meadow at
+the cross-road near the main highway. There he saw the Rangers
+retreating vigorously, and coming directly towards him. He could not
+quite understand this change in the programme, as laid down by
+Lieutenant Belthorpe and himself. But it did not take him long to
+explain the situation to his own satisfaction, whether correctly or not.
+
+Captain Gordon's men had made the attack with a volley from the
+carbines. As soon as Tom Belthorpe heard the report, he dashed down the
+hill to have a finger in the pie; for his men were eager for the affray.
+Captain Dingfield had seen them coming, and probably mistook the force
+for a much larger one, and ordered a retreat by the cross-road.
+Doubtless he had chosen to await the attack of Captain Gordon in this
+locality on account of this convenient outlet. The enemy had not waited
+for a charge, and neither of the detachments from the two hills had
+reached the brook.
+
+Deck hurriedly stated the situation to Sergeant Fronklyn. Then he
+pointed out the narrow pass in the road, which would conceal the men for
+a few moments. He advised him to advance to it, and then fall upon the
+head of the column as it entered the narrow passage. The officer gave
+the order to advance, and with it a few ringing words of encouragement.
+Fronklyn placed himself at the head of his men, with Deck near him, and
+they dashed into the pass at a breakneck speed. The enemy had not yet
+reached the narrow defile.
+
+The troopers had their carbines all ready for use, and the sergeant
+halted them at a point where they could see the Rangers as they
+approached. At the right moment he gave the command to fire, and the
+report was the first intimation to Captain Dingfield that an enemy was
+in front of him. As soon as the Union soldiers had discharged their
+pieces, they were ordered to sling their carbines, and draw their
+sabres.
+
+"To the charge! March!" shouted Fronklyn.
+
+The volley had been a surprise to the Rangers, and they were evidently
+staggered as some of their saddles were emptied. Captain Dingfield was
+not at the front of his company; for the danger was supposed to be in
+the rear, and he was as brave a man as ever sat on a horse. Of course he
+could form no idea of the strength of the force in front of him, and he
+must have realized that he had fallen into a trap. If he had not been
+prudent before, he was so now, for the bugler immediately sounded the
+recall.
+
+Sergeant Fronklyn did not wait to see what Captain Dingfield would do,
+or where he would retreat. He led his men forward, and they charged
+furiously upon what had been the right of the column. The Rangers
+defended themselves with vigor and determination for a few minutes, and
+the accounts of three of them were closed for this world. The next thing
+that Deck saw, for he made a business of knowing all that was going on
+around him, was a column of cavalry fleeing across the meadow.
+
+The captain of the Rangers, from his position near the rear, had
+evidently found a means of escape. Deck fought with his sabre as long as
+there was one of the enemy near him; but as fast as the Texans could get
+out of the _mêlée_ they fled to the rear. The pass was so narrow that
+the Union troopers, few as there were of them on the by-road, had not
+room enough to do themselves justice. But Fronklyn urged them on, and
+drove them before him, till he heard the clashing of arms in front of
+him.
+
+Both Captain Gordon and Lieutenant Belthorpe dashed into the narrow
+road, and followed up the enemy, till the last of them had taken to the
+meadow. When the ground was examined later, it was found that there was
+only one narrow causeway by which the descent to the low ground could be
+made; and the Rangers covered and defended this pass till all of their
+number had left the road. It was in vain that the fresh troopers pressed
+forward from the hill road, for the way was blocked against them. In the
+inability of the captain and the lieutenant to bring their numbers to
+bear, the combat was on equal terms.
+
+The Rangers defended themselves bravely and skilfully. There were a
+number of hand-to-hand struggles with which there was no space for the
+interference of others. But it looked as though the Texans had leaped
+from the frying-pan into the fire; for they had gone out but a short
+distance from the by-road before their horses began to mire; for the
+ground proved to be very soft. Several of the Texans were obliged to
+dismount, and pull their steeds out of the mud.
+
+Captain Gordon had pressed forward, and engaged the rear of the
+retreating column; and he was about to order a pursuit, when he
+discovered the enemy was sinking in the mire, and that the meadow was no
+place for horses. It was located all along the wild region; and,
+doubtless, some of those sink-holes and caverns which abound in this
+part of the State existed in this section of wild land. But the captain
+was not willing to permit the escape of the enemy.
+
+Deck Lyon was reasonable enough to abandon the idea of "bagging the
+game;" for the Rangers could now hardly be regarded as an organized
+military company. The meadow proved to be nothing but a quagmire, though
+the farmer appeared to get the hay from it, as there were two stacks of
+it on the field; but he had to take the occasion when the ground was
+frozen to obtain his crop. By this time the Texans were scattered all
+over the meadow, wandering about in search of more solid ground.
+
+It would have been easy enough to shoot down the whole of them; but
+Captain Gordon was too chivalrous a man to murder the defenceless
+fellows. A few of them had crossed the brook, and were ascending the
+hill on the other side. A number of them were making a road of the
+bottom of the little stream, which seemed to be composed of sand washed
+in from the hills.
+
+The first company were at ease all along the by-road, watching the
+movements and the struggles of the enemy; and no doubt Captain Dingfield
+wished he had fought it out, or surrendered on the hard ground. The
+night was coming on; and even if the Texans extricated themselves from
+their pitiable condition, they must be so demoralized that they could do
+no further mischief till they had rested and recruited from the effects
+of their battle with the mud.
+
+"What are them men doin' in there?" asked the farmer, who wandered as
+far as the causeway, when it was safe to do so, and there encountered
+Deck, whom he had met before.
+
+"They are trying to get out," replied Private Lyon.
+
+"They can't do it!" exclaimed the native, who indulged in much profane
+speech. "They'll make a cemetry of the whole medder. It's nothin' but
+muck in there till you git to the bottom on't, and that's where them
+fellers will go. I had a colt git in there, and all on us couldn't git
+him out; and I reckon his carcass is lyin' on the bottom now. They've
+sp'ilt my medder," continued the farmer; and he heaped curses on the
+unfortunate troopers, who were tearing up the soft sod at a fearful
+rate.
+
+The native had picked up the three horses of the troopers who had been
+killed in the affray, and they were some compensation for the damage
+done him in the meadow, which looked as though it had been ploughed up.
+
+"Isn't there any way for those men to get out of that quagmire?" asked
+Captain Gordon, as he encountered the farmer.
+
+"I don't know o' none," replied the man in a surly tone, "If they was
+only Yankees, I'd like it better."
+
+"I like it better as it is," replied the captain.
+
+He knew of no way to extricate the troopers from their plight. It was
+the dry season of the year, and probably there was less water and less
+mud than in the wet season. The bodies of the horses seemed to be
+resting on the sod, with their legs wholly plunged in the soft soil. The
+riders had dismounted, and attacked two stacks of hay on the field, and
+were placing it in front of their animals. It afforded a better
+foundation for them than the oozy turf; and a couple of them were
+already standing on their legs.
+
+The darkness was gathering rapidly, and Captain Gordon gave the order
+for his men to form in column; and then he marched them out to the hill
+road. He was satisfied that the Texans would escape from their miserable
+plight, though it might require many hours for them to accomplish it.
+They had already begun to build a sort of causeway of the hay, to
+connect with the solid one by which they had fled from the fight. The
+hay was of a coarse quality, abundantly mixed with weeds and bushes, and
+it appeared to be substantial enough to support the horses.
+
+It was evident to the captain that the entire force of the enemy could
+be easily captured as they came off the meadow; but it might require the
+whole night to secure them. The first company, now united, marched to
+the hill road, and halted in a field which had been selected before for
+the camping-ground. The men proceeded to feed themselves and their
+horses. A half-dozen scouts were left on the by-road to watch the mired
+Texans. They had built a great fire to afford them light, and continued
+their labors.
+
+A portion of the field where they had encamped consisted of a grove of
+big trees, such as the company had frequently seen. The baggage-train
+had been left at the bridge, and the men had no tents, but they were
+provided with overcoats and blankets; and thus protected from the cold
+of the chill night, it was not accounted a hardship to sleep on the
+ground. Sentinels surrounded the camp, and two scouts had been sent out
+in each direction on the hill road.
+
+"Scouts coming in from both ways!" shouted the sentinels in the road;
+and the word was carried to the guard quarters.
+
+The captain was immediately informed. As Deck happened to be in the
+detail for guard duty, he had been stationed in the road, and it was his
+voice which first announced the return of the scouts. Captain Gordon,
+who had stretched himself under a tree for a nap, hastened to the road
+to ascertain the cause of the alarm.
+
+"Where are the scouts, Deck?" he asked, as he confronted the sentinel in
+the road.
+
+"They have not got here yet," replied Deck, as he saluted the captain.
+"I saw them at the top of the hills, coming in at full speed."
+
+"But there is no enemy in this vicinity, except the Texans in the
+quagmire," added the captain.
+
+"I know of none, Captain."
+
+The two scouts came in almost at the same moment, before the captain and
+the private could discuss the situation, and reported a detachment of
+cavalry approaching from either direction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+AT THE CAMP-FIRE NEAR THE ROAD
+
+
+As Captain Gordon suggested, there was no enemy in the vicinity with the
+exception of the Texan Rangers, half buried in the mud. The approach of
+cavalry from both directions, and in the darkness, was rather an
+alarming announcement; and if the scouts had not been close by, he would
+have ordered the long roll, and prepared for defence. The camp-fires
+were blazing near the road, and a weird light was cast upon the scene.
+
+"Well, Beck, what is your news?" demanded the captain, as the scout
+saluted him.
+
+"A detachment of cavalry was coming up when I left the top of the hill,"
+replied the trooper.
+
+"What were they?" demanded the captain impatiently.
+
+"I don't know, Captain; we could not make them out in the darkness,"
+replied the scout; and he was the one who came from the south.
+
+"How many were there of them?"
+
+"We looked at them as they came down the hill, and Wilder and I reckoned
+there were about fifty of them. They had a wagon train behind them."
+
+"Very well, Beck. What have you to say, Layder?" asked Captain Gordon,
+turning to the scout from the north.
+
+"My report is just about the same as Beck's; though the detachment comes
+from the other way. But they didn't have no baggage-train."
+
+"Did you make out how many there were, Layder?"
+
+"We made out about forty of 'em, Captain; we could not see very well,
+and there may have been more of 'em."
+
+"Return to your mates, and ascertain, if you can, who and what they
+are," added Captain Gordon.
+
+Deck Lyon had something to say, but he did not feel like saying it. He
+was perfectly satisfied that there would be no fighting with the
+approaching detachments. He had been reasoning over the situation, and
+he had formed a decided opinion. He had heard the train on the railroad,
+both when it went down and when it returned about dark; but he knew
+nothing about the events which had transpired at the camp by the bridge.
+The only fact that bothered him was that the detachment from the south
+had a baggage-train.
+
+"Well, Deck, what do you make of it?" asked Captain Gordon, as he halted
+in front of the sentinel.
+
+"The two detachments are the second company of Riverlawn Cavalry,"
+replied Deck without any hesitation; for this was the decided opinion he
+had reached.
+
+"What makes you think so, Deck?" asked the captain with a smile.
+
+"Except the Texans in the mud, there is no other cavalry in these parts.
+That's the first reason. The second is, that Major Lyon sent half the
+first company under Lieutenant Belthorpe up the railroad, and he can
+have heard nothing from this force since; and he would naturally get a
+little anxious about it. The third reason is, that he sent you and the
+rest of the first company in pursuit of the Texans. If you have not
+sent any messenger to him, I shouldn't wonder if the major had worried a
+little about you, Captain," said Deck.
+
+"I sent no messenger to him; I could not spare a single man, for I was
+liable to meet the whole company of Texans," added the captain. "But I
+think you are right, and the same suggestions came to my mind."
+
+Half an hour later the same scouts returned to the camp, and reported
+that the captain and Deck were correct in their suppositions. In a
+quarter of an hour more the second company rode into the camp. Major
+Lyon was with the detachment from the south. The moment he saw Deck, he
+leaped from his horse as lightly as his son could have done it, and
+grasped both of the hands of the sentinel.
+
+"I am glad to see you again. Dexter!" exclaimed the father. "I have had
+a deal of worry over your disappearance, and I was afraid I should have
+to send bad news to your mother and your sister."
+
+"No use of worrying about me, father," replied Deck, still holding the
+hand of the major. "I have had considerable experience to-day, but I
+have worked through it all."
+
+"But what became of you?" asked the anxious father.
+
+"I was captured by the bridge-burners, and I was only sorry that I could
+not prevent them from setting the bridge afire. I suppose it was all
+burnt up, and your business here is all a failure."
+
+"Not at all, my son; the bridge was hardly damaged at all, and a train
+has been over it twice since they tried to burn it. But I will see you
+later," added the major, as he pressed the hand of his son again.
+
+Captain Gordon was considerate enough to relieve the sentinel from duty,
+and he went with his father to the nearest camp-fire. The wagons were
+driven into the field, and a few minutes later the headquarters tent was
+pitched. Stools were placed before the fire, and all the commissioned
+officers of both companies were sent for. It looked like a council of
+war, though the object of the meeting was to receive the reports of the
+officers. For the first time since the arrival of the squadron, the two
+companies were united.
+
+Captain Gordon, as the senior, was called upon first for his report; and
+he recited it at length, ending with the skirmish at the cross-roads
+near the camp. Lieutenant Belthorpe described his wanderings with half
+the company, including his brief engagement with the Rangers.
+
+"I feel as though I should be mean if I failed to inform the officers of
+the squadron how much service Deck Lyon has rendered to me since I found
+him on the road," said Tom. "We are not on parade just now, and I
+suppose I may say it."
+
+"Dry up, Tom!" exclaimed Deck, loud enough to be heard by the speaker,
+though hardly by the others.
+
+"Not just yet, Lieutenant," interposed the major. "I don't understand
+how you happened to meet Dexter in the road; for the last he told me of
+himself was that he was taken prisoner by the enemy. I should like to
+hear his narrative first, for it may throw some light on other matters."
+
+Deck was admonished by his father to tell the whole story, without any
+omissions; and he related his adventure from the time he had first seen
+Brown Kipps. He explained how he had been duped by that worthy
+Tennesseean, and in what manner he had been tempted to shoot his four
+custodians through the back of the head.
+
+"I hope you didn't do it, Dexter," interposed his father, before he had
+come to the sequel of the affair.
+
+"I did not, father; for I feared the deed would haunt me to the last day
+of my life, be it long or short," replied Deck. "It looked like
+cold-blooded murder to me."
+
+The assembled officers applauded him vigorously with their hands; and
+the young soldier was glad to receive this testimonial of his officers,
+for to him it seemed to settle the moral question involved in his
+action.
+
+"I do not believe in carrying on the war upon peace principles; but I do
+believe that soldiers should not become assassins," added the major.
+
+The officers likewise applauded this sentiment of their commander.
+
+"We are ready to hear you now, Lieutenant Belthorpe, as I know how
+Dexter came into your path. It is important to remember that the
+bridge-burners, with their wagon and supplies of combustibles,
+proceeded to the north by the hill road. Go on, Lieutenant."
+
+Tom Belthorpe described the action with half the Rangers under
+Lieutenant Redway, and the interposition of Deck when he discovered the
+approach of the other half of the Rangers. He had retreated rather
+against his will by Deck's advice.
+
+"I think his advice was good, if he is my son," added the major.
+
+"No doubt of it; you would have been pinched between the two portions of
+the Confederate force, and outnumbered nearly two to one," added Captain
+Gordon.
+
+"I was quite satisfied in regard to the wisdom of the advice, badly as
+we desired to fight out the action, as soon as I had a chance to think
+of it," continued Tom. "Then Deck did a very neat piece of spy-work,
+which enabled us to follow the enemy without being seen or heard. The
+whole of the Rangers had come together, and they outnumbered Captain
+Gordon's command. It was Deck's suggestion to strike across lots, and
+reach the by-road; but I did not follow it in full, and divided my
+force, so that the Texans should not retreat by the way we came."
+
+"And when you came down the hill with hardly more than twenty men, the
+Texans took fright, and retreated up that by-road, where they were
+received by Sergeant Fronklyn," added Captain Gordon. "This caused them
+to seek a new avenue of escape; and they plunged into the quagmire,
+where they are now."
+
+"What you say of Deck leads me to indorse his conduct in the action on
+the east road this morning," said Captain Truman, who had said nothing
+before; and he proceeded to describe what the young man had done in that
+affair.
+
+"Pleasant as it is to hear such excellent reports of the behavior of my
+son, I must add that his brother has behaved equally well, though he has
+not had the opportunity to distinguish himself except in doing his
+simple duty," said the major. "But I have more important business than
+this, for I received new orders before I left the camp at the bridge. I
+am required to assure the safe passage of trains on the railroad first;
+but it appears that the State has been invaded in the south-east, or is
+liable to further invasion in that direction.
+
+"The worst feature of this aspect of the situation is that hordes of
+guerillas have been turned loose upon us; and even now they are engaged
+in their work of plundering and destroying the property of Union men,
+not to speak of the outrages committed upon the citizens. These
+guerillas, or some of them, take the name of 'Partisan Rangers.' Indiana
+and Ohio troops are moving in the direction mentioned; but the enemy are
+still busy there. 'The Confederate cavalry,'" continued the commander,
+reading from a letter he had taken from his pocket, "'scoured the
+country in the vicinity of their camp, arrested prominent Union men, and
+destroyed their property.' This is the situation for a hundred miles
+east of us; and I am ordered to check these raids of the guerillas with
+all my available force.
+
+"I am ordered to move without any unnecessary delay, and I shall march
+to-morrow morning. I expect a company of Union Home Guards here by
+to-morrow; and I shall be obliged to leave Captain Truman and half his
+company; but as soon as he is relieved by the infantry company, he will
+rejoin the squadron."
+
+"We have been unable to make out that there is any Confederate force in
+this vicinity, with the exception of the Rangers who are just now
+struggling with the mud in the bog meadow near us," said Captain Gordon.
+
+"How many of them are there?" asked the major.
+
+"I am sure I don't know," replied the captain.
+
+"I counted eighty-one of them, including Captain Dingfield; but some few
+of them had escaped through the mud to the hill on the other side of the
+bog," said Deck, who was always doing some useful work when he found a
+chance.
+
+"As many as that; perhaps half a company is not force enough to leave
+with you, Captain Truman," suggested the major.
+
+"Quite enough, Major Lyon; for we should have to act mainly on the
+defensive," replied the captain of the second company. "My men have
+fought the Texans once to-day; and though they are brave and daring
+fellows, they are not such terrible bugbears as they have been
+represented to be. But infantry can guard the bridge better than
+cavalry."
+
+"The infantry will probably relieve you by to-morrow. If the Texans,
+with their bridge-burners, were out of the way, I need leave no force,"
+added the major.
+
+"But we can put them out of the way very easily," suggested Captain
+Gordon.
+
+"Do you mean to shoot them down as they stick in the mud there? We are
+not murderers, Captain," replied the major sternly.
+
+"I meant nothing of the kind," returned the captain with a blush. "I
+could have ordered my men to do that before it appeared that the action
+was finished."
+
+"Pardon me, Captain; I know you are not a murderer."
+
+"They are stuck fast there, eighty-one of them, according to Deck's
+figures; and we can make prisoners of them as they get out of the bog,
+as I think they will before morning, for they have hit upon an effective
+plan."
+
+"It would take one of our companies to capture them, and to dispose of
+them as prisoners, so that we should gain nothing," replied the major,
+vetoing the plan at once. "The Union Home Guards may be here early in
+the morning, for they have had time enough to make the march."
+
+The meeting closed; and officers and privates were tired enough after
+the long day to wrap themselves in their blankets and sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
+
+
+The night passed without any alarm. The sentinels were relieved at
+regular intervals, including the two who patrolled the by-road. The
+latter complained, when others were put in their places, that they might
+as well be asleep in the camp, for they could see nothing of the Texans.
+There was only one place where they could obtain a view of them when it
+was light enough for them to see anything.
+
+The night was unusually dark, for a heavy mass of black clouds had
+rolled up from the west, promising a smart shower. The Rangers had
+extinguished their fires at an early hour in the evening, for what
+reason the guards were unable to determine; but the fact was suspicious,
+and they redoubled their vigilance. The last that had been seen of the
+bemired troopers, they were building the causeway of hay to unite with
+the one of solid rocks and earth built by the farmer to obtain access
+to his hay-field.
+
+This causeway was believed to be the only possible way to get on or off
+the meadow. Captain Gordon had made a survey of the locality in person,
+and had gone up the road as far as the house of the farmer, the only one
+in the vicinity. He had met the native in his walk, and had questioned
+him with all the skill he possessed in regard to the surroundings; for
+the fellow was not disposed to give any information. The only statement
+of any importance he could drag out of him was that the causeway was the
+only way by which the Texans could leave the meadow. The captain could
+see none himself, though he believed from his manner that the man was
+lying to him.
+
+The place looked as though there had been an immense sink-hole there at
+some remote period in the past, which had been filled up by the wash
+from the hills around it. This flow had brought down quantities of dry
+leaves and other vegetable matter; and this, with the growth of rank
+grass and weeds decaying on the spot, had formed what is called a bog in
+Ireland, and a peat meadow in the Northern States.
+
+There was fuel enough in it to supply a village for a hundred years; but
+wood was so plentiful in this region that it would not pay to cut, dry,
+and carry it to more solid ground. Whether the captain was satisfied or
+nor with his investigations, he could obtain no further information. The
+meadow seemed to be surrounded with rocky formations; though his
+knowledge of it, obtained in the darkness, was very imperfect. But he
+and his men had seen the troopers laying the causeway of hay to the one
+of earth, as though they believed this was the only avenue of escape.
+
+The two sentinels extended their beat as far as the farmer's house.
+After nine o'clock in the evening its windows were dark, and the people
+within appeared to have retired. But the big dog of the native did not
+retire with the rest of the family, and he made a rude attack upon the
+guards every time they approached the house. About midnight he had
+assailed one of the men so furiously that he was obliged to defend
+himself with his sabre; and the brute was so badly wounded that nothing
+more was seen of him. His dead body was found the next morning near the
+house; and the farmer was as furious as the canine had been, though he
+had a proper respect for carbines and sabres.
+
+When the guard was relieved after midnight, all was quiet on the meadow,
+and it was believed that the troopers had taken to their blankets. One
+of the sentinels declared that he could hear them snore; but this was
+doubtless a camp-fire exaggeration. They watched the causeway, as they
+had been instructed to do; and certainly none of the Texans came out
+that way. One of them proposed to explore the space between the by-road
+and the position of the troopers; but the other insisted that such an
+enterprise would result in certain death, for no doubt the enemy had
+sentinels whose carbines were loaded with ball cartridges.
+
+So far as the guards could report, there was no change at the by-road
+during the night. The headquarters tent had been pitched, and Major Lyon
+had been up half the night studying his maps, and repeatedly reading the
+written orders he had received, as well as a mass of newspaper cuttings
+which had been sent with them. The latter were, for the most part,
+accounts of outrages committed by Confederate cavalry of companies of
+"Partisan Rangers," and of bands who were not provided with even the
+doubtful authority of the insurrectionary government.
+
+Before daylight in the morning Major Lyon was on his feet; for he felt
+that he was loaded with a heavy responsibility. He was charged with the
+protection of the railroad bridges in the vicinity, though he was to be
+immediately relieved from this duty to enable him to assist with the
+more vigor in suppressing the guerillas and other predatory bands.
+Artie, now his orderly, slept in the tent with him, and he was sent to
+have "The Assembly of Buglers" sounded; and this is the call for the
+troopers to appear on the parade.
+
+There was a commotion at the guard quarters; and before Artie had roused
+the bugler from his slumbers, he was called by the officer of the day.
+Was Major Lyon awake? He was, for he had called his orderly.
+
+"Inform him at once that the sentinel from the by-road reports the
+disappearance of the enemy in the bog," said the officer.
+
+As soon as he received the information, the major hastened to the guard
+tent, where the sentinel who had brought the news was detained. The
+trooper repeated his information to the commander. It was hardly light
+enough in the bog to see anything, but he and his mate had satisfied
+themselves that the Rangers had all disappeared; but of how or where
+they had made their escape he had no knowledge.
+
+"Did you hear no noise of any kind?" asked the major.
+
+"Nothing at all; it was as still as a tomb all the time I was on guard,"
+replied the sentinel. "We were not sure they were gone till we walked
+out a piece on the meadow, and found the hay, of which they had made a
+road to solid ground; but it did not lead to the causeway."
+
+"Where did it lead?" demanded the major.
+
+"In the direction of the farmer's house; but we did not follow it, for
+it was decided that I should come up to the camp and report what we had
+found out."
+
+"Who was with you, More?" asked the officer of the guard.
+
+"Bunch; and he was to follow the hay-road after I left him," replied the
+sentinel.
+
+Major Lyon was very prompt in deciding upon his action, and the first
+company was soon in line, and ready to march. Deck belonged in one of
+its ranks, and Artie was in close attendance upon the commander. As the
+former had conducted the detachment "across lots" the afternoon before,
+the major sent for him; and the two young soldiers rode side by side
+behind their father, who had Captain Gordon at his side.
+
+"It seems that we are to have a long tramp of it after this; and we are
+not likely to be at home Christmas or Thanksgiving this year," said
+Artie, as the column descended the hill to the by-road.
+
+"Wherever we may be, it looks like a lively time ahead; for things seem
+to be very much mixed in the State," replied Deck.
+
+"How do you suppose the Texans got out of the mud-hole, Deck?"
+
+"I don't know; but I have no doubt the farmer who lives near it and owns
+the farm helped them out of it. He is a surly fellow, and I saw that he
+was a Secessionist when I met him."
+
+"What do these two darkies want?" asked Artie, pointing to a couple of
+colored men, who were running down the hill from the northward as though
+their very lives depended upon their speed.
+
+"Probably they are messengers who have come from the vicinity of the
+bridge by the same route I did," replied Deck, as he noticed that one
+of them was flourishing what looked like a letter in the air.
+
+The two men reached the brook before the column turned in at the
+by-road, and had a chance to catch their breath before the officers came
+up to them. They had probably seen the column come out from the camp,
+and had hurried to intercept it before it turned into the highway they
+saw ahead; and it was probable that they were familiar with the
+locality.
+
+"W'ich o' you uns is Mars'r Major Lyon?" asked the man with the letter
+of the first one he met, who happened to be Deck.
+
+"The one with the plume in his hat," replied the private. "Where do you
+come from, Cæsar?"
+
+"From de souf road; more'n a t'ousand so'diers dar. De man wid de feder
+in his hat," replied the negro, as he rushed forward to the major and
+delivered his letter, with a jumbled speech, of which the recipient took
+no notice.
+
+Major Lyon drew up his horse at the side of the brook, his sons
+remaining with him, while the column continued on the march. He tore
+open the envelope, and read the epistle written with a pencil.
+
+"Be'n a-lookin' fo' you all night, Mars'r," said the bearer. "De gin'ral
+done gib me de letter 'fo' dark, an done tell me to find you. Done tramp
+seben miles on de roleraid; but we done couldn't found you."
+
+"Where did you sleep?" asked the major, who was evidently pleased with
+the information contained in the letter.
+
+"In a swotch-house," replied the messenger, who was very much confused,
+and his small stock of English was badly mixed. "In a swotch-house on de
+roleraid."
+
+"He means a switch-house," laughed Deck, who could not see why the
+fellow upset his words so badly.
+
+The major read the missive a second time, and then took a sort of
+portfolio from his pocket, and hastily wrote a reply to it, which he
+folded and pinned together in the absence of an envelope.
+
+"How did you find us this morning?" asked the major.
+
+"We done find de hoss-tracks an' de wagon-tracks, an' we follers dem."
+
+"Here's a dollar for your service; but don't spend it for apple-jack, my
+boy," said the major, as he handed a couple of half-dollars to the
+messengers. "You may go to the camp yonder, and get something to eat, if
+you like, before you return."
+
+The men were grateful; and the one who received the money gave half of
+it to his companion. The major and his orderlies hurried forward, and
+found that Captain Gordon had halted the company at the causeway, where
+the inquiry must begin.
+
+"The Home Guards arrived at the bridge last night, and the captain of
+the company reports to me as directed. I have written out what
+information I have to give him, and you will send a couple of your men
+to deliver the paper."
+
+Two troopers were despatched at once as the bearers of the order. It was
+possible that the men might encounter some of the Rangers who had
+escaped from the other side of the meadow; and they were cautioned by
+the major to be on the lookout for them, and to return as soon as
+possible. They departed at a gallop, which promised a speedy return.
+
+"One thing is plain enough: the Texans did not come out of the mire by
+this causeway," said the major, as he turned his attention to the
+question under consideration.
+
+"The sentinels were here all night," replied Captain Gordon.
+
+"But we can easily discover where they did escape," added the commander
+as he dismounted, indicating that he intended to conduct the inquiry
+personally; and Deck and Artie followed his example. "Detail ten men to
+go with us, dismounted, and you will go with us, Captain."
+
+Deck and Artie were directed to go ahead as guides. They descended the
+causeway, and came to the sod that covered and concealed the mud
+beneath. The turf was strong enough to support men on foot, as had been
+seen the afternoon before in the movements of the Rangers. But the hoofs
+of the horses cut through it, and they were mired as soon as they
+advanced, though some of them wallowed a considerable distance before
+they gave up the struggle.
+
+The meadow was nearly round in form, and about half a mile in diameter.
+The orderlies, as both of them soon came to be called, advanced safely,
+though they were compelled to avoid the places where the Texans' horses
+had cut up the sod and brought the mud to the surface. The material of
+the hay causeway, which had at first been extended in the direction of
+the solid one, had been removed; but leading from the brook, towards a
+point above the farmer's house, they saw the one that must have been
+used by the Rangers.
+
+The two haystacks seen the day before had been entirely removed, and the
+road built of it was about a foot deep of hay. The officers and the ten
+men followed the guides; and the hay causeway conducted them to an
+inclined plane built of old boards and planks, which the party mounted,
+and came to a field near the road. The mysterious disappearance of the
+Texans was fully explained.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+THE RIVERLAWN CAVALRY CHANGES BASE
+
+
+The first thing Major Lyon did when he reached the road, and the
+disappearance of the Texans was no longer mysterious, was to take from
+his pocket his map of the county. He found the hill road, and the one
+where they stood.
+
+"If the sentinel who reported that he could hear the Rangers snore in
+the bog told the truth, the enemy got some rest last night," said the
+major, addressing Captain Gordon.
+
+"But he did not hear them snore; that was absurd," replied the captain.
+"If they had been snoring, he could not have heard them; for they were
+at work too far from him. If he heard anything, it must have been the
+bubbling of the brook; but probably it was all in his imagination. But
+what is the point in regard to the snoring, Major Lyon?"
+
+"If the Rangers worked all night, and did not get any sleep, they are
+too tired and sleepy this morning to make a long march," replied the
+commander.
+
+"Then you think they have camped at some place not far from us?" asked
+the captain.
+
+"I only think it is possible they have done so. Captain Dingfield
+appeared to be badly wounded, from all reports; and I doubt if there is
+as much strategy in his brain to-day as he had yesterday. I shall not
+make a business of pursuing him."
+
+"It would be a good thing for this part of the State if he could be
+cleaned out entirely, bagged, and his company sent to Louisville as
+prisoners," suggested Captain Gordon.
+
+"No doubt of it; but it would be hardly consistent with the orders I
+have just received for me to delay in this section to carry out your
+idea. We are more needed elsewhere than here."
+
+"Then we are to march on a sort of roving commission to the eastward,
+where the Confederates are breaking through from Tennessee, it appears."
+
+"It amounts to that, though my orders are very explicit," replied the
+major, as he led the way back to the narrow pass where the company had
+been halted. "The situation here is not so bad as it was. We have saved
+the bridge; and the Home Guards which arrived there last night are
+described as consisting of good men, who will be mustered into a
+Kentucky regiment as soon as circumstances permit; and Captain Woodward,
+who commands it, is an old soldier, and likely to be made a colonel."
+
+"Then the bridge will be safe."
+
+"It can be better defended by infantry than by cavalry alone; both would
+do better than either. Captain Dingfield and his bridge-burners have
+been sent to the north, and I have no doubt he intends to join them
+there. To follow him would keep me some days, if not a week, from the
+more pressing duty assigned to me," reasoned the commander.
+
+"I understand it better now," added the captain.
+
+"I have been informed that troops have been sent to the vicinity of
+Munfordville, in Hart County, where the railroad bridge has been partly
+destroyed, though a temporary structure has been built to replace it. I
+think Dingfield means to go there, and complete the work others failed
+to finish."
+
+"I hope we shall find the guerillas, or whatever they are; and I believe
+our boys will soon make an end of them," said the captain with
+enthusiasm. "Your orders permit you to go where you please, Major."
+
+"They do; for it was not possible for those charged with the protection
+of the State to inform me definitely where the guerillas were to be
+found, as they are continually changing their locality, though I have
+some papers to aid me. I am not a little surprised at the confidence
+placed in me by my superiors, who send me on a mission with no definite
+instructions."
+
+"All the details of the fights at Riverlawn and its vicinity are known
+to them; for I have taken care that they should not be ignorant in
+regard to you."
+
+"But I have just become a soldier," added the major modestly.
+
+"Then it runs in the blood, and it has got as far down as Deck," said
+Captain Gordon, laughing, as they came to the company.
+
+The party mounted, and rode back at a gallop to the camp. The cooks of
+the company had prepared an unusually good breakfast, which was disposed
+of with a relish, stimulated by three days' feeding from the haversacks
+of the troopers. As soon as it was finished, the order was given to
+"break camp;" and, as it had been hardly more than a bivouac, the work
+was speedily accomplished, and the two companies were soon in line.
+
+While these preparations were in progress, the major was studying his
+county map. What little baggage had been taken from the wagons was soon
+loaded again. There was little for the officers to do, after the orders
+had been given.
+
+"We are about ready to march," said Captain Gordon, approaching the
+commander, who had seated himself on a log near the road.
+
+"I am all ready," replied the major, as he glanced at Artie, who was
+holding his horse near him. "Of course Dingfield followed this by-road,
+which will take him to another by which he can reach Munfordville, if he
+is going there. We will take the same road; and if the Rangers are
+resting themselves in camp after the fatigues of the day and night, we
+may have a chance to pay our respects to them."
+
+"I should like one more slap at them; for they ran away so rapidly that
+I did not get a fair hit at them," added the captain.
+
+"But they are brave men, and we outnumber them two to one. Truman says
+they fought like tigers on the east road."
+
+"That is true, and that is the reason I should like to meet them again;
+for I believe there is not a braver or more reliable body of men in the
+Union army than the Riverlawn Cavalry; and I am not a Kentuckian
+either."
+
+"Neither am I by birth, though I am by adoption; and I am precisely of
+your opinion in regard to our men," added the major as he mounted his
+horse; and his orderlies did the same.
+
+Deck was at home again in the saddle; for Ceph had come to the camp with
+the second company. After the prisoners at the bridge had been disposed
+of, the wounded had been cared for by sending them in one of the
+captured wagons to Riverlawn, consigned to the care of Levi Bedford; for
+a hospital had been established there for the wounded in the battles
+with the ruffians.
+
+The column moved down the road, and turned into that which the Rangers
+had used in their escape. As the right of the line approached the house
+of the farmer, that worthy presented himself before the officers; and he
+appeared to be mad enough to swallow half-a-dozen Yankees. Possibly he
+thought the squadron had started in pursuit of the Texans.
+
+"I want to know who's ter pay me for that dog o' mine some o' you uns
+killed last night," he broke out, walking along by the side of the major
+and Captain Gordon. "That critter was wuth a hund'ed dollars, and that's
+what I want you uns to pay me before you go any furder."
+
+"Are you a loyal citizen of the United States?" asked Major Lyon.
+
+"I'm nothin' o' that sort!" replied the native, who began to heap curses
+and maledictions on the government. "The' ain't no United States! She's
+done busted all to pieces!"
+
+The major made no reply, and had not even stopped his horse. The fellow
+followed him; but he took no further notice of the irate Secessionist,
+rather to the amusement of Captain Gordon and others within hearing. But
+the farmer was soon tired of addressing one who treated him with silent
+contempt, and seated himself on a stump to observe the procession.
+
+Two skilful scouts, one of whom was Life Knox, had already been sent
+forward to search for any indications of the camp of the Texans. The
+squadron soon reached another road running through a valley. The major
+had learned from his map that it connected with the east road in one
+direction, and the hill-road in the other.
+
+The column halted to wait for the return of the scouts. Knox and his
+companion soon appeared, and reported that he had followed this road to
+its junction with the hill-road, without seeing anything of the enemy.
+
+"They ain't within ten miles of here," added the Kentuckian. "I got so I
+know the tracks o' them Texas hosses, and I follered 'em five miles.
+They don't want nothin' more o' the Riverlawn Cavalry."
+
+This information settled the point so far as the Rangers were concerned,
+and nothing was seen of them, though they appeared in some skirmishes
+farther north. The Indian craft of Knox had proved to be very useful,
+and he was a great favorite with both officers and men. The march was
+resumed; but the events of the next two days on the road are not of
+interest enough to be reported. At the end of this time the squadron
+were in the territory described in the orders of the commander, and
+active work was expected.
+
+Just before sunset the battalion halted on the outskirts of a small
+village, and went into camp there. The American flag was hoisted on a
+pole planted for the purpose, in order that the inhabitants of the
+vicinity might make no mistake in regard to the character of the force.
+Not only the negroes and loungers to be found in every village flocked
+to the camp, but some of the influential citizens appeared on the
+ground. The guard kept them outside of the lines. A person on
+horse-back, who had the air and manner of the genuine Kentucky
+gentleman, attracted the attention of Major Lyon, who was desirous of
+obtaining information on the spot in regard to the sentiments of the
+people.
+
+"Who is the gentleman on horse-back?" he asked of a well-dressed negro,
+who looked like an intelligent man; for the commander suspected that he
+was a Secessionist, though he had no reason for supposing that he was
+such.
+
+"That is Colonel Coffee, sir, the biggest man in these parts," replied
+the colored man.
+
+"How does he stand on the war question? Do you happen to know?"
+continued the major.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the man with a smile; "everybody within twenty miles
+of this village knows which side Colonel Coffee is on, sir."
+
+"Well, which side is he on?" demanded the commander, who saw that the
+gentleman was approaching him.
+
+"He's a Union man all over and all through; and the people are trying to
+get up a Home Guard to protect his place--that's the one you see on the
+side of the hill. We expect the gorillas down here."
+
+"You have named them well, my friend," added the major with a laugh. "Do
+you know where there are any of them?"
+
+"No, sir; they are like flies, and don't make nests anywhere. I reckon
+Colonel Coffee wants to speak to you, sir; for I suppose you are an
+officer of this company," added the man, who retired at the approach of
+the great man of the locality.
+
+The magnate of the county rode up to the major, and saluted him with
+courtly grace; and though the latter was not brought up in a
+drawing-room, he was as polite as the occasion required.
+
+"I am exceedingly happy to see that flag hoisted over a body of military
+in this county," said the colonel, with a cheerful smile, as he pointed
+with his riding-whip at the emblem of the Union.
+
+"I am very glad to be where there are those who appreciate the flag,"
+added the major.
+
+"I am only sorry that you will find so few of them in this
+neighborhood," returned the dignified Kentuckian. "We are threatened by
+roving bands of plunderers to the east and south of us, and for the last
+week I have expected to walk away from my place by the light of my
+burning house. I live in that one on the side of the hill."
+
+"I hope we shall be able to put an end to this state of affairs at once,
+Colonel Coffee," replied the major.
+
+"You know my name," said the magnate with a smile.
+
+"I asked it of that negro."
+
+"He is the village barber, and a very intelligent man. May I ask whom I
+have the honor to address?" inquired the colonel.
+
+"Major Lyon, in command of a squadron of United States cavalry," replied
+the officer.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Major, personally, and especially to see you
+at Greeltop; for we are greatly in need of efficient protection,"
+returned the colonel. "I have heard all about you before."
+
+"I am equally happy to meet you, Colonel Coffee; for I am at present in
+urgent need of full information in regard to the condition of affairs in
+this section."
+
+"I shall be pleased to have you dine with me, and we can talk over
+matters at our leisure in my library."
+
+Major Lyon excused himself from the dinner, and invited the colonel to
+his tent, which had been set up by this time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE MAGNATE OF GREELTOP'S VISIT
+
+
+The cavalrymen had been duly drilled in all the details of forming a
+camp; and in a short time the tents were pitched, the pickets set up for
+the horses, and the cooks were busy in preparing supper. The
+headquarters tent was the first to be arranged, as soon as the major had
+indicated its location. Colonel Coffee was invited to take a camp-stool;
+for they do not have sofas and armchairs in a camp.
+
+"I have been pleading with the officials for the last two weeks to
+attend to the security of this region," said the colonel, as he seated
+himself. "I have wondered every day during the last week that Greeltop
+has not been sacked, and all our houses burned down; for there is a
+great deal of Union sentiment in the place."
+
+"Then the place must be particularly liable to an assault from the
+guerillas," suggested the major.
+
+"We have tried to form a Home Guard here for the protection of the
+village, and we have a little band of about twenty men; but most of our
+young and middle-aged men have left the place to enlist in the loyal
+army, so that we have not much stock of which to form a company. But our
+little band keep a picket of five or ten of their number in the
+outskirts of the village, to warn us of the approach of an enemy."
+
+"We shall soon relieve them of that duty."
+
+"Our men are not soldiers, for they have had no training; but they are
+made up of fighting material. Though I am sixty-five years old, I belong
+to the company; and I have just returned from patrolling the region to
+the eastward of us."
+
+While he listened to the visitor, Major Lyon had spread out his map,
+which included the locality; and with the assistance of the colonel he
+obtained a clear idea of the surface of the country, the first requisite
+for a military commander. While they were still busy over the map, the
+sentinel at the entrance to the tent drew aside the curtain, and saluted
+the commander.
+
+"A messenger in a great hurry to see Colonel Coffee," said he.
+
+"Admit him," replied the major promptly.
+
+A gentleman dressed in a black coat with a standing collar to it,
+encircled with a belt, in which was secured a pair of navy revolvers,
+entered the tent, out of breath with excitement of running.
+
+"The Rev. Mr. Elbroon, Major Lyon, one of our Home Guard," said the
+colonel as soon as the clergyman appeared at the entrance.
+
+There was nothing clerical in his appearance except the standing collar
+of his coat; and the revolvers especially belied his profession.
+
+"The Lord be praised for his great mercy!" exclaimed the minister, as
+soon as he could get breath for utterance.
+
+"What is the matter, Joseph?" asked the magnate of Greeltop very
+familiarly.
+
+"The guerillas are coming!" exclaimed the reverend gentleman.
+
+"Where are they?" asked the colonel, as coolly as though he had been in
+command of a regiment for years.
+
+"They are coming down by the mountain road back of your mansion!"
+gasped Mr. Elbroon, who was evidently very much alarmed, and could
+hardly speak in his fatigue and excitement.
+
+"Sentinel!" called the major sharply.
+
+The man appeared at once.
+
+"Where is Captain Gordon?"
+
+"He is close by, Major."
+
+"Ask him to come to my tent."
+
+"Sit down, Joseph," said the colonel, giving his stool to his friend and
+his fellow-soldier, it appeared. "You don't gain anything by blowing
+yourself out."
+
+"But this is no time to sit down," replied the excited minister, though
+he took the proffered seat.
+
+Captain Gordon appeared immediately.
+
+"A raid of guerillas on the place, Captain! Have the first company ready
+to march in three minutes!" said the commander in hurried tones.
+
+The captain retired in haste, without asking any questions; and a moment
+later the bugles were heard sounding the assembly. The major buckled on
+his sword, and sent out an order for his horse.
+
+"Thank the good Lord that the military have come at last!" exclaimed
+Mr. Elbroon, as he crossed his arms on his breast, and looked up to
+heaven in earnest prayer. "But we are wasting time, Colonel; and I am
+afraid we shall see your beautiful mansion in flames before we can get
+there."
+
+"If we do, it will go up in a good cause," replied the magnate, with a
+smile on his dignified face. "I can afford to lose it better than some
+of the poor people of the village could their houses. But cool off,
+Joseph; you are still all in a flutter."
+
+"I will try to do so," replied the clerical soldier, "I saw them coming
+when I was on the top of the mountain. I hurried my poor horse till he
+broke down under me; and I had to run on foot the rest of the way."
+
+"Rest yourself, Joseph. If you saw the guerillas from the top of the
+mountain, there is no hurry; for they will not reach my house this
+half-hour," added the colonel.
+
+"You shall have another horse, my reverend friend," interposed the
+commander, as he ordered the sentinel to send for a spare steed.
+
+"Now, Joseph, where were the guerillas when you saw them?" inquired the
+magnate.
+
+"They were on the Cliff Road, just coming around the bend."
+
+"That is four miles from my house, and five from here," continued the
+colonel.
+
+"But I have been a long time coming here," suggested Mr. Elbroon.
+
+"Excuse me, Colonel Coffee; I should like a little more definite
+information in regard to the road by which these guerillas will approach
+the village," interposed the commander.
+
+"I don't think they will approach the village at all, Major Lyon. I have
+not the remotest doubt that my mansion is their objective point; and
+they will first plunder that."
+
+"We will take care that they don't do anything of the sort. Have you any
+idea how many there were in the company you saw, Mr. Elbroon?"
+
+"I could see them marching along under the cliff; I should say there
+were not less than fifty of them," replied the clergyman. "I did not
+wait to count them, but hurried to the village, where I inquired of
+everybody for Colonel Coffee. The barber told me he was here."
+
+"Company formed," reported the sentinel at the door.
+
+"We are ready now, gentlemen," said the major, as he passed out of the
+tent, followed by the others.
+
+"The spare horse ordered, Major," said the sentinel, as he led him up.
+
+The clerical gentleman was invited to mount this animal, which had been
+ridden by one of the men killed; and the colonel mounted his own steed.
+The commander took his horse, which was led by Deck, while Artie had
+brought up the spare steed. The animal was a higher-spirited beast than
+the parson had been in the habit of riding, and Artie had to take him by
+the head to prevent him from running away; for he was one of the colts
+of the Riverlawn planter's stock.
+
+"My orderlies will ride with me," said the major; "I may want them.
+Captain Truman, you will have the second company in marching order, in
+case I send for them, though I don't know what this affair will amount
+to; and you will leave a guard at the camp if you are called away."
+
+The order was given to Captain Gordon to march. The commander led the
+column at full gallop, with the colonel at his side, and the orderlies
+in the rear of them. In less than a minute they came to a road turning
+off at the left, leading in the direction of the magnate's mansion. It
+was situated on the side of a hill, and near the top of it. The
+elevation was elliptical in form, and the loftiest part was not more
+than sixty feet high, at the summit of which was a Chinese pagoda,
+painted in gaudy colors.
+
+There was a valley behind it; for the major could see the tops of some
+tall trees, whose roots must be far below the top of the elliptical
+hill. Beyond it were what the colonel called the mountains, though
+probably not one of them was more than five hundred feet high. The
+column followed the road into which it had turned till it came to
+another; and here the major ordered the captain to halt his company.
+
+"Here is another road, Colonel Coffee; and it passes behind the hill
+which you call Greeltop," said the commander.
+
+"Precisely so," replied the magnate, who thought the major had acquired
+a very good knowledge of the locality when he had been there hardly more
+than an hour.
+
+"Captain Gordon, you will go that way with half your company, and
+Lieutenant Gilder will follow me," said Major Lyon. "The road through
+the valley unites with the one from the mountains, by which the
+guerillas must approach the village. You will move cautiously as you
+come near this road, and halt there till you hear firing on your right."
+
+"You can hardly call it a road through the valley, though the captain
+can get through without any difficulty," interposed the magnate. "It is
+all a grove, but the ground has been cleared off."
+
+"Dexter, you will call Knox, and scout the road ahead of us. Don't let
+the enemy see you, and obey the orders of the sergeant," continued the
+major, as the first platoon rode off.
+
+Life Knox was called from his place in the ranks, and the order of the
+commander given to him. It was the kind of duty the sergeant liked; for
+he was more at home there than in following military forms; though he
+was a faithful and obedient soldier, and his captain wished he had a
+hundred more like him.
+
+"Here we go again, Deck," said the sergeant, as they galloped up the
+road, by the entrance to Colonel Coffee's estate. "Your pa does well to
+send me along with you this time, and not leave you alone as he did on
+that bridge."
+
+"But I can take care of myself, and I did that time; for I came back
+like a bad penny," replied Deck.
+
+"You managed fust-rate, my boy; and if you live to be as old as the
+white-haired owner of this place, you will be a brigadier-general; and I
+hope I shall be an orderly sergeant under you."
+
+"You are a good deal more likely to become a brigadier-general than I
+am, though I may get to be a corporal some time. You may be
+major-general; for you understand war much better than most of us."
+
+"That can't never be, Deck. I hain't got the eddication to be anything
+more than a non-commissioned officer," said Knox, shaking his head, and
+hurrying on his horse.
+
+"It wouldn't be just the thing for a brigadier-general to say
+'eddication,'" replied Deck.
+
+"What would you call it? I didn't pay much attention to my eddication
+when I was a young cub, and have been sorry for it ever sence. What do
+you call it, Deck?"
+
+"Ed-u-ca-tion."
+
+"But I can't say it like that."
+
+"Yes, you can. You have a brother named Edward, and you call him Ed when
+you speak of him. Now say this, Life, 'Ed, you can.'"
+
+"'Ed, you can.'"
+
+"Good! Now say, 'Ed, you, Kate,'" which was the name he had given the
+mare he rode.
+
+"'Ed, you, Kate.'"
+
+"Exactly; and it is just as easy to say 'educate' as 'eddicate.' Try
+it."
+
+He did it as well as though he had been to college.
+
+"You will be a brigadier-general if you keep on; for you know more now
+than half of them who pronounce their words correctly," added Deck,
+reining in his horse as they came to another road. "This is the one we
+are to follow, I think."
+
+"I reckon 'tis; and we won't edicate--ed-u-cate--no more jest now."
+
+"I don't see anything of any guerillas yet."
+
+"They hain't got along," replied Knox, as he reined in his horse and
+looked about him.
+
+There was something peculiar about the place which attracted the
+attention of the Kentuckian. The road passed through a round open
+space. On one side was a broad gateway that led by a winding driveway to
+the front door of the colonel's mansion.
+
+"This would be a nice place to meet them gorillas," said Knox, as he
+looked about him. "Now get in there, Deck," and he pointed to the open
+gateway, and led his mate into it. "You hold Kate while I look inter
+this thing afoot;" and he slid from his horse to the ground.
+
+He followed the road, concealing himself as much as possible in the
+shadow of the trees.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+LIFE KNOX ON THE MOUNTAIN ROAD
+
+
+Life Knox contrived in one way or another to keep his tall form out of
+sight of any person who happened to be in the vicinity of his
+operations. Deck Lyon had told him the nature of the present enterprise,
+so that he understood perfectly the work in which he was engaged. When
+he reached the east end of the valley, behind the colonel's mansion, he
+was aware that Captain Gordon, with Lieutenant Belthorpe's platoon of
+the company, was posted here; but they were so well concealed, in
+accordance with the orders, that he could not see them, or even the
+pickets sent out by the officer.
+
+It was nearly dark, and Knox thought it was time for the enemy to
+appear, if they intended to accomplish anything that day; but it
+occurred to the Kentuckian that they "chose darkness because their deeds
+were evil." He could neither see nor hear anything that indicated the
+approach of mounted men. He walked up the gentle declivity of the
+mountain road, and found a country better adapted to his work than
+nearer the village. He found one of the knolls which abound in this
+region, and he cut his way through the brambles and bushes to the top of
+it; for he saw that it commanded a view of what was called the Cliff
+Road, though he did not know it by this name.
+
+The marauders had passed the cliffs, and had halted on a little hill in
+the road, evidently to make their final preparations for the assault
+upon the village. He counted twenty-eight mounted men,--for the
+guerillas were not more than a hundred yards from him,--and there was a
+considerable number of men on foot, among whom the scout noted two or
+three negroes. He looked upon them with interest, and had an excellent
+opportunity to observe them. The mounted men seemed to be engaged in a
+discussion which became warm, judging from the gestures of some of those
+engaged in it.
+
+Knox made up his mind that these ruffians were not regular troops,
+though they might be one of the "Partisan" bands, of which he had heard
+something from Deck. The men on foot appeared to be vagabonds and
+"bummers," eager to share in the spoils of the expedition. The colonel
+and the clergyman were perfectly confident that the mansion of the
+former was the objective point of the Partisans. They knew it would be
+rich in plunder, which was doubtless the sole purpose of the marauders;
+for they could do nothing in this manner to advance the cause of the
+Confederate States.
+
+Knox had a distinct method of treating the present problem; and though
+he commanded nothing, he thought he could bring it about. If he had been
+in communication with one of the principal officers of the squadron, he
+would have stated his plan to him. He had observed a portion of the
+ground not seen by the others, and could easily divine the intended
+movements of the commander of the guerillas, if there was any such
+personage among them. They had begun to move; and Life thought it was
+time for him to do the same. He descended the knoll, and took a position
+by the side of the mountain road, in a clump of bushes.
+
+He had hardly taken a favorable place to observe the approach of the
+brigands, when he discovered a couple of men approaching from the town,
+mounted and armed. They were hard-looking ruffians, and the sergeant did
+not like the appearance of them. He had but a moment to consider, and he
+did his thinking on the double-quick. The guerillas could not be aware
+that a squadron of United States cavalry had just arrived at Greeltop.
+If they had known this fact they would not have come; and if informed of
+it now, they would take to their heels, and make the dust fly till they
+reached a safe retreat.
+
+The two mounted men coming from the village looked ugly and reckless
+enough to be brigands; and Life promptly concluded that they had heard
+of the approach of the marauders, and were going out to warn them of the
+presence of the troops in the place. Each of them carried an old
+flintlock gun, which might have seen service in the time of Daniel
+Boone, and had a package strapped on behind his saddle. Possibly they
+belonged to the band of mounted men, and were going out to join them
+with the important news they had obtained.
+
+"Where are you uns bound?" demanded Knox, breaking out of his covert,
+and planting himself in the road in front of them.
+
+The Kentuckian was as prudent as he was brave; but if these brigands
+were permitted to proceed, the business of the Riverlawn Cavalry would
+be ended in this immediate locality for the present. The enemy before
+him were two to his one; but he did not appear to take this fact into
+consideration.
+
+"Who are you?" shouted the foremost of the pair in a ferocious tone, as
+though he expected to frighten the stalwart inquirer, and with a volley
+of oaths which startled the Kentuckian, who, maugre his varied
+experience, was a high-toned man morally, and never used any profane
+expletives.
+
+"I am in command of this road jest now; and no one, not even Gov'nor
+McGoffin hisself, could pass out the way you uns is go'n'," replied
+Life.
+
+"I reckon we uns is gwine out," replied the spokesman of the pair.
+
+"I reckon not," added the sergeant, as he seized the bridle of the
+fellow's Rosinante, whisked him around, pointing him to the village, and
+giving him a slap to set him going.
+
+If the brigand had any bad blood in his veins, this decided action was
+sufficient to make it boil; and he brought up his old flintlock, and
+began to point it at the "commander of that road just then," and would
+no doubt have put some of the contents of the rusty barrel through his
+head or chest, if Life had waited for him to do so. He did not; and he
+did not even take the trouble to unsling the loaded carbine at his back,
+but, reaching up, seized the brigand by the throat, and dragged him from
+his horse, planting him very solidly on the ground.
+
+The ruffian seemed to be as powerless as an infant in his grasp. Knox
+then snatched the gun from his hands; but the man, clinging to it, came
+up with it. The sergeant shook him off as he would a fly, and he fell
+all in a heap on the ground again. Life tossed the weapon over the fence
+into the bushes. The brigand sprang to his feet, and with a long knife
+in his hand rushed upon his herculean assailant.
+
+Knox bestowed a blow on the arm with the blade at the end of it, which
+was heavy enough to break the bone; and the weapon dropped in the road.
+Then he seized the brigand by the throat again, and batted him over the
+head with his iron fist, causing him to drop limp and senseless on the
+ground. The other ruffian, who did not seem to be so desperate a
+character, looked as though he were paralyzed by the vigorous treatment
+of his companion; but he had by this time recovered enough of his
+self-possession to think of his own safety; and he attempted to run by
+the Kentuckian, in the direction of the guerillas.
+
+"You're go'n' the wrong way, Chopsticks," said Life, seizing the bridle
+of the horse, and bringing him up with a shock which nearly unseated the
+rider. "You're bound for the village, and that's the way your go'n',"
+continued Knox, as he unslung his carbine, standing in front of the
+horse.
+
+"I want to go the other way; and I reckon you'll git hung to one o'
+these big trees for what you've jest did," said the second ruffian.
+
+"I ain't go'n' to hang jest yet; and you're go'n' back to the village
+whether you want to or not," replied Knox. "If you move without leave
+from the commander of this road, a ball from his carbine will worry its
+way through that head o' yourn."
+
+[Illustration: "The ruffian seemed to be as powerless as an infant in
+his grasp."]
+
+As he spoke, the sergeant wrenched the gun from the hand of the
+ruffian, and tossed it after the other. He seemed to be enjoying the
+little scene in which he was the principal actor, and he was as unmoved
+as though he had been taking his coffee and hard-tack at a camp-fire.
+The horse of the disabled brigand still stood within reach; and, picking
+up his first victim, he laid him, face down, across the saddle, as he
+would have done a bag of grain. Then he led the steed, with his load, to
+the side of the uninjured ruffian, and handed the rein to him.
+
+"Now you can go back to the village where you kim from, and take this
+load of carri'n with you. If you feel as if you wanted to jine that band
+of ruffins as is comin' this way, the lead from this little piece will
+ketch you."
+
+He hit the horse of the rider a slap with the breech of his carbine, and
+started him on his way. The sergeant was not a reckless man; though for
+the sake of the old flag he worshipped he would have attacked any six
+men that assailed it. He had time now to look out for the business of
+his mission, though the scene described had occupied but a few minutes
+of his time. Taking the side of the road, he walked a short distance in
+the direction of the mountains, when he heard the tramp of the horses
+of the ruffian band.
+
+A moment later he saw the head of the column appear at a bend in the
+road; and it was time for him to begin his retreat. Taking to the bushes
+in the field, he made his way back to the valley where Captain Gordon
+was posted; but he could see nothing of him. He was in no hurry, and he
+walked a short distance into the valley. One of the pickets showed
+himself then; and Knox sent word to the captain that the guerillas would
+arrive in about fifteen minutes.
+
+Then he returned to the road, and followed it as long as he could see
+the column of brigands approaching. He came to a bend in the highway;
+and there he discovered the ruffian with the "load of carrion" on the
+led horse, with Deck interviewing him.
+
+"You don't want nothin' o' that piece o' rot, Deck!" he shouted to his
+mate on the scout.
+
+"But he says he and his friend have been nearly killed by the ruffians
+that are coming to take the village, and been robbed of their guns,"
+replied Deck, when the sergeant came up to him.
+
+"He is a liar, and so is the feller that is takin' a nap on the hoss. I
+did all the mischief that was done to them; for they was go'n' to tell
+the cutthroats yonder the last news from Greeltop, and I thought it
+wasn't best for them to go that way. Drive on, Be'lzebub!" said the
+sergeant, as he gave the horse a slap; and he went on, dragging the
+"load of carrion" along with him.
+
+"Have you seen anything of the guerillas, Life?" asked Deck.
+
+"Seen the whole on 'em; and I wish we had a meal-bag big enough to hold
+the whole on 'em, and I'd put 'em into it; but I reckon we shall bag the
+whole on 'em, if we hain't got no sack."
+
+"How many of them are there, Life?"
+
+"I reckon them two swinktoms I sent back belonged to the gang; and if
+they had j'ined the rest of the crowd, it would 'a' made thirty mounted
+men," replied Knox. "But they've got as many more without hosses or
+mules. They're a jolly lot o' rag'muffins. You'll see 'em in a few
+minutes; but I'll ride back and tell the major about it. You stay here,
+and keep out o' sight; for we don't want any of the blocusses to see one
+of our uniforms, for that would sp'ile the stew all to onct."
+
+Knox arranged this matter with Deck while he was mounting his horse. He
+went off at full gallop down the slope, and turned into the road that
+led by the front of Colonel Coffee's house. He found the second platoon
+of his company posted a short distance from the corner. He saw the major
+and his party, including Mr. Elbroon and some other citizens of the
+place, and dashed up to them with a grand flourish, saluting his
+commander as he did so. Life was in high feather, and thought it in
+order to make a proper impression upon the spectators, of whom not a few
+had gathered near the spot, perhaps expecting to see a battle.
+
+The sergeant reported to the major, who had withdrawn himself from his
+friends, giving the number and present location of the advancing gang;
+but no one else was permitted to hear him.
+
+"I reckon I oughtn't to say nothin' more, Major Lyon; but I'm afeerd
+some o' them blocusses will git off; and it would do the whole crowd
+good to hang 'em higher'n Haman."
+
+"We will attend to the hanging, if there is to be any, after the fight;
+but if you have any suggestion to make, Knox, I will hear it," replied
+the commander.
+
+"I left Deck squarin' the great circle round the corner; and he'll let
+you know jest as soon as the gang comes in sight."
+
+"We will attend to them as soon as we get the opportunity," added the
+major rather impatiently.
+
+"I'm afeerd you won't hit 'em jest right; for I believe you can bag the
+whole on 'em. That circle's a holy good place for a fight, and"--
+
+"Station yourself at the corner, Knox, and make a signal when it is the
+right time for the platoon to advance," interposed the commander, who
+thought the Kentuckian was making a long story of it.
+
+"Good, Major!" exclaimed Life, who had the matter as he wanted it now;
+and he dashed off for the corner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+THE SKIRMISH IN THE GREAT CIRCLE
+
+
+Probably the leader of the marauders hurried the march of his followers
+as the Falstaffian column approached the village, in order to prevent
+the news of their coming from being circulated too soon. At any rate,
+Deck came down the slope at the best speed Ceph could make some time
+before the sergeant expected to see him.
+
+"Coming, be they, Deck?" inquired he when Deck reined in before him.
+
+"They are hurrying up, pounding their horses with their heels and the
+butts of their guns," replied Deck. "I don't believe there is a nag in
+the procession that can make over six miles an hour."
+
+"Have they left the blocusses on foot behind?"
+
+"No; but I fancy they are about out of wind by this time, for they are
+running to keep up."
+
+"All right, Deck. I have seen your pa, and you can go down and tell him
+all you know; for I am posted here to signal him when the right time
+for him to move has come."
+
+Deck obeyed the order; but he had nothing special to report, except the
+nearer approach of the ruffians. He fell back when he had said what he
+had to say, and watched eagerly for the signal from the sergeant. He was
+to keep near the major, to carry his orders if any were to be sent out;
+but this would not prevent him from taking part in the fight. Even his
+father had provided himself with a sabre, which he was ready to wield in
+the conflict if occasion required; not otherwise. The carbines of the
+platoon had been unslung, and the men were in readiness to fire a volley
+when the time came.
+
+"There is Knox's signal, father!" exclaimed Deck, as the major had
+turned away to answer a question of the colonel.
+
+The commander had seen the sergeant waving his cap very vigorously at
+the corner. The time had come. The colonel and the clergyman, with those
+surrounding them, were the only ones who were excited. The platoon was
+as steady as though it was to march to a prayer-meeting.
+
+"Gallop--march!" said the major to Lieutenant Gilder, who was in command
+of the body.
+
+Both the magnate and the minister had provided themselves with rifles,
+and insisted upon doing their share of the fighting, though Major Lyon
+assured them that he had force enough to handle double that of the
+enemy. The lieutenant gave the orders in detail, and the command was off
+in a moment. The major rode on the flank of the platoon, and the
+citizens followed him. Deck kept at the side of his father. Artie was
+with the captain; and his office was to carry any report or information
+to the major, if the circumstances should require.
+
+We prefer to look through the eyes of Deck at the scene that followed.
+As soon as he reached the corner, somewhat in advance of the body of the
+company, he discovered the enemy. The mounted men were riding at the
+best speed of the miserable animals on which they were mounted; and very
+soon they reached what Knox called "the great circle," which was laid
+out to set off the grand entrance to Greeltop, the name of the estate of
+the colonel; and the village had taken its designation from the stately
+mansion and grounds. Before they reached this arena, they set up a
+series of frightful yells, evidently intended to intimidate the people
+of the village, and make them believe that the imps of the infernal
+regions had all broken in upon them at once.
+
+The avenue was very wide, and the platoon resolved itself into "company
+front" at the command of the lieutenant. This was the first view the
+enemy had of the Union force waiting for them. The body advanced at a
+gallop, till the officer reduced the speed, and then formed them in a
+double rank. Lieutenant Gilder gave the orders in detail, which resulted
+in a volley, before which half-a-dozen saddles were emptied.
+
+"Sling--carbine!" shouted the lieutenant before the smoke enabled the
+men to see what execution they had executed. "Draw--sabre!"
+
+As the smoke rolled away the enemy was seen to be badly broken up, and
+the leader was using his best efforts to rally his undisciplined
+soldiers. But his men had fired as soon as they saw the troopers in
+front of them, and two of the latter had been wounded. The volley had
+hardly been discharged by the portion of the company in front of the
+marauders, when Captain Gordon was seen at the head of his men. He drew
+them up in such a position as to avoid sending the bullets into the
+midst of the other portion of his company.
+
+Another volley followed from his men; and more of the wretches in front
+of them dropped from their saddles, or fell over if they were not
+mounted. A panic seized the enemy; and the major ordered his lieutenant
+not to charge upon the guerillas in accordance with the usual programme
+of the squadron.
+
+"Dexter!" called the commander.
+
+"Here, Major!" replied the orderly promptly, as he saluted the
+commander, with his drawn sabre ready for the charge.
+
+"Ride around the flank of the enemy as quick as you can, and give
+Captain Gordon my order not to charge till I send him word," said the
+major. "Be careful of yourself, and return if you find the passage
+dangerous."
+
+It did not look like a perilous undertaking to the father, or he would
+not have sent his son with the message. The action had come to look like
+a mere butchery to him, and he was not willing to engage in any inhuman
+slaughter. Deck dashed along the front of the company; for there was a
+space of at least a hundred feet between them and the enemy. The
+unmounted men were crushing in a mass to get behind the horses; for they
+expected another murderous volley.
+
+Deck forced his horse into the broad gutter; for Ceph was more inclined
+to leap into the crowd of guerillas, as he had been trained to do. He
+saw the captain several rods from him, and he urged his steed forward to
+reach him. His uniform seemed to be a hateful sight to the banditti; and
+a couple of them rushed in front of him to intercept his passage. One of
+them raised his musket to fire at him; but the intrepid trooper struck
+it down with his sabre. The other did not attempt to shoot him, and
+probably his gun was not loaded. Both of the men kept their places in
+front of him, and were trying to beat him down with their clubbed
+weapons.
+
+This was just the sport for Ceph; and, at the right signal from his
+rider, he made a spring into the air, with the evident intention of
+leaping over the obstacle in front of him. At the same time Deck made a
+vigorous use of his sabre, and hit the foremost of the men in the head,
+which caused him to spread himself out on the ground. Ceph went clear
+over the other, and the rider gave him a blow with the weapon in his
+hand as he did so.
+
+Ceph went flying the rest of the way; and the guerillas did not attempt
+to stop him. The young horseman had a good chance to see the condition
+of the enemy at a glance. The footmen had hemmed in the horses in their
+efforts to escape the expected bullets; and there was no question in his
+mind that the horde had already been effectually defeated. If the
+sergeant's big bag had been ready, they were all ready to go into it.
+
+"Good Heaven, Deck!" exclaimed Captain Gordon, rushing up to him with
+all the speed of his horse. "Did you cut through the enemy?"
+
+"Not exactly, Captain," replied Deck. "I am here to deliver to you Major
+Lyon's order not to charge the enemy without a special order to that
+effect."
+
+"I haven't given that order yet, for the enemy are about crushed
+already; but I intended to follow up the charge of the rest of the
+company on the other side. But I saw you, Deck, engaged against two men
+in front of you only a few minutes ago; and I was about to order the
+platoon to charge in order to rescue you. I thought the first company
+had lost one of its best soldiers then."
+
+"But I have come through all right, Captain," added Deck, laughing at
+the excitement of his officer. "Ceph always does me a good turn when I
+get into a tight place, and he did this time."
+
+"There come some more of the men from the other side of the house,"
+added the captain, as he pointed to the way the orderly had come.
+
+Deck looked, and saw Life Knox, with a dozen troopers, rushing along the
+gutter through which he had come; but the guerillas did not attempt to
+molest them, for they were formidable enough to have beaten the whole
+squad of the enemy, even before they had lost a man.
+
+"Major Lyon sent me after you, Deck," said the sergeant, as he stopped
+his horse in front of him. "You had a narrow squeak of it that time, my
+boy."
+
+"No, I didn't, Life; what's the use of making such a to-do about
+nothing? I'm all right," replied Deck, who thought his father and the
+rest of them were treating him like an infant.
+
+"But your pa was tearing his hair like a mother that had lost her baby,
+to think he had sent you into such a tight place," added Knox. "He would
+'a' sent the whole company after you in two minutes more. But you are
+safe, and I thought you'd gone to feed the worms sure."
+
+"The worms will not dine on me just yet. I am going back now to my place
+on the other side of the enemy," said Deck. "You can come when you get
+ready, Life."
+
+As he spoke he wheeled his trusty steed, and intimated to him that he
+was ready; whereupon Ceph made a spring, and darted off at a breakneck
+speed.
+
+"Hold on, Baby!" shouted the sergeant, calling him by a name he had used
+before, to which Deck did not object as long as the Kentuckian did not
+treat him like an infant. "We uns kim over to escort you back!"
+
+"Obey your orders, Life," returned the furious young rider, without even
+looking behind him.
+
+Knox started after him with all the hurry there was in his steed; but
+there was hardly a horse in the squadron that could run as fast as
+Ceph, for he had been trained to this branch of his equine profession as
+a racer. But none of the guerillas were disposed to meddle with him
+again; and perhaps the two who had attacked him before had mistaken his
+intentions. He rode into the presence of the major, saluted him
+gracefully; and the cavalrymen who had witnessed his encounter broke out
+in a cheer.
+
+"Captain Gordon replied that he did not give the order to charge,
+because he was waiting for you to begin on this side of the enemy," said
+Deck.
+
+"Thank Heaven that you are safe, Dexter!" replied the father devoutly.
+
+"Heaven and Ceph," added the young hero.
+
+The father was busy just then, and he said no more. As soon as Deck had
+started with his message, Major Lyon realized that the action would
+become a slaughter, and he was anxious to stay the flow of blood. He was
+not willing to cut down the men in front of him with the sabres of his
+soldiers; for they appeared to be helpless, as much from panic as from
+the want of proper arms.
+
+"Do you surrender?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, directing his
+voice to the mass of the wretches gathered in the centre of the great
+circle.
+
+No one answered him, and probably no one heard him. He ordered
+Lieutenant Gilder to move his men forward very slowly. This officer was
+in front of his troopers; and he led the way as directed, the major
+remaining on the flank.
+
+The lieutenant raised his white handkerchief on his sabre, and waved it
+in the air to indicate his peaceful intentions. When he had gone half
+the distance to the enemy, he halted the platoon.
+
+"Do you surrender?" he shouted at the top of his voice.
+
+The answer was the discharge of half-a-dozen muskets by the mounted
+guerillas who held the front of the mass. Lieutenant Gilder dropped from
+his horse to the ground; and something like a confused cheer went up
+from the men who had fired the volley. Sergeant Knox was the next in
+command; and, pushing his horse to the front, he waved his sabre in the
+air.
+
+"Draw--pistol!" he cried. "Ready--aim--fire!"
+
+The pistols were all ready for use, and the men fired them into the
+front rank of the enemy, which seemed to contain all the fighting
+ability there was left in the band. They were reloading their old guns;
+but some of them did not live to complete the operation. Dr. Farnwright,
+who had been near the major, rushed forward, and Knox sent two men to
+assist him. Regardless of the danger of the position, the surgeon rushed
+to the front to attend to the lieutenant.
+
+"Platoon--charge!" shouted the sergeant, afraid that the work of the
+doctor would be impeded by the senseless operations of the mob.
+
+The troopers, with the sergeant in front of them, darted at the mass of
+banditti in the circle; but they fell back only to precipitate
+themselves upon the command of Captain Gordon behind them. At this
+moment Major Lyon ordered his bugler to sound the recall. The soldiers
+fell back only a very short distance in obedience to the signal, and
+they had hardly struck a blow. They held the enemy where they were.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+CAPTAIN STINGER THE FIRE-EATER
+
+
+As soon as Dr. Farnwright reached the prostrate form of Lieutenant
+Gilder, he shook his head as he glanced at the major; for the advance of
+the platoon had left them in the rear. He examined his patient, who had
+passed beyond human aid. The ball had struck him in the chest, and had
+doubtless penetrated his heart. His body was borne to the rear. Major
+Lyon was sad; but the loss of the noble young man did not affect him as
+it did the sergeant, for there was nothing revengeful in his nature.
+
+Knox was disposed to annihilate the rabble in front, of him; but he was
+an obedient soldier, though he had ordered the discharge of pistols
+without orders; for the firing of the ruffians, and especially the fall
+of the gallant lieutenant, seemed to render any commands unnecessary.
+The major directed him to move his platoon forward, and he kept on the
+flank himself as he did so.
+
+Half-a-dozen of the enemy attempted to run by the troopers on the side
+of the colonel's house, where Deck had passed the mob; and the sergeant
+ordered a file of his men to arrest them. Only two of them had a musket
+in their hands, and one of them had a sword at his side. Major Lyon
+observed the movement, and ordered the man with the side arm to be
+brought to him. Most of the soldiers thought the commander was too
+tender of such a horde of ruffians; but he regarded it as little better
+than murder to shoot or cut down the enemy, now entirely in his power.
+
+The man wearing the sword appeared to be of a better class of citizens
+than the majority of the freebooters. He wore a neat business suit, and
+was rather small in stature. He held his head up with something like
+dignity in his bearing, and bestowed frequent glances upon his
+companions in arms whom he had deserted. The five others were put under
+guard where they were captured, and informed that they would be shot if
+they attempted to escape. A couple of soldiers drove the one called for
+over to the commander.
+
+"Who and what are you?" demanded the major, without any savagery in his
+voice or manner.
+
+"I am Lieutenant Garbold; and I am second in command of the force in
+front of you," replied the prisoner civilly enough.
+
+"And you have deserted your companions in arms?" added the commander.
+
+"Yes, if you choose to call it by that name; but Captain Stinger and
+myself disagreed, and I was not willing to stand there and be shot down
+by about three times our own number," replied Garbold.
+
+"Are you and the other man provided with commissions from any source?"
+
+"Not yet; but we claim to be in the service of the Confederate States of
+America, waiting for our commissions, and for our men to be mustered in.
+We belong to the regular service."
+
+"Hardly," added the major, with something as near like a sneer as he
+could gather about his mouth. "You will excuse me if I regard you simply
+as unorganized freebooters, land pirates. Your mission is to rob and
+outrage the citizens of this village; and the ringleaders ought not to
+object to being hung on the first convenient tree."
+
+"We don't rob nor injure any true citizens of Kentucky," replied Garbold
+rather sullenly. "As to hanging any of us, we are willing to die in the
+good cause; and two Yankee officers will swing for every one of us you
+serve in that way."
+
+"That question can be settled later in the day, and our business is with
+the present moment," added Major Lyon with becoming dignity. "Who
+commands that rabble in front of us?"
+
+"Captain Jeruel Stinger."
+
+"Upon what did you disagree with him?"
+
+"To explain my own action, and not to gratify your curiosity, I will
+answer the question," replied Garbold, who evidently intended to be as
+"gamy" as one who had run away from his command could be. "I was not in
+favor of standing there and allowing our men to be butchered after
+resistance was useless. I said as much to Stinger, and I told him I
+should step out."
+
+"You were sensible," replied the major. "I am not disposed to sacrifice
+your men if it can be avoided. Is Captain Stinger still of the same
+mind?"
+
+"I presume he is. He is an out-and-out fire-eater; and there is no more
+reason in him than there is in a mule."
+
+"The night is coming on, and we have no time to trifle with the
+question. If you will return to Captain Stinger with a squad of troopers
+under a flag of truce, I"--
+
+"Me!" exclaimed Garbold. "Stinger would shoot me at sight. I will not
+go. I had rather be hanged by the enemy than shot by my friends,"
+interposed Garbold.
+
+"Then the loss of any more of your men must rest on your shoulders, and
+not on mine. Take him away," replied the commander.
+
+Major Lyon was still unwilling to charge upon the rabble; for they had
+ceased to fire their rusty firelocks. It was getting dark, and something
+must be done. He called Deck, and gave him a mass of instructions, which
+the orderly took in without any repetitions, for Captain Gordon. Colonel
+Coffee volunteered to conduct the messenger though his grounds to a gate
+near the position of the other portion of the company; and Deck
+delivered his message. He was rather sorry he was not permitted to
+proceed as he had before; for he had abundant confidence in his ability
+to take care of himself.
+
+The commander rode up a bank at the side of the road, where he could see
+over the heads of the enemy as soon as his son returned to him. A moment
+later he saw Captain Gordon deploy a line of skirmishers, which extended
+entirely across the broad avenue, with another rank behind them. Both
+advanced in slow time, with none of the fury of a regular charge; but it
+was soon evident that they "meant business."
+
+Captain Stinger seemed to be confused, and failed to understand the slow
+movement of his foe, and gave no orders. At the same time, and in the
+same manner, Sergeant Knox led his men forward; and the "fire-eater" in
+command of the rabble could not help seeing that his command was to be
+pinched between the two approaching bodies of troopers. Life kept
+himself well in advance of his skirmishers; and possibly he felt more
+like a brigadier-general than ever before in his life. He watched the
+enemy with the eye of an eagle ready to swoop down upon his prey.
+
+Captain Stinger evidently realized that if his men fired in either
+direction, the troopers would charge upon them, and it would be but the
+work of a minute or two to slaughter the whole of them. He was seen to
+make a gesture to a man who was preparing to fire without orders, and
+the ruffian refrained from doing so. He plainly knew not what to do,
+since there was nothing he could do. But when the front rank of Knox was
+within twenty feet of him, with the sergeant ahead of it, he seemed to
+be unable to "hold in" any longer, and unslung the rifle at his back.
+
+Knox saw that he was to be the first victim of the irate fire-eater; and
+he jammed his heels into the flanks of his spirited steed, the animal
+making a long spring, which brought him up with the front line of the
+enemy. Still pressing the steed forward, he upset two or three men, and
+brought up, when the horse could go no farther, alongside the captain.
+
+The doughty sergeant did not wait to trifle with any weapons, but,
+leaning over, he seized the captain by the collar of his coat, dragged
+him from his horse, and placed him across his holsters. Bending over his
+victim, he held him in his place by the pressure of his body, while he
+wheeled his horse, and made his way out of the crowd.
+
+"Take 'em that way!" he shouted to the men.
+
+But there was hardly one of them who had the physical strength to
+accomplish such a feat, though they soon grappled with the guerillas,
+and dragged them out of the _mêlée_. The men on the other side of the
+enemy resorted to the same sort of tactics, which was not laid down in
+the regular manual for the instruction of the cavalry.
+
+Captain Stinger was not a model Kentuckian physically any more than his
+lieutenant; if he had been, Knox could hardly have handled him so
+conveniently. The pressure of the sergeant's chest upon his backbone had
+a tendency to tame him; but he was trying to get at some weapon
+concealed upon his person. Knox had his pockets under command, and took
+two revolvers from them, which he thrust into his breast. He had his
+sabre dangling by the tassel knot at his right wrist, while he held the
+reins with his left hand. His right was at liberty to seize the pistols.
+
+He hurried his horse to the place where the guards had the six prisoners
+in charge. There he hurled his victim to the ground, and ordered the men
+to look out for him, and not let him escape, if they had to put a bullet
+through him. The sentinels were all mounted; and, as the last prisoner
+had been disarmed, there was no danger that he would run away.
+
+Knox returned to his command; but, as he expressed it, "the fun had all
+gone out of the guerillas," and it was hardly necessary to drag out any
+more of them, for they were all as tame as sick kittens. The men had
+secured about a dozen of them, taking them to the guard-house, as they
+called the locality of the captives. The major had followed up the
+movement, and he could not refrain from laughing at the novel tactics of
+the first sergeant.
+
+He directed Knox to fall back with his men, and sent Deck to the captain
+to drive the remaining freebooters before him. The ruffians moved before
+them at the order of the officer. They were halted in the middle of the
+square, and there disarmed, those who had not thrown away their weapons.
+While the commander was observing this ceremony, a trooper rode up, and
+saluted him.
+
+"A message from Captain Truman," said the cavalryman as he did so.
+
+"What is it?" demanded the major, fearful that the second company had
+been attacked by a superior force, and needed a re-enforcement.
+
+"A messenger came from a place called Plain Hill, saying that a band of
+mounted men was approaching the village, and they feared the place would
+be plundered," replied the messenger. "Captain Truman has just marched
+for the place, leaving only a guard at the camp."
+
+"All right; his action is approved, and I hope he will get there in
+season to capture the enemy, as we have done here," replied Major Lyon,
+as he looked about him for Colonel Coffee and Mr. Elbroon. "Where is the
+colonel, Dexter?"
+
+"He is looking over the prisoners as they bring them in," replied Deck.
+
+The major rode over to him. Most of the prisoners were tame and
+submissive; but the fire-eater and his lieutenant were figuratively at
+swords' points: and it was fortunate for one or both of them that they
+had been disarmed, for the former had pitched into the latter with his
+fists, and the guards had been obliged to pull them apart.
+
+"That Captain Stinger wanted to be sent to Congress before the war; but
+the people wouldn't do it. He is a politician, and a mischievous cur,"
+said the colonel, when he saw the major at his side.
+
+"Put him in irons, or tie his arms behind him, Styles," said the
+commander, addressing the sergeant of the guard, "if he don't behave
+himself. I have a message from the camp, Colonel Coffee," continued he,
+turning to the magnate of Greeltop. "Where is Plain Hill, sir?"
+
+"Five miles to the south of us, Major; a village about the size of
+Greeltop. Any news from there?" inquired the colonel with decided
+interest.
+
+"Captain Truman, of our second company, whom I left at the camp, has had
+a message from the place, to the effect that a band of guerillas were
+approaching the place; and he marched at once with all his company but a
+camp-guard."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed the magnate.
+
+"Heaven be praised!" added the reverend gentleman with a gun in his
+hand. "It is a mercy that your company was at hand."
+
+"Good! I say," almost shouted Captain Stinger. "Heaven be praised that
+Vinegold is getting there! Our prayers will all go the same way!"
+
+The fire-eater was near enough to hear what the major said.
+
+"I only hope he will burn every house in the place," added the captain.
+"There is not such another nest of traitors in Kentucky, unless Greeltop
+is the other."
+
+"Who is Vinegold, Captain Stinger?" asked the commander.
+
+"Major Vinegold is a man after my own heart," answered the prisoner.
+
+"If he is your friend, you will be likely to see him before morning,"
+added the major, as he turned away.
+
+The prisoners were placed in the centre of the united company, and
+marched to the camp just as the darkness was beginning to gather on the
+landscape. All the people in Greeltop were in the roads, and greeted the
+soldiers with applause and cheers as they marched by them. The officers
+and most of the privates were loaded with bouquets on the way.
+
+Several times the magnate, who returned to the camp with the troopers,
+began to tell the commander something about Plain Hill; but the cheers
+he was obliged to acknowledge prevented him from giving attention, and
+the subject was delayed to another time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+THE RE-ENFORCEMENT FOR PLAIN HILL
+
+
+It was not strange that the loyal people of Greeltop were grateful to
+their deliverers. Reports of similar occurrences within twenty or thirty
+miles of them had fully informed them of the nature of such raids,
+doubtless with many exaggerations; but they had every reason to expect
+more severe treatment than most other places, for the residents were
+Unionists to a greater extent than in other villages in that section.
+The magnate was an intensely loyal citizen, and he had largely built up
+the place.
+
+Colonel Coffee was a Kentuckian, born in the county where he now lived;
+but he had not amassed his million there. His father had been a planter,
+and left a moderate fortune to his children at his death. With his share
+the colonel had gone to New York, and embarked in business. This had led
+him to China, where he had made his million when he was fifty. He
+retired, purchased the plantation which had been his father's, and
+another. He built the elegant mansion where he now resided.
+
+His partner, equally wealthy, had retired at the same time, and had
+purchased another, five miles from it. He had married the sister of the
+colonel, and they had always been strong friends. The China merchant had
+built up Greeltop, and his brother-in-law had done the same for Plain
+Hill. Both of them had lived on the other side of the globe a large
+portion of their lives; and when they saw the American flag at the port
+of Hong-Kong, it meant more to them than if they had seen it every day
+of their existence. One of the effects of foreign travel, or a foreign
+residence, is to make American citizens love their own country all the
+more.
+
+The influence of these two men, with the liberal expenditure of their
+money, had built up the villages, and increased the population of the
+surrounding region, so that they were in condition to establish a city
+government, which is done on a small number of inhabitants in the South.
+This was the substance of what Colonel Coffee wished to tell the
+commander of the squadron of cavalry; especially that Mr. Hasbrook, the
+magnate of Plain Hill, was his brother-in-law.
+
+Both of them were loyal men; and their example, as well as their
+positive efforts, had kept alive the Union sentiment of the
+surroundings. This loyalty of the people had aroused the enmity of the
+Secessionists of the neighboring counties. They were in especial danger
+when the guerillas and partisan hordes began their work of pillage and
+outrage.
+
+The people of each of these places had raised a small Home Guard. The
+magnates had provided them with excellent arms, and they served rather
+as a police than as a military body. Most of the young men had gone into
+the army on one side or the other; and fifty men in both villages was
+the most they could organize. For two weeks the inhabitants had been
+dreading a raid; and day and night mounted patrolmen had surrounded both
+places. Probably the existence of the body of Home Guards had had some
+influence in preventing an assault.
+
+The column of cavalrymen reached the camp, and the prisoners were
+disposed of. Colonel Coffee was very anxious to obtain further
+information in regard to the raid upon Plain Hill. Lieutenant Blenks was
+in charge of the camp, with only ten men; for the first company was not
+far distant, and there was no considerable body of Confederate troops
+within twenty-five miles of the village, according to the best
+information to be obtained.
+
+"What do you know about this attack upon Plain Hill, Lieutenant?"
+demanded Major Lyon, as the officer saluted him on his arrival.
+
+"Very little," replied the lieutenant, as he took a paper from his
+pocket, and handed it to the commander. "This note was brought here by a
+negro, who had run his horse all the way, I judged by the looks of the
+animal."
+
+"'The enemy are down upon us--within four miles of us.--HASBROOK,'" the
+major read from the paper, which was not a sealed letter. "It is
+addressed to you, Colonel Coffee," he added, as he turned it over and
+saw the name on the outside.
+
+"It has come to the right place," replied the magnate.
+
+"Who is Hasbrook?" asked the commander; for he had not yet heard the
+story of Plain Hill.
+
+"He is my brother-in-law, standing in about the same relation to Plain
+Hill that I do to Greeltop."
+
+"The negro that brought the paper is still here," said the lieutenant.
+
+The man was sent for at the request of the colonel. Major Lyon directed
+Captain Gordon to have all the horses fed, and to let the men have their
+suppers as soon as possible. Captain Truman had marched with nearly the
+whole of his company half an hour before, and must be near his
+destination by this time. The major and his companions had dismounted,
+and retired to the headquarters tent.
+
+"It is you who have brought this message, is it, Clover?" asked Colonel
+Coffee, as the man was shown into the tent by a sentinel. "This man is
+Hasbrook's steward," he added, turning to the commander.
+
+He was a mulatto of rather dark shade, was well-dressed, and looked like
+an intelligent person.
+
+"I brought the paper, sir," replied Clover. "Mr. Hasbrook sent me over
+with it, and told me to carry it to your house; but when I came to this
+camp I asked the soldier in front about it, and he sent for the
+officer. When I found the camp was of a Union company, I asked the
+captain to read the note, and he did so."
+
+"You did well, Clover; to have gone to my house would have delayed the
+relief," added the magnate.
+
+"The company started off at full gallop, and I stopped to see you,"
+continued the steward.
+
+"But what do you know about the approach of the guerillas, Clover?"
+asked the colonel impatiently.
+
+"I don't know anything, sir. One of the Home Guards came to the mansion
+with the news that the guerillas were coming, and he sent me off with
+the best horse in the stable. I run him all the way, and I hope I have
+not hurt him."
+
+"No matter if you have. If the second company is like the first, they
+will bag the whole of the villains," said the colonel.
+
+"The Home Guard were all mounted and gathering in the square when I
+left. They said there was a hundred men coming down on the village,"
+Clover concluded.
+
+Major Lyon had ordered supper for his party to be brought to his tent.
+It was camp-fare, but he invited the colonel and the clergyman to join
+him.
+
+"Do you suppose there is any danger of another invasion of Greeltop
+to-night from the north, Colonel Coffee?" asked the major, as the party,
+including Deck, were hastily disposing of the meal.
+
+"Certainly not. I am of the opinion that the two raids upon our villages
+were planned to take place at the same time, so that neither of them
+could send its Home Guard to the assistance of the other. Your coming,
+Major Lyon, was most opportune."
+
+"It so happens. Dexter, tell Captain Gordon to detail ten men from his
+company to remain in the camp under command of Lieutenant Blenks, and
+have the rest of his men ready to march as soon as they have finished
+their supper," said Major Lyon.
+
+"Then you propose to go to Plain Hill, Major?" asked the colonel.
+
+"I have no doubt Captain Truman has force enough to protect the place;
+but I desire to capture as many of the ruffians as possible," replied
+the major. "Who is the captain of your Home Guard?"
+
+"I am," replied the colonel with a smile.
+
+"Then I wish you would order them to this camp, and relieve my men of
+the duty of guarding our prisoners."
+
+"It shall be done at once. Mr. Elbroon, will you attend to this matter?"
+
+"Certainly. Do you go to Plain Hill, Colonel?" replied the clergyman.
+
+"I desire to look after the safety of my sister and her children."
+
+"And I need the assistance of the colonel to show me the way, and point
+out the localities in the town," added the major.
+
+Mr. Elbroon mounted his horse, and hastened to the armory of the local
+force. The first company had formed in the parade. Colonel Coffee had
+taken a fresh horse while near his residence. The commander and his
+orderly mounted their horses.
+
+"Lieutenant," said the major, addressing the officer of the camp, "it is
+remotely possible that this place may be attacked in my absence with the
+company. If such should be the case, you will make a bonfire on the
+knoll the other side of the road, and I think we shall be able to see
+it. Have it ready to light whether it is needed or not."
+
+The horses had been watered and fed, and they were in fair condition,
+though they had been on the march all day. The commander led off at a
+smart gallop, and the company kept up with him. Life Knox was in
+temporary command of the second platoon. The column moved too rapidly
+for any connected conversation, and in half an hour was approaching
+Plain Hill.
+
+"What can that mean, Colonel?" asked the major, as they reached the top
+of a hill, where a brilliant light suddenly flashed upon them. "Can it
+be that the ruffians are burning the houses."
+
+"Possibly; I don't know: but they have not yet fired Hasbrook's mansion,
+for I can see it on the top of Plain Hill," replied Colonel Coffee; and
+his tones indicated the anxiety he felt.
+
+"You know the place, and perhaps you can tell from the direction where
+the fire is located," added the commander.
+
+"It appears to be right in the square."
+
+"And what and where is the square?"
+
+"The village is just the counterpart of Greeltop; for Hasbrook and
+I laid it out together. You can see his mansion on the top of the hill.
+The square is on the level in front of it, with the houses all around
+it."
+
+"Then perhaps they are burning these houses," suggested the major.
+
+"I think not. There is not volume enough in the blaze for a burning
+house, much less for several of them."
+
+"And where is the road by which the guerillas will or have arrived at
+the place?"
+
+"It comes in on the east end of Plain Hill, behind Hasbrook's house. I
+think they would burn his mansion first; but they cannot approach it in
+the rear with horses. There are about thirty men in the Home Guard here,
+and there will be a fight before any houses are burned," said the
+colonel very decidedly.
+
+The column descended the hill from which the light of the fire had been
+seen, and dashed up another, which brought them into the village. Then
+it was ascertained that a bonfire was blazing in the square, and that
+the houses were all safe.
+
+"Who comes there?" demanded a man with a musket in his hand, as the
+company reached a broad avenue which appeared to be the principal
+street of the village.
+
+"Friends!" returned the major.
+
+"Who is it?" demanded the colonel.
+
+"Walkall," replied the man, who evidently recognized the magnate of
+Greeltop.
+
+"All right, Walkall; this is another company of United States cavalry.
+Where are the enemy?"
+
+"Behind Mr. Hasbrook's mansion. They have halted there; but we are all
+ready for them."
+
+"Where is the company of cavalry which must have arrived an hour or two
+since?" inquired the major.
+
+"I don't know just where the troopers are now; we turned over everything
+to Captain Truman, and he is managing the matter," replied Walkall. "He
+stationed me here to report if an enemy came in on the Greeltop road."
+
+Captain Gordon had been ordered to halt the company. Deck was sent with
+the sentinel to find the captain of the second company, and the first
+was to remain at the corner. They followed the road leading to the home
+of the magnate, which crossed the principal avenue of the village, and
+came to another, parallel to it, along the rear of the square. At this
+point they were challenged; and it could be seen by the light of the
+fire that sentinels were stationed all along this street.
+
+"Who comes there?" demanded the sentinel.
+
+"Messenger from the major of the squadron, directed to find Captain
+Truman."
+
+"Can't pass here," added the sentinel decidedly.
+
+"Where is Captain Truman?" asked Deck.
+
+"I don't know no more'n the dead."
+
+At this moment a trooper rode up, and recognized the messenger.
+
+"All right, Deck; you can pass, but the other man cannot," said the
+cavalryman, when he had stated his business.
+
+Deck thought the captain had adopted some singular strategy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+SURROUNDED AND TOTALLY DEFEATED
+
+
+"What does all this mean, Withers?" asked Deck, as the trooper conducted
+him inside of the grounds of Mr. Hasbrook.
+
+"I don't know anything at all about it; you must ask Captain Truman,"
+replied Withers with a laugh. "He's got a big head, and I reckon he
+knows what he is about. But how come you over here, Deck?"
+
+"I came over with the first company; and I have a message for Captain
+Truman from Major Lyon."
+
+"All right; and he will be glad to see you. He will not let a single
+person come up the hill, or a single one go from the house. He's got
+some strategy on his brain."
+
+"Have you seen the enemy, Withers?"
+
+"I have not; but the cap'n appears to know jest where they are."
+
+They followed the handsome driveway up a hill; and the light of the
+bonfire enabled Deck to get a view of the surroundings. When they had
+reached an elevation of about fifty feet, the summit was a plain, very
+nearly level, in the middle of which stood the mansion. This was
+evidently where the name of "Plain Hill" came from. Before the door of
+the house was a mounted sentinel, and there were others on the hill.
+
+The elevation was sprinkled over with large trees, and at the west end
+of the mansion was a considerable grove of them. In front of this shady
+place there were two sentinels.
+
+"Advance, friends, and give the countersign."
+
+"Barcreek," replied Withers. "This is Deck Lyon, with a message from the
+major."
+
+One of the sentinels conducted them to the heart of the grove, where
+they found the whole of the second company. The arrival of the messenger
+was duly reported to the captain, and he was ushered into his presence.
+He was seated on his horse, ready to move at any moment.
+
+"Is that you, Deck? I am glad to see you, though this visit is very
+unexpected," said he.
+
+"The first company is down at the avenue in front of the square, with
+Major Lyon, who desires a report from you in regard to the condition of
+things in this village, and especially as to the locality of the enemy,"
+continued the orderly, delivering the substance of his message.
+
+"Come with me, Deck, and I will give you my report verbally; for I
+cannot see to write," added the captain, as he led the orderly to the
+south side of the hill. "Do you see that little knoll not fifty rods
+from us?"
+
+"I see it."
+
+"It is covered with trees, and the enemy are concealed among them. One
+of my men has been over there, and reports about seventy-five guerillas,
+and I am very anxious to bag the whole of them."
+
+"No doubt of it, as we did the other company of them."
+
+"I supposed you would; but I haven't the news. Just now, Deck, this
+company in front of us are waiting for the one that swooped down on
+Greeltop. I suppose they were to clean out that village, and then come
+over here and finish up this one."
+
+"It was not much of a swoop; and we have every one of them, from Captain
+Stinger down to the vagabonds who followed the mounted men on foot,
+under guard at the camp. But how do you know that they are waiting for
+the other gang, Captain?" asked Deck.
+
+"I captured a messenger of the leader of this horde, scared him out of
+his wits, and he told me all about it," replied the captain with a
+smile. "The only thing that I am afraid of now, is that the leader of
+this gang will not bring on his men, so that I can bag them. Mr.
+Hasbrook, who lives in this house, has sent down for some one who will
+take the place of this messenger, and inform the captain of the ruffians
+that a force of mounted men has just come up the Greeltop road."
+
+"I will do that myself," replied Deck promptly.
+
+"You, Deck!" exclaimed the captain.
+
+"I should like the fun of it; and I could not do my country any greater
+service than in helping out the capture of that gang of
+ruffians."
+
+"But it would cost you your life if you were discovered. They would hang
+you like a dog. No, no, Deck! Your father would never forgive me if I
+sent you on such a perilous mission."
+
+"My father believes that I ought to do my duty; and I believe so also.
+Where is the fellow you captured? I might borrow his clothes, and they
+wouldn't know me from Jeff Davis in the dark. Let me hear the fellow
+speak, and I can imitate his voice; and I will promise to come back all
+right," pleaded Deck, who was very anxious to undertake the mission.
+
+"No, no, Deck! I cannot send you on such an errand. I gave Mr. Hasbrook
+a pass to go down among the Home Guards, and he may find a man to do the
+business," said the captain very decidedly. "If he does not find some
+one who is better acquainted with this vicinity than you are, Deck, we
+will look the matter over again, if your father will consent that you
+should go."
+
+"If the bagging of those ragamuffins depends upon your plan, I think he
+will consent," added Deck.
+
+"But you must return to your father with my report, and I will explain
+to you my plan to capture the enemy."
+
+When he had done so, Deck returned to the great road, and reported
+everything to the commander, informing him why the movement was
+delayed. He stated the plan of the captain to send a man disguised as
+the messenger or spy of Captain Vinegold. The major did not like the
+plan, and utterly refused to have his son undertake such an enterprise.
+
+The young soldier was disappointed; but he did not rebel against the
+decision of the commander, who was also his father. Later in his career,
+when he had a couple of gold bars on his shoulders, he rendered some
+important service of this kind; for he was even more fond of an
+adventure than the average boy.
+
+"Colonel Coffee, is there any other road than the one by which we have
+come from Greeltop that leads to the south?" asked the major, after he
+had digested the report sent by his son.
+
+"There is, and a better one than that by which the ruffians came,"
+replied the magnate. "As nearly as I can make it out, the enemy are
+concealed not more than half a mile from this cross-road; but you could
+not get to them without going at least three miles."
+
+"That is not a great distance for mounted men. Is the distance about
+three miles?"
+
+"It will not vary half a mile from it."
+
+"Have you your watch with you, Dexter?" asked the major.
+
+"I have, sir; I never leave it in the baggage-wagons," replied Deck.
+
+"What time is it now?" continued the major, as he consulted his own
+time-keeper.
+
+"Ten minutes past seven," answered Deck, after he had held his watch up
+so that he could see the face by the light of the fire in the square.
+
+"About right. How long will it take you to reach the spot on the hill
+where the second company is posted?"
+
+"Ten minutes."
+
+The major had taken a piece of paper from his pocket, and by this time
+had written something on it to which he had signed his name.
+
+"Is there any open place at the end of the hill where the captain is, to
+the right of the grove?"
+
+"I don't know; I did not look about me much," replied Deck.
+
+"The west end of the hill is a bare rock," interposed Colonel Coffee.
+
+"On this paper I have written, 'Obey the verbal orders sent by Dexter
+Lyon.' That is all, except the captain's name and mine. Tell Captain
+Truman to prepare a fire, a large fire, on the rock at the west end of
+the hill, ready to light. Can the enemy see what he is doing, Colonel?"
+
+"Not at all; the fire in the square sends no light beyond the grove."
+
+"In precisely thirty minutes from the time you reach the top of the
+hill, Dexter, tell him to march upon the enemy, leaving a man to light
+the fire ten minutes later. Let him attack them vigorously," said the
+commander. "Do you understand it all, Dexter?"
+
+"Understood."
+
+"Then hasten to the hill."
+
+The major had taken the colonel and his son one side for this
+conference, so that no other person should know anything about it. Deck
+ran his horse; and this time the sentinel did not stop him, for his
+character was known. As a last word, his father had directed him to
+remain with the captain.
+
+Before the messenger reached the hill, the company was moving along the
+road to the west, with the magnate as a guide. By his advice the company
+marched slowly for the first half-mile, in order to avoid making any
+noise which the enemy could hear. Then they galloped at the best speed
+of the horses. At the end of twenty minutes they were near the knoll on
+which the guerillas were concealed. The major ordered the captain to
+halt here, and they waited for further events.
+
+They had not long to wait, for the fire on the rock flashed up with a
+brilliant light; and it was evident that Mr. Hasbrook had assisted in
+preparing the fuel, and that no little pitch and light wood had been
+used. Captain Truman, as the illumination indicated, was in the road,
+and marching to the south; while the first company had halted, facing to
+the north.
+
+"Mr. Hasbrook must have robbed his woodshed of most of its contents,"
+said the captain, who had taken Deck under his wing.
+
+"All his house and stable servants were lugging wood to the rock; and
+they must have piled up about a cord of it, Captain," replied Deck.
+
+"The fire not only serves as a signal, but it gives no little light on
+the subject before the house," replied the officer.
+
+Skirmishers had been sent out ahead. The place where the enemy was
+concealed was a wooded knoll, according to the description given of it
+by a scout; and by the light of the huge bonfire it was in plain sight.
+Twenty men had been sent out on this service under Sergeant Fronklyn.
+When he came near enough, he opened fire upon the knoll, the object
+being to draw the enemy from his covert.
+
+"The fire sheds its light for the benefit of the enemy as well as for
+our side of the question. Like an impartial judge, it serves both
+parties alike," said the captain. "The skirmishers will bring them out,
+and that is all we want. So far as our operations are concerned, I think
+the enemy must be in perfect darkness; for I have not permitted a single
+one of the town's people to come this side of the square."
+
+"They have waked up now," added Deck, as a volley of musketry came out
+of the grove on the knoll, which was quite near the road.
+
+"I hope they will not recognize the uniforms of the skirmishers,"
+continued the captain.
+
+The main body of the company had slowly followed the advance all the
+time, and the crisis of the affair was at hand. The captain reasoned
+that the guerillas could not be aware of the combination made by the
+major, or they would have retired; and they were likely to mistake the
+skirmishers for the Home Guards, if they did not make out the uniform.
+After the volley from the knoll, the enemy made a sortie from his
+position, and rushed furiously upon the assailants, firing at will all
+the time.
+
+Captain Truman gave the order for his men to charge the foe; and the
+troopers darted ahead at full gallop. They could see the uniforms of the
+skirmishers, and for a moment there was a hot hand-to-hand fight, for
+the enemy were plucky enough for the occasion. But if the company could
+distinguish the uniforms of the skirmishers, so also could the enemy by
+this time; and they could see that the road between them and the village
+was full of troopers.
+
+Major Vinegold could not help seeing that he was caught in a trap, and
+his bugle sounded the recall. Doubtless his guerillas saw the situation
+also; for they were not slow to obey the signal. They detached
+themselves from the conflict, and retreated. The voice of Captain Gordon
+could be heard above the din; and the enemy was headed to the south at a
+gallop. Doubtless the guerilla commander was astounded to find himself
+confronted by a company of cavalry in full uniform, instead of a band of
+Home Guards.
+
+The signal-fire on the rock of Plain Hill had done its perfect work, and
+the first company had moved forward slowly, with skirmishers in front,
+and soon came upon the retreating enemy. Captain Gordon charged upon
+them, and they fought bravely on both sides. Doubtless the commander of
+the guerillas was appalled when he discovered another company in front
+of him. Probably he was outnumbered three to one. He fought like a tiger
+himself, but his men began to break into the fields on either side. The
+officers soon stopped this means of escape by extending their lines
+entirely around their hapless foe.
+
+"Do you surrender?" demanded Captain Truman.
+
+"Never!" yelled Major Vinegold, in front of his company.
+
+Deck dashed at him as he made this emphatic reply, and their sabres
+flashed fire. Ceph made one of his furious leaps, and the commander of
+the enemy sank to the ground as his rider struck a desperate blow.
+
+"We surrender!" shouted the second in command.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+MAJOR VINEGOLD OF THE GUERILLAS
+
+
+The second in command of the guerillas was a more sensible man than
+Major Vinegold, who appeared to be a fire-eater, like Captain Stinger;
+and when resistance was utterly hopeless, he announced his surrender in
+a voice loud enough to be heard a long distance, and neither side struck
+a blow afterwards. Deck Lyon appeared to have delivered the last
+sabre-stroke; for as soon as his lieutenant saw his chief topple from
+his horse, he uttered the words that ended the conflict.
+
+"You gave the finishing touch to the fight, Deck!" exclaimed Captain
+Truman in a loud voice, so that all the company could hear him.
+
+"Three cheers for Deck Lyon!" shouted an enthusiastic trooper; and they
+were given.
+
+Of course Deck blushed; for he was a reasonably modest young man. He had
+not made up his mind to do "a big thing," but simply to do his duty;
+and he was doing it like any other member of the company when his
+opportunity was presented to him. Major Vinegold was the bone and sinew
+of the fight on his own side; and when the young cavalryman saw him
+disengaged for the moment, he urged his horse forward to cross swords
+with the commander.
+
+Ceph's training seemed to be a part of his being; and when he was
+pressed up to him, he rose on his hind-legs for a spring. An indifferent
+rider could not have kept his seat in the saddle; but Deck had trained
+himself and his steed to the manoeuvre, and each supplemented the
+action of the other. The rider leaned forward, grasping the forward horn
+of his saddle with the rein hand, while he kept his sabre in readiness
+for use in the right. In the present instance, while the animal was in
+this flying attitude, Deck struck at the head of his adversary; and the
+shock carried him from his saddle to the ground.
+
+"Ceph deserves three cheers quite as much as or more than I do," said
+the young rider, while the company were waiting for further orders.
+
+"He would not appreciate the compliment," replied the captain.
+
+"Halloo, Artie!" exclaimed Deck, as his brother dashed into the presence
+of the captain.
+
+"Bully for you, Deck! We heard the company cheering you; what mighty
+deed have you done now?" demanded the messenger, for such he was, from
+the major, as he saluted Captain Truman. "It is Major Lyon's order that
+you proceed to disarm the prisoners, as they are doing on the other
+side."
+
+"Order understood," replied the captain. "You can tell the major that
+Deck gave the finishing touch to the fight, Artie;" and he described the
+fall of Major Vinegold, and the immediate surrender that followed.
+
+Artie hastened back to headquarters; and the captain formed the
+guerillas near him in line, and took from them all their arms. The major
+had ordered a large fire to be started at the side of the road, and the
+scene was already well lighted. The prisoners had been formed in line in
+the same manner on the south end of the battle-field, and their arms
+taken from them. On the road, and beside it, seven men lay silent and
+motionless; and perhaps there were others on the wooded knoll.
+
+The squadron had not had a man killed, though about a dozen had been
+wounded; and Dr. Farnwright and his assistants were attending to them.
+Among the prisoners the men were binding up the wounds of each other.
+The form of the fire-eater commander lay where he had fallen; and Deck
+saw him move as he was about to report to the major. He felt more
+interest in this man than in the others; and he dismounted from his
+horse.
+
+Ceph was as fond of his master as a kitten of the child that pets it;
+and there was no need to secure him, for he would have stood there all
+night. Deck was even more devoted to him than he was to pretty Miss Kate
+Belthorpe, which is saying a great deal. He had fed him on dainties, and
+made him his constant associate in the months when he was drilling. Ceph
+was very intelligent, and seemed to understand his master's humor as
+though he had been human.
+
+The rider went to the fallen guerilla. He was not dead. He had been
+stunned, and was just coming to his senses. By the light of the fire
+Deck could see that his head was covered with blood. Looking closer, he
+found that his left ear had been smitten entirely from the side of his
+head. The sabre appeared to have struck him sideways, giving the blow
+that stunned him, and then glancing off so as to take the ear with it.
+If the blade had struck him fairly, it would have split his head open;
+as it was, his brains were saved at the expense of his ear.
+
+"How do you feel, Major Vinegold?" asked Deck in sympathetic tones,--for
+a wounded or dying enemy was no longer a foe to him,--as he took the
+handkerchief of the sufferer from his pocket and bound it over his head,
+so as to cover the wound.
+
+"I'm better, I think," replied the major, as Deck assisted him to sit
+up. "Have we licked that Home Guard?"
+
+"There is no Home Guard here. You have been fighting with a squadron of
+United States cavalry, and your successor in command has surrendered."
+
+"Strivers is a coward!"
+
+"We were nearly three to your one; and your lieutenant was no coward,
+but a brave fellow, and a sensible man."
+
+"Who's we?"
+
+"I am a loyal soldier, and the one that gave you your wound," replied
+Deck.
+
+"You!" exclaimed the major. "Then what are you doing with me now?"
+
+"I am trying to assist you, if I can. I have bound up your wound, and
+our surgeon will soon be able to attend to your case."
+
+"Give me a drink of brandy out of your flask," added the wounded man
+faintly.
+
+"I have no brandy; but here is some fresh water; for I filled my canteen
+at Plain Hill," answered Deck, as he presented it to his patient.
+
+He drank freely; and perhaps it did as much good as the same quantity of
+brandy would have done.
+
+"I feel better now," said the major, as Deck assisted him to his feet.
+"Where is my horse?"
+
+"But you are a prisoner now. If you will give me your sword and pistols,
+it will save you from any further annoyance," replied Deck.
+
+"A prisoner!" he exclaimed bitterly. "Strivers surrendered."
+
+"To three times his own force; and he could not do otherwise," added the
+Union soldier very gently. "He would have murdered his own men if he
+had fought any longer."
+
+"I cannot help myself," continued the major, as he unbuckled his sword
+and gave it to his conqueror. "I did not do it. Strivers did it; and I
+am much obliged to you, young man, for striking me down before it was
+done."
+
+Dr. Farnwright dressed his wound; Deck found his horse, then assisted
+him to mount, and placed him in the rank with the other prisoners. The
+dead were ranged in a field, with two more found on the wooded knoll.
+
+"Well, Dexter, you have been playing the hero again, have you?" said the
+major, when he rode that way.
+
+"Ceph and I have been doing our duty, and Major Vinegold is the
+sufferer, father. I couldn't help doing what I did," replied Deck.
+
+"And he ended the fight!" exclaimed Captain Truman with enthusiasm. "If
+he had his proper reward he would be made a captain on the spot."
+
+"A captain at eighteen!" exclaimed the major, who was somewhat
+conservative in his ideas. "There is no authority here to make him a
+captain, even if it were desirable, as I think it is not. Don't spoil
+the boy, Captain Truman."
+
+While they were waiting for the arrangements for the march to be
+completed, Deck told his father about his interview with the fallen
+leader of the guerillas; and it ended in introducing the major to him.
+
+"I am sorry you are wounded, my friend," said the commander.
+
+"Why do you call me your friend?" asked the prisoner, apparently
+astonished. "You are not just our idea of the Yankees."
+
+"On the battle-field we are enemies, and we do our best to kill each
+other; but here we are friends, and we do what we can to save each
+other. I am glad my son assisted you."
+
+"He is the one-eared man's friend for life, except on the battle-field,
+though he struck off that ear."
+
+It was quite evident that he was not such a fire-eater as Captain
+Stinger. But the column was ready to move. It was but a short distance
+to the village; and when they arrived there, they found the fire in the
+square burning even more vigorously, and all the houses lighted. They
+were received with tremendous cheers, in which the ladies joined, while
+they flourished their handkerchiefs in the absence of so many of the
+male population.
+
+The news of the battle and victory had been brought to the village by
+Colonel Coffee; and the two magnates had provided a bountiful collation
+for the soldiers, though it was in the small hours of the night. The
+troopers were petted by the ladies, and Deck was a hero of the first
+magnitude. The work of the day and night was finished, and the people
+and the soldiers slept after their fatigues, while a portion of the Home
+Guards guarded the approaches to the place.
+
+The prisoners were marched under a strong guard to a railroad town, and
+sent to Louisville. All was quiet at Greeltop and Plain Hill, and no
+further attempt was made to molest these places. The discipline
+administered to the guerillas was severe enough to put an end to their
+operations in that part of the State. The squadron remained three weeks
+in camp at Greeltop, occasionally sending out detachments where they
+were needed.
+
+Later in the year it was ordered to Munfordville, where a sharp little
+battle was fought, in which the Riverlawn Cavalry had an opportunity to
+meet again the old enemies, the Texan Rangers. It was while at this
+place that a huge envelope came by special messenger, with other orders,
+directed to "Mr. Dexter Lyon, Care of Major Noah Lyon." His father gave
+it to him, and Deck opened it, wondering with all his might what it
+could contain. It was a lieutenant's commission, and the recipient would
+not have been more astonished if the sky had fallen upon him.
+
+The two captains in the squadron had been the principal movers in
+obtaining the commission. They had a paper recommending it signed by
+every member of the first company; but the business had been done while
+the command was waiting at Greeltop, fearful that Major Lyon would veto
+or discountenance the measure for family reasons, or because he thought
+his son was too young to be "A Lieutenant at Eighteen." With the
+commission came a furlough for two weeks, to enable him to prepare for
+his new duties.
+
+Deck was astonished and confounded to find himself an officer; for he
+had never sought such a position, and honestly and sincerely believed
+that he had done only his duty, like every other private in the ranks.
+He was overwhelmed with congratulations by the members of both
+companies, and especially by the two captains.
+
+"It hasn't come any sooner than I expected it, Deck," said Life Knox, as
+he grasped the hand of the young cavalryman.
+
+"I don't think I have deserved it," protested the recipient of the
+commission.
+
+"Ask Miss Kate Belthorpe," chuckled the Kentuckian, _par excellence_.
+
+"She is not a military character, and don't understand the matter,"
+replied Deck with a very heavy blush.
+
+"She stuck to't that you ought to been made cap'n o' the fust company. I
+didn't think so then, but I think you ought to be made a lieutenant as
+you have been."
+
+"I don't see why I was selected for this place; for I am appointed
+second lieutenant of the first company, in place of poor Gilder."
+
+"Everybody else can see it if you can't. Who brought Major Vinegold to
+the ground? Who served Lieutenant Makepeace in the same way? And"--
+
+"Ceph!" exclaimed Deck. "Don't say anything more about it, and we will
+call it square;" but the tall and wiry cavalry sergeant was as fond of
+Deck as though he had been his own son.
+
+The young lieutenant procured his uniform at Munfordville; and when he
+put it on, the whole of both companies cheered him, and the ladies
+declared that he was the handsomest officer in the squadron, which was,
+perhaps, saying much, for Captain Gordon was a remarkably good-looking
+man.
+
+Deck was going home for a part of his furlough; for his father wished
+him to do so. He talked with his son full two hours before his
+departure, giving him instructions about the plantation, and especially
+about the family of Captain Titus Lyon, then a prisoner somewhere.
+
+Of course his mother and sisters were extremely glad to see him, and
+were prouder of his uniform than he was himself. Levi Bedford actually
+hugged him; and the fifty-one negroes treated him as though he had been
+an angel from the realms of bliss. Orly Lyon still desired to join the
+Riverlawn Cavalry; and even Sandy had been so far cured of his Secession
+tendencies as to be of the same mind.
+
+Mrs. Noah had provided for the family of her husband's brother. She
+consented, in the absence of her husband, that her boys should enlist on
+the right side. The major had sent money for her to return to her father
+in New Hampshire, if she still desired to go there. When Lieutenant Lyon
+returned to Munfordville, Sandy and Orly went with him, wearing the
+uniform of the squadron.
+
+During his absence the command had been ordered to Somerset; and about a
+month later had their first experience in a considerable battle at Mill
+Spring. But our story for the present is told; and another volume will
+relate the experience of Deck as an officer. His service was not
+confined to his duty in command of a platoon, but an abundant
+opportunity was given him to gratify to some extent his inborn desire
+for stirring adventure in the service of his country, as will be found
+in "A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN."
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+ OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS
+
+ ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY
+
+ Illustrated Per Volume $1.25
+
+
+ FIRST SERIES
+
+
+ A MISSING MILLION or The Adventures of Louis Belgrave
+
+ A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN or The Cruise of the Guardian-Mother
+
+ A YOUNG KNIGHT ERRANT or Cruising in the West Indies
+
+ STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD or A Voyage in European Waters
+
+
+ SECOND SERIES
+
+
+ THE AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT or Cruising in the Orient
+
+ THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS or The Foreign Cruise of the Maud
+
+ UP AND DOWN THE NILE or Young Adventurers in Africa
+
+ ASIATIC BREEZES or Students on the Wing (in press)
+
+
+"The bare announcement of a new series of books by Oliver Optic will
+delight boys all over the country. When they farther learn that their
+favorite author proposes to 'personally conduct' his army of readers on
+a grand tour of the world, there will be a terrible scramble for
+excursion tickets--that is, the opening volume of the 'Globe Trotting
+Series.' Of one thing the boys may be dead sure, it will be no tame,
+humdrum journey, for Oliver Optic does not believe that fun and
+excitement are injurious to boys, but, on the contrary, if of the right
+kind he thinks it does them good. Louis Belgrave is a fortunate lad,
+because, at the age of sixteen, he was the possessor of a cool million
+of dollars. No one, not even a young boy, can travel without money, as
+our author well knows, therefore he at once provided a liberal supply.
+Louis is a fine young fellow with good principles and honor, so he can
+be trusted to spend his million wisely. But he does not have entirely
+smooth sailing. In the first place he has a rascally step-father whom he
+had to subjugate, a dear mother to protect and care for, and the missing
+million to find before he could commence his delightful travels. They
+are all accomplished at last, and there was plenty of excitement and
+brave exploits in the doing of them, as the boy readers will find. The
+cover design shows many things--a globe, the Eiffel tower, mountains,
+seas, rivers, castles and other things Louis will see on his
+travels.--_Current Review._"
+
+LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston
+
+
+ _OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS._
+
+ THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
+
+Illustrated. With Emblematic Dies. Each volume bound in Blue and Gray.
+Per volume, $1.50.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ AFLOAT
+
+
+ TAKEN BY THE ENEMY
+
+ WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES
+
+ A VICTORIOUS UNION
+
+ ON THE BLOCKADE
+
+ STAND BY THE UNION
+
+ FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ ON LAND
+
+
+ BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
+
+ IN THE SADDLE
+
+ A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
+
+ _Other volumes in preparation_
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The opening of a new series of books from the pen of Oliver Optic is
+bound to arouse the highest anticipation in the minds of boy and girl
+readers. There never has been a more interesting writer in the field of
+juvenile literature than Mr. W. T. Adams, who under his well-known
+pseudonym, is known and admired by every boy and girl in the country,
+and by thousands who have long since passed the boundaries of youth, yet
+who remember with pleasure the genial, interesting pen that did so much
+to interest, instruct and entertain their younger years. The present
+volume opens "The Blue and the Gray Series," a title that is
+sufficiently indicative of the nature and spirit of the series, of which
+the first volume is now presented, while the name of Oliver Optic is
+sufficient warrant of the absorbing style of narrative. "Taken by the
+Enemy," the first book of the series, is as bright and entertaining as
+any work that Mr. Adams has yet put forth, and will be as eagerly
+perused as any that has borne his name. It would not be fair to the
+prospective reader to deprive him of the zest which comes from the
+unexpected, by entering into a synopsis of the story. A word, however,
+should be said in regard to the beauty and appropriateness of the
+binding, which makes it a most attractive volume.--_Boston Budget._
+
+"Taken by the Enemy" has just come from the press, an announcement that
+cannot but appeal to every healthy boy from ten to fifteen years of age
+in the country. "No writer of the present day," says the Boston
+_Commonwealth_, "whose aim has been to hit the boyish heart, has been as
+successful as Oliver Optic. There is a period in the life of every
+youth, just about the time that he is collecting postage-stamps, and
+before his legs are long enough for a bicycle, when he has the Oliver
+Optic fever. He catches it by reading a few stray pages somewhere, and
+then there is nothing for it but to let the matter take its course.
+Relief comes only when the last page of the last book is read; and then
+there are relapses whenever a new book appears until one is safely on
+through the teens."--_Literary News._
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note. The punctuation and spelling are as printed in the
+original publication. The oe ligature has been expanded. The character
+Vinegold is referred to as both 'Captain' and 'Major' in the original
+version of this book.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Saddle, by Oliver Optic
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40430 ***
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-04-10 08:38:07 +0000