CHAPTER XVIII
THE FIRE
"Dennis! Dennis! Is that you?" whispered the young soldier, as he gainedthe place where the other occupant of the hiding-place was seated.
"Shure, and it's Noel! It's Noel, me lad!" exclaimed Dennis in highglee.
"Hush! Don't talk so loud, Dennis! Somebody will hear us. What are youdoing here? Where did you come from? Are you going to try to go on tothe army to-night? Who brought you here? How long have you been here?"
"Listen to the lad!" exclaimed Dennis, delightedly, in one of hisloudest whispers.
Noel was more afraid of Dennis when he whispered than he was when hespoke in a low tone. Accordingly he grasped his comrade's arm and said,"Don't make so much noise, Dennis."
"Noel's the lad for me! He can ask more questions in a minute than anyman from the old sod could ask in five. Well, lad, I have been hereabout two hours."
"Where did you come from?"
"You'll have to ask the people what brought me. I can't tell you, I'mshure. I niver was in such a country and I hope I'll niver be again. Iwasn't so troubled about mesilf as I was about you, Noel, me lad. Tellme about yoursilf."
"Hush!" repeated Noel. "Be still!" he whispered excitedly. "Do you hearthose voices?"
"Shure, I hear them."
"Well, keep still and see if we can find out what they are saying."
It was plain to both the listening young soldiers that a man, who, fromhis tones and speech was undoubtedly white, was talking to a negro ladstanding near the stack within which the two young soldiers were hiding.
In a moment Noel recognized the voice of the little negro lad as that ofthe son of Aunt Katie. The little urchin, not more than ten years ofage, had impressed the young soldier by the intensity with which he hadlooked at him from the time of his arrival until he was conducted byAunt Katie to the place of his concealment.
Noel grasped fiercely the arm of Dennis as he heard the man outsideask, "Have you seen any Yanks around here?"
"No, suh! No, suh!" said the small negro. "I ain't seen no Yankeesaroun' hyer."
"You are sure, are you?" repeated the man, not ill-naturedly.
"Yas, suh. Yas, suh."
"Do you think you would know a Yank if you should see one?"
"I shore would," replied the dusky child confidently. "Yo' all done toleus dat de Yanks hab hawns. I ain't seen nary a man wif hawns 'roundyere."
"Have you looked for them?" laughed the man.
"Yas, suh."
"Well, if you find any you must be sure to report to me. Sometimes youhave to look right smart to find the horns on some of the Yankees."
"Does dey grow right out of dere haid like dis?"
"That's what they do, and their horns are sharp, too."
"Glory!" exclaimed the little negro. "I reck'n I don't want to see noYanks wif hawns. Is yo' all thinkin' dat dey is comin' yere sometime?"
"I think some of them have been here."
"What dey wan' hyer?"
"You ask Aunt Katie about that. I reckon she knows more about it than Ido. Are you sure, Little Jake, you haven't seen any Yankees that didn'thave any horns?"
"How would I know dey was Yankees if dey didn't hab any hawns? Yo' alldon' tole us dat de Yankees hab hawns, so when I sees a man what I don'know I allus looks to see if he hab any hawns."
"If he does have horns, then you make up your mind he is a Yankee, doyou?"
"Yas, suh. Dat's what yo' all don' tole us, so I looks fo' de hawns."
"Well, the next time you find anybody in Aunt Katie's cabin whom youdon't know, you come and tell me, whether he has horns or not. I'mexpecting somebody to be in her cabin pretty soon. You're sure, are you,there isn't anybody there now?"
"Yas, suh. You come 'long wif me," said the negro lad confidently, "andI'll show yo' all dat dere ain't nobody in dat cabin 'tall, 'ceptin'mammy."
"I'll take your word for it. Now, Little Jake, don't you forget to comestraight to the big house and tell me if you ever find any strangersthere, whether they have horns or not."
The conversation ceased, and with a sigh of relief Noel turned once moreto Dennis and said, "When do we move from here?"
"About midnight."
"Is Sam going to be our guide?"
"I don't know whether he is or not, but Aunt Katie told me that somebodywould come for us about that time."
"Do you know how far the Union lines are from here?"
"No, I don't," replied Dennis. "I think the best thing we can do is tolie down here on these cornstalks and take a nap."
"But you haven't told me where you came from nor how you got here."
"'Tis a long story, lad, and I'm afraid to tell you here for fearsomebody outside will hear our voices."
"All right," responded Noel. "You can tell me after we leave. I thinkwe'd better do what you say."
Accordingly the boys stretched themselves on the earth which was coveredwith cornstalks and in a few moments both were sleeping soundly.
Just how long Noel had been asleep he did not know, but he was awakenedby a vague feeling of uneasiness. Somehow he felt as if he were beingsmothered, and for a brief time he was unable to decide just where hewas or why he was there.
The voice of Dennis in a hoarse whisper recalled to him the incidentswhich had preceded the finding of the shelter within the strangehiding-place.
"What's that?" whispered Dennis.
Noel saw that his Irish friend was alarmed, although as yet he wasunable to determine the cause.
"What is what?" responded Noel.
"'Tis smoke, I tell you!" said Dennis once more. "This place is onfire."
"You have been dreaming," protested Noel, although even as he spoke hewas aware of the odor of burning wood.
"If I have been dreaming, I'm awake now," declared Dennis. "And the onlything for you and me to do is to get out of this place."
"It isn't midnight yet."
"It's time to get up. The sooner we get out of here the safer it will befor us both."
All this time Noel was sharing the alarm of his comrade. Not merely wasthere an odor of burning wood, but there was no concealing the factthat smoke was penetrating their hiding-place.
To add to his alarm, at that very moment there were sounds of menrunning about near the shack, and then abruptly above the noise washeard the voice of some one shouting, "Fire! Fire!"
The danger of meeting the owner of the plantation was not so great inthe mind of the young soldier at the time as that of being burned orsuffocated in the place where he and Dennis had been concealed.
"Come on, Dennis! Come on!" he called in a low voice, as instantly hecrawled toward the opening.
The place, however, had been closed after the entrance of the two boysand in the darkness it was impossible at first for Noel to find theexit. By this time his fears had been greatly increased and the soundsof confusion outside were much more alarming.
Men were shouting and running about, and in the midst of it all wereheard the screams of the terrified children.
"Lad," whispered Dennis, "we can't wait to find the door. We must make abreak for it anywhere we can." As he spoke the young Irishman threwhimself with all his strength against the side of the little room.
Instantly the partition gave way and to the consternation of Noel theentire structure collapsed. Both boys were buried beneath thecornstalks, but it was only the work of a moment for them to freethemselves.
As they leaped to their feet they discovered that one of the littlewhitewashed cabins, which they had seen the preceding evening, was onfire. Surrounding it were crowds of colored people, and among them Noelsaw a tall white man, who he instantly concluded was the man whose voicehad been overheard by him and Dennis. Without question the man beforehim was the owner of the plantation and the one who had warned AuntKatie's little boy against the "terrible Yankees with hawns."
Fortunately the collapse of the rude structure, within which ahiding-place had been made for the escaping soldiers, apparently was
notnoticed by the people on the plantation. It was evident by this timethat only the little cabin was doomed and that the fire withoutdifficulty would be prevented from spreading to the adjoining buildings.Men in lines were passing buckets of water from hand to hand and theflames promised to be under control in a brief time.
Convinced that there was no immediate danger now to be feared from thespread of the fire, Noel turned to Dennis and in a low voice said, "Wemust get away from this place before that chap sees us."
Even as he spoke, however, the man turned and instantly discovered thepresence of the two young soldiers.
As he advanced toward them both boys turned and fled from the place,running swiftly, and hoping that the surrounding darkness would soonhide them from the sight of the man whom they believed to be a friend ofthe Confederate cause.
Unmindful of the direction in which they were running Noel and Dennisfled at their highest speed, keeping well together until they came towhat seemed to be an abandoned cabin on the border of the plantation.
"We'll stop here and abide until mornin'," suggested Dennis, who waslaboring hard and breathing heavily under the exertion.
"No! No!" replied Noel. "We must not stop a minute. The only hope wehave is in getting as far away from the plantation as possible in theshortest time."
"I can't go any farther," said Dennis; "I'm winded."
"What's that?" demanded Noel suddenly as he turned and looked toward theplantation, which now was far behind them, but from which the glow ofthe fires still could be faintly seen.
"'Tis nothin', lad. What is it you think you hear?"
"I thought I heard the dogs. If they set the dogs on us, we shall havemore troubles than we ever had before, Dennis," said Noel, speakingrapidly and excitedly.
"I can't help it if they do set the dogs on us," muttered Dennissturdily. "I can't go any farther. My wind is gone, and my side isthumpin' as if--"
"Here!" said Noel excitedly; "here's a well! I don't know whetherthere's any water in it or not, but the thing for you to do is to hidethere. You can do it," he added abruptly as he stretched himself on theground and, peering into the depths, found that the old well was linedwith rough stones that projected unevenly from the sides. "Go down a fewfeet and wait until the excitement is over."
"Will you come with me?"
Noel hesitated and then said, "No, I'll not stay here. There will bemore danger if both of us try to hide in the same place. I'll keep on,and after a while you follow me and I'll be on the lookout for you, andnot very far ahead."
"See that you are," said Dennis, as he at once prepared to make hisdescent into the forbidding hole which his companion had discovered.
Without waiting to discover what success attended his comrade's efforts,Noel Curtis instantly turned and resumed his flight.
The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam Page 19