A Lieutenant at Eighteen

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER V

  LIEUTENANT LYON ENCOUNTERS ANOTHER ENEMY

  Surrounded by double their own number of soldiers, armed with the bestweapons, the marauders imprisoned in the upper story of the mansioncould not help realizing that their situation was hopeless. They hadnot offered to come to the assistance of Captain Coonly when he was inthe gripe of the stalwart sergeant; for the carbines of the cavalrymenstill covered them, and they saw that they would be shot down if theyattempted to descend the stairs without orders, or fired upon theirassailants in the hall.

  The captain was conducted into the sitting-room, and a man was placedat the door to keep watch of him. But he was harmless by this time; asWin expressed it, "the fun had all gone out of him." Deck began tothink he had spent time enough over the affair; and he was in a hurryto return to the Millersville Road.

  "Up-stairs there!" he called to the ruffians, who remained therebecause they could not escape without the certainty of being shotwhether they attempted to leave by the windows or the stairs. "Isthere any officer among you?"

  "Lieutenant Billock is here," replied one of them.

  "Let him show himself."

  "That is my name," responded a fellow nearly as big as Life Knox at thehead of the stairs.

  "Your commander is a prisoner, and you rank next to him. What do youpropose to do, fight or surrender?" Deck inquired of him.

  "What can I do?" asked the big fellow; and he had not the air of afighting-man, in spite of his ample proportions.

  "That is for you to decide," answered Deck.

  "We are surrounded by double our own number, and caged here like a lotof mules. Give me five minutes to talk to the boys," returned theguerilla lieutenant.

  "All right; but not a minute more than five," added the officer ofcavalry, as he looked at his watch.

  "What are you gwine to do with 'em when you get 'em?" asked Life in alow tone.

  "Turn them over to Captain Gordon when I have done my share of thejob," answered Deck.

  "We have concluded to surrender," said Lieutenant Billock at the headof the stairs. "I don't see 's we kin help ourselves under thesucumstances."

  "Very well; I shall hold you as prisoners, and treat you as I did yourcaptain. Call in six more men, Life."

  This additional force, carbine in hand, was stationed in the hall bythe officer, with orders to shoot any man who resisted or tried toescape; and the orders were given in a loud tone, so that the prisonerson the floor above could hear them.

  "Now you will form a line up there, and march down in single file, sixfeet apart. Each man will deposit all his weapons on the floor, and gointo the room on the left, after his arms are tied behind him,"continued Deck.

  The prisoners said nothing, and obeyed the order in silence. LieutenantBillock came first. The bugler was ordered to see that every one putall his arms on the floor, and assist him in doing so. Two men tied hisarms behind him, and led him to the sitting-room. All the othersfollowed him, and were served in the same manner. Twenty-two men werecounted when the ceremony was finished. The bugler was ordered to blowthe Assembly, and the whole platoon gathered in front of the mansion,which faced the east.

  Lieutenant Lyon appeared to have studied up his plan, for he was readyto take the next step as soon as all the prisoners had been secured. Henext formed his men in two ranks, reaching from the mansion to thefence, where the ruffians had hitched their horses, retaining thesergeant and half a dozen soldiers in the hall, where he stood himself.Then he sent half the prisoners out-doors, with their arms stillsecured behind them, and directed Life in what manner to mount andotherwise dispose of them.

  The sergeant called ten men from the ranks to assist him, and each oneof them took a ruffian in his charge. Life had Captain Coonly in hisown hands. As the prisoners pointed out their own horses, they wereconducted to the fence. The cord or strap was then loosened from theleft wrist of each, but remained fastened to the right. They were thenrequired to mount their steeds, which were a sorry-looking set ofanimals.

  "Now you are all right," said Life when the captain was in his seat inthe saddle.

  "Why don't you take this strap from my right wrist?" asked theprisoner.

  "Beca'se I kin make a better use on't," replied the sergeant, takingthe strap in his hand, and making it fast to the crupper strap behindthe rider.

  It was drawn back far enough to prevent the prisoner from reaching itwith his left hand. This was a device of Deck himself; and he hadtreated a prisoner in this manner once before, and it had succeededadmirably, though his man was disposed to resist. Life looked over thework the men had done, and changed some of it when necessary. Half ofthe cavalrymen were then sent for their horses.

  They returned mounted in a few minutes, and were placed in charge ofthe prisoners, under Corporal Tilford. The other half of the ruffianswere then mounted in the same manner, and the rest of the platoon wentfor their steeds in the grove; while orderly Sergeant Life formed theplatoon, with the prisoners in the centre, and half a dozen soldiers ontheir flanks, to check the ambition of any who attempted to escape. Allwas ready for the march to the Millersville Road, and Deck went in tobid adieu to Mr. Halliburn and his wife.

  "I sincerely hope that you will have no more visits from suchruffians," said he as he took the hand of the ex-clergyman. "I amconfident this gang will not molest you again. I had my men search themas they laid down their arms, and they found a few trinkets, which Ipassed over to Mr. Milton."

  "All we had of any great value was in the treasure-chest which Gracecarried away before the servants of sin entered the mansion. I am undersuch a load of obligation to you, Lieutenant Lyon, that I shall neverbe able to repay or reciprocate your kindness to us in our distress;but I thank you with all my heart, and I shall pray daily for you, thatyou may be saved from peril and temptation in this world, and that wemay meet in the happy land beyond the grave."

  Mrs. Halliburn expressed herself in the same terms; and the youngofficer hastened away, attended by Win Milton, who was going to thehome of Colonel Halliburn, to assure himself of the safety of GraceMorgan.

  "What shall we do with all these guns and pistols, Lieutenant?" askedWin, as he pointed to the pile of them in the hall.

  "Anything you like; I don't want them. I advise you to conceal themunder the hay in your stable. There must be some servants about thishouse, though I have not seen one," said Deck.

  "There are about thirty of them; but they all fled at the approach ofthe guerillas. They will all come back now that the danger is over."

  The lieutenant mounted his horse, and placed himself at the head of thecolumn, with Win at his side, still acting as guide. Deck then gave theorder to march. Milton conducted the platoon to the road by an openfield most of the way, and the soil afforded a better footing for thehorses.

  "What does all that mean, Lieutenant?" asked Win, as they came to alittle hill which gave them a view of the road for a considerabledistance. "There is a company of cavalry coming down the road at aheadlong gallop!"

  "Probably the first platoon of our company," replied Deck.

  At the same moment Sergeant Fronklyn and Sandy Lyon rode furiouslyacross the field, and halted in front of them, having just returnedfrom their mission to the mansion of Colonel Halliburn.

  "Confederate cavalry!" shouted Fronklyn, when he was a considerabledistance from the column.

  "Battalion--halt!" shouted Deck in his loudest tones.

  "It is a small platoon, and perhaps it is a part of the enemyLieutenant Belthorpe engaged at Breedings. The men look as though theywere running away from a force behind them."

  "How many of them are there, Fronklyn?" asked Deck hurriedly.

  "Not more than thirty, if as many as that," answered the sergeant.

  "Life!" called the lieutenant. "Select ten men, and guard theprisoners," he added.

  The sergeant took the men from the rear of the column, and Deck orderedthe rest of the platoon to march at a gallop. The officer rode at apace the other hors
es could not equal, and reached the road far inadvance of his command. He wanted a few minutes to examine thesituation; but the enemy were within fifty rods of him. At a glance hecounted six fours, which made twenty-four men besides the officer.

  By the time the lieutenant had made his momentary survey of theapproaching force, his platoon reached the road, Win Milton with them.The company's baggage-train had arrived, and had halted about twentyrods to the south of the place where Fronklyn had thrown down the fencewhen he saw the command were coming. The wagons were guarded by tenmen, who had been taken from both companies at Columbia; for Major Lyonhad learned there that several counties were overrun with guerillas andforagers, the latter sent out from General Zollicoffer's Confederateforce at Mill Springs.

  The baggage-guard had been ordered up by Fronklyn, and they wereapproaching as Deck dashed into the road. If a dozen war-elephants hadwaddled into the road instead of Deck's command, they could hardly havecreated more surprise than this force of United States cavalry. Theofficer in command of the force promptly ordered a halt when he waswithin twenty rods of his enemy, for he could not help recognizing theuniform of the loyal army.

  The young lieutenant had reined in his horse and come to a halt as soonas he reached the road, where he had a full view of the comingdetachment. Milton joined him as the men dashed into the road, withLife, who had detailed Corporal Tilford, with the ten men, to guard theprisoners. Deck, profiting by the solemn injunctions of his father whenhis promotion went into effect, struggled to keep cool andself-possessed. His first impulse was to charge the approaching enemy;and he would have done so if the Confederates had not halted, and givenhim time to look over his surroundings.

  As he took in the situation, he was perfectly satisfied that he couldeasily defeat the enemy, and the only fear he had was that thedetachment would escape. His force was now nearly double that of theConfederates in numbers, and would be more than that if he called inthe guard of his prisoners.

  "Do you know that force, Win?" he asked as the guide rode up to him.

  "I do. They wear the blue and the gray, and they are Tennesseecavalry," replied Milton. "Fronklyn was right."

  Deck had a field-glass slung over his shoulder, and he directed it to apoint beyond the enemy; for he wished to ascertain if Tom Belthorpe'splatoon was in pursuit; but the road was too crooked to enable him tosee any distance, for it was bordered in places by walnut forests.

  "I don't quite understand this thing," said Deck, musing, as hestrained his vision to discover another force at the north. "CaptainGordon was with the detachment that went to Breedings; and if hedefeated the Confederates, as he must have done, I don't see how hehappened to permit them to escape, for he had better horses than themen in front of us ride, and the captain and Lieutenant Belthorpe arewide-awake officers."

  "But both of them are strangers in these counties, while theTennesseeans are probably well acquainted with the country. Zollicofferhas to feed his army on the supplies gathered from the region aroundhim, and his foragers have learned the geography of this part of theState. At any rate, his officers can obtain plenty of guides," repliedMilton; "and this one had a better knowledge of the roads and the pathsacross the country."

  Fearful that the Confederate commander would avail himself of hisknowledge, and thus elude him, Deck sent Life with ten men into thefield on the left, and Fronklyn with the same number into that on theright. The enemy did not seem to like this movement, though it weakenedthe force in front of him about one-half. The officer arranged his menso that they extended entirely across the road, and then in a voicethat might have been heard half a mile, he ordered a charge.