by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXV
SUNDRY FLANK MOVEMENTS ARRANGED
Captain Dingfield, with the portion of his company with which he hadattacked Major Lyon near the cross-roads, where he had been badly beatenat the first assault, had fled across the country, and was continuinghis flight along the hill road. Doubtless he did not intend to fight abattle at the point mentioned, but had made the attack immediately afterthe explosion on the bridge to occupy the attention of the force thereuntil his men had completed the destruction of the structure.
He appeared to have discovered that the squadron of cavalry he hadencountered was not so easily annihilated as he had believed they wouldbe by his invincible Rangers. On the contrary, he found his troop in adifficult situation, with a superior force near him. Doubtless he hadread in what manner Napoleon I. defeated an army of superior numbers bytaking it when divided into two parts, delivering battle to each inturn.
Captain Gordon, with half his company, had been sent in pursuit of him,but had been somewhat delayed in his movements. Captain Dingfield hadunited the two portions of his company after the skirmish of one of themwith Lieutenant Belthorpe, who was believed to have retreated to therailroad.
Deck Lyon had listened to the interview between the captain andlieutenant of the Rangers, and fully understood their plan. As soon asthe company had departed on their mission to annihilate the detachmentof Captain Gordon, he hastened back to the big tree where he had leftLieutenant Belthorpe. Tom had just crossed swords with the enemy for thefirst time, and had fought like a lion; but he was nervous in regard tothe situation. He had no superior officer near him, and he felt theresponsibility of his position.
"Well, Deck, what next?" he asked, before the young soldier could getwithin talking distance of him.
"There is work for you," replied Deck; and though he knew precisely whatought to be done, he was very careful not to suggest anything. He didnot wish to overstep the line of his duty as a private, though he andthe lieutenant were on the most intimate and familiar terms offriendship. He hurried his steps; and in as few words as possible herelated all he had seen and heard.
"Then, Captain Dingfield has gone out with his whole company tointercept Gordon?" said the officer.
"Precisely so; and I don't know what force Captain Gordon has with him,"added Deck. "The Rangers believe your command has retreated to therailroad, and are well out of the way."
"We will convince them to the contrary very soon," said Tom with energy,and darted off at the best speed of his horse for the knoll where he hadleft his men.
Deck restored his sabre to its place, and mounted his horse. He wasready to return to the ranks; but Tom called him, and he took his placeat the side of his friend. The lieutenant asked him a great manyquestions; for the troop could not move at their best speed on accountof the trees and bushes.
"I suppose we have nothing to do but follow and pitch in when we findthe enemy," said Tom, when they came out on the hill road. "We can't seeanything of Dingfield's company yet."
"He has not got over the top of that hill we see ahead, and is in thevalley this side. Neither of us has been over this road, and we knownothing at all about it," replied Deck, careful not to wound the prideof his officer.
"Why don't you speak out, Deck, and tell me what you are thinkingabout?" said the lieutenant somewhat impatiently. "You keep in yourshell as tight as a Baltimore oyster. You did not hesitate to tell mewhat you had in your sconce when we were fighting that detachment in theroad."
"I only intended to give you the information that Dingfield's companywas coming, and would then outnumber you," replied Deck.
"You advised me to retreat, and I did so, for I saw that you wereright."
"But you are my superior officer, and my business consists in obeyingyour orders," replied the private with becoming humility.
"None of that, Deck! We will keep up all the forms and ceremonies; but Iwant you to be Deck Lyon, while I am Tom Belthorpe, when we are side byside as we are at this moment. I say all we have to do is to ride aheadtill we find the enemy, and then pitch in. Is that your idea, Deck?"
"With all due deference, Tom, it is not," replied the private.
"Confound your deference!" exclaimed the lieutenant. "I asked youradvice, and you mumble about forms."
"I will speak as plainly as I know how to speak. If you show yourself toCaptain Dingfield, he will run away if he can. He has been badlypunished to-day, and he can't stand much more of it. When he findshimself pinched between Captain Gordon and yourself, I don't believe hewill feel like cutting his way out."
"But he outnumbers Gordon just now," Tom objected.
"Of course you will not let Captain Gordon suffer," continued Deck. "Ifyou will allow me to say it, I will suggest what I should do if I werein your place."
"Allow you! Confound you, Deck! Didn't I ask you point-blank what youwould do?" demanded Tom.
"We are moving at a dog-trot now, and that is just right. Before we getto the top of that hill yonder in the road, I should halt, and send ascout ahead to report on what there is to be seen," said Deck.
"All right! I detail you as the scout," answered the lieutenant verypromptly.
"Then I will leave you. If I raise my cap over my head, hurry up. If Imake no sign, come along leisurely," added Deck, as he urged his steedto a gallop, and dashed ahead.
Just then he wished he had Ceph; but he had left him hitched near thebridge when he ascended it to take in the flag, though the horse he hadwas not a bad one. How far in the rear of Captain Dingfield's companyCaptain Gordon had been he had no means of judging. Deck reached thesummit of the hill over which the road passed. He reined in his steed,and walked him till his own head was high enough to see over the crestin front of him.
Captain Dingfield's company was not in sight. Not more than half a mileahead of him was another hill, beyond which the enemy had disappeared.He took off his cap and waved it in the air above his head. Tom couldnot help seeing it; and his command were immediately galloping towardshim. Deck did not wait for them, but ran his own horse till he reachedthe summit of the second hill. Here he halted again. There was a thirdhill, and probably one every mile or half-mile; for this was the hillroad.
Captain Dingfield had not hurried his men, and Deck discovered his forceon the lowest ground between the two hills. He had halted there, and themen appeared to be watering their horses. Deck was sorry he had not afield-glass. He fell back a short distance, so that his horse should notbe seen by the enemy, hitched him to a sapling, and returned to the topof the hill on foot. After examining the location of the enemy as wellas he could, he concluded that a road crossed that upon which bothforces were moving, though he was not sure.
Returning to his horse, he mounted again, and descended the hill a fewrods. The lieutenant had reached the top of the first hill, and Deckwaved his cap again. As soon as Tom reached the spot where the privatewas, he halted his command. He hastily informed his officer that theenemy were at the foot of the hill on the other side.
"I must not lose sight of them for long," said Deck. "I will go aheadagain, and make the same signal for you to advance."
"But you expect there will be a fight, don't you, Deck?" asked thelieutenant.
"There will be if Captain Dingfield don't run away by a road I believeextends through the valley. I think the captain of the Rangers iswaiting for Captain Gordon to come upon him in this place. I will keep alookout for our men," replied Deck, as he rode up the hill again.
The private was a very enthusiastic soldier; and he thought it would bea capital idea to bag the Rangers, and make prisoners of the wholecompany. It would be a feather in Tom Belthorpe's cap, and he would havebeen glad to place it there. He hitched his horse again, and thenclimbed a tree. Some of the hills in the vicinity were cultivated, andsome were not. From his elevated perch he discovered a farmhouse on theroad, of whose existence he had not before been confident. He had nodoubt of the fact now.
There was a cornfield on the left of the
road where he was, but at somedistance from it. Between this tilled land and the hill road was aconsiderable extent of wild land, covered with hillocks, and the wholeof it overgrown with small trees and bushes. Near the place where theplatoon had halted, Deck perceived a practicable passage through thetanglewood; and he went down the tree in a desperate hurry, to theimminent peril of his limbs, though he reached the ground in safety.
A glance at the summit of the third hill assured him that Captain Gordonwas not yet in sight. Slinging his carbine, and buckling on his belt, hehastened to the lieutenant, and, without any unnecessary manifestationsof deference, stated the plan he had brewed in the top of the tree.
"I should like to see the whole of that company bagged, Tom," said he,as he led the way to the opening he had seen. "I should like to see youdo it, I am only afraid Dingfield will escape by that road, and I shouldlike to have you block his way in that direction."
"But if we shut up that road against him, we shall leave the hill roadopen to him," replied Tom.
"What are you uns doing here!"]
Deck bit his lip, for he had not thought of this; for he was not afull-fledged strategist any more than his officer.
"You are right, Tom; and that is the end of my scheme," added Deck.
"Not a bit of it, Deck. Why not compromise on your idea; send half ourforce across the cornfield, and leave the other half to take care ofthis road? I like that idea," said Tom with enthusiasm.
"You would have but twenty-five men to hold this road against the wholeof Dingfield's company," said Deck.
"But we don't intend to move till Captain Gordon is here to take a handin the game," answered Tom. "You will go with Sergeant Fronklyn to thecross-road, and I will stay here. As soon as I see the rest of ourcompany coming down the hill, I will strike the enemy in the rear, whilethe captain goes in on the front. You will sail in from the by-road assoon as you hear the firing, Deck. That is fixed. Now have deferenceenough for your officer to hold your tongue, and obey your orders."
"I am as dumb as a dead horse," replied Deck.
Both of them were laughing; and Deck hastened to a place where he couldsee over the crest of the hill, while the lieutenant divided his forcefor the two undertakings. In a few moments all was ready, and Tom joinedhis friend.
"It is time we were moving," said Deck.
"All is ready for you; and Fronklyn will take counsel of you whennecessary," replied the lieutenant.
"Don't show yourself on the top of the hill, Tom; for that might let thecat out of the bag," added Deck.
The scout, as Deck considered himself for the present, joined thedetachment detailed for the by-road, and led them into the wild region,Fronklyn remaining some distance behind him. The enemy were in a deephollow, and the guide soon assured himself that the detachment could beneither seen nor heard by them. The sergeant advanced in response to hissignals. A spur of the hill concealed them, and they galloped across thefield, from which the crop had been harvested. He guided the force to apoint beyond the farmer's house. Leaving the sergeant and his men wherethe buildings shut off the view of the hill road, Deck rode cautiouslyto the other side of the house.
"What you uns doin' here?" asked the farmer, showing himself from behindhis barn.
"We are attending to our own business, and it wouldn't be a bad idea foryou to do the same," replied Deck, who did not like the looks of theman.
"I reckon you uns is Confedrits," he added.
"You are out of your reckoning."
"There's some more on 'em over to the brook. I reckon I'll go over, andlet 'em know you're here," suggested the farmer.
"If you do, you will get a bit of lead through your upper story,"replied Deck, as he rode on.
He had hardly started his horse before a volley was heard in thedirection of the hill road.