by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIX
IN WHICH THE RIVERLAWNS ARE CAUGHT IN A TRAP
To have a body of the enemy disappear utterly from view when there wereno hills or woods in which they might hide, was a new experience toMajor Lyon, and it was small wonder, therefore, that his brow contractedinto a frown as he urged Ceph ahead at topmost speed.
"What do you make of this, Tom?" he questioned, of the major of thesecond battalion.
"Hang me if I know what to make," was the answer. "Captain Ripley mustbe losing his eyesight if he can't keep forty or fifty men and nearly ahundred horses in sight."
"Then his whole command must be losing their eyesight, for the enemy isgone, and nobody can even guess where to."
"We'll solve the mystery somehow, Deck. But we ought to beware that wedon't fall into some trap."
It took but a few minutes to reach Captain Ripley's advance guard,consisting of one-third of the eighth company. The captain himself hadthe blankest look on his face Deck had ever beheld.
"It gets me, Major; never heard of such a thing in all my born days,"declared the captain. "We saw them as plain as day, riding behind yonderhedge. They didn't come out at the other end, and so I and three of theothers climbed into the trees, only to find the vicinity of the brushdeserted. Reckon the earth has swallowed 'em up."
"Well, Ripley, they have gone somewhere, that's as sure as guns," wasthe answer of the young major. "Move a portion of your men to the upperend of the brushwood, and another portion to the other side, and we'llendeavor to get to the bottom of this mystery."
The command was obeyed, and meanwhile Deck sent back word to MajorTruman to bring up the regiment and scatter it in a huge circle aroundthe vicinity. "Unless they have slipped on ahead, we are bound to getthem," he said to Tom Belthorpe.
Captain Ripley had gone with six men to the upper end of the brush,Belthorpe remained with six others where the first stand had been taken,while Deck, with the remaining cavalrymen present, made a detour, comingup on the opposite side of the growth, and at a distance of threehundred yards. He was on a slight hill, and could look directly downupon the spot the Confederates, with the extra horses, had occupied. AsCaptain Ripley had said, the enemy was nowhere in sight.
The men looked at Deck, and it must be confessed the major feltuncomfortable, for he had been certain that something would turn up whena better view of the ground back of the brush was obtained.
"We will advance,--but do so cautiously," said the major, and drew hispistol. Hardly two hundred feet had been covered when he made adiscovery. The brush overhung a small, rocky brook, probably three feetdeep in the centre. But where the water came from and where it went towas another question. Certainly, in making the detour, he and his menhad crossed no such watercourse.
"It must come either from a powerful spring or from underground," hereasoned. "Forward!" he shouted. "That running stream must solve themystery."
The brook was soon gained, and found to flow to the southwestward. Adetail was sent up the stream, and soon came back reporting that therewere several small springs there, but the larger portion of the watercame from a flow out of the side of a small hill.
Major Truman now reported that the Riverlawns had surrounded the entireterritory, and feeling certain he had the enemy secure, Deck continuedhis investigation. Several cavalrymen were sent down the centre of thebrook, while he kept abreast of them beyond the brush.
Almost the end of the wood was gained, when the cavalrymen shouted outthat they had reached a small waterfall, and could go no further.Pressing over the rocky ground, Deck gained the waterfall, to find atits bottom a well-hole in the almost solid rock, some fifty or sixtyfeet in diameter. At the bottom was a pool, partly covered with deadbrush and decayed tree trunks, and the water ran off in a large openingto one side of the well-hole.
"Here are horses' hoof-prints, Major," said one of the men. "I shouldn'twonder if there is a winding path leading down to that 'air pool. But ifthe rebs went down there, what became of 'em?"
"There may be a cave there," answered Deck. "These undergroundwatercourses often flow through caves around where I live, not far fromthe Mammoth Cave."
"To be sure, Major. Shall we go down?"
"Yes, but be on your guard."
The winding path was soon traced out, and not caring to risk the limbsof their animals, the cavalrymen went down on foot. In high curiosity,Deck followed, to find himself in a cold and gloomy place continuallyfilled with fine spray from the waterfall. True enough, there was a cavesome ten feet high by twenty feet wide beyond the falling waters,through the bottom of which flowed the brook as peacefully as it flowedabove in the sunshine. Looking ahead, they saw the outlet of the cave,several hundred yards distant.
"They have outwitted us!" cried Deck, after a moment's examination."They came down here and rode right through the cave. Evidently theywere commanded by somebody who knows this locality well. They have afine start of us, but if we don't let them know what we have discoveredwe may yet take them unawares."
As no one had his horse, all present had to climb back to the top of thewell-hole. As soon as this was done, Major Lyon despatched severalmessengers to notify his officers of the truth of the situation, andthen set off at full speed in the direction the retreating enemy hadtaken. He was soon joined by Captain Abbey with the first battalion, andthe four companies were urged forward at the best speed the condition ofthe road allowed.
The Confederates had made good use of the time gained by the trick theyhad played, but they could not go on forever, and by nightfall theirhorses were so wearied they refused to get off a walk, and then theircommander, a plucky young man from Montgomery, who was by profession asurveyor, and well acquainted with the territory, led his men and theextra horses directly into a bit of swamp ground, surrounded by athicket of cypresses. There were but two paths into the swamp, and hefelt tolerably safe from pursuit.
The trick that had been played upon him put Deck upon his mettle, and hedetermined, come what might, that the Riverlawns should capture thoseparticular Confederates ere the journey to Huntsville was resumed. As anentrance to the swamp would have proved dangerous in the darkness, heencamped for the night on the outside, but sent out a strong picketguard to surround the district.
The Confederates endeavored to escape at four in the morning, knowingthat daylight would prove fatal to such an undertaking. They came out ofthe swamp on both roads, and an alarm from the two spots rang out almostsimultaneously. But Major Lyon had prepared for this, and at the firstalarm the first battalion galloped to one road, the second battalion tothe other, while Major Truman's command kept on the grand circle. Thusit was fight or go back and be hunted down, and the plucky Confederatecaptain chose to fight. Those on the second road ran or rode to thefirst, and the entire command charged the first company of Deck'sbattalion.
HIS FOOT CAUGHT THE MAN IN THE FACE.
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Maddened by what seemed a hopeless charge, the Confederates foughtdesperately, but they could do nothing against such superior numbers,and almost the first man to go down was the captain, shot through theheart. Deck was within a hundred feet of the fellow, and hardly hadtheir leader fallen than two Confederates rushed upon the young major,each with a bayonet affixed to his gun.
"We'll run you through, Yank!" cried one, and made a furious onslaughtwith his bayonet. The other did the same, and although Deck was nottouched, Ceph received a severe prick in the right flank. The nextinstant Deck fired, and one soldier went down, shot through the ankle.
The second soldier was directly in front of Ceph, and maddened by pain,the horse reared up on his hind legs, made a leap, and came down heavilyon the Confederate. His right front foot caught the man in the face, andhe went down with a broken nose, a disfigured forehead, and totallysenseless. Then Ceph took another leap, and in a twinkling the wholescene was a thing of the past.
The second battalion had followed the flying enemy through the swamp,Major Belthorpe being satisfied his hors
es could go wherever theConfederates found a footing. As the enemy was now brought to astandstill, he was caught between two fires, and there was nothing leftfor him to do but to surrender. The captain being killed, the second incommand, a tough-looking specimen of the "swamp angel," threw up hishands, in one of which fluttered a dirty white handkerchief.
"Do you surrender?" demanded Major Lyon, who saw the movement.
"Yes," was the surly response.
"Very well; advance one by one, and throw down your arms in a heap.Captain Abbey, have your company cover them well."
"Say, but you're a young rooster to be givin' orders around hyer," wenton the "angel."
"You will keep silent and do as ordered," said Deck, briefly; and thenno more was said.
One by one the Confederates advanced and deposited their arms ascommanded. This being concluded, Captain Abbey was ordered to form theenemy into columns of fours and march them to the highway beyond theswamp. The second company took charge of the horses, of which thereproved to be forty-seven all told. Four were found to be in a pitiablecondition, and these the major ordered shot, to put them out of theirmisery.
"Well, Major, we have made a fine capture truly," remarked CaptainBlenks, of the second company, after reporting that at least thirty ofthe horses were thoroughbreds. "Those animals alone are worth twelve orfifteen thousand dollars."
"Where are the three prisoners the Confederates were holding?"
"I haven't heard of them."
Without delay Deck summoned the leader of the captured crowd before him.
"I want to know something about the three prisoners you had with you,"he said.
"They got away from us last night."
"You are telling me the truth?"
"Yes, Major. We had a traitor among us--a lad from Kentucky namedFeswell. He untied 'em, and the hull four skipped in the darkness."
Unwilling to believe the fellow, who looked the rascal in his face, Deckwaited until daylight, and then sent a detail to search the swamp fromend to end. The men were under the command of Sandy Lyon, and in lessthan an hour they returned with the three prisoners, who had been tiedto trees and gagged. One of the poor fellows, the captain of an Illinoiscompany, was in distress from a bullet-wound in his arm, and all threewere suffering from hunger and thirst.
Deck's indignation over this discovery was great, and he at once visitedthe batch of prisoners and read them a lecture on their brutality. "Waris one thing, and uncalled-for heartlessness is another," he said. "Hadthese three men been left to die in the swamp, every one of you who knewof their plight would have been guilty of murder. I had intended to sendyou into the Union lines as you are; now each of you shall ride thedistance with his arms strapped behind him, and your rations shall behardtack and water,--nothing more."
At this there was an outburst of indignation. But Deck was obdurate, andthe Confederates were forced to submit. Men and horses were placed inthe charge of the third battalion, and by noontime Major Truman was onhis way northward with them, the three Union men accompanying thecommand, and assisting in watching the prisoners.
By nightfall the first and second battalions had reached a small hamletknown as Conners, and they encamped on the outskirts, occupying adeserted farmhouse, and a half-dozen barns close by. Sentinels had beencarefully posted, and Deck and the others got a good sleep after thenight of wakefulness at the swamp.
It still wanted two hours of daylight when a message was brought to Deckthat the Riverlawns were wanted at a spot two miles south of where theywere encamped. It was reported that a portion of Minty's cavalry hadencountered a body of Forrest's command, to which was attached a numberof Tennessee guerillas. Help was wanted at once, or the Union troopswould be annihilated.
The message perplexed Deck not a little, as he had no idea that Mintywas in the vicinity. Yet, if help was needed, he was not the one to holdback, and in less than half an hour the Riverlawns were on the way,eating their ham and hardtack as they galloped forward. The messenger,an elderly man who wore the shoulder straps of a lieutenant of cavalry,stated that he knew every foot of ground in that part of Alabama, andwas, therefore, allowed to take the lead without question.
For half a mile the course was along a well-defined trail leading out ofthe swamp lands to a rocky and sandy elevation covered with a stuntedgrowth of trees. Then they came to a narrow defile where but twocavalrymen could ride abreast. Here a guard was thrown out; but no enemydeveloped, and the defile was left behind and they emerged upon an openplain ending in a slight depression. From here a woods could be seen,almost three-quarters of a mile distant.
Deck had been riding at the head of the column, but at the defile he hadturned back, to make certain that every company came through in safety.Now he moved forward once more, just as Captain Abbey made thediscovery that the trail was becoming dangerous through quicksands.
"We have gone wrong, Major, I believe," said the captain. "Where is thatguide?"
"Why, I left him with you!" exclaimed Deck, in astonishment.
"I know you did; but he rode back to interview you and see if itwouldn't be advisable to branch off on two roads which he stated werejust beyond here."
"I have seen nothing of him," said Deck, and instantly becamesuspicious. Several messengers were sent out, to the front and the rear,and it speedily became known that the guide had disappeared. Hardly hadthis word come in than the rear guard announced the presence of a bodyof Confederate cavalry on the hills on both sides of the defile justpassed. Deck had but listened to the report when there came another fromthe front. The plain was impassable, being nothing more than an immensebed of quicksand. The Riverlawns were caught in a trap.