CHAPTER X. THE GREAT ASSAULT
The light from the door that was always open illumined the room. Therising sun must have struck full upon it, because it was almost asbright as day there. Slade was in his butternut uniform, and his rifleleaned against the wall. Now that he had made the slight opening Dickcould understand their words.
"There are spies within Vicksburg, sir," said Slade. "Colonel Dustindetected one last night, but in the darkness he escaped down thisravine. The alarm was spread and he could not have got outside ourlines. I must catch him. It will be a credit to me to do so. I was underyour command, and, although not in active service owing to your wound,your word will go far. I want you to get me an order to search everyhouse or place in which he could hide."
"Not too much zeal, my worthy Slade. Talleyrand said that, but you neverheard of him. Excessive suspicion is not a good thing. It was your chieffault as an overseer, although I willingly pay tribute to your energyand attention to detail. This business of hunting spies is greatlyoverdone. The fate of Vicksburg will be settled by the cannon and therifles."
"But, sir, they can do us great harm."
"Listen to that, my good Slade."
The deep booming note of the distant cannon entered the cave.
"That is the sound of Grant's guns. He can fight better with thoseweapons than with spies."
But Slade persisted, and Colonel Woodville, with an occasional wordfrom his daughter, fenced with him, always using a light bantering tone,while the lad who lay so near listened, his pulses beating hard in histemples and throat.
"Your vigilance is to be commended, my good Slade," Dick heard ColonelWoodville say, "but to-day at least I cannot secure such a commissionfor you from General Pemberton. We hear that Grant is massing his troopsfor a grand attack, and there is little time to thresh up all our ownquarters for spies. We must think more of our battle line. To-morrow wemay have a plan. Come back to me then, and we will talk further on thesematters."
"But think, sir, what a day may cost us!"
"You show impatience, not to say haste, Slade, and little is everachieved by thoughtless haste. The enemy is closing in upon us, and itmust be our chief effort to break his iron ring. Ah, here is my nephew!He may give us further news on these grave matters."
Dick saw the entrance darken for a moment, then lighten again, andthat gallant youth, Victor Woodville, with whom he had fought so good afight, stood in the room. He was still pale and he carried his left armin a sling, but it was evident that his recovery from his wound had beenrapid. Dick saw the stern face of the old colonel brighten a bit, whilethe tender smile curved again about the thin lips of the spinster.
Young Woodville gave a warm greeting to his uncle and elderly cousin,and nodded to Slade. Dick believed from his gesture that he did not likethe guerilla leader, or at least he hoped so.
"Victor," said the colonel, "what word do you bring?"
"Grant is advancing his batteries, and they seem to be massing forattack. It will surely come in a day or two."
"As I thought. Then we shall need all our energies for immediate battle.And now, Mr. Slade, as I said before, I will see you again to-morrowabout the matter of which we were speaking. I am old, wounded, and Igrow weary. I would rest."
Slade rose to go. He was not a pleasant sight. His clothes were soiledand stained, and his face was covered with ragged beard. The eyes werefull of venom and malice.
"Good day, Colonel Woodville," he said, "but I feel that I must bringthe matter up again. As a scout and leader of irregulars for theConfederacy. I must be active in order to cope with the enemy's ownscouts and spies. I shall return early to-morrow morning."
Colonel Woodville waved his hand and Slade, bowing, withdrew.
"Why was he so persistent, Uncle Charles?" asked Victor. "He seemed tohave some underlying motive."
"He always has such a motive, Victor. He is a man who suspects everybodybecause he knows everybody has a right to suspect him. He may even havebeen suspecting me, his old, and, I fear, too generous employer. He hasa mania about a spy hidden somewhere in Vicksburg."
Young Victor Woodville laughed gayly.
"What folly," he said, "for your old overseer, a man of Northern originto boot, to suspect you, of all men, of helping a Yankee in any way.Why, Uncle Charles, everybody knows that you'd annihilate 'em if youcould, and that you were making good progress with the task until yougot that wound."
Colonel Woodville drew his great, white eyebrows together in hischaracteristic way.
"I admit, Victor, that I'm the prince of Yankee haters," he said."They've ruined me, and if they succeed they'll ruin our state and thewhole South, too. We've fled for refuge to a hole in the ground, and yetthey come thundering at the door of so poor an abode. Listen!"
They heard plainly the far rumble of the cannon. The intensity of thefire increased with the growing day. Shells and bombs were fallingrapidly on Vicksburg. The face of Colonel Woodville darkened and theeyes under the white thatch burned.
"Nevertheless, Victor," he said, "hate the Yankees as I do, and I hatethem with all my heart and soul, there are some things a gentlemancannot do."
"What for instance, Uncle?"
"He cannot break faith. He cannot do evil to those who have done good tohim. He must repay benefits with benefits. He cannot permit the burdenof obligation to remain upon him. Go to the door, Victor, and see if anyone is lurking there."
Young Woodville went to the entrance and returned with word that no onewas near.
"Victor," resumed Colonel Woodville, "this man Slade, who was sopreposterously wrong, this common overseer from the hostile sectionwhich seeks with force to put us down, this miserable fellow who hadthe presumption to suspect me, lying here with a wound, received in thedefense of the Confederacy, was nevertheless right."
Victor stared, not understanding, and Colonel Woodville raised himself alittle higher on his pillows.
"Since when," he asked of all the world, "has a Woodville refused topay his debts? Since when has a Woodville refused asylum to one whoprotected him and his in the hour of danger? Margaret, lift the blanketand invite our young friend in."
Dick was on his feet in an instant, and came into the chamber, utteringthanks to the man who, in spite of so much bitterness against his cause,could yet shelter him.
Young Woodville exclaimed in surprise.
"The Yankee with whom I fought at Bellevue!" he said.
"And the one who ignored your presence at Jackson," said Miss Woodville.
The two lads shook hands.
"And now," said Colonel Woodville, his old sharpness returning,"we shall be on even terms, young sir. Your uniform bears a faintresemblance to that of your own army, and Slade, cunning and cruel, mayhave had you shot as a spy. You would be taken within our lines and thisis no time for long examinations."
"I know how much I owe you, sir," said Dick, "and I know how much dangermy presence here brings upon you. I will leave as soon as the ravine isclear. The gathering of the troops for battle will give me a chance."
"You will do nothing of the kind. Having begun the task we will carry itthrough. Our cave home rambles. There is a little apartment belongingto Victor, in which you may put yourself in shape. I advise you to liequiet here for a day or two, and then if I am still able to put my handon you I may turn you over with full explanations to the authorities."
Dick noted the significance of the words, "if I am still able to put myhand on you," but he merely spoke of his gratitude and went with youngWoodville into the little apartment. It was on the right side of thehall, and a round shutterless hole opened into the ravine, admittinglight and air. The "window," which was not more than a foot in diameterfaced toward the east and gave a view of earthworks, and the regionbeyond, where the Union army stood.
The room itself contained but little, a cot, some blankets, clothing,and articles of the toilet.
"Mason," said Woodville, "make yourself as comfortable as you can here.I did not know until I esca
ped from Jackson that it was you who ignoredmy presence there. You seem in some manner to have won the good opinionof my uncle, and, in any event, he could not bear to remain in debt to aYankee. If you're careful you're safe here for the day, although you maybe lonesome. I must go at once to our lines. Cousin Margaret will bringyou something to eat."
They shook hands again.
"I can't do much fighting," said Woodville, "owing to this wounded armof mine, but I can carry messages, and the line is so long many are tobe taken."
He went out and Miss Woodville came soon with food on a tray. Dicksuspected that they could ill spare it, but he must eat and he feared tooffer pay. It embarrassed him, too, that she should wait upon him, but,in their situation, it was absolutely necessary that she do so, evenwere there a servant somewhere, which he doubted. But she left the tray,and when she returned for it an hour later she had only a few words tosay.
Dick stood at the round hole that served as a window. There werebushes about it, and, at that point, the cliff seemed to be almostperpendicular. He was safe from observation and he looked over avast expanse of country. The morning was dazzlingly clear, and he sawsections of the Confederate earthworks with their men and guns, and farbeyond them other earthworks and other guns, which he knew were those ofhis own people.
While he stood there alone, free from the tension that had lastedwhile Slade was present, he realized the great volume of fire that theNorthern cannon were pouring without ceasing upon Vicksburg. The deeprumble was continually in his ears, and at times his imagination madethe earth shake. He saw two shells burst in the air, and a shatteringexplosion told that a third struck near by. To the eastward smoke wasalways drifting. The Southern cannon seldom replied.
He resolved to attempt escape during the coming night. It hurt him tobring danger upon the Woodvilles and he wished, too, to fulfill hismission. Others, beyond question, would reach the fleet with themessage, but he wished to reach it also.
Yet nothing new occurred during all the long day. Miss Woodville broughthim more food at noon, but scarcely spoke. Then he returned to the holein the cliff, and remained there until twilight. Young Woodvillecame, and he gathered from his manner that there had been no importantmovement of the armies, that all as yet was preparation. But he inferredthat the storm was coming, and he told Victor that he meant to leavethat night.
He was opposed vehemently. The line of Southern sentinels watchedeverywhere. Slade was most vigilant. He might come at any time into theravine. No, he must wait. The next night, perhaps, but in any event hemust remain a while.
Nor did he depart the next night either. Instead, two or three dayspassed, and he was still in the house dug in the hillside, a guest andyet a captive. The bombardment had gone on, his food was still broughtto him by Miss Woodville, and once or twice Victor came, but Dick, as hewas in honor bound, asked him no question about the armies.
The waiting, the loneliness and the suspense were terrible to one soyoung, and so ambitious. And yet he had fared better than he had a rightto expect, a fact, however, that did not relieve his situation.
Another night came, and he went to sleep in his lonely cell in the wall,but he was awakened while it was yet intensely dark by a cannonade farsurpassing in violence any that had gone before. He rushed to the hole,but he could see nothing in the ravine. Yet the whole plateau seemed toshake with the violence of the concussions and the crash of explodingshells.
The fire came from all sides, from the river as well as the land. Theboom of the huge mortars on the boats there sounded above everything.Dick knew absolutely now that the message he was to carry had beendelivered by somebody else.
He heard under the continued thunder of the guns sharp commands, and thetread of many troops moving. He knew that the Southern forces were goinginto position, and he felt himself that the tremendous fire was theprelude to a great attack. His excitement grew. He strained his eyes,but he could see nothing in the dark ravine, or out there where thecannon roared, save the rapid, red flashes under the dim horizon. He hadhis watch and he had kept it running. Now he was able to make out thatit was only three o'clock in the morning. A long time until day andhe must wait until then to know what such a furious convulsion wouldachieve.
The slow time passed, and there was no decrease of the fire. Once ortwice he came away from the window and listened at the entrance to hislittle room, but he could hear nothing stirring in the larger chamber.Yet it was incredible that Colonel Woodville and his daughter should notbe awake. They would certainly be listening with an anxiety and suspensenot less than his.
Dawn came after painful ages, and slowly the region out there where theUnion army lay rose into the light. But it was a red dawn, a dawn inflame and smoke. Scores of guns crashed in front, and behind the heavybooming of the mortars on the boats formed the overnote of the storm.
The opening was not large, but it afforded the lad a good view, and hethrust his head out as far as he could, every nerve in him leaping atthe deep roar of the cannonade. He had no doubt that the assault wasabout to be made. He was wild with eagerness to see it, and it was acruel hurt to his spirit that he was held there, and could not take apart in it.
He thought of rushing from the place, and of seeking a way through thelines to his own army, but a little reflection showed him that it wouldbe folly. He must merely be a witness, while Colonel Winchester, Warner,Pennington, the sergeant, Colonel Hertford, all whom he knew and thetens of thousands whom he did not know, fought the battle.
A tremendous sound, distant and steady, would not blot out much smallersounds nearby, and now he heard noises in the larger chamber. The voiceof Colonel Woodville was raised in sharp command.
"Lift me up!" he said, "I must see! Must I lie here, eating my soul out,when a great battle is going on! Help me up, I say! Wound or no wound, Iwill go to the door!"
Then the voice of Miss Woodville attempting to soothe was heard, butthe colonel broke forth more furiously than ever, not at her, but at hisunhappy fate.
Dick, spurred by impulse, left his alcove and entered the room.
"Sir," he said respectfully to Colonel Woodville, "you are eager to see,and so am I. May I help you?"
Colonel Woodville turned a red eye upon him.
"Young man," he said, "you have shown before a sense of fitness, andyour appearance now is most welcome. You shall help me to the door,and I will lean upon you. Together we will see what is going to happen,although I wish for one result, and you for another. No, Margaret, itis not worth while to protest any further. My young Yankee and I willmanage it very well between us."
Miss Woodville stepped aside and smiled wanly.
"I think it is best, Miss Woodville," Dick said in a low tone.
"Perhaps," she replied.
Colonel Woodville impatiently threw off the cover. He wore a long purpledressing gown, and his wound was in the leg, but it was partly healed.Dick helped him out of the bed and then supported him with his arm underhis shoulder. Within that singular abode the roar of the guns was asteady and sinister mutter, but beneath it now appeared another note.
Colonel Woodville had begun to swear. It was not the torrent of loudimprecation that Dick had heard in Jackson, but subdued, and all themore fierce because it was so like the ferocious whine of a powerful andhurt wild animal. Swearing was common enough among the older men of theSouth, even among the educated, but Colonel Woodville now surpassed themall.
Dick heard oaths, ripe and rich, entirely new to him, and he heard theold ones in new arrangements and with new inflections. And yet there wasno blasphemy about it. It seemed a part of time and place, and, what wasmore, it seemed natural coming from the lips of the old colonel.
They reached the door, the cut in the side of the ravine, and at once awide portion of the battlefield sprang into the light, while the roarof the guns was redoubled. Dick would have stepped back now, but ColonelWoodville's hand rested on his shoulder and his support was needed.
"My glasses, Margaret!" said the colonel.
"I must see! I will see! IfI am but an old hound, lying here while the pack is in full cry, I willnevertheless see the chase! And even if I am an old hound I could runwith the best of them if that infernal Yankee bullet had not taken me inthe leg!"
Miss Woodville brought him the glasses, a powerful pair, and he gluedthem instantly to his eyes. Dick saw only the field of battle, darklines and blurs, the red flare of cannon and rifle fire, and towers andbanks of smoke, but the colonel saw individual human beings, and, withhis trained military eye, he knew what the movements meant. Dick feltthe hand upon his shoulder trembling with excitement. He was excitedhimself. Miss Woodville stood just behind them, and a faint tinge ofcolor appeared in her pale face.
"The Yankees are getting ready to charge," said the colonel. "At thepoint we see they will not yet rush forward. They will, of course, waitfor a preconcerted signal, and then their whole army will attack atonce. But the woods and ravines are filled with their skirmishers,trying to clear the way. I can see them in hundreds and hundreds, andtheir rifles make sheets of flame. All the time the cannon are firingover their heads. Heavens, what a bombardment! I've never beforelistened to its like!"
"What are our troops doing, father?" asked Miss Woodville.
"Very little yet, and they should do little. Pemberton is showing morejudgment than I expected of him. The defense should hold its fire untilthe enemy is well within range and that's what we're doing!"
The colonel leaned a little more heavily upon him, but Dick steadiedhimself. The old man still kept the glasses to his eyes, and swept themback and forth in as wide an arc as their position permitted. The hillsshook with the thunder of the cannon, and the brilliant sun, piercingthrough the smoke, lighted up the vast battle line.
"The attack of the skirmishers grows hotter," said the old man. "Thethickets blaze with the fire of their rifles. Heavy masses of infantryare moving forward. Now they stop and lie on their arms. They areawaiting the word from other parts of the field, and it shows withcertainty that a grand attack is coming. Two batteries of eight gunseach have come nearer. I did not think it possible for the fire of theircannon to increase, but it has done so. Young sir, would you care tolook through the glasses?"
"I believe not, Colonel. I will trust to the naked eye and your report."
It was an odd feeling that made Dick decline the glasses. If he lookedhe must tell to the others what he saw, and he wished to show neitherexultation nor depression. The colonel, the duty of courtesy discharged,resumed his own position of witness and herald.
"The columns of infantry are getting up again," he said. "I see a man inwhat I take to be a general's uniform riding along their front. Hemust be making a speech. No doubt he knows the desperate nature ofthe attack, and would inspire them. Now he is gone and other officers,colonels and majors are moving about."
"What are the skirmishers doing, Colonel?"
"Their fire is not so hot. They must be drawing back. They have madethe prelude, and the importance of their role has passed. The massesof infantry are drawing together again. Now I see men on horseback withtrumpets to their lips. Yes, the charge is coming. Ah-h! That burntthem!"
There was a terrific crash much nearer, and Dick knew that it was theSouthern batteries opening fire. The shoulder upon which the colonel'shand rested shook a little, but it was from excitement. He said nothingand Colonel Woodville continued:
"The smoke is so heavy I can't see what damage was done! Now it hascleared away! There are gaps in the Yankee lines, but the men haveclosed up, and they come on at the double quick with their cannon stillfiring over their heads!"
In his excitement he took his hand off Dick's shoulder and leanedforward a little farther, supporting himself now against the earthenwall. Dick stood just behind him, shielded from the sight of any onewho might be passing in the ravine, although there was little danger nowfrom searchers with a great battle going on. Meanwhile he watched thecombat with an eagerness fully equal to that of the old colonel.
The mighty crash of cannon and rifles together continued, but for alittle while the smoke banked up in front so densely that the wholecombat was hidden from them. Then a wind slowly rolled the smoke away.The figures of the men began to appear like shadowy tracery, and thenemerged, distinct and separate from the haze.
"They are nearer now," said the Colonel. "I can plainly see their longlines moving and their light guns coming with them. But our batteriesare raking them horribly. Their men are falling by the scores andhundreds."
Miss Woodville uttered a deep sigh and turned her face away. But shelooked again in a few moments. The terrible spell was upon her, too.
Dick's nerves were quivering. His heart was with the assailants andtheirs with the assailed, but he would not speak aloud against the hopesof Colonel Woodville and his daughter, since he was in their house, suchas it was, and, in a measure, under their protection.
"Their charge is splendid," continued the colonel, "and I hope Pembertonhas made full use of the ground for defense! He will need all the helphe can get! Oh, to be out of the battle on such a day! The smoke is inthe way again and I can see nothing. Now it has passed and the enemy isstill advancing, but our fire grows hotter and hotter! The shells andthe grape and the canister and the bullets are smashing through them.They cannot live under it! They must go back!"
Nevertheless the blue lines came steadily toward the Southernearthworks. Dick saw officers, some ahorse, and some afoot, rushingabout and encouraging the men, and he saw many fall and lie still whilethe regiments passed on.
"They are in the nearer thickets," cried the colonel, "and now they'reclimbing the slopes! Ah, you riflemen, your target is there!"
The Northern army was so near now that the Southern rifle fire wasbeating upon it like a storm. Never flinching, the men of the west andnorthwest hurled themselves upon the powerful fortified positions. Somereached shelves of the plateau almost at the mouths of the guns and hungthere, their comrades falling dead or dying around them, but now therebel yell began to swell along the vast line, and reached the ears ofthose in the ravine.
"The omen of victory!" exclaimed the colonel exultantly. "Our brave ladsfeel that they're about to triumph! Grant can't break through our line!Why doesn't he call off his men? It's slaughter!"
Dick's heart sank. He knew that the colonel's words were true. TheSouthern army, posted in its defenses, was breaking the ring of steelthat sought to crush it to death. Groups of men in blue who had seizedground in the very front of the defenses either died there or weregradually driven back. The inner ring along its front of miles thunderedincessantly on the outer ring, and repelled every attempt to crush it.
"They yield," said the colonel, after a long time. "The Northern firehas sunk at many points, and there! and there! they're retreating! Theattack has failed and the South has won a victory!"
"But Grant will come again," said Dick, speaking his opinion for thefirst time.
"No doubt of it," said Colonel Woodville, "but likely he will come tothe same fate."
He spoke wholly without animosity. The battle now died fast. The menin gray had been invincible. Their cannon and rifles had made animpenetrable barrier of fire, and Grant, despite the valor of histroops, had been forced to draw off. Many thousands had fallen and theSouthern generals were exultant. Johnston would come up, and Grant,having such heavy losses, would be unable to withstand the unitedConfederate armies.
But Grant, as Colonel Woodville foresaw, had no idea of retreating.Fresh troops were pouring down the great river for him, and while hewould not again attempt to storm Vicksburg, the ring of steel around itwould be made so broad and strong that Pemberton could not get out norcould Johnston get in.
When the last cannon shot echoed over the far hills Colonel Woodvilleturned away from the door of his hillside home.
"I must ask your shoulder again, young sir," he said to Dick. "What Ihave seen rejoices me greatly, but I do not say it to taunt you. Inwar if one wins the other must lose, and bear in mind that you are theinv
ader."
"May I help you back to your bed, sir?" asked Dick.
"You may. You are a good young man. I'm glad I saved you from thatscoundrel, Slade. As the score between us is even I wish that you wereout of Vicksburg and with your own people."
"I was thinking, too, sir, that I ought to go. I may take a quickdeparture."
"Then if you do go I wish you a speedy and safe journey, but I tell youto beware of one, Slade, who has a malicious heart and a long memory."
Dick withdrew to his own cell, as he called it, and he passed bitterhours there. The repulse had struck him a hard blow. Was it possiblethat Grant could not win? And if he could not win what terrible riskshe would run in the heart of the Confederacy, with perhaps two armies tofight! He felt that only the Mississippi, that life-line connecting himwith the North, could save him.
But as dusk came gradually in the ravine he resolved that he would go.His supper, as usual, was brought to him by Miss Woodville. She was astaciturn as ever, speaking scarcely a half-dozen words. When he askedher if Victor had gone through the battle unharmed she merely nodded,and presently he was alone again, with the dusk deepening in the greatgully.
Dick was confident that nobody but Colonel Woodville, his daughter, andhimself were in the cave-home. It was but a small place, and new callousplaces on her hands indicated that she was doing the cooking and allother work. His resolve to risk everything and go was strengthened.
He waited patiently until the full night had come and only the usualsounds of an army in camp arose. Then he made ready. He had surrenderedhis holster and pistols to Colonel Woodville, and so he must issue forthunarmed, but it could not be helped. He had several ten dollar goldpieces in his pocket, and he put one of them on the tiny table in hiscell. He knew that it would be most welcome, and he could not calculatehow many hundreds in Confederacy currency it was worth. He was glad thathe could repay a little at least.
Then he stepped lightly toward the larger chamber in which ColonelWoodville lay. The usual candle was burning on the table near his bed,but the great bald head lay motionless on the pillow, and the heavywhite eyebrows drooped over closed lids. Sound asleep! Dick was gladof it. The colonel, with his strong loyalty to the South, might seekto hold him, at least as his personal prisoner, and now the trouble wasavoided.
He moved gently across the floor, and then passed toward the open door.How good that puff of fresh air and freedom felt on his face! He did notknow that Colonel Woodville raised his head on the pillow, glanced afterhim, and then let his head sink back and his eyes close again. A lowsigh came between the colonel's lips, and it would have been difficultto say whether it was relief or regret.
Dick stepped into the narrow path cut in the side of the ravine andinhaled more draughts of the fresh air. How sweet and strong it was! Howit filled one's lungs and brought with it life, courage and confidence!One had to live in a hole in a hill before he could appreciate fully theblessed winds that blew about the world. He knew that the path ranin front of other hollows dug in the earth, and he felt sorry for thepeople who were compelled to burrow in them. He felt sorry, in truth,for all Vicksburg, because now that he was outside his fears for Grantdisappeared, and he knew that he must win.
While he remained in the path a deep boom came from the direction of theUnion army and a huge shell burst over the town. It was followed in amoment by another and then by many others. While the besieged rejoicedin victory the besiegers had begun anew the terrible bombardment,sending a warning that the iron ring still held.
Dick paused no longer, but ran rapidly along the path until he emergedupon the open plateau and proceeded toward the center of the town. Hejudged that in the hours following a great battle, while there was yetmuch confusion, he would find his best chance.
He had reckoned rightly. There was a great passing to and fro inVicksburg, but its lights were dim. Oil and candles alike were scarce,and there was little but the moon's rays to disclose a town to the eye.The rejoicings over the victory had brought more people than usual intothe streets, but the same exultation made them unsuspicious, and Dickglided among them in the dusk, almost without fear.
He had concluded that "the longest way around was the shortest waythrough," and he directed his steps toward the river. He had formed aclear plan at last, and he believed that it would succeed. Twisting andturning, always keeping in the shadows, he made good progress, descendedthe bluff, and at last stood behind the ruins of an old warehouse nearthe stream.
Southern batteries were not far away from him and he heard the mentalking. Then, strengthening his resolution, he came from behind theruins, flung himself almost flat on the ground, and crawled toward theriver, pushing in front of him a board, which some Northern gun had shotfrom the warehouse.
He knew that his task was difficult and dangerous, though in the lastresort he could rush to the water and spring in. But he was almostat the edge before any sentinel saw the black shadow passing over theground.
A hail came, and Dick flattened himself against the ground and layperfectly still. Evidently the sentinel was satisfied that his fancy hadbeen making merry with him, as he did not look further at the shadow,and Dick, after waiting two or three minutes, resumed his slow creeping.
He reached the edge, shoved the board into it, and dropped gently intothe water beside it, submerged to the head. Then, pushing his supportbefore him, he struck out for the middle of the stream.
The Rock of Chickamauga: A Story of the Western Crisis Page 12