by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXIV
A NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE CUMBERLAND
It was walking by the feeling rather than the sight; for the blackwaters of the great river seemed to make the darkness more dense thanin the camp above. Deck's lessons in reasonable caution came to hismind; and he had quite as much need of them as on the field of battle.A misstep might precipitate him into the dark waters of the rushingstream.
He did not "lose his head," which was exceedingly serviceable to him atthe present moment. He had said nothing to his companion in regard tothis perilous descent in the darkness, for he was sure Fronklyn wouldprotest against the difficult and dangerous enterprise upon which hehad entered; but he was willing that he should follow him, or remain inthe camp, as he might think best.
The sergeant was a courageous man, as had often been demonstrated onthe field of battle. He was not only loyal to the government, but tothe lieutenant; and he would have sacrificed his life rather thanabandon him in the present emergency. At the same time, he could seebut little hope in the present venture, whatever it might be; for thelieutenant had not informed him in regard to his purpose in descendingto the stream.
If he had seen the boat that was made fast to the stern of the steamer,it had no significance to him. He had never been a boatman; and thelittle craft was not suggestive to him as it was to Deck, who had spentmuch of his time on the waters of Bar Creek and Green River since hisfather moved from New Hampshire to Kentucky. He had not spoken of hisplan to his associate, partly from the force of habit as an officer,and partly from the fear of being overheard by some one on the shoreabove. They had crawled, "snaked it," nearly half a mile, and had cometo a point near the body of the Confederate troops.
It was not easy to stand up on the miry slope of forty-five degrees,and the feet of the leader had a tendency to give way in the mud. Hetook an angling course, which would require him to move five or sixhundred feet up the river before he reached the water. He had left hissabre where his companion had removed it; but he still wore his belt,which he had replaced after he came to his senses; and the smallrevolver was suspended where the hip pocket would have been if histrousers had been provided with one.
He had nothing on that impeded his movements. Their slow progress in"snaking" it for so long a distance led the lieutenant to believe itmust be ten or eleven o'clock in the evening. He continued his march onthe diagonal of the slope, but with the greatest difficulty; and heoften had to stop and rest from the exertion of the struggle with themud. At the end of an hour, as Deck judged it might be, he had madeabout one-third of the distance to the water, and halted to recover hisbreath. At this pause in the descent Fronklyn came up with him. Both ofthem were out of breath, and neither of them spoke, though they wereout of hearing of the enemy.
"This is a hard road to travel," said Deck, when he was more nearly inpossession of his wind.
"That's right; but why we are travelling it I will be hanged if I cansee," replied Fronklyn, his tones indicating that he was much disgustedwith the present situation. "You did not tell me what you intended todo, Lieutenant."
"Because I did not wish to inform any of the enemy who might be withinearshot of us," replied Deck. "I did not go off at half-cock when Istarted on this tramp. You have a first-class pair of eyes, Sergeant;and I supposed you would use them, and could see for yourself what Iwas about."
"I have used my eyes for all they are worth; but I will be hanged if Ican see what you are driving at through this mud."
"Have you seen a steamboat anywhere on the great river?"
"I reckon I have; but I don't take it that you are going to her."
"That is just where I am going," answered Deck impressively anddecidedly.
"Going to the steamboat!" exclaimed the sergeant incredulously.
"Precisely so."
"Then I suppose you expect to procure a passage in her across theriver, if that is where she is going; and I can't see what else she ishere for."
"I don't know why she is here, for I am not in the counsels of theenemy."
"You seem to be in a fair way to become better acquainted with theSouthern army."
"The steamer may have brought supplies for this camp; and according toall accounts the soldiers inside of the breastworks are in need enoughof them. I don't know what she is here for, though I have a suspicionthat our forces will not find the enemy in their intrenchments in themorning. But, Sergeant Fronklyn, you are disgruntled, as I have neverseen you before."
"Because it seems to me you are running as fast as the mud will permityou into the very jaws of the lion; or, if that is too figurative foryour plain common-sense, into the hands of the enemy. You are alieutenant, and they will be glad to get you; for they have not baggedmany officers in the last twenty-four hours," replied Fronklyn.
"Sergeant, if you are dissatisfied with my movements, we are not in thecamp or in the field, and you are at liberty to retire and look out foryourself."
"I would drown myself in the river before I would do that!" protestedthe sergeant warmly. "I hope I have not said anything disrespectful,Lieutenant. On the field I have followed you wherever you chose to go,or wherever you chose to send me. I have no doubt you know just whereyou intend to go, and just what you intend to do; but I am in darkness,and wish for light. I am going it blind; but I will follow you, even ifit be into a Confederate prison-camp, Lieutenant!"
"I have no secret to keep from you, my dear fellow," said Deck,reaching out, and grasping for the hand of his companion, which hefound, and pressed earnestly. "We have stood together on some fightingground, and we will not fall out here, though we may fall down thisslippery bank. You can see that I could not stop to make explanationswithin reach of the sound of the enemy's voices. What's that just aboveyou, sergeant?" asked he, pointing to something on which a gleam oflight from the steamer's fires fell.
"It looks like a board," replied Fronklyn; "it may be of use to us inmaking our way along this bank. I will get it;" and he went up theslope about a rod, and returned with it.
It was a board about ten feet long, and not more than six inches wide,and had probably been dropped from the camp above. The sergeant laid itdown, and then seated himself upon it, Deck following his example.
"We may come to gullies made by the rain, and this board will help usin crossing them. I had nearly lost my balance in getting over one ofthem," added Fronklyn.
"I could not explain before, but I am ready to do so now," said Deck,taking up the conversation where he had left it before.
"Perhaps I ought not to ask an explanation; for I have been accustomedto obey your orders without asking a question, or to follow whereveryou led the way," returned the sergeant.
"I have given you no order, Fronklyn; and, if I had, you are no longerunder my authority. After a ship is wrecked the sailors look out forthemselves," continued Deck. "You have seen the steamer; and you cansee it better now than at any time before, for the firemen are pilingin the wood, and the furnace doors are open."
The blazing fires under the boiler cast their light on the river andthe banks, illuminating the scene ahead of her, but not astern,fortunately for the fugitives seated on the board, or they might havebeen seen, and their uniforms distinguished by the enemy. Some of thislight was reflected to the stern of the steamer, through the openingson the main deck.
"I can see the steamer plainly enough now," said Fronklyn. "It looks asthough ropes had been passed from the top of the banks down to thevessel."
"Very likely those are to assist the officers and privates to descendto her; and I wish we had a rope here to help us along," added Deck."But do you see the small boat hitched to the stern of the steamer?"
"I can see it now plainly enough; but I had not noticed it before."
"I saw it when I first discovered the steamboat, and I have been makingfor it ever since. I was afraid if I said anything that little craftwould be placed out of our reach before we got to it."
"I understand it all now!" exclaimed Fronklyn. "I ho
pe you will excuseme for grumbling, Lieutenant, when I could not make head nor tail toyour movement."
"That is all right, my dear fellow; only trust me first, and grumbleafterwards, the next time. But we must be moving on."
"What about this board? It is rather heavy to lug the rest of the way,"said the sergeant, as he lifted one end of it. "Shall we leave it?"
"It may be of use to us. If I had a pole about six feet long it wouldhelp me very much, and perhaps save me from sliding down into theriver."
"If we could break the board in two in the middle, it would make twostaffs for us."
"We can do that," added the lieutenant.
"How?"
"Shoot it in two."
This answer looked like a joke to the sergeant, and he gave his opinionthat the board could not be broken in two in the middle withoutsplintering it from one end to the other. Deck declared he could managethe case, and asked his associate to find the middle of the piece oflumber. By the time he had done so the lieutenant had taken out hisrevolver, loaded with six cartridges.
Placing the muzzle of the barrel on the board where Fronklyn pointed tothe middle, he fired, repeating the operation till he had discharged itsix times. The holes made by the balls were about an inch apart. Thereports from the revolvers were only cracks; and, so far as they knew,no one heard them but themselves. Fronklyn put his foot on the board,and then with his hands hold of one end of it, lifted it till itsnapped on the line of the bullet-holes. Each of them took one of thepieces, and renewed their tramp.
Deck kept the lead, as before, and placed the board on the lower side;and the sergeant did the same. The staff was as useful to them as thealpenstock to the mountain climber in Switzerland. It enabled them todouble their speed, at least, and with much less labor than they hadmade their way before. The doors of the furnaces on the steamer wereclosed now, but they could see men descending by the lines to thegang-plank of the steamer.
In due time they arrived within ten rods of the small boat of whichthey desired to obtain possession. The furnace-doors were again openedto put in more fuel, and the scene was lighted by the blaze again. As amatter of prudence, the lieutenant lay down on his board, and thesergeant did the same.
"Now, Fronklyn, I will make my way to the boat, and bring it down foryou to get in; for both of us need not incur the risk of doing thiswork."
"All right; I agree with you in regard to the risk, but I will do thisinstead of you," replied Fronklyn.
"Are you accustomed to handling a boat, and especially to rowing?"asked Deck.
"I never handled a boat at all, and never rowed one in my life,"answered the sergeant.
"Then I must do this job;" and the lieutenant started on his mission.
Some of the soldiers had gone aboard the steamer, though he could seenone on the after deck. Deck approached the river very cautiously,lying down on his board not less than three times when he thought hewas observed. King Fortune favored him, for the current of the streamkept the boat swinging out and in. Watching his opportunity, he caughthold of the stern, and leaped into the boat as though nothing ailed hishead, either outside or inside.
He dropped into the bottom of it, and peered over the deck of thesteamer. Then he hauled on the painter till he brought the little craftup to the taffrail, where with no little difficulty he cast off therope. He could see the soldiers on the upper bank, and those on theforward part of the steamboat; but they were all too busy to bestow anyattention upon him. The current bore the tender rapidly down thestream.
When it had gone to a safe distance, Deck seated himself in thestern-sheets, and put his board in the scull-hole, and forced the boatto the shore, though not without a great deal of difficulty and labor.Fronklyn was on the lookout for it, and sprang lightly into thefore-sheets, making a spring on his board stick. The current took theboat, and no further exertion was necessary. They had escaped from thefortifications, and they were satisfied.