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diff --git a/old/tgnsh10.txt b/old/tgnsh10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..765aa85 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tgnsh10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10033 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Guns of Shiloh, by Joseph A. Altsheler +#4 in our series by Joseph A. Altsheler + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Guns of Shiloh + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5207] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 5, 2002] +[Date last updated: May 23, 2004] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNS OF SHILOH *** + + + + +This etext was produced by Ken Reeder <kreeder@mailsnare.net> + + + + + + +Errata and other transcription notes are included as an appendix + + + + + +THE GUNS OF SHILOH +A STORY OF THE GREAT WESTERN CAMPAIGN + +by JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Guns of Shiloh," a complete story in itself, is the complement of +"The Guns of Bull Run." In "The Guns of Bull Run" the Civil War and +its beginnings are seen through the eyes of Harry Kenton, who is on the +Southern side. In "The Guns of Shiloh" the mighty struggle takes its +color from the view of Dick Mason, who fights for the North and who is +with Grant in his first great campaign. + + + + +THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + + VOLUMES IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + THE GUNS OF BULL RUN. + THE GUNS OF SHILOH. + THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL. + THE SWORD OF ANTIETAM. + THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG. + THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA. + THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS. + THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX. + + + PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + HARRY KENTON, A Lad Who Fights on the Southern Side. + DICK MASON, Cousin of Harry Kenton, Who Fights on the Northern Side. + COLONEL GEORGE KENTON, Father of Harry Kenton. + MRS. MASON, Mother of Dick Mason. + JULIANA, Mrs. Mason's Devoted Colored Servant. + COLONEL ARTHUR WINCHESTER, Dick Mason's Regimental Commander. + COLONEL LEONIDAS TALBOT, Commander of the Invincibles, + a Southern Regiment. + LIEUTENANT COLONEL HECTOR ST. HILAIRE, Second in Command of the + Invincibles. + ALAN HERTFORD, A Northern Cavalry Leader. + PHILIP SHERBURNE, A Southern Cavalry Leader. + WILLIAM J. SHEPARD, A Northern Spy. + DANIEL WHITLEY, A Northern Sergeant and Veteran of the Plains. + GEORGE WARNER, A Vermont Youth Who Loves Mathematics. + FRANK PENNINGTON, A Nebraska Youth, Friend of Dick Mason. + ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, A Native of Charleston, Friend of Harry Kenton. + TOM LANGDON, Friend of Harry Kenton. + GEORGE DALTON, Friend of Harry Kenton. + BILL SKELLY, Mountaineer and Guerrilla. + TOM SLADE, A Guerrilla Chief. + SAM JARVIS, The Singing Mountaineer. + IKE SIMMONS, Jarvis' Nephew. + AUNT "SUSE," A Centenarian and Prophetess. + BILL PETTY, A Mountaineer and Guide. + JULIEN DE LANGEAIS, A Musician and Soldier from Louisiana. + JOHN CARRINGTON, Famous Northern Artillery Officer. + DR. RUSSELL, Principal of the Pendleton School. + ARTHUR TRAVERS, A Lawyer. + JAMES BERTRAND, A Messenger from the South. + JOHN NEWCOMB, A Pennsylvania Colonel. + JOHN MARKHAM, A Northern Officer. + JOHN WATSON, A Northern Contractor. + WILLIAM CURTIS, A Southern Merchant and Blockade Runner. + MRS. CURTIS, Wife of William Curtis. + HENRIETTA GARDEN, A Seamstress in Richmond. + DICK JONES, A North Carolina Mountaineer. + VICTOR WOODVILLE, A Young Mississippi Officer. + JOHN WOODVILLE, Father of Victor Woodville. + CHARLES WOODVILLE, Uncle of Victor Woodville. + COLONEL BEDFORD, A Northern Officer. + CHARLES GORDON, A Southern Staff Officer. + JOHN LANHAM, An Editor. + JUDGE KENDRICK, A Lawyer. + MR. CULVER, A State Senator. + MR. BRACKEN, A Tobacco Grower. + ARTHUR WHITRIDGE, A State Senator. + + + HISTORICAL CHARACTERS + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States. + JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy. + JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, Member of the Confederate Cabinet. + U. S. GRANT, Northern Commander. + ROBERT B. LEE, Southern Commander. + STONEWALL JACKSON, Southern General. + PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, Northern General. + GEORGE H. THOMAS, "The Rock of Chickamauga." + ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Southern General. + A. P. HILL, Southern General. + W. S. HANCOCK, Northern General. + GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Northern General. + AMBROSE B. BURNSIDE, Northern General. + TURNER ASHBY, Southern Cavalry Leader. + J. E. B. STUART, Southern Cavalry Leader. + JOSEPH HOOKER, Northern General. + RICHARD S. EWELL, Southern General. + JUBAL EARLY, Southern General. + WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, Northern General. + SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, Southern General. + LEONIDAS POLK, Southern General and Bishop. + BRAXTON BRAGG, Southern General. + NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, Southern Cavalry Leader. + JOHN MORGAN, Southern Cavalry Leader. + GEORGE J. MEADE, Northern General. + DON CARLOS BUELL, Northern General. + W. T. SHERMAN, Northern General. + JAMES LONGSTREET, Southern General. + P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Southern General. + WILLIAM L. YANCEY, Alabama Orator. + JAMES A. GARFIELD, Northern General, afterwards President of + the United States. + + And many others + + + IMPORTANT BATTLES DESCRIBED IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + BULL RUN + KERNSTOWN + CROSS KEYS + WINCHESTER + PORT REPUBLIC + THE SEVEN DAYS + MILL SPRING + FORT DONELSON + SHILOH + PERRYVILLE + STONE RIVER + THE SECOND MANASSAS + ANTIETAM + FREDERICKSBURG + CHANCELLORSVILLE + GETTYSBURG + CHAMPION HILL + VICKSBURG + CHICKAMAUGA + MISSIONARY RIDGE + THE WILDERNESS + SPOTTSYLVANIA + COLD HARBOR + FISHER'S HILL + CEDAR CREEK + APPOMATTOX + + + +CONTENTS + + I. IN FLIGHT + + II. THE MOUNTAIN LIGHTS + + III. THE TELEGRAPH STATION + + IV. THE FIGHT IN THE PASS + + V. THE SINGER OF THE HILLS + + VI. MILL SPRING + + VII. THE MESSENGER + + VIII. A MEETING AT NIGHT + + IX. TAKING A FORT + + X. BEFORE DONELSON + + XI. THE SOUTHERN ATTACK + + XII. GRANT'S GREAT VICTORY + + XIII. IN THE FOREST + + XIV. THE DARK EVE OF SHILOH + + XV. THE RED DAWN OF SHILOH + + XVI. THE FIERCE FINISH OF SHILOH + + + + +THE GUNS OF SHILOH + +CHAPTER I + +IN FLIGHT + + +Dick Mason, caught in the press of a beaten army, fell back slowly with +his comrades toward a ford of Bull Run. The first great battle of +the Civil War had been fought and lost. Lost, after it had been won! +Young as he was Dick knew that fortune had been with the North until the +very closing hour. He did not yet know how it had been done. He did +not know how the Northern charges had broken in vain on the ranks of +Stonewall Jackson's men. He did not know how the fresh Southern troops +from the Valley of Virginia had hurled themselves so fiercely on the +Union flank. But he did know that his army had been defeated and was +retreating on the capital. + +Cannon still thundered to right and left, and now and then showers of +bursting shell sprayed over the heads of the tired and gloomy soldiers. +Dick, thoughtful and scholarly, was in the depths of a bitterness and +despair reached by few of those around him. The Union, the Republic, +had appealed to him as the most glorious of experiments. He could not +bear to see it broken up for any cause whatever. It had been founded +with too much blood and suffering and labor to be dissolved in a day on +a Virginia battlefield. + +But the army that had almost grasped victory was retreating, and the +camp followers, the spectators who had come out to see an easy triumph, +and some of the raw recruits were running. A youth near Dick cried that +the rebels fifty thousand strong with a hundred guns were hot upon their +heels. A short, powerful man, with a voice like the roar of thunder, +bade him hush or he would feel a rifle barrel across his back. Dick +had noticed this man, a sergeant named Whitley, who had shown singular +courage and coolness throughout the battle, and he crowded closer to him +for companionship. The man observed the action and looked at him with +blue eyes that twinkled out of a face almost black with the sun. + +"Don't take it so hard, my boy," he said. "This battle's lost, but +there are others that won't be. Most of the men were raw, but they +did some mighty good fightin', while the regulars an' the cavalry are +coverin' the retreat. Beauregard's army is not goin' to sweep us off +the face of the earth." + +His words brought cheer to Dick, but it lasted only a moment. He was +to see many dark days, but this perhaps was the darkest of his life. +His heart beat painfully and his face was a brown mask of mingled dust, +sweat, and burned gunpowder. The thunder of the Southern cannon behind +them filled him with humiliation. Every bone in him ached after such +fierce exertion, and his eyes were dim with the flare of cannon and +rifles and the rolling clouds of dust. He was scarcely conscious that +the thick and powerful sergeant had moved up by his side and had put a +helping hand under his arm. + +"Here we are at the ford!" cried Whitley. "Into it, my lad! Ah, +how good the water feels!" + +Dick, despite those warning guns behind him, would have remained a while +in Bull Run, luxuriating in the stream, but the crowd of his comrades +was pressing hard upon him, and he only had time to thrust his face into +the water and to pour it over his neck, arms, and shoulders. But he was +refreshed greatly. Some of the heat went out of his body, and his eyes +and head ached less. + +The retreat continued across the rolling hills. Dick saw everywhere +arms and supplies thrown away by the fringe of a beaten army, the men +in the rear who saw and who spread the reports of panic and terror. +But the regiments were forming again into a cohesive force, and behind +them the regulars and cavalry in firm array still challenged pursuit. +Heavy firing was heard again under the horizon and word came that the +Southern cavalry had captured guns and wagons, but the main division +maintained its slow retreat toward Washington. + +Now the cool shadows were coming. The sun, which had shown as red as +blood over the field that day, was sinking behind the hills. Its fiery +rays ceased to burn the faces of the men. A soft healing breeze stirred +the leaves and grass. The river of Bull Run and the field of Manassas +were gone from sight, and the echo of the last cannon shot died solemnly +on the Southern horizon. An hour later the brigade stopped in the wood, +and the exhausted men threw themselves upon the ground. They were so +tired that their bodies were in pain as if pricked with needles. +The chagrin and disgrace of defeat were forgotten for the time in the +overpowering desire for rest. + +Dick had enlisted as a common soldier. There was no burden of +maintaining order upon him, and he threw himself upon the ground by the +side of his new friend, Sergeant Whitley. His breath came at first +in gasps, but presently he felt better and sat up. + +It was now full night, thrice blessed to them all, with the heat and +dust gone and no enemy near. The young recruits had recovered their +courage. The terrible scenes of the battle were hid from their eyes, +and the cannon no longer menaced on the horizon. The sweet, soothing +wind blew gently over the hills among which they lay, and the leaves +rustled peacefully. + +Fires were lighted, wagons with supplies arrived, and the men began to +cook food, while the surgeons moved here and there, binding up the +wounds of the hurt. The pleasant odors of coffee and frying meat arose. +Sergeant Whitley stood up and by the moonlight and the fires scanned the +country about them with discerning eye. Dick looked at him with renewed +interest. He was a man of middle years, but with all the strength and +elasticity of youth. Despite his thick coat of tan he was naturally +fair, and Dick noticed that his hands were the largest that he had ever +seen on any human being. They seemed to the boy to have in them the +power to strangle a bear. But the man was singularly mild and gentle in +his manner. + +"We're about half way to Washington, I judge," he said, "an' I expect a +lot of our camp followers and grass-green men are all the way there by +now, tellin' Abe Lincoln an' everybody else that a hundred thousand +rebels fell hard upon us on the plain of Manassas." + +He laughed deep down in his throat and Dick again drew courage and +cheerfulness from one who had such a great store of both. + +"How did it happen? Our defeat, I mean," asked Dick. "I thought almost +to the very last moment that we had the victory won." + +"Their reserves came an' ours didn't. But the boys did well. Lots +worse than this will happen to us, an' we'll live to overcome it. +I've been through a heap of hardships in my life, Dick, but I always +remember that somebody else has been through worse. Let's go down the +hill. The boys have found a branch an' are washin' up." + +By "branch" he meant a brook, and Dick went with him gladly. They +found a fine, clear stream, several feet broad and a foot deep, flowing +swiftly between the slopes, and probably emptying miles further on into +Bull Run. Already it was lined by hundreds of soldiers, mostly boys, +who were bathing freely in its cool waters. Dick and the sergeant +joined them and with the sparkle of the current fresh life and vigor +flowed into their veins. + +An officer took command, and when they had bathed their faces, necks, +and arms abundantly they were allowed to take off their shoes and socks +and put their bruised and aching feet in the stream. + +"It seems to me, sergeant, that this is pretty near to Heaven," said +Dick as he sat on the bank and let the water swish around his ankles. + +"It's mighty good. There's no denyin' it, but we'll move still a step +nearer to Heaven, when we get our share of that beef an' coffee, which I +now smell most appetizin'. Hard work gives a fellow a ragin' appetite, +an' I reckon fightin' is the hardest of all work. When I was a +lumberman in Wisconsin I thought nothin' could beat that, but I admit +now that a big battle is more exhaustin'." + +"You've worked in the timber then?" + +"From the time I was twelve years old 'til three or four years ago. +If I do say it myself, there wasn't a man in all Wisconsin, or Michigan +either, who could swing an axe harder or longer than I could. I guess +you've noticed these hands of mine." + +He held them up, and they impressed Dick more than ever. They were +great masses of bone and muscle fit for a giant. + +"Paws, the boys used to call 'em," resumed Whitley with a pleased laugh. +"I inherited big hands. Father had em an' mother had 'em, too. So mine +were wonders when I was a boy, an' when you add to that years an' years +with the axe, an' with liftin' an' rollin' big logs I've got what I +reckon is the strongest pair of hands in the United States. I can pull +a horseshoe apart any time. Mighty useful they are, too, as I'm likely +to show you often." + +The chance came very soon. A frightened horse, probably with the memory +of the battle still lodged somewhere in his animal brain, broke his +tether and came charging among the troops. Whitley made one leap, +seized him by the bit in his mighty grasp and hurled him back on his +haunches, where he held him until fear was gone from him. + +"It was partly strength and partly sleight of hand, a trick that I +learned in the cavalry," he said to Dick as they put on their shoes. +"I got tired of lumberin' an' I wandered out west, where I served three +years on horseback in the regular army, fightin' the Indians. Good +fighters they are, too. Mighty hard to put your hand on 'em. Now +they're there an' now they ain't. Now you see 'em before you, an' then +they're behind you aimin' a tomahawk at your head. They taught us a big +lot that I guess we can use in this war. Come on, Dick, I guess them +banquet halls are spread, an' I know we're ready." + +Not much order was preserved in the beaten brigade, which had become +separated from the rest of the retreating army, but the spirits of all +were rising and that, so Sergeant Whitley told Dick, was better just now +than technical discipline. The Northern army had gone to Bull Run with +ample supplies, and now they lacked for nothing. They ate long and well, +and drank great quantities of coffee. Then they put out the fires and +resumed the march toward Washington. + +They stopped again an hour or two after midnight and slept until +morning. Dick lay on the bare ground under the boughs of a great oak +tree. It was a quarter of an hour before sleep came, because his +nervous system had received a tremendous wrench that day. He closed +his eyes and the battle passed again before them. He remembered, too, +a lightning glimpse of a face, that of his cousin, Harry Kenton, seen +but an instant and then gone. He tried to decide whether it was fancy +or reality, and, while he was trying, he fell asleep and slept as one +dead. + +Dick was awakened early in the morning by Sergeant Whitley, who was now +watching over him like an elder brother. The sun already rode high and +there was a great stir and movement, as the brigade was forming for its +continued retreat on the capital. The boy's body was at first stiff +and sore, but the elasticity of youth returned fast, and after a brief +breakfast he was fully restored. + +Another hot day had dawned, but Dick reflected grimly that however hot +it might be it could not be as hot as the day before had been. Scouts +in the night had brought back reports that the Southern troops were on +the northern side of Bull Run, but not in great force, and a second +battle was no longer feared. The flight could be continued without +interruption over the hot Virginia fields. + +Much of Dick's depression returned as they advanced under the blazing +sun, but Whitley, who seemed insensible to either fatigue or gloom, +soon cheered him up again. + +"They talk about the Southerners comin' on an' takin' Washington," +he said, "but don't you believe it. They haven't got the forces, +an' while they won the victory I guess they're about as tired as we are. +Our boys talk about a hundred thousand rebels jumpin' on 'em, an' some +felt as if they was a million, but they weren't any more than we was, +maybe not as many, an' when they are all stove up themselves how can +they attack Washington in its fortifications! Don't be so troubled, +boy. The Union ain't smashed up yet. Just recollect whenever it's dark +that light's bound to come later on. What do you say to that, Long +Legs?" + +He spoke to a very tall and very thin youth who marched about a half +dozen feet away from them. The boy, who seemed to be about eighteen +years of age, turned to them a face which was pale despite the Virginia +sun. But it was the pallor of indoor life, not of fear, as the +countenance was good and strong, long, narrow, the chin pointed, the +nose large and bridged like that of an old Roman, the eyes full blue +and slightly nearsighted. But there was a faint twinkle in those same +nearsighted eyes as he replied in precise tones: + +"According to all the experience of centuries and all the mathematical +formulae that can be deduced therefrom night is bound to be followed +by day. We have been whipped by the rebels, but it follows with +arithmetical certainty that if we keep on fighting long enough we will +whip them in time. Let x equal time and y equal opportunity. Then when +x and y come together we shall have x plus y which will equal success. +Does my logic seem cogent to you, Mr. Big Shoulders and Big Hands?" + +Whitley stared at him in amazement and admiration. + +"I haven't heard so many big words in a long time," he said, "an' then, +too, you bring 'em out so nice an' smooth, marchin' in place as regular +as a drilled troop." + +"I've been drilled too," said the tall boy, smiling. "My name is George +Warner, and I come from Vermont. I began teaching a district school +when I was sixteen years old, and I would be teaching now, if it were +not for the war. My specialty is mathematics. X equals the war, +y equals me and x plus y equals me in the war." + +"Your name is Warner and you are from Vermont," said Dick eagerly. +"Why, there was a Warner who struck hard for independence at Bennington +in the Revolution." + +"That's my family," replied the youth proudly. "Seth Warner delivered +a mighty blow that helped to form this Union, and although I don't know +much except to teach school I'm going to put in a little one to help +save it. X equalled the occasion, y equalled my willingness to meet it, +and x plus y have brought me here." + +Dick told who he and Whitley were, and he felt at once that he and this +long and mathematical Vermont lad were going to be friends. Whitley +also continued to look upon Warner with much favor. + +"I respect anybody who can talk in mathematics as you do," he said. +"Now with me I never know what x equals an' I never know what y equals, +so if I was to get x an' y together they might land me about ten +thousand miles from where I wanted to be. But a fellow can bend too +much over books. That's what's the matter with them eyes of yours, +which I notice always have to take two looks where I take only one." + +"You are undoubtedly right," replied Warner. "My relatives told me that +I needed some fresh air, and I am taking it, although the process is +attended with certain risks from bullets, swords, bayonets, cannon balls, +and shells. Still, I have made a very close mathematical calculation. +At home there is the chance of disease as well as here. At home you may +fall from a cliff, you may be drowned in a creek or river while bathing, +a tree may fall on you, a horse may throw you and break your neck, +or you may be caught in a winter storm and freeze to death. But even +if none of these things happens to you, you will die some day anyhow. +Now, my figures show me that the chance of death here in the war is only +twenty-five per cent greater than it was at home, but physical activity +and an open air continuously increase my life chances thirty-five per +cent. So, I make a net life gain of ten per cent." + +Whitley put his hand upon Warner's shoulder. + +"Boy," he said, "you're wonderful. I can cheer up the lads by talkin' +of the good things to come, but you can prove by arithmetic, algebra an' +every other kind of mathematics that they're bound to come. You're +goin' to be worth a lot wherever you are." + +"Thanks for your enconiums. In any event we are gaining valuable +experience. Back there on the field of Bull Run I was able to +demonstrate by my own hearing and imagination that a hundred thousand +rebels could fire a million bullets a minute; that every one of those +million bullets filled with a mortal spite against me was seeking my +own particular person." + +Whitley gazed at him again with admiration. + +"You've certainly got a wonderful fine big bag of words," he said, +"an' whenever you need any you just reach in an' take out a few a foot +long or so. But I reckon a lot of others felt the way you did, though +they won't admit it now. Look, we're nearly to Washington now. See the +dome of the Capitol over the trees there, an' I can catch glimpses of +roofs too." + +Dick and George also saw the capital, and cheered by the sight, they +marched at a swifter gait. Soon they turned into the main road, where +the bulk of the army had already passed and saw swarms of stragglers +ahead of them. Journalists and public men met them, and Dick now +learned how the truth about Bull Run had come to the capital. The +news of defeat had been the more bitter, because already they had been +rejoicing there over success. As late as five o'clock in the afternoon +the telegraph had informed Washington of victory. Then, after a long +wait, had come the bitter despatch telling of defeat, and flying +fugitives arriving in the night had exaggerated it tenfold. + +The division to which Dick, Warner, and Whitley belonged marched over +the Long Bridge and camped near the capital where they would remain +until sent on further service. Dick now saw that the capital was in no +danger. Troops were pouring into it by every train from the north and +west. All they needed was leadership and discipline. Bull Run had +stung, but it did not daunt them and they asked to be led again against +the enemy. They heard that Lincoln had received the news of the defeat +with great calmness, and that he had spent most of a night in his office +listening to the personal narratives of public men who had gone forth +to see the battle, and who at its conclusion had left with great speed. + +"Lots of people have laughed at Abe Lincoln an' have called him only +a rail-splitter," said Whitley, "but I heard him two or three times, +when he was campaignin' in Illinois, an' I tell you he's a man." + +"He was born in my state," said Dick, "and I mean to be proud of him. +He'll have support, too. Look how the country is standing by him!" + +More than once in the succeeding days Dick Mason's heart thrilled at +the mighty response that came to the defeat of Bull Run. The stream of +recruits pouring into the capital never ceased. He now saw men, and +many boys, too, like himself, from every state north of the Ohio River +and from some south of it. Dan Whitley met old logging friends from +Wisconsin whom he had not seen in years, and George Warner saw two +pupils of his as old as himself. + +Dick had inherited a sensitive temperament, one that responded quickly +and truthfully to the events occurring about him, and he foresaw the +beginning of a mighty struggle. Here in the capital, resolution was +hardening into a fight to the finish, and he knew from his relatives +when he left Kentucky that the South was equally determined. There was +an apparent pause in hostilities, but he felt that the two sections were +merely gathering their forces for a mightier conflict. + +His comrades and he had little to do, and they had frequent leaves of +absence. On one of them they saw a man of imposing appearance pass down +Pennsylvania Avenue. He would have caught the attention of anybody, +owing to his great height and splendid head crowned with snow-white +hair. He was old, but he walked as if he were one who had achieved +greatly, and was conscious of it. + +"It's Old Fuss and Feathers his very self," said Whitley. + +"General Scott. It can be no other," said Dick, who had divined at once +the man's identity. His eyes followed the retreating figure with the +greatest interest. This was the young hero of the War of 1812 and the +great commander who had carried the brilliant campaign into the capital +of Mexico. He had been the first commander-in-chief of the Northern +army, and, foreseeing the great scale of the coming war, had prepared +a wide and cautious plan. But the public had sneered at him and had +demanded instant action, the defeat at Bull Run being the result. + +Dick felt pity for the man who was forced to bear a blame not his own, +and who was too old for another chance. But he knew that the present +cloud would soon pass away, and that he would be remembered as the man +of Chippewa and Chapultepec. + +"McClellan is already here to take his place," said Whitley. "He's +the young fellow who has been winning successes in the western part of +Virginia, an' they say he has genius." + +Only a day or two later they saw McClellan walking down the same avenue +with the President. Dick had never beheld a more striking contrast. +The President was elderly, of great height, his head surmounted by a +high silk hat which made him look yet taller, while his face was long, +melancholy, and wrinkled deeply. His collar had wilted with the heat +and the tails of his long black coat flapped about his legs. + +The general was clothed in a brilliant uniform. He was short and stocky +and his head scarcely passed the President's shoulder. He was redolent +of youth and self confidence. It showed in his quick, eager gestures +and his emphatic manner. He attracted the two boys, but the sergeant +shook his head somewhat solemnly. + +"They say Scott was too old," he said, "and now they've gone to the +other end of it. McClellan's too young to handle the great armies that +are going into the field. I'm afraid he won't be a match for them old +veterans like Johnston and Lee." + +"Napoleon became famous all over the world when he was only twenty-six," +said Warner. + +"That's so," retorted Whitley, "but I never heard of any other Napoleon. +The breed began and quit with him." + +But the soldiers crowding the capital had full confidence in "Little +Mac," as they had already begun to call him. Those off duty followed +and cheered him and the President, until they entered the White House +and disappeared within its doors. Dick and his friends were in the +crowd that followed, although they did not join in the cheers, not +because they lacked faith, but because all three were thoughtful. +Dick had soon discovered that Whitley, despite his lack of education, +was an exceedingly observant man, with a clear and reasoning mind. + +"It was a pair worth seeing," said the sergeant, as they turned away, +"but I looked a lot more at Old Abe than I did at "Little Mac." Did you +ever think, boys, what it is to have a big war on your hands, with all +sorts of men tellin' you all sorts of things an' tryin' to pull you in +all sorts of directions?" + +"I had not thought of it before, but I will think of it now," said +Warner. "In any event, we are quite sure that the President has a great +task before him. We hear that the South will soon have a quarter of a +million troops in the field. Her position on the defensive is perhaps +worth as many more men to her. Hence let x equal her troops, let y +equal her defensive, and we have x plus y, which is equal to half a +million men, the number we must have before we can meet the South on +equal terms." + +"An' to conquer her completely we'll need nigh on to a million." said +the sergeant. + +Shrewd and penetrating as was Sergeant Whitley he did not dream that +before the giant struggle was over the South would have tripled her +defensive quarter of a million and the North would almost have tripled +her invading million. + +A few days later their regiment marched out of the capital and joined +the forces on the hills around Arlington, where they lay for many days, +impatient but inactive. There was much movement in the west, and they +heard of small battles in which victory and defeat were about equal. +The boys had shown so much zeal and ability in learning soldierly duties +that they were made orderlies by their colonel, John Newcomb, a taciturn +Pennsylvanian, a rich miner who had raised a regiment partly at his +own expense, and who showed a great zeal for the Union. He, too, was +learning how to be a soldier and he was not above asking advice now and +then of a certain Sergeant Whitley who had the judgment to give it in +the manner befitting one of his lowly rank. + +The summer days passed slowly on. The heat was intense. The Virginia +hills and plains fairly shimmered under the burning rays of the sun. +But still they delayed. Congress had shown the greatest courage, +meeting on the very day that the news of Bull Run had come, and +resolving to fight the war to a successful end, no matter what happened. +But while McClellan was drilling and preparing, the public again began +to call for action. "On to Richmond!" was the cry, but despite it the +army did not yet move. + +European newspapers came in, and almost without exception they sneered +at the Northern troops, and predicted the early dissolution of the +Union. Monarchy and privileged classes everywhere rejoiced at the +disaster threatening the great republic, and now that it was safe to do +so, did not hesitate to show their delight. Sensitive and proud of his +country, Dick was cut to the quick, but Warner was more phlegmatic. + +"Let 'em bark," he said. "They bark because they dislike us, and they +dislike us because they fear us. We threatened Privilege when our +Revolution succeeded and the Republic was established. The fact of our +existence was the threat and the threat has increased with our years and +growth. Europe is for the South, but the reason for it is one of the +simplest problems in mathematics. Ten per cent of it is admiration +for the Southern victory at Bull Run, and ninety per cent of it is +hatred--at least by their ruling classes--of republican institutions, +and a wish to see them fall here." + +"I suspect you're right," said Dick, "and we'll have to try all the +harder to keep them from being a failure. Look, there goes our balloon!" + +Every day, usually late in the afternoon, a captive balloon rose from +the Northern camp, and officers with powerful glasses inspected the +Southern position, watching for an advance or a new movement of any kind. + +"I'm going up in it some day," said Dick, confidently. "Colonel Newcomb +has promised me that he will take me with him when his turn for the +ascension comes." + +The chance was a week in coming, a tremendously long time it seemed to +Dick, but it came at last. He climbed into the basket with Colonel +Newcomb, two generals, and the aeronauts and sat very quiet in a corner. +He felt an extraordinary thrill when the ropes were allowed to slide and +the balloon was slowly going almost straight upward. The sensation was +somewhat similar to that which shook him when he went into battle at +Bull Run, but pride came to his rescue and he soon forgot the physical +tremor to watch the world that now rolled beneath them, a world that +they seemed to have left, although the ropes always held. + +Dick's gaze instinctively turned southward, where he knew the +Confederate army lay. A vast and beautiful panorama spread in a +semi-circle before him. The green of summer, the green that had been +stained so fearfully at Bull Run, was gone. The grass was now brown +from the great heats and the promise of autumn soon to come, but--from +the height at least--it was a soft and mellow brown, and the dust was +gone. + +The hills rolled far away southward, and under the horizon's rim. +Narrow ribbons of silver here and there were the numerous brooks and +creeks that cut the country. Groves, still heavy and dark with foliage, +hung on the hills, or filled some valley, like green in a bowl. Now +and then, among clumps of trees, colonial houses with their pillared +porticoes appeared. + +It was a rare and beautiful scene, appealing with great force to Dick. +There was nothing to tell of war save the Northern forces just beneath +them, and he would not look down. But he did look back, and saw the +broad band of the Potomac, and beyond it the white dome of the Capitol +and the roof of Washington. But his gaze turned again to the South, +where his absorbing interest lay, and once more he viewed the quiet +country, rolling away until it touched the horizon rim. The afternoon +was growing late, and great terraces of red and gold were heaping above +one another in the sky until they reached the zenith. + +"Try the glasses for a moment, Dick," said Colonel Newcomb, as he passed +them to the boy. + +Dick swept them across the South in a great semi-circle, and now new +objects rose upon the surface of the earth. He saw distinctly the +long chain of the Blue Ridge rising on the west, then blurring in the +distance into a solid black rampart. In the south he saw a long curving +line of rising blue plumes. It did not need Colonel Newcomb to tell him +that these were the campfires of the army that they had met on the field +of Bull Run, and that the Southern troops were now cooking their suppers. + +No doubt his cousin Harry was there and perhaps others whom he knew. +The fires seemed to Dick a defiance to the Union. Well, in view of +their victory, the defiance was justified, and those fires might come +nearer yet. Dick, catching the tone of older men who shared his views, +had not believed at first that the rebellion would last long, but his +opinion was changing fast, and the talk of wise Sergeant Whitley was +helping much in that change. + +While he yet looked through the glasses he saw a plume of white smoke +coming swiftly towards the Southern fires. Then he remembered the two +lines of railroad that met on the battlefield, giving it its other name, +Manassas Junction, and he knew that the smoke came from an engine +pulling cars loaded with supplies for their foes. + +He whispered of the train as he handed the glasses back to Colonel +Newcomb, and then the colonel and the generals alike made a long +examination. + +"Beauregard will certainly have an abundance of supplies," said one of +the generals. "I hear that arms and provisions are coming by every +train from the South, and meanwhile we are making no advance." + +"We can't advance yet," said the other general emphatically. "McClellan +is right in making elaborate preparations and long drills before moving +upon the enemy. It was inexperience, and not want of courage, that beat +us at Bull Run." + +"The Southerners had the same inexperience." + +"But they had the defensive. I hear that Tom Jackson saved them, +and that they have given him the name Stonewall, because he stood so +firm. I was at West Point with him. An odd, awkward fellow, but one of +the hardest students I have ever known. The boys laughed at him when +he first came, but they soon stopped. He had a funny way of studying, +standing up with his book on a shelf, instead of sitting down at a desk. +Said his brain moved better that way. I've heard that he walked part of +the way from Virginia to reach West Point. I hear now, too, that he is +very religious, and always intends to pray before going into battle." + +"That's a bad sign--for us," said the other general. "It's easy enough +to sneer at praying men, but just you remember Cromwell. I'm a little +shaky on my history, but I've an impression that when Cromwell, the +Ironsides, old Praise-God-Barebones, and the rest knelt, said a few +words to their God, sang a little and advanced with their pikes, they +went wherever they intended to go and that Prince Rupert and all the +Cavaliers could not stop them." + +"It is so," said the other gravely. "A man who believes thoroughly in +his God, who is not afraid to die, who, in fact, rather favors dying on +the field, is an awful foe to meet in battle." + +"We may have some of the same on our side," said Colonel Newcomb. +"We have at least a great Puritan population from which to draw." + +One of the generals gave the signal and the balloon was slowly pulled +down. Dick, grateful for his experience, thanked Colonel Newcomb and +rejoined his comrades. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MOUNTAIN LIGHTS + + +When Dick left the balloon it was nearly night. Hundreds of campfires +lighted up the hills about him, but beyond their circle the darkness +enclosed everything. He still felt the sensations of one who had been +at a great height and who had seen afar. That rim of Southern campfires +was yet in his mind, and he wondered why the Northern commander allowed +them to remain week after week so near the capital. He was fully aware, +because it was common talk, that the army of the Union had now reached +great numbers, with a magnificent equipment, and, with four to one, +should be able to drive the Southern force away. Yet McClellan delayed. + +Dick obtained a short leave of absence, and walked to a campfire, +where he knew he would find his friend, George Warner. Sergeant Whitley +was there, too, showing some young recruits how to cook without waste, +and the two gave the boy a welcome that was both inquisitive and hearty. + +"You've been up in the balloon," said Warner. "It was a rare chance." + +"Yes," replied Dick with a laugh, "I left the world, and it is the only +way in which I wish to leave it for the next sixty or seventy years. +It was a wonderful sight, George, and not the least wonderful thing in +it was the campfires of the Southern army, burning down there towards +Bull Run." + +"Burnin' where they ought not to be," said Whitley--no gulf was yet +established between commissioned and non-commissioned officers in either +army. "Little Mac may be a great organizer, as they say, but you can +keep on organizin' an' organizin', until it's too late to do what you +want to do." + +"It's a sound principle that you lay down, Mr. Whitley," said Warner +in his precise tones. "In fact, it may be reduced to a mathematical +formula. Delay is always a minus quantity which may be represented by +y. Achievement is represented by x, and, consequently, when you have +achievement hampered by delay you have x minus y, which is an extremely +doubtful quantity, often amounting to failure." + +"I travel another road in my reckonin's," said Whitley, "I don't know +anything about x and y, but I guess you an' me, George, come to the same +place. It's been a full six weeks since Bull Run, an' we haven't done a +thing." + +Whitley, despite their difference in rank, could not yet keep from +addressing the boys by their first names. But they took it as a matter +of course, in view of the fact that he was so much older than they and +vastly their superior in military knowledge. + +"Dick," continued the sergeant, "what was it you was sayin' about a +cousin of yours from the same town in Kentucky bein' out there in the +Southern army?" + +"He's certainly there," replied Dick, "if he wasn't killed in the battle, +which I feel couldn't have happened to a fellow like Harry. We're from +the same little town in Kentucky, Pendleton. He's descended straight +from one of the greatest Indian fighters, borderers and heroes the +country down there ever knew, Henry Ware, who afterwards became one of +the early governors of the State. And I'm descended from Henry Ware's +famous friend, Paul Cotter, who, in his time, was the greatest scholar +in all the West. Henry Ware and Paul Cotter were like the old Greek +friends, Damon and Pythias. Harry and I are proud to have their blood +in our veins. Besides being cousins, there are other things to make +Harry and me think a lot of each other. Oh, he's a grand fellow, +even if he is on the wrong side!" + +Dick's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he spoke of the cousin and +comrade of his childhood. + +"The chances of war bring about strange situations, or at least I have +heard so," said Warner. "Now, Dick, if you were to meet your cousin +face to face on the battlefield with a loaded gun in your hand what +would you do?" + +"I'd raise that gun, take deliberate aim at a square foot of air about +thirty feet over his head and pull the trigger." + +"But your duty to your country tells you to do otherwise. Before you is +a foe trying to destroy the Union. You have come out armed to save that +Union, consequently you must fire straight at him and not at the air, +in order to reduce the number of our enemies." + +"One enemy where there are so many would not count for anything in the +total. Your arithmetic will show you that Harry's percentage in the +Southern army is so small that it reaches the vanishing point. If I can +borrow from you, George, x equals Harry's percentage, which is nothing, +y equals the value of my hypothetical opportunity, which is nothing, +then x plus y equals nothing, which represents the whole affair, which +is nothing, that is, worth nothing to the Union. Hence I have no more +obligation to shoot Harry if I meet him than he has to shoot me." + +"Well spoken, Dick," said Sergeant Whitley. "Some people, I reckon, +can take duty too hard. If you have one duty an' another an' bigger one +comes along right to the same place you ought to 'tend to the bigger +one. I'd never shoot anybody that was a heap to me just because he +was one of three or four hundred thousand who was on the other side. +I've never thought much of that old Roman father--I forget his name--who +had his son executed just because he wasn't doin' exactly right. +There was never a rule that oughtn't to have exceptions under +extraordinary circumstances." + +"If you can establish the principle of exceptions," replied the young +Vermonter very gravely, "I will allow Dick to shoot in the air when he +meets his cousin in the height of battle, but it is a difficult task to +establish it, and if it fails Dick, according to all rules of logic and +duty, must shoot straight at his cousin's heart." + +The other two looked at Warner and saw his left eyelid droop slightly. +A faint twinkle appeared in either eye and then they laughed. + +"I reckon that Dick shoots high in the air," said the sergeant. + +Dick, after a pleasant hour with his friends, went back to Colonel +Newcomb's quarters, where he spent the entire evening writing despatches +at dictation. He was hopeful that all this writing portended something, +but more days passed, and despite the impatience of both army and public, +there was no movement. Stories of confused and uncertain fighting still +came out of the west, but between Washington and Bull Run there was +perfect peace. + +The summer passed. Autumn came and deepened. The air was crisp and +sparkling. The leaves, turned into glowing reds and yellows and browns, +began to fall from the trees. The advancing autumn contained the +promise of winter soon to come. The leaves fell faster and sharp winds +blew, bringing with them chill rains. Little Mac, or the Young Napoleon, +as many of his friends loved to call him, continued his preparations, +and despite all the urgings of President and Congress, would not move. +His fatal defect now showed in all its destructiveness. To him the +enemy always appeared threefold his natural size. + +Reliable scouts brought back the news that the Southern troops at +Manassas, a full two months after their victory there, numbered only +forty thousand. The Northern commander issued statements that the +enemy was before him with one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers. He +demanded that his own forces should be raised to nearly a quarter of +a million men and nearly five hundred cannon before he could move. + +The veteran, Scott, full of triumphs and honors, but feeling himself out +of place in his old age, went into retirement. McClellan, now in sole +command, still lingered and delayed, while the South, making good use of +precious months, gathered all her forces to meet him or whomsoever came +against her. + +Youth chafed most against the long waiting. It seemed to Dick and his +mathematical Vermont friend that time was fairly wasting away under +their feet, and the wise sergeant agreed with them. + +The weather had grown so cold now that they built fires for warmth as +well as cooking, and the two youths sat with Sergeant Whitley one cold +evening in late October before a big blaze. Both were tanned deeply by +wind, sun and rain, and they had grown uncommonly hardy, but the wind +that night came out of the northwest, and it had such a sharp edge to +it that they were glad to draw their blankets over their backs and +shoulders. + +Dick was re-reading a letter from his mother, a widow who lived on the +outskirts of Pendleton. It had come that morning, and it was the only +one that had reached him since his departure from Kentucky. But she had +received another that he had written to her directly after the Battle of +Bull Run. + +She wrote of her gratitude because Providence had watched over him in +that dreadful conflict, all the more dreadful because it was friend +against friend, brother against brother. The state, she said, was all +in confusion. Everybody suspected everybody else. The Southerners were +full of victory, the Northerners were hopeful of victory yet to come. +Colonel Kenton was with the Southern force under General Buckner, +gathered at Bowling Green in that state, but his son, her nephew Harry, +was still in the east with Beauregard. She had heard that the troops +of the west and northwest were coming down the Ohio and Mississippi in +great numbers, and people expected hard fighting to occur very soon in +western and southern Kentucky. It was all very dreadful, and a madness +seemed to have come over the land, but she hoped that Providence would +continue to watch over her dear son. + +Warner and the sergeant knew that the letter was from Dick's mother, +but they had too much delicacy to ask him questions. The boy folded the +sheets carefully and returned them to their place in the inside pocket +of his coat. Then he looked for a while thoughtfully into the blaze and +the great bed of coals that had formed beneath. As far as one could see +to right and left like fires burned, but the night remained dark with +promise of rain, and the chill wind out of the northwest increased in +vigor. The words just read for the fifth time had sunk deep in his mind, +and he was feeling the call of the west. + +"My mother writes," he said to his comrades, "that the Confederate +general, Buckner, whom I know, is gathering a large force around Bowling +Green in the southern part of our state, and that fighting is sure to +occur soon between that town and the Mississippi. An officer named +Grant has come down from Illinois, and he is said to be pushing the +Union troops forward with a lot of vigor. Sergeant, you are up on army +affairs. Do you know this man Grant?" + +Sergeant Whitley shook his head. + +"Never heard of him," he replied. "Like as not he's one of the officers +who resigned from the army after the Mexican War. There was so little +to do then, and so little chance of promotion, that a lot of them quit +to go into business. I suppose they'll all be coming back now." + +"I want to go out there," said Dick. "It's my country, and the +westerners at least are acting. But look at our army here! Bull Run +was fought the middle of summer. Now it's nearly winter, and nothing +has been done. We don't get out of sight of Washington. If I can get +myself sent west I'm going." + +"And I'm going with you," said Warner. + +"Me, too," said the sergeant. + +"I know that Colonel Newcomb's eyes are turning in that direction," +continued Dick. "He's a war-horse, he is, and he'd like to get into the +thick of it." + +"You're his favorite aide," said the calculating young Vermonter. +"Can't you sow those western seeds in his mind and keep on sowing them? +The fact that you are from this western battle ground will give more +weight to what you say. You do this, and I'll wager that within a week +the Colonel will induce the President to send the whole regiment to the +Mississippi." + +"Can you reduce your prediction to a mathematical certainty?" asked Dick, +a twinkle appearing in his eye. + +"No, I can't do that," replied Warner, with an answering twinkle, +"but you're the very fellow to influence Colonel Newcomb's mind. +I'm a mathematician and I work with facts, but you have the glowing +imagination that conduces to the creation of facts." + +"Big words! Grand words!" said the sergeant. + +"Never let Colonel Newcomb forget the west," continued Warner, not +noticing the interruption. "Keep it before him all the time. Hint +that there can be no success along the Mississippi without him and his +regiment." + +"I'll do what I can," promised Dick faithfully, and he did much. +Colonel Newcomb had already formed a strong attachment for this zealous +and valuable young aide, and he did not forget the words that Dick +said on every convenient occasion about the west. He made urgent +representations that he and his regiment be sent to the relief of the +struggling Northern forces there, and he contrived also that these +petitions should reach the President. One day the order came to go, +but not to St. Louis, where Halleck, now in command, was. Instead they +were to enter the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky, and help the +mountaineers who were loyal to the Union. If they accomplished that +task with success, they were to proceed to the greater theatre in +Western Kentucky and Tennessee. It was not all they wished, but they +thought it far better than remaining at Washington, where it seemed +that the army would remain indefinitely. + +Colonel Newcomb, who was sitting in his tent bending over maps with his +staff, summoned Dick. + +"You are a Kentuckian, my lad," he said, "and I thought you might know +something about this region into which we are going." + +"Not much, sir," replied Dick. "My home is much further west in a +country very different both in its own character and that of its people. +But I have been in the mountains two or three times, and I may be of +some help as a guide." + +"I am sure you will do your best," said Colonel Newcomb. "By the way, +that young Vermont friend of yours, Warner, is to be on my staff also, +and it is very likely that you and he will go on many errands together." + +"Can't we take Sergeant Whitley with us sometimes?" asked Dick boldly. + +"So you can," replied the colonel, laughing a little. "I've noticed +that man, and I've a faint suspicion that he knows more about war than +any of us civilian officers." + +"It's our task to learn as much as we can from these old regulars," +said a Major Hertford, a man of much intelligence and good humor, who, +previous to the war, had been a lawyer in a small town. Alan Hertford +was about twenty-five and of fine manner and appearance. + +"Well spoken, Major Hertford," said the thoughtful miner, Colonel +Newcomb. "Now, Dick, you can go, and remember that we are to start for +Washington early in the morning and take a train there for the north. +It will be the duty of Lieutenant Warner and yourself, as well as others, +to see that our men are ready to the last shoe for the journey." + +Dick and Warner were so much elated that they worked all that night, +and they did not hesitate to go to Sergeant Whitley for advice or +instruction. At the first spear of dawn the regiment marched away in +splendid order from Arlington to Washington, where the train that was +to bear them to new fields and unknown fortunes was ready. + +It was a long train of many coaches, as the regiment numbered seven +hundred men, and it also carried with it four guns, mounted on trucks. +The coaches were all of primitive pattern. The soldiers were to sleep +on the seats, and their arms and supplies were heaped in the aisles. +It was a cold, drizzling day of closing autumn, and the capital looked +sodden and gloomy. Cameron, the Secretary of War, came to see them off +and to make the customary prediction concerning their valor and victory +to come. But he was a cold man, and he was repellent to Dick, used to +more warmth of temperament. + +Then, with a ringing of bells, a heave of the engine, a great puffing of +smoke, and a mighty rattling of wheels, the train drew out of Washington +and made its noisy way toward Baltimore. Dick and Warner were on the +same seat. It was only forty miles to Baltimore, but their slow train +would be perhaps three hours in arriving. So they had ample opportunity +to see the country, which they examined with the curious eyes of youth. +But there was little to see. The last leaves were falling from the +trees under the early winter rain. Bare boughs and brown grass went +past their windows and the fields were deserted. The landscape looked +chill and sullen. + +Warner was less depressed than Dick. He had an even temperament based +solidly upon mathematical calculations. He knew that while it might +be raining today, the chances were several to one against its raining +tomorrow. + +"I've good cause to remember Baltimore," he said. "I was with the New +England troops when they had the fight there on the way down to the +capital. Although we hold it, it's really a Southern city, Dick. +Most all the border cities are Southern in sympathy, and they're +swarming with people who will send to the Southern leaders news of every +movement we make. I state, and moreover I assert it in the face of +all the world, that the knowledge of our departure from Washington +is already in Southern hands. By close mathematical calculation the +chances are at least ninety-five per cent in favor of my statement." + +"Very likely," said Dick, "and we'll have that sort of thing to face all +the time when we invade the South. We've got to win this war, George, +by hard fighting, and then more hard fighting, and then more and more of +the same." + +"Guess you're right. Arithmetic shows at least one hundred per cent of +probability in favor of your suggestion." + +Dick looked up and down the long coach packed with young troops. +Besides the commissioned officers and the sergeants, there was not one +in the coach who was twenty-five. Most of them were nineteen or twenty, +and it was the same in the other coaches. After the first depression +their spirits rose. The temper of youth showed strongly. They were +eager to see Baltimore, but the train stopped there only a few minutes, +and they were not allowed to leave the coaches. + +Then the train turned towards the west. The drizzle of rain had now +become a pour, and it drove so heavily that they could see but little +outside. Food was served at noon and afterward many slept in the +cramped seats. Dick, despite his stiff position, fell asleep too. +By the middle of the afternoon everybody in their coach was slumbering +soundly except Sergeant Whitley, who sat by the door leading to the +next car. + +All that afternoon and into the night the train rattled and moved into +the west. The beautiful rolling country was left behind, and they were +now among the mountains, whirling around precipices so sharply that +often the sleeping boys were thrown from the seats of the coaches. +But they were growing used to hardships. They merely climbed back again +upon the seats, and were asleep once more in half a minute. + +The rain still fell and the wind blew fiercely among the somber +mountains. A second engine had been added to the train, and the speed +of the train was slackened. The engineer in front stared at the +slippery rails, but he could see only a few yards. The pitchy darkness +closed in ahead, hiding everything, even the peaks and ridges. The +heart of that engineer, and he was a brave man, as brave as any soldier +on the battlefield, had sunk very low. Railroads were little past their +infancy then and this was the first to cross the mountains. He was by +no means certain of his track, and, moreover, the rocks and forest might +shelter an ambush. + +The Alleghanies and their outlying ridges and spurs are not lofty +mountains, but to this day they are wild and almost inaccessible in many +places. Nature has made them a formidable barrier, and in the great +Civil War those who trod there had to look with all their eyes and +listen with all their ears. The engineer was not alone in his anxiety +this night. Colonel Newcomb rose from an uneasy doze and he went with +Major Hertford into the engineer's cab. They were now going at the rate +of not more than five or six miles an hour, the long train winding like +a snake around the edges of precipices and feeling its way gingerly over +the trestles that spanned the deep valleys. All trains made a great +roar and rattle then, and the long ravines gave it back in a rumbling +and menacing echo. Gusts of rain were swept now and then into the faces +of the engineer, the firemen and the officers. + +"Do you see anything ahead, Canby?" said Colonel Newcomb to the engineer. + +"Nothing. That's the trouble, sir. If it were a clear night I +shouldn't be worried. Then we wouldn't be likely to steam into danger +with our eyes shut. This is a wild country. The mountaineers in the +main are for us, but we are not far north of the Southern line, and +if they know we are crossing they may undertake to raid in here." + +"And they may know it," said the colonel. "Washington is full of +Southern sympathizers. Stop the train, Canby, when we come to the first +open and level space, and we'll do some scouting ahead." + +The engineer felt great relief. He was devoutly glad that the colonel +was going to take such a precaution. At that moment he, more than +Colonel Newcomb, was responsible for the lives of the seven hundred +human beings aboard the train, and his patriotism and sense of +responsibility were both strong. + +The train, with much jolting and clanging, stopped fifteen minutes +later. Both Dick and Warner, awakened by the shock, sat up and rubbed +their eyes. Then they left the train at once to join Colonel Newcomb, +who might want them immediately. Wary Sergeant Whitley followed them +in silence. + +The boys found Colonel Newcomb and the remaining members of his staff +standing near, and seeking anxiously to discover the nature of the +country about them. The colonel nodded when they arrived, and gave them +an approving glance. The two stood by, awaiting the colonel's orders, +but they did not neglect to use their eyes. + +Dick saw by the engineer's lantern that they were in a valley, and he +learned from his words that this valley was about three miles long with +a width of perhaps half a mile. A little mountain river rushed down its +center, and the train would cross the stream about a mile further on. +It was still raining and the cold wind whistled down from the mountains. +Dick could see the somber ridges showing dimly through the loom of +darkness and rain. He was instantly aware, too, of a tense and uneasy +feeling among the officers. All of them carried glasses, but in the +darkness they could not use them. Lights began to appear in the train +and many heads were thrust out at the windows. + +"Go through the coaches, Mr. Mason and Mr. Warner," said Colonel Newcomb, +"and have every light put out immediately. Tell them, too, that my +orders are for absolute silence." + +Dick and the Vermonter did their work rapidly, receiving many curious +inquiries, as they went from coach to coach, all of which they were +honestly unable to answer. They knew no more than the other boys about +the situation. But when they left the last coach and returned to the +officers near the engine, the train was in total darkness, and no +sound came from it. Colonel Newcomb again gave them an approving nod. +Dick noticed that the fires in the engine were now well covered, and +that no sparks came from the smoke-stack. Standing by it he could see +the long shape of the train running back in the darkness, but it would +have been invisible to any one a hundred yards away. + +"You think we're thoroughly hidden now, Canby?" said the colonel. + +"Yes, sir. Unless they've located us precisely on advance information. +I don't see how they could find us among the mountains in all this +darkness and rain." + +"But they've had the advance information! Look there!" exclaimed Major +Hertford, pointing toward the high ridge that lay on their right. + +A beam of light had appeared on the loftiest spur, standing out at +first like a red star in the darkness, then growing intensely brighter, +and burning with a steady, vivid light. The effect was weird and +powerful. The mountain beneath it was invisible, and it seemed to burn +there like a real eye, wrathful and menacing. The older men, as well as +the boys, were held as if by a spell. It was something monstrous and +eastern, like the appearance of a genie out of the Arabian Nights. + +The light, after remaining fixed for at least a minute, began to move +slowly from side to side and then faster. + +"A signal!" exclaimed Colonel Newcomb. "Beyond a doubt it is the +Southerners. Whatever they're saying they're saying it to somebody. +Look toward the south!" + +"Ah, there they are answering!" exclaimed Major Hertford. + +All had wheeled simultaneously, and on another high spur a mile to the +south a second red light as vivid and intense as the first was flashing +back and forth. It, too, the mountain below invisible, seemed to swing +in the heavens. Dick, standing there in the darkness and rain, and +knowing that imminent and mortal danger was on either side, felt a +frightful chill creeping slowly down his spine. It is a terrible thing +to feel through some superior sense that an invisible foe is approaching, +and not be able to know by any kind of striving whence he came. + +The lights flashed alternately, and presently both dropped from the sky, +seeming to Dick to leave blacker spots on the darkness in their place. +Then only the heavy night and the rain encompassed them. + +"What do you think it is?" asked Colonel Newcomb of Major Hertford. + +"Southern troops beyond a doubt. It is equally certain that they were +warned in some manner from Washington of our departure." + +"I think so, too. It is probable that they saw the light and have been +signalling their knowledge to each other. It seems likely to me that +they will wait at the far end of the valley to cut us off. What force +do you think it is?" + +"Perhaps a cavalry detachment that has ridden hurriedly to intercept us. +I would say at a guess that it is Turner Ashby and his men. A skillful +and dangerous foe, as you know." + +Already the fame of this daring Confederate horseman was spreading over +Virginia and Maryland. + +"If we are right in our guess," said Major Hertford, "they will dismount, +lead their horses along the mountain side, and shut down the trap upon +us. Doubtless they are in superior force, and know the country much +better than we do. If they get ahead of us and have a little time to do +it in they will certainly tear up the tracks." + +"I think you are right in all respects," said Colonel Newcomb. "But it +is obvious that we must not give them time to destroy the road ahead of +us. As for the rest, I wonder." + +He pulled uneasily at his short beard, and then he caught sight of +Sergeant Whitley standing silently, arms folded, by the side of the +engine. Newcomb, the miner colonel, was a man of big and open mind. +A successful business man, he had the qualities which made him a good +general by the time the war was in its third year. He knew Whitley and +he knew, too, that he was an old army regular, bristling with experience +and shrewdness. + +"Sergeant Whitley," he said, "in this emergency what would you do, +if you were in my place?" + +The sergeant saluted respectfully. + +"If I were in your place, sir, which I never will be," he replied, +"I would have all the troops leave the train. Then I would have the +engineers take the train forward slowly, while the troops marched on +either side of it, but at a sufficient distance to be hidden in the +darkness. Then, sir, our men could not be caught in a wreck, but with +their feet on solid earth they would be ready, if need be, for a fight, +which is our business." + +"Well spoken, Sergeant Whitley," said Colonel Newcomb, while the other +officers also nodded approval. "Your plan is excellent and we will +adopt it. Get the troops out of the train quickly but in silence and +do you, Canby, be ready with the engine." + +Dick and Warner with the older officers turned to the task. The young +soldiers were out of the train in two minutes and were forming in lines +on either side, arms ready. There were many whisperings among these +boys, but none loud enough to be heard twenty yards away. All felt +intense relief when they left the train and stood upon the solid, +though decidedly damp earth. + +But the cold rain sweeping upon their faces was a tonic, both mental and +physical, after the close heat of the train. They did not know why they +had disembarked, but they surmised with good reason that an attack was +threatened and they were eager to meet it. + +Dick and Warner were near the head of the line on the right of the +tracks, and Sergeant Whitley was with them. The train began to puff +heavily, and in spite of every precaution some sparks flew from the +smoke-stack. Dick knew that it was bound to rumble and rattle when it +started, but he was surprised at the enormous amount of noise it made, +when the wheels really began to turn. It seemed to him that in the +silence of the night it could be heard three or four miles. Then he +realized that it was merely his own excitement and extreme tension of +both mind and body. Canby was taking the train forward so gently that +its sounds were drowned two hundred yards away in the swirl of wind and +rain. + +The men marched, each line keeping abreast of the train, but fifty yards +or more to one side. The young troops were forbidden to speak and their +footsteps made no noise in the wet grass and low bushes. Dick and +Warner kept their eyes on the mountains, turning them alternately from +north to south. Nothing appeared on either ridge, and no sound came to +tell of an enemy near. + +Dick began to believe that they would pass through the valley and out of +the trap without a combat. But while a train may go two or three miles +in a few minutes it takes troops marching in the darkness over uncertain +ground a long time to cover the same distance. They marched a full half +hour and then Dick suppressed a cry. The light, burning as intensely +red as before, appeared again on the mountain to the right, but further +toward the west, seeming to have moved parallel to the Northern troops. +As Dick looked it began to flash swiftly from side to side and that +chill and weird feeling again ran down his spine. He looked toward the +south and there was the second signal, red and intense, replying to the +first. + +Dick heard a deep "Ah!" run along the line of young troops, and he knew +now that they understood as much as he or any of the officers did. +He now knew, too, that they would not pass out of the valley without a +combat. The Southern forces, beyond a doubt, would try to shut them in +at the western mouth of the valley, and a battle in the night and rain +was sure to follow. + +The train continued to move slowly forward. Had Colonel Newcomb dared +he would have ordered Canby to increase his speed in order that he might +reach the western mouth of the valley before the Southern force had a +chance to tear up the rails, but there was no use for the train without +the troops and they were already marching as fast as they could. + +The gorge was now not more than a quarter of a mile away. Dick was able +to discern it, because the darkness there was not quite so dark as that +which lay against the mountains on either side. He was hopeful that +they might yet reach it before the Southern force could close down upon +them, but before they went many yards further he heard the beat of +horses' feet both to right and left and knew that the enemy was at hand. + +"Take the train on through the pass, Canby!" shouted Colonel Newcomb. +"We'll cover its retreat, and join you later--if we can." + +The train began to rattle and roar, and its speed increased. Showers +of sparks shot from the funnels of the two engines, and gleamed for an +instant in the darkness. The beat of horses' feet grew to thunder. +Colonel Newcomb with great presence of mind drew the two parallel lines +of his men close together, and ordered them to lie down on either side +of the railroad track and face outward with cocked rifles. Dick, +the Vermonter, and Sergeant Whitley lay close together, and the three +faced the north. + +"See the torches!" said Whitley. + +Dick saw eight or ten torches wavering and flickering at a height of +seven or eight feet above the ground, and he knew that they were carried +by horsemen, but he could not see either men or horses beneath. Then +the rapid beat of hoofs ceased abruptly at a distance that Dick thought +must be about two hundred yards. + +"Lie flat!" cried Whitley. "They're about to fire!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TELEGRAPH STATION + + +The darkness to the north was suddenly split apart by a solid sheet of +flame. Dick by the light saw many men on horseback and others on foot, +bridle rein over arm. It was well for the seven hundred boys that they +had pressed themselves against the solid earth. A sheet of bullets +swept toward them. Most passed over their heads, but many struck upon +bones and flesh, and cries of pain rose from the lines of men lying +along the railroad track. + +The seven hundred pulled trigger and fired at the flash. They fired +so well that Dick could hear Southern horses neighing with pain, and +struggling in the darkness. He felt sure that many men, too, had +been hit. At least no charge came. The seven hundred shouted with +exultation and, leaping to their feet, prepared to fire a second volley. +But the swift command of their officers quickly put them down again. + +"Don't forget the other Confederate column to the south of us," +whispered Whitley. "They did not fire at first for fear their bullets +would pass over our heads and strike their own comrades. For the same +reason they must have dropped back a little in order to avoid the fire +of their friends. Their volley will come from an angle about midway +between our left and rear." + +Just as he spoke the last words the rifles flashed at the surmised angle +and again the bullets beat among the young troops or swept over their +heads. A soldier was killed only a few feet from Dick. The boy picked +up his rifle and ammunition and began to fire whenever be saw the flash +of an opposing weapon. But the fire of both Confederate columns ceased +in a minute or two, and not a shot nor the sound of a single order came +out of the darkness. But Dick with his ear to the soft earth, could +hear the crush of hoofs in the mud, and with a peculiar ability to +discern whence sound came he knew that the force on the left and rear +was crossing the railroad track in order to join their comrades on the +north. He whispered his knowledge to Whitley, who whispered back: + +"It's the natural thing for them to do. They could not afford to fight +on in the darkness with two separate forces. The two columns would soon +be firing into each other." + +Colonel Newcomb now gave an order for the men to rise and follow the +railroad track, but also to fire at the flash of the rifles whenever a +volley was poured upon them. He must not only beat off the Southern +attack, but also continue the journey to those points in the west where +they were needed so sorely. Some of his men had been killed, and he +was compelled to leave their bodies where they had fallen. Others were +wounded, but without exception they were helped along by their comrades. + +Warner also had secured a rifle, with which he fired occasionally, +but he and Dick, despite the darkness, kept near to Colonel Newcomb in +order that they might deliver any orders that he should choose to give. +Sergeant Whitley was close to them. Dick presently heard the rush of +water. + +"What is that?" he exclaimed. + +"It's the little river that runs down the valley," replied Warner. +"There's a slope here and it comes like a torrent. A bridge or rather +trestle is only a little further, and we've got to walk the ties, +if we reach the other side. They'll make their heaviest rush there, +I suppose, as beyond a doubt they are thoroughly acquainted with the +ground." + +The Northern troops left the track which here ran along an embankment +several feet high, and took shelter on its southern side. They now had +an advantage for a while, as they fired from a breastwork upon their +foes, who were in the open. But the darkness, lit only by the flashes +of the rifles, kept the fire of both sides from being very destructive, +the bullets being sent mainly at random. + +Dick dimly saw the trestle work ahead of them, and the roaring of the +little river increased. He did not know how deep the water was, but he +was sure that it could not be above his waist as it was a small stream. +An idea occurred to him and he promptly communicated it to Colonel +Newcomb. + +"Suppose, sir," he said, "that we ford the river just below the trestle. +It will deceive them and we'll be half way across before they suspect +the change." + +"A good plan, Mr. Mason," said Colonel Newcomb. "We'll try it." + +Word was quickly passed along the line that they should turn to the left +as they approached the trestle, march swiftly down the slope, and dash +into the stream. As fast as they reached the other side of the ford the +men should form upon the bank there, and with their rifles cover the +passage of their comrades. + +The skeleton work of the trestle now rose more clearly into view. +The rain had almost ceased and faint rays of moonlight showed through +the rifts where the clouds had broken apart. The boys distinctly heard +the gurgling rush of waters, and they also saw the clear, bluish surface +of the mountain stream. The same quickening of light disclosed the +Southern force on their right flank and rear, only four or five hundred +yards away. Dick's hasty glance backward lingered for a moment on a +powerful man on a white horse just in advance of the Southern column. +He saw this man raise his hand and then command the men to fire. +He and twenty others under the impulse of excitement shouted to the +regiment to drop down, and the Northern lads did so. + +Most of the volley passed over their heads. Rising they sent back a +return discharge, and then the head of the columns rushed into the +stream. Dick felt swift water whirling about him and tugging at his +body, but it rose no higher than his waist, although foam and spray were +dashed into his face. He heard all around him the splashing of his +comrades, and their murmurs of satisfaction. They realized now that +they were not only able to retreat before a much superior force, but +this same stream, when crossed, would form a barrier behind which they +could fight two to one. + +The Confederate leader, whoever he might be, and Dick had no doubt that +he was the redoubtable Turner Ashby, also appreciated the full facts +and he drove his whole force straight at the regiment. It was well for +the young troops that part of them were already across, and, under the +skillful leadership of Colonel Newcomb, Major Hertford, and three or +four old, regular army sergeants, of whom the best was Whitley, were +already forming in line of battle. + +"Kneel," shouted the colonel, "and fire over the heads of your comrades +at the enemy!" + +The light was still growing brighter. The rain came only in slight +flurries. The clouds were trooping off toward the northeast, and the +moon was out. Dick clearly saw the black mass of the Southern horsemen +wheeling down upon them. At least three hundred of the regiment were +now upon the bank, and, with fairly steady aim, they poured a heavy +volley into the massed ranks of their foe. Dick saw horses fall while +others dashed away riderless. But the Southern line wavered only for +a moment and then came on again with many shouts. There were also +dismounted men on either flank who knelt and maintained a heavy fire +upon the defenders. + +The lads in blue were suffering many wounds, but a line of trees and +underbrush on the western shore helped them. Lying there partly +protected they loaded and pulled trigger as fast as they could, while +the rest of their comrades emerged dripping from the stream to join +them. The Confederates, brave as they were, had no choice but to give +ground against such strong defense, and the miner colonel, despite his +reserve and his middle years, gave vent to his exultation. + +"We can hold this line forever!" he exclaimed to his aides. "It's one +thing to charge us in the open, but it's quite another to get at us +across a deep and rushing stream. Major Hertford, take part of the men +to the other side of the railroad track and drive back any attempt at a +crossing there. Lieutenant Mason, you and Lieutenant Warner go ahead +and see what has become of the train. You can get back here in plenty +time for more fighting." + +Dick and Warner hurried forward, following the line of the railroad. +Their blood was up and they did not like to leave the defense of the +river, but orders must be obeyed. As they ran down the railroad track a +man came forward swinging a lantern, and they saw the tall gaunt figure +of Canby, the chief engineer. Behind him the train stretched away in +the darkness. + +"I guess that our men have forded the river and are holding the bank," +said Canby. "Do they need the train crew back there to help?" + +He spoke with husky eagerness. Dick knew that he was longing to be in +the middle of the fight, but that his duty kept him with the train. + +"No," he replied. "The river bank, and the road along its shore give +us a great position for defense, and I know we can hold it. Colonel +Newcomb did not say so, but perhaps you'd better bring the train back +nearer us. It's not our object to stay in this valley and fight, +but to go into the west. Is all clear ahead?" + +"No enemy is there. Some of the brakemen have gone on a mile or two and +they say the track hasn't been touched. You tell Colonel Newcomb that +I'm bringing the train right down to the battle line." + +Dick and Warner returned quickly to Colonel Newcomb, who appreciated +Canby's courage and presence of mind. As the train approached the four +cannon were unloaded from the trucks, and swept the further shore with +shell and shrapnel. After a scattered fire the Southern force withdrew +some distance, where it halted, apparently undecided. The clouds rolled +up again, the feeble moon disappeared, and the river sank into the dark. + +"May I make a suggestion, Colonel Newcomb?" said Major Hertford. + +"Certainly." + +"The enemy will probably seek an undefended ford much higher up, cross +under cover of the new darkness and attack us in heavy force on the +flank. Suppose we get aboard the train at once, cannon and all, and +leave them far behind." + +"Excellent. If the darkness covers their movements it also covers ours. +Load the train as fast as possible and see that no wounded are left +behind." + +He gave rapid orders to all his officers and aides, and in fifteen +minutes the troops were aboard the train again, the cannon were lifted +upon the trucks, Canby and his assistants had all steam up, and the +train with its usual rattle and roar resumed its flight into the west. + +Dick and Warner were in the first coach near Colonel Newcomb, ready for +any commands that he might give. Both had come through the defense of +the ford without injury, although a bullet had gone through Dick's coat +without touching the skin. Sergeant Whitley, too, was unharmed, but the +regiment had suffered. More than twenty dead were left in the valley +for the enemy to bury. + +Despite all the commands and efforts of the officers there was much +excited talk in the train. Boys were binding up wounds of other boys +and were condoling with them. But on the whole they were exultant. +Youth did not realize the loss of those who had been with them so +little. Scattered exclamations came to Dick: + +"We beat 'em off that time, an' we can do it again." + +"Lucky though we had that little river before us. Guess they'd have +rode us right down with their horses if it hadn't been for the stream +an' its banks." + +"Ouch, don't draw that bandage so tight on my arm. It ain't nothin' but +a flesh wound." + +"I hate a battle in the dark. Give me the good sunshine, where you can +see what's goin' on. My God, that you Bill! I'm tremendous glad to see +you! I thought you was lyin' still, back there in the grass!" + +Dick said nothing. He was in a seat next to the window, and his face +was pressed against the rain-marked pane. The rifle that he had picked +up and used so well was still clutched, grimed with smoke, in his hands. +The train had not yet got up speed. He caught glimpses of the river +behind which they had fought, and which had served them so well as a +barrier. In fact, he knew that it had saved them. But they had beaten +off the enemy! The pulses in his temples still throbbed from exertion +and excitement, but his heart beat exultantly. The bitterness of Bull +Run was deep and it had lasted long, but here they were the victors. + +The speed of the train increased and Dick knew that they were safe from +further attack. They were still running among mountains, clad heavily +in forest, but a meeting with a second Southern force was beyond +probability. The first had made a quick raid on information supplied +by spies in Washington, but it had failed and the way was now clear. + +Ample food was served somewhat late to the whole regiment, the last +wounds were bound up, and Dick, having put aside the rifle, fell asleep +at last. His head lay against the window and he slept heavily all +through the night. Warner in the next seat slept in the same way. +But the wise old sergeant just across the aisle remained awake much +longer. He was summing up and he concluded that the seven hundred lads +had done well. They were raw, but they were being whipped into shape. + +He smiled a little grimly as the unspoken words, "whipped into shape," +rose to his lips. The veteran of many an Indian battle foresaw +something vastly greater than anything that had occurred on the plains. +"Whipped into shape!" Why, in the mighty war that was gathering along a +front of two thousand miles no soldier could escape being whipped into +shape, or being whipped out of it. + +But the sergeant's own eyes closed after a while, and he, too, slept the +sleep of utter mental and physical exhaustion. The train rumbled on, +the faithful Canby in the first engine aware of his great responsibility +and equal to it. Not a wink of sleep for him that night. The darkness +had lightened somewhat more. The black of the skies had turned to a +dusky blue, and the bolder stars were out. He could always see the +shining rails three or four hundred yards ahead, and he sent his train +steadily forward at full speed, winding among the gorges and rattling +over the trestles. The silent mountains gave back every sound in dying +echoes, but Canby paid no heed to them. His eyes were always on the +track ahead, and he, too, was exultant. He had brought the regiment +through, and while it was on the train his responsibility was not +inferior to that of Colonel Newcomb. + +When Dick awoke, bright light was pouring in at the car windows, but the +car was cold and his body was stiff and sore. His military overcoat had +been thrown over him in the night and Warner had been covered in the +same way. They did not know that Sergeant Whitley had done that +thoughtful act. + +Dick stretched himself and drew deep breaths. Warm youth soon sent the +blood flowing in a full tide through his veins, and the stiffness and +soreness departed. He saw through the window that they were still +running among the mountains, but they did not seem to be so high here as +they were at the river by which they had fought in the night. He knew +from his geography and his calculation of time that they must be far +into that part of Virginia which is now West Virginia. + +There was no rain now, at least where the train was running, but the sun +had risen on a cold world. Far up on the higher peaks he saw a fine +white mist which he believed to be falling snow. Obviously it was +winter here and putting on the big military coat he drew it tightly +about him. Others in the coach were waking up and some of them, grown +feverish with their wounds, were moving restlessly on their seats, +where they lay protected by the blankets of their fellows. + +Dick now and then saw a cabin nestling in the lee of a hill, with the +blue smoke rising from its chimney into the clear, wintry air, and +small and poor as they were they gave him a singular sense of peace and +comfort. His mind felt for a few moments a strong reaction from war and +its terrors, but the impulse and the strong purpose that bore him on +soon came back. + +The train rushed through a pass and entered a sheltered valley a mile +or two wide and eight or ten miles long. A large creek ran through it, +and the train stopped at a village on its banks. The whole population +of the village and all the farmers of the valley were there to meet +them. It was a Union valley and by some system of mountain telegraphy, +although there were no telegraph wires, news of the battle at the ford +had preceded the train. + +"Come, lads," said Colonel Newcomb to his staff. "Out with you! +We're among friends here!" + +Dick and Warner were glad enough to leave the train. The air, cold as +it was, was like the breath of heaven on their faces, and the cheers of +the people were like the trump of fame in their ears. Pretty girls with +their faces in red hoods or red comforters were there with food and +smoking coffee. Medicines for the wounded, as much as the village could +supply, had been brought to the train, and places were already made for +those hurt too badly to go on with the expedition. + +The whole cheerful scene, with its life and movement, the sight of new +faces and the sound of many voices, had a wonderful effect upon young +Dick Mason. He had a marvellously sensitive temperament, a direct +inheritance from his famous border ancestor, Paul Cotter. Things were +always vivid to him. Either they glowed with color, or they were +hueless and dead. This morning the long strain of the night and its +battle was relaxed completely. The grass in the valley was brown with +frost, and the trees were shorn of their leaves by the winter winds, +but to Dick it was the finest village that he had ever seen, and these +were the friendliest people in the world. + +He drank a cup of hot coffee handed to him by the stalwart wife of a +farmer, and then, when she insisted, drank another. + +"You're young to be fightin'," she said sympathetically. + +"We all are," said Dick with a glance at the regiment, "but however we +may fight you'll never find anybody attacking a breakfast with more +valor and spirit than we do." + +She looked at the long line of lads, drinking coffee and eating ham, +bacon, eggs, and hot biscuits, and smiled. + +"I reckon you tell the truth, young feller," she said, "but it's good to +see 'em go at it." + +She passed on to help others, and Dick, summoned by Colonel Newcomb, +went into a little railroad and telegraph station. The telegraph wires +had been cut behind them, but ten miles across the mountains the spur of +another railroad touched a valley. The second railroad looped toward +the north, and it was absolutely sure that it was beyond the reach of +Southern raiders. Colonel Newcomb wished to send a message to the +Secretary of War and the President, telling of the night's events and +his triumphant passage through the ordeal. These circumstances might +make them wish to change his orders, and at any rate the commander of +the regiment wished to be sure of what he was doing. + +"You're a Kentuckian and a good horseman," said Colonel Newcomb to Dick. +"The villagers have sent me a trusty man, one Bill Petty, as a guide. +Take Sergeant Whitley and you three go to the station. I've already +written my dispatches, and I put them in your care. Have them sent at +once, and if necessary wait four hours for an answer. If it comes, +ride back as fast as you can. The horses are ready and I rely upon you." + +"Thank you, sir, I'll do my best," said Dick, who deeply appreciated the +colonel's confidence. He wasted no time in words, but went at once to +Sergeant Whitley, who was ready in five minutes. Warner, who heard of +the mission, was disappointed because he was not going too. But he was +philosophical. + +"I've made a close calculation," he said, "and I have demonstrated to my +own satisfaction that our opportunities are sixty per cent energy and +ability, twenty per cent manners, and twenty per cent chance. In this +case chance, which made the Colonel better acquainted with you than with +me, was in your favor. We won't discuss the other eighty per cent, +because this twenty is enough. Besides it looks pretty cold on the +mountains, and its fine here in the village. But luck with you, Dick." + +He gave his comrade's hand a strong grasp and walked away toward the +little square of the village, where the troops were encamped for the +present. Dick sprang upon a horse which Bill Petty was holding for him. +Whitley was already up, and the three rode swiftly toward a blue line +which marked a cleft between two ridges. Dick first observed their +guide. Bill Petty was a short but very stout man, clad in a suit of +home-made blue jeans, the trousers of which were thrust into high +boots with red tops. A heavy shawl of dark red was wrapped around his +shoulders, and beneath his broad-brimmed hat a red woolen comforter +covered his ears, cheeks, and chin. His thick hair and a thick beard +clothing his entire face were a flaming red. The whole effect of the +man was somewhat startling, but when he saw Dick looking at him in +curiosity his mouth opened wide in a grin of extreme good nature. + +"I guess you think I'm right red," he said. "Well, I am, an' as you see +I always dress to suit my complexion. Guess I'll warm up the road some +on a winter day like this." + +"Would you mind my callin' you Red Blaze?" asked Sergeant Whitley +gravely. + +"Not-a-tall! Not-a-tall! I'd like it. I guess it's sorter pictorial +an' 'maginative like them knights of old who had fancy names 'cordin' to +their qualities. People 'round here are pretty plain, an' they've never +called me nothin' but Bill. Red Blaze she is." + +"An' Blaze for short. Well, then, Blaze, what kind of a road is that +we're goin' to ride on?" + +"Depends on the kind of weather in which you ask the question. As it's +the fust edge of winter here in the mountains, though it ain't quite +come in the lowlands, an' as it's rained a lot in the last week, I +reckon you'll find it bad. Mebbe our hosses will go down in the road +to thar knees, but I guess they won't sink up to thar bodies. They may +stumble an' throw us, but as we'll hit in soft mud it ain't likely to +hurt us. It may rain hard, 'cause I see clouds heapin' up thar in the +west. An' if it rains the cold may then freeze a skim of ice over +the road, on which we could slip an' break our necks, hosses an' all. +Then thar are some cliffs close to the road. If we was to slip on that +thar skim of ice which we've reckoned might come, then mebbe we'd go +over one of them cliffs and drop down a hundred feet or so right swift. +If it was soft mud down below we might not get hurt mortal. But it +ain't soft mud. We'd hit right in the middle of sharp, hard rocks. +An' if a gang of rebel sharpshooters has wandered up here they may see +us an' chase us 'way off into the mountains, where we'd break our necks +fallin' off the ridges or freeze to death or starve to death." + +Whitley stared at him. + +"Blaze," he exclaimed, "what kind of a man are you anyway?" + +"Me? I'm the happiest man in the valley. When people are low down they +come an' talk to me to get cheered up. I always lay the worst before +you first an' then shove it out of the way. None of them things that +I was conjurin' up is goin' to happen. I was just tellin' you of the +things you was goin' to escape, and now you'll feel good, knowin' what +dangers you have passed before they happened." + +Dick laughed. He liked this intensely red man with his round face and +twinkling eyes. He saw, too, that the mountaineer was a fine horseman, +and as he carried a long slender-barreled rifle over his shoulder, +while a double-barreled pistol was thrust in his belt, it was likely +that he would prove a formidable enemy to any who sought to stop him. + +"Perhaps your way is wise," said the boy. "You begin with the bad and +end with the good. What is the name of this place to which we are +going?" + +"Hubbard. There was a pioneer who fit the Injuns in here in early +times. I never heard that he got much, 'cept a town named after him. +But Hubbard is a right peart little place, with a bank, two stores, +three churches, an' nigh on to two hundred people. Are you wrapped up +well, Mr. Mason, 'cause it's goin' to be cold on the mountains?" + +Dick wore heavy boots, and a long, heavy military coat which fell below +his knees and which also had a high collar protecting his ears. He +was provided also with heavy buckskin gloves. The sergeant was clad +similarly. + +"I think I'm clothed against any amount of cold," he replied. + +"Well, you need to be," said Petty, "'cause the pass through which we're +goin' is at least fifteen hundred feet above Townsville--that's our +village--an' I reckon it's just 'bout as high over Hubbard. Them +fifteen hundred feet make a pow'ful difference in climate, as you'll +soon find out. It's not only colder thar, but the winds are always +blowin' hard through the pass. Jest look back at Townsville. Ain't she +fine an' neat down thar in the valley, beside that clear creek which +higher up in the mountains is full of the juiciest an' sweetest trout +that man ever stuck a tooth into." + +Dick saw that Petty was talkative, but he did not mind. In fact, +both he and Whitley liked the man's joyous and unbroken run of chatter. +He turned in his saddle and looked back, following the stout man's +pointing finger. Townsville, though but a little mountain town built +mainly of logs, was indeed a jewel, softened and with a silver sheen +thrown over it by the mountain air which was misty that morning. +He dimly saw the long black line of the train standing on the track, +and here and there warm rings of smoke rose from the chimneys and +floated up into the heavens, where they were lost. + +He thought he could detect little figures moving beside the train and he +knew that they must be those of his comrades. He felt for a moment a +sense of loneliness. He had not known these lads long, but the battle +had bound them firmly together. They had been comrades in danger and +that made them comrades as long as they lived. + +"Greatest town in the world," said Petty, waving toward it a huge hand, +encased in a thick yarn glove. "I've traveled from it as much as fifty +miles in every direction, north, south, east, an' west, an' I ain't +never seed its match. I reckon I'm somethin' of a traveler, but every +time I come back to Townsville, I think all the more of it, seein' how +much better it is than anything else." + +Dick glanced at the mountaineer, and saw that there could be no doubt of +his sincerity. + +"You're a lucky man, Mr. Petty," he said, "to live in the finest place +in the world." + +"Yes, if I don't get drug off to the war. I'm not hankerin' for +fightin' an' I don't know much what the war's about though I'm for +the Union, fust to last, an' that's the way most of the people 'bout +here feel. Turn your heads ag'in, friends, an' take another look at +Townsville." + +Dick and Whitley glanced back and saw only the blank gray wall of the +mountain. Petty laughed. He was the finest laugher that Dick had ever +heard. The laugh did not merely come from the mouth, it was also exuded, +pouring out through every pore. It was rolling, unctuous, and so strong +that Petty not only shook with it, but his horse seemed to shake also. +It was mellow, too, with an organ note that comes of a mighty lung and +throat, and of pure air breathed all the year around. + +"Thought I'd git the joke on you," he said, when he stopped laughing. +"The road's been slantin' into the mountains, without you knowin' it, +and Townsville is cut off by the cliffs. You'll find it gettin' wilder +now 'till we start down the slope on the other side. Lucky our hosses +are strong, 'cause the mud is deeper than I thought it would be." + +It was not really a road that they were following, merely a path, +and the going was painful. Under Petty's instructions they stopped +their mounts now and then for a rest, and a mile further on they began +to feel a rising wind. + +"It's the wind that I told you of," said Petty. "It's sucked through +six or seven miles of pass, an' it will blow straight in our faces +all the way. As we'll be goin' up for a long distance you'll find it +growin' colder, too. But you've got to remember that after you pass +them cold winds an' go down the slope you'll strike another warm little +valley, the one in which Hubbard is layin' so neat an' so snug." + +Dick had already noticed the increasing coldness and so had the +sergeant. Whitley, from his long experience on the plains, had the +keenest kind of an eye for climatic changes. He noticed with some +apprehension that the higher peaks were clothed in thick, cold fog, +but he said nothing to the brave boy whom he had grown to love like +a son. But both he and Dick drew their heavy coats closer and were +thankful for the buckskin gloves, without which their hands would have +stiffened on the reins. + +Now they rode in silence with their heads bent well forward, because the +wind was becoming fiercer and fiercer. Over the peaks the fogs were +growing thicker and darker and after a while the sharp edge of the wind +was wet with rain. It stung their faces, and they drew their hat brims +lower and their coat collars higher to protect themselves from such a +cutting blast. + +"Told you we might have trouble," called Petty, cheerfully, "but if you +ride right on through trouble you'll leave trouble behind. Nor this +ain't nothin' either to what we kin expect before we git to the top of +the pass. Cur'us what a pow'ful lot human bein's kin stand when they +make up their minds to it." + +"Are the horses well shod?" asked Whitley. + +"Best shod in the world, 'cause I done it myself. That's my trade, +blacksmith, an' I'm a good one if I do say it. I heard before we +started that you had been a soldier in the west. I s'pose that you had +to look mighty close to your hosses then. A man couldn't afford to be +ridin' a hoss made lame by bad shoein' when ten thousand yellin' Sioux +or Blackfeet was after him." + +"No, you couldn't," replied the sergeant. "Out there you had to watch +every detail. That's one of the things that fightin' Indians taught. +You had to be watchin' all the time an' I reckon the trainin' will +be of value in this war. Are we mighty near to the top of the pass, +Mr. Petty?" + +"Got two or three miles yet. The slope is steeper on the other side. +We rise a lot more before we hit the top." + +The wind grew stronger with every rod they ascended, and the horses +began to pant with their severe exertions. At Petty's suggestion the +three riders dismounted and walked for a while, leading their horses. +The rain turned to a fine hail and stung their faces. Had it not +been for his two good comrades Dick would have found his situation +inexpressibly lonely and dreary. The heavy fog now enveloped all the +peaks and ridges and filled every valley and chasm. He could see only +fifteen or twenty yards ahead along the muddy path, and the fine hail +which gave every promise of becoming a storm of sleet stung continually. +The wind confined in the narrow gorge also uttered a hideous shrieking +and moaning. + +"Tests your nerve!" shouted Petty to Dick. "There are hard things +besides battles to stand, an' this is goin' to be one of the hard ones, +but if you go through it all right you kin go through any number of the +same kind all right, too. Likely the sleet will be so thick that it +will make a sheet of slippery ice for us comin' back. Now, hosses +that ain't got calks on thar shoes are pretty shore to slip an' fall, +breakin' a leg or two, an' mebbe breakin' the necks of thar riders." + +Dick looked at him with some amazement. Despite his announcement of +dire disaster the man's eyes twinkled merrily and the round, red outline +of his bushy head in the scarlet comforter made a cheerful blaze. + +"It's jest as I told you," said Petty, meeting the boy's look. "Without +calks on thar shoes our hosses are pretty shore to slip on the ice and +break theirselves up, or fall down a cliff an' break themselves up more." + +"Then why in thunder, Blaze," exclaimed Whitley, "did we start without +calks on the shoes of our horses?" + +Red Blaze broke into a deep mellow laugh, starting from the bottom of +his diaphragm, swelling as it passed through his chest, swelling again +as it passed through throat and mouth, and bursting upon the open air in +a mighty diapason that rose cheerfully above the shrieking and moaning +of the wind. + +"We didn't start without em," he replied. "The twelve feet of these +three hosses have on 'em the finest calked shoes in all these mountains. +I put 'em on myself, beginnin' the job this mornin' before you was awake, +your colonel, on the advice of the people of Townsville who know me as +one of its leadin' an' trusted citizens, havin' selected me as the guide +of this trip. I was jest tellin' you what would happen to you if I +didn't justify the confidence of the people of Townsville." + +"I allow, Red Blaze," said the sergeant with confidence, "that you ain't +no fool, an' that you're lookin' out for our best interests. Lead on." + +Red Blaze's mellow and pleased laugh rose once more above the whistling +of the wind. + +"You kin ride ag'in now, boys," he said. "The hosses are pretty well +rested." + +They resumed the saddle gladly and now mounted toward the crest of the +pass. The sleet turned to snow, which was a relief to their faces, +and Dick, with the constant beating of wind and snow, began to feel a +certain physical exhilaration. He realized the truth of Red Blaze's +assertion that if you stiffen your back and push your way through +troubles you leave troubles behind. + +They rode now in silence for quite a while, and then Red Blaze suddenly +announced: + +"We're at the top, boys." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FIGHT IN THE PASS + + +The three halted their horses and stood for a minute or two on the very +crest of the pass. The fierce wind out of the northwest blew directly +in their faces and both riders and horses alike were covered with snow. +But Dick felt a wonderful thrill as he gazed upon the vast white +wilderness. East and west, north and south he saw the driving snow +and the lofty peaks and ridges showing through it, white themselves. +The towns below and the cabins that snuggled in the coves were +completely hidden. They could see no sign of human life on slope or +in valley. + +"Looks as wild as the Rockies," said the sergeant tersely. + +"But you won't find any Injuns here to ambush you," said Red Blaze, +"though I don't make any guarantee against bushwhackers and guerillas, +who'll change sides as often as two or three times a day, if it will +suit their convenience. They could hide in the woods along the road an' +pick us off as easy as I'd shoot a squirrel out of a tree. They'd like +to have our arms an' our big coats. I tell you what, friends, a mighty +civil war like ours gives a tremenjeous opportunity to bad men. They're +all comin' to the top. Every rascal in the mountains an' in the +lowlands, too, I guess, is out lookin' for plunder an' wuss." + +"You're right, Red Blaze," said the sergeant with emphasis, "an' it +won't be stopped until the generals on both sides begin to hang an' +shoot the plunderers an' murderers." + +"But they can't ketch 'em all," said Red Blaze. "A Yankee general with +a hundred thousand men will be out lookin' for what? Not for a gang of +robbers, not by a jugful. He'll be lookin' for a rebel general with +another hundred thousand men, an' the rebel general with a hundred +thousand men will be lookin' for that Yankee general with his hundred +thousand. So there you are, an' while they're lookin' for each other +an' then fightin' each other to a standstill, the robbers will be +plunderin' an' murderin'. But don't you worry about bein' ambushed. +I was jest tellin' you what might happen, but wouldn't happen. We kin +go down hill fast now, and we'll soon be in Hubbard, which is the other +side of all that fallin' snow." + +The road down the mountain was also better than the one by which they +had ascended, and as the horses with their calked shoes were swift of +foot they made rapid progress. As they descended, the wind lowered +fast and there was much less snow. Red Blaze said it was probably not +snowing in the valley at all. + +"See that shinin' in the sun," he said. "That's the tin coverin' on the +steeple of the new church in Hubbard. The sun strikes squar'ly on it, +an' now I know I'm right 'bout it not snowin' down thar. Wait 'til we +turn 'roun' this big rock. Yes, thar's Hubbard, layin' out in the +valley without a drop of snow on her. It looks good, don't it, friends, +with the smoke comin' out of the chimneys. That little red house over +thar is the railroad an' telegraph station, an' we'll go straight for it, +'cause we ain't got no time to waste." + +They emerged into the valley and rode rapidly for the station. Farmers +on the outskirts and villagers looked wonderingly at them, but they +did not pause to answer questions. They galloped their tired mounts +straight for the little red building, which was the station. Dick +sprang first from his horse, and leaving it to stand at the door, +ran inside. A telegraph instrument was clicking mournfully in the +corner. A hot stove was in another corner, and sitting near it was a +lad of about Dick's age, clad in mountain jeans, and lounging in an +old cane-bottomed chair. But Dick's quick glance saw that the boy was +bright of face and keen of eye. He promptly drew out his papers and +said: + +"I'm an aide from the Northern regiment of Colonel Newcomb at +Townsville. Here are duplicate dispatches, one set for the President of +the United States and the other for the Secretary of War. They tell +of a successful fight that we had last night with Southern troops, +presumably the cavalrymen of Turner Ashby. I wish you to send them at +once." + +"He's speakin' the exact truth, Jim," said Red Blaze, who had come +in behind Dick, "an' I've brought him an' the sergeant here over the +mountains to tell about it." + +The boy sprang to his instrument. But he stopped a moment to ask one +question. + +"Did you really beat 'em off?" he asked as he looked up with shining eye. + +"We certainly did," replied Dick. + +"I'll send it faster than I ever sent anything before," said the boy. +"To think of me, Jim Johnson, sending a dispatch to Abraham Lincoln, +telling of a victory!" + +"I reckon you're right, Jim, it's your chance," said Red Blaze. + +Jim bent over the instrument which now began to click steadily and fast. + +"You're to wait for answers," said Dick. + +The boy nodded, but his shining eyes remained bent over the instrument. +Dick went to the door, brushed off the snow, came back and sat down by +the stove. Sergeant Whitley, who had tied the horses to hitching posts, +came in, pulled up an empty box and sat down by him. Red Blaze slipped +away unnoticed. But he came back very soon, and men and women came with +him, bringing food and smoking coffee. There was enough for twenty. + +Red Blaze had spread among the villagers, every one of whom he knew, +the news that the Union arms had won a victory. Nor had it suffered +anything in the telling. Colonel Newcomb's regiment, by the most +desperate feats of gallantry, had beaten off at least ten thousand +Southerners, and the boy and the man in uniform, who were resting by the +fire in the station, had been the greatest two heroes of a battle waged +for a whole night. + +Curious eyes gazed at Dick and the sergeant as they sat there by the +stove. Dick himself, warm, relaxed, and the needs of his body satisfied, +felt like going to sleep. But he watched the boy operator, who +presently finished his two dispatches and then lifted his head for the +first time. + +"They've gone straight into Washington," he said. "We ought to get an +answer soon." + +"We'll wait here for it," said Dick. + +The three messengers were now thoroughly warmed at the stove, they +had eaten heartily of the best the village could furnish, and a great +feeling of comfort pervaded them. While they were waiting for the reply +that they hoped would come from Washington, Dick Mason and Sergeant +Whitley went outside. No snow was falling in the valley, but off on the +mountain crest they still saw the white veil, blown by the wind. + +Red Blaze joined them and was everywhere their guide and herald. +He ascribed to them such deeds of skill and valor that they were +compelled to call him the best romancer they had met in a long time. + +"I suppose that if Mr. Warner were here," said the sergeant, "he would +reduce these statements to mathematics, ten per cent fact an' ninety per +cent fancy." + +"Just about that," said Dick. + +Red Blaze came to them presently, bristling with news. + +"A farmer from a hollow further to the west," he said, "has just come in, +an' he says that a band of guerillas is ridin' through the hills. +'Bout twenty of them, he said, led by a big dark fellow, his face +covered with black beard. They've been liftin' hosses an' takin' other +things, but they're strangers in these parts. Tom Sykes, who was held +up by them an' robbed of his hoss, says that the rest of 'em called +their leader Skelly. Tom seemed to think that mebbe they came from +somewhere in the Kentucky mountains. They called themselves a scoutin' +party of the Southern army." + +Dick started violently. + +"Why, I know this man Skelly," he said. "He lives in the mountains +to the eastward of my home in Kentucky. He organized a band at the +beginning of the war, but over there he said he was fightin' for the +North." + +"He'll be fightin' for his own hand," said the sergeant sternly. +"But he can't play double all the time. That sort of thing will bring +a man to the end of a rope, with clear air under his feet." + +"I'm glad you've told me this," said Red Blaze. "Skelly might have +come ridin' in here, claimin' that he an' his men was Northern troops, +an' then when we wasn't suspectin' might have held up the whole town. +I'll warn 'em. Thar ain't a house here that hasn't got two or three +rifles an' shotguns in it, an' with the farmers from the valley joinin' +in Hubbard could wipe out the whole gang." + +"Tell them to be on guard all the time, Red Blaze," said Whitley with +strong emphasis. "In war you've got to watch, watch, watch. Always +know what the other fellow is doin', if you can." + +"Let's go back to the station," said Dick. "Maybe we'll have an answer +soon." + +They found the young operator hanging over his instrument, his eyes +still shining. He had been in that position ever since they left him, +and Dick knew that his eagerness to get an answer from Washington kept +him there, mind and body waiting for the tick of the key. + +Dick, the sergeant, and Red Blaze sat down by the stove again, and +rested there quietly for a quarter of an hour. Red Blaze was thinking +that it would be another cold ride back over the pass. The sergeant, +although he was not sleepy, closed his eyes and saw again the vast +rolling plains, the herds of buffalo spreading to the horizon, and the +bands of Sioux and Cheyennes galloping down, their great war bonnets +making splashes of color against the thin blue sky. Dick was thinking +of Pendleton, the peaceful little town in Kentucky that was his home, +and of his cousin, Harry Kenton. He did not know now where Harry was, +and he did not even know whether he was dead or alive. + +Dick sighed a little, and just at that moment the telegraph key began to +click. + +"The answer is coming!" exclaimed the young operator excitedly and then +he bent closer over the key to take it. The three chairs straightened +up, and they, too, bent toward the key. The boy wrote rapidly, but the +clicking did not go on long. When it ceased he straightened up with his +finished message in his hand. His face was flushed and his eyes still +shining. He folded the paper and handed it to Dick. + +"It's for you, Mr. Mason," he said. + +Dick unfolded it and read aloud: + + +"Colonel John D. Newcomb: + +"Congratulations on your success and fine management of your troops. +Victory worth much to us. Read dispatch to regiment and continue +westward to original destination. + + A. LINCOLN." + + +Dick's face glowed, and the sergeant's teeth came together with a little +click of satisfaction. + +"When I saw that it was to be read to the regiment I thought it no harm +to read it to the rest of you," said Dick, as he refolded the precious +dispatch and put it in his safest pocket. "Now, sergeant, I think we +ought to be off at full speed." + +"Not a minute to waste," said Sergeant Whitley. + +Their horses had been fed and were rested well. The three bade farewell +to the young operator, then to almost all of Hubbard and proceeded in +a trot for the pass. They did not speak until they were on the first +slope, and then the sergeant, looking up at the heights, asked: + +"Shall we have snow again on our return, Red Blaze? I hope not. +It's important for us to get back to Townsville without any waste of +time." + +"I hate to bring bad news," replied Red Blaze, "but we'll shore have +more snow. See them clouds, sailin' up an' always sailin' up from the +southwest, an' see that white mist 'roun' the highest peaks. That's +snow, an' it'll hit the pass just as it did when we was comin' over. +But we've got this in favor of ourselves an' our hosses now: The wind +is on our backs." + +They rode hard now. Dick had received the precious message from the +President, and it would be a proud moment for him when he put it in +the hands of the colonel. He did not wish that moment to be delayed. +Several times he patted the pocket in which the paper lay. + +As they ascended, the wind increased in strength, but being on their +backs now it seemed to help them along. They were soon high up on the +slopes and then they naturally turned for a parting look at Hubbard in +its valley, a twin to that of Townsville. It looked from afar neat and +given up to peace, but Dick knew that it had been stirred deeply by the +visit of his comrades and himself. + +"It seems," he said, "that the war would pass by these little mountain +nests." + +"But it don't," said Red Blaze. "War, I guess, is like a mad an' +kickin' mule, hoofs lashin' out everywhar, an' you can't tell what +they're goin' to hit. Boys, we're makin' good time. That wind on our +backs fairly lifts us up the mountain side." + +Petty had all the easy familiarity of the backwoods. He treated the boy +and man who rode with him as comrades of at least a year's standing, +and they felt in return that he was one of them, a man to be trusted. +They retained all the buoyancy which the receipt of the dispatch had +given them, and Dick, his heart beating high, scarcely felt the wind and +cold. + +"In another quarter of an hour we'll be at the top," said Petty. +Then he added after a moment's pause: "If I'm not mistook, we'll have +company. See that path, leadin' out of the west, an' runnin' along the +slope. It comes into the main road, two or three hundred yards further +on, an' I think I can see the top of a horseman's head ridin' in it. +What do you say, sergeant?" + +"I say that you are right, Red Blaze. I plainly see the head of a big +man, wearing a fur cap, an' there are others behind him, ridin' in +single file. What's your opinion, Mr. Mason?" + +"The same as yours and Red Blaze's. I, too, can see the big man with +the fur cap on his head and at least a dozen following behind. Do you +think it likely, Red Blaze, that they'll reach the main road before we +pass the mouth of the path?" + +A sudden thought had leaped up in Dick's mind and it set his pulses to +beating hard. He remembered some earlier words of Red Blaze's. + +"We'll go by before they reach the main road," replied Red Blaze, +"unless they make their hosses travel a lot faster than they're +travelin' now." + +"Then suppose we whip up a little," said Dick. + +Both Red Blaze and the sergeant gave him searching glances. + +"Do you mean--" began Whitley. + +"Yes, I mean it. I know it. The man in front wearing the fur cap is +Bill Skelly. He and his men made an attack upon the home of my uncle, +Colonel Kenton, who is a Southern leader in Kentucky. He and his band +were Northerners there, but they will be Southerners here, if it suits +their purpose." + +"An' it will shorely suit their purpose to be Southerners now," said +Red Blaze. "We three are ridin' mighty good hoss flesh. Me an' the +sergeant have good rifles an' pistols, you have good pistols, an' we +all have good, big overcoats. This is a lonely mountain side with war +flyin' all about us. Easy's the place an' easy's the deed. That is +if we'd let 'em, which we ain't goin' to do." + +"Not by a long shot," said Sergeant Whitley, resting his rifle across +the pommel of his saddle. "They've got to follow straight behind. +The ground is too rough for them to ride around an' flank us." + +Dick said nothing, but his gauntleted hand moved down to the butt of one +of his pistols. His heart throbbed, but he preserved the appearance of +coolness. He was fast becoming inured to danger. Owing to the slope +they could not increase the speed of their horses greatly, but they were +beyond the mouth of the path before they were seen by Skelly and his +band. Then the big mountaineer uttered a great shout and began to wave +his hand at them. + +"The road curves here a little among the rocks," said the sergeant, +who unconsciously took command. "Suppose we stop, sheltered by the +curve, and ask them what they want." + +"The very thing to do," said Dick. + +"Sass 'em, sergeant! Sass 'em!" said Red Blaze. + +They drew their horses back partially in the shadow of the rocky curve, +but the sergeant was a little further forward than the others. Dick saw +Skelly and a score of men emerge into the road and come rapidly toward +them. They were a wild-looking crew, mounted on tough mountain ponies, +all of them carrying loot, and all armed heavily. + +The sergeant threw up his rifle, and with a steady hand aimed straight +at Skelly's heart. + +"Halt!" he cried sharply, "and tell me who you are!" + +The whole crew seemed to reel back except Skelly, who, though stopping +his horse, remained in the center of the road. + +"What do you mean?" he cried. "We're peaceful travelers. What business +is it of yours who we are?" + +"Judgin' by your looks you're not peaceful travelers at all. Besides +these ain't peaceful times an' we take the right to demand who you are. +If you come on another foot, I shoot." + +The sergeant's tones were sharp with resolve. + +"Your name!" he continued. + +"Ramsdell, David Ramsdell," replied the leader of the band. + +"That's a lie," said Sergeant Whitley. "Your name is Bill Skelly, +an' you're a mountaineer from Eastern Kentucky, claimin' to belong first +to one side and then to the other as suits you." + +"Who says so?" exclaimed Skelly defiantly. + +The sergeant beckoned Dick, who rode forward a little. + +"I do," said the boy in a loud, clear voice. "My name is Dick Mason, +and I live at Pendleton in Kentucky. I saw you more than once before +the war, and I know that you tried to burn down the house of Colonel +Kenton there, and kill him and his friends. I'm on the other side, +but I'm not for such things as that." + +Skelly distinctly saw Dick sitting on his horse in the pass, and he knew +him well. Rage tore at his heart. Although on "the other side" this +boy, too, was a lowlander and in a way a member of that vile Kenton +brood. He hated him, too, because he belonged to those who had more of +prosperity and education than himself. But Skelly was a man of resource +and not a coward. + +"You're right," he cried, "I'm Bill Skelly, an' we want your horses an' +arms. We need 'em in our business. Now, just hop down an' deliver. +We're twenty to three." + +"You come forward at your own risk!" cried the sergeant, and Skelly, +despite the numbers at his back, wavered. He saw that the man who held +the rifle aimed at his heart had nerves of steel, and he did not dare +advance knowing that he would be shot at once from the saddle. A +victory won by Skelly's men with Skelly dead was no victory at all to +Skelly. + +The guerilla reined back his horse, and his men retreated with him. +But the three knew well that it was no withdrawal. The mountaineers +rode among some scrub that grew between the road and the cliff; and +Whitley exclaimed to his two comrades: + +"Come boys, we must ride for it! It's our business to get back with the +dispatches to Colonel Newcomb as soon as possible, an' not let ourselves +be delayed by this gang." + +"That is certainly true," said Dick. "Lead on, Mr. Petty, and we'll +cross the mountain as fast as we can." + +Red Blaze started at once in a gallop, and Dick and the sergeant +followed swiftly after. But Sergeant Whitley held his cocked rifle in +hand and he cast many backward glances. A great shout came from Skelly +and his band when they saw the three take to flight, and the sergeant's +face grew grimmer as the sound reached his ears. + +"Keep right in the middle of the road, boys," he said. "We can't afford +to have our horses slip. I'll hang back just a little and send in a +bullet if they come too near. This rifle of mine carries pretty far, +farther, I expect, than any of theirs." + +"I'm somethin' on the shoot myself," said Red Blaze. "I love peace, +but it hurts my feelin's if anybody shoots at me. Them fellers are +likely to do it, an' me havin' a rifle in my hands I won't be able to +stop the temptation to fire back." + +As he spoke the raiders fired. There was a crackling of rifles, little +curls of blue smoke rose in the pass, and bullets struck on the frozen +earth, while two made the snow fly from bushes by the side of the road. +The sergeant raised his own rifle, longer of barrel than the average +army weapon, and pulled the trigger. He had aimed at Skelly, but the +leader swerved, and a man behind him rolled off his horse. The others, +although slowing their speed a little, in order to be out of the range +of that deadly rifle, continued to come. + +The pursuit at first seemed futile to Dick, because they would soon +descend into Townsville's valley, and the raiders could not follow them +into the midst of an entire regiment. But presently he saw their plan. +The pass now widened out with a few hundred yards of level space on +either side of the road thickly covered with forest. The branches of +the trees were bare, but the undergrowth was so dense that horsemen +could he hidden in it. Bands of the raiders darted into the woods both +to right and left, and he knew that advancing on a straight line one or +the other of the parties expected to catch the fugitives who must follow +the curves of the road. + +The advantage of the pursuit was soon shown as a shot from the right +whistled by them. Red Blaze, quick as lightning, fired at the flash of +the rifle. + +"I don't know whether I hit him or not," he said, judicially, "but the +chances are pow'ful good that I did. Still it looks as if they meant to +hang on an' likely we kin soon expect shots from the other side, too. +Then if they know the country as well as they 'pear to do they'll have +us clamped in a vise." + +As he spoke his eyes twinkled cheerfully out of his flaming countenance. + +"You certainly seem to take it easy," said Dick. + +"I take it easy, 'cause the jaws of that vise ain't goin' to clamp down. +Bein' somewhat interested in a run for your life you haven't noticed +how dark it's gettin' up here on the heights an' how hard it's snowin'. +It's comin' down a lot thicker than it was when we crossed the first +time." + +It was true. Dick noticed now that the snow was pouring down, and that +all the peaks and ridges were lost in the white whirlwind. + +"I told you that I had been a traveler," said Red Blaze. "I've been as +far as fifty miles from Townsville, and I know all the country in every +direction, twenty miles from it, inch by inch. Inside five minutes the +snowstorm will be on us full blast, an' we won't be able to see more'n +twenty yards away. An' that crowd that's follerin' won't be able to see +either. An' me knowin' the ground inch by inch I'll take you straight +back to your regiment while they'll get lost in the storm." + +There was room now in the road for the three to ride abreast, and they +kept close together. They heard once a shout behind them and saw the +flash of a firearm in the white hurricane, but no bullet struck them, +and they kept steadily on their course, Red Blaze directing with the +sure instinct that comes of long use and habit. + +Heavier and heavier grew the snow. There was but little wind now, +and it came straight down. It seemed to Dick that the whole earth was +blotted out by the white fall. He and the sergeant resigned themselves +completely to the guidance of Red Blaze, who never veered an inch from +the right path. + +"If I didn't know the way my hoss would," he said. "I'd just give him +his head an' he'd take us straight to his warm stable in Townsville, +an' the two bundles of oats that I mean to give him. I reckon it was +pretty smart of me, wasn't it, to order a snowstorm an' have it come +just when it was needed." + +Again the cheerful eyes twinkled in the flaming face. + +"You're certainly a winner," said Dick, "and you win for us all." + +The snow was now so deep in the pass that they could not proceed at +great speed, but they did the best they could, and, as Red Blaze said, +their best, although it might be somewhat slow, was certainly better +than that of Skelly and his men. Dick believed in fact that the raiders +had been compelled to abandon the pursuit. + +When they reached a lower level, where the snow was far less dense, +they stopped and listened. The sergeant's ears had been trained to +uncommon keenness by his life on the plains, and he could hear nothing +but the sigh of the falling snow. Nor could Petty, who had fine ears +himself. + +They descended still further, and made another stop. It was snowing +here also, but it was merely an ordinary fall, and they could get a +long view back up the pass. They saw nothing there but earth and trees +covered with snow. Looking in the other direction they saw the sunshine +gleaming for a moment on a roof in Townsville. + +"We're all safe now," said Red Blaze, "an' we'll be with the soldiers in +another half hour. But just you two remember that mebbe the next time I +couldn't call up a snowstorm to cover us an' save our lives." + +"Once is enough," said Dick, "and, Mr. Petty, Sergeant Whitley and I +want to thank you." + +Mittened hands met buckskinned ones in the strong grasp of friendship, +and now, as they rode on, the whole village emerged into sight. There +was the long train standing on the track, the smoke rising in spires +from the neat houses, and then the figures of human beings. + +The fall of snow was light in the valley and as soon as they reached +the levels the three proceeded at a gallop. Dick saw Colonel Newcomb +standing by the train, and springing from his horse he handed him the +dispatch. The colonel opened it, and as he read Dick saw the glow +appear upon his face. + +"Fire up!" he said to Canby, the engineer, who stood near. "We start at +once!" + +The troops who were ready and waiting were hurried into the coaches, +and the engine whistled for departure. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SINGER OF THE HILLS + + +As the engine whistled for the last time Dick sprang upon a car-step, +one hand holding to the rail while with the other he returned the +powerful grip of Red Blaze, who with his own unconfined hand grasped the +bridles of the three horses, which had served them so well. Petty had +received a reward thrust upon him by Colonel Newcomb, but Dick knew +that the mountaineer's chief recompense was the success achieved in the +perilous task chosen for him. + +"Good-bye, Mr. Mason," said Red Blaze, "I'm proud to have knowed you an' +the sergeant, an' to have been your comrade in a work for the Union." + +"Without you we should have failed." + +"It jest happened that I knowed the way. It seems to me that there's +a heap, a tremenjeous heap, in knowin' the way. It gives you an awful +advantage. Now you an' your regiment are goin' down thar in them +Kentucky mountains. They're mighty wild, winter's here an' the marchin' +will be about as bad as it could be. Them's mostly Pennsylvania men +with you, an' they don't know a thing 'bout that thar region. Like as +not you'll be walkin' right straight into an ambush, an' that'll be the +end of you an' them Pennsylvanians." + +"You're a cheerful prophet, Red Blaze." + +"I meant if you didn't take care of yourselves an' keep a good lookout, +which I know, of course, that you're goin' to do. I was jest statin' +the other side of the proposition, tellin' what would happen to keerless +people, but Colonel Newcomb an' Major Hertford ain't keerless people. +Good-bye, Mr. Mason. Mebbe I'll see you ag'in before this war is over." + +"Good-bye, Red Blaze. I truly hope so." + +The train was moving now and with a last powerful grasp of a friendly +hand Dick went into the coach. It was the first in the train. Colonel +Newcomb and Major Hertford sat near the head of it, and Warner was just +sitting down not far behind them. Dick took the other half of the seat +with the young Vermonter, who said, speaking in a whimsical tone: + +"You fill me with envy, Dick. Why wasn't it my luck to go with you, +Sergeant Whitley, and the man they call Red Blaze on that errand and +help bring back with you the message of President Lincoln? But I heard +what our red friend said to you at the car-step. There's a powerful lot +in knowing the way, knowing where you're going, and what's along every +inch of the road. My arithmetic tells me that it is often fifty per +cent of marching and fighting." + +"I think you are right," said Dick. + +A little later he was sound asleep in his seat, and at the command of +Colonel Newcomb he was not disturbed. His had been a task, taxing to +the utmost both body and mind, and, despite his youth and strength, +it would take nature some time to replace what had been worn away. + +He slept on while the boys in the train talked and laughed. Stern +discipline was not yet enforced in either army, nor did Colonel Newcomb +consider it necessary here. These lads, so lately from the schools +and farms, had won a victory and they had received the thanks of the +President. They had a right to talk about it among themselves and a +little vocal enthusiasm now might build up courage and spirit for a +greater crisis later. + +The colonel, moreover, gave glances of approval and sympathy to his +gallant young aide, who in the seat next to the window with his head +against the wall slept so soundly. All the afternoon Dick slept on, +his breathing regular and steady. The train rattled and rumbled through +the high mountains, and on the upper levels the snow was falling fast. + +Darkness came, and supper was served to the troops, but at the colonel's +command Dick was not awakened. Nature had not yet finished her task of +repairing. There was worn tissue still to be replaced, and the nerves +had not yet recovered their full steadiness. + +So Dick slept on, while the night deepened and the snow continued to +drive against the window panes. Nor did he awake until morning, when +the train stopped at a tiny station in the hills. There was no snow +here, but the sun, just rising, threw no heat, and icicles were hanging +from every cliff. Dispatches were waiting for Colonel Newcomb, and +after breakfast he announced to his staff: + +"I have orders from Washington to divide my regiment. The Southern +forces are operating at three points in Kentucky. They are gathering +at Columbus on the Mississippi, at Bowling Green in the south, and here +in the mountains there is a strong division under an officer named +Zollicoffer. Scattered forces of our men, the principal one led by a +Virginian named Thomas, are endeavoring to deal with Zollicoffer. +The Secretary of War regrets the division of the regiment, but he thinks +it necessary, as all our detached forces must be strengthened. I go on +with the main body of the regiment to join Grant, near the mouth of the +Ohio. You, Major Hertford, will take three companies and march south +in search of Thomas, but be careful that you are not snapped up by the +rebels on the way. And if you can get volunteers and join Thomas with +your force increased threefold, so much the better." + +"I shall try my best, sir," said Major Hertford, "and thank you for this +honor." + +Dick and Warner stood by without a word, but Dick cast an appealing look +at Colonel Newcomb. + +"Yes, I know," said the Colonel, who caught the glance. "This is your +state, and you wish to go with Major Hertford. You are to do so. +So is your friend, Lieutenant Warner, and, Major Hertford, I also lend +to you Sergeant Whitley, who is a man of much experience and who has +already proved himself to be of great value." + +The three saluted and were grateful. They longed for action, which they +believed would come more quickly with Major Hertford's column. A little +later, when military form permitted it, the two boys thanked Colonel +Newcomb in words. + +"Maybe you won't thank me a few days from now," said the colonel a +little grimly, "but I am hopeful that our plans here in Eastern Kentucky +will prove successful, and that before long you will be able to join the +great forces in the western part of the state. You are both good boys +and now, good-bye." + +The preparations for the mountain column, as Dick and Warner soon called +it, had been completed. They were on foot, but they were well armed, +well clothed, and they had supplies loaded in several wagons, purchased +hastily in the village. A dozen of the strong mountaineers volunteered +to be drivers and guides, and the major was glad to have them. Later, +several horses were secured for the officers, but, meanwhile, the train +was ready to depart. + +Colonel Newcomb waved them farewell, the faithful and valiant Canby +opened the throttle, and the train steamed away. The men in the little +column, although eager for their new task, watched its departure with +a certain sadness at parting with their comrades. The train became +smaller and smaller, then it was only a spiral of smoke, and that, too, +soon died on the clear western horizon. + +"And now to find Thomas!" said Major Hertford, who retained Dick and +Warner on his staff, practically its only members, in fact. "It looks +odd to hunt through the mountains for a general and his army, but we've +got it to do, and we'll do it." + +The horses for the officers were obtained at the suggestion of Sergeant +Whitley, and the little column turned southward through the wintry +forest. Dick and Warner were riding strong mountain ponies, but at +times, and in order to show that they considered themselves no better +than the others, they dismounted and walked over the frozen ground. +The greatest tasks were with the wagons containing the ammunition and +supplies. The mountain roads were little more than trails, sometimes +half blocked with ice or snow and then again deep in mud. The winter +was severe. Storms of rain, hail, sleet and snow poured upon them, but, +fortunately, they were marching through continuous forests, and the +skilled mountaineers, under any circumstances, knew how to build fires, +by the side of which they could dry themselves, and sleep warmly at +night. + +They also heard much gossip as they advanced to meet General Thomas, +who had been sent from Louisville to command the Northern troops in the +Kentucky mountains. Thomas was a Virginian, a member of the old regular +army, a valiant, able, and cautious man, who chose to abide by the +Union. Many other Virginians, some destined to be as famous as he, +and a few more so, wondered why he had not gone with his seceding state, +and criticised him much, but Thomas, chary of speech, hung to his belief, +and proved it by action. + +Dick learned, too, that the Southern force operating against Thomas, +while actively led by Zollicoffer, was under the nominal command of +one of his own Kentucky Crittendens. Here he saw again how terribly +his beloved state was divided, like other border states. General +Crittenden's father was a member of the Federal Congress at Washington, +and one of his brothers was a general also, but on the other side. +But he was to see such cases over and over again, and he was to see +them to a still greater and a wholesale degree, when the First Maryland +regiment of the North and the First Maryland regiment of the South, +recruited from the same district, should meet face to face upon the +terrible field of Antietam. + +But Antietam was far in the future, and Dick's mind turned from the +cases of brother against brother to the problems of the icy wilderness +through which they were moving, in a more or less uncertain manner. +Sometimes they were sent on false trails, but their loyal mountaineers +brought them back again. They also found volunteers, and Major +Hertford's little force swelled from three hundred to six hundred. +In the main, the mountaineers were sympathetic, partly through devotion +to the Union, and partly through jealousy of the more prosperous +lowlanders. + +One day Major Hertford sent Dick, Warner, and Sergeant Whitley, ahead to +scout. He had recognized the ability of the two lads, and also their +great friendship for Sergeant Whitley. It seemed fitting to him that +the three should be nearly always together, and he watched them with +confidence, as they rode ahead on the icy mountain trail and then +disappeared from sight. + +Dick and his friends had learned, at mountain cabins which they had +passed, that the country opened out further on into a fine little valley, +and when they reached the crest of a hill somewhat higher than the +others, they verified the truth of the statement. Before them lay the +coziest nook they had yet seen in the mountains, and in the center of it +rose a warm curl of smoke from the chimney of a house, much superior to +that of the average mountaineer. The meadows and corn lands on either +side of a noble creek were enclosed in good fences. Everything was trim +and neat. + +The three rode down the slope toward the house, but halfway to the +bottom they reined in their ponies and listened. Some one was singing. +On the thin wintry air a deep mellow voice rose and they distinctly +heard the words: + + Soft o'er the fountain, ling'ring falls the southern moon, + Far o'er the mountain breaks the day too soon. + In thy dark eyes' splendor, where the warm light loves to dwell, + Weary looks yet tender, speak their fond farewell. + 'Nita, Juanita! Ask thy soul if we should part, + 'Nita, Juanita! Lean thou on my heart. + +It was a wonderful voice that they heard, deep, full, and mellow, +all the more wonderful because they heard it there in those lone +mountains. The ridges took up the echo, and gave it back in tones +softened but exquisitely haunting. + +The three paused and looked at one another. They could not see the +singer. He was hidden from them by the dips and swells of the valley, +but they felt that here was no common man. No common mind, or at least +no common heart, could infuse such feeling into music. As they listened +the remainder of the pathetic old air rose and swelled through the +ridges: + + When in thy dreaming, moons like these shall shine again, + And daylight beaming prove thy dreams are vain, + Wilt thou not, relenting, for thy absent lover sigh? + In thy heart consenting to a prayer gone by! + 'Nita, Juanita! Let me linger by thy side! + 'Nita, Juanita! Be thou my own fair bride. + +"I'm curious to see that singer," said Warner. "I heard grand opera +once in Boston, just before I started to the war, but I never heard +anything that sounds finer than this. Maybe time and place help to the +extent of fifty per cent, but, at any rate, the effect is just the same." + +"Come on," said Dick, "and we'll soon find our singer, whoever he is." + +The three rode at a rapid pace until they reached the valley. There +they drew rein, as they saw near them a tall man, apparently about +forty years of age, mending a fence, helped by a boy of heavy build and +powerful arms. The man glanced up, saw the blue uniforms worn by the +three horsemen, and went peacefully on with his fence-mending. He also +continued to sing, throwing his soul into the song, and both work and +song proceeded as if no one was near. + +He lifted the rails into place with mighty arms, but never ceased to +sing. The boy who helped him seemed almost his equal in strength, +but he neither sang nor spoke. Yet he smiled most of the time, showing +rows of exceedingly strong, white teeth. + +"They seem to me to be of rather superior type," said Dick. "Maybe we +can get useful information from them." + +"I judge that the singer will talk about almost everything except what +we want to know," said the shrewd and experienced sergeant, "but we can +certainly do no harm by speaking to him. Of course they have seen us. +No doubt they saw us before we saw them." + +The three rode forward, saluted politely and the fence-menders, stopping +their work, saluted in the same polite fashion. Then they stood +expectant. + +"We belong to a detachment which is marching southward to join the Union +army under General Thomas," said Dick. "Perhaps you could tell us the +best road." + +"I might an' ag'in I mightn't, stranger. If you don't talk much you +never have much to take back. If I knew where that army is it would +be easy for me to tell you, but if I didn't know I couldn't. Now, the +question is, do I know or don't I know? Do you think you can decide it +for me stranger?" + +It was impossible for Dick or the sergeant to take offense. The man's +gaze was perfectly frank and open and his eyes twinkled as he spoke. +The boy with him smiled widely, showing both rows of his powerful white +teeth. + +"We can't decide it until we know you better," said Dick in a light tone. + +"I'm willin' to tell you who I am. My name is Sam Jarvis, an' this +lunkhead here is my nephew, Ike Simmons, the son of my sister, who keeps +my house. Now I want to tell you, young stranger, that since this war +began and the Yankees and the Johnnies have taken a notion to shoot up +one another, people who would never have thought of doin' it before, +have come wanderin' into these mountains. But you can get a hint about +'em sometimes. Young man, do you want me to tell you your name?" + +"Tell me my name!" responded Dick in astonishment. "Of course you can't +do it! You never saw or heard of me before." + +"Mebbe no," replied Jarvis, with calm confidence, "but all the same +your name is Dick Mason, and you come from a town in Kentucky called +Pendleton. You've been serving with the Yanks in the East, an' you've a +cousin, named Harry Kenton, who's been servin' there also, but with the +Johnnies. Now, am I a good guesser or am I just a plum' ignorant fool?" + +Dick stared at him in deepening amazement. + +"You do more than guess," he replied. "You know. Everything that you +said is true." + +"Tell me this," said Jarvis. "Was that cousin of yours, Harry Kenton, +killed in the big battle at Bull Run? I've been tremenjeously anxious +about him ever since I heard of that terrible fight." + +"He was not. I have not seen him since, but I have definite news now +that he passed safely through the battle." + +Sam Jarvis and his nephew Ike breathed deep sighs of relief. + +"I'm mighty glad to hear it," said Jarvis, "I shorely liked that boy, +Harry, an' I think I'll like you about as well. It don't matter to me +that you're on different sides, bein' as I ain't on any side at all +myself, nor is this lunkhead, Ike, my nephew." + +"How on earth did you know me?" + +"'Light, an' come into the house an' I'll tell you. You an' your +pardners look cold an' hungry. There ain't danger of anybody taking +your hosses, 'cause you can hitch 'em right at the front door. Besides, +I've got an old grandmother in the house, who'd like mighty well to see +you, Mr. Mason." + +Dick concluded that it was useless to ask any more questions just yet, +and he, Warner and the sergeant, dismounting and leading their horses, +walked toward the house with Jarvis and Ike. Jarvis, who seemed +singularly cheerful, lifted up his voice and sang: + + Thou wilt come no more, gentle Annie, + Like a flower, thy spirit did depart, + Thou art gone, alas! like the many + That have bloomed in the summer of my heart. + Shall we never more behold thee? + Never hear thy winning voice again? + When the spring time comes, gentle Annie? + When the wild flowers are scattered o'er the plain? + +It seemed to Dick that the man sang spontaneously, and the deep, mellow +voice always came back in faint and dying echoes that moved him in a +singular manner. All at once the war with its passions and carnage +floated away. Here was a little valley fenced in from the battle-world +in which he had been living. He breathed deeply and as the eyes of +Jarvis caught his a sympathetic glance passed between them. + +"Yes," said Jarvis, as if he understood completely, "the war goes around +us. There is nothing to fight about here. But come into the house. +This is my sister, the mother of that lunkhead, Ike, and here is my +grandmother." + +He paused before the bent figure of an old, old woman, sitting in a +rocking chair beside the chimney, beside which a fire glowed and blazed. +Her chin rested on one hand, and she was staring into the coals. + +"Grandmother," said Jarvis very gently, "the great-grandson of the great +Henry Ware that you used to know was here last spring, and now the +great-grandson of his friend, Paul Cotter, has come, too." + +The withered form straightened and she stood up. Fire came into the old, +old eyes that regarded Dick so intently. + +"Aye," she said, "you speak the truth, grandson. It is Paul Cotter's +own face. A gentle man he was, but brave, and the greatest scholar. +I should have known that when Henry Ware's great-grandson came Paul +Cotter's, too, would come soon. I am proud for this house to have +sheltered you both." + +She put both her hands on his shoulders, and stood up very straight, +her face close to his. She was a tall woman, above the average height +of man, and her eyes were on a level with Dick's. + +"It is true," she said, "it is he over again. The eyes are his, and the +mouth and the nose are the same. This house is yours while you choose +to remain, and my grandchildren and my great-grandson will do for you +whatever you wish." + +Dick noticed that her grammar and intonation were perfect. Many of the +Virginians and Marylanders who emigrated to Kentucky in that far-off +border time were people of cultivation and refinement. + +After these words of welcome she turned from him, sat down in her chair +and gazed steadily into the coals. Everything about her seemed to float +away. Doubtless her thoughts ran on those dim early days, when the +Indians lurked in the canebrake and only the great borderers stood +between the settlers and sure death. + +Dick began to gather from the old woman's words a dim idea of what had +occurred. Harry Kenton must have passed there, and as they went into +the next room where food and coffee were placed before them, Jarvis +explained. + +"Your cousin, Harry Kenton, came through here last spring on his way to +Virginia," he said. "He came with me an' this lunkhead, Ike, all the +way from Frankfort and mostly up the Kentucky River. Grandmother was +dreaming and she took him at first for Henry Ware, his very self. +She saluted him and called him the great governor. It was a wonderful +thing to see, and it made me feel just a little bit creepy for a second +or two. Mebbe you an' your cousin, Harry Kenton, are Henry Ware an' +Paul Cotter, their very selves come back to earth. It looks curious +that both of you should wander to this little place hid deep in the +mountains. But it's happened all the same. I s'pose you've just been +moved 'round that way by the Supreme Power that's bigger than all of us, +an' that shifts us about to suit plans made long ago. But how I'm +runnin' on! Fall to, friends--I can't call you strangers, an' eat an' +drink. The winter air on the mountains is powerful nippin' an' your +blood needs warmin' often." + +The boys and the sergeant obeyed him literally and with energy. Jarvis +sat by approvingly, taking an occasional bite or drink with them. +Meanwhile they gathered valuable information from him. A Northern +commander named Garfield had defeated the Southern forces under Humphrey +Marshall in a smart little battle at a place called Middle Creek. +Dick knew this Humphrey Marshall well. He lived at Louisville and was a +great friend of his uncle, Colonel Kenton. He had been a brilliant and +daring cavalry officer in the Mexican War, doing great deeds at Buena +Vista, but now he was elderly and so enormously stout that he lacked +efficiency. + +Jarvis added that after their defeat at Middle Creek the Southerners had +gathered their forces on or near the Cumberland River about Mill Spring +and that they had ten thousand men. Thomas with a strong Northern force, +coming all the way from the central part of the state, was already deep +in the mountains, preparing to meet him. + +"Remember," said Jarvis, "that I ain't takin' no sides in this war +myself. If people come along an' ask me to tell what I know I tell it +to 'em, be they Yank or Reb. Now, I wish good luck to you, Mr. Mason, +an' I wish the same to your cousin, Mr. Kenton." + +Dick, Warner and the sergeant finished the refreshments and rose for the +return journey. They thanked Jarvis, and when they saw that he would +take no pay, they did not insist, knowing that it would offend him. +Dick said good-bye to the ancient woman and once again she rose, put her +hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. + +"Paul Cotter was a good man," she said, "and you who have his blood in +your veins are good, too. I can see it in something that lies back in +your eyes." + +She said not another word, but sat down in the chair and stared once +more into the coals, dreaming of the far day when the great borderers +saved her and others like her from the savages, and thinking little of +the mighty war that raged at the base of her hills. + +The boys and the sergeant rode fast on the return trail. They knew that +Major Hertford would push forward at all speed to join Thomas, whom they +could now locate without much difficulty. Jarvis and Ike had resumed +their fence-mending, but when the trees hid the valley from them a +mighty, rolling song came to the ears of Dick, Warner and the sergeant: + + They bore him away when the day had fled, + And the storm was rolling high, + And they laid him down in his lonely bed + By the light of an angry sky. + The lightning flashed, and the wild sea lashed + The shore with its foaming wave, + And the thunder passed on the rushing blast + As it howled o'er the rover's grave. + +"That man's no fool," said Dick. + +"No, he ain't," said the sergeant, with decision, "nor is that nephew +Ike of his that he calls a lunkhead. Did you notice, Mr. Mason, that the +boy never spoke a word while we was there? Them that don't say anything +never have anything to take back." + +They rode hard now, and soon reached Major Hertford with their news. +On the third day thereafter they entered a strong Union camp, commanded +by a man named Garfield, the young officer who had won the victory at +Middle Creek. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MILL SPRING + + +Garfield's camp was on a little group of hills in a very strong position, +and his men, flushed with victory, were eager for another encounter with +the enemy. They had plenty of good tents to fend them from the winter +weather which had often been bitter. Throughout the camp burned large +fires for which they had an almost unbroken wilderness to furnish fuel. +The whole aspect of the place was pleasing to the men who had marched +far and hard. + +Major Hertford and his aides, Richard Mason and George Warner, were +received in Colonel Garfield's tent. A slim young man, writing +dispatches at a rude little pine table, rose to receive them. He did +not seem to Dick to be more than thirty, and he had the thin, scholarly +face of a student. His manner was attractive, he shook hands warmly +with all three of them and said: + +"Reinforcements are most welcome indeed. My own work here seems to be +largely done, but you will reach General Thomas in another day, and he +needs you. Take my chair, Major Hertford. To you two lads I can offer +only stumps." + +The tent had been pitched over a spot where three stumps had been +smoothed off carefully until they made acceptable seats. One end of the +tent was entirely open, facing a glowing fire of oak logs. Dick and +Warner sat down on the stumps and spread out their hands to the blaze. +Beyond the flames they saw the wintry forest and mountains, seemingly +as wild as they were when the first white man came. + +The usual coffee and food were brought, and while they ate and drank +Major Hertford answered the numerous and pertinent questions of Colonel +Garfield. He listened attentively to the account of the fight in the +mountains, and to all the news that they could tell him of Washington. + +"We have been cut off in these mountains," he said. "I know very little +of what is going on, but what you say only confirms my own opinion. +The war is rapidly spreading over a much greater area, and I believe +that its scope will far exceed any of our earlier calculations." + +A grave and rather sad expression occupied for a moment the mobile face. +He interested Dick greatly. He seemed to him scholar and thinker as +well as soldier. He and Warner long afterward attended the inauguration +of this man as President of the United States. + +After a brief rest, and good wishes from Garfield, Major Hertford and +his command soon reached the main camp under Thomas. Here they were +received by a man very different in appearance and manner from Garfield. + +General George H. Thomas, who was to receive the famous title, "The Rock +of Chickamauga," was then in middle years. Heavily built and bearded, +he was chary of words. He merely nodded approval when Major Hertford +told of their march. + +"I will assign your troops to a brigade," he said, "and I don't think +you'll have long to wait. We're expecting a battle in a few days with +Crittenden and Zollicoffer." + +"Not much to say," remarked Dick to Warner, as they went away. + +"That's true," said Warner, thoughtfully, "but didn't you get an +impression of strength from his very silence? I should say that in his +make-up he is five per cent talk, twenty-five per cent patience and +seventy per cent action; total, one hundred per cent." + +The region in which they lay was west of the higher mountains, which +they had now crossed, but it was very rough and hilly. Not far from +them was a little town called Somerset, which Dick had visited once, +and near by, too, was the deep and swift Cumberland River, with much +floating ice at its edges. When the two lads lay by a campfire that +night Sergeant Whitley came to them with the news of the situation, +which he had picked up in his usual deft and quiet way. + +"The Southern army is on the banks of the Cumberland," he said. "It +has not been able to get its provisions by land through Cumberland Gap. +Instead they have been brought by boats on the river. As I hear it, +Crittenden and Zollicoffer are afraid that our general will advance to +the river an' cut off these supplies. So they mean to attack us as soon +as they can. If I may venture to say so, Mr. Mason, I'd advise that you +and Lieutenant Warner get as good a rest as you can, and as soon as you +can." + +They ate a hearty supper and being told by Major Hertford that they +would not be wanted until the next day, they rolled themselves in heavy +blankets, and, pointing their feet toward a good fire, slept on the +ground. The night was very cold, because it was now the middle of +January, but the blankets and fire kept them warm. + +Dick did not fall to sleep for some time, because he knew that he was +going into battle again in a few days. He was on the soil of his native +state now. He had already seen many Kentuckians in the army of Thomas +and he knew that they would be numerous, too, in that of Crittenden and +Zollicoffer. To some extent it would be a battle of brother against +brother. He was glad that Harry Kenton was in the east. He did not +wish in the height of battle to see his own cousin again on the opposite +side. + +But when he did fall asleep his slumber was sound and restful, and he +was ready and eager the next morning, when the sergeant, Warner, and he +were detached for duty in a scouting party. + +"The general has asked that you be sent owing to your experience in the +mountains," said Major Hertford, "and I have agreed gladly. I hope that +you're as glad as I am." + +"We are, sir," said the two boys together. The sergeant stood quietly +by and smiled. + +The detachment numbered a hundred men, all young, strong, and well +mounted. They were commanded by a young captain, John Markham, in +whom Dick recognized a distant relative. In those days nearly all +Kentuckians were more or less akin. The kinship was sufficient for +Markham to keep the two boys on either side of him with Sergeant Whitley +just behind. Markham lived in Frankfort and he had marched with Thomas +from the cantonments at Lebanon to their present camp. + +"John," said Dick, addressing him familiarly and in right of kinship, +"you've been for months in our own county. You've surely heard +something from Pendleton?" + +He could not disguise the anxiety in his voice, and the young captain +regarded him with sympathy. + +"I had news from there about a month ago, Dick," he replied. "Your +mother was well then, as I have no doubt she is now. The place was not +troubled by guerillas who are hanging on the fringe of the armies here +in Eastern, or in Southern and Western Kentucky. The war for the +present at least has passed around Pendleton. Colonel Kenton was at +Bowling Green with Albert Sidney Johnston, and his son, Harry, your +cousin, is still in the East." + +It was a rapid and condensed statement, but it was very satisfying to +Dick who now rode on for a long time in silence. The road was as bad as +a road could be. Snow and ice were mixed with the deep mud which pulled +hard at the hoofs of their horses. The country was rough, sterile, +and inhabited but thinly. They rode many miles without meeting a +single human being. About the third hour they saw a man and a boy on +a hillside several hundred yards away, but when Captain Markham and a +chosen few galloped towards them they disappeared so deftly among the +woods that not a trace of them could be found. + +"People in this region are certainly bashful," said Captain Markham with +a vexed laugh. "We meant them no harm, but they wouldn't stay to see +us." + +"But they don't know that," said Dick with the familiarity of kinship, +even though distant. "I fancy that the people hereabouts wish both +Northerners and Southerners would go away." + +Two miles further on they came to a large, double cabin standing back +a little distance from the road. Smoke was rising from the chimney, +and Captain Markham felt sure that they could obtain information from +its inmates. Dick, at his direction, beat on the door with the butt of +a small riding whip. There was no response. He beat again rapidly and +heavily, and no answer coming he pushed in the door. + +A fire was burning on the hearth, but the house was abandoned. Nor +had the owners been gone long. Besides the fire to prove it, clothing +was hanging on hooks in the wall, and there was food in the cupboard. +Captain Markham sighed. + +"Again they're afraid of us," he said. "I've no doubt the signal has +been passed ahead of us, and that we'll not get within speaking distance +of a single native. Curious, too, because this region in the main is +for the North." + +"Perhaps somebody has been robbing and plundering in our name," said +Dick. "Skelly and his raiders have been through these parts." + +"That's so," said Markham, thoughtfully. "I'm afraid those guerillas +who claim to be our allies are going to do us a great deal of harm. +Well, we'll turn back into the road, if you can call this stream of icy +mud a road, and go on." + +Another mile and they caught the gleam of water among the wintry boughs. +Dick knew that it was the Cumberland which was now a Southern artery, +bringing stores and arms for the army of Crittenden and Zollicoffer. +Even here, hundreds of miles from its mouth, it was a stream of great +depth, easily navigable, and far down its current they saw faintly the +smoke of two steamers. + +"They bear supplies for the Southern army," said Captain Markham. +"We can cut off the passage of boats on this river and for that reason, +so General Thomas concludes, the Southern army is going to attack us. +What do you think of his reasoning, sergeant?" + +"Beggin' your pardon, sir, for passin' an opinion upon my general," +replied Sergeant Whitley, "but I think his reasons are good. Here it is +the dead of winter, with more mud in the roads than I ever saw before +anywhere, but there's bound to be a battle right away. Men will fight, +sir, to keep from losin' their grub." + +A man rode forward from the ranks, saluted and asked leave to speak. +He was a native of the next county and knew that region well. Two miles +east of them and running parallel with the road over which they had come +was another and much wider road, the one that they called the big road. + +"Which means, I suppose, that it contains more mud than this one," +said Captain Markham. + +"True, sir," replied the man, "but if the rebel army is advancing it is +likely to be on that road." + +"That is certainly sound logic. At least we'll go there and see. +Can you lead us through these woods to it?" + +"I can take you straight across," replied the man whose name was +Carpenter. "But on the way we'll have to ford a creek which is likely +to be pretty deep at this time of the year." + +"Show the way," said Captain Markham briskly. + +They plunged into the deep woods, and Carpenter guided them well. +The creek, of which he had told, was running bankful of icy water, +but their horses swam it and they kept straight ahead until Carpenter, +who was a little in advance, held up a warning hand. + +Captain Markham ordered his whole troop to stop and keep as quiet as +possible. Then he, Dick, Warner, Sergeant Whitley and Carpenter rode +slowly forward. Before they had gone many yards Dick heard the heavy +clank of metal, the cracking of whips, the swearing of men, and the +sound of horses' feet splashing in the mud. He knew by the amount and +variety of the noises that a great force was passing. + +They advanced a little further and reined into a clump of bushes which +despite their lack of leaves were dense enough to shelter them from +observation. As the bushes grew on a hillock they had a downward and +good look into the road, which was fairly packed with men in the gray of +the Confederate army, some on horseback, but mostly afoot, their cannon, +ammunition and supply wagons sinking almost to the hub in the mud. +As far as Dick could see the gray columns extended. + +"There must be six or seven thousand men here," he said to Captain +Markham. + +"Undoubtedly," replied Markham, "this is the main Confederate army +advancing to attack ours, but the badness of the roads operates against +the offense. We shall reach General Thomas with the word that they are +coming long before they are there." + +They watched the marching army for a half hour longer in order to be +sure of everything, and then turning they rode as fast as they could +toward Thomas, elated at their success. They swam the creek again, +but at another point. Carpenter told them that the Southern army would +cross it on a bridge, and Markham lamented that he could not turn and +destroy this bridge, but such an attempt would have been folly. + +They finally turned into the main road along which the Southern army was +coming, although they were now miles ahead of it, and, covered from head +to foot with the red mud of the hills, they urged on their worn horses +toward the camp of Thomas. + +"I haven't had much experience in fighting, but I should imagine that +complete preparation had a great deal to do with success," said Captain +Markham. + +"I'd put it at sixty per cent," said Warner. + +"I should say," added Dick, "that the road makes at least eighty per +cent of our difficulty in getting back to Thomas." + +In fact, the road was so bad that they were compelled after a while to +ride into the woods and let their ponies rest. Here they were fired +upon by Confederate skirmishers from a hill two or three hundred yards +away. Their numbers were small, however, and Captain Markham's force +charging them drove them off without loss. + +Then they resumed their weary journey, but the rest had not fully +restored the horses and they were compelled at times to walk by the side +of the road, leading their mounts. Sergeant Whitley, with his age and +experience, was most useful now in restraining the impatient young men. +Although of but humble rank he kept them from exhausting either +themselves or their horses. + +"It will be long after dark before we can reach camp," said Captain +Markham, sighing deeply. "Confound such roads. Why not call them +morasses and have done with it!" + +"No, we can't make it much before midnight," said Dick, "but, after all, +that will be early enough. If I judge him right, even midnight won't +catch General Thomas asleep." + +"You've judged him right," said Markham. "I've been with 'Pap' Thomas +some time--we call him 'Pap' because he takes such good care of us--and +I think he is going to be one of the biggest generals in this war. +Always silent, and sometimes slow about making up his mind he strikes +like a sledge-hammer when he does strike." + +"He'll certainly have the opportunity to give blow for blow," said Dick, +as he remembered that marching army behind them. "How far do you think +it is yet to the general's camp?" + +"Not more than a half dozen miles, but it will be dark in a few minutes, +and at the rate we're going it will take us two full hours more to get +there." + +The wintry days were short and the sun slid down the gray, cold sky, +leaving forest and hills in darkness. But the little band toiled +patiently on, while the night deepened and darkened, and a chill wind +whistled down from the ridges. The officers were silent now, but +they looked eagerly for the first glimpse of the campfires of Thomas. +At last they saw the little pink dots in the darkness, and then they +pushed forward with new zeal, urging their weary horses into a run. + +When Captain Markham, Dick and Warner galloped into camp, ahead of the +others, a thickset strong figure walked forward to meet them. They +leaped from their horses and saluted. + +"Well?" said General Thomas. + +"The enemy is advancing upon us in full force, sir," replied Captain +Markham. + +"You scouted thoroughly?" + +"We saw their whole army upon the road." + +"When do you think they could reach us?" + +"About dawn, sir." + +"Very good. We shall be ready. You and your men have done well. +Now, find food and rest. You will be awakened in time for the battle." + +Dick walked away with his friends. Troopers took their horses and +cared for them. The boy glanced back at the thickset, powerful figure, +standing by one of the fires and looking gravely into the coals. +More than ever the man with the strong, patient look inspired confidence +in him. He was sure now that they would win on the morrow. Markham +and Warner felt the same confidence. + +"There's a lot in having a good general," said Warner, who had also +glanced back at the strong figure. "Do you remember, Dick, what it was +that Napoleon said about generals?" + +"A general is everything, an army nothing or something like that." + +"Yes, that was it. Of course, he didn't mean it just exactly as he said +it. A general can't be one hundred per cent and an army none. It was a +figure of speech so to say, but I imagine that a general is about forty +per cent. If we had had such leadership at Bull Run we'd have won." + +Dick and Warner, worn out by their long ride, soon slept but there was +movement all around them during the late hours of the night. Thomas +with his cautious, measuring mind was rectifying his lines in the wintry +darkness. He occupied a crossing of the roads, and he posted a strong +battery of artillery to cover the Southern approach. Around him were +men from Kentucky, the mountains of Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and +Minnesota. The Minnesota troops were sun-tanned men who had come more +than a thousand miles from an Indian-infested border to defend the Union. + +All through the night Thomas worked. He directed men with spades to +throw up more intrenchments. He saw that the guns of the battery were +placed exactly right. He ordered that food should be ready for all very +early in the morning, and then, when nothing more remained to be done, +save to wait for the decree of battle, he sat before his tent wrapped in +a heavy military overcoat, silent and watchful. Scouts had brought in +additional news that the Southern army was still marching steadily along +the muddy roads, and that Captain Markham's calculation of its arrival +about dawn would undoubtedly prove correct. + +Dick awoke while it was yet dark, and throwing off the heavy blankets +stood up. + +Although the dawn had not come, the night was now fairly light and Dick +could see a long distance over the camp which stretched to left and +right along a great front. Near him was the battery with most of the +men sleeping beside their guns, and not far away was the tent. Although +he could not see the general, he knew instinctively that he was not +asleep. + +It was cold and singularly still, considering the presence of so many +thousands of men. He did not hear the sound of human voices and there +was no stamp of horses' feet. They, too, were weary and resting. +Then Dick was conscious of a tall, thin figure beside him. Warner had +awakened, too. + +"Dick," he said, "it can't be more than an hour till dawn." + +"Just about that I should say." + +"And the scene, that is as far as we can see it, is most peaceful." + +Dick made no answer, but stood a long time listening. Then he said: + +"My ears are pretty good, George, and sound will carry very far in this +silence just before the dawn. I thought I heard a faint sound like the +clank of a cannon." + +"I think I hear it, too," said Warner, "and here is the dawn closer at +hand than we thought. Look at those cold rays over there, behind that +hill in the east. They are the vanguard of the sun." + +"So they are. And this is the vanguard of the Southern army!" + +He spoke the last words quickly and with excitement. + +In front of them down the road they heard the crackle of a dozen rifle +shots. The Southern advance undoubtedly had come into contact with the +Union sentinels and skirmishers. After the first shots there was a +moment's breathless silence, and then came a scattered and rapid fire, +as if at least a hundred rifles were at work. + +Dick's pulse began to beat hard, and he strained his eyes through the +darkness, but he could not yet see the enemy. He saw instead little +jets of fire like red dots appearing on the horizon, and then the sound +of the rifles came again. Warner was with him and both stood by the +side of Major Hertford, ready to receive and deliver his orders. +Dick now heard besides the firing in front the confused murmur and +moving of the Union army. + +Few of these troops had been in battle before--the same could be said +of the soldiers on the other side--and this attack in the half-light +troubled them. They wished to see the men who were going to shoot at +them, in order that they might have a fair target in return. Fighting +in the night was scarcely fair. One never knew what to do. But Thomas, +the future "Rock of Chickamauga," was already showing himself a tower of +strength. He reassured his nervous troops, he borrowed Dick and Warner +and sent them along the line with messages from himself that they had +nothing to do but stand firm and the victory was theirs. + +Meanwhile the line of red dots in front was lengthening. It stretched +farther to left and right than Dick could see, and was rapidly coming +nearer. Already the sentinels and skirmishers were waging a sharp +conflict, and the shouts of the combatants increased in volume. Then +the cold sun swung clear of the earth, and its wintry beams lighted up +both forest and open. The whole Southern army appeared, advancing in +masses, and Dick, who was now with Major Hertford again, saw the pale +rays falling on rifles and bayonets, and the faces of his own countrymen +as they marched upon the Union camp. + +"There's danger for our army! Lots of it!" said Warner, as he watched +the steady advance of the Southern brigades. + +Dick remembered Bull Run, but his thoughts ran back to the iron general +who commanded now. + +"Thomas will save us," he said. + +The skirmishers on both sides were driven in. Their scattered fire +ceased, but a moment later the whole front of the Southern army burst +into flame. It seemed to Dick that one vast sheet of light like a sword +blade suddenly shot forward, and then a storm of lead, bearing many +messengers of death, beat upon the Northern army, shattering its front +lines and carrying confusion among its young troops. But the officers +and a few old regulars like Sergeant Whitley steadied them and they +returned the fire. + +Major Hertford, Dick and Warner were all on foot, and their own little +band, already tried in battle, yielded not an inch. They formed a core +of resistance around which others rallied and Thomas himself was passing +along the line, giving heart to the lads fresh from the farms. + +But the Southern army fired again, and shouting the long fierce rebel +yell, charged with all its strength. Dick saw before him a vast cloud +of smoke, through which fire flashed and bullets whistled. He heard men +around him uttering short cries of pain, and he saw others fall, mostly +sinking forward on their faces. But those who stood, held fast and +loaded and fired until the barrels of their rifles burned to the touch. + +Dick felt many tremors at first, but soon the passion of battle seized +him. He carried no rifle, but holding his officer's small sword in +his hand he ran up and down the line crying to the men to stand firm, +that they would surely beat back the enemy. That film of fire and +smoke was yet before his eyes, but he saw through it the faces of his +countrymen still coming on. He heard to his right the thudding of the +great guns that Thomas had planted on a low hill, but the rifle fire +was like the beat of hail, a crackling and hissing that never ceased. + +The farm lads, their rifles loaded afresh, fired anew at the enemy, +almost in their faces, and the Southern line here reeled back against +so firm and deadly a front. + +But an alarming report ran down the line that their left was driven back, +and it was true. The valiant Zollicoffer leading his brigade in person, +had rushed upon this portion of the Northern army which was standing +upon another low hill and struck it with great violence. It was +wavering and would give way soon. But Thomas, showing the singular calm +that always marked him in battle, noticed the weak spot. The general +was then near Major Hertford. He quickly wrote a dispatch and beckoned +to Dick: + +"Here," he said, "jump on the horse that the sergeant is holding for me, +and bring up our reserve, the brigade under General Carter. They are to +meet the attack there on the hill, where our troops are wavering!" + +Dick, aflame with excitement, leaped into the saddle, and while the roar +of battle was still in his ears reached the brigade of Carter, already +marching toward the thick of the conflict. One entire regiment, +composed wholly of Kentuckians, was detached to help the Indiana troops +who were being driven fiercely by Zollicoffer. + +Dick rode at the head of the Kentuckians, but a bullet struck his horse +in the chest. The boy felt the animal shiver beneath him, and he leaped +clear just in time, the horse falling heavily and lying quite still. +But Dick alighted on his feet, and still brandishing his sword, and +shouting at the top of his voice, ran on. + +In an instant they reached the Indiana troops, who turned with them, +and the combined forces hurled themselves upon the enemy. The +Southerners, refusing to yield the ground they had gained, received them, +and there began a confused and terrible combat, shoulder to shoulder and +hand to hand. Elsewhere the battle continued, but here it raged the +fiercest. Both commanders knew that they were to win or lose upon this +hill, and they poured in fresh troops who swelled the area of conflict +and deepened its intensity. + +Dick saw Warner by his side, but he did not know how he had come there, +and just beyond him the thick and powerful figure of Sergeant Whitley +showed through the hot haze of smoke. The back of Warner's hand had +been grazed by a bullet. He had not noticed it himself, but the slow +drip, drip of the blood held Dick for a moment with a sort of hideous +fascination. Then he broke his gaze violently away and turned it upon +the enemy, who were pouring upon them in all their massed strength. + +Thomas had sent the Kentuckians to the aid of the Indiana men just in +time. The hill was a vast bank of smoke and fire, filled with whistling +bullets and shouts of men fighting face to face. Some one reeled and +fell against Dick, and for a moment, he was in horror lest it should be +Warner, but a glance showed him that it was a stranger. Then he rushed +on again, filled with a mad excitement, waving his small sword, and +shouting to the men to charge. + +From right to left the roar of battle came to his ears, but on the hill +where he stood the struggle was at its height. The lines of Federals +and Confederates, face to face at first, now became mixed, but +neither side gained. In the fiery struggle a Union officer, Fry, saw +Zollicoffer only a few feet away. Snatching out his pistol he shot him +dead. The Southerners seeing the fall of the general who was so popular +among them hesitated and then gave back. Thomas, watching everything +with keen and steady gaze, hurled an Ohio regiment from the right flank +upon the Southern center, causing it to give way yet further under the +shock. + +"We win! We win!" shouted Dick in his ardor, as he saw the Southern +line yielding. But the victory was not yet achieved. Crittenden, +who was really Zollicoffer's superior in the command, displayed the most +heroic courage throughout the battle. He brought up fresh troops to +help his weakened center. He reformed his lines and was about to +restore the battle, but Thomas, silent and ever watchful, now rushed in +a brigade of Tennessee mountaineers, and as they struck with all their +weight, the new line of the South was compelled to give way. Success +seen and felt filled the veins of the soldiers with fresh fire. Dick +and the men about him saw the whole Southern line crumble up before +them. The triumphant Union army rushed forward shouting, and the +Confederates were forced to give way at all points. + +Dick and Warner, with the watchful sergeant near, were in the very front +of the advance. The two young aides carried away by success and the +fire of battle, waved their swords continually and rushed at the enemy's +lines. + +Dick's face was covered with smoke, his lips were burnt, and his throat +was raw from so much shouting. But he was conscious only of great +elation. "This is not another Bull Run!" he cried to Warner, and Warner +cried back: "Not by a long shot!" + +Thomas, still cool, watchful, and able to judge of results amid all the +thunder and confusion of battle, hurried every man into the attack. +He was showing upon this, his first independent field, all the great +qualities he was destined later to manifest so brilliantly in some of +the greatest battles of modern times. + +The Southern lines were smashed completely by those heavy and continuous +blows. Driven hard on every side they now retreated rapidly, and their +triumphant enemies seized prisoners and cannon. + +The whole Confederate army continued its swift retreat until it reached +its intrenchments, where the officers rallied the men and turned to face +their enemy. But the cautious Thomas stopped. He had no intention of +losing his victory by an attack upon an intrenched foe, and drew off for +the present. His army encamped out of range and began to attend to the +wounded and bury the dead. + +Dick, feeling the reaction after so much exertion and excitement, +sat down on a fallen tree trunk and drew long, panting breaths. He saw +Warner near and remembered the blood that had been dripping from his +hand. + +"Do you know that you are wounded, George?" he said. "Look at the back +of your hand." + +Warner glanced at it and noticed the red stripe. It had ceased to bleed. + +"Now, that's curious," he said. "I never felt it. My blood and brain +were both so hot that the flick of a bullet created no sensation. +I have figured it out, Dick, and I have concluded that seventy per cent +of our bravery in battle is excitement, leaving twenty per cent to will +and ten per cent to chance." + +"I suppose your calculation is close enough." + +"It's not close merely. It's exact." + +Both sprang to their feet and saluted as Major Hertford approached. +He had escaped without harm and he saw with pleasure that the lads were +alive and well, except for Warner's slight wound. + +"You can rest now, boys," he said, "I won't need you for some time. +But I can tell you that I don't think General Thomas means to quit. +He will follow up his victory." + +But Dick and Warner had been sure of that already. The army, flushed +with triumph, was eager to be led on, even to make a night attack on the +intrenchments of the enemy, but Thomas held them, knowing that another +brigade of Northern troops was marching to his aid. The brigade came, +but it was now dark and he would not risk a night attack. But some of +the guns were brought up and they sent a dozen heavy cannon shot into +the intrenchments of the enemy. There was no reply and neither of the +boys, although they strained ears, could hear anything in the defeated +camp. + +"I shouldn't be surprised if we found them gone in the morning," said +Major Hertford to Dick. "But I think our general is right in not making +any attack upon their works. What do you say to that, Sergeant Whitley? +You've had a lot of experience." + +Sergeant Whitley was standing beside them, also trying to pierce the +darkness with trained eyes, although he could not see the Confederate +intrenchments. + +"If a sergeant may offer an opinion I agree with you fully, sir," +he said. "A night attack is always risky, an' most of all, sir, when +troops are new like ours, although they're as brave as anybody. More'n +likely if we was to rush on 'em our troops would be shootin' into one +another in the darkness." + +"Good logic," said Major Hertford, "and as it is quite certain that they +are not in any condition to come out and attack us we'll stand by and +wait till morning. So the general orders." + +They walked back toward the place where the victorious troops were +lighting the fires, out of the range of the cannon in the Confederate +intrenchments. They were exultant, but they were not boasting unduly. +Night, cold and dark, had shut down upon them and was taking the heat +out of their blood. Hundreds of men were at work building fires, +and Dick and Warner, with the permission of Major Hertford, joined them. + +Both boys felt that the work would be a relief. Wood was to be had in +abundance. The forest stretched on all sides of them in almost unbroken +miles, and the earth was littered with dead wood fallen a year or years +before. They merely kept away from the side on which the Confederate +intrenchments lay, and brought in the wood in great quantities. A row +of lights a half mile long sprang up, giving forth heat and warmth. +Then arose the cheerful sound of tin and iron dishes and cups rattling +against one another. A quarter of an hour later they were eating a +victorious supper, and a little later most of them slept. + +But in the night the Confederate troops abandoned their camp, leaving in +it ten cannon and fifteen hundred wagons and crossed the river in boats, +which they destroyed when they reached the other side. Then, their +defeat being so severe, and they but volunteers, they scattered in the +mountains to seek food and shelter for the remainder of the winter. + +This army of the South ceased to exist. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MESSENGER + + +Victory, overwhelming and complete, had been won, but General Thomas +could not follow into the deep mountains where his army might be cut +off. So he remained where he was for a little while and on the second +day he sent for Dick. + +The general was seated alone in a tent, an open end of which faced a +fire, as it was now extremely cold. General Thomas had shown no undue +elation over his victory. He was as silent as ever, and now, as always, +he made upon Dick the impression of strength and indomitable courage. + +"Sit down," he said, waving his hand toward a camp stool. + +Dick, after saluting, sat down in silence. + +"I hear," said the general, "that you behaved very well in the battle, +and that you are a lad of courage and intelligence. Courage is common, +intelligence, real intelligence, is rare. You were at Bull Run also, +so I hear." + +"I was, and the army fought well there too, but late in the day it was +seized with a sudden panic." + +"Something that may happen at any time to raw troops. But we'll pass +to the question in hand. The campaign here in the mountains is ended +for this winter, but great matters are afoot further west. A courier +arrived last night stating that General Grant and Commodore Foote were +preparing to advance by water from Cairo, Illinois, and attempt the +reduction of the Confederate forts on the Cumberland and Tennessee. +General Buell, one of your own Kentuckians, is advancing southward with +a strong Union force, and in a few days his outposts will be on Green +River. It will be of great advantage to Buell to know that the +Confederate army in the eastern part of the state is destroyed. He +can advance with freedom and, on the other hand, the Southern leader, +Albert Sidney Johnston, will be compelled to throw a portion of his +force to the eastward to protect his flank which has been uncovered by +our victory at Mill Spring. Do you understand?" + +"I do, sir." + +"Then you are to carry dispatches of the utmost importance from me to +General Buell. After you reach his camp--if you reach it--you will, +of course, be subject to his orders. I have learned that you know the +country well between here and Green River. Because of that, and because +of your intelligence, real intelligence, I mean, you are chosen for this +task. You are to change to citizen's clothes at once, and a horse of +great power and endurance has been selected for you. But you must use +all your faculties all the time. I warn you that the journey is full of +danger." + +"I can carry it out," replied Dick with quiet confidence, "and I thank +you for choosing me." + +"I believe you will succeed," said the general, who liked his tone. +"Return here in an hour with all your preparations made, and I will give +you the dispatches." + +Warner was filled with envy that his comrade was to go on a secret +mission of great importance, but he generously wished him a full measure +of success. + +"Remember," he said, "that on an errand like yours, presence of mind +counts for at least fifty per cent. Have a quick tongue. Always be +ready with a tale that looks true." + +"An' remember, too," said Sergeant Whitley, "that however tight a place +you get into you can get into one tighter. Think of that and it will +encourage you to pull right out of the hole." + +The two wrung his hand and Major Hertford also gave him his warmest +wishes. The horse chosen for him was a bay of tremendous power, and +Dick knew that he would serve him well. He carried double blankets +strapped to the saddle, pistols in holsters with another in his belt, +an abundance of ammunition, and food for several days in his saddle +bags. Then he returned to General Thomas, who handed him a thin strip +of tissue paper. + +"It is written in indelible ink," he said, "and it contains a statement +of our forces and their positions here in the eastern part of the state. +It also tells General Buell what reinforcements he can expect. If you +are in imminent danger of capture destroy the paper, but to provide for +such a chance, in case you escape afterward, I will read the dispatches +to you." + +He read them over several times and then questioned Dick. But the boy's +memory was good. In fact, every word of the dispatches was burnt into +his brain, and nothing could make him forget them. + +"And now, my lad," said General Thomas, giving him his hand, "you may +help us greatly. I would not send a boy upon such an errand, but the +demands of war are terrible and must be obeyed." + +The strong grasp of the general's hand imparted fresh enthusiasm to Dick, +and for the present he did not have the slightest doubt that he would +get safely through. He wore a strong suit of home-made brown jeans, +a black felt cap with ear-flaps, and high boots. The dispatch was +pinned into a small inside pocket of his vest. + +He rode quickly out of camp, giving the sentinels the pass word, and the +head of the horse was pointed west slightly by north. The ground was +now frozen and he did not have the mud to hold him back. + +The horse evidently had been longing for action. Such thews and sinews +as his needed exercise. He stretched out his long neck, neighed +joyously, and broke of his own accord into an easy canter. It was a +lonely road, and Dick was glad that it was so. The fewer people he met +the better it was in every way for him. + +He shared the vigor and spirit of his horse. His breath turned to smoke, +but the cold whipped his blood into a quicker torrent. He hummed +snatches of the songs that he had heard Samuel Jarvis sing, and went on +mile after mile through the high hills toward the low hills of Kentucky. + +Dick did not pass many people. The ancient name of his state--the Dark +and Bloody Ground--came back to him. He knew that war in one of its +worst forms existed in this wild sweep of hills. Here the guerillas +rode, choosing their sides as suited them best, and robbing as paid them +most. Nor did these rough men hesitate at murder. So he rode most +of the time with his hand on the butt of the pistol at his belt, and +whenever he went through woods, which was most of the time, he kept a +wary watch to right and to left. + +The first person whom he passed was a boy riding on a sack of grain to +mill. Dick greeted him cheerfully and the boy with the fearlessness of +youth replied in the same manner. + +"Any news your way?" asked Dick. + +"Nothin' at all," replied the boy, his eyes enlarging with excitement, +"but from the way you are comin' we heard tell there was a great battle, +hundreds of thousands of men on each side an' that the Yankees won. +Is it so, Mister?" + +"It is true," replied Dick. "A dozen people have told me of it, but the +armies were not quite so large as you heard. It is true also that the +Yankees won." + +"I'll tell that at the mill. It will be big news to them. An' which +way be you goin', Mister?" said the boy with all the frankness of the +hills. + +"I'm on my way to the middle part of the state. I've been looking after +some land that my people own in the mountains. Looks like a lonesome +road, this. Will I reach any house soon?" + +"Thar's Ben Trimble's three miles further on, but take my advice an' +don't stop thar. Ben says he ain't goin' to be troubled in these war +times by visitors, an' he's likely to meet you at the door with his +double-barreled shotgun." + +"I won't knock on Ben's door, so he needn't take down his double- +barreled shotgun. What's next beyond Ben's house?" + +"A half mile further on you come to Hungry Creek. It ain't much in the +middle of summer, but right now it's full of cold water, 'nough of it to +come right up to your hoss's body. You go through it keerful." + +"Thank you for your good advice," said Dick. "I'll follow it, too. +Good-bye." + +He waved his gauntleted hand and rode on. A hundred yards further and +he glanced back. The boy had stopped on the crest of a hill, and was +looking at him. But Dick knew that it was only the natural curiosity of +the hills and he renewed his journey without apprehension. + +At the appointed time he saw the stout log cabin of Ben Trimble by the +roadside with the warm smoke rising from the chimney, but true to his +word he gave Ben and his shotgun no trouble, and continued straight +ahead over the frozen road until he came to the banks of Hungry Creek. +Here, too, the words of the boy came true. The water was both deep and +cold, and Dick looked at it doubtfully. + +He urged his great horse into the stream at last, and it appeared that +the creek had risen somewhat since the boy had last seen it. In the +middle the horse was compelled to swim, but it was no task for such a +powerful animal, and Dick, holding his feet high, came dry to the shore +that he sought. + +The road led on through high hills, covered with oak and beech and cedar +and pine, all the deciduous trees bare of leaves, their boughs rustling +dryly whenever the wind blew. He saw the smoke of three cabins nestling +in snug coves, but it was a full three hours before he met anybody else +in the road. Then he saw two men riding toward him, but he could not +tell much about them as they were wrapped in heavy gray shawls, and wore +broad brimmed felt hats, pulled well down over their foreheads. + +Dick knew that he could not exercise too much caution in this debatable +land, and his right hand dropped cautiously to the butt of his pistol +in such a manner that it was concealed by his heavy overcoat. His left +hand rested lightly on the reins as he rode forward at an even pace. +But he did not fail to take careful note of the two men who were now +examining him in a manner that he did not like. + +Dick saw that the strangers openly carried pistols in their belts, +which was not of overwhelming significance in such times in such a +region, but they did not have the look of mountaineers riding on +peaceful business, and he reined his horse to the very edge of the road +that he might pass them. + +He noted with rising apprehension that they checked the pace of their +horses as they approached, and that they reined to either side of the +road to compel him to go between them. But he pulled his own horse out +still further, and as they could not pass on both sides of him without +an overt act of hostility they drew together again in the middle of the +road. + +"Mornin' stranger," they said together, when they were a few yards away. + +"Good morning," said Dick, riding straight on, without checking his +speed. But one of the men drew his horse across the road and said: + +"What's your hurry? It ain't friendly to ride by without passin' the +time o' day." + +Now at close range, Dick liked their looks less than ever. They might +be members of that very band of Skelly's which had already made so much +trouble for both sides, and he summoned all his faculties in order to +meet them at any game that they might try to play. + +"I've been on land business in the mountains," he said, "and I'm anxious +to get back to my home. Besides the day is very cold, and the two facts +deprive me of the pleasure of a long conversation with you, gentlemen. +Good-day." + +"Wait just a little," said the spokesman, who still kept his horse +reined across the road. "These be war times an' it's important to know +what a fellow is. Be you for the Union or are you with the Secesh?" + +Dick was quite sure that whatever he answered they would immediately +claim to be on the opposite side. Then would follow robbery and perhaps +murder. + +"Which is your side?" he asked. + +"But we put the question first," the fellow replied. + +Dick no longer had any doubts. The second man was drawing his horse up +by the side of him, as if to seize him, while the first continued to +bar the way. He was alarmed, deeply alarmed, but he lost neither his +courage nor his presence of mind. Luckily he had already summoned every +faculty for instant action, and now he acted. He uttered a sudden shout, +and raked the side of his horse with both spurs. + +His horse was not only large and powerful but of a most high spirit. +When he heard that shout and felt the burning slash of the spurs he +made a blind but mighty leap forward. The horse of the first stranger, +smitten by so great a weight, fell in the road and his rider went down +with him. The enraged horse then leaped clear of both and darted +forward at headlong speed. + +As his horse sprang Dick threw himself flat upon his neck, and the +bullet that the second man fired whistled over his head. By impulse he +drew his own pistol and fired back. He saw the man's pistol arm fall +as if broken, and he heard a loud cry. That was a lucky shot indeed, +and rising a little in his saddle he shouted again and again to the +great horse that served him so well. + +The gallant animal responded in full. He stretched out his long neck +and the road flew fast behind him. Sparks flashed from the stones where +the shod hoofs struck, and Dick exulting felt the cold air rush past. +Another shot was fired at long range, but the bullet did not strike +anywhere near. + +Dick took only a single backward glance. He saw the two men on their +horses, but drooping as if weak from hurts, and he knew that for the +present at least he was safe from any hurt from them. But he allowed +his horse his head for a long time, and then he gradually slowed him +down. No human being was in sight now and he spoke to the noble animal +soothingly. + +"Good old boy," he said; "the strongest, the swiftest, the bravest, +and the truest. I was sorry to make those red stripes on your sides, +but it had to be done. Only quickness saved us." + +The horse neighed. He was still quivering from excitement and exertion. +So was Dick for that matter. The men might have been robbers merely-- +they were at least that bad--but they might have deprived him also of +his precious dispatch. He was proud of the confidence put in him by +General Thomas, and he meant to deserve it. It was this sense of +responsibility and pride that had attuned his faculties to so high a +pitch and that had made his action so swift, sudden and decisive. + +But he steadied himself presently. The victory, for victory it +certainly was, increased his strength and confidence. He stopped soon +at a brook--they seemed to occur every mile--and bathed with cold water +the red streaks his spurs had made on either side of his horse. Again +he spoke soothing words and regretted the necessity that had caused him +to make such wounds, slight though they were. + +He also bathed his own face and hands and, as it was now about noon, +ate of the cold ham and bread that he carried in his knapsack, meanwhile +keeping constant watch on the road over which he had come. But he did +not believe that the men would pursue, and he saw no sign of them. +Mounting again he rode forward. + +The remainder of the afternoon went by without interruption. He passed +three or four people, but they were obviously natives of that region, +and they asked him only innocent questions. The wintry day was short, +and the twilight was soon at hand. He was riding over one of the bare +ridges, when first he noticed how late the day had grown. All the sky +was gray and chill and the cold sun was setting behind the western +mountains. A breeze sprang up, rustling among the leafless branches, +and Dick shivered in the saddle. A new necessity was pressed suddenly +upon him. He must find shelter for the night. Even with his warm +double blankets he could not sleep in the forest on such a night. +Besides the horse would need food. + +He rode on briskly for a full hour, anxiously watching both sides of the +road for a cabin or cabin smoke. By that time night had come fully, +though fortunately it was clear but very cold. He saw then on the right +a faint coil of smoke rising against the dusky sky and he rode straight +for it. + +The smoke came from a strong double cabin, standing about four hundred +yards from the road, and the sight of the heavy log walls made Dick all +the more anxious to get inside them. The cold had grown bitter and even +his horse shivered. + +As he approached two yellow curs rushed forth and began to bark +furiously, snapping at the horse's heels, the usual mountain welcome. +But when a kick from the horse grazed the ear of one of them they kept +at a respectful distance. + +"Hello! Hello!" called Dick loudly. + +This also was the usual mountain notification that a guest had come, +and the heavy board door of the house opened inward. A man, elderly, +but dark and strong, with the high cheek bones of an Indian stood in the +door, the light of a fire blazing in the fireplace on the opposite side +of the wall throwing him in relief. His hair was coal black, long and +coarse, increasing his resemblance to an Indian. + +Dick rode close to the door, and, without hesitation, asked for a +night's shelter and food. This was his inalienable right in the hills +or mountains of his state, and he would be a strange man indeed who +would refuse it. + +The man sharply bade the dogs be silent and they retreated behind the +house, their tails drooping. Then he said to Dick in a tone that was +not without hospitality: + +"'Light, stranger, an' we'll put up your horse. Mandy will have supper +ready by the time we finish the job." + +Dick sprang down gladly, but staggered a little at first from the +stiffness of his legs. + +"You've rid far, stranger," said the man, who Dick knew at once had a +keen eye and a keen brain, "an' you're young, too." + +"But not younger than many who have gone to the war," replied Dick. +"In fact, you see many who are not older than fifteen or sixteen." + +He had spoken hastily and incautiously and he realized it at once. +The man's keen gaze was turned upon him again. + +"You've seen the armies, then?" he said. "Mebbe you're a sojer +yourself?" + +"I've been in the mountains, looking after some land that belongs to my +family," said Dick. "My name is Mason, Richard Mason, and I live near +Pendleton, which is something like a hundred miles from here." + +He deemed it best to give his right name, as it would have no +significance there. + +"You must have seen armies," persisted the man, "or you wouldn't hev +knowed 'bout so many boys of fifteen or sixteen bein' in them." + +"I saw both the Federal and Confederate armies in Eastern Kentucky. +My business took me near them, but I was always glad to get away from +them, too." + +"I heard tell today that there was a big battle." + +"You heard right. It was fought near a little place called Mill Spring, +and resulted in a complete victory for the Northern forces under General +Thomas." + +"That was what I heard. It will be good news to some, an' bad news to +others. 'Pears to me, Mr. Mason, that you can't fight a battle that +will suit everybody." + +"I never heard of one that did." + +"An' never will, I reckon. Mighty good hoss that you're ridin'. +I never seed one with better shoulders. My name's Leffingwell, Seth +Leffingwell, an' I live here alone, 'ceptin' my old woman, Mandy. +All we ask of people is to let us be. Lots of us in the mountain feel +that way. Let them lowlanders shoot one another up ez long ez they +please, but up here there ain't no slaves, an' there ain't nothin' else +to fight about." + +The stable was a good one, better than usual in that country. Dick saw +stalls for four horses, but no horses. They put his own horse in one +of the stalls, and gave him corn and hay. Then they walked back to the +house, and entered a large room, where a stalwart woman of middle age +had just finished cooking supper. + +"Whew, but the night's goin' to be cold," said Leffingwell, as he shut +the door behind them, and cut off an icy blast. "It'll make the fire +an' supper all the better. We're just plain mountain people, but you're +welcome to the best we have. Ma, this is Mr. Mason, who has been on +lan' business in the mountains, an' is back on his way to his home at +Pendleton." + +Leffingwell's wife, a powerful woman, as large as her husband, and with +a pleasant face, gave Dick a large hand and a friendly grasp. + +"It's a good night to be indoors," she said. "Supper's ready, Seth. +Will you an' the stranger set?" + +She had placed the pine table in the middle of the room, and Dick +noticed that it was large enough for five or six persons. He put his +saddle bags and blankets in a corner and he and the man drew up chairs. + +He had seldom beheld a more cheerful scene. In a great fireplace ten +feet wide big logs roared and crackled. Corn cakes, vegetables, and +two kinds of meat were cooking over the coals and a great pot of coffee +boiled and bubbled. No candles had been lighted, but they were not +needed. The flames gave sufficient illumination. + +"Set, young man," said Leffingwell heartily, "an' see who's teeth are +sharper, yourn or mine." + +Dick sat down gladly, and they fell to. The woman alternately waited +on them and ate with them. For a time the two masculine human beings +ate and drank with so much vigor that there was no time for talk. +Leffingwell was the first to break silence. + +"I kin see you growin'," he said. + +"Growing?" + +"Yes, growin', you're eatin' so much, you're enjoyin' it so much, +an' you're digestin' it so fast. You are already taller than you was +when you set, an' you're broader 'cross the chest. No, 'tain't wuth +while to 'pologize. You've got a right to be hungry, an' you mustn't +forget Ma's cookin' either. She's never had her beat in all these +mountains." + +"Shut up, Seth," said Mrs. Leffingwell, genially, "you'll make the young +stranger think you're plum' foolish, which won't be wide of the mark +either." + +"I'm grateful," said Dick falling into the spirit of it, "but what pains +me, Mrs. Leffingwell, is the fact that Mr. Leffingwell will only nibble +at your food. I don't understand it, as he looks like a healthy man." + +"'Twouldn't do for me to be too hearty," said Leffingwell, "or I'd keep +Mandy here cookin' all the time." + +They seemed pleasant people to Dick, good, honest mountain types, +and he was glad that he had found their house. The room in which they +sat was large, apparently used for all purposes, kitchen, dining-room, +sitting-room, and bedroom. An old-fashioned squirrel rifle lay on hooks +projecting from the wall, but there was no other sign of a weapon. +There was a bed at one end of the room and another at the other, which +could be hidden by a rough woolen curtain running on a cord. Dick +surmised that this bed would be assigned to him. + +Their appetites grew lax and finally ceased. Then Leffingwell yawned +and stretched his arms. + +"Stranger," he said, "we rise early an' go to bed early in these parts. +Thar ain't nothin' to keep us up in the evenin's, an' as you've had a +hard, long ride I guess you're just achin' fur sleep." + +Dick, although he had been unwilling to say so, was in fact very sleepy. +The heavy supper and the heat of the room pulled so hard on his eyelids +that he could scarcely keep them up. He murmured his excuses and said +he believed he would like to retire. + +"Don't you be bashful about sayin' so," exclaimed Leffingwell heartily, +"'cause I don't think I could keep up more'n a half hour longer." + +Mrs. Leffingwell drew the curtain shutting off one bed and a small space +around it. Dick, used to primitive customs, said good-night and retired +within his alcove, taking his saddle bags. There was a small window +near the foot of the room, and when he noticed it he resolved to let in +a little air later on. The mountaineers liked hot rooms all the time, +but he did not. This window contained no glass, but was closed with a +broad shutter. + +The boy undressed and got into bed, placing his saddle bags on the +foot of it, and the pistol that he carried in his belt under his head. +He fell asleep almost immediately and had he been asked beforehand +he would have said that nothing could awake him before morning. +Nevertheless he awoke before midnight, and it was a very slight thing +that caused him to come out of sleep. Despite the languor produced by +food and heat a certain nervous apprehension had been at work in the +boy's mind, and it followed him into the unknown regions of sleep. +His body was dead for a time and his mind too, but this nervous power +worked on, almost independently of him. It had noted the sound of +voices nearby, and awakened him, as if he had been shaken by a rough +hand. + +He sat up in his bed and became conscious of a hot and aching head. +Then he remembered the window, and softly drawing two pegs that fastened +it in order that he might not awaken his good hosts, he opened it inward +a few inches. + +The cold air poured in at the crevice and felt like heaven on his face. +His temples quit throbbing and his head ceased to ache. He had not +noticed at first the cause that really awakened him, but as he settled +back into bed, grateful for the fresh air, the same mysterious power +gave him a second warning signal. + +He heard the hum of voices and sat up again. It was merely the +Leffingwells in the bed at the far end of the room, talking! Perhaps he +had not been asleep more than an hour, and it was natural that they +should lie awake a while, talking about the coming of this young +stranger or any other event of the day that interested them. Then he +caught a tone or an inflection that he did not remember to have been +used by either of the Leffingwells. A third signal of alarm was +promptly registered on his brain. + +He leaned from the bed and pulling aside the curtain a half an inch or +so, looked into the room. The fire had died down except a few coals +which cast but a faint light. Yet it was sufficient to show Dick that +the two Leffingwells had not gone to bed. They were sitting fully +clothed before the fireplace, and three other persons were with them. + +As Dick stared his eyes grew more used to the half dusk and he saw +clearly. The three strangers were young men, all armed heavily, and the +resemblance of two of them to the Leffingwells was so striking that he +had no doubt they were their sons. Now he understood about those empty +stalls. The third man, who had been sitting with his shoulder toward +Dick, turned his face presently, and the boy with difficulty repressed +an exclamation. It was the one who had reined his horse across the road +to stop him. A fourth and conclusive signal of alarm was registered +upon his brain. + +He began to dress rapidly and without noise. Meanwhile he listened +intently and could hear the words they spoke. The woman was pleading +with them to let him go. He was only a harmless lad, and while these +were dark days, a crime committed now might yet be punished. + +"A harmless boy," said the strange man. "He's quick, an' strong enough, +I tell you. You should have seen how he rode me down, and then shot +Garmon in the arm." + +"I'd like to have that hoss of his," said the elder Leffingwell. +"He's the finest brute I ever laid eyes on. Sech power an' sech action. +I noticed him at once, when Mason come ridin' up. S'pose we jest take +the hoss and send the boy on." + +"A hoss like that would be knowed," protested the woman. "What if +sojers come lookin' fur him!" + +"We could run him off in the hills an' keep him there a while," said +Leffingwell. "I know places where sojers wouldn't find that hoss in a +thousand years. What do you say to that, Kerins?" + +"Good as fur as it goes," replied Kerins, "but it don't go fur enough +by a long shot. The Yanks whipped the Johnnies in a big battle at Mill +Spring. Me an' my pardners have been hangin' 'roun' in the woods, +seein' what would happen. Now, we know that this boy rode straight from +the tent of General Thomas hisself. He's a Union sojer, an' young as he +is, he's an officer. He wouldn't be sent out by General Thomas hisself +'less it was on big business. He's got messages, dispatches of some +kind that are worth a heap to somebody. With all the armies gatherin' +in the south an' west of the state it stands to reason that them +dispatches mean a lot. Now, we've got to get 'em an' get the full worth +of 'em from them to whom they're worth the most." + +"He's got a pistol," said the elder Leffingwell, "I seed it in his belt. +If he wakes before we grab him he'll shoot." + +The man Kerins laughed. + +"He'll never get a chance to shoot," he said. "Why, after all he went +through today, he'll sleep like a log till mornin'." + +"That's so," said one of the young Leffingwells, "an' Kerins is right. +We ought to grab them dispatches. Likely in one way or another we kin +git a heap fur 'em." + +"Shut up, Jim, you fool," said his mother sharply. "Do you want murder +on your hands? Stealin' hosses is bad enough, but if that boy has got +the big dispatches you say he has, an' he's missin', don't you think +that sojers will come after him? An' they'll trace him to this house, +an' I tell you that in war trials don't last long. Besides, he's a nice +boy an' he spoke nice all the time to pap an' me." + +But her words did not seem to make any impression upon the others, +except her husband, who protested again that it would be enough to take +the horse. As for the dispatches it wasn't wise for them to fool with +such things. But Kerins insisted on going the whole route and the young +Leffingwells were with him. + +Meanwhile Dick had dressed with more rapidity than ever before in his +life, fully alive to the great dangers that threatened. But his fear +was greatest lest he might lose the precious dispatches that he bore. +For a few moments he did not know what to do. He might take his pistols +and fight, but he could not fight them all with success. Then that +pleasant flood of cold air gave him the key. + +While they were still talking he put his saddle bags over his arm, +opened the shutter its full width, and dropped quietly to the ground +outside, remembering to take the precaution of closing the shutter +behind him, lest the sudden inrush of cold startle the Leffingwells and +their friends. + +It was an icy night, but Dick did not stop to notice it. He ran to the +stable, saddled and bridled his horse in two minutes, and in another +minute was flying westward over the flinty road, careless whether or not +they heard the beat of his horse's hoofs. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A MEETING AT NIGHT + + +Dick heard above the thundering hoofbeats only a single shout, and then, +as he glanced backward, the house was lost in the moonlight. When he +secured his own horse he had noticed that all the empty stalls were now +filled, no doubt by the horses of the young Leffingwells and Kerins, +but he was secure in his confidence that none could overtake the one he +rode. + +He felt of that inside pocket of his vest. The precious dispatch was +there, tightly pinned into its hidden refuge, and as for himself, +refreshed, warm, and strong after food, rest, and sleep, he felt equal +to any emergency. He had everything with him. The stout saddle bags +were lying across the saddle. He had thrust the holster of pistols into +them, but he took it out now, and hung it in its own place, also across +the saddle. + +Although he was quite sure there would be no pursuit--the elder +Leffingwells would certainly keep their sons from joining it--he sent +his great horse straight ahead at a good pace for a long time, the +road being fairly good. His excitement and rapid motion kept him from +noticing at first the great bitterness of the cold. + +When he had gone five or six miles he drew his horse down to a walk. +Then, feeling the intensity of the cold as the mercury was far below +zero, he dismounted, looped the reins over his arms, and walked a while. +For further precaution he took his blanket-roll and wrapped the two +blankets about his body, especially protecting his neck and ears. + +He found that the walking, besides keeping him warmer, took all the +stiffness out of his muscles, and he continued on foot several miles. +He passed two brooks and a creek, all frozen over so solidly that the +horse passed on them without breaking the ice. It was an extremely +difficult task to make the animal try the ice, but after much delicate +coaxing and urging he always succeeded. + +He saw two more cabins at the roadside, but he did not think of asking +hospitality at either. The night was now far advanced and he wished +to put many more miles between him and the Leffingwell home before he +sought rest again. + +He mounted his horse once more, and increased his speed. Now the +reaction came after so much exertion and excitement. He began to feel +depressed. He was very young and he had no comrade. The loneliness of +the winter night in a country full of dangers was appalling. It seemed +to him, as his heart sank, that all things had conspired against him. +But the moment of despair was brief. He summoned his courage anew and +rode on bravely, although the sense of loneliness in its full power +remained. + +The moonlight was quite bright. The sky was a deep silky blue, in which +myriads of cold stars shone and danced. By and by he skirted for a +while the banks of a small river, which he knew flowed southward into +the Cumberland, and which would not cross his path. The rays of the +moonlight on its frozen surface looked like darts of cold steel. + +He left the river presently and the road bent a little toward the north. +Then the skies darkened somewhat but lightened again as the dawn began +to come. The red but cold edge of the sun appeared above the mountains +that he had left behind, and then the morning came, pale and cold. + +Dick stopped at a little brook, broke the ice and drank, letting his +horse drink after him. Then he ate heartily of the cold bread and meat +in his knapsack. Pitying his horse he searched until he found a little +grass not yet killed by winter in the lee of the hill, and waited until +he cropped it all. + +He mounted and resumed his journey through a country in which the hills +were steadily becoming lower, with larger stretches of level land +appearing between them. By night he should be beyond the last low swell +of the mountains and into the hill region proper. As he calculated +distances his heart gave a great thump. He was to locate Buell some +distance north of Green River, and his journey would take him close to +Pendleton. + +The boy was torn by great and conflicting emotions. He would carry +out with his life the task that Thomas had assigned to him, and yet he +wished to stop near Pendleton, if only for an hour. + +Yes an hour would do! And it could not interfere with his duty! +But Pendleton was a Southern stronghold. Everybody there knew him, +and they all knew, too, that he was in the service of the North. +How could he pass by without being seen and what might happen then? +The terrible conflict went on in his mind, and it was stilled only when +he decided to leave it to time and chance. + +He rode that day almost without interruption, securing an ample dinner, +where no one chose to ask questions, accepting him at his own statement +of himself and probably believing it. He heard that a small Southern +force was to the southward, probably marching toward Bowling Green, +where a great Confederate army under Albert Sidney Johnston was said +to be concentrated. But the news gave him no alarm. His own road was +still leading west slightly by north. + +When night came he was in the pleasant and fertile hill country, dotted +with double brick houses, and others of wood, all with wide porticos, +supported by white pillars. It looked smiling and prosperous even in +winter. The war had done no ravages here, and he saw men at work about +the great barns. + +He slept in the house of a big farmer, who liked the frank voice and +eyes of the lad, and who cared nothing for any errand upon which he +might be riding. He slept, too, without dreams, and without awakening +until the morning, when he shared a solid breakfast with the family. + +Dick obtained at the farmhouse a fresh supply of cold food for his +saddle bags, to be held against an emergency, although it was likely now +that he could obtain all he needed at houses as he passed. Receiving +the good wishes of his hosts he rode on through the hills. The intense +cold which kept troops from marching much really served him, as the +detachments about the little towns stayed in their camps. + +The day was quite clear, with the mercury still well below zero, but his +heavy clothing kept him warm and comfortable. His great horse showed no +signs of weariness. Apparently his sinews were made of steel. + +Noon came, but Dick did not seek any farmhouse for what was called +dinner in that region. Instead he ate from his saddle bags as he rode +on. He did not wish to waste time, and, moreover, he had taken his +resolution. He would go near Pendleton. It was on his most direct +route, but he would pass in the night. + +As the cold twilight descended he came into familiar regions. Like all +other young Kentuckians he was a great horseman, and with Harry Kenton +and other lads of his age he had ridden nearly everywhere in a circuit +of thirty miles around Pendleton. + +It was with many a throb of the heart that he now recognized familiar +scenes. He knew the fields, the forests and the houses. But he was +glad that the night had come. Others would know him, and he did not +wish to be seen when he rode on such an errand. He had been saving his +horse in the afternoon, but now he pushed him forward at a much faster +gait. The great horse responded willingly and Dick felt the powerful +body working beneath him, smooth and tireless like a perfect machine. + +He passed nobody on the road. People hugged their fires on such a cold +night, and he rode hour after hour without interruption. It was nearly +midnight when he stopped on a high hill, free of forest, and looked down +upon Pendleton. The wonderful clearness of the winter night helped him. +All the stars known to man were out, and helped to illuminate the world +with a clear but cold radiance. + +Although a long distance away Dick could see Pendleton clearly. There +was no foliage on the trees now, and nearly every house was visible. +The great pulse in his throat throbbed hard as he looked. He saw the +steeples of the churches, the white pillars of the court house, and off +to one side the academy in which he and Harry Kenton had gone to school +together. He saw further away Colonel Kenton's own house on another +hill. It, too, had porticos, supported by white pillars which gleamed +in the moonlight. + +Then his eyes traveled again around the half circle before him. The +place for which he was looking could not be seen. But he knew that it +would be so. It was a low house, and the evergreens about it, the pines +and cedars would hide it at any time. But he knew the exact spot, +and he wanted his eyes to linger there a little before he rode straight +for it. + +Now the great pulse in his throat leaped, and something like a sob came +from him. But it was not a sob of unhappiness. He clucked to his horse +and turned from the main road into a narrower one that led by the low +house among the evergreens. Yet he was a boy of powerful will, and +despite his eagerness, he restrained his horse and advanced very slowly. +Sometimes he turned the animal upon the dead turf by the side of the +road in order that his footsteps might make no sound. + +He drew slowly nearer, and when he saw the roof and eaves of the low +house among the evergreens the great pulse in his throat leaped so hard +that it was almost unbearable. He reached the edge of the lawn that +came down to the road, and hidden by the clipped cone of a pine he saw +a faint light shining. + +He dismounted, opened the gate softly, and led his horse upon the lawn, +hitching him between two pines that grew close together, concealing him +perfectly. + +"Be quiet, old fellow," he whispered, stroking the great intelligent +head. "Nobody will find you here and I'll come back for you." + +The horse rubbed his nose against his arm but made no other movement. +Then Dick walked softly toward the house, pulses beating hard and paused +just at the edge of a portico, where he stood in the shadow of a pillar. +He saw the light clearly now. It shone from a window of the low second +story. It came from her window and her room. Doubtless she was +thinking at that very moment of him. His throat ached and tears came +into his eyes. The light, clear and red, shone steadily from the window +and made a band across the lawn. + +He picked a handful of sand from the walk that led to the front door +and threw it against the window. He knew that she was brave and would +respond, but waiting only a moment or two he threw a second handful +fully and fairly against the glass. + +The lower half of the window was thrown open and a head appeared, +where the moonlight fell clearly upon it. It was the head of a +beautiful woman, framed in thick, silken yellow hair, the eyes deep blue, +and the skin of the wonderful fairness so often found in that state. +The face was that of a woman about thirty-seven or eight years of age, +and without a wrinkle or flaw. + +"Mother!" called Dick in a low voice as he stepped from the shadow of +the pillar. + +There was a cry and the face disappeared like a flash from the window. +But he had only a few moments to wait. Her swift feet brought her from +the room, down the stairway, and along the hall to the door, which she +threw open. The next instant Mrs. Mason had her son in her arms. + +"Oh, Dick, Dicky, boy, how did you come!" she exclaimed. "You were here +under my window, and I did not even know that you were alive!" + +Her tears of joy fell upon his face and he was moved profoundly. +Dick loved his beautiful young mother devoutly, and her widowhood had +bound them all the more closely together. + +"I've come a long distance, and I've come in many ways, mother," he +replied, "by train, by horseback, and I have even walked." + +"You have come here on foot?" + +"No, mother. I rode directly over your own smooth lawn on one of the +biggest horses you ever saw, and he's tied now between two of the pine +trees. Come, we must go in the house. It's too cold for you out here. +Do you know that the mercury is about ten degrees below zero." + +"What a man you have grown! Why, you must be two inches taller than you +were, when you went away, and how sunburned and weather-beaten you are, +too! Oh, Dicky, this terrible, terrible war! Not a word from you in +months has got through to me!" + +"Nor a word from you to me, mother, but I have not suffered so much +so far. I was at Bull Run, where we lost, and I was at Mill Spring, +where we won, but I was unhurt." + +"Perhaps you have come back to stay," she said hopefully. + +"No, mother, not to stay. I took a chance in coming by here to see you, +but I couldn't go on without a few minutes. Inside now, mother, your +hands are growing cold." + +They went in at the door, and closed it behind them. But there was +another faithful soul on guard that night. In the dusky hail loomed a +gigantic black figure in a blue checked dress, blue turban on head. + +"Marse Dick?" she said. + +"Juliana!" he exclaimed. "How did you know that I was here?" + +"Ain't I done heard Miss Em'ly cry out, me always sleepin' so light, +an' I hears her run down the hail. An' then I dresses an' comes an' +sees you two through the crack o' the do', an' then I waits till you +come in." + +Dick gave her a most affectionate greeting, knowing that she was as true +as steel. She rejoiced in her flowery name, as many other colored women +rejoiced in theirs, but her heart inhabited exactly the right spot +in her huge anatomy. She drew mother and son into the sitting-room, +where low coals still burned on the hearth. Then she went up to +Mrs. Mason's bedroom and put out the light, after which she came back +to the sitting-room, and, standing by a window in silence, watched over +the two over whom she had watched so long. + +"Why is it that you can stay such a little while?" asked Mrs. Mason. + +"Mother," replied Dick in a low tone, "General Thomas, who won the +battle at Mill Spring, has trusted me. I bear a dispatch of great +importance. It is to go to General Buell, and it has to do with the +gathering of the Union troops in the western and southern parts of our +state, and in Tennessee. I must get through with it, and in war, mother, +time counts almost as much as battles. I can stop only a few minutes +even for you." + +"I suppose it is so. But oh, Dicky, won't this terrible war be over +soon?" + +"I don't think so, mother. It's scarcely begun yet." + +Mrs. Mason said nothing, but stared into the coals. The great negress, +Juliana, standing at the window, did not move. + +"I suppose you are right, Dick," she said at last with a sigh, "but +it is awful that our people should be arrayed so against one another. +There is your cousin, Harry Kenton, a good boy, too, on the other side." + +"Yes, mother, I caught a glimpse of him at Bull Run. We came almost +face to face in the smoke. But it was only for an instant. Then the +smoke rushed in between. I don't think anything serious has happened +to him." + +Mrs. Mason shuddered. + +"I should mourn him next to you," she said, "and my brother-in-law, +Colonel Kenton, has been very good. He left orders with his people to +watch over us here. Pendleton is strongly Southern as you know, but +nobody would do us any harm, unless it was the rough people from the +hills." + +Colonel Kenton's wife had been Mrs. Mason's elder sister, and Dick, +as he also sat staring into the coals, wondered why people who were +united so closely should yet be divided so much. + +"Mother," he said, "when I came through the mountains with my friends +we stopped at a house in which lived an old, old woman. She must have +been nearly a hundred. She knew your ancestor and mine, the famous and +learned Paul Cotter, from whom you and I are descended, and she also +knew his friend and comrade, the mighty scout and hunter, Henry Ware, +who became the great governor of Kentucky." + +"How strange!" + +"But the strangest is yet to be told. Harry Kenton, when he went east +to join Beauregard before Bull Run, stopped at the same house, and when +she first saw him she only looked into the far past. She thought it was +Henry Ware himself, and she saluted him as the governor. What do you +think of that, mother?" + +"It's a startling coincidence." + +"But may it not be an omen? I'm not superstitious, mother, but when +things come together in such a queer fashion it's bound to make you +think. When Harry's paths and mine cross in such a manner maybe it +means that we shall all come together again, and be united as we were." + +"Maybe." + +"At any rate," said Dick with a little laugh, "we'll hope that it does." + +While the boy was not noticing his mother had made a sign to Juliana, +who had crept out of the room. Now she returned, bearing food upon a +tray, and Dick, although he was not hungry, ate to please his mother. + +"You will stay until morning?" she said. + +"No, mother. I can't afford to be seen here. I must leave in the dark." + +"Then until it is nearly morning." + +"Nor that either, mother. My time is about up already. I could never +betray the trust that General Thomas has put in me. My dispatches +not only tell of the gathering of our own troops, but they contain +invaluable information concerning the Confederate concentration which +General Thomas learned from his scouts and spies. Mother, I think a +great battle is coming here in the west." + +She shuddered, but she did not seek again to delay him in his duty. + +"I am proud," she said, "that you have won the confidence of your +general, and that you ride upon such an important errand. I should have +been glad if you had stayed at home, Dick, but since you have chosen to +be a soldier, I am rejoiced that you have risen in the esteem of your +officers. Write to me as often as you can. Maybe none of your letters +will reach me, but at least start them. I shall start mine, too." + +"Of course, mother," said Dick, "and now it's time for me to ride hard." + +"Why, you have been here only a half hour!" + +"Nearer an hour, mother, and on this journey of mine time means a lot. +I must say good-bye now to you and Juliana." + +The two women followed him down the lawn to the point where his horse +was hitched between the two big pines. Mrs. Mason patted the horse's +great head and murmured to him to carry her son well. + +"Did you ever see a finer horse, mother?" said Dick proudly. "He's the +very pick of the army." + +He threw his arms around her neck, kissed her more than once, sprang +into the saddle and rode away in the darkness. + +The two women, the black and the white, sisters in grief, and yet happy +that he had come, went slowly back into the house to wait, while the boy, +a man's soul in him, strode on to war. + +Dick was far from Pendleton when the dawn broke, and now he had full +need of caution. His horse was bearing him fast into debatable ground, +where every man suspected his neighbor, and it remained for force alone +to tell to which side the region belonged. But the extreme delicacy +of the tension came to Dick's aid. People hesitated to ask questions, +lest questions equally difficult be asked of them in return. It was a +great time to mind one's own business. + +He rode on, fortune with him for the present, and his course was still +west slightly by north. He slept under roofs, and he learned that in +the country into which he had now come the Union sympathizers were +more numerous than the Confederate. The majority of the Kentuckians, +whatever their personal feelings, were not willing to shatter the +republic. + +He heard definitely that here in the west the North was gathering armies +greater than any that he had supposed. Besides the troops from the +three states just across the Ohio River the hardy lumbermen and pioneers +were pouring down from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Hunters +in deerskin suits and buffalo moccasins had already come from the far +Nebraska Territory. + +The power of the west and the northwest was converging upon his state, +which gave eighty thousand of its men to the Northern cause, while half +as many more went away to the Southern armies, particularly to the one +under the brilliant and daring Albert Sidney Johnston, which hung a +sinister menace before the Northern front. One hundred and twenty +thousand troops sent to the two armies by a state that contained but +little more than a million people! It was said at the time that as +Kentucky went, so would go the fortunes of the Union and in the end it +was so. + +But these facts and reckonings were not much in Dick's mind just then. +He was thinking of Buell's camp and of the message that he bore. +Again and again he felt of that little inside pocket of his vest to see +that it was there, although he knew that by no chance could he have lost +it. + +When he was within fifteen miles of Buell's camp a heavy snow began to +fall. But he did not mind it. The powerful horse that had borne him so +well carried him safely on to his destination, and before the sundown +of that day the young messenger was standing before General Don Carlos +Buell, one of the most puzzling characters whom he was to meet in the +whole course of the war. He had found Thomas a silent man, but he found +Buell even more so. He received Dick in an ordinary tent, thanked him +as he saluted and handed him the dispatch, and then read General Thomas' +message. + +Dick saw before him a shortish, thickset man, grim of feature, who did +not ask him a word until he had finished the dispatch. + +"You know what this contains?" he said, when he came to the end. + +"Yes, General Thomas made me memorize it, that I might destroy it if I +were too hard pressed." + +"He tells us that Johnston is preparing for some great blow and he +gives the numbers and present location of the hostile forces. Valuable +information for us, if it is used. You have done well, Mr. Mason. +To what force were you attached?" + +"A small division of Pennsylvania troops under Major Hertford. They +were to be sent by General Thomas to General Grant at Cairo, Illinois." + +"And you would like to join them." + +"If you please, sir." + +"In view of your services your wish is granted. It is likely that +General Grant will need all the men whom he can get. A detachment +leaves here early in the morning for Elizabethtown, where it takes the +train for Louisville, proceeding thence by water to Cairo. You shall go +with these men. They are commanded by Colonel Winchester. You may go +now, Mr. Mason." + +He turned back to his papers and Dick, thinking his manner somewhat curt, +left his tent. But he was pleased to hear that the detail was commanded +by Colonel Winchester. Arthur Winchester was a man of forty-one or +two who lived about thirty miles north of Pendleton. He was a great +landowner, of high character and pleasant manners. Dick had met him +frequently in his childhood, and the Colonel received him with much +warmth. + +"I'm glad to know, Dick," he said familiarly, "that you're going with +us. I'm fond of Pendleton, and I like to have one of the Pendleton boys +in my command. If all that we hear of this man Grant is true, we'll see +action, action hot and continuous." + +They rode to Elizabethtown, where Dick was compelled to leave his great +horse for Buell's men, and went by train to Louisville, going thence +by steamer down the Ohio River to Cairo, at its junction with the +Mississippi, where they stood at last in the presence of that general +whose name was beginning to be known in the west. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TAKING A FORT + + +Dick was with Colonel Winchester when he was admitted to the presence of +the general who had already done much to strengthen the Union cause in +the west, and he found him the plainest and simplest of men, under forty, +short in stature, and careless in attire. He thanked Colonel Winchester +for the reinforcement that he had brought him, and then turned with some +curiosity to Dick. + +"So you were at the battle of Mill Spring," he said. "It was hot, +was it not?" + +"Hot enough for me," replied Dick frankly. + +Grant laughed. + +"They caught a Tartar in George Thomas," he said, "and I fancy that +others who try to catch him will be glad enough to let him go." + +"He is a great man, sir," said Dick with conviction. + +Then Grant asked him more questions about the troops and the situation +in Eastern Kentucky, and Dick noticed that all were sharp and +penetrating. + +"Your former immediate commander, Major Hertford, and some of his men +are due here today," said Grant. "General Thomas, knowing that his own +campaign was over, sent them north to Cincinnati and they have come down +the river to Cairo. When they reach here they will be attached to the +regiment of Colonel Winchester." + +Dick was overjoyed. He had formed a strong liking for Major Hertford +and he was quite sure that Warner and Sergeant Whitley would be with +him. Once more they would be reunited, reunited for battle. He could +not doubt that they would go to speedy action as the little town at the +junction of the mighty rivers resounded with preparation. + +When Colonel Winchester and the boy had saluted and retired from General +Grant's tent they saw the smoke pouring from the funnels of numerous +steamers in the Mississippi, and they saw thousands of troops encamped +in tents along the shores of both the Ohio and Mississippi. Heavy +cannon were drawn up on the wharves, and ammunition and supplies were +being transferred from hundreds of wagons to the steamers. It was +evident to any one that this expedition, whatever it might be, was to +proceed by water. It was a land of mighty rivers, close together, +and a steamer might go anywhere. + +As Dick and Colonel Winchester, on whose staff he would now be, were +watching this active scene, a small steamer, coming down the Ohio, +drew in to a wharf, and a number of soldiers in faded blue disembarked. +The boy uttered a shout of joy. + +"What is it, Dick?" asked Colonel Winchester. + +"Why, sir, there's my former commander, Colonel Newcomb, and just behind +him is my comrade, Lieutenant George Warner of Vermont, and not far away +is Sergeant Whitley, late of the regular army, one of the best soldiers +in the world. Can I greet them, colonel?" + +"Of course." + +Dick rushed forward and saluted Colonel Newcomb, who grasped him warmly +by the hand. + +"So you got safely through, my lad," he said. "Major Hertford, who came +down the Kentucky with his detachment and joined us at Carrollton at the +mouth of that river, told us of your mission. The major is bringing up +the rear of our column, but here are other friends of yours." + +Dick the next moment was wringing the hand of the Vermont boy and was +receiving an equally powerful grip in return. + +"I believed that we would meet you here," said Warner, "I calculated +that with your courage, skill and knowledge of the country the chances +were at least eighty per cent in favor of your getting through to Buell. +And if you did get through to Buell I knew that at least ninety per cent +of the circumstances would represent your desire and effort to come +here. That was a net percentage of seventy-two in favor of meeting you +here in Cairo, and the seventy-two per cent has prevailed, as it usually +does." + +"Nothing is so bad that it can't be worse," said Sergeant Whitley, +as he too gave Dick's hand an iron grasp, "and I knew that when we lost +you we'd be pretty glad to see you again. Here you are safe an' sound, +an' here we are safe an' sound, a most satisfactory condition in war." + +"But not likely to remain so long, judging from what we see here," +said Warner. "We hear that this man Grant is a restless sort of a +person who thinks that the way to beat the enemy is just to go in and +beat him." + +Major Hertford came up at that moment, and he, too, gave Dick a welcome +that warmed his heart. But the boy did not get to remain long with his +old comrades. The Pennsylvania regiment had been much cut down through +the necessity of leaving detachments as guards at various places along +the river, but it was yet enough to make a skeleton and its entity was +preserved, forming a little eastern band among so many westerners. + +Dick, at General Grant's order, was transferred permanently to the staff +of Colonel Winchester, and he and the other officers slept that night +in a small building in the outskirts of Cairo. He knew that a great +movement was at hand, but he was becoming so thoroughly inured to danger +and hardship that he slept soundly all through the night. + +They heard early the next morning the sound of many trumpets and Colonel +Winchester's regiment formed for embarkation. All the puffing steamers +were now in the Ohio, and Dick saw with them many other vessels which +were not used for carrying soldiers. He saw broad, low boats, with +flat bottoms, their sides sheathed in iron plates. They were floating +batteries moved by powerful engines beneath. Then there were eight huge +mortars, a foot across the muzzle, every one mounted separately upon a +strong barge and towed. Some of the steamers were sheathed in iron also. + +Dick's heart throbbed hard when he saw the great equipment. The +fighting ships were under the command of Commodore Foote, an able man, +but General Grant and his lieutenants, General McClernand and General +Smith, commanded the army aboard the transports. On the transport next +to them Dick saw the Pennsylvanians and he waved his hand to his friends +who stood on the deck. They waved back, and Dick felt powerfully the +sense of comradeship. It warmed his heart for them all to be together +again, and it was a source of strength, too. + +The steamer that bore his regiment was named the River Queen, and many +of her cabins had been torn away to make more room for the troops who +would sleep in rows on her decks, as thick as buffaloes in a herd. +The soldiers, like all the others whom he saw, were mostly boys. +The average could not be over twenty, and some were not over sixteen. +But they had the adaptability of youth. They had scattered themselves +about in easy positions. One was playing an accordion, and another a +fiddle. The officers did not interrupt them. + +As Dick looked over the side at the yellow torrent some one said beside +him: + +"This is a whopping big river. You don't see them as deep as this where +I come from." + +Dick glanced at the speaker, and saw a lad of about his own age, of +medium height, but powerfully built, with shoulders uncommonly thick. +His face was tanned brown, but his eyes were blue and his natural +complexion was fair. He was clad completely in deerskin, mocassins +on his feet and a raccoon skin cap on his head. Dick had noticed the +Nebraska hunters in such garb, but he was surprised to see this boy +dressed in similar fashion among the Kentuckians. + +The youth smiled when he saw Dick's glance of surprise. + +"I know I look odd among you," he said, "and you take me for one of the +Nebraska hunters. So I am, but I'm a Kentuckian, too, and I've a right +to a place with you fellows. My name is Frank Pennington. I was born +about forty miles north of Pendleton, but when I was six months old my +parents went out on the plains, where I've hunted buffalo, and where +I've fought Indians, too. But I'm a Kentuckian by right of birth just +as you are, and I asked to be assigned to the regiment raised in the +region from which we came." + +"And mighty welcome you are, too," said Dick, offering his hand. +"You belong with us, and we'll stick together on this campaign." + +The two youths, one officer and one private, became fast friends in a +moment. Events move swiftly in war. Both now felt the great engines +throbbing faster beneath them, and the flotilla, well into the mouth of +the Ohio, was leaving the Mississippi behind them. But the Ohio here +for a distance is apparently the mightier stream, and they gazed with +interest and a certain awe at the vast yellow sheet enclosed by shores, +somber in the gray garb of winter. It was the beginning of February, +and cold winds swept down from the Illinois prairies. Cairo had been +left behind and there was no sign of human habitation. Some wild fowl, +careless of winter, flew over the stream, dipped toward the water, +and then flew away again. + +As far as the eye was concerned the wilderness circled about them and +enclosed them. The air was cold and flakes of snow dropped upon the +decks and the river, but were gone in an instant. The skies were an +unbroken sheet of gray. The scene so lonely and desolate contained a +majesty that impressed them all, heightened for these youths by the +knowledge that many of them were going on a campaign from which they +would never return. + +"Looks as wild as the great plains on which I've hunted with my father," +said Pennington. + +"But we hunt bigger game than buffalo," said Dick. + +"Game that is likely to turn and hunt us." + +"Yes." + +"Do you know where we're going?" + +"Not exactly, but I can make a good guess. I know that we've taken on +Tennessee River pilots, and I'm sure that we'll turn into the mouth of +that river at Paducah. I infer that we're to attack Fort Henry, which +the Confederates have erected some distance up the Tennessee to guard +that river." + +"Looks likely. Do you know much about the fort?" + +"I've heard of it only since I came to Cairo. I know that it stands on +low, marshy ground facing the Tennessee, and that it contains seventeen +big guns. I haven't heard anything about the size of its garrison." + +"But we'll have a fight, that's sure," said young Pennington. "I've +been in battle only once--at Columbus--but the Johnny Rebs don't give +up forts in a hurry." + +"There's another fort, a much bigger one, named Donelson, on the +Cumberland," said Dick. "Both the forts are in Tennessee, but as the +two rivers run parallel here in the western parts of the two states, +Fort Donelson and Fort Henry are not far apart. I risk a guess that +we attack both." + +"You don't risk much. I tell you, Dick, that man Grant is a holy +terror. He isn't much to look at, but he's a marcher and a fighter. +We fellows in the ranks soon learn what kind of a man is over us. +I suppose it's like the horse feeling through the bit the temper of his +rider. President Lincoln has stationed General Halleck at St. Louis +with general command here in the West. General Halleck thinks that +General Grant is a meek subordinate without ambition, and will always be +sending back to him for instructions, which is just what General Halleck +likes, but we in the ranks have learned to know our Grant better." + +Dick's eyes glistened. + +"So you think, then," he said, "that General Grant will push this +campaign home, and that he'll soon be where he can't get instructions +from General Halleck?" + +"Looks that way to a man up a tree," said Pennington slowly, and +solemnly winking his left eye. + +They were officer and private, but they were only lads together, and +they talked freely with each other. Dick, after a while, returned to +his commanding officer, Colonel Winchester, but there was little to do, +and he sat on the deck with him, looking out over the fleet, the +transports, the floating batteries, the mortar boats, and the iron- +clads. He saw that the North, besides being vastly superior in numbers +and resources, was the supreme master on the water through her equipment +and the mechanical skill of her people. The South had no advantage save +the defensive, and the mighty generals of genius who appeared chiefly +on her Virginia line. + +Dick had inherited a thoughtful temperament from his famous ancestor, +Paul Cotter, whose learning had appeared almost superhuman to the people +of his time, and he was extremely sensitive to impressions. His mind +would register them with instant truth. As he looked now upon this +floating army he felt that the Union cause must win. On land the +Confederates might be invincible or almost so, but the waters of the +rivers and the sea upheld the Union cause. + +The fleet steamed on at an even pace. Foote, the commodore who had +daringly reconnoitered Fort Henry from a single gunboat in the Tennessee, +managed everything with alertness and skill. The transports were in the +center of the stream. The armed and armored vessels kept on the flanks. + +The river, a vast yellow sheet, sometimes turning gray under the gray, +wintry skies, seemed alone save for themselves. Not a single canoe or +skiff disturbed its surface. Toward evening the flakes of snow came +again, and the bitter wind blew once more from the Illinois prairies. +All the troops who were not under shelter were wrapped in blankets +or overcoats. Dick and the colonel, with the heavy coats over their +uniforms, did not suffer. Instead, they enjoyed the cold, crisp air, +which filled their lungs and seemed to increase their power. + +"When shall we reach the Tennessee?" asked Dick. + +"You will probably wake up in the morning to find yourself some distance +up that stream." + +"I've never seen the Tennessee." + +"Though not the equal of the Ohio, it would be called a giant river in +many countries. The whole fleet, if it wanted to do it, could go up +it hundreds of miles. Why, Dick, these boats can go clear down into +Alabama, into the very heart of the Confederacy, into the very state at +the capital of which Jefferson Davis was inaugurated President of the +seceding states." + +"I was thinking of that some time ago," said Dick. "The water is with +us." + +"Yes, the water is with us, and will stay with us." + +They were silent a little while longer and watched the coming of the +early winter twilight over the waters and the lonely land. The sky +was so heavy with clouds that the gray seemed to melt into the brown. +The low banks slipped back into the dark. They saw only the near +surface of the river, the dark hulls of the fleet, occasional showers of +sparks from smoke stacks, and an immense black cloud made by the smoke +of the fleet, trailing behind them far down the river. + +"Dick," said Colonel Winchester suddenly, "as you came across Kentucky +from Mill Spring, and passed so near Pendleton it must have been a great +temptation to you to stop and see your mother." + +"It was. It was so great that I yielded to it. I was at our home about +midnight for nearly an hour. I hope I did nothing wrong, colonel." + +"No, Dick, my boy. Some martinets might find fault with you, but I +should blame you had you not stopped for those few moments. A noble +woman, your mother, Dick. I hope that she is watched over well." + +Dick glanced at the colonel, but he could not see his face in the +deepening twilight. + +"My uncle, Colonel Kenton, has directed his people to give her help in +case of need," he replied, "but that means physical help against raiders +and guerillas. Otherwise she has sufficient for her support." + +"That is well. War is terrible on women. And now, Dick, my lad, +we'll get our supper. This nipping air makes me hungry, and the +Northern troops do not suffer for lack of food." + +The officers ate in one of the cabins, and when the supper was finished +deep night had come over the river, but Dick, standing on the deck, +heard the heavy throb of many engines, and he knew that a great army +was still around him, driven on by the will of one man, deep into the +country of the foe. + +The decks, every foot of plank it seemed, were already covered with the +sleeping boys, wrapped in their blankets and overcoats. He saw his +friend, the young hunter from Nebraska, lying with his head on his arm, +sound asleep, a smile on his face. + +Dick watched until the first darkness thinned somewhat, and the stars +came out. Then he retired to one of the cabins, which he shared with +three or four others, and slept soundly until he was aroused for +breakfast. He had not undressed, and, bathing his face, he went out at +once on the deck. Many of the soldiers were up, there was a hum of talk, +and all were looking curiously at the river up which they were steaming. + +They were in the Tennessee, having passed in the night the little town +of Paducah--now an important city--at its mouth. It was not so broad as +the Ohio, but it was broad, nevertheless, and it had the aspect of great +depth. But here, as on the Ohio, they seemed to be steaming through the +wilderness. The banks were densely wooded, and the few houses that may +have been near were hidden by the trees. No human beings appeared upon +the banks. + +Dick knew why the men did not come forth to see the ships. The +southwestern part of the state, the old Jackson's Purchase, and the +region immediately adjacent, was almost solidly for the South. They +would not find here that division of sentiment, with the majority +inclined to the North, that prevailed in the higher regions of Kentucky. +The country itself was different. It was low and the waters that came +into the Tennessee flowed more sluggishly. + +But Dick was sure that keen eyes were watching the fleet from the +undergrowth, and he had no doubt that every vessel had long since been +counted and that every detail of the fleet had been carried to the +Southern garrisons in the fort. + +The cold was as sharp as on the day before, and Dick, like the others, +rejoiced in the hot and abundant breakfast. The boats, an hour or two +later, stopped at a little landing, and many of the lads would gladly +have gone ashore for a few moments, risking possible sharpshooters in +the woods, but not one was allowed to leave the vessels. But Dick's +steamer lay so close to the one carrying the Pennsylvanians that he +could talk across the few intervening feet of water with Warner and +Whitley. He also took the opportunity to introduce his new friend +Pennington, of Nebraska. + +"Are you the son of John Pennington, who lived for a little while at +Fort Omaha?" asked the sergeant. + +"Right you are," replied the young hunter, "I'm his third son." + +"Then you're the third son of a brave man. I was in the regular army +and often we helped the pioneers against the Indians. I remember being +in one fight with him against the Sioux on the Platte, and in another +against the Northern Cheyennes in the Jumping Sand Hills." + +"Hurrah!" cried Pennington. "I'm sorry I can't jump over a section of +the Tennessee River and shake hands with you." + +"We'll have our chance later," said the sergeant. At that moment the +fleet started again, and the boats swung apart. Through Dick's earnest +solicitation young Pennington was taken out of the ranks and attached to +the staff of Colonel Winchester as an orderly. He was well educated, +already a fine campaigner, and beyond a doubt he would prove extremely +useful. + +They steamed the entire day without interruption. Now and then the +river narrowed and they ran between high banks. The scenery became +romantic and beautiful, but always wild. The river, deep at any time, +was now swollen fifteen feet more by floods on its upper courses, +and the water always lapped at the base of the forest. + +Dick and Pennington, standing side by side, saw the second sun set over +their voyage, and it was as wild and lonely as the first. There was a +yellow river again, and hills covered with a bare forest. Heavy gray +clouds trooped across the sky, and the sun was lost among them before it +sank behind the hills in the west. + +Dick and Pennington, wrapped in their blankets and overcoats, slept upon +the deck that night, with scores of others strewed about them. They +were awakened after eleven o'clock by a sputter of rifle shots. Dick +sat up in a daze and heard a bullet hum by his ear. Then he heard a +powerful voice shouting: "Down! Down, all of you! It's only some +skirmishers in the woods!" Then a cannon on one of the armor clads +thundered, and a shell ripped its way through the underbrush on the +west bank. Many exclamations were uttered by the half-awakened lads. + +"What is it? Has an army attacked us?" + +"Are we before the fort and under fire?" + +"Take your foot off me, you big buffalo!" + +It was Colonel Winchester who had commanded them to keep down, but Dick, +a staff officer, knew that it did not apply to him. Instead he sprang +erect and assisted the senior officers in compelling the others to lie +flat upon the decks. He saw several flashes of fire in the undergrowth, +but he had logic enough to know that it could only be a small Southern +band. Three or four more shells raked the woods, and then there was no +reply. + +The boats steamed steadily on. Only one or two of the young soldiers +had been hurt and they but lightly. All rolled themselves again in +their blankets and coats and went back to sleep. + +The second awakening was about half way between midnight and dawn. +Something cold was continually dropping on Dick's face and he awoke to +find hundreds of sheeted and silent white forms lying motionless upon +the deck. Snow was falling swiftly out of a dark sky, and the fleet +was moving slowly. In the darkness and stillness the engines throbbed +powerfully, and the night was lighted fitfully by the showers of sparks +that gushed now and then from the smoke stacks. + +Dick thought of rising and brushing the snow from his blankets, but he +was so warm inside them that he yawned once or twice and went to sleep +again. When he awoke it was morning again, the snow had ceased and the +men were brushing it from themselves and the decks. + +The young soldiers, as they ate breakfast, spoke of the rifle shots that +had been fired at them the night before and, since little damage had +been done, they appreciated the small spice of danger. The wildness +and mystery of their situation appealed to them, too. They were like +explorers, penetrating new regions. + +"To most of us it's something like the great plains," said Pennington to +Dick. "There you seldom know what you're coming to; maybe a blizzard, +maybe a buffalo herd, and maybe a band of Indians, and you take a +pleasure in the uncertainty. But I suppose it's not the same to you, +this being your state." + +"I don't know much about Western Kentucky," said Dick, "my part lies to +the center and east, but anyway, our work is to be done in Tennessee. +Those two forts, which I'm sure we're after, lie in that state." + +"And when do you think we'll reach 'em?" + +"Tomorrow, I suppose." + +The day passed without any interruption to the advance of the fleet, +although there was occasional firing, but not of a serious nature. +Now and then small bands of Confederate skirmishers sent rifle shots +from high points along the bank toward the fleet, but they did no damage +and the ships steamed steadily on. + +The third night out came, and again the young soldiers slept soundly, +but the next morning, soon after breakfast, the whole fleet stopped in +the middle of the river. A thrill of excitement ran through the army +when the news filtered from ship to ship that they were now in Tennessee, +and that Fort Henry, which they were to attack, was just ahead. + +Nevertheless, they seemed to be yet in the wilderness. The Tennessee, +in flood, spread its yellow waters through forest and undergrowth, +and the chill gray sky still gave a uniform somber, gray tint to +everything. Bugles blew in the boats, and every soldier began to put +himself and his weapons in order. The command to make a landing had +been given, and Commodore Foote was feeling about for a place. + +Dick now realized the enormous advantage of supremacy upon the water. +Had the Confederates possessed armored ships to meet them, the landing +of a great army under fire would be impossible, but now they chose their +own time and went about it unvexed. + +A place was found at last, a rude wharf was constructed hastily, and the +fleet disgorged the army, boat by boat. Vast quantities of stores and +heavy cannon were also brought ashore. Despite the cold, Dick and his +comrades perspired all the morning over their labors and were covered +with mud when the camp was finally constructed at some distance back of +the Tennessee, on the high ground beyond the overflow. The transports +remained at anchor, but the fighting boats were to drop down the stream +and attack the fort at noon the next day from the front, while the army +assailed it at the same time from the rear. + +The detachment of Pennsylvanians was by the side of Colonel Winchester's +Kentucky regiment, and Colonel Newcomb and his staff messed with Colonel +Winchester and his officers. There was water everywhere, and before +they ate they washed the mud off themselves as best they could. + +"I suppose," said Warner, "that seventy per cent of our work henceforth +will be marching through the mud, and thirty per cent of it will be +fighting the rebels in Fort Henry. I hear that we're not to attack +until tomorrow, so I mean to sleep on top of a cannon tonight, lest I +sink out of sight in the mud while I'm asleep." + +"There's some pleasure," said Pennington, "in knowing that we won't die +of thirst. You could hardly call this a parched and burning desert." + +But as they worked all the remainder of the day on the construction of +the camp, they did not care where they slept. When their work was over +they simply dropped where they stood and slumbered soundly until morning. + +The day opened with a mixture of rain, snow, and fiercely cold winds. +Grant's army moved out of its camp to make the attack, but it was +hampered by the terrible weather and the vast swamp through which its +course must lead. Colonel Winchester, who knew the country better +than any other high officer, was sent ahead on horseback with a small +detachment to examine the way. He naturally took Dick and Pennington, +who were on his staff, and by request, Colonel Newcomb, Major Hertford, +Warner and Sergeant Whitley went also. The whole party numbered about +a hundred men. + +Dick and the other lads rejoiced over their mission. It was better to +ride ahead than to remain with an army that was pulling itself along +slowly through the mud. The fort itself was only about three miles away, +and as it stood upon low, marshy ground, the backwater from the flooded +Tennessee had almost surrounded it. + +Despite their horses, Winchester's men found their own advance slow. +They had to make many a twist and turn to avoid marshes and deep water +before they came within the sight of the fort, and then Dick's watch +told him that it was nearly noon, the time for the concerted attacks of +army and fleet. But it was certain now that the army could not get up +until several hours later, and he wondered what would happen. + +They saw the fort very clearly from their position on a low hill, +and they saw that the main Confederate force was gathered on a height +outside, connected with the fort, and as well as he could judge, the +mass seemed to number three or four thousand men. + +"What does that mean?" he asked Colonel Winchester. + +"I surmise," replied the colonel, "that Tilghman, the Confederate +commander, is afraid his men may be caught in a trap. We know his +troops are merely raw militia, and he has put them where they can +retreat in case of defeat. He, himself, with his trained cannoneers, +is inside the fort." + +"There can be no attack until tomorrow," said Colonel Newcomb. "It will +be impossible for General Grant's army to get here in time." + +"You are certainly right about the army, but I'm not so sure that you're +right about the attack. Look what's coming up the river." + +"The fleet!" exclaimed Newcomb in excitement. "As sure as I'm here it's +the fleet, advancing to make the attack alone. Foote is a daring and +energetic man, and the failure of the army to co-operate will not keep +him back." + +"Daring and energy, seventy per cent, at least," Dick heard Warner +murmur, but he paid no more attention to his comrades because all his +interest was absorbed in the thrilling spectacle that was about to be +unfolded before them. + +The fleet, the armor clads, the floating batteries, and the mortar boats, +were coming straight toward the fort. Colonel Winchester lent Dick his +glasses for a moment, and the boy plainly saw the great, yawning mouths +of the mortars. Then he passed the glasses back to the colonel, but he +was able to see well what followed with the naked eye. The fleet came +on, steady, but yet silent. + +There was a sudden roar, a flash of fire and a shell was discharged from +one of the seventeen great guns in the fort. But it passed over the +boat at which it was aimed, and a fountain of water spurted up where it +struck. The other guns replied rapidly, and the fleet, with a terrific +roar, replied. It seemed to Dick that the whole earth shook with the +confusion. Through the smoke and flame he saw the water gushing up in +fountains, and he also saw earth and masonry flying from the fort. + +"It's a fine fight," said Colonel Winchester, suppressed excitement +showing in his tone. "By George, the fleet is coming closer. Not a +boat has been sunk! What a tremendous roar those mortars make. Look! +One of their shells has burst directly on the fort!" + +The fleet, single handed, was certainly making a determined and powerful +attack upon the fort, which standing upon low, marshy ground, was not +much above the level of the boats, and offered a fair target to their +great guns. Both fort and fleet were now enveloped in a great cloud of +smoke, but it was repeatedly rent asunder by the flashing of the great +guns, and, rapt by the spectacle from which he could not take his eyes, +Dick saw that all the vessels of the fleet were still afloat and were +crowding closer and closer. + +The artillery kept up a steady crash now, punctuated by the hollow boom +of the great mortars, which threw huge, curving shells. The smoke +floated far up and down the river, and the Southern troops on the height +adjoining the fort moved back and forth uneasily, uncertain what to do. +Finally they broke and retreated into the forest. + +But General Tilghman, the Confederate commander, and the heroic gunners +inside the fort, only sixty in number, made the most heroic resistance. +The armor clad boats were only six hundred yards away now, and were +pouring upon them a perfect storm of fire. + +Their intrenchments, placed too low, gave them no advantage over the +vessels. Shells and solid shot rained upon them. Some of the guns were +exploded and others dismounted by this terrible shower, but they did not +yet give up. As fast as they could load and fire the little band sent +back their own fire at the black hulks that showed through the smoke. + +"The fleet will win," Dick heard Colonel Winchester murmur. "Look +how magnificently it is handled, and it converges closer and closer. +A fortification located as this one is cannot stand forever a fire like +that." + +But the fleet was not escaping unharmed. A shell burst the boiler of +the Essex, killing and wounding twenty-nine men. Nevertheless, the fire +of the boats increased rather than diminished, and Dick saw that Colonel +Winchester's words were bound to come true. + +Inside the fort there was only depression. It had been raked through +by shells and solid shot. Most of the devoted band were wounded and +scarcely a gun could be worked. Tilghman, standing amid his dead and +wounded, saw that hope was no longer left, and gave the signal. + +Dick and his comrades uttered a great shout as they saw the white flag +go up over Fort Henry, and then the cannonade ceased, like a mighty +crash of thunder that had rolled suddenly across the sky. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BEFORE DONELSON + + +Dick was the first in Colonel Winchester's troop to see the white flag +floating over Fort Henry and he uttered a shout of joy. + +"Look! look!" he cried, "the fleet has taken the fort!" + +"So it has," said Colonel Winchester, "and the army is not here. +Now I wonder what General Grant will say when he learns that Foote has +done the work before he could come." + +But Dick believed that General Grant would find no fault, that he would +approve instead. The feeling was already spreading among the soldiers +that this man, whose name was recently so new among them, cared only +for results. He was not one to fight over precedence and to feel petty +jealousies. + +The smoke of battle was beginning to clear away. Officers were landing +from the boats to receive the surrender of the fort, and Colonel +Winchester and his troops galloped rapidly back toward the army, which +they soon met, toiling through swamps and even through shallow overflow +toward the Tennessee. The men had been hearing for more than an hour +the steady booming of the cannon, and every face was eager. + +Colonel Winchester rode straight toward a short, thickset figure on a +stout bay horse near the head of one of the columns. This man, like all +the others, was plastered with mud, but Colonel Winchester gave him a +salute of deep respect. + +"What does the cessation of firing mean, Colonel?" asked General Grant. + +"It means that Fort Henry has surrendered to the fleet. The Southern +force, which was drawn up outside, retreated southward, but the fort, +its guns and immediate defenders, are ours." + +Dick saw the faintest smile of satisfaction pass over the face of the +General, who said: + +"Commodore Foote has done well. Ride back and tell him that the army is +coming up as fast as the nature of the ground will allow." + +In a short time the army was in the fort which had been taken so +gallantly by the navy, and Grant, his generals, and Commodore Foote, +were in anxious consultation. Most of the troops were soon camped on +the height, where the Southern force had stood, and there was great +exultation, but Dick, who had now seen so much, knew that the high +officers considered this only a beginning. + +Across the narrow stretch of land on the parallel river, the Cumberland, +stood the great fort of Donelson. Henry was a small affair compared +with it. It was likely that men who had been stationed at Henry had +retreated there, and other formidable forces were marching to the same +place. The Confederate commander, Johnston, after the destruction of +his eastern wing at Mill Spring by Thomas, was drawing in his forces and +concentrating. The news of the loss of Fort Henry would cause him to +hasten his operations. He was rapidly falling back from his position +at Bowling Green in Kentucky. Buckner, with his division, was about +to march from that place to join the garrison in Donelson, and Floyd, +with another division, would soon be on the way to the same point. +Floyd had been the United States Secretary of War before secession, +and the Union men hated him. It was said that the great partisan leader, +Forrest, with his cavalry, was also at the fort. + +Much of this news was brought in by farmers, Union sympathizers, and +Dick and his comrades, as they sat before the fires at the close of +the short winter day, understood the situation almost as well as the +generals. + +"Donelson is ninety per cent and Henry only ten per cent," said Warner. +"So long as the Johnnies hold Donelson on the Cumberland, they can build +another fort anywhere they please along the Tennessee, and stop our +fleet. This general of ours has a good notion of the value of time +and a swift blow, and, although I'm neither a prophet nor the son of a +prophet, I predict that he will attack Donelson at once by both land and +water." + +"How can he attack it by water?" asked Pennington. "The distance +between them is not great, but our ships can't steam overland from the +Tennessee to the Cumberland." + +"No, but they can steam back up the Tennessee into the Ohio, thence +to the mouth of the Cumberland, and down the Cumberland to Donelson. +It would require only four or five days, and it will take that long for +the army to invade from the land side." + +Dick had his doubts about the ability of the army and the fleet to +co-operate. Accustomed to the energy of the Southern commanders in the +east he did not believe that Grant would be allowed to arrange things +as he chose. But several days passed and they heard nothing from the +Confederates, although Donelson was only about twenty miles away. +Johnston himself, brilliant and sagacious, was not there, nor was his +lieutenant, Beauregard, who had won such a great reputation by his +victory at the first Bull Run. + +Dick was just beginning to suspect a truth that later on was to be +confirmed fully in his mind. Fortune had placed the great generals of +the Confederacy, with the exception of Albert Sidney Johnston, in the +east, but it had been the good luck of the North to open in the west +with its best men. + +Now he saw the energy of Grant, the short man of rather insignificant +appearance. Boats were sent down the Tennessee to meet any +reinforcements that might be coming, take them back to the Ohio, and +thence into the Cumberland. Fresh supplies of ammunition and food were +brought up, and it became obvious to Dick that the daring commander +meant to attack Donelson, even should its garrison outnumber his own +besieging force. + +Along a long line from Western Tennessee to Eastern Kentucky there was +a mighty stir. Johnston had perceived the energy and courage of his +opponent. He had shared the deep disappointment of all the Southern +leaders when Kentucky failed to secede, but instead furnished so many +thousands of fine troops to the Union army. + +Johnston, too, had noticed with alarm the tremendous outpouring of +rugged men from the states beyond the Ohio and from the far northwest. +The lumbermen who came down in scores of thousands from Michigan, +Wisconsin and Minnesota, were a stalwart crowd. War, save for the +bullets and shell, offered to them no hardships to which they were not +used. They had often worked for days at a time up to their waists in +icy water. They had endured thirty degrees below zero without a murmur, +they had breasted blizzard and cyclone, they could live on anything, +and they could sleep either in forest or on prairie, under the open sky. + +It was such men as these, including men of his own state, and men of the +Tennessee mountains, whom Johnston, who had all the qualities of a great +commander, had to face. The forces against him were greatly superior in +number. The eastern end of his line had been crushed already at Mill +Spring, the extreme western end had suffered a severe blow at Fort Henry, +but Jefferson Davis and the Government at Richmond expected everything +of him. And he manfully strove to do everything. + +There was a mighty marching of men, some news of which came through to +Dick and his comrades with Grant. Johnston with his main army, the very +flower of the western South, fell back from Bowling Green, in Kentucky, +toward Nashville, the capital of Tennessee. But Buckner, with his +division, was sent from Bowling Green to help defend Donelson against +the threatened attack by Grant, and he arrived there six days after the +fall of Henry. On the way were the troops of Floyd, defeated in West +Virginia, but afterwards sent westward. Floyd was at the head of them. +Forrest, the great cavalry leader, was also there with his horsemen. +The fort was crowded with defenders, but the slack Pillow did not yet +send forward anybody to see what Grant was doing, although he was only +twenty miles away. + +All eyes were now turned upon the west. The center of action had +suddenly shifted from Kentucky to Tennessee. The telegraph was young +yet, but it was busy. It carried many varying reports to the cities +North and South. The name of this new man, Grant, spelled trouble. +People were beginning to talk much about him, and already some suspected +that there was more in the back of his head than in those of far better +known and far more pretentious northern generals in the east. None at +least could dispute the fact that he was now the one whom everybody was +watching. + +But the Southern people, few of whom knew the disparity of numbers, +had the fullest confidence in the brilliant Johnston. He was more than +twenty years older than his antagonist, but his years had brought only +experience and many triumphs, not weakness of either mind or body. +At his right hand was the swarthy and confident Beauregard, great with +the prestige of Bull Run, and Hardee, Bragg, Breckinridge and Polk. +And there were many brilliant colonels, too, foremost among whom was +George Kenton. + +A tremor passed through the North when it was learned that Grant +intended to plunge into the winter forest, cross the Cumberland, and +lay siege to Donelson. He was going beyond the plans of his superior, +Halleck, at St. Louis. He was too daring, he would lose his army, +away down there in the Confederacy. But others remembered his successes, +particularly at Belmont and Fort Henry. They said that nothing could +be won in war without risk, and they spoke of his daring and decision. +They recalled, too, that he was master upon the waters, that there was +no Southern fleet to face his, as it sailed up the Southern rivers. +The telegraph was already announcing that the gunboats, which had been +handled with such skill and courage, would be in the Cumberland ready +to co-operate with Grant when he should move on Donelson. + +Buell was moving also to form another link in the steel chain that was +intended to bind the Confederacy in the west. Here again the mastery of +the rivers was of supreme value to the North. Buell embarked his army +on boats on Green River in the very heart of Kentucky, descended that +river to the Ohio, passing down the latter to Smithland, where the +Cumberland, coming up from the south, entered it, and met another convoy +destined for the huge invasion. + +But the first convoy had come, also by boat, from another direction, +and from points far distant. There were fresh regiments of farmers +and pioneers from Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. They were all eager, +full of enthusiasm, anxious to be led against the enemy, and confident +of triumph. + +Grant and his army, meanwhile, lying in the bleak forest beside the +Tennessee, knew little of what was being said of them in the great world +without. All their thoughts were of Donelson, across there on the other +river, and the men asked to be led against it. Inured to the hardships +of border life, there was little sickness among them, despite the winter +and the overflow of the flooded streams. They gathered the dead wood +that littered the forest, built numerous fires, and waited as patiently +as they could for the word to march. + +The Pennsylvanians were still camped with the Kentucky regiment to which +Dick now belonged, and the fifth evening after the capture of Henry he +and his friends sat by one of the big fires. + +"We'll advance either tomorrow or the next day," said Warner. "The +chances are at least ninety per cent in favor of my statement. What +do you say, sergeant?" + +"I'd raise the ninety per cent to one hundred," replied Whitley. +"We are all ready an' as you've observed, gentlemen, General Grant is +a man who acts." + +"The Johnnies evidently expect us," said Pennington. "Our scouts have +seen their cavalry in the woods watching us, but only in the last day or +two. It's strange that they didn't begin it earlier." + +"They say that General Pillow, who commands them, isn't of much force," +said Dick. + +"Well, it looks like it," said Warner, "but from what we hear he'll have +quite an army at Donelson. General Grant will have his work cut out for +him. The Johnnies, besides having their fort, can go into battle with +just about as many men as we have, unless he waits for reinforcements, +which I am quite certain he isn't going to do." + +That evening several bags of mail were brought to the camp on a small +steamer, which had come on three rivers, the Green, the Ohio, and the +Tennessee, and Dick, to his great surprise and delight, received a +letter from his mother. He had written several letters himself, but +he had no way of knowing until now that any of them had reached her. +Only one had succeeded in getting through, and that had been written +from Cairo. + +"My dearest son," she wrote, "I am full of joy to know that you have +reached Cairo in safety and in health, though I dread the great +expedition upon which you say you are going. I hear in Pendleton many +reports about General Grant. They say that he does not spare his men. +The Southern sympathizers here say that he is pitiless and cares not how +many thousands of his own soldiers he may sacrifice, if he only gains +his aim. But of that I know not. I know it is a characteristic of our +poor human nature to absolve one's own side and to accuse those on the +other side. + +"I was in Pendleton this morning, and the reports are thick; thick from +both Northerners and Southerners, that the armies are moving forward to +a great battle. They have all marched south of us, and I do not know +either whether these reports are true or false, though I fear that they +are true. Your uncle, Colonel Kenton, is with General Johnston, and I +hear is one of his most trusted officers. Colonel Kenton is a good man, +and it would be one of the terrible tragedies of war if you and he were +to meet on the field in this great battle, which so many hear is coming. + +"I am very glad that you are now in the regiment of Colonel Winchester, +and that you are an aide on his staff. It is best to be with one's own +people. I have known Colonel Winchester a long time, and he has all the +qualities that make a man, brave and gentle. I hope that you and he +will become the best of friends." + +There was much more in the letter, but it was only the little details +that concern mother and son. Dick was sitting by the fire when he read +it. Then he read it a second time and a third time, folded it very +carefully and put it in the pocket in which he had carried the dispatch +from General Thomas. + +Colonel Winchester was sitting near him, and Dick noticed again what a +fine, trim man he was. Although a little over forty, his figure was +still slender, and he had an abundant head of thick, vital hair. +His whole effect was that of youth. His glance met Dick's and he smiled. + +"A letter from home?" he said. + +"Yes, sir, from mother. She writes to me that she is glad I am in your +command. She speaks very highly of you, sir, and my mother is a woman +of uncommon penetration." + +A faint red tinted the tanned cheeks of the colonel. Dick thought it +was merely the reflection of the fire. + +"Would you care for me to read what she says about you?" asked Dick. + +"If you don't mind." + +Dick drew out the letter again and read the paragraph. + +"Your mother is a very fine woman," said Colonel Winchester. + +"You're right, sir," said Dick with enthusiasm. + +Colonel Winchester said no more, but rose presently and went to the +tent of General Grant, where a conference of officers was to be held. +Dick remained by the fire, where Warner and Pennington soon joined him. + +"Our scouts have exchanged some shots with the enemy," said Pennington, +"and they have taken one or two prisoners, bold fellows who say they're +going to lick the spots off us. They say they have a big army at +Donelson, and they're afraid of nothing except that Grant won't come on. +Between ourselves, the Johnny Rebs are getting ready for us." + +It was Dick's opinion, too, that the Southern troops were making great +preparations to meet them, but, like the others, he was feeling the +strong hand on the reins. He did not notice here the doubt and +uncertainty that had reigned at Washington before the advance on +Bull Run; in Grant's army were order and precision, and with perfect +confidence in his commander he rolled himself in his blankets that night +and went to sleep. + +The order to advance did not come the next morning, and Dick, for a few +moments, thought it might not come at all. The reports from Donelson +were of a formidable nature, and Grant's own army was not provided for a +winter campaign. It had few wagons for food and ammunition, and some of +the regiments from the northwest, cherishing the delusion that winter +in Tennessee was not cold, were not provided with warm clothing and +sufficient blankets. + +But Warner abated his confidence not one jot. + +"The chance of our moving against Donelson is one hundred per cent," +he said. "I passed the General today and his lips were shut tight +together, which means a resolve to do at all costs what one has intended +to do. I still admit that the prophets and the sons of prophets live +no more, but I predict with absolute certainty that we will move in the +morning." + +The Vermonter's faith was justified. The army, being put in thorough +trim, started at dawn upon its momentous march. Wintry fogs were rising +from the great river and the submerged lowlands, and the air was full of +raw, penetrating chill. An abundant breakfast was served to everybody, +and then with warmth and courage the lads of the west and northwest +marched forward with eagerness to an undertaking which they knew would +be far greater than the capture of Fort Henry. + +Dick and Pennington, as staff officers, were mounted, although the +horses that had been furnished to them were not much more than ponies. +Warner rode with Colonel Newcomb and Major Hertford, who led the slender +Pennsylvania detachment beside the Kentucky regiment. Thus the army +emerged from its camp and began the march toward the Cumberland. +It was now about fifteen thousand strong, but it expected reinforcements, +and its fleet held the command of the rivers. + +As they entered the leafless forest Dick saw ahead of them, perhaps a +quarter of a mile away, a numerous band of horsemen wearing faded +Confederate gray. They were the cavalry of Forrest, but they were too +few to stay the Union advances. There was a scattered firing of rifles, +but the heavy brigades of Grant moved steadily on, and pushed them out +of the way. Forrest could do no more than gallop back to the fort with +his men and report that the enemy was coming at last. + +"Those fellows ride well," said Pennington, as the last of Forrest's +cavalrymen passed out of sight, "and if we were not in such strong force +I fancy they would sting us pretty hard." + +"We'll see more of 'em," said Dick. "This is the enemy's country, +and we needn't think that we're going to march as easy as you please +from one victory to another." + +"Maybe not," said Pennington, "but I'll be glad when we get Donelson. +I've been hearing so much about that place that I'm growing real +curious." + +Their march across the woods suffered no further interruption. +Sometimes they saw Confederate cavalrymen at a distance in front, +but they did not try to impede Grant's advance. When the sun was well +down in the west, the vanguard of the army came within sight of the +fortress that stood by the Cumberland. At that very moment the troops +under Floyd, just arrived, were crossing the river to join the garrison +in the fortress. + +Dick looked upon extensive fortifications, a large fort, a redoubt upon +slightly higher ground, other batteries at the water's edge, powerful +batteries upon a semi-circular hill which could command the river for a +long distance, and around all of these extensive works, several miles in +length, including a deep creek on the north. Inside the works was the +little town of Dover, and they were defended by fifteen thousand men, +as many as Grant had without. + +When Dick beheld this formidable position bristling with cannon, rifles +and bayonets, his heart sank within him. How could one army defeat +another, as numerous as itself, inside powerful intrenchments, and in +its own country? Nor could they prevent Southern reinforcements from +reaching the other side of the river and crossing to the fort under the +shelter of its numerous great guns. He was yet to learn the truth, +or at least the partial truth, of Napoleon's famous saying, that in war +an army is nothing, a man is everything. The army to which he belonged +was led by a man of clear vision and undaunted resolution. The chief +commander inside the fort had neither, and his men were shaken already +by the news of Fort Henry, exaggerated in the telling. + +But after the first sinking of the heart Dick felt an extraordinary +thrill. Sensitive and imaginative, he was conscious even at the moment +that he looked in the face of mighty events. The things of the minute +did not always appeal to him with the greatest force. He had, instead, +the foreseeing mind, and the meaning of that vast panorama of fortress, +hills, river and forest did not escape him. + +"Well, Dick, what do you think of it?" asked Pennington. + +"We've got our work cut out for us, and if I didn't know General Grant +I'd say that we're engaged in a mighty rash undertaking." + +"Just what I'd say, also. And we need that fleet bad, too, Dick. +I'd like to see the smoke of its funnels as the boats come steaming up +the Cumberland." + +Dick knew that the fleet was needed, not alone for encouragement and +fighting help, but to supply an even greater want. Grant's army was +short of both food and ammunition. The afternoon had turned warm, +and many of the northwestern lads, still clinging to their illusions +about the climate of the lower Mississippi Valley, had dropped their +blankets. Now, with the setting sun, the raw, penetrating chill was +coming back, and they shivered in every bone. + +But the Union army, in spite of everything, gradually spread out and +enfolded the whole fortress, save on the northern side where Hickman +Creek flowed, deep and impassable. The general's own headquarters were +due west of Fort Donelson, and Colonel Winchester's Kentucky regiment +was stationed close by. + +Low campfires burned along the long line of the Northern army, and Dick +and others who sat beside him saw many lights inside the great enclosure +held by the South. An occasional report was heard, but it was only +the pickets exchanging shots at long range and without hurt. Dick and +Pennington wrapped their blankets about them and sat with their backs +against a log, ready for any command from Colonel Winchester. Now and +then they were sent with orders, because there was much moving to and +fro, the placing of men in position and the bringing up of cannon. + +Thus the night moved slowly on, raw, cold and dark. Mists and fogs rose +from the Cumberland as they had risen from the Tennessee. This, too, +was a great river. Dick was glad when the last of his errands was done, +and he could come back to the fire, and rest his back once more against +the log. The fire was only a bed of coals now, but they gave out much +grateful heat. + +Dick could see General Grant's tent from where he sat. Officers of high +rank were still entering it or leaving it, and he was quite sure that +they were planning an attack on the morrow. + +But the idea of an assault did not greatly move him now. He was too +tired and sleepy to have more than a vague impression of anything. +He saw the coals glowing before him, and then he did not see them. +He had gone sound asleep in an instant. + +The next morning was gray and troubled, with heavy clouds, rolling +across the sky. The rising sun was blurred by them, and as the men ate +their breakfasts some of the great guns from the fort began to fire +at the presumptuous besieger. The heavy reports rolled sullenly over +the desolate forests, but the Northern cannon did not yet reply. The +Southern fire was doing no damage. It was merely a threat, a menace +to those who should dare the assault. + +Colonel Winchester signalled to Dick and Pennington, and mounting their +horses they rode with him to the crest of the highest adjacent hill. +Presently General Grant came and with him were the generals, McClernand +and Smith. Colonel Newcomb also arrived, attended by Warner. The high +officers examined the fort a long time through their glasses, but Dick +noticed that at times they watched the river. He knew they were looking +there for the black plumes of smoke which should mark the coming of the +steamers out of the Ohio. + +But nothing showed on the surface of the Cumberland. The river, dark +gray under lowering clouds, flowed placidly on, washing the base of Fort +Donelson. At intervals of a minute or two there was a flash of fire +from the fort, and the menacing boom of the cannon rolled through the +desolate forest. Now and then, a gun from one of the Northern batteries +replied. But it was as yet a desultory battle, with much noise and +little danger, merely a threat of what was to come. + +After a while Colonel Winchester wrote something on a slip of paper: + +"Take this to our lieutenant-colonel," he said. "It is an order for the +regiment to hold itself in complete readiness, although no action may +come for some time. Then return here at once." + +Dick rode back swiftly, but on his way he suddenly bent over his saddle +bow. A shell from the fort screamed over his head in such a menacing +fashion that it seemed to be only a few inches from him. But it passed +on, leaving him unharmed, and burst three hundred yards away. + +Dick instantly straightened up in the saddle, looked around, breathed +a sigh of relief when he saw that no one had noticed his sudden bow, +and galloped on with the order. The lieutenant-colonel read it and +nodded. Then Dick rode back to the hill where the generals were yet +watching in vain for those black plumes of smoke on the Cumberland. + +They left the hill at last and the generals went to their brigades. +General Grant was smoking a cigar and his face was impassive. + +"We're to open soon with the artillery," said Colonel Winchester to +Dick. "General Grant means to push things." + +The desultory firing, those warning guns, ceased entirely, and for a +while both armies stood in almost complete silence. Then a Northern +battery on the right opened with a tremendous crash and the battle for +Donelson had begun. A Southern battery replied at once and the firing +spread along the whole vast curve. Shells and solid shot whistled +through the air, but the troops back of the guns crouched in hasty +entrenchments, and waited. + +The great artillery combat went on for some time. To many of the lads +on either side it seemed for hours. Then the guns on the Northern side +ceased suddenly, bugles sounded, and the regiments, drawn up in line, +rushed at the outer fortifications. + +Colonel Winchester and his staff had dismounted, but Dick and Pennington, +keeping by the colonel's side, drew their swords and rushed on shouting. +The Southerners inside the fort fired their cannon as fast as they could +now, and at closer range opened with the rifles. Dick heard once again +that terrible shrieking of metal so close to his ears, and then he heard, +too, cries of pain. Many of the young soldiers behind him were falling. + +The fire now grew so hot and deadly that the Union regiments were forced +to give ground. It was evident that they could not carry the formidable +earthworks, but on the right, where Dick's regiment charged, and just +above the little town of Dover, they pressed in far enough to secure +some hills that protected them from the fire of the enemy, and from +which Southern cannon and rifles could not drive them. Then, at the +order of Grant, his troops withdrew elsewhere and the battle of the day +ceased. But on the low hills above Dover, which they had taken, the +Union regiments held their ground, and from their position the Northern +cannon could threaten the interior of the Southern lines. + +Dick's regiment stood here, and beside them were the few companies +of Pennsylvanians so far from their native state. Neither Dick nor +Pennington was wounded. Warner had a bandaged arm, but the wound was so +slight that it would not incapacitate him. The officers were unhurt. + +"They've driven our army back," said Pennington, "and it was not so hard +for them to do it either. How can we ever defeat an army as large as +our own inside powerful works?" + +But Dick was learning fast and he had a keen eye. + +"We have not failed utterly," he said. "Don't you see that we have here +a projection into the enemy's lines, and if those reinforcements come it +will be thrust further and further? I tell you that general of ours is +a bull dog. He will never let go." + +Yet there was little but gloom in the Union camp. The short winter day, +somber and heavy with clouds, was drawing to a close. The field upon +which the assault had taken place was within the sweep of the Southern +guns. Some of the Northern wounded had crawled away or had been carried +to their own camp, but others and the numerous dead still lay upon the +ground. + +The cold increased. The Southern winter is subject to violent changes. +The clouds which had floated up without ceasing were massing heavily. +Now the young troops regretted bitterly the blankets that they had +dropped on the way or left at Fort Henry. Detachments were sent back to +regain as many as possible, but long before they could return a sharp +wind with an edge of ice sprang up, the clouds opened and great flakes +poured down, driven into the eyes of the soldiers by the wind. + +The situation was enough to cause the stoutest heart to weaken, but the +unflinching Grant held on. The Confederate army within the works was +sheltered at least in part, but his own, outside, and with the desolate +forest rimming it around, lay exposed fully to the storm. Dick, at +intervals, saw the short, thickset figure of the commander passing among +the men, and giving them orders or encouragement. Once he saw his +face clearly. The lips were pressed tightly together, and the whole +countenance expressed the grimmest determination. Dick was confirmed +anew in his belief that the chief would never turn back. + +The spectacle, nevertheless, was appalling. The snow drove harder and +harder. It was not merely a passing shower of flakes. It was a storm. +The snow soon lay upon the ground an inch deep, then three inches, +then four and still it gained. Through the darkness and the storm the +Southern cannon crashed at intervals, sending shells at random into the +Union camp or over it. There was full need then for the indomitable +spirit of Grant and those around him to encourage anew the thousands of +boys who had so lately left the farms or the lumber yards. + +Dick and his comrades, careless of the risk, searched over the +battlefield for the wounded who were yet there. They carried lanterns, +but the darkness was so great and the snow drove so hard and lay so +deep that they knew many would never be found. + +Back beyond the range of the fort's cannon men were building fires with +what wood they could secure from the forest. All the tents they had +were set up, and the men tried to cook food and make coffee, in order +that some degree of warmth and cheer might be provided for the army +beset so sorely. + +The snow, after a while, slackening somewhat, was succeeded by cold much +greater than ever. The shivering men bent over the fires and lamented +anew the discarded blankets. Dick did not sleep an instant that +terrible night. He could not. He, Pennington, and Warner, relieved +from staff service, worked all through the cold and darkness, helping +the wounded and seeking wood for the fires. And with them always was +the wise Sergeant Whitley, to whom, although inferior in rank, they +turned often and willingly for guidance and advice. + +"It's an awful situation," said Pennington; "I knew that war would +furnish horrors, but I didn't expect anything like this." + +"But General Grant will never retreat," said Dick. "I feel it in every +bone of me. I've seen his face tonight." + +"No, he won't," said the experienced sergeant, "because he's making +every preparation to stay. An' remember, Mr. Pennington, that while +this is pretty bad, worse can happen. Remember, too, that while we can +stand this, we can also stand whatever worse may come. It's goin' to +be a fight to a finish." + +Far in the night the occasional guns from the Southern fortress ceased. +The snow was falling no longer, but it lay very deep on the ground, +and the cold was at its height. Along a line of miles the fires burned +and the men crowded about them. But Dick, who had been working on the +snowy plain that was the battlefield, and who had heard many moans there, +now heard none. All who lay in that space were sleeping the common +sleep of death, their bodies frozen stiff and hard under the snow. + +Dick, sitting by one of the fires, saw the cold dawn come, and in those +chill hours of nervous exhaustion he lost hope for a moment or two. +How could anybody, no matter how resolute, maintain a siege without +ammunition and without food. But he spoke cheerfully to Pennington and +Warner, who had slept a little and who were just awakening. + +The pale and wintry sun showed the defiant Stars and Bars floating +over Donelson, and Dick from his hill could see men moving inside the +earthworks. Certainly the Southern flags had a right to wave defiance +at the besieging army, which was now slowly and painfully rising from +the snow, and lighting the fires anew. + +"Well, what's the program today, Dick?" asked Pennington. + +"I don't know, but it's quite certain that we won't attempt another +assault. It's hopeless." + +"That's true," said Warner, who was standing by, "but we--hark, what was +that?" + +The boom of a cannon echoed over the fort and forest, and then another +and another. To the northward they saw thin black spires of smoke under +the horizon. + +"It's the fleet! It's the fleet!" cried Warner joyously, "coming up the +Cumberland to our help! Oh, you men of Donelson, we're around you now, +and you'll never shake us off!" + +Again came the crash of great guns from the fleet, and the crash of the +Southern water batteries replying. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE SOUTHERN ATTACK + + +The excitement in the Union army was intense and joyous. The cheers +rolled like volleys among these farmer lads of the West. Dick, Warner +and Pennington stood up and shouted with the rest. + +"I should judge that our chances of success have increased at least +fifty, yes sixty, per cent," said Warner. "As we have remarked before, +this control of the water is a mighty thing. We fight the Johnnie Rebs +for the land, but we have the water already. Look at those gunboats, +will you? Aren't they the sauciest little things you ever saw?" + +Once more the navy was showing, as it has always shown throughout its +career, its daring and brilliant qualities. Foote, the commodore, +although he had had no time to repair his four small fighting boats +after the encounter with Fort Henry, steamed straight up the river +and engaged the concentric fire from the great guns of the Southern +batteries, which opened upon him with a tremendous crash. The boys +watched the duel with amazement. They did not believe that small +vessels could live under such fire, but live they did. Great columns +of smoke floated over them and hid them at times from the watchers, but +when the smoke lifted a little or was split apart by the shattering fire +of the guns the black hulls of the gunboats always reappeared, and now +they were not more than three or four hundred yards from Donelson. + +"I take it that this is a coverin' fire," said Sergeant Whitley, who +stood by. "Four little vessels could not expect to reduce such a +powerful fortress as Donelson. It's not Fort Henry that they're +fightin' now." + +"The chances are at least ninety-five per cent in favor of your +supposition," said Warner. + +The sergeant's theory, in fact, was absolutely correct. Further down +the river the transports were unloading regiment after regiment of fresh +troops, and vast supplies of ammunition and provisions. Soon five +thousand men were formed in line and marched to Grant's relief, while +long lines of wagons brought up the stores so badly needed. Now the +stern and silent general was able to make the investment complete, +but the fiery little fleet did not cease to push the attack. + +There was a time when it seemed that the gunboats would be able to pass +the fortress and rake it from a point up the river. Many of the guns in +the water batteries had been silenced, but the final achievement was too +great for so small a force. The rudder of one of Foote's gunboats was +shot away, the wheel of another soon went the same way, and both drifted +helplessly down the stream. The other two then retreated, and the fire +of both fort and fleet ceased. + +But there was joy in the Union camp. The soldiers had an abundance +of food now, and soon the long ring of fires showed that they were +preparing it. Their forces had been increased a third, and there was a +fresh outburst of courage and vigor. But Grant ordered no more attacks +at present. After the men had eaten and rested a little, picks and +spades were swung along a line miles in length. He was fortifying his +own position, and it was evident to his men that he meant to stay there +until he won or was destroyed. + +Dick was conscious once more of a sanguine thrill. Like the others, +he felt the strong hand over him, and the certainty that they were +led with judgment and decision made him believe that all things were +possible. Yet the work of fortifying continued but a little while. +The men were exhausted by cold and fatigue, and were compelled to lay +down their tools. The fires were built anew, and they hovered about +them for shelter and rest. + +The wan twilight showed the close of the wintry day, and with the +increasing chill a part of Dick's sanguine feeling departed. The +gallant little fleet, although it had brought fresh men and supplies and +had protected their landing, had been driven back. The investment of +the fort was complete only on one side of the river, and steamers coming +up the Cumberland from Nashville might yet take off the garrison in +safety. Then the work of the silent general, all their hardship and +fighting would be at least in part a failure. The Vermont youth, +who seemed to be always of the same temper, neither very high nor very +low, noticed his change of expression. + +"Don't let your hopes decrease, Dick," he said. "Remember that at least +twenty per cent of the decline is due to the darkness and inaction. +In the morning, when the light comes once more, and we're up and doing +again, you'll get back all the twenty per cent you're losing now." + +"It's not to be all inaction with you boys tonight, even," said Colonel +Winchester, who overheard his closing words. "I want you three to go +with me on a tour of inspection or rather scouting duty. It may please +you to know that it is the special wish of General Grant. Aware that +I had some knowledge of the country, he has detailed me for the duty, +and I choose you as my assistants. I'm sure that the skill and danger +such a task requires will make you all the more eager for it." + +The three youths responded quickly and with zeal, and Sergeant Whitley, +when he was chosen, too, nodded in silent gratitude. The night was dark, +overcast with clouds, and in an hour Colonel Winchester with his four +departed upon his perilous mission. He was to secure information in +regard to the Southern army, and to do that they were to go very near +the Southern lines, if not actually inside them. Such an attempt would +be hazardous in the extreme in the face of a vigilant watch; but on the +other hand they would be aided by the fact that both North and South +were of like blood and language. Even more, many of those in the +opposing camps came from the same localities, and often were of kin. + +Dick's regiment had been stationed at the southern end of the line, +near the little town of Dover, but they now advanced northward and +westward, marching for a long time along their inner line. It was +Colonel Winchester's intention to reach Hickman Creek, which formed +their northern barrier, creep in the fringe of bushes on its banks, +and then approach the fort. + +When they reached the desired point the night was well advanced, and yet +dark with the somber clouds hanging over river and fort and field of +battle. The wind blew out of the northwest, sharp and intensely cold. +The snow crunched under their feet. But the four had wrapped themselves +in heavy overcoats, and they were so engrossed in their mission that +neither wind nor snow was anything to them. + +They passed along the bank of the creek, keeping well within the shadow +of the bushes, leaving behind them the last outpost of the Union army, +and then slowly drew near to the fort. They saw before them many lights +burning in the darkness, and at last they discerned dim figures walking +back and forth. Dick knew that these were the Southern sentinels. +The four went a little nearer, and then crouched down in the snow among +some low bushes. + +Now they saw the Southern sentinels more distinctly. Some, in fact, +were silhouetted sharply as they passed before the Southern fires. +Northern sharpshooters could have crept up and picked off many of them, +as the Southern sharpshooters in turn might have served many of the +Northern watchers, but in this mighty war there was little of such +useless and merciless enterprise. The men soon ceased to have personal +animosity, and, in the nights between the great battles, when the armies +yet lay face to face, the hostile pickets would often exchange gossip +and tobacco. Even in a conflict waged so long and with such desperation +the essential kindliness of human nature would assert itself. + +The four, as they skirted the Southern line, noticed no signs of further +preparations by the Confederates. No men were throwing up earthworks or +digging trenches. As well as they could surmise, the garrison, like the +besieging army, was seeking shelter and rest, and from this fact the +keen mind of Colonel Arthur Winchester divined that the defense was +confused and headless. + +Colonel Winchester knew most of the leaders within Donelson. He knew +that Pillow was not of a strong and decided nature. Nor was Floyd, +who would rank first, of great military capacity. Buckner had talent +and he had served gallantly in the Mexican War, but he could not prevail +over the others. The fame of Forrest, the Tennessee mountaineer, +was already spreading, but a cavalryman could do little for the defense +of a fort besieged by twenty thousand well equipped men, led by a +general of unexcelled resolution. + +All that Colonel Winchester surmised was true. Inside the fort +confusion and doubt reigned. The fleeing garrison from Fort Henry had +brought exaggerated reports of Grant's army. Very few of the thousands +of young troops had ever been in battle before. They, too, suffered +though in a less degree from cold and fatigue, but many were wounded. +Pillow and Floyd, who had just arrived with his troops, talked of one +thing and then another. Floyd, who might have sent word to his valiant +and able chief, Johnston, did not take the trouble or forgot to +inform him of his position. Buckner wanted to attack Grant the next +morning with the full Southern strength, and a comrade of his on old +battlefields, Colonel George Kenton, seconded him ably. The black- +bearded Forrest strode back and forth, striking the tops of his riding +boots with a small riding whip, and saying ungrammatically, but tersely +and emphatically: + +"We mustn't stay here like hogs in a pen. We must git at 'em with all +our men afore they can git at us." + +The illiterate mountaineer and stock driver had evolved exactly the same +principle of war that Napoleon used. + +But Colonel Winchester and his comrades could only guess at what was +going on in Donelson, and a guess always remains to be proved. So they +must continue their perilous quest. Once they were hailed by a Southern +sentinel, but Colonel Winchester replied promptly that they belonged to +Buckner's Kentuckians and had been sent out to examine the Union camp. +He passed it off with such boldness and decision that they were gone +before the picket had time to express a doubt. + +But as they came toward the center of the line, and drew nearer to the +fort itself, they met another picket, who was either more watchful or +more acute. He hailed them at a range of forty or fifty yards, and when +Colonel Winchester made the same reply he ordered them to halt and give +the countersign. When no answer came he fired instantly at the tall +figure of Colonel Winchester and uttered a loud cry of, "Yankees!" + +Luckily the dim light was tricky and his bullet merely clipped the +colonel's hair. But there was nothing for the four to do now save to +run with all their undignified might for their own camp. + +"Come on, lads!" shouted Colonel Winchester. "Our scouting is over for +the time!" + +The region behind them contained patches of scrub oaks and bushes, +and with their aid and that of the darkness, it was not difficult to +escape; but Dick, while running just behind the others, stepped in a +hole and fell. The snow and the dead leaves hid the sound of his fall +and the others did not notice it. As he looked up he saw their dim +forms disappearing among the bushes. He rose to his own feet, but +uttered a little cry as a ligament in his ankle sent a warning throb +of pain through his body. + +It was not a wrench, only a bruise, and as he stretched his ankle a few +times the soreness went away. But the last sound made by the retreating +footsteps of his comrades had died, and their place had been taken by +those of his pursuers, who were now drawing very near. + +Dick had no intention of being captured, and, turning off at a right +angle, he dropped into a gully which he encountered among some bushes. +The gully was about four feet deep and half full of snow. Dick threw +himself full length on his side, and sank down in the snow until he was +nearly covered. There he lay panting hard for a few moments, but quite +sure that he was safe from discovery. Only a long and most minute +search would be likely to reveal the dark line in the snow beneath the +overhanging bushes. + +Dick's heart presently resumed its normal beat, and then he heard the +sound of voices and footsteps. Some one said: + +"They went this way, sir, but they were running pretty fast." + +"They'd good cause to run," said a brusque voice. "You'd a done it, too, +if you'd expected to have the bullets of a whole army barkin' at your +heels." + +The footsteps came nearer, crunching on the snow, which lay deep there +among the bushes. They could not be more than a dozen feet away, +but Dick quivered only a little. Buried as he was and with the hanging +bushes over him he was still confident that no one could see him. +He raised himself the least bit, and looking through the boughs, saw a +tanned and dark face under the broad brim of a Confederate hat. Just +then some one said: + +"We might have trailed 'em, general, but the snow an' the earth have +already been tramped all up by the army." + +"They're not wuth huntin' long anyway," said the same brusque voice. +"A few Yankees prowlin' about in the night can't do us much harm. +It's hard fightin' that'll settle our quarrel." + +General Forrest came a little closer and Dick, from his concealment in +the snow, surmising his identity, saw him clearly, although himself +unseen. He was fascinated by the stern, dark countenance. The face of +the unlettered mountaineer was cut sharp and clear, and he had the look +of one who knew and commanded. In war he was a natural leader of men, +and he had already assumed the position. + +"Don't you agree with me, colonel?" he said over his shoulder to some +one. + +"I think you're right as usual, General Forrest," replied a voice with +a cultivated intonation, and Dick started violently in his bed of snow, +because he instantly recognized the voice as that of his uncle, Colonel +George Kenton, Harry's father. A moment later Colonel Kenton himself +stood where the moonlight fell upon his face. Dick saw that he was worn +and thin, but his face had the strong and resolute look characteristic +of those descended from Henry Ware, the great borderer. + +"You know, general, that I endorse all your views," continued Colonel +Kenton. "We are unfortunate here in having a division of counsels, +while the Yankees have a single and strong head. We have underrated +this man Grant. Look how he surprised us and took Henry! Look how he +hangs on here! We've beaten him on land and we've driven back his fleet, +but he hangs on. To my mind he has no notion of retreating. He'll keep +on pounding us as long as we are here." + +"That's his way, an' it ought to be the way of every general," growled +Forrest. "You cut down a tree by keepin' on cuttin' out chips with an +axe, an' you smash up an army by hittin' an' hittin' an' keepin' on +hittin'. We ought to charge right out of our works an' jump on the +Yankees with all our stren'th." + +The two walked on, followed by the soldiers who had come with them, +and Dick heard no more. But he was too cautious to stir for a long +while. He lay there until the cold began to make its way through his +boots and heavy overcoat. Then he rose carefully, brushed off the snow, +and began his retreat toward the Union lines. Four or five hundred +yards further on and he met Colonel Winchester and his own comrades +come back to search for him. They welcomed him joyfully. + +"We did not miss you until we were nearly to our own pickets," said the +colonel. "Then we concluded that you had fallen and had been taken by +the enemy, but we intended to see if we could find you. We've been +hovering about here for some time." + +Dick told what he had seen and heard, and the colonel considered it of +much importance. + +"I judge from what you heard that they will attack us," he said. +"Buckner and Forrest will be strongly for it, and they're likely to +have their way. We must report at once to General Grant." + +The Southern attack had been planned for the next morning, but it did +not come then. Pillow, for reasons unknown, decided to delay another +day, and his fiery subordinates could do nothing but chafe and wait. +Dick spent most of the day carrying orders for his chief, and the +continuous action steadied his nerves. + +As he passed from point to point he saw that the Union army itself was +far from ready. It was a difficult task to get twenty thousand raw +farmer youths in proper position. They moved about often without +cohesion and sometimes without understanding their orders. Great +gaps remained in the line, and a daring and skilful foe might cut the +besieging force asunder. + +But Grant had put his heavy guns in place, and throughout the day he +maintained a slow but steady fire upon the fort. Great shells and solid +shot curved and fell upon Donelson. Grant did not know what damage they +were doing, but he shrewdly calculated that they would unsteady the +nerves of the raw troops within. These farmer boys, as they heard the +unceasing menace of the big guns, would double the numbers of their foe, +and attribute to him an unrelaxing energy. + +Thus another gray day of winter wore away, and the two forces drew +a little nearer to each other. Far away the rival Presidents at +Washington and Richmond were wondering what was happening to their +armies in the dark wilderness of Western Tennessee. + +The night was more quiet than the one that had just gone before. +The booming of the cannon as regular as the tolling of funeral bells had +ceased with the darkness, but in its place the fierce winter wind had +begun to blow again. Dick, relaxed and weary after his day's work, +hovered over one of the fires and was grateful for the warmth. He +had trodden miles through slush and snow and frozen earth, and he was +plastered to the waist with frozen mud, which now began to soften and +fall off before the coals. + +Warner, who had been on active duty, too, also sank to rest with a sigh +of relief. + +"It's battle tomorrow, Dick," he said, "and I don't care. As it didn't +come off today the chances are at least eighty per cent that it will +happen the next day. You say that when you were lying in the snow last +night, Dick, you saw your uncle and that he's a colonel in the rebel +army. It's queer." + +"You're wrong, George, it isn't queer. We're on opposite sides, serving +at the same place, and it's natural that we should meet some time or +other. Oh, I tell you, you fellows from the New England and the other +Northern States don't appreciate the sacrifices that we of the border +states make for the Union. Up there you are safe from invasion. +Your houses are not on the battlefields. You are all on one side. +You don't have to fight against your own kind, the people you hold most +dear. And when the war is over, whether we win or lose, you'll go back +to unravaged regions." + +"You wrong me there, Dick. I have thought of it. It's the people of +the border, whether North or South, who pay the biggest price. We risk +our lives, but you risk your lives also, and everything else, too." + +Dick wrapped himself in a heavy blanket, pillowed his head on a log +before one of the fires and dozed a while. His nerves had been tried +too hard to permit of easy sleep. He awoke now and then and over a wide +area saw the sinking fires and the moving forms of men. He felt that a +sense of uneasiness pervaded the officers. He knew that many of them +considered their forces inadequate for the siege of a fortress defended +by a large army, but he felt with the sincerity of conviction also, +that Grant would never withdraw. + +He heard from Colonel Winchester about midnight in one of his wakeful +intervals that General Grant was going down the river to see Commodore +Foote. The brave leader of the fleet had been wounded severely in the +last fight with the fort, and the general wished to confer with him +about the plan of operations. But Dick heard only vaguely. The +statement made no impression upon him at that time. Yet he was +conscious that the feeling of uneasiness still pervaded the officers. +He noticed it in Colonel Winchester's tone, and he noticed it, too, +in the voices of Colonel Newcomb and Major Hertford, who came presently +to confer with Winchester. + +But the boy fell into his doze again, while they were talking. Warner +and Pennington, who had done less arduous duties, were sound asleep near +him, the low flames now and then throwing a red light on their tanned +faces. It seemed to him that it was about half way between midnight and +morning, and the hum and murmur had sunk to a mere minor note. But his +sleepy eyes still saw the dim forms of men passing about, and then he +fell into his uneasy doze again. + +When he awoke once more it was misty and dark, but he felt that the dawn +was near. In the east a faint tint of silver showed through the clouds +and vapors. Heavy banks of fog were rising from the Cumberland and the +flooded marshes. The earth began to soften as if unlocking from the +hard frost of the night. + +Colonel Winchester stood near him and his position showed that he was +intensely awake. He was bent slightly forward, and every nerve and +muscle was strained as if he were eager to see and hear something which +he knew was there, but which he could not yet either see or hear. + +Dick threw off his blanket and sprang to his feet. At the same moment +Colonel Winchester motioned him to awaken Warner and Pennington, which +he did at once in speed and silence. That tint of silver, the lining of +the fogs and vapors, shone more clearly through, and spread across the +East. Dick knew now that the dawn was at hand. + +The loud but mellow notes of a trumpet came from a distant point toward +Donelson, and then others to right and left joined and sang the same +mellow song. But it lasted only for a minute. Then it was lost in the +rapid crackle of rifles, which spread like a running fire along a front +of miles. The sun in the east swung clear of the earth, its beams +shooting a way through fogs and vapors. The dawn had come and the +attack had come with it. + +The Southerners, ready at last, were rushing from their fort and works, +and, with all the valor and fire that distinguished them upon countless +occasions, they were hurling themselves upon their enemy. The fortress +poured out regiment after regiment. Chafing so long upon the defense +Southern youth was now at its best. Attacking, not attacked, the farmer +lads felt the spirit of battle blaze high in their breasts. The long, +terrible rebel yell, destined to be heard upon so many a desperate field, +fierce upon its lower note, fierce upon its higher note, as fierce as +ever upon its dying note, and coming back in echoes still as fierce, +swelled over forest and fort, marsh and river. + +The crackling fire of the pickets ceased. They had been driven back +in a few moments upon the army, but the whole regiment of Colonel +Winchester was now up, rifle in hand, and on either side of it, other +regiments steadied themselves also to receive the living torrent. + +The little band of Pennsylvanians were on the left of the Kentuckians +and were practically a part of them. Colonel Newcomb and Major Hertford +stood amid their men, encouraging them to receive the shock. But Dick +had time for only a glance at these old comrades of his. The Southern +wave, crested with fire and steel, was rolling swiftly upon them, +and as the Southern troops rushed on they began to fire as fast as they +could pull the trigger, fire and pull again. + +Bullets in sheets struck in the Union ranks. Hundreds of men went down. +Dick heard the thud of lead and steel on flesh, and the sudden cries of +those who were struck. It needs no small courage to hold fast against +more than ten thousand men rushing forward at full speed and bent upon +victory or death. + +Dick felt all the pulses in his temples beating hard, and he had a +horrible impulse to break and run, but pride kept him firm. As an +officer, he had a small sword, and snatching it out he waved it, while +at the same time he shouted to the men to meet the charge. + +The Union troops returned the fire. Thousands of bullets were sent +against the ranks of the rushing enemy. The gunners sprang to their +guns and the deep roar of the cannon rose above the crash of the small +arms. But the Southern troops, the rebel yell still rolling through the +woods, came on at full speed and struck the Union front. + +It seemed to Dick that he was conscious of an actual physical shock. +Tanned faces and gleaming eyes were almost against his own. He looked +into the muzzles of rifles, and he saw the morning sun flashing along +the edges of bayonets. But the regiment, although torn by bullets, +did not give ground. The charge shivered against them, and the Southern +troops fell back. Yet it was only for a moment. They came again to +be driven back as before, and then once more they charged, while their +resolute foe swung forward to meet them rank to rank. + +Dick was not conscious of much except that he shouted continuously to +the men to stand firm, and wondered now and then why he had not been +hit. The Union men and their enemy were reeling back and forth, neither +winning, neither losing, while the thunder of battle along a long and +curving front beat heavily on the drums of every ear. The smoke, +low down, was scattered by the cannon and rifles, but above it gathered +in a great cloud that seemed to be shot with fire. + +The two colonels, Winchester and Newcomb, were able and valiant men. +Despite their swelling losses they always filled up the ranks and held +fast to the ground upon which they had stood when they were attacked. +But for the present they had no knowledge how the battle was going +elsewhere. The enemy just before them allowed no idle moments. + +Yet Grant, as happened later on at Shiloh, was taken by surprise. +When the first roar of the battle broke with the dawn he was away +conferring with the wounded naval commander, Foote. His right, under +McClernand, had been caught napping, and eight thousand Southern troops +striking it with a tremendous impact just as the men snatched up their +arms, drove it back in heavy loss and confusion. Its disaster was +increased when a Southern general, Baldwin, led a strong column down +a deep ravine near the river and suddenly hurled it upon the wavering +Union flank. + +Whole regiments retreated now, and guns were lost. The Southern +officers, their faces glowing, shouted to each other that the battle was +won. And still the combat raged without the Union commander, Grant, +although he was coming now as fast as he could with the increasing roar +of conflict to draw him on. The battle was lost to the North. But +it might be won back again by a general who would not quit. Only the +bulldog in Grant, the tenacious death grip, could save him now. + +Dick and his friends suddenly became conscious that both on their right +and left the thunder of battle was moving back upon the Union camp. +They realized now that they were only the segment of a circle extending +forward practically within the Union lines, and that the combat was +going against them. The word was given to retreat, lest they be +surrounded, and they fell back slowly disputing with desperation every +foot of ground that they gave up. Yet they left many fallen behind. +A fourth of the regiment had been killed or wounded already, and there +were tears in the eyes of Colonel Winchester as he looked over the torn +ranks of his gallant men. + +Now the Southerners, meaning to drive victory home, were bringing up +their reserves and pouring fresh troops upon the shattered Union front. +They would have swept everything away, but in the nick of time a fresh +Union brigade arrived also, supported the yielding forces and threw +itself upon the enemy. + +But Grant had not yet come. It seemed that in the beginning fortune +played against this man of destiny, throwing all her tricks in favor of +his opponents. The single time that he was away the attack bad been +made, and if he would win back a lost battle there was great need to +hurry. + +The Southern troops, exultant and full of fire and spirit, continually +rolled back their adversaries. They wheeled more guns from the fort +into position and opened heavily on the yielding foe. If they were +beaten back at any time they always came on again, a restless wave, +crested with fire and steel. + +Dick's regiment continued to give ground slowly. It had no choice but +to do so or be destroyed. It seemed to him now that he beheld the wreck +of all things. Was this to be Bull Run over again? His throat and eyes +burned from the smoke and powder, and his face was black with grime. +His lips were like fire to the touch of each other. He staggered in the +smoke against some one and saw that it was Warner. + +"Have we lost?" he cried. "Have we lost after doing so much?" + +The lips of the Vermonter parted in a kind of savage grin. + +"I won't say we've lost," he shouted in reply, "but I can't see anything +we've won." + +Then he lost Warner in the smoke and the regiment retreated yet further. +It was impossible to preserve cohesion or keep a line formed. The +Southerners never ceased to press upon them with overwhelming weight. +Pillow, now decisive in action, continually accumulated new forces upon +the Northern right. Every position that McClernand had held at the +opening of the battle was now taken, and the Confederate general was +planning to surround and destroy the whole Union army. Already he +was sending messengers to the telegraph with news for Johnston of his +complete victory. + +But the last straw had not yet been laid upon the camel's back. +McClernand was beaten, but the hardy men of Kentucky, East Tennessee and +the northwest still offered desperate resistance. Conspicuous among the +defenders was the regiment of young pioneers from Nebraska, hunters, +Indian fighters, boys of twenty or less, who had suffered already every +form of hardship. They stood undaunted amid the showers of bullets and +shells and cried to the others to stand with them. + +Yet the condition of the Union army steadily grew worse. Dick himself, +in all the smoke and shouting and confusion, could see it. The +regiments that formed the core of resistance were being pared down +continually. There was a steady dribble of fugitives to the rear, +and those who fought felt themselves going back always, like one who +slips on ice. + +The sun, far up the heavens, now poured down beams upon the vast cloud +of smoke and vapor in which the two armies fought. The few people left +in Dover, red hot for the South, cheered madly as they saw their enemy +driven further and further away. + +Grant, the man of destiny, ill clad and insignificant in appearance, +now came upon the field and saw his beaten army. But the bulldog in +him shut down its teeth and resolved to replace defeat with victory. +His greatest qualities, strength and courage in the face of disaster, +were now about to shine forth. His countenance showed no alarm. +He rode among the men cheering them to renewed efforts. He strengthened +the weak places in the line that his keen eyes saw. He infused a new +spirit into the army. His own iron temper took possession of the troops, +and that core of resistance, desperate when he came, suddenly hardened +and enlarged. + +Dick felt the change. It was of the mind, but it was like a cool breath +upon the face. It was as if the winds had begun to blow courage. +A great shout rolled along the Northern line. + +"Grant has come!" exclaimed Pennington, who was bleeding from a slight +wound in the shoulder, but who was unconscious of it. "And we've quit +retreating!" + +The Nebraska youth had divined the truth. Just when a complete Southern +victory seemed to be certain the reversal of fortune came. The coolness, +the courage, and the comprehensive eye of Grant restored the battle for +the North. The Southern reserves had not charged with the fire and +spirit expected, and, met with a shattering fire by the Indiana troops, +they fell back. Grant saw the opportunity, and massing every available +regiment, he hurled it upon Pillow and the Southern center. + +Dick felt the wild thrill of exultation as they went forward instead of +going back, as they had done for so many hours. Just in front of him +was Colonel Winchester, waving aloft a sword, the blade of which had +been broken in two by a bullet, and calling to his men to come on. +Warner and Pennington, grimed with smoke and mud and stained here and +there with blood, were near also, shouting wildly. + +The smoke split asunder for a moment, and Dick saw the long line of +charging troops. It seemed to be a new army now, infused with fresh +spirit and courage, and every pulse in the boy's body began to beat +heavily with the hope of victory. The smoke closed in again and then +came the shock. + +Exhausted by their long efforts which had brought victory so near the +Southern troops gave way. Their whole center was driven in, and they +lost foot by foot the ground that they had gained with so much courage +and blood. Grant saw his success and he pressed more troops upon his +weakening enemy. The batteries were pushed forward and raked the +shattered Southern lines. + +Pillow, who had led the attack instead of Floyd, seeing his fortunes +pass so suddenly from the zenith to the nadir, gathered his retreating +army upon a hill in front of their intrenchments, but he was not +permitted to rest there. A fresh Northern brigade, a reserve, had +just arrived upon the field. Joining it to the forces of Lew Wallace, +afterwards famous as a novelist, Grant hurled the entire division upon +Pillow's weakened and discouraged army. + +Winchester's regiment joined in the attack. Dick felt himself swept +along as if by a torrent. His courage and the courage of those around +him was all the greater now, because hope, sanguine hope, had suddenly +shot up from the very depths of despair. Their ranks had been thinned +terribly, but they forgot it for the time and rushed upon their enemy. + +The battle had rolled back and forth for hours. Noon had come and +passed. The troops of Pillow had been fighting without ceasing for +six hours, and they could not withstand the new attack made with such +tremendous spirit and energy. They fought with desperation, but they +were compelled at last to yield the field and retreat within their +works. Their right and left suffered the same fate. The whole +Confederate attack was repulsed. Bull Run was indeed reversed. There +the South snatched victory from defeat and here the North came back +with a like triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GRANT'S GREAT VICTORY + + +The night, early and wintry, put an end to the conflict, the fiercest +and greatest yet seen in the West. Thousands of dead and wounded lay +upon the field and the hearts of the Southern leaders were full of +bitterness. They had seen the victory, won by courage and daring, +taken from them at the very last moment. The farmer lads whom they led +had fought with splendid courage and tenacity. Defeat was no fault of +theirs. It belonged rather to the generals, among whom had been a want +of understanding and concert, fatal on the field of action. They saw, +too, that they had lost more than the battle. The Union army had not +only regained all its lost positions, but on the right it had carried +the Southern intrenchments, and from that point Grant's great guns could +dominate Donelson. They foresaw with dismay the effect of these facts +upon their young troops. + +When the night fell, and the battle ceased, save for the fitful boom +of cannon along the lines, Dick sank against an earthwork, exhausted. +He panted for breath and was without the power to move. He regarded +vaguely the moving lights that had begun to show in the darkness, +and he heard without comprehension the voices of men and the fitful +fire of the cannon. + +"Steady, Dick! Steady!" said a cheerful voice. "Now is the time to +rejoice! We've won a victory, and nothing can break General Grant's +death grip on Donelson!" + +Colonel Winchester was speaking, and he put a firm and friendly hand +on the boy's shoulder. Dick came back to life, and, looking into +his colonel's face, he grinned. Colonel Winchester could have been +recognized only at close range. His face was black with burned +gunpowder. His colonel's hat was gone and his brown hair flew in every +direction. He still clenched in his hand the hilt of his sword, of +which a broken blade not more than a foot long was left. His clothing +had been torn by at least a dozen bullets, and one had made a red streak +across the back of his left hand, from which the blood fell slowly, +drop by drop. + +"You don't mind my telling you, colonel, that you're no beauty," said +Dick, who felt a sort of hysterical wish to laugh. "You look as if the +whole Southern army had tried to shoot you up, but had merely clipped +you all around the borders." + +"Laugh if it does you good," replied Colonel Winchester, a little +gravely, "but, young sir, you must give me the same privilege. This +battle, while it has not wounded you, has covered you with its grime. +Come, the fighting is over for this day at least, and the regiment is +going to take a rest--what there is left of it." + +He spoke the last words sadly. He knew the terrible cost at which they +had driven the Southern army back into the fort, and he feared that the +full price was yet far from being paid. But he preserved a cheerful +manner before the brave lads of his who had fought so well. + +Dick found that Warner and Pennington both had wounds, although they +were too slight to incapacitate them. Sergeant Whitley, grave and +unhurt, rejoined them also. + +The winter night and their heavy losses could not discourage the +Northern troops. They shared the courage and tenacity of their +commander. They began to believe now that Donelson, despite its +strength and its formidable garrison, would be taken. They built the +fires high, and ate heartily. They talked in sanguine tones of what +they would do in the morrow. Excited comment ran among them. They had +passed from the pit of despair in the morning to the apex of hope at +night. Exhausted, all save the pickets fell asleep after a while, +dreaming of fresh triumphs on the morrow. + +Had Dick's eyes been able to penetrate Donelson he would have beheld +a very different scene. Gloom, even more, despair, reigned there. +Their great effort had failed. Bravery had availed nothing. Their +frightful losses had been suffered in vain. The generals blamed one +another. Floyd favored the surrender of the army, but fancying that the +Union troops hated him with special vindictiveness, and that he would +not be safe as a prisoner, decided to escape. + +Pillow declared that Grant could yet be beaten, but after a while +changed to the view of Floyd. They yet had two small steamers in the +Cumberland which could carry them up the river. They left the command +to Buckner, the third in rank, and told him he could make the surrender. +The black-bearded Forrest said grimly: "I ain't goin' to surrender my +cavalry, not to nobody," and by devious paths he led them away through +the darkness and to liberty. Colonel George Kenton rode with him. + +The rumor that a surrender was impending spread to the soldiers. +Not yet firm in the bonds of discipline confusion ensued, and the high +officers were too busy escaping by the river to restore it. All through +the night the two little steamers worked, but a vast majority of the +troops were left behind. + +But Dick could know nothing of this at the time. He was sleeping too +heavily. He had merely taken a moment to snatch a bit of food, and then, +at the suggestion of his commanding officer, he had rolled himself in +his blankets. Sleep came instantly, and it was not interrupted until +Warner's hand fell upon his shoulder at dawn, and Warner's voice said in +his ear: + +"Wake up, Dick, and look at the white flag fluttering over Donelson." + +Dick sprang to his feet, sleep gone in an instant, and gazed toward +Donelson. Warner had spoken the truth. White flags waved from the +walls and earthworks. + +"So they're going to surrender!" said Dick. "What a triumph!" + +"They haven't surrendered yet," said Colonel Winchester, who stood near. +"Those white flags merely indicate a desire to talk it over with us, +but such a desire is nearly always a sure indication of yielding, +and our lads take it so. Hark to their cheering." + +The whole Union army was on its feet now, joyously welcoming the sight +of the white flags. They threw fresh fuel on their fires which blazed +along a circling rim of miles, and ate a breakfast sweetened with the +savor of triumph. + +"Take this big tin cup of coffee, Dick," said Warner. "It'll warm you +through and through, and we're entitled to a long, brown drink for our +victory. I say victory because the chances are ninety-nine per cent out +of a hundred that it is so. Let x equal our army, let y equal victory, +and consequently x plus y equals our position at the present time." + +"And I never thought that we could do it," said young Pennington, +who sat with them. "I suppose it all comes of having a general who +won't give up. I reckon the old saying is true, an' that Hold Fast is +the best dog of them all." + +Now came a period of waiting. Colonel Winchester disappeared in the +direction of General Grant's headquarters, but returned after a while +and called his favorite aide, young Richard Mason. + +"Dick," he said, "we have summoned the Southerners to surrender, and I +want you to go with me to a conference of their generals. You may be +needed to carry dispatches." + +Dick went gladly with the group of Union officers, who approached Fort +Donelson under the white flag, and who met a group of Confederate +officers under a like white flag. He noticed in the very center of the +Southern group the figure of General Buckner, a tall, well-built man +in his early prime, his face usually ruddy, now pale with fatigue and +anxiety. Dick, with his uncle, Colonel Kenton, and his young cousin, +Harry Kenton, had once dined at his house. + +Nearly all the officers, Northern and Southern, knew one another well. +Many of them had been together at West Point. Colonel Winchester and +General Buckner were well acquainted and they saluted, each smiling a +little grimly. + +"I bring General Grant's demand for the surrender of Fort Donelson, +and all its garrison, arms, ammunition, and other supplies," said +Colonel Winchester. "Can I see your chief, General Floyd?" + +The lips of Buckner pressed close together in a smile touched with irony. + +"No, you cannot see General Floyd," he said, "because he is now far up +the Cumberland." + +"Since he has abdicated the command I wish then to communicate with +General Pillow." + +"I regret that you cannot speak to him either. He is as far up the +Cumberland as General Floyd. Both departed in the night, and I am left +in command of the Southern army at Fort Donelson. You can state your +demands to me, Colonel Winchester." + +Dick saw that the brave Kentuckian was struggling to hide his chagrin, +and he had much sympathy for him. It was in truth a hard task that +Floyd and Pillow had left for Buckner. They had allowed themselves to +be trapped and they had thrown upon him the burden of surrendering. +But Buckner proceeded with the negotiations. Presently he noticed Dick. + +"Good morning, Richard," he said. "It seems that in this case, at least, +you have chosen the side of the victors." + +"Fortune has happened to be on our side, general," said Dick +respectfully. "Could you tell me, sir, if my uncle, Colonel Kenton, +is unhurt?" + +"He was, when he was last with us," replied General Buckner, kindly. +"Colonel Kenton went out last night with Forrest's cavalry. He will not +be a prisoner." + +"I am glad of that," said the boy. + +And he was truly glad. He knew that it would hurt Colonel Kenton's +pride terribly to become a prisoner, and although they were now on +opposite sides, he loved and respected his uncle. + +The negotiations were completed and before night the garrison of +Donelson, all except three thousand who had escaped in the night with +Floyd and Pillow and Forrest, laid down their arms. The answer to +Bull Run was complete. Fifteen thousand men, sixty-five cannon, and +seventeen thousand rifles and muskets were surrendered to General Grant. +The bulldog in the silent westerner had triumphed. With only a last +chance left to him he had turned defeat into complete victory, and had +dealt a stunning blow to the Southern Confederacy, which was never able +like the North to fill up its depleted ranks with fresh men. + +Time alone could reveal to many the deadly nature of this blow, but Dick, +who had foresight and imagination, understood it now at least in part. +As he saw the hungry Southern boys sharing the food of their late +enemies his mind traveled over the long Southern line. Thomas had +beaten it in Eastern Kentucky, Grant had dealt it a far more crushing +blow here in Western Kentucky, but Albert Sidney Johnston, the most +formidable foe of all, yet remained in the center. He was a veteran +general with a great reputation. Nay, more, it was said by the officers +who knew him that he was a man of genius. Dick surmised that Johnston, +after the stunning blow of Donelson, would be compelled to fall back +from Tennessee, but he did not doubt that he would return again. + +Dick soon saw that all his surmises were correct. The news of Donelson +produced for a little while a sort of paralysis at Richmond, and when it +reached Nashville, where the army of Johnston was gathering, it was at +first unbelievable. It produced so much excitement and confusion that +a small brigade sent to the relief of Donelson was not called back, +and marched blindly into the little town of Dover, where it found itself +surrounded by the whole triumphant Union army, and was compelled to +surrender without a fight. + +Panic swept through Nashville. Everybody knew that Johnston would be +compelled to fall back from the Cumberland River, upon the banks of +which the capital of Tennessee stood. Foote and his gunboats would come +steaming up the stream into the very heart of the city. Rumor magnified +the number and size of his boats. Again the Southern leaders felt that +the rivers were always a hostile coil girdling them about, and lamented +their own lack of a naval arm. + +Floyd had drawn off in the night from Donelson his own special command +of Virginians and when he arrived at Nashville with full news of the +defeat at the fortress, and the agreement to surrender, the panic +increased. Many had striven to believe that the reports were untrue, +but now there could be no doubt. + +And the panic gained a second impetus when the generals set fire to the +suspension bridge over the river and the docks along its banks. The +inhabitants saw the signal of doom in the sheets of flame that rolled up, +and all those who had taken a leading part in the Southern cause +prepared in haste to leave with Johnston's army. The roads were choked +with vehicles and fleeing people. The State Legislature, which was then +in session, departed bodily with all the records and archives. + +But Dick, after the first hours of triumph, felt relaxed and depressed. +After all, the victory was over their own people, and five thousand of +the farmer lads, North and South, had been killed or wounded. But this +feeling did not last long, as on the very evening of victory he was +summoned to action. Action, with him, always made the blood leap and +hope rise. It was his own regimental chief, Arthur Winchester, who +called him, and who told him to make ready for an instant departure from +Donelson. + +"You are to be a cavalryman for a while, Dick," said Colonel Winchester. +"So much has happened recently that we scarcely know how we stand. +Above all, we do not know how the remaining Southern forces are disposed, +and I have been chosen to lead a troop toward Nashville and see. +You, Warner, Pennington, that very capable sergeant, Whitley, and others +whom you know are to go with me. My force will number about three +hundred and the horses are already waiting on the other side." + +They were carried over the river on one of the boats, and the little +company, mounting, prepared to ride into the dark woods. But before +they disappeared, Dick looked back and saw many lights gleaming in +captured Donelson. Once more the magnitude of Grant's victory impressed +him. Certainly he had struck a paralyzing blow at the Southern army +in the west. + +But the ride in the dark over a wild and thinly-settled country soon +occupied Dick's whole attention. He was on one side of Colonel +Winchester and Warner was on the other. Then the others came four +abreast. At first there was some disposition to talk, but it was +checked sharply by the leader, and after a while the disposition itself +was lacking. + +Colonel Winchester was a daring horseman, and Dick soon realized that it +would be no light task to follow where he led. Evidently he knew the +country, as he rode with certainty over the worst roads that Dick had +ever seen. They were deep in mud which froze at night, but not solidly +enough to keep the feet of the horses from crushing through, making a +crackle as they went down and a loud, sticky sigh as they came out. +All were spattered with mud, which froze upon them, but they were so +much inured to hardship now that they paid no attention to it. + +But this rough riding soon showed so much effect upon the horses that +Colonel Winchester led aside into the woods and fields, keeping parallel +with the road. Now and then they stopped to pull down fences, but they +still made good speed. Twice they saw at some distance cabins with the +smoke yet rising from the chimneys, but the colonel did not stop to ask +any questions. Those he thought could be asked better further on. + +Twice they crossed creeks. One the horses could wade, but the other was +so deep that they were compelled to swim. On the further bank of the +second they stopped a while to rest the horses and to count the men +to see that no straggler had dropped away in the darkness. Then they +sprang into the saddle again and rode on as before through a country +that seemed to be abandoned. + +There was a certain thrill and exhilaration in their daring ride. +The smoke and odors of the battle about Donelson were blown away. +The dead and the wounded, the grewsome price even of victory, no longer +lay before their eyes, and the cold air rushing past freshened their +blood and gave it a new sparkle. Every one in the little column knew +that danger was plentiful about them, but there was pleasure in action +in the open. + +Their general direction was Nashville, and now they came into a country, +richer, better cultivated, and peopled more thickly. Toward night they +saw on a gentle hill in a great lawn and surrounded by fine trees a +large red brick house, with green shutters and portico supported by +white pillars. Smoke rose from two chimneys. Colonel Winchester halted +his troop and examined the house from a distance for a little while. + +"This is the home of wealthy people," he said at last to Dick, "and we +may obtain some information here. At least we should try it." + +Dick had his doubts, but he said nothing. + +"You, Mr. Pennington, Mr. Warner and Sergeant Whitley, dismount with me," +continued the colonel, "and we'll try the house." + +He bade his troop remain in the road under the command of the officer +next in rank, and he, with those whom he had chosen, opened the lawn +gate. A brick walk led to the portico and they strolled along it, +their spurs jingling. Although the smoke still rose from the chimneys +no door opened to them as they stepped into the portico. All the green +shutters were closed tightly. + +"I think they saw us in the road," said Dick, "and this is a house of +staunch Southern sympathizers. That is why they don't open to us." + +"Beat on the door with the hilt of your sword, sergeant," said the +colonel to Whitley. "They're bound to answer in time." + +The sergeant beat steadily and insistently. Yet he was forced to +continue it five or six minutes before it was thrown open. Then a tall +old woman with a dignified, stern face and white hair, drawn back from +high brows, stood before them. But Dick's quick eyes saw in the dusk +of the room behind her a girl of seventeen or eighteen. + +"What do you want?" asked the woman in a tone of ice. "I see that you +are Yankee soldiers, and if you intend to rob the house there is no one +here to oppose you. Its sole occupants are myself, my granddaughter, +and two colored women, our servants. But I tell you, before you begin, +that all our silver has been shipped to Nashville." + +Colonel Winchester flushed a deep crimson, and bit his lips savagely. + +"Madame," he said, "we are not robbers and plunderers. These are +regular soldiers belonging to General Grant's army." + +"Does it make any difference? Your armies come to ravage and destroy +the South." + +Colonel Winchester flushed again but, remembering his self-control, +he said politely: + +"Madame, I hope that our actions will prove to you that we have been +maligned. We have not come here to rob you or disturb you in any +manner. We merely wished to inquire of you if you had seen any other +Southern armed forces in this vicinity." + +"And do you think, sir," she replied in the same uncompromising tones, +"if I had seen them that I would tell you anything about it?" + +"No, Madame," replied the Colonel bowing, "whatever I may have thought +before I entered your portico I do not think so now." + +"Then it gives me pleasure to bid you good evening, sir," she said, +and shut the door in his face. + +Colonel Winchester laughed rather sorely. + +"She had rather the better of me," he said, "but we can't make war on +women. Come on, lads, we'll ride ahead, and camp under the trees. +It's easy to obtain plenty of fuel for fires." + +"The darkness is coming fast," said Dick, "and it is going to be very +cold, as usual." + +In a half hour the day was fully gone, and, as he had foretold, the +night was sharp with chill, setting every man to shivering. They turned +aside into an oak grove and pitched their camp. It was never hard to +obtain fuel, as the whole area of the great civil war was largely in +forest, and the soldiers dragged up fallen brushwood in abundance. +Then the fires sprang up and created a wide circle of light and +cheerfulness. + +Dick joined zealously in the task of finding firewood and his search +took him somewhat further than the others. He passed all the way +through the belt of forest, and noticed fields beyond. He was about to +turn back when he heard a faint, but regular sound. Experience told him +that it was the beat of a horse's hoofs and he knew that some distance +away a road must lead between the fields. + +He walked a hundred yards further, and climbing upon a fence waited. +From his perch he could see the road about two hundred yards beyond him, +and the hoof beats were rapidly growing louder. Some one was riding +hard and fast. + +In a minute the horseman or rather horsewoman, came into view. There +was enough light for Dick to see the slender figure of a young girl +mounted on a great bay horse. She was wrapped in a heavy cloak, but +her head was bare, and her long dark hair streamed almost straight out +behind her, so great was the speed at which she rode. + +She struck the horse occasionally with a small riding whip, but he was +already going like a racer. Dick remembered the slim figure of a girl, +and it occurred to him suddenly that this was she whom he had seen in +the dusk of the room behind her grandmother. He wondered why she was +riding so fast, alone and in the winter night, and then he admitted +with a thrill of admiration that he had never seen any one ride better. +The hoof beats rose, died away and then horse and girl were gone in the +darkness. Dick climbed down from the fence and shook himself. Was it +real or merely fancy, the product of a brain excited by so much siege +and battle? + +He picked up a big dead bough in the wood, dragged it back to the camp +and threw it on one of the fires. + +"What are you looking so grave about, Dick?" asked Warner. + +"When I went across that stretch of woods I saw something that I didn't +expect to see." + +"What was it?" + +"A girl on a big horse. They came and they went so fast that I just got +a glimpse of them." + +"A girl alone, galloping on a horse on a wintry night like this through +a region infested by hostile armies! Why Dick, you're seeing shadows! +Better sit down and have a cup of this good hot coffee." + +But Dick shook his head. He knew now that he had seen reality, and he +reported it to Colonel Winchester. + +"Are you sure it was the girl you saw at the big house?" asked Colonel +Winchester. "It might have been some farmer's wife galloping home from +an errand late in the evening." + +"It was the girl. I am sure of it," said Dick confidently. + +Just at that moment Sergeant Whitley came up and saluted. + +"What is it, sergeant?" asked the Colonel. + +"I have been up the road some distance, sir, and I came to another road +that crossed it. The second road has been cut by hoofs of eight or nine +hundred horses, and I am sure, sir, that the tracks are not a day old." + +Colonel Winchester looked grave. He knew that he was deep in the +country of the enemy and he began to put together what Dick had seen +and what the sergeant had seen. But the thought of withdrawing did not +occur to his brave soul. He had been sent on an errand by General Grant +and he meant to do it. But he changed his plans for the night. He had +intended to keep only one man in ten on watch. Instead, he kept half, +and Sergeant Whitley, veteran of Indian wars, murmured words of approval +under his breath. + +Whitley and Pennington were in the early watch. Dick and Warner were to +come on later. The colonel spoke as if he would keep watch all night. +All the horses were tethered carefully inside the ring of pickets. + +"It doesn't need any mathematical calculation," said Warner, "to tell +that the colonel expects trouble of some kind tonight. What its nature +is, I don't know, but I mean to go to sleep, nevertheless. I have +already seen so much of hardship and war that the mere thought of danger +does not trouble me. I took a fort on the Tennessee, I took a much +larger one on the Cumberland, first defeating the enemy's army in a big +battle, and now I am preparing to march on Nashville. Hence, I will not +have my slumbers disturbed by a mere belief that danger may come." + +"It's a good resolution, George," said Dick, "but unlike you, I am +subject to impulses, emotions, thrills and anxieties." + +"Better cure yourself," said the Vermonter, as he rolled himself in the +blankets and put his head on his arm. In two minutes he was asleep, +but Dick, despite his weariness, had disturbed nerves which refused to +let him sleep for a long time. He closed his eyes repeatedly, and then +opened them again, merely to see the tethered horses, and beyond them +the circle of sentinels, a clear moonlight falling on their rifle +barrels. But it was very warm and cosy in the blankets, and he would +soon fall asleep again. + +He was awakened about an hour after midnight to take his turn at the +watch, and he noticed that Colonel Winchester was still standing beside +one of the fires, but looking very anxious. Dick felt himself on good +enough terms, despite his youth, to urge him to take rest. + +"I should like to do so," replied Colonel Winchester, "but Dick I tell +you, although you must keep it to yourself, that I think we are in some +danger. Your glimpse of the flying horsewoman, and the undoubted fact +that hundreds of horsemen have crossed the road ahead of us, have made +me put two and two together. Ah, what is it, sergeant?" + +"I think I hear noises to the east of us, sir," replied the veteran. + +"What kind of noises, sergeant?" + +"I should say, sir, that they're made by the hoofs of horses. There, +I hear them again, sir. I'm quite sure of it, and they're growing +louder!" + +"And so do I!" exclaimed Colonel Winchester, now all life and activity. +"The sounds are made by a large body of men advancing upon us! Seize +that bugle, Dick, and blow the alarm with all your might!" + +Dick snatched up the bugle and blew upon it a long shrill blast that +pierced far into the forest. He blew and blew again, and every man in +the little force sprang to his feet in alarm. Nor were they a moment +too soon. From the woods to the east came the answering notes of a +bugle and then a great voice cried: + +"Forward men an' wipe 'em off the face of the earth!" + +It seemed to Dick that he had heard that voice before, but he had no +time to think about it, as the next instant came the rush of the wild +horsemen, a thousand strong, leaning low over their saddles, their +faces dark with the passion of anger and revenge, pistols, rifles, and +carbines flashing as they pulled the trigger, giving way when empty to +sabres, which gleamed in the moonlight as they were swung by powerful +hands. + +Colonel Winchester's whole force would have been ridden down in the +twinkling of an eye if it had not been for the minute's warning. +His men, leaping to their feet, snatched up their own rifles and fired +a volley at short range. It did more execution among the horses than +among the horsemen, and the Southern rough riders were compelled to +waver for a moment. Many of their horses went down, others uttered the +terrible shrieking neigh of the wounded, and, despite the efforts of +those who rode them, strove to turn and flee from those flaming muzzles. +It was only a moment, but it gave the Union troop, save those who were +already slain, time to spring upon their horses and draw back, at the +colonel's shouted command, to the cover of the wood. But they were +driven hard. The Confederate cavalry came on again, impetuous and +fierce as ever, and urged continually by the great partisan leader, +Forrest, now in the very dawn of his fame. + +"It was no phantom you saw, that girl on the horse!" shouted Warner in +Dick's ear, and Dick nodded in return. They had no time for other words, +as Forrest's horsemen, far outnumbering them, now pressed them harder +than ever. A continuous fire came from their ranks and at close range +they rode in with the sabre. + +Dick experienced the full terror and surprise of a night battle. +The opposing forces were so close together that it was often difficult +to tell friend from enemy. But Forrest's men had every advantage +of surprise, superior numbers and perfect knowledge of the country. +Dick groaned aloud as he saw that the best they could do was to save +as many as possible. Why had he not taken a shot at the horse of that +flying girl? + +"We must keep together, Dick!" shouted Warner. "Here are Pennington and +Sergeant Whitley, and there's Colonel Winchester. I fancy that if we +can get off with a part of our men we'll be doing well." + +Pennington's horse, shot through the head, dropped like a stone to the +ground, but the deft youth, used to riding the wild mustangs of the +prairie, leaped clear, seized another which was galloping about +riderless, and at one bound sprang into the saddle. + +"Good boy!" shouted Dick with admiration, but the next moment the +horsemen of Forrest were rushing upon them anew. More men were killed, +many were taken, and Colonel Winchester, seeing the futility of further +resistance, gathered together those who were left and took flight +through the forest. + +Tears of mortification came to Dick's eyes, but Sergeant Whitley, +who rode on his right hand, said: + +"It's the only thing to do. Remember that however bad your position may +be it can always be worse. It's better for some of us to escape than +for all of us to be down or be taken." + +Dick knew that his logic was good, but the mortification nevertheless +remained a long time. There was some consolation, however, in the fact +that his own particular friends had neither fallen nor been taken. + +They still heard the shouts of pursuing horsemen, and shots rattled +about them, but now the covering darkness was their friend. They drew +slowly away from all pursuit. The shouts and the sounds of trampling +hoofs died behind them, and after two hours of hard riding Colonel +Winchester drew rein and ordered a halt. + +It was a disordered and downcast company of about fifty who were left. +A few of these were wounded, but not badly enough to be disabled. +Colonel Winchester's own head had been grazed, but he had bound a +handkerchief about it, and sat very quiet in his saddle. + +"My lads," he said, and his tone was sharp with the note of defiance. +"We have been surprised by a force greatly superior to our own, and +scarcely a sixth of us are left. But it was my fault. I take the +blame. For the present, at least, we are safe from the enemy, and +I intend to continue with our errand. We were to scout the country +all the way to Nashville. It is also possible that we will meet the +division of General Buell advancing to that city. Now, lads, I hope +that you all will be willing to go on with me. Are you?" + +"We are!" roared fifty together, and a smile passed over the wan face +of the colonel. But he said no more then. Instead he turned his head +toward the capital city of the state, and rode until dawn, his men +following close behind him. The boys were weary. In truth, all of them +were, but no one spoke of halting or complained in any manner. + +At sunrise they stopped in dense forest at the banks of a creek, and +watered their horses. They cooked what food they had left, and after +eating rested for several hours on the ground, most of them going to +sleep, while a few men kept a vigilant watch. + +When Dick awoke it was nearly noon, and he still felt sore from his +exertions. An hour later they all mounted and rode again toward +Nashville. Near night they boldly entered a small village and bought +food. The inhabitants were all strongly Southern, but villagers love +to talk, and they learned there in a manner admitting of no doubt, that +the Confederate army was retreating southward from the line of the +Cumberland, that the state capital had been abandoned, and that to the +eastward of them the Union army, under Buell, was advancing swiftly on +Nashville. + +"At least we accomplished our mission," said Colonel Winchester with +some return of cheerfulness. "We have discovered the retreat of General +Johnston's whole army, and the abandonment of Nashville, invaluable +information to General Grant. But we'll press on toward Nashville +nevertheless." + +They camped the next night in a forest and kept a most vigilant watch. +If those terrible raiders led by Forrest should strike them again they +could make but little defense. + +They came the next morning upon a good road and followed it without +interruption until nearly noon, when they saw the glint of arms across a +wide field. Colonel Winchester drew his little troop back into the edge +of the woods, and put his field glasses to his eyes. + +"There are many men, riding along a road parallel to ours," he said. +"They look like an entire regiment, and by all that's lucky, they're in +the uniforms of our own troops. Yes, they're our own men. There can be +no mistake. It is probably the advance guard of Buell's army." + +They still had a trumpet, and at the colonel's order it was blown long +and loud. An answering call came from the men on the parallel road, +and they halted. Then Colonel Winchester's little troop galloped +forward and they were soon shaking hands with the men of a mounted +regiment from Ohio. They had been sent ahead by Buell to watch +Johnston's army, but hearing of the abandonment of Nashville, they were +now riding straight for the city. Colonel Winchester and his troop +joined them gladly and the colonel rode by the side of the Ohio colonel, +Mitchel. + +Dick and his young comrades felt great relief. He realized the terrible +activity of Forrest, but that cavalry leader, even if he had not now +gone south, would hesitate about attacking the powerful regiment with +which Dick now rode. Warner and Pennington shared his feelings. + +"The chances are ninety per cent in our favor," said the Vermonter, +"that we'll ride into Nashville without a fight. I've never been in +Tennessee before, and I'm a long way from home, but I'm curious to see +this city. I'd like to sleep in a house once more." + +They rode into Nashville the next morning amid frowning looks, but the +half deserted city offered no resistance. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN THE FOREST + + +Dick spent a week or more in Nashville and he saw the arrival of one of +General Grant's divisions on the fleet under Commodore Foote. Once more +he appreciated the immense value of the rivers and the fleet to the +North. + +He and the two lads who were now knitted to him by sympathy, and +hardships and dangers shared, enjoyed their stay in Nashville. It was +pleasant to sleep once more in houses and to be sheltered from rain +and frost and snow. It was pleasant, too, for these youths, who were +devoted to the Union, to think that their armies had made such progress +in the west. The silent and inflexible Grant had struck the first great +blow for the North. The immense Confederate line in the west was driven +far southward, and the capital of one of the most vigorous of the +secessionist states was now held by the Union. + +But a little later, news not so pleasant came to them. The energy and +success of Grant had aroused jealousy. Halleck, his superior, the +general of books and maps at St. Louis, said that he had transcended +the limits of his command. He was infringing upon territory of other +Northern generals. Halleck had not found him to be the yielding +subordinate who would win successes and let others have the credit. + +Grant was practically relieved of his command, and when Dick heard it +he felt a throb of rage. Boy as he was, he knew that what had been won +must be held. Johnston had stopped at Murfreesborough, thirty or forty +miles away. His troops had recovered from their panic, caused by the +fall of Donelson. Fresh regiments and brigades were joining him. +His army was rising to forty thousand men, and officers like Colonel +Winchester began to feel apprehensive. + +Now came a period of waiting. The Northern leaders, as happened so +often in this war, were uncertain of their authority, and were at +cross-purposes. They seldom had the power of initiative that was +permitted to the Southern generals, and of which they made such good +use. Dick saw that the impression made by Donelson was fading. The +North was reaping no harvest, and the South was lifting up its head +again. + +While he was in Nashville he received a letter from his mother in reply +to one of his that he had written to her just after Donelson. She was +very thankful that her son had gone safely through the battle, and since +he must fight in war, which was terrible in any aspect, she was glad +that he had borne himself bravely. She was glad that Colonel Kenton had +escaped capture. Her brother-in-law was always good to her and was a +good man. She had also received a letter from his son, her nephew, +written from Richmond, She loved Harry Kenton, too, and sympathized with +him, but she could not see how both sides could prevail. + +Dick read the letter over and over again and there was a warm glow about +his heart. What a brave woman his mother was! She said nothing about +his coming back home, or leaving the war. He wrote a long reply, +and he told her only of the lighter and more cheerful events that they +had encountered. He described Warner, Pennington, and the sergeant, +and said that he had the best comrades in the world. He told, too, +of his gallant and high-minded commander, Colonel Arthur Winchester. + +He was sure that the letter would reach her promptly, as it passed all +the way through territory now controlled by the North. The next day +after sending it he heard with joy that Grant was restored to his +command, and two days later Colonel Winchester and his men were ordered +to join him at Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River. They heard +also that Buell, with his whole division, was soon to march to the same +place, and they saw in it an omen of speedy and concentrated action. + +"I imagine," said Warner, "that we'll soon go down in Mississippi +hunting Johnston. We must outnumber the Johnny Rebs at least two to +one. I'm not a general, though any one can see that I ought to be, +and if we were to follow Johnston's army and crush it the war would +soon be ended in the west." + +"You've got a mighty big 'if'," said Dick. "If we march into +Mississippi we get pretty far from our base. We'll have to send a long +distance through hostile country for fresh supplies and fresh troops, +while the Southerners will be nearer to their own. Besides, it's not +so certain that we can destroy Johnston when we find him." + +"Your talk sounds logical, and that being the case, I'll leave our +future movements to General Grant. Anyway, it's a good thing not to +have so much responsibility on your shoulders." + +They came in a few days to the great camp on the Tennessee. Spring +was now breaking through the crust of winter. Touches of green were +appearing on the forests and in the fields. Now and then the wonderful +pungent odor of the wilderness came to them and life seemed to have +taken on new zest. They were but boys in years, and the terrible scenes +of Donelson could not linger with them long. + +They found Colonel Newcomb and the little detachment of Pennsylvanians +with Grant, and Colonel Winchester, resuming command of his regiment, +camped by their side, delighted to be with old friends again. Colonel +Winchester had lost a portion of his regiment, but there were excuses. +It had happened in a country well known to the enemy and but little +known to him, and he had been attacked in overwhelming force by the +rough-riding Forrest, who was long to be a terror to the Union +divisions. But he had achieved the task on which he had been sent, +and he was thanked by his commander. + +Dick, as he went on many errands or walked about in the course of his +leisure hours with his friends, watched with interest the growth of a +great army. There were more men here upon the banks of the Tennessee +than he had seen at Bull Run. They were gathered full forty thousand +strong, and General Buell's army also, he learned, had been put under +command of General Grant and was advancing from Nashville to join him. + +Dick also observed with extreme interest the ground upon which they were +encamped and the country surrounding it. There was the deep Tennessee, +still swollen by spring rains, upon the left bank of which they lay, +with the stream protecting one flank. In the river were some of the +gunboats which had been of such value to Grant. All about them was +rough, hilly country, almost wholly covered with brushwood and tall +forest. There were three deep creeks, given significant names by the +pioneers. Lick Creek flowed to the south of them into the Tennessee, +and Owl Creek to the north sought the same destination. A third, +Snake Creek, was lined with deep and impassable swamps to its very +junction with the river. + +Some roads of the usual frontier type ran through this region, and at +a point within the Northern lines stood a little primitive log church +that they called Shiloh. It was of the kind that the pioneers built +everywhere as they moved from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Shiloh +belonged to a little body of Methodists. Dick went into it more than +once. There was no pastor and no congregation now, but the little +church was not molested. He sat more than once on an uncompromising +wooden bench, and looked out through a window, from which the shutter +was gone, at the forest and the army. + +Sitting here in this primitive house of worship, he would feel a certain +sadness. It seemed strange that a great army, whose purpose was to +destroy other armies, should be encamped around a building erected in +the cause of the Prince of Peace. The mighty and terrible nature of the +war was borne in upon him more fully than ever. + +But optimism was supreme among the soldiers. They had achieved the +great victory of Donelson in the face of odds that had seemed +impossible. They could defeat all the Southern forces that lay between +them and the Gulf. The generals shared their confidence. They did not +fortify their camp. They had not come that far South to fight defensive +battles. It was their place to attack and that of the men in gray to +defend. They had advanced in triumph almost to the Mississippi line, +and they would soon be pursuing their disorganized foe into that Gulf +State. + +Several new generals came to serve under Grant. Among them was one +named Sherman, to whom Dick bore messages several times, and who +impressed him with his dry manner and curt remarks which were yet so +full of sense. + +It was Sherman's division, in fact, that was encamped around the little +church, and Dick soon learned his opinions. He did not believe that +they would so easily conquer the South. He did not look for any +triumphal parade to the Gulf. In the beginning of the war he had +brought great enmity and criticism upon himself by saying that 200,000 +men at least would be needed at once to crush the Confederacy in the +west alone. And yet it was to take more than ten times that number +four bitter years to achieve the task in both west and east. + +But optimism continued to reign in the Union army. Buell would arrive +soon with his division and then seventy thousand strong they would +resume their march southward, crushing everything. Meanwhile it was +pleasant while they waited. They had an abundance of food. They were +well sheltered from the rains. The cold days were passing, nature was +bursting into its spring bloom, and the crisp fresh winds that blew from +the west and south were full of life and strength. It was a joy merely +to breathe. + +One rainy day the three boys, who had met by chance, went into the +little church for shelter from a sudden spring rain. From the +shutterless window Dick saw Sergeant Whitley scurrying in search of a +refuge, and they called to him. He came gladly and took a seat in one +of the rough wooden pews of the little church of Shiloh. The three boys +had the greatest respect for the character and judgment of the sergeant, +and Dick asked him when he thought the army would march. + +"They don't tell these things to sergeants," said Whitley. + +"But you see and you know a lot about war." + +"Well, you've noticed that the army ain't gettin' ready to march. +When General Buell gets here we'll have nigh onto seventy thousand men, +and seventy thousand men can't lift themselves up by their bootstraps +an' leave, all in a mornin'." + +"But we don't have to hurry," said Pennington. "There's no Southern +army west of the Alleghanies that could stand before our seventy +thousand men for an hour." + +"General Buell ain't here yet." + +"But he's coming." + +"But he ain't here yet," persisted the sergeant, "an' he can't be here +for several days, 'cause the roads are mighty deep in the spring mud. +Don't say any man is here until he is here. An' I tell you that General +Johnston, with whom we've got to deal, is a great man. I wasn't with +him when he made that great march through the blizzards an' across the +plains to Salt Lake City to make the Mormons behave, but I've served +with them that was. An' I've never yet found one of them who didn't say +General Johnston was a mighty big man. Soldiers know when the right +kind of a man is holdin' the reins an' drivin' 'em. Didn't we all feel +that we was bein' driv right when General Grant took hold?" + +"We all felt it," said the three in chorus. + +"Of course you did," said the sergeant, "an' now I've got a kind of +uneasy feelin' over General Johnston. Why don't we hear somethin' from +him? Why don't we know what he's doin'? We haven't sent out any +scoutin' parties. On the plains, no matter how strong we was, we was +always on the lookout for hostile Indians, while here we know there is a +big Confederate army somewhere within fifty miles of us, but don't take +the trouble to look it up." + +"That's so," said Warner. "Caution represents less than five per cent +of our effectiveness. But I suppose we can whip the Johnnies anyway." + +"Of course we can," said Pennington, who was always of a most buoyant +temperament. + +Sergeant Whitley went to the shutterless window, and looked out at the +forest and the long array of tents. + +"The rain is about over," he said. "It was just a passin' shower. +But it looks as if it had already added a fresh shade of green to the +leaves and grass. Cur'us how quick a rain can do it in spring, when +everything is just waitin' a chance to grow, and bust into bloom. +I've rid on the plains when everything was brown an' looked dead. +'Long come a big rain an' the next day everything was green as far as +the eye could reach an' you'd see little flowers bloomin' down under +the shelter of the grass." + +"I didn't know you had a poetical streak in you, sergeant," said Dick, +who marked his abrupt change from the discussion of the war to a far +different topic. + +"I think some of it is in every man," replied Sergeant Whitley gravely. +"I remember once that when we had finished a long chase after some +Northern Cheyennes through mighty rough and dry country we came to a +little valley, a kind of a pocket in the hills, fed by a fine creek, +runnin' out of the mountains on one side, into the mountains on the +other. The pocket was mebbe two miles long an' mebbe a mile across, +an' it was chock full of green trees an' green grass, an' wild flowers. +We enjoyed its comforts, but do you think that was all? Every man +among us, an' there was at least a dozen who couldn't read, admired its +beauties, an' begun to talk softer an' more gentle than they did when +they was out on the dry plains. An' you feel them things more in war +than you do at any other time." + +"I suppose you do," said Dick. "The spring is coming out now in +Kentucky where I live, and I'd like to see the new grass rippling before +the wind, and the young leaves on the trees rustling softly together." + +"Stop sentimentalizing," said Warner. "If you don't it won't be a +minute before Pennington will begin to talk about his Nebraska plains, +and how he'd like to see the buffalo herds ten million strong, rocking +the earth as they go galloping by." + +Pennington smiled. + +"I won't see the buffalo herds," he said, "but look at the wild fowl +going north." + +They left the window as the rain had ceased, and went outside. All this +region was still primitive and thinly settled, and now they saw flocks +of wild ducks and wild geese winging northward. The next day the +heavens themselves were darkened by an immense flight of wild pigeons. +The country cut up by so many rivers, creeks and brooks swarmed with +wild fowl, and more than once the soldiers roused up deer from the +thickets. + +The second day after the talk of the four in the little church Dick, +who was now regarded as a most efficient and trusty young staff officer, +was sent with a dispatch to General Buell requesting him to press +forward with as much speed as he could to the junction with General +Grant. Several other aides were sent by different routes, in order to +make sure that at least one would arrive, but Dick, through his former +ride with Colonel Winchester to Nashville, had the most knowledge of the +country, and hence was likely to reach Buell first. + +As the boy rode from the camp and crossed the river into the forest he +looked back, and he could not fail to notice to what an extent it was +yet a citizen army, and not one of trained soldiers. The veteran +sergeant had already called his attention to what he deemed grave +omissions. In the three weeks that they had been lying there they had +thrown up no earthworks. Not a spade had touched the earth. Nor was +there any other defense of any kind. The high forest circled close +about them, dense now with foliage and underbrush, hiding even at a +distance of a few hundred yards anything that might lie within. The +cavalry in these three weeks had made one scouting expedition, but it +was slight and superficial, resulting in nothing. The generals of +divisions posted their own pickets separately, leaving numerous wide +breaks in the line, and the farmer lads, at the change of guard, +invariably fired their rifles in the air, to signify the joy of living, +and because it was good to hear the sound. + +Now that he was riding away from them, these things impressed Dick more +than when he was among them. Sergeant Whitley's warning and pessimistic +words came back to him with new force, but, as he rode into the depths +of the forest, he shook off all depression. Those words, "Seventy +thousand strong!" continually recurred to him. Yes, they would be +seventy thousand strong when Buell came up, and the boys were right. +Certainly there was no Confederate force in the west that could resist +seventy thousand troops, splendidly armed, flushed with victory and led +by a man like Grant. + +Seventy thousand strong! Dick's heart beat high at the unuttered words. +Why should Grant fortify? It was for the enemy, not for him, to do such +a thing. Nor was it possible that Johnston even behind defenses could +resist the impact of the seventy thousand who had been passing from one +victory to another, and who were now in the very heart of the enemy's +country. + +His heart continued to beat high and fast as he rode through the green +forest. Its strong, sweet odors gave a fillip to his blood, and he +pressed his horse to new speed. He rode without interruption night and +day, save a few hours now and then for sleep, and reached the army of +Buell which deep in mud was toiling slowly forward. + +Buell was not as near to Shiloh as Dick had supposed, but his march had +suffered great hindrances. Halleck, in an office far away in St. Louis, +had undertaken to manage the campaign. His orders to Buell and his +command to Grant had been delayed. Buell, who had moved to the town of +Columbia, therefore had started late through no fault of his. + +Duck River, which Buell was compelled to cross, was swollen like all the +other streams of the region, by the great rains and was forty feet deep. +The railway bridge across it had been wrecked by the retreating +Confederates and he was compelled to wait there two weeks until his +engineers could reconstruct it. + +War plays singular chances. Halleck in St. Louis, secure in his plan of +campaign, had sent an order after Dick left Shiloh, for Buell to turn to +the north, leaving Grant to himself, and occupy a town that he named. +Through some chance the order never reached Buell. Had it done so the +whole course of American history might have been changed. Grant himself, +after the departure of the earlier messengers, changed his mind and +sent messengers to Nelson, who led Buell's vanguard, telling him not to +hurry. This army was to come to Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh partly by +the Tennessee, and Grant stated that the vessels for him would not be +ready until some days later. It was the early stage of the war when +generals behaved with great independence, and Nelson, a rough, stubborn +man, after reading the order marched on faster than ever. It seemed +afterward that the very stars were for Grant, when one order was lost, +and another disobeyed. + +But Dick was not to know of these things until later. He delivered in +person his dispatch to General Buell, who remembered him and gave him a +friendly nod, but who was as chary of speech as ever. He wrote a brief +reply to the dispatch and gave it sealed to Dick. + +"The letter I hand you," he said, "merely notifies General Grant that +I have received his orders and will hurry forward as much as possible. +If on your return journey you should deem yourself in danger of falling +into the hands of the enemy destroy it at once." + +Dick promised to do so, saluted, and retired. He spent only two hours +in General Buell's camp, securing some fresh provisions to carry in +his saddle bags and allowing his horse a little rest. Then he mounted +and took as straight a course as he could for General Grant's camp at +Pittsburg Landing. + +The boy felt satisfied with himself. He had done his mission quickly +and exactly, and he would have a pleasant ride back. On his strong, +swift horse, and with a good knowledge of the road, he could go several +times faster than Buell's army. He anticipated a pleasant ride. +The forest seemed to him to be fairly drenched in spring. Little birds +flaming in color darted among the boughs and others more modest in garb +poured forth a full volume of song. Dick, sensitive to sights and +sounds, hummed a tune himself. It was the thundering song of the sea +that he had heard Samuel Jarvis sing in the Kentucky Mountains: + + They bore him away when the day had fled, + And the storm was rolling high, + And they laid him down in his lonely bed + By the light of an angry sky. + The lightning flashed and the wild sea lashed + The shore with its foaming wave, + And the thunder passed on the rushing blast, + As it howled o'er the rover's grave. + +He pressed on, hour after hour, through the deep woods, meeting no one, +but content. At noon his horse suddenly showed signs of great weariness, +and Dick, remembering how much he had ridden him over muddy roads, +gave him a long rest. Besides, there was no need to hurry. The +Southern army was at Corinth, in Mississippi, three or four days' +journey away, and there had been no scouts or skirmishers in the woods +between. + +After a stop of an hour he remounted and rode on again, but the horse +was still feeling his great strain, and he did not push him beyond a +walk. He calculated that nevertheless he would reach headquarters not +long after nightfall, and he went along gaily, still singing to himself. +He crossed the river at a point above the army, where the Union troops +had made a ferry, and then turned toward the camp. + +About sunset he reached a hill from which he could look over the forest +and see under the horizon faint lights that were made by Grant's +campfires at Pittsburg Landing. It was a welcome sight. He would soon +be with his friends again, and he urged his horse forward a little +faster. + +"Halt!" cried a sharp voice from the thicket. + +Dick faced about in amazement, and saw four horsemen in gray riding from +the bushes. The shock was as great as if he had been struck by a bullet, +but he leaned forward on his horse's neck, kicked him violently with +his heels and shouted to him. The horse plunged forward at a gallop. +The boy, remembering General Buell's instructions, slipped the letter +from his pocket, and in the shelter of the horse's body dropped it to +the ground, where he knew it would be lost among the bushes and in the +twilight. + +"Halt!" was repeated more loudly and sharply than ever. Then a bullet +whizzed by Dick's ear, and a second pierced the heart of his good horse. +He tried to leap clear of the falling animal, and succeeded, but he fell +so hard among the bushes that he was stunned for a few moments. When he +revived and stood up he saw the four horsemen in gray looking curiously +at him. + +"'Twould have been cheaper for you to have stopped when we told you to +do it," said one in a whimsical tone. + +Dick noticed that the tone was not unkind--it was not the custom to +treat prisoners ill in this great war. He rubbed his left shoulder on +which he had fallen and which still pained him a little. + +"I didn't stop," he said, "because I didn't know that you would be able +to hit either me or my horse in the dusk." + +"I s'pose from your way of lookin' at it you was right to take the +chance, but you've learned now that we Southern men are tol'able good +sharpshooters." + +"I knew it long ago, but what are you doing here, right in the jaws of +our army? They might close on you any minute with a snap. You ought to +be with your own army at Corinth." + +Dick noticed that the men looked at one another, and there was silence +for a moment or two. + +"Young fellow," resumed the spokesman, "you was comin' from the +direction of Columbia, an' your hoss, which I am sorry we had to kill, +looked as if he was cleaned tuckered out. I judge that you was bearin' +a message from Buell's army to Grant's." + +"You mustn't hold me responsible for your judgment, good or bad." + +"No, I reckon not, but say, young fellow, do you happen to have a chaw +of terbacker in your clothes?" + +"If I had any I'd offer it to you, but I never chew." + +The man sighed. + +"Well, mebbe it's a bad habit," he said, "but it's powerful grippin'. +I'd give a heap for a good twist of old Kentucky. Now we're goin' to +search you an' it ain't wuth while to resist, 'cause we've got you +where we want you, as the dog said to the 'coon when he took him by the +throat. We're lookin' for letters an' dispatches, 'cause we're shore +you come from Buell, but if we should run across any terbacker we'll +have to he'p ourselves to it. We ain't no robbers, 'cause in times like +these it ain't no robbery to take terbacker." + +Dick noticed that while they talked one of the men never ceased to cover +him with a rifle. They were good-humored and kindly, but he knew they +would not relax an inch from their duty. + +"All right," he said, "go ahead. I'll give you a good legal title to +everything you may find." + +He knew that the letter was lying in the bushes within ten feet of them +and he had a strong temptation to look in that direction and see if it +were as securely hidden as he had thought, but he resisted the impulse. + +Two of the men searched him rapidly and dexterously, and much to their +disappointment found no dispatch. + +"You ain't got any writin' on you, that's shore," said the spokesman. +"I'd expected to find a paper, an' I had a lingerin' hope, too, that we +might find a little terbacker on you 'spite of what you said." + +"You don't think I'd lie about the tobacco, would you?" + +"Sonny, it ain't no lyin' in a big war to say you ain't got no terbacker, +when them that's achin' for it are standin' by, ready to grab it. +If you had a big diamond hid about you, an' a robber was to ask you if +you had it, you'd tell him no, of course." + +"I think," said Dick, "that you must be from Kentucky. You've got our +accent." + +"I shorely am, an' I'm a longer way from it than I like. I noticed from +the first that you talked like me, which is powerful flatterin' to you. +Ain't you one of my brethren that the evil witches have made take up +with the Yankees?" + +"I'm from the same state," replied Dick, who saw no reason to conceal +his identity. "My name is Richard Mason, and I'm an aide on the staff +of Colonel Arthur Winchester, who commands a Kentucky regiment in +General Grant's army." + +"I've heard of Colonel Winchester. The same that got a part of his +regiment cut up so bad by Forrest." + +"Yes, we did get cut up. I was there," confessed Dick a little +reluctantly. + +"Don't feel bad about it. It's likely to happen to any of you when +Forrest is around. Now, since you've introduced yourself so nice I'll +introduce myself. I'm Sergeant Robertson, in the Orphan Brigade. +It's a Kentucky brigade, an' it gets its nickname 'cause it's made up +of boys so young that they call me gran'pa, though I'm only forty-four. +These other three are Bridge, Perkins, and Connor, just plain privates." + +The three "just plain privates" grinned. + +"What are you going to do with me?" asked Dick. + +"We're goin' to give you a pleasant little ride. We killed your hoss, +for which I 'pologize again, but I've got a good one of my own, and +you'll jump up behind me." + +A sudden spatter of rifle fire came from the direction of the Northern +pickets. + +"Them sentinels of yours have funny habits," said Robertson grinning. +"Just bound to hear their guns go off. They're changin' the guard now." + +"How do you know that?" asked Dick. + +"Oh, I know a heap. I'm a terrible wise man, but bein' so wise I don't +tell all I know or how I happen to know it. Hop up, sonny." + +"Don't you think I'll be a lot of trouble to you," said Dick, "riding +behind you thirty or forty miles to your camp?" + +The four men exchanged glances, and no one answered. The boy felt a +sudden chill, and his hair prickled at the roots. He did not know what +had caused it, but surely it was a sign of some danger. + +The night deepened steadily as they were talking. The twilight had gone +long since. The last afterglow had faded. The darkness was heavy with +warmth. The thick foliage of spring rustled gently. Dick's sensation +that something unusual was happening did not depart. + +The four men, after looking at one another, looked fixedly at Dick. + +"Sonny," said Robertson, "you ain't got no call to worry 'bout our +troubles. As I said, this is a good, strong hoss of mine, an' it will +carry us just as far as we go an' no further." + +It was an enigmatical reply, and Dick saw that it was useless to ask +them questions. Robertson mounted, and Dick, without another word, +sprang up behind him. Two of the privates rode up close, one on either +side, and the other kept immediately behind. He happened to glance back +and he saw that the man held a drawn pistol on his thigh. He wondered +at such extreme precautions, and the ominous feeling increased. + +"Now, lads," said Robertson to his men, "don't make no more noise than +you can help. There ain't much chance that any Yankee scoutin' party +will be out, but if there should be one we don't want to run into it. +An' as for you, Mr. Mason, you're a nice boy. We all can see that, +but just as shore as you let go with a yell or anything like it at any +time or under any circumstances, you'll be dead the next second." + +A sudden fierce note rang in his voice, and Dick, despite all his +courage, shuddered. He felt as if a nameless terror all at once +threatened not only him, but others. His lips and mouth were dry. + +Robertson spoke softly to his horse, and then rode slowly forward +through the deep forest. The others rode with him, never breaking their +compact formation, and preserving the utmost silence. Dick did not ask +another question. Talk and fellowship were over. Everything before him +now was grim and menacing. + +The dense woods and the darkness hid them so securely that they could +not have been seen twenty yards away, but the men rode on at a sure pace, +as if they knew the ground well. The silence was deep and intense, +save for the footsteps of the horses and now and then a night bird in +the tall trees calling. + +Before they had gone far a man stepped from a thicket and held up a +rifle. + +"Four men from the Orphan Brigade with a prisoner," said Robertson. + +"Advance with the prisoner," said the picket, and the four men rode +forward. Dick saw to both left and right other pickets, all in the gray +uniform of the South, and his heart grew cold within him. The hair on +his head prickled again at its roots, and it was a dreadful sensation. +What did it mean? Why these Southern pickets within cannon shot of the +Northern lines? + +The men rode slowly on. They were in the deep forest, but the young +prisoner began to see many things under the leafy canopy. On his right +the dim, shadowy forms of hundreds of men lay sleeping on the grass. +On his left was a massed battery of great guns, eight in number. + +Further and further they went, and there were soldiers and cannon +everywhere, but not a fire. There was no bed of coals, not a single +torch gleamed anywhere. Not all the soldiers were sleeping, but those +who were awake never spoke. Silence and darkness brooded over a great +army in gray. It was as if they marched among forty thousand phantoms, +row on row. + +The whole appalling truth burst in an instant upon the boy. The +Southern army, which they had supposed was at Corinth, lay in the deep +woods within cannon shot of its foe, and not a soul in all Grant's +thousands knew of its presence there! And Buell was still far away! +It seemed to Dick that for a little space his heart stopped beating. +He foresaw it all, the terrible hammer-stroke at dawn, the rush of the +fiery South upon her unsuspecting foe, and the cutting down of brigades, +before sleep was gone from their eyes. + +Not in vain had the South boasted that Johnston was a great general. +He had not been daunted by Donelson. While his foe rested on his +victory and took his ease, he was here with a new army, ready to strike +the unwary. Dick shivered suddenly, and, with a violent impulse, +clutched the waist of the man in front of him. It may have been some +sort of physical telepathy, but Robertson understood. He turned his +head and said in a whisper: + +"You're right. The whole Southern army is here in the woods, an' we'd +rather lose a brigade tonight than let you escape." + +Dick felt a thrill of the most acute agony. If he could only escape! +There must be some way! If he could but find one! His single word +would save the lives of thousands and prevent irreparable defeat! +Again he clutched the waist of the man in front of him and again the +man divined. + +"It ain't no use," he said, although his tone was gentle, and in a way +sympathetic. "After all, it's your own fault. You blundered right in +our way, an' we had to take you for fear you'd see us, an' give the +alarm. It was your unlucky chance. You'd give a million dollars if +you had it to slip out of our hands and tell Ulysses Grant that Albert +Sidney Johnston with his whole army is layin' in the woods right +alongside of him, ready to jump on his back at dawn, an' he not knowin' +it." + +"I would," said Dick fervently. + +"An' so would I if I was in your place. Just think, Mr. Mason, that of +all the hundreds of thousands of men in the Northern armies, of all the +twenty or twenty-five million people on the Northern side, there's just +one, that one a boy, and that boy you, who knows that Albert Sidney +Johnston is here." + +"Held fast as I am, I'm sorry now that I do know it." + +"I can't say that I blame you. I said you'd give a million dollars to +be able to tell, but if you're to measure such things with money it +would be worth a hundred million an' more, yes, it would be cheap at +three or four hundred millions for the North to know it. But, after all, +you can't measure such things with money. Maybe you think I talk a heap, +but I'm stirred some, too." + +They rode on a little farther over the hilly ground, covered with thick +forest or dense, tall scrub. But there were troops, troops, everywhere, +and now and then the batteries. They were mostly boys, like their +antagonists of the North, and the sleep of most of them was the sleep +of exhaustion, after a forced and rapid march over heavy ground from +Corinth. But Dick knew that they would be fresh in the morning when +they rose from the forest, and rushed upon their unwarned foe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE DARK EVE OF SHILOH + + +Dick noticed as they went further into the forest how complete was +the concealment of a great army, possible only in a country wooded +so heavily, and in the presence of a careless enemy. The center was +like the front of the Southern force. Not a fire burned, not a torch +gleamed. The horses were withdrawn so far that stamp or neigh could +not be heard by the Union pickets. + +"We'll stop here," said Robertson at length. "As you're a Kentuckian, +I thought it would be pleasanter for you to be handed over to +Kentuckians. The Orphan Brigade to which I belong is layin' on the +ground right in front of us, an' the first regiment is that of Colonel +Kenton. I'll hand you over to him, an'--not 'cause I've got anything +ag'inst you--I'll be mighty glad to do it, too, 'cause my back is +already nigh breakin' with the responsibility." + +Dick started violently. + +"What's hit you?" asked Robertson. + +"Oh, nothing. You see, I'm nervous." + +"You ain't tellin' the truth. But I don't blame you an' it don't matter +anyway. Here we are. Jump down." + +Dick sprang to the ground, and the others followed. While they held +the reins they stood in a close circle about him. He had about as much +chance of escape as he had of flying. + +Robertson walked forward, saluted some one who stood up in the dark, +and said a few words in a low tone. + +"Bring him forward," said a clear voice, which Dick recognized at once. + +The little group of men opened out and Dick, stepping forth, met his +uncle face to face. It was now the time of Colonel George Kenton to +start violently. + +"My God! You, Dick!" he exclaimed. "How did you come here?" + +"I didn't come," replied the boy, who was now feeling more at ease. +"I was brought here by four scouts of yours, who I must say saw their +duty and did it." + +Colonel Kenton grasped his hand and shook it. He was very fond of this +young nephew of his. The mere fact that he was on the other side did +not alter his affection. + +"Tell me about it, Dick," he said. "And you, Sergeant Robertson, +you and your men are to be thanked for your vigilance and activity. +You can go off duty. You are entitled to your rest." + +As they withdrew the sergeant, who passed by Dick and who had not missed +a word of the conversation between him and his uncle, said to him: + +"At least, young sir, I've returned you to your relatives, an' you're a +minor, as I can see." + +"It's so," said Dick as the sergeant passed on. + +"They have not ill treated you?" said Colonel Kenton. + +"No, they've been as kind as one enemy could be to another." + +"It is strange, most strange, that you and I should meet here at such +a time. Nay, Dick, I see in it the hand of Providence. You're to be +saved from what will happen to your army tomorrow." + +"I'd rather not be saved in this manner." + +"I know it, but it is perhaps the only way. As sure as the stars are +in Heaven your army will be destroyed in the morning, an' you'd be +destroyed with it. I'm fond of you, Dick, and so I'd rather you'd be +in our rear, a prisoner, while this is happening." + +"General Grant is a hard man to crush." + +"Dick! Dick, lad, you don't know what you're talking about! Look at +the thing as it stands! We know everything that you're doing. Our +spies look into the very heart of your camp. You think that we are +fifty miles away, but a cannon shot from the center of our camp would +reach the center of yours. Why, while we are here, ready to spring, +this Grant, of whom you think so much, is on his way tonight to the +little village of Savannah to confer with Buell. In the dawn when we +strike and roll his brigades back he will not be here. And that's your +great general!" + +Dick knew that his uncle was excited. But he had full cause to be. +There was everything in the situation to inflame an officer's pride and +anticipation. It was not too dark for Dick to see a spark leap from his +eyes, and a sudden flush of red appear in either tanned cheek. But for +Dick the chill came again, and once more his hair prickled at the roots. +The ambush was even more complete than he had supposed, and General +Grant would not be there when it was sprung. + +"Dick," said Colonel Kenton, "I have talked to you as I would not have +talked to anyone else, but even so, I would not have talked to you as I +have, were not your escape an impossibility. You are unharmed, but to +leave this camp you would have to fly." + +"I admit it, sir." + +"Come with me. There are men higher in rank than I who would wish to +see a prisoner taken as you were." + +Dick followed him willingly and without a word. Aware that he was not +in the slightest physical danger he was full of curiosity concerning +what he was about to see. The words, "men higher in rank than I," +whipped his blood. + +Colonel Kenton led through the darkness to a deep and broad ravine, +into which they descended. The sides and bottom of this ravine were +clothed in bushes, and they grew thick on the edges above. It was much +darker here, but Dick presently caught ahead of him the flicker of the +first light that he had seen in the Southern army. + +The boy's heart began to beat fast and hard. All the omens foretold +that he was about to witness something that he could never by any +possibility forget. They came nearer to the flickering light, and he +made out seated figures around it. They were men wrapped in cavalry +cloaks, because the night air had now grown somewhat chill, and Dick +knew instinctively that these were the Southern generals preparing for +the hammer-stroke at dawn. + +A sentinel, rifle in hand, met them. Colonel Kenton whispered with +him a moment, and he went to the group. He returned in a moment and +escorted Dick and his uncle forward. Colonel Kenton saluted and Dick +involuntarily did the same. + +It was a small fire, casting only a faint and flickering light, but Dick, +his eyes now used to the dusk, saw well the faces of the generals. +He knew at once which was Johnston, the chief. He seemed older than the +rest, sixty at least, but his skin was clear and ruddy, and the firm +face and massive jaw showed thought and power. Yet the countenance +appeared gloomy, as if overcast with care. Perhaps it was another omen! + +By the side of Johnston sat a small but muscular man, swarthy, and in +early middle years. His face and gestures when he talked showed clearly +that he was of Latin blood. It was Beauregard, the victor of Bull Run, +now second in command here, and he made a striking contrast to the stern +and motionless Kentuckian who sat beside him and who was his chief. +There was no uneasy play of Johnston's hands, no shrugging of the +shoulders, no jerking of the head. He sat silent, his features a mask, +while he listened to his generals. + +On the other side was Braxton Bragg, brother-in-law of Jefferson Davis, +who could never forget Bragg's kinship, and the service that he had done +fifteen years before at Buena Vista, when he had broken with his guns +the last of Santa Anna's squares, deciding the victory. By the side of +him was Hardee, the famous tactician, taught in the best schools of both +America and Europe. Then there was Polk, who, when a youth, had left +the army to enter the church and become a bishop, and who was now a +soldier again and a general. Next to the bishop-general sat the man who +had been Vice-President of the United States and who, if the Democracy +had held together would now have been in the chair of Lincoln, John +C. Breckinridge, called by his people the Magnificent, commonly +accounted the most splendid looking man in America. + +"Bring the prisoner forward, Colonel Kenton," said General Johnston, +a general upon whom the South, with justice, rested great hopes. + +Dick stepped forward at once and he held himself firmly, as he felt the +eyes of the six generals bent upon him. He was conscious even at the +moment that chance had given him a great opportunity. He was there to +see, while the military genius of the South planned in the shadow of a +dark ravine a blow which the six intended to be crushing. + +"Where was the prisoner taken?" said Johnston to Colonel Kenton. + +"Sergeant Robertson and three other men of my command seized him as he +was about to enter the Northern lines. He was coming from the direction +of Buell, where it is likely that he had gone to take a dispatch." + +"Did you find any answer upon him." + +"My men searched him carefully, sir, but found nothing." + +"He is in the uniform of a staff officer. Have you found to what +regiment in the Union army he belongs?" + +"He is on the staff of Colonel Arthur Winchester, who commands one of +the Kentucky regiments. I have also to tell you, sir, that his name is +Richard Mason, and that he is my nephew." + +"Ah," said General Johnston, "it is one of the misfortunes of civil war +that so many of us fight against our own relatives. For those who live +in the border states yours is the common lot." + +But Dick was conscious that the six generals were gazing at him with +renewed interest. + +"Your surmise about his having been to Buell is no doubt correct," +said Beauregard quickly and nervously. "You left General Buell this +morning, did you not, Mr. Mason?" + +Dick remained silent. + +"It is also true that Buell's army is worn down by his heavy march over +muddy roads," continued Beauregard as if he had not noticed Dick's +failure to reply. + +Dick's teeth were shut firmly, and he compressed his lips. He stood +rigidly erect, gazing now at the flickering flames of the little fire. + +"I suggest that you try him on some other subject than Buell, General +Beauregard," said the bishop-general, a faint twinkle appearing in his +eyes. Johnston sat silent, but his blue eyes missed nothing. + +"It is true also, is it not," continued Beauregard, "that General Grant +has gone or is going tonight to Savannah to meet General Buell, and +confer with him about a speedy advance upon our army at Corinth?" + +Dick clenched his teeth harder than ever, and a spasm passed over his +face. He was conscious that six pairs of eyes, keen and intent, ready +to note the slightest change of countenance and to read a meaning +into it, were bent upon him. It was only by a supreme effort that he +remained master of himself, but after the single spasm his countenance +remained unmoved. + +"You do not choose to answer," said Bragg, always a stern and ruthless +man, "but we can drag what you know from you." + +"I am a prisoner of war," replied Dick steadily. "I was taken in full +uniform. I am no spy, and you cannot ill treat me." + +"I do not mean that we would inflict any physical suffering upon you," +said Bragg. "The Confederacy does not, and will never resort to such +methods. But you are only a boy. We can question you here, until, +through very weakness of spirit, you will be glad to tell us all you +know about Buell's or any other Northern force." + +"Try me, and see," said Dick proudly. + +The blue eye of the silent Johnston flickered for an instant. + +"But it is true," said Beauregard, resuming his role of cross-examiner, +"that your army, considering itself secure, has not fortified against +us? It has dug no trenches, built no earthworks, thrown up no abatis!" + +The boy stood silent with folded arms, and Colonel George Kenton, +standing on one side, threw his nephew a glance of sympathy, tinged +with admiration. + +"Still you do not answer," continued Beauregard, and now a strong note +of irony appeared in his tone, "but perhaps it is just as well. You do +your duty to your own army, and we miss nothing. You cannot tell us +anything that we do not know already. Whatever you may know we know +more. We know tonight the condition of General Grant's army better than +General Grant himself does. We know how General Buell and his army +stand better than General Buell himself does. We know the position of +your brigades and the missing links between them better than your own +brigade commanders do." + +The eyes of the Louisianian flashed, his swarthy face swelled and his +shoulders twitched. The French blood was strong within him. Just so +might some general of Napoleon, some general from the Midi, have shown +his emotion on the eve of battle, an emotion which did not detract from +courage and resolution. But the Puritan general, Johnston, raised a +deprecatory hand. + +"It is enough, General Beauregard," he said. "The young prisoner will +tell us nothing. That is evident. As he sees his duty he does it, +and I wish that our young men when they are taken may behave as well. +Mr. Mason, you are excused. You remain in the custody of your uncle, +but I warn you that there is none who will guard better against the +remotest possibility of your escape." + +It was involuntary, but Dick gave his deepest military salute, and said +in a tone of mingled admiration and respect: + +"General Johnston, I thank you." + +The commander-in-chief of the Southern army bowed courteously in return, +and Dick, following his uncle, left the ravine. + +The six generals returned to their council, and the boy who would not +answer was quickly forgotten. Long they debated the morrow. Several +have left accounts of what occurred. Johnston, although he had laid the +remarkable ambush, and was expecting victory, was grave, even gloomy. +But Beauregard, volatile and sanguine, rejoiced. For him the triumph +was won already. After their great achievement in placing their army, +unseen and unknown, within cannon shot of the Union force, failure was +to him impossible. + +Breckinridge, like his chief, Johnston, was also grave and did not say +much. Hardee, as became one of his severe military training, discussed +the details, the placing of the brigades and the time of attack by each. +Polk, the bishop-general, and Bragg, also had their part. + +As they talked in low tones they moved the men over their chessboard. +Now and then an aide was summoned, and soon departed swiftly and in +silence to move a battery or a regiment a little closer to the Union +lines, but always he carried the injunction that no noise be made. +Not a sound that could be heard three hundred yards away came from all +that great army, lying there in the deep woods and poised for its spring. + +Meanwhile security reigned in the Union camp. The farm lads of the west +and northwest had talked much over their fires. They had eaten good +suppers, and by and by they fell asleep. But many of the officers still +sat by the coals and discussed the march against the Southern army at +Corinth, when the men of Buell should join those of Grant. The pickets, +although the gaps yet remained between those of the different brigades, +walked back and forth and wondered at the gloom and intensity of the +woods in front of them, but did not dream of that which lay in the heart +of the darkness. + +The Southern generals in the ravine lingered yet a little longer. +A diagram had been drawn upon a piece of paper. It showed the position +of every Southern brigade, regiment, and battery, and of every Northern +division, too. It showed every curve of the Tennessee, the winding +lines of the three creeks, Owl, Lick, and Snake, and the hills and +marshes. + +The last detail of the plan was agreed upon finally, and they made it +very simple, lest their brigades and regiments should lose touch and +become confused in the great forest. They were to attack continually +by the right, press the Union army toward the right always, in order to +rush in and separate it from Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee, and +from the fleet and its stores. Then they meant to drive it into the +marshes enclosed by the river and Snake Creek and destroy it. + +The six generals rose, leaving the little fire to sputter out. General +Johnston was very grave, and so were all the others as they started +toward their divisions, except Beauregard, who said in sanguine tones: + +"Gentlemen, we shall sleep tomorrow night in the enemy's camp." + +Word, in the mysterious ways of war, had slid through the camp that the +generals were in council, and many soldiers, driven by overwhelming +curiosity, had crept through the underbrush to watch the figures by the +fire in the ravine. They could not hear, they did not seek to hear, +but they were held by a sort of spell. When they saw them separate, +every one moving toward his own headquarters, they knew that there was +nothing to await now but the dawn, and they stole back toward their own +headquarters. + +Dick had gone with Colonel Kenton to his own regiment, in the very heart +of the Orphan Brigade, and on his way his uncle said: + +"Dick, you will sleep among my own lads, and I ask you for your own sake +to make no attempt to escape tonight. You would certainly be shot." + +"I recognize that fact, sir, and I shall await a better opportunity." + +"What to do with you in the morning I don't know, but we shall probably +be able to take care of you. Meanwhile, Dick, go to sleep if you can. +See, our boys are spread here through the woods. If it were day you'd +probably find at least a dozen among them whom you know, and certainly a +hundred are of blood kin to you, more or less." + +Dick saw the dim forms stretched in hundreds on the ground, and, +thanking his uncle for his kindness, he stretched himself upon an +unoccupied bit of turf and closed his eyes. But it was impossible for +young Richard Mason to sleep. He felt again that terrible thrill of +agony, because he, alone, of all the score and more of Northern millions, +knew that the Southern trap was about to fall, and he could not tell. + +Never was he further from sleep. His nerves quivered with actual +physical pain. He opened his eyes again and saw the dim forms lying +in row on row as far in the forest as his eye could reach. Then he +listened. He might hear the rifle of some picket, more wary or more +enterprising than the others, sounding the alarm. But no such sound +came to his ears. It had turned warmer again, and he heard only the +Southern wind, heavy with the odors of grass and flower, sighing through +the tall forest. + +An anger against his own surged up in his breast. Why wouldn't they +look? How could they escape seeing? Was it possible for one great army +to remain unknown within cannon shot of another a whole night? It was +incredible, but he had seen it, and he knew it. Fierce and bitter words +rose to his lips, but he did not utter them. + +Dick lay a long time, with his eyes open, and the night was passing as +peacefully as if there would be no red dawn. Occasionally he heard a +faint stir near him, as some restless soldier turned on his side in his +sleep, and now and then a muttered word from an officer who passed near +in the darkness. + +Hours never passed more slowly. Colonel Kenton had gone back toward the +Northern lines, and the boy surmised that he would be one of the first +in the attack at dawn. He began to wonder if dawn would ever really +come. Stars and a fair moon were out, and as nearly as he could judge +from them it must be about three o'clock in the morning. Yet it seemed +to him that he had been lying there at least twelve hours. + +He shut his eyes again, but sleep was as far from him as ever. After +another long and almost unendurable period he opened them once more, +and it seemed to him that there was a faint tint of gray in the east. +He sat up, and looking a long time, he was sure of it. The gray was +deepening and broadening, and at its center it showed a tint of silver. +The dawn was at hand, and every nerve in the boy's body thrilled with +excitement and apprehension. + +A murmur and a shuffling sound arose all around him. The sleepers were +awake, and they stood up, thousands of them. Cold food was given to +them, and they ate it hastily. But they fondled their rifles and +muskets, and turned their faces toward the point where the Northern +army lay, and from which no sound came. + +Dick shivered all over. His head burned and his nerves throbbed. +Too late now! He had hoped all through the long night that something +would happen to carry a warning to that unsuspecting army. Nothing had +happened, and in five minutes the attack would begin. + +He stood up at his full height and sought to pierce with his eyes the +foliage in front of him, but the massed ranks of the Southerners now +stood between, and the batteries were wheeling into line. + +A great throb and murmur ran through the forest. Dick looked upon faces +brown with the sun, and eyes gleaming with the fierce passion of victory +and revenge. They were going to avenge Henry and Donelson and all the +long and mortifying retreat from Kentucky. Dick saw them straining and +looking eagerly at their officers for the word to advance. + +As if by a concerted signal the long and mellow peal of many trumpets +came from the front, the officers uttered the shout to charge, the wild +and terrible rebel yell swelled from forty thousand throats, and the +Southern army rushed upon its foe. + +The red dawn of Shiloh had come. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE RED DAWN OF SHILOH + + +Dick stood appalled when he heard that terrible shout in the dawn, +and the crash of cannon and rifles rolling down upon the Union lines. +It was already a shout of triumph and, as he gazed, he saw through the +woods the red line of flame, sweeping on without a halt. + +The surprise had been complete. Hardee, leading the Southern advance, +struck Peabody's Northern brigade and smashed it up instantly. The men +did not have time to seize their rifles. They had no chance to form +into ranks, and the officers themselves, as they shouted commands, +were struck down. Men killed or wounded were falling everywhere. +Almost before they had time to draw a free breath the remnants of the +brigade were driven upon those behind it. + +Hardee also rushed upon Sherman, but there he found a foe of tough +mettle. The man who had foreseen the enormous extent of the war, +although taken by surprise, too, did not lose his courage or presence of +mind. His men had time to seize their arms, and he formed a hasty line +of battle. He also had the forethought to send word to the general in +his rear to close up the gap between him and the next general in the +line. Then he shifted one of his own brigades until there was a ravine +in front of it to protect his men, and he hurried a battery to his flank. + +Never was Napoleon's maxim that men are nothing, a man is everything, +more justified, and never did the genius of Sherman shine more +brilliantly than on that morning. It was he, alone, cool of mind and +steady in the face of overwhelming peril, who first faced the Southern +rush. He inspired his troops with his own courage, and, though pale of +face, they bent forward to meet the red whirlwind that was rushing down +upon them. + +Like a blaze running through dry grass the battle extended in almost an +instant along the whole front, and the deep woods were filled with the +roar of eighty thousand men in conflict. And Grant, as at Donelson, +was far away. + +The thunder and blaze of the battle increased swiftly and to a frightful +extent. The Southern generals, eager, alert and full of success, +pushed in all their troops. The surprised Northern army was giving away +at all points, except where Sherman stood. Hardee, continuing his rush, +broke the Northern line asunder, and his brigades, wrapping themselves +around Sherman, strove to destroy him. + +Although he saw his lines crumbling away before him, Sherman never +flinched. The ravine in front of him and rough ground on one side +defended him to a certain extent. The men fired their rifles as fast as +they could load and reload, and the cannon on their flanks never ceased +to pour shot and shell into the ranks of their opponents. The gunners +were shot down, but new ones rose at once in their place. The fiercest +conflict yet seen on American soil was raging here. North would not +yield, South ever rushed anew to the attack, and a vast cloud of mingled +flame and smoke enclosed them both. + +Dick had stood as if petrified, staring at the billows of flame, while +the thunder of great armies in battle stunned his ears. He realized +suddenly that he was alone. Colonel Kenton had said the night before +that he did not know what to do with him, but that he would find a way +in the morning. But he had been forgotten, and he knew it was natural +that he should be. His fate was but a trifle in the mighty event that +was passing. There was no time for any one in the Southern army to +bother about him. + +Then he understood too, that he was free. The whole Orphan Brigade +had passed on into the red heart of the battle, and had left him there +alone. Now his mind leaped out of its paralysis. All his senses became +alert. In that vast whirlwind of fire and smoke no one would notice +that a single youth was stealing through the forest in an effort to +rejoin his own people. + +Action followed swift upon thought. He curved about in the woods and +then ran rapidly toward the point where the fire seemed thinnest. +He did not check his pace until he had gone at least a mile. Then he +paused to see if he could tell how the battle was going. Its roar +seemed louder than ever in his ears, and in front of him was a vast red +line, which extended an unseen distance through the forest. Now and +then the wild and thrilling rebel yell rose above the roar of cannon +and the crash of rifles. + +Dick saw with a sinking of the heart--and yet he had known that it would +be so--that the red line of flame had moved deeper into the heart of the +Northern camp. It had passed the Northern outposts and, at many points, +it had swept over the Northern center. He feared that there was but a +huddled and confused mass beyond it. + +He saw something lying at his feet. It was a Confederate military cloak +which some officer had cast off as he rushed to the charge. He picked +it up, threw it about his own shoulders, and then tossed away his cap. +If he fell in with Confederate troops they would not know him from one +of their own, and it was no time now to hold cross-examinations. + +He took a wide curve, and, after another mile, came to a hillock, +upon which he stood a little while, panting. Again he was appalled at +the sight he beheld. Bull Run and Donelson were small beside this. +Here eighty thousand men were locked fast in furious conflict. Raw and +undisciplined many of these farmer lads of the west and south were, +but in battle they showed a courage and tenacity not surpassed by the +best trained troops that ever lived. + +The floating smoke reached Dick where he stood and stung his eyes, +and a powerful odor of burned gunpowder assailed his nostrils. But +neither sight nor odors held him back. Instead, they drew him on with +overwhelming force. He must rejoin his own and do his best however +little it counted in the whole. + +It was now well on into the morning of a brilliant and hot Sunday. +He did not know it, but the combat was raging fiercest then around the +little church, which should have been sacred. Drawing a deep breath +of an air which was shot with fire and smoke, and which was hot to his +lungs, Dick began to run again. Almost before he noticed it he was +running by the side of a Southern regiment which had been ordered to +veer about and attack some new point in the Northern line. Keeping his +presence of mind he shouted with them as they rushed on, and presently +dropped away from them in the smoke. + +He was conscious now of a new danger. Twigs and bits of bark began to +rain down upon him, and he heard the unpleasant whistle of bullets over +his head. They were the bullets of his own people, seeking to repel the +Southern charge. A minute later a huge shell burst near him, covering +him with flying earth. At first he thought he had been hit by fragments +of the shell, but when he shook himself he found that he was all right. + +He took yet a wider curve and before he was aware of the treacherous +ground plunged into a swamp bordering one of the creeks. He stood for +a few moments in mud and water to his waist, but he knew that he had +passed from the range of the Union fire. Twigs and bark no longer fell +around him and that most unpleasant whizz of bullets was gone. + +He pulled himself out of the mire and ran along the edge of the creek +toward the roar of the battle. He knew now that he had passed around +the flank of the Southern army and could approach the flank of his own. +He ran fast, and then began to hear bullets again. But now they were +coming from the Southern army. He threw away the cloak and presently +he emerged into a mass of men, who, under the continual urging of +their officers, were making a desperate defense, firing, drawing back, +reloading and firing again. In front, the woods swarmed with the +Southern troops who drove incessantly upon them. + +Dick snatched up a rifle--plenty were lying upon the ground, where +the owners had fallen with them--and fired into the attacking ranks. +Then he reloaded swiftly, and pressed on toward the Union center. + +"What troops are these?" he asked of an officer who was knotting a +handkerchief about a bleeding wrist. + +"From Illinois. Who are you?" + +"I'm Lieutenant Richard Mason of Colonel Arthur Winchester's Kentucky +regiment. I was taken prisoner by the enemy last night, but I escaped +this morning. Do you know where my regiment is?" + +"Keep straight on, and you'll strike it or what's left of it, if +anything at all is left. It's a black day." + +Dick scarcely caught his last words, as he dashed on through bullets, +shell and solid shot over slain men and horses, over dismantled guns +and gun carriages, and into the very heart of the flame and smoke. The +thunder of the battle was at its height now, because he was in the +center of it. The roar of the great guns was continuous, but the +unbroken crash of rifles by the scores of thousands was fiercer and +more deadly. + +The officer had pointed toward the Kentucky regiment with his sword, +and following the line Dick ran directly into it. The very first face +he saw was that of Colonel Winchester. + +"Dick, my lad," shouted the Colonel, "where have you come from?" + +"From the Southern army. I was taken prisoner last night almost within +sight of our own, but when they charged this morning they forgot me and +here I am." + +Colonel Winchester suddenly seized him by the shoulders and pushed +him down. The regiment was behind a small ridge which afforded some +protection, and all were lying down except the senior officers. + +"Welcome, Dick, to our hot little camp! The chances are about a hundred +per cent out of a hundred per cent that this is the hottest place on the +earth today!" + +The long, thin figure of Warner lay pressed against the ground. A +handkerchief, stained red, was bound about his head and his face was +pale, but indomitable courage gleamed from his eyes. Just beyond him +was Pennington, unhurt. + +"Thank God you haven't fallen, and that I've found you!" exclaimed Dick. + +"I don't know whether you're so lucky after all," said Warner. "The +Johnnies have been mowing us down. They dropped on us so suddenly +this morning that they must have been sleeping in the same bed with us +last night, and we didn't know it. I hear that we're routed nearly +everywhere except here and where Sherman stands. Look out! Here they +come again!" + +They saw tanned faces and fierce eyes through the smoke, and the bullets +swept down on them in showers. Lucky for them that the little ridge +was there, and that they had made up their minds to stand to the last. +They replied with their own deadly fire, yet many fell, despite the +shelter, and to both left and right the battle swelled afresh. Dick +felt again that rain of bark and twigs and leaves. Sometimes a tree, +cut through at its base by cannon balls, fell with a crash. Along +the whole curving line the Southern generals ever urged forward their +valiant troops. + +Now the courage and skill of Sherman shone supreme. Dick saw him often +striding up and down the lines, ordering and begging his men to stand +fast, although they were looking almost into the eyes of their enemies. + +The conflict became hand to hand, and assailant and assailed reeled to +and fro. But Sherman would not give up. The fiercest attacks broke in +vain on his iron front. McClernand, with whom he had quarreled the day +before as to who should command the army while Grant was away, came up +with reinforcements, and seeing what the fearless and resolute general +had done, yielded him the place. + +The last of the charges broke for the time upon Sherman, and his +exhausted regiment uttered a shout of triumph, but on both sides of +him the Southern troops drove their enemy back and yet further back. +Breckinridge, along Lick Creek, was pushing everything before him. +The bishop-general was doing well. Many of the Northern troops had not +yet recovered from their surprise. A general and three whole regiments, +struck on every side, were captured. + +It seemed that nothing could deprive the Southern army of victory, +absolute and complete. General Johnston had marshalled his troops with +superb skill, and intending to reap the full advantage of the surprise, +he continually pushed them forward upon the shattered Northern lines. +He led in person and on horseback the attack upon the Federal center. +Around and behind him rode his staff, and the wild rebel yell swept +again through the forest, when the soldiers saw the stern and lofty +features of the chief whom they trusted, leading them on. + +But fate in the very moment of triumph that seemed overwhelming and sure +was preparing a terrible blow for the South. A bullet struck Johnston +in the ankle. His boot filled with blood, and the wound continued to +bleed fast. But, despite the urging of his surgeon, who rode with him, +he refused to dismount and have the wound bound up. How could he +dismount at such a time, when the battle was at its height, and the +Union army was being driven into the creeks and swamps! He was wounded +again by a piece of shell, and he sank dying from his horse. His +officers crowded around him, seeking to hide their irreparable loss from +the soldiers, the most costly death, with the exception of Stonewall +Jackson's, sustained by the Confederacy in the whole war. + +But the troops, borne on by the impetus that success and the spirit of +Johnston had given them, drove harder than ever against the Northern +line. They crashed through it in many places, seizing prisoners and +cannon. Almost the whole Northern camp was now in their possession, +and many of the Southern lads, hungry from scanty rations, stopped to +seize the plenty that they found there, but enough persisted to give +the Northern army no rest, and press it back nearer and nearer to the +marshes. + +The combat redoubled around Sherman. Johnston was gone, but his +generals still shared his resolution. They turned an immense fire upon +the point where stood Sherman and McClernand, now united by imminent +peril. Their ranks were searched by shot and shell, and the bullets +whizzed among them like a continuous swarm of hornets. + +Dick was still unwounded, but so much smoke and vapor had drifted about +his face that he was compelled at times to rub his eyes that he might +see. He felt a certain dizziness, too, and he did not know whether the +incessant roaring in his ears came wholly from the cannon and rifle fire +or partly from the pounding of his blood. + +"I feel that we are shaking," he shouted in the ears of Warner, who lay +next to him. "I'm afraid we're going to give ground." + +"I feel it, too," Warner shouted back. "We've been here for hours, +but we're shot to pieces. Half of our men must be killed or wounded, +but how old Sherman fights!" + +The Southern leaders brought up fresh troops and hurled them upon +Sherman. Again the combat was hand to hand, and to the right and left +the supports of the indomitable Northern general were being cut away. +Those brigades who had proved their mettle at Donelson, and who had +long stood fast, were attacked so violently that they gave way, and the +victors hurled themselves upon Sherman's flank. + +Dick and his two young comrades perceived through the flame and smoke +the new attack. It seemed to Dick that they were being enclosed now by +the whole Southern army, and he felt a sense of suffocation. He was +dizzy from such a long and terrible strain and so much danger, and he +was not really more than half conscious. He was loading and firing his +rifle mechanically, but he always aimed at something in the red storm +before them, although he never knew whether he hit or missed, and was +glad of it. + +The division of Sherman had been standing there seven hours, sustaining +with undaunted courage the resolute attacks of the Southern army, +but the sixth sense warning Dick that it had begun to shake at last was +true. The sun had now passed the zenith and was pouring intense and +fiery rays upon the field, sometimes piercing the clouds of smoke, +and revealing the faces of the men, black with sweat and burned +gunpowder. + +A cry arose for Grant. Why did not their chief show himself upon the +field! Was so great a battle to be fought with him away? And where +was Buell? He had a second great army. He was to join them that day. +What good would it be for him to come tomorrow? Many of them laughed in +bitter derision. And there was Lew Wallace, too! They had heard that +he was near the field with a strong division. Then why did he not come +upon it and face the enemy? Again they laughed that fierce and bitter +laugh deep down in their throats. + +The attack upon Sherman never ceased for an instant. Now he was +assailed not only from the front, but from both flanks, and some even +gaining the rear struck blows upon his division there. One brigade +upon his left was compelled to give way, scattered, and lost its guns. +The right wing was also driven in, and the center yielded slowly, +although retaining its cohesion. + +The three lads were on their feet now, and it seemed to them that +everything was lost. They could see the battle in front of them only, +but rumors came to them that the army was routed elsewhere. But neither +Sherman nor McClernand would yield, save for the slow retreat, yielding +ground foot by foot only. And there were many unknown heroes around +them. Sergeant Whitley blazed with courage and spirit. + +"We could be worse off than we are!" he shouted to Dick. "General +Buell's army may yet come!" + +"Maybe we could be worse off than we are, but I don't see how it's +possible!" shouted Dick in return, a certain grim humor possessing him +for the moment. + +"Look! What I said has come true already!" shouted the sergeant. +"Here is shelter that will help us to make a new stand!" + +In their slow retreat they reached two low hills, between which a small +ravine ran. It was not a strong position, but Sherman used it to the +utmost. His men fired from the protecting crests of the hills, and he +filled the ravine with riflemen, who poured a deadly fire upon their +assailants. + +Now Sherman ordered them to stand fast to the last man, because it was +by this road that the division of Lew Wallace must come, if it came at +all. But Southern brigades followed them and the battle raged anew, +as fierce and deadly as ever. + +Although their army was routed at many points the Northern officers +showed indomitable courage. Driven back in the forest they always +strove to form the lines anew, and now their efforts began to show some +success. Their resistance on the right hardened, and on the left they +held fast to the last chain of hills that covered the wharves and their +stores at the river landing. As they took position here two gunboats in +the river began to send huge shells over their heads at the attacking +Southern columns, maintaining a rapid and heavy fire which shook +assailants and strengthened defenders. Again the water had come to the +help of the North, and at the most critical moment. The whole Northern +line was now showing a firmer front, and Grant, himself, was directing +the battle. + +Fortune, which had played a game with Grant at Donelson, played a far +greater one with him on the far greater field of Shiloh. The red dawn +of Shiloh, when Johnston was sweeping his army before him, had found him +at Savannah far from the field of battle. The hardy and vigorous Nelson +had arrived there in the night with Buell's vanguard, and Grant had +ordered it to march at speed the next day to join his own army. But he, +himself, did not reach the field of Shiloh until 10 o'clock, when the +fiercest battle yet known on the American continent had been raging for +several hours. + +Grant and his staff, as they rode away from his headquarters, heard the +booming of cannon in the direction of Shiloh. Some of them thought it +was a mere skirmish, but it came continuously, like rolling thunder, +and their trained ears told them that it rose from a line miles in +length. One seeks to penetrate the mind of a commanding general at +such a time, and see what his feelings were. Again the battle had been +joined, and was at its height, and he away! + +Those trained ears told him also that the rolling thunder of the cannon +was steadily moving toward them. It could mean only that the Northern +army had been driven from its camp and that the Southern army was +pushing its victory to the utmost. In those moments his agony must have +been intense. His great army not only attacked, but beaten, and he not +there! He and his staff urged their horses forward, seeking to gain +from them new ounces of speed, but the country was difficult. The hills +were rough and there were swamps and mire. And, as they listened, +the roar of battle steadily came nearer and nearer. There was no break +in the Northern retreat. The sweat, not of heat but of mental agony, +stood upon their faces. Grant was not the only one who suffered. + +Now they met some of those stragglers who flee from every battlefield, +no matter what the nation. Their faces were white with fear and they +cried out that the Northern army was destroyed. Officers cursed them +and struck at them with the flats of their swords, but they dodged the +blows and escaped into the bushes. There was no time to pursue them. +Grant and his staff never ceased to ride toward the storm of battle +which raged far and wide around the little church of Shiloh. + +The stream of fugitives increased, and now they saw swarms of men who +stood here and there, not running, but huddled and irresolute. Never +did Fortune, who brought this, her favorite, from the depths, bring him +again in her play so near to the verge of destruction. When he came +upon the field, the battle seemed wholly lost, and the whole world would +have cried that he was to blame. + +But the bulldog in Grant was never of stauncher breed than on that day. +His face turned white, and he grew sick at the sight of the awful +slaughter. A bullet broke the small sword at his side, but he did not +flinch. Preserving the stern calm that always marked him on the field +he began to form his lines anew and strengthen the weaker points. + +Yet the condition of his army would have appalled a weaker will. +It had been driven back three miles. His whole camp had been taken. +His second line also had been driven in. Many thousands of men had +fallen and other thousands had been taken. Thirty of his cannon were in +the hands of the enemy, and although noon had now come and gone there +was no sound to betoken the coming of the troops led by Wallace or +Nelson. Well might Grant's own stout heart have shrunk appalled from +the task before him. + +Wallace was held back by confused orders, pardonable at such a time. +The eager Nelson was detained at Savannah by Buell, who thought that +the sounds of the engagement they heard in the Shiloh woods was a minor +affair, and who wanted Nelson to wait for boats to take him there. + +It seemed sometimes to Dick long afterward, when the whole of the great +Shiloh battle became clear, that Fortune was merely playing a game of +chess, with the earth as a board, and the armies as pawns. Grant's +army was ambushed with its general absent. The other armies which were +almost at hand were delayed for one reason or another. While as for the +South, the genius that had planned the attack and that had carried it +forward was quenched in death, when victory was at its height. + +But for the present the lad had little time for such thoughts as these. +The success of Sherman in holding the new position infused new courage +into him and those around him. The men in gray, wearied with their +immense exertions, and having suffered frightful losses themselves, +abated somewhat the energy and fierceness of their attack. + +The dissolved Northern regiments had time to reform. Grant seized a +new position along a line of hills, in front of which ran a deep ravine +filled with brushwood. He and his officers appreciated the advantage +and they massed the troops there as fast as they could. + +Now Fortune, after having brought Grant to the verge of the pit, was +disposed to throw chances in his way. The hills and the ravine were +one. Another, and most important it was, was the presence of guns of +the heaviest calibre landed some days ago from the fleet, and left there +until their disposition could be determined. A quick-witted colonel, +Webster by name, gathered up all the gunners who had lost their own +guns and who had been driven back in the retreat, and manned this great +battery of siege guns, just as the Southern generals were preparing to +break down the last stand of the North. + +Meanwhile, a terrible rumor had been spreading in the ranks of the +Southern troops. The word was passed from soldier to soldier that their +commander, Johnston, whom they had believed invincible, had been killed, +and they did not trust so much Beauregard, who was left in command, +nor those who helped. Their fiery spirit abated somewhat. There was no +decrease of courage, but continuous victory did not seem so easy now. + +Confusion invaded the triumphant army also. Beauregard had divided the +leadership on the field among three of his lieutenants. Hardee now +urged on the center, Bragg commanded the right, and Polk, the bishop- +general, led the left. It was Bragg's division that was about to charge +the great battery of siege guns that the alert Webster had manned so +quickly. Five minutes more and Webster would have been too late. +Here again were the fortunes of Grant brought to the very verge of the +pit. The Northern gunboats at the mouth of Lick Creek moved forward a +little, and their guns were ready to support the battery. + +The Kentucky regiment was wedged in between the battery and a brigade, +and it was gasping for breath. Colonel Winchester, slightly wounded +in three places, commanded his men to lie down, and they gladly threw +themselves upon the earth. + +There was a momentary lull in the battle. Wandering winds caught up the +banks of smoke and carried most of them away. Dick, as he rose a little, +saw the Southern troops massing in the forest for an attack upon their +new position. They seemed to be only a few yards away and he clearly +observed the officers walking along the front of the lines. It flashed +upon him that they must hold these hills or Grant's army would perish. +Where was Buell? Why did he not come? If the Southerners destroyed one +Northern army today they would destroy another tomorrow! They would +break the two halves of the Union force in the west into pieces, first +one and then the other. + +"What do you see, Dick?" asked Warner, who was lying almost flat upon +his face. + +"The Confederate army is getting ready to wipe us off the face of the +earth! Up with your rifle, George! They'll be upon us in two minutes!" + +They heard a sudden shout behind them. It was a glad shout, and well it +might be. Nelson, held back by Buell's orders, had listened long to the +booming of the cannon off in the direction of Shiloh. Nothing could +convince him that a great battle was not going on, and all through the +morning he chafed and raged. And as the sound of the cannon grew louder +he believed that Grant's army was losing. + +Nelson obtained Buell's leave at last to march for Shiloh, but it was a +long road across hills and creeks and through swamps. The cannon sank +deep in the mire, and then the ardent Nelson left them behind. Now he +knew there was great need for haste. The flashing and thundering in +front of them showed to the youngest soldier in his command that a +great battle was in progress, and that it was going against the North. +His division at last reached Pittsburg Landing and was carried across +the river in the steamers. One brigade led by Ammen outstripped the +rest, and rushed in behind the great battery and to its support, just +as the Southern bugles once more sounded the charge. + +Dick shouted with joy, too, when he saw the new troops. The next moment +the enemy was upon them, charging directly through a frightful discharge +from the great guns. The riddled regiments, which had fought so long, +gave way before the bayonets, but the fresh troops took their places and +poured a terrible fire into the assaulting columns. And the great guns +of the battery hurled a new storm of shell and solid shot. The ranks +of the Southern troops, worn by a full day of desperate fighting, were +broken. They had crossed the ravine into the very mouths of the +Northern guns, but now they were driven back into the ravine and across +it. Cannon and rifles rained missiles upon them there, and they +withdrew into the woods, while for the first time in all that long day +a shout of triumph rose from the Union lines. + +Another lull came in the battle. + +"What are they doing now, Dick?" asked the Vermonter. + +"I can't see very well, but they seem to be gathering in the forest for +a fresh attack. Do you know, George, that the sun is almost down?" + +"It's certainly time. It's been at least a month since the Johnnies ran +out of the forest in the dawn, and jumped on us." + +It was true that the day was almost over, although but few had noticed +the fact. The east was already darkening, and a rosy glow from the west +fell across the torn forest. Here and there a dead tree, set on fire by +the shells, burned slowly, little flames creeping along trunk and boughs. + +Bragg was preparing to hurl his entire force upon Sherman and the +battery. At that moment Beauregard, now his chief, arrived. But a few +minutes of daylight were left and the swarthy Louisianian looked at the +great losses in his own ranks. He believed that the army of Buell was +so far away that it could not arrive that night and he withheld the +charge. + +The Southern army withdrew a little into the woods, the night rushed +down, and Shiloh's terrible first day was over. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FIERCE FINISH OF SHILOH + + +Dick, who had been lying under cover just behind the crest of one of the +low ridges, suddenly heard the loud beating of his heart. He did not +know, for a moment or two, that the sound came so distinctly because +the mighty tumult which had been raging around him all day had ceased, +as if by a concerted signal. Those blinding flashes of flame no longer +came from the forest before him, the shot and shell quit their horrible +screaming, and the air was free from the unpleasant hiss of countless +bullets. + +He stretched himself a little and stood up. The lads all around him +were standing up, and were beginning to talk to each other in the +high-pitched, shouting voices that they had been compelled to use all +day long, not yet realizing to the full that the tumult of the battle +had ceased. The boy felt stiff and sore in every bone and muscle, and, +although the cannon and rifles were silent, there was still a hollow +roaring in his ears. His eyes were yet dim from the smoke, and his head +felt heavy and dull. He gazed vacantly at the forest in front of him, +and wondered dimly why the Southern army was not still there, attacking, +as it had attacked for so many hours. + +But the deep woods were silent and empty. Coils and streamers of smoke +floated about among the trees, and suddenly a gray squirrel hopped out +on a bough and began to chatter wildly. Dick, despite himself, laughed, +but the laugh was hysterical. He could appreciate the feelings of the +squirrel, which probably had been imprisoned in a hollow of the tree all +day long, listening to this tremendous battle, and squirrels were not +used to such battles. It was a trifle that made him laugh, but +everything was out of proportion now. Life did not go on in the usual +way at all. The ordinary occupations were gone, and people spent most +of their time trying to kill one another. + +He rubbed his hands across his eyes and cleared them of the smoke. +The battle was certainly over for the day at least, and neither he +nor his comrades had sufficient vitality yet to think of the morrow. +The twilight was fast deepening into night. The last rosy glow of the +sun faded, and thick darkness enveloped the vast forest, in which twenty +thousand men had fallen, and in which most of them yet lay, the wounded +with the dead. + +There was presently a deep boom from the river, and a shell fired by one +of the gunboats curved far over their heads and dropped into the forest, +where the Southern army was encamped. All through the night and at +short but regular intervals the gunboats maintained this warning fire, +heartening the Union soldiers, and telling them at every discharge that +however they might have to fight for the land, the water was always +theirs. + +Dick saw Colonel Winchester going among his men, and pulling himself +together he saluted his chief. + +"Any orders, sir?" he said. + +"No, Dick, my boy, none for the present," replied the colonel, a little +sadly. "Half of my poor regiment is killed or wounded, and the rest +are so exhausted that they are barely able to move. But they fought +magnificently, Dick! They had to, or be crushed! It is only here that +we have withstood the rush of the Southern army, and it is probable that +we, too, would have gone had not night come to our help." + +"Then we have been beaten?" + +"Yes, Dick, we have been beaten, and beaten badly. It was the surprise +that did it. How on earth we could have let the Southern army creep +upon us and strike unaware I don't understand. But Dick, my boy, +there will be another battle tomorrow, and it may tell a different tale. +Some prisoners whom we have taken say that Johnston has been killed, +and Beauregard is no such leader as he." + +"Will the army of General Buell reach us tonight?" + +"Buell, himself, is here. He has been with Grant for some time, and +all his brigades are marching at the double quick. Lew Wallace arrived +less than half an hour ago with seven thousand men fresh and eager for +battle. Dick! Dick, my boy, we'll have forty thousand new troops on +the field at the next dawn, and before God we'll wipe out the disgrace +of today! Listen to the big guns from the boats as they speak at +intervals! Why, I can understand the very words they speak! They are +saying to the Southern army: 'Look out! Look out! We're coming in the +morning, and it's we who'll attack now!'" + +Dick saw that Colonel Winchester himself was excited. The pupils of his +eyes were dilated, and a red spot glowed in either cheek. Like all the +other officers he was stung by the surprise and defeat, and he could +barely wait for the morning and revenge. + +Colonel Winchester walked away to a council that had been called, +and Dick turned to Pennington and Warner, who were not hurt, save for +slight wounds. Warner had recovered his poise, and was soon as calm +and dry as ever. + +"Dick," he said, "we're some distance from where we started this +morning. There's nothing like being shoved along when you don't want to +go. The next time they tell me there's nothing in a thicket I expect to +search it and find a rebel army at least a hundred thousand strong right +in the middle of it." + +"How large do you suppose the Southern army was?" asked Pennington. + +"I had a number of looks at it," replied Warner, "and I should say from +the way it acted that it numbered at least three million men. I know +that at times not less than ten thousand were aiming their rifles at my +own poor and unworthy person. What a waste of energy for so many men to +shoot at me all at once. I wish the Johnnies would go away and let us +alone!" + +The last words were high-pitched and excited. His habitual self-control +broke down for a moment, and the tremendous excitement and nervous +tension of the day found vent in his voice. But in a few seconds he +recovered himself and looked rather ashamed. + +"Boys," he said, "I apologize." + +"You needn't," said Pennington. "There have been times today when I +felt brave as a lion, and lots of other times I was scared most to +death. It would have helped me a lot then, if I could have opened my +mouth and yelled at the top of my voice." + +Sergeant Daniel Whitley was leaning against a stump, and while he was +calmly lighting a pipe he regarded the three boys with a benevolent gaze. + +"None of you need be ashamed of bein' scared," he said. "I've been in a +lot of fights myself, though all of them were mere skirmishes when put +alongside of this, an' I've been scared a heap today. I've been scared +for myself, an' I've been scared for the regiment, an' I've been scared +for the whole army, an' I've been scared on general principles, but here +we are, alive an' kickin', an' we ought to feel powerful thankful for +that." + +"We are," said Dick. Then he rubbed his head as if some sudden thought +had occurred to him. + +"What is it, Dick?" asked Warner. + +"I've realized all at once that I'm tremendously hungry. The +Confederates broke up our breakfast. We never had time to think of +dinner, and now its nothing to eat." + +"Me, too," said Pennington. "If you were to hit me in the stomach I'd +give back a hollow sound like a drum. Why don't somebody ring the +supper bell?" + +But fires were soon lighted along their whole front, and provisions were +brought up from the rear and from the steamers. The soldiers, feeling +their strength returning, ate ravenously. They also talked much of +the battle. Many of them were yet under the influence of hysterical +excitement. They told extraordinary stories of the things they had seen +and done, and they believed all they told were true. They ate fiercely, +at first almost like wolves, but after a while they resolved into their +true state as amiable young human beings and were ashamed of themselves. + +All the while Buell's army of the Ohio was passing over the river and +joining Grant's army of the Tennessee. Regiment after regiment and +brigade after brigade crossed. The guns that Nelson had been forced to +leave behind were also brought up and were taken over with the other +batteries. While the shattered remnants of the army of the Tennessee +were resting, the fresh army of the Ohio was marching by it in the late +hours of the night in order to face the Southern foe in the morning. + +The Southern army itself lay deep in the woods from which it had driven +its enemy. Always the assailant through the day, its losses had been +immense. Many thousands had fallen, and no new troops were coming to +take their place. Continual reinforcements came to the North throughout +the night, not a soldier came to the South. Beauregard, at dawn, +would have to face twice his numbers, at least half of whom were fresh +troops. + +Another conference was held by the Southern generals in the forest, +but now the central figure, the great Johnston, was gone. The others, +however, summoned their courage anew, and passed the whole night +arranging their forces, cheering the men, and preparing for the morn. +Their scouts and skirmishers kept watch on the Northern camp, and the +Southerners believed that while they had whipped only one army the day +before, they could whip two on the morrow. + +Dick and his friends meanwhile were lying on the earth, resting, but not +able to sleep. The nerves, drawn so tightly by the day's work, were not +yet relaxed wholly. A deep apathy seized them all. Dick, from a high +point on which he lay, saw the dark surface of the Tennessee, and the +lights on the puffing steamers as they crossed, bearing the Army of the +Ohio. His mind did not work actively now, but he felt that they were +saved. The deep river, although it was on their flank, seemed to flow +as a barrier against the foe, and it was, in fact, a barrier more and +more, as without its command the second Union army could never have come +to the relief of the first. + +Dick, after a while, saw Colonel Winchester, and other officers near +him. They were talking of their losses. They gave the names of many +generals and colonels who had been killed. Presently they moved away, +and he fell into an uneasy sleep, or rather doze, from which he was +awakened after a while by a heavy rumbling sound of a distant cannonade. + +The boy sprang up, wondering why any one should wish to renew the battle +in the middle of the night, and then he saw that it was no battle. +The sound was thunder rolling heavily on the southern horizon, and the +night had become very dark. Vivid flashes of lightning cut the sky, +and a strong wind rushed among the trees. Heavy drops of water struck +him in the face and then the rain swept down. + +Dick did not seek protection from the storm, nor did any of those near +him. The cool drops were grateful to their faces after the heat and +strife of the day. Their pulses became stronger, and the blood flowed +in a quickened torrent through their veins. They let it pour upon them, +merely seeking to keep their ammunition dry. + +Ten thousand wounded were yet lying untouched in the forest, but the +rain was grateful to them, too. When they could they turned their +fevered faces up to it that it might beat upon them and bring grateful +coolness. + +Deep in the night a council like that of the Southern generals was held +in the Northern camp, also. Grant, his face an expressionless mask, +presided, and said but little. Buell, Sherman, McClernand, Nelson, +Wallace and others, were there, and Buell and Sherman, like their chief, +spoke little. The three men upon whom most rested were very taciturn +that night, but it is likely that extraordinary thoughts were passing +in the minds of every one of the three. + +Grant, after a day in which any one of a dozen chances would have +wrecked him, must have concluded that in very deed and truth he was the +favorite child of Fortune. When one is saved again and again from the +very verge he begins to believe that failure is impossible, and in that +very belief lies the greatest guard against failure. + +It is said of Grant that in the night after his great defeat around the +church of Shiloh, he was still confident, that he told his generals they +would certainly win on the morrow, and he reminded them that if the +Union army had suffered terribly, the Southern army must have suffered +almost equally so, and would face them at dawn with numbers far less +than their own. He had not displayed the greatest skill, but he had +shown the greatest moral courage, and now on the night between battles +it was that quality that was needed most. + +Dick, not having slept any the night before, and having passed through a +day of fierce battle, was overcome after midnight, and sank into a sleep +that was mere lethargy. He awoke once before dawn and remembered, +but vaguely, all that had happened. Yet he was conscious that there was +much movement in the forest. He heard the tread of many feet, the sound +of commands, the neigh of horses and the rumbling of cannon wheels. +The Army of the Ohio was passing to the exposed flank of the Army of the +Tennessee and at dawn it would all be in line. He also caught flitting +glimpses of the Tennessee, and of the steamers loaded with troops still +crossing, and he heard the boom of the heavy cannon on the gunboats +which still, at regular and short intervals, sent huge shells curving +into the forest toward the camp of the Southern army. He also saw near +him Warner and Pennington sound asleep on the ground, and then he sank +back into his own lethargic slumber. + +He was awakened by the call of a trumpet, and, as he rose, he saw the +whole regiment or rather, what was left of it, rising with him. It +was not yet dawn, and a light rain was falling, but smoldering fires +disclosed the ground for some distance, and also the river on which the +gunboats and transports were now gathered in a fleet. + +Colonel Winchester beckoned to him. + +"All right this morning, Dick?" he said. + +"Yes, sir; I'm ready for my duty." + +"And you, too, Warner and Pennington?" + +"We are, sir," they replied together. + +"Then keep close beside me. I don't know when I may want you for a +message. Daybreak will be here in a half hour. The entire Army of the +Ohio, led by General Buell in person will be in position then or very +shortly afterward, and a new, and, we hope, a very different battle will +begin." + +Food and coffee were served to the men, and while the rain was still +falling they formed in line and awaited the dawn. The desire to +retrieve their fortunes was as strong among the farmer lads as it was +among the officers who took care to spread among them the statement that +Buell's army alone was as numerous as the Southern force, and probably +more numerous since their enemy must have sustained terrible losses. +Thus they stood patiently, while the rain thinned and the sun at last +showed a red edge through floating clouds. + +They waited yet a little while longer, and then the boom of a heavy gun +in the forest told them that the enemy was advancing to begin the battle +afresh. Again it was the Southern army that attacked, although it was +no surprise now. Yet Beauregard and his generals were still sanguine +of completing the victory. Their scouts and skirmishers had failed to +discover that the entire army of Buell also was now in front of them. + +Bragg was gathering his division on the left to hurl it like a +thunderbolt upon Grant's shattered brigades. Hardee and the bishop- +general were in the center, and Breckinridge led the right. But as they +moved forward to attack the Union troops came out to meet them. Nelson +had occupied the high ground between Lick and Owl Creeks, and his and +the Southern troops met in a fierce clash shortly after dawn. + +Beauregard, drawn by the firing at that point, and noticing the courage +and tenacity with which the Northern troops held their ground, sending +in volley after volley, divined at once that these were not the beaten +troops of the day before, but new men. This swarthy general, volatile +and dramatic, nevertheless had great penetration. He understood on +the instant a fact that his soldiers did not comprehend until later. +He knew that the whole army of Buell was now before him. + +For the moment it was Beauregard and Buell who were the protagonists, +instead of Grant and Johnston as on the day before. The Southern leader +gathered all his forces and hurled them upon Nelson. Weary though the +Southern soldiers were, their attack was made with utmost fire and +vigor. A long and furious combat ensued. A Southern division under +Cheatham rushed to the help of their fellows. Buell's forces were +driven in again and again, and only his heavy batteries enabled him to +regain his lost ground. + +Buell led splendid troops that he had trained long and rigidly, and they +had not been in the conflict the day before. Fresh and with unbroken +ranks, not a man wounded or missing, they had entered the battle and +both Grant and Buell, as well as their division commanders, expected an +easy victory where the Army of the Ohio stood. + +Buell, to his amazement, saw himself reduced to the defensive. He and +Grant had reckoned that the decimated brigades of the South could not +stand at all before him, but just as on the first day they came on with +the fierce rebel yell, hurling themselves upon superior numbers, taking +the cannon of their enemy, losing them, and retaking them and losing +them again, but never yielding. + +The great conflict increased in violence. Buell, a man of iron courage, +saw that his soldiers must fight to the uttermost, not for victory only, +but even to ward off defeat. The dawn was now far advanced. The rain +had ceased, and the sun again shot down sheaves of fiery rays upon a +vast low cloud of fire and smoke in which thousands of men met in +desperate combat. + +Nine o'clock came. It had been expected by Grant that Buell long before +that time would have swept everything before him. But for three hours +Buell had been fighting to keep himself from being swept away. The +Southern troops seemed animated by that extraordinary battle fever and +absolute contempt of death which distinguished them so often during this +war. Buell's army was driven in on both flanks, and only the center +held fast. It began to seem possible that the South, despite her +reduced ranks might yet defeat both Northern armies. Another battery +dashed up to the relief of the men in blue. It was charged at once by +the men in gray so fiercely that the gunners were glad to escape with +their guns, and once more the wild rebel yell of triumph swelled through +the southern forest. + +Dick, standing with his comrades on one of the ridges that they had +defended so well, listened to the roar of conflict on the wing, ever +increasing in volume, and watched the vast clouds of smoke gathering +over the forest. He could see from where he stood the flash of rifle +fire and the blaze of cannon, and both eye and ear told him that the +battle was not moving back upon the South. + +"It seems that we do not make headway, sir," he said to Colonel +Winchester, who also stood by him, looking and listening. + +"Not that I can perceive," replied the colonel, "and yet with the rush +of forty thousand fresh troops of ours upon the field I deemed victory +quick and easy. How the battle grows! How the South fights!" + +Colonel Winchester walked away presently and joined Sherman, who was +eagerly watching the mighty conflict, into which he knew that his own +worn and shattered troops must sooner or later be drawn. He walked up +and down in front of his lines, saying little but seeing everything. +His tall form was seen by all his men. He, too, must have felt a +singular thrill at that moment. He must have known that his star was +rising. He, more than any other, with his valor, penetrating mind and +decision had saved the Northern army from complete destruction the +first day at Shiloh. He had not been able to avert defeat, but he had +prevented utter ruin. His division alone had held together in the face +of the Southern attack until night came. + +Sherman must have recalled, too, how his statement that the North would +need 200,000 troops in the west alone had been sneered at, and he had +been called mad. But he neither boasted nor predicted, continuing to +watch intently the swelling battle. + +"I had enough fighting yesterday to last me a hundred years," said +Warner to Dick, "but it seems that I'm to have more today. If the +Johnnies had any regard for the rules of war they'd have retreated long +ago." + +"We'll win yet," said Dick hopefully, "but I don't think we can achieve +any big victory. Look, there's General Grant himself." + +Grant was passing along his whole line. While leaving the main battle +to Buell he retained general command and watched everything. He, too, +observed the failure of Buell's army to drive the enemy before them, +and he must have felt a sinking of the heart, but he did not show it. +Instead he spoke only of victory, when he made any comment at all, +and sent the members of his staff to make new arrangements. He must +bring into action every gun and man he had or he would yet lose. + +It was now 10 o'clock and the new battle had lasted with the utmost fury +and desperation for four hours. Dick, after General Grant rode on, +felt as if a sudden thrill had run through the whole army. He saw +men rising from the earth and tightening their belts. He saw gunners +gathering around their guns and making ready with the ammunition. +He knew the remains of Grant's army were about to march upon the enemy, +helping the Army of the Ohio to achieve the task that had proved so +great. + +Sherman, McClernand and other generals now passed among their troops, +cheering them, telling them that the time had come to win back what they +had lost the day before, and that victory was sure. They called upon +them for another great effort, and a shout rolled along the line of +willing soldiers. + +Sherman's whole division now raised itself up and rushed at the enemy, +Dick and his comrades in the front of their own regiment. The whole +Northern line was now engaged. Grant, true to his resolution, had +hurled every man and every gun upon his foe. + +The Southern generals felt the immense weight of the numbers that were +now driving down upon them. Their decimated ranks could not withstand +the charge of two armies. In the center where Buell's men, having stood +fast from the first, were now advancing, they were compelled to give way +and lost several guns. On the wings the heavy Northern brigades were +advancing also, and the whole Southern line was pushed back. So much +inferior was the South in numbers that her enemy began to overlap her on +the flanks also. + +A tremendous shout of exultation swept through the Northern ranks, +as they felt themselves advancing. The promises of their generals were +coming true, and there is nothing sweeter than victory after defeat. +Fortune, after frowning upon her so long, was now smiling upon the +North. The exultant cheer swept through the ranks again, and back came +the defiant rebel yell. + +A young soldier often feels what is happening with as true instinct as a +general. Dick now knew that the North would recover the field, and that +the South, cut down fearfully, though having performed prodigies of +valor, must fight to save herself. He felt that the resistance in front +of them was no longer invincible. He saw in the flash of the firing +that the Southern ranks were thin, very thin, and he knew that there was +no break in their own advance. + +Now the sanguine Northern generals planned the entire destruction of +the Southern army. There was only one road by which Beauregard could +retreat to Corinth. A whole Northern division rushed in to block the +way. Sherman, in his advance, came again to the ground around the +little Methodist chapel of Shiloh which he had defended so well the +day before, and crowded his whole force upon the Southern line at that +point. Once more the primitive church in the woods looked down upon one +of the most sanguinary conflicts of the whole war. If Sherman could +break through the Southern line here Beauregard's whole army would be +lost. + +But the Southern soldiers were capable of another and a mighty effort. +Their generals saw the danger and acted with their usual promptness and +decision. They gathered together their shattered brigades and hurled +them like a thunderbolt upon the Union left and center. The shock was +terrific. Sherman, with all his staunchness and the valor of his men, +was compelled to give way. McClernand, too, reeled back, others were +driven in also. Whole brigades and regiments were cut to pieces or +thrown in confusion. The Southerners cut a wide gap in the Northern +army, through which they rushed in triumph, holding the Corinth road +against every attack and making their rear secure. + +Sherman's division, after its momentary repulse, gathered itself anew, +and, although knowing now that the Southern army could not be entrapped, +drove again with all its might upon the positions around the church. +They passed over the dead of the day before, and gathered increasing +vigor, as they saw that the enemy was slowly drawing back. + +Grant reformed his line, which had been shattered by the last fiery and +successful attack of the South. Along the whole long line the trumpets +sang the charge, and brigades and batteries advanced. + +But the end of Shiloh was at hand. Despite the prodigies of valor +performed by their men, the Southern generals saw that they could not +longer hold the field. The junction of Grant and Buell, after all, +had proved too much for them. The bugles sounded the retreat, and +reluctantly they gave up the ground which they had won with so much +courage and daring. They retreated rather as victors than defeated men, +presenting a bristling front to the enemy until their regiments were +lost in the forest, and beating off every attempt of skirmishers or +cavalry to molest them. + +It was the middle of the afternoon when the last shot was fired, and the +Southern army at its leisure resumed its march toward Corinth, protected +on the flanks by its cavalry, and carrying with it the assurance that +although not victorious over two armies it had been victorious over one, +and had struck the most stunning blow yet known in American history. + +When the last of the Southern regiments disappeared in the deep woods, +Dick and many of those around him sank exhausted upon the ground. +Even had they been ordered to follow they would have been incapable of +it. Complete nervous collapse followed such days and nights as those +through which they had passed. + +Nor did Grant and Buell wish to pursue. Their armies had been too +terribly shaken to make another attack. Nearly fifteen thousand of +their men had fallen and the dead and wounded still lay scattered widely +through the woods. The South had lost almost as many. Nearly a third +of her army had been killed or wounded in the battle, and yet they +retired in good order, showing the desperate valor of these sons of hers. + +The double army which had saved itself, but which had yet been unable to +destroy its enemy, slept that night in the recovered camp. The generals +discussed in subdued tones their narrow escape, and the soldiers, +who now understood very well what had happened, talked of it in the same +way. + +"We knew that it was going to be a big war," said Dick, "but it's going +to be far bigger than we thought." + +"And we won't make that easy parade down to the Gulf," said Warner. +"I'm thinking that a lot of lions are in the path." + +"But we'll win!" said Dick. "In the end we'll surely win!" + +Then after dreaming a little with his eyes open he fell asleep, +gathering new strength for mighty campaigns yet to come. + + + + + +Appendix: Transcription notes: + +This etext was transcribed from a volume of the 22nd printing + + +The following modifications were applied while transcribing the +printed book to e-text: + + chapter 2 + - Page 40, para 6, changed comma to period + + chapter 3 + - Page 59, para 3, fixed mis-printed quotation mark + + chapter 4 + - Page 73, para 6, fixed typo ("thy") + - Page 74, para 1, add missing end-quote + + chapter 5 + - Page 95, para 3, add missing end-quote + - Page 102, para 5, add missing comma + + chapter 6 + - Page 118, para 3, fixed typo ("lenghening") + - Page 119, para 6, fixed typo ("untils") + - Page 120, para 3, fixed typo ("alrming") + + chapter 7 + - Page 139, para 4, add missing begin-quote + + chapter 9 + - Page 184, para 2, add missing begin-quote + + chapter 10 + - Page 197, para 7, fixed typo ("Your're") + + chapter 15 + - Page 299, para 2, fixed typo ("genuis") + + chapter 16 + - Page 331, para 2, fixed typo (changed "not" to "nor") + + Limitations imposed by converting to plain ASCII: + + - Throughout the printed book, in any quasi-mathematical passages + which use the variables "x" and "y", those variable names are + presented in italics. Italics are not available in plain ASCII. + + +I did not modify: + + - The printed book sometimes uses the spelling "despatch", other + times "dispatch". Also, both "intrenchments" and "entrenchments". + + - Chapter 12, page 245, "grewsome" + + - There are a number of instances where the use of the comma in the + printed book seems to me inappropriate, mainly in terms of commas + inserted where I would not insert them, and also sometimes commas + lacking where I would provide them. However, I have adhered to + the punctuation as printed (except for obvious printing errors, + which are noted above). + + For example: + + The hills rolled far away southward, and under the horizon's rim. + + The three bade farewell to the young operator, then to almost all + of Hubbard and proceeded in a trot for the pass. + + One day Major Hertford sent Dick, Warner, and Sergeant Whitley, + ahead to scout. + + The two young aides carried away by success and the fire of + battle, waved their swords continually and rushed at the + enemy's lines. + + Duck River, which Buell was compelled to cross, was swollen like + all the other streams of the region, by the great rains and was + forty feet deep. + + - The author sometimes uses a technique whereby a paragraph introducing + a quotation ends with a colon, with the quotation following as the + next paragraph. + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Guns of Shiloh, by Joseph A. 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