CHAPTER XIII.
A REBEL SOLDIER SPEAKS.
"I just wanted to ask you how and when you got back," said the captain,holding fast to Marcy's hand. "I see Morris over town yesterday, andright there he is going to stay till you come to ride the filly home.How did you like the Yanks, what you seen of 'em?"
"I have no reason to complain of my treatment," replied Marcy. "I had noidea that you were impressed at the time I was, until I saw you on thatgunboat."
"If I'd knowed that they was going to slap the bracelets onto me, theynever would have took me there alive," said Beardsley in savage tones."I'd a fit till I dropped before I would have went a step. Who'd 'a'thought that me and you would ever seen any of them _Hollins_ fellers ona war-ship? I'm mighty sorry now that I didn't stick Captain Benton inirons the same as I done with his men, and it's a lucky thing for himthat he didn't let me have the handling of his ship. I would have runher so hard aground that she would be there now."
"Then it is a lucky thing for you that you were sent below," addedMarcy. "You would have been hanging at the yard-arm in less than tenminutes after you ran the ship ashore. Those gunboat fellows don't standany nonsense."
"Mebbe that's so," said the captain. "And sense I've got home all right,I'm kinder glad things happened as they did. The robbers who went toyour house, after the money they didn't get, used me pretty rough,didn't they?" he added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward thespot on which his home had once stood. "How do you reckon they happenedto know that I wasn't here to fight 'em that night?"
"That is a question I can't answer," replied Marcy, and then he waitedfor Beardsley to say something about the Union men who had rescued himand his mother, but that seemed to be a matter that the captain did notcare to touch upon.
"Don't it beat you what sort of stories get afloat these times?"continued the latter. "There's plenty of people about here who believeyou uns have got money in your house."
"I know it. I told the robbers there wasn't a cent outside of the littlethere was in mother's purse and mine, and asked them to look around andsee if they could find any more. They preferred to choke a differentstory out of me, but they wouldn't have got it if they had choked me todeath. If there is a dollar in the house besides what I offered them, Idon't know it."
"Where's the prize-money I paid you?' asked Beardsley.
"That was safely concealed; but it wasn't what they wanted, and so Isaid nothing about it. They were after money which they and some otherlunatics think my mother brought from Wilmington, when she went there tobuy goods."
"Have you any idea who they were?"
"If I had, I would give their names to the Union commander at Plymouthbefore I was twenty-four hours older," said Marcy emphatically.
"I don't reckon they'll trouble you any more after the lesson they havehad," said Beardsley; and then he hastened to add: "I mean they won'tdare to pester you, now that the Union soldiers are here. And speakingof the Yankees reminds me of another thing I wanted to ask you. Do youreckon--aint I always stood your friend--yourn and your maw's?"
"You need not question me on that point. You know well enough how wefeel over your taking me to sea when you didn't need my services anymore than you need two noses," said Marcy, for once permitting hisindignation to get the better of him. "But I shall not do you any mean,underhanded tricks, if that is what you mean."
"Why, Marcy, I never done you nary one," began Beardsley.
"Captain, I know you from main-truck to kelson," answered the boy,gathering up his reins as if about to ride away. "You took me from mymother for reasons of your own, not because you wanted a pilot; and youhave scarcely made a move since these troubles began that I can't tellyou of. You ought to let up now, and I tell you plainly that you hadbetter."
Beardsley was astounded. His victim had turned at last, and showed thathe was ready to fight. He spoke so positively, and with such easyassurance, that the man was afraid of him.
"Why, Marcy, sure, hope to die I never----"
"Yes, you have. You have been persecuting us systematically, and there'sthe proof of it right there," exclaimed Marcy, pointing to the ruins ofBeardsley's home. "If you had quit that business two months ago, youwould have a house to live in now, and so would Colonel Shelby. Ibelieve I could have sent you to prison by telling Captain Benton a fewscraps of your history, but I wasn't mean enough to do it."
"No, you couldn't," declared Beardsley, who had had time to recover alittle of his courage. "I never was in the Confederate service; and evenif I was, I can't be pestered for it now, kase the Yankees done let mego with the rest of the prisoners."
"You have been a smuggler, haven't you?"
"S'pose I have? I can't be hurt for that now."
"I almost wish I had tested the matter by speaking to Captain Bentonabout it. If I had, I don't think you would have been turned over to thearmy to be paroled with the other prisoners. I could have told him aboutthe _Hattie_, couldn't I?"
"Great smoke!" exclaimed Beardsley. "I never thought of her, and thereshe is in the creek, where they could have picked her up as easy as youplease. It was good of you not to say anything about her, and if I everget a chance I'll show you that you and your maw have been thinking hardof me without a cause."
Beardsley turned away as if he had nothing further to say to Marcy, andthe latter wheeled his horse and rode on toward Nashville, wondering ifhe had made a mistake in talking so plainly to his old commander.
"If I have it is too late to be sorry for it now," was his reflection."But I don't think he can say worse things about me now than he couldbefore. Beardsley is nobody's fool, though he does look like it, and hehas known all along how mother and I feel toward him."
When Marcy reached the village he found the streets almost deserted; buthe knew there was a talkative crowd in the post-office, for every timethe door was opened loud and angry voices came through it. Tom Allison,Mark Goodwin, and their friends were not at hand to have the first talkwith him, as Marcy thought they would be, but he found them in theoffice listening to an excited harangue from a paroled soldier, who haddiscarded his coat and hat and pushed up his sleeves, as if he wereprepared to do battle with the first one of his auditors who dareddispute his words. Marcy saw at a glance that some of the crowd werevery much shocked, while others were grinning broadly, and nodding nowand then as if to say that the speaker was expressing their sentimentsexactly. Marcy knew him well. He lived in the settlement, and had beenone of the first to put on a uniform and hasten to the front; and sovery patriotic was he that he was anxious to fight all his neighbors whocould not be persuaded to go into the army with him. But his experienceat Hatteras and Roanoke Island had somewhat dampened his ardor, andshowed him that there were some things in war that he had never dreamedof.
"How does it come that you stay-at-homers know so much about thisbusiness, and about my duty as a soldier, that you take it uponyourselves to tell me what I had oughter do?" shouted the man who hadheard the shrieking of Yankee shells at Fort Bartow. "I see some amongyou who are mighty hard on your niggers, but there aint one who is ashard as our trifling officers were on us. Having no niggers to drivethey took to driving us white men, and they 'bused us like we was dogs.Many's the time I have seen men tied up by the thumbs and bucked andgagged for nothing at all; and, Tom Allison, I give you fair warningthat if you say again that I'm a coward kase I don't allow to go backand be 'bused like I was afore, I'll twist your neck for ye."
This made two things plain to Marcy Gray. One was that the man had hadquite enough of soldiering and that he did not mean to try it again ifhe could help it. The other was that his friend Allison had presumed tospeak his mind a little too freely, and that that was what started theprisoner on his tirade against those whom he called "stay-at-homers."After some twisting, and turning, and elbowing Marcy succeeded inobtaining a glance at Tom.
He was leaning against one of the counters, as far away from the speakeras he could get, and his face was as white as his shirt-front.
"I'm mighty glad to hear that there's Union men among you," continuedthe soldier, "and if there's any here in this post-office I want them toknow that there's more of 'em now nor they was a week ago, and that someof 'em wears gray jackets. And I am glad to hear that them same Unionmen have took to burning out them among you who was cowards enough topersecute women and children on account of their principles. Now,there's that trifling hound Lon Beardsley. He told me and some otherswho come up from the Island the same time he did, that we could make apile of money by burning Mrs. Gray's house."
Colonel Shelby was one of those who listened while the angry soldiertalked, but being a "stay-at-homer" he dared not interrupt him. He stoodwhere he could look over the shoulders of some of the crowd into Marcy'sface; and when the soldier spoke Beardsley's name, and told what thelatter had tried to induce him and some companions to do, the colonelleaned forward and whispered a few earnest words to him. The man benthis head to listen, but as soon as the colonel ceased speaking he brokeout again.
"I aint a paroled pris'ner neither," he shouted. "I took my oath that Iwouldn't never fight agin the United States again, and I'm going tostick to it. I'm a free man now; I am going to stay free, and I won'tshut up till I get ready. When I say that Lon Beardsley tried to get meto burn Mrs. Gray's house I say the truth, and Beardsley dassent comeafore me and say different. But I told him plain that we uns who had fitand snuffed powder wouldn't do no dirty work like that. We don't care ifJack Gray is in the Yankee navy and Marcy was a pilot on a Yankeegunboat. If they was in that fight I done my level best to sink 'em; butthey whopped us fair and square, and I've had enough of fighting to lastme as long as I live. All the same I aint going to let no little whiffetlike Tom Allison call me a coward."
While the soldier was going on in this way, pounding the air with hisfists and shouting himself hoarse, those of his auditors who could do sowithout attracting too much attention, secured their mail and slippedthrough the door into the street; and when the crowd became thinned outso that he could see to the other end of the post-office, Marcy wassurprised to discover that the man was not alone and unsupported, as hehad supposed him to be. Six or eight stalwart fellows in uniform leanedagainst the counters; and the fact that they did not interrupt theircomrade, or take him to task for anything he said, was pretty goodevidence that he spoke for them as well as for himself. Among those whowere glad to get away from the sound of his voice were Tom Allison andMark Goodwin, who went across the road to the hitching-rack, and hadtime to do a little talking between themselves before Marcy came out.
"Did you ever hear a fellow go on as Ben Hawkins did?" whispered Tom,who had not yet recovered from his fright.
"It's just awful to hear a Confederate soldier talk treason like that,"replied Mark. "I declare, things are getting worse every day. I thoughtthat when our soldiers came home they would hunt the Unionists out ofthe country, and burn everything they've got; but, by gracious! they areUnionists themselves, or traitors to the flag, which amounts to the samething. I tell you, Tom, you came mighty near getting yourself intoserious trouble by calling Hawkins a coward. If ever fire came from aman's eyes it came from his. What in the world made you do it?"
"I called him a coward when he declared that he wouldn't fight theYankees any more, because I thought he was one," replied Tom. "And Istill think so. There were several other soldiers in there, and Isupposed of course they would stand by me. They all know my father, andsome of them are under obligations to him; but instead of backing me inmy efforts to make Hawkins ashamed of himself, they stood by and let himtalk as he pleased. I was glad to hear him say what he did aboutBeardsley."
"Do you think he told the truth?" asked Mark.
"I am sure of it; for if Beardsley didn't say something to him, howwould Hawkins know that there was a big pile of money in Mrs. Gray'shouse? I'm free to confess that I am getting scared, and if I knew anysafe place around here I would go to it."
"Here, too," exclaimed Mark. "But, Tom, this state of affairs can't lastlong. Unless we are whipped already, and I never will believe that tillI have to, these places will all be taken from the enemy, and then therecan be something done toward driving from the country such fellows asHawkins and----"
"And such fellows as this one coming," added Tom, with a slight nodtoward Marcy Gray, who just then came out of the post-office.
"Won't he hold his head in the air now?" exclaimed Mark, in disgust. "Ifhe doesn't know by this time that he is the biggest toad in this puddle,it isn't Hawkins's fault. Doesn't it beat the world how some people canhold their own with a whole settlement against them?"
Marcy Gray did not look as though he thought himself better than anybodyelse, but he did look astonished and perplexed. The scene he had justwitnessed, and the words to which he had listened, almost dazed him. Ifany one had told him that such sentiments could be littered in a townlike Nashville, nine out of ten of whose citizens were supposed to begood Confederates, without a tragedy following close upon the heels ofit, he would have thought the statement an absurd one for any sane manto make. Marcy knew then, as well as he did when he afterward read it inone of his papers, that the people of North Carolina were not ardentlydevoted to the Confederate cause. In fact "they did not care much foreither party; but while a large number of them would have liked to waitfor the issue of the struggle to declare their preferences, those whoremained loyal to the flag of the Union were too much afraid of a turnof fortune to avow their sentiments openly." But it seemed that Hawkinswas not afraid to say what he thought of the situation, and only one ofthe rebels who listened to his speech in the post-office had dareddissent from his views. That was Tom Allison, who came near having hisneck "twisted" for his impudence.
"You look surprised, old fellow," was the way in which Tom greeted Marcywhen he came up.
"Who wouldn't be?" answered Marcy. "If all the paroled prisoners thinkthat way the Confederate army must be in bad shape."
"But they don't," said Mark hastily. "If some of those Tom and I talkedwith yesterday were here now, they would make Hawkins sing a differentsong, I bet you. We found them as strong for the cause, and as spitefulagainst all Unionists, North and South, as they were when they firstwent into the army. Hawkins is mad because he got whipped; but he willbe all right a week from now. Were you in any battles, Marcy?"
"You can't think how astonished we were when we woke up in the morningand learned that the Yankee sailors had been through our neighborhood,and that nobody, except a few niggers, was the wiser for it," said Tom."Beardsley says you acted as pilot, but he didn't. He positively refusedto do it, and the Yankees put him in irons. Is that so?"
"It is true that Beardsley was put in irons, but not because he refusedto act as pilot," replied Marcy. "He didn't get a chance to say whetherhe would go on the bridge or not, for Captain Benton did not ask him. Hewas ironed for the reason that he served the crew of the _Hollins_ thatway when he captured them."
"Did they treat you well?"
"First-rate. They couldn't have done better if I had been one of them."
"And you were one of them. You couldn't have done more to help them winthe fight if you had had a blue shirt on," were the words that trembledon the point of Tom Allison's tongue. But he did not speak them aloud.He had received one severe rebuke that morning, and did not think hecould stand another; but Ben Hawkins and his friends, who just then leftthe post-office and came across the road to the place where the boyswere standing, did not hesitate to commend Marcy for the course hepursued while on the gunboat. They came up in time to hear Mark Goodwinsay:
"Why didn't you run that ship aground? That's what I would have done ifI had been in your place, and it is what Captain Beardsley would havedone if he had been allowed the opportunity."
"And been hung up by the neck for his trouble," said Hawkins; and toMark's surprise and Tom's, he took Marcy's hand in both his own andshook it cordially. It would have pleased them better if Hawkins hadknocked Marcy down. That was the way they expected to
see Confederatesoldiers treat all Union men and boys, and they would have enjoyed thespectacle. "You stay-at-homers don't know nothing about war," continuedHawkins, giving way to his comrades, all of whom shook Marcy's hand oneafter the other, "and we uns, who have been there, say Marcy acted justright in doing as he did. I'd 'a' done the same thing myself, and sowould any other man unless he was plum crazy. Go and get some soldierclothes and shoulder muskets, you two. We've done our share, and now wewill stand back and give you uns a chance to see how you like it."
"Don't you intend to return to the army, Mr. Hawkins?" inquired Marcy.
"Well, 'cording to the oath I've took I can't," answered the soldier. "Idid promise that I would never fight against the old flag agin, butthat's neither here nor there. My year is pretty nigh up, and I'm goingto stay around home and eat good grub for a while. I don't mean to saythat I won't never 'list again, but it won't be till I've seen someothers whopped like I have been."
He looked fixedly at Tom as he said this, and the boy, believing that hewould feel more at his ease if he were farther out of the soldier'sreach, turned about and went toward the post-office, followed by hisfriend Mark.
"Say!" whispered Hawkins, as soon as the two were out of hearing. "Iaint a-going to ask you where you stand, kase that aint none of mybusiness; but what's this I hear about your maw having a pile of moneyin the house, and Beardsley and among 'em be so anxious to get it thatthey brought men up from Newbern, to rob her of it?"
Marcy explained in few words; that is to say, he told what CaptainBeardsley thought, but he did not acknowledge that there was money in orabout the house with the exception of the small sum he had offered therobbers, and which they refused to take. And then he asked Hawkins howhe happened to know anything about it.
"I know pretty much everything that's happened here sense I went intothe army, and what's more, I know _why_ it happened," was the answer."My folks told me about it soon's I got home. I know, too, that some ofyour friends have gone into the Yankee service; but you've got a fewyet, and you see them right here with gray jackets on. Say nothing tonobody; but there's skursely a poor man around here who aint beholden toyour folks for something or other, and if you get into trouble we'rebound to help you out."
"I am very grateful to you for the assurance," said Marcy. "But do youknow that if you do not go back to serve your year out, you will betreated as deserters?"
"We know all that, and we know better'n you do how they treat desertersin our army; but it's a good plan to catch your rabbit afore you cookhim," said Hawkins, with a grin. "My folks wanted me to stay home theworst kind and see who was going to whop afore I took sides, and I'mmighty sorry I didn't listen to 'em. Look out what you're doing, youbabolitionist," exclaimed Hawkins, as old Morris elbowed his way throughthe group to Marcy's side. "We rebels will eat you up."
"I don't care what you do to Morris so long's you let Marse Mahcy be,"said the black man, who was almost ready to cry when he saw the boystanding before him as sound as he was when he left home. "The Yankeesdone kill him--jes' look at that hand of hisn--and now you rebels donepester him plum to death."
"Go 'long now, Uncle Morris. We aint worrying on him and he will tellyou so," replied Hawkins good-naturedly. "But our critter-fellers areround picking up all the darkies they can find and making soldiers of'em, and you had best watch out. Don't go outside the two-mile limit,or, better yet, don't put your nose out of doors after dark."
Hawkins and his comrades walked away, and old Morris turned a very badlyfrightened face toward Marcy.
"Don't mind them," said the latter. "They're soldiers, and of coursethey must have their fun. You need not think that the rebels will everput faith enough in you black ones to trust you with muskets in yourhands."
"They'd better not," said Morris. "How you come here, Marse Mahcy? Ibeen waiting two days for you."
The boy explained that Julius had found him in the creek and helped himhome, and the old fellow did not appear to be well pleased with thenews, for he walked off, muttering to himself and shaking his head withevery step he took, to bring up his mule and Marcy's horse. The latterdid not wait for him, but mounted and rode homeward; and he was in soanxious and unsettled a frame of mind that he could not bring himself totake his papers from his pocket. The situation was something he hadnever dreamed of, and Marcy did not believe it would last for any lengthof time. The Confederate authorities would not permit enlisted men toroam at large through the country, talking as Hawkins had done, butwould soon put a stop to it by some violent measures, and bring theirdisaffected soldiers to punishment at the same time. The paroledprisoner was angry over the result of the battles at Roanoke Island; hemust have been or he would not have expressed himself so freely. Andwhen Marcy reached home and talked the matter over with his mother, andbecame quieted down so that he could read his papers understandingly, hefound that there were some high in authority who were angry over italso; General Wise for one, who said in his report that "Roanoke Island,being the key to all the rear defences of Norfolk, ought to have beendefended at the cost of twenty thousand men." But General Wise did notstop there. He sent a protest to the Confederate Congress, censuringboth the President and Secretary of War, and the upshot of the matterwas that Mr. Benjamin became so unpopular that he was forced to resign.The general's letter also opened the eyes of the Confederate governmentto the fact that the people of North Carolina were not half as loyal tothe cause as they ought to have been, and that something would have tobe done about it. If the Southern men would not enter the armywillingly, they must be compelled to come in; and this the governmentstraightway proceeded to do. Almost the first move that was made broughtabout the thing that Marcy Gray most dreaded, and made a refugee ofhim.
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