A Little Union Scout
Page 4
IV
The lady made no pause whatever, and apparently was not at allsurprised to find soldiers in the road ahead of her. She was not large,and yet she had a certain dignity of deportment. She was not youthful,neither was she old, but she was very grave-looking, as if she had seentrouble or was expecting to see it. Under any other circumstances Ishould have paid small attention to her, but the situation was suchthat I was compelled to regard her with both interest and curiosity.Almost in a moment my curiosity took the shape of sympathy, for therewas something in the pale face that commanded it.
She was accompanied by a very clean-looking officer on horseback, andhe, in turn, was followed by a small escort of cavalry--I did not takethe trouble to count them, for my eyes were all for the lady; and itwas left to Harry Herndon to realize the fact that we were in somethingof a pickle should the officer take advantage of the position in whichhe found us. He saw at once that our capture was a certainty unless wetook prompt measures to provide against it, and he was quick to suggestthat we adopt the tactics of Forrest and ride at them if they made adisplay of hostilities. I had just time to shift my carbine to thefront under my overcoat and loosen the flap of my holsters when thelady drove up. We raised our hats as she came up, and made way for herto pass.
But she did nothing of the sort. She brought her horse to a halt."Good-morning," she said, as cool as a cucumber. "You can't deceive uswith your blue overcoats; you are both rebels. Oh, I have heard more ofyou Southerners than can be found in the newspapers."
"I'm sure we had no thought of deceiving you," responded Harry with oneof his engaging smiles. "We are from the South, and you are from theNorth, of course. It may be that we are well met."
"Oh, no! not this time. I have seen prisoners taken before," remarkedthe lady with a little smile.
"Then you'll not flinch to see them taken again," said Harry veryboldly. "But I shall regret to put you to any inconvenience."
I think the confident air of Harry saved us considerable trouble at themoment; but while he was putting on a bold front and trembling in hisshoes--as he told me afterward--I had my eyes on the lady. She lookedat me once, and turned her face away; twice, and frowned; thrice, andblushed. "I was afraid at first that you were a prisoner," I remarkedin a tone that was intended to be apologetic, but the lady calmlyturned her head away and ignored me.
"To what command are you attached?" inquired the Federal officer, verybrusquely.
"We are serving under General Forrest," replied Harry.
"Why are you so far away from your command?" the officer inquired withreal curiosity. His tone was so puzzling that Harry hesitated aninstant--but in that instant a detachment of Forrest's troopers camearound the bend in the road.
"Are we indeed so very far from our command?" I inquired.
The troopers came rattling up, and the officer turned to the lady,somewhat ungraciously, I thought, with the remark that they had beenled into an ambuscade.
This was so ridiculous that I laughed aloud, though I felt little likelaughing. "What amuses you?" the lady asked in some surprise. "I amsure I can see nothing humorous in our situation."
"Perhaps you have heard ladies placed under such accusations before?" Isuggested.
"Miss Ryder knows I meant no such thing," said the officer with someheat.
"Is this Miss Lucy Ryder?" I inquired.
"What do you know of Lucy Ryder?" the lady asked.
"I know she has a sister Jane," I answered, whereupon the lady blushedagain. "And I have heard that Miss Jane doesn't like a friend ofours--a young fellow named Jack Bledsoe, who is greatly in need ofsympathy at this time."
"I like him well enough to go on a wild-goose chase in search of him,"the lady replied. "We had an idea that he had been left on thebattle-field."
Harry, who had been consulting with our comrades who had just arrived,returned in time to overhear a part of this conversation. He fumbled inhis pocket and finally produced Jack Bledsoe's note. He lifted his hatas he handed it to the lady. She read it very calmly, and then passedit to the Federal officer who had escorted her: "You see, I amjustified in coming."
"We sat up with Jack last night, my friend and I," Harry remarked.
"Well, you know the Bible tells us to love our enemies," remarked thelady, dryly.
"It was an easy matter to carry out the commandment in this particularinstance, for, with the exception of this gentleman here"--indicatingme--"Jack Bledsoe is the dearest friend I ever had."
"I know you well enough," the lady remarked with a smile. "You areHarry Herndon, and your friend there is Carroll Shannon, and the negrois Whistling Jim. Why, I know your grandmother, although I have neverseen her."
"That doesn't help us now. How are we to find Captain Bledsoe?" askedthe officer. I could have slapped him for the tone he employed.
"It is all provided for," replied Harry Herndon, curtly. "All you haveto do is to hold on to the pommel of your saddle. There is anon-combatant here who will guide you. Bill!"
"I'm a-lis'nin' at ye," responded the guide from the bushes.
"This is one of the natives," Harry explained. "His wife is taking careof Jack Bledsoe and he will have no difficulty whatever in showing youthe way."
The officer thanked us ungraciously, though why he took that attitude Iwas unable to discover, and we were on the point of joining ourcomrades when the lady remarked: "You'll probably know me again whenyou see me, Mr. Carroll Shannon!" This was a rebuke, I knew, and itupset me not a little, but there was something in the tone of her voicethat sounded like a challenge, and I remarked that I should be sure toknow her. "Then call my attention to the fact when you next see me,"she cried as she touched up her horse.
"With great pleasure," I answered, raising my hat, and with that wewere off to join our waiting comrades. It seemed that General Forrestwas somewhat concerned for our safety, knowing that the country wasstrange to us, and he had sent William Forrest's company ofIndependents to watch the road for us so that we might come to no harm.While engaged in carrying out this order they saw the lady and herescort far ahead of them, and a detachment was sent to investigate, therest of the company remaining to see whether other Federals wouldfollow. Thus they came upon us in the very nick of time, for I judgethat the Federal officer would have held us prisoners, in spite of theinformation we had for him, for he was very gruff and surly.
We reached the recruiting camp at Murfreesborough without furtherincident, and Harry and I soon settled down to the routine of dutiesthat fell to our share. Harry served General Forrest temporarily as acourier, while I was billeted with Captain Bill Forrest's company ofIndependents, sometimes known as the Forty Thieves, owing to theirability as foragers.
I had time to ramble about in the woods, and I took advantage of itto explore the whole countryside in the neighborhood of the camp.Returning one day from a ride that was partly on business and partlyfor pleasure, I was informed that General Forrest had sent for me.When I responded to his summons he was reading a late copy of theChattanooga _Rebel_, and was evidently much interested in what he read.He handed the paper to me when he had finished, and pointed out anarticle that was printed under a great display of black type.
A Federal scout, Leroy by name, and well known in both armies (so thenewspaper said), had entered General Bragg's lines under very peculiarcircumstances and had then managed to escape. Two pickets had beenfound bound and gagged. The whole story appeared to be absurd.
It was stated, among other things, that the scout intended to turn hisattention to General Forrest. He directed my eye to this, and said hewanted me to take the matter in hand. I inquired how the correspondentknew the intentions of the scout.
"Why, he guessed 'em," replied General Forrest, "and he guessed right,too. I've got information from one of my men who is thick with theYankees that this chap will soon be nosing around here, and I want togive him the worth of his money. I don't want the other side to knowhow many men I've got, and I don't want 'em to know that my superioroffic
er has refused to honor my requisition for arms and horses. I'dcut a purty figure with the Yankees if they know'd that some of my menhad muskets that were used in the Revolutionary War. If they found thisout I'd never whip another fight. And there's another thing: I don'twant to have it said that any Yankee scout can stick his nose in mycamp and not git it pulled. That's why I sent for you; I want you tocatch this fellow and fetch him to me."
"I want you to catch this fellow and fetch him to me."]
I tried hard to get out of the difficulty. I protested that I didn'tknow the scout from a side of sole leather. But the General said thatthis was one of his reasons for detailing me to perform this duty. Hesaid he would have given it to Jasper Goodrum, of the Independents, buteverybody in Tennessee knew Goodrum.
"He was born and raised around here," the General said, "and he's got atongue like a bell-clapper. Now, you're not much of a talker, and yourface gives you the look of a big baby that has got out of its mammy'syard and don't know how to git back." I suppose I must have turned redunder this back-handed compliment, for he went on, "I wish I had athousand like you. I watched you that day on the hill and at the river,and you may put it down that I'll trust you anywhere."
I tried to thank the General for his confidence, but he stayed me by agesture. He settled all the details that could be thought ofbeforehand, and, as I turned to go, he rose from his chair and followedme to the door. "If you have to shoot that fellow," he said, "do it anddon't wait too long before you do it; and if you have to shoot two orthree men, don't let that stand in your way--charge 'em up to me. Butyou must catch that fellow; I want to string him up just to show thebalance of 'em that they can't fool with me."
As everything had been arranged to my hand I was soon going about thecamp and the town arrayed in jeans clothes and looking like anythingbut a soldier. I had thought to surprise Whistling Jim, the negro, withmy garb, but, as it turned out, the surprise was mine, for that night,when I went to see whether the horses had been properly groomed andfed, I found the door of the stable unlocked. I was not only surprisedbut irritated. Both Harry Herndon and myself had tried hard to impressthe negro with the necessity of taking unusual precautions to securethe safety of the horses, for they had attracted the attention of thewhole camp, which was full of questionable characters, some of whomwould have answered to their names if Falstaff had appeared to call theroll of his ragamuffins.
The key had been turned in the lock, but the bolt of the lock hadfailed to catch in the socket. It was plain that the negro thought hehad locked the door, but it was quite as plain that he had beencareless, and I made a resolution then and there to look after thesafety of the horses myself. I swallowed more than half of myirritation when I found that the horses were in their stalls, warmlyblanketed, and an abundance of food before them. I was on the point oflocking the door with my own key, when I heard the sound of approachingfootsteps. There were two men, civilians, as I judged, and one of themstuttered. Their conversation was of a nature to interest me.
They paused near the door of the stable. "This is the place where theykeep them," remarked one of the men. "They are the finest horses in therebel army, and it would be a good job to run them into the Union linessome fine night. I know a man that would pay a cracking good price forthem."
"But the nigger sleeps in there with 'em," said the other man, "andwhat are you going to do about him?"
"That's as easy as picking up rocks in the road. A nigger will sell hisimmortal soul for ten dollars, and I'll git him to leave the door opensome night when he's got a job of jiggering on the peanner andwhistling with his mouth at the tavern in the woods."
"But that's horse-stealing."
"No, it ain't; it's turn and turn about. How many horses has oldForrest took from the loyal citizens of Tennessee? You couldn't count'em if you was to try. I'll give you three hundred dollars for themthree horses delivered at my brother's house--three hundred dollars ingold--and you'll have two men to help you. Don't you call that pickingup money?"
"An' whilst I'm a-gittin' the horses, what'll you be doing?"
"Ain't I told you?" answered the man with some display of irritation."I'll be putting up the money, the cold cash. What more do you want?I've always heard that good money is good enough for anybody."
They passed on, and I slipped from the stable, taking care to lock itbehind me, and followed them.