CHAPTER V.
A WARNING.
"A gentleman to see me?" repeated Rodney, his surprise and indignationgiving place to a feeling of uneasiness. "Who is he? What's his name?"
"I dunno, sah," replied the servant. "I never seen him round hereafore."
Wondering who the visitor could be and how he knew where to find him,seeing that he and his father had not been in that house more than halfan hour, the Harrington boy arose and followed the servant into the backparlor. Whom he expected to meet when he got there it is hard to tell,but it is certain that he felt greatly relieved when he found that thevisitor was a Mooreville boy--a "student" in the telegraph office. Hisuneasy feelings vanished at once only to return with redoubled forcewhen Griffin--that was the visitor's name--said in a loud, earnestwhisper:
"Shut the door tight and come up close so that you can hear every word Isay. I am liable to get myself into the worst kind of a scrape by tryingto befriend you."
"The door is all right, and besides there are no eavesdroppers in thishouse," answered Rodney. "What in the world is the matter, and why areyou likely to get yourself into trouble by coming here?"
"Have you heard anything since you have been in town?" asked Griffin, inreply. "I don't suppose any one will bother you, seeing that you arealone, but if your whole company had tried to go, you might have beenstopped. If you hadn't, it wouldn't have been Randolph's fault."
"There now," thought Rodney. "I said there was some one in Moorevillewho wanted to get us into trouble, and Tom Randolph was the very fellowwho came into my mind."
But he said nothing aloud. How did he know that young Randolph was theonly enemy he had in Mooreville? He looked hard at Griffin and droppedinto the nearest chair.
"Randolph is down on everybody who voted against him for secondlieutenant," continued Griffin, "and he declared when he came home afterthe election that he would break up that company of Rangers if he couldfind any way to do it."
"He laid out a pretty big job for himself," said Rodney, when hisvisitor paused. "How did he think he would go to work to accomplishit?"
"Any way and every way. He didn't care so long as he broke it up. Youcan't imagine how tickled he was when he heard that you had mutinied andrefused to be sworn in."
"Did Randolph start that ridiculous story about the mutiny?" inquiredRodney.
"I don't know whether he set it going or not, but he helped it along allhe could and had a good deal to say about it," answered Griffin."Yesterday afternoon I was in the office when he came in and wrote adispatch to the Governor; and as I have got so that I can read by sound,I had no trouble in spelling it out when Drummond the operator sent itoff. I always do that for practice. Between you and me that Drummond is afellow who ought to be booted out of that position. He's just too meanto be of any use."
"What was in the dispatch?" asked Rodney.
"It contained the information that the Rangers had mutinied and wereabout to leave the State in a body."
"That was a lie and Randolph knew it," said Rodney, hotly. "But even ifwe had decided to leave the State in a body, is there any law to preventit? Such a thing was proposed, but it was voted down by a big majority,and that is why I am obliged to go alone."
"And that brings me to what I want to tell you," said the operator. "Ididn't pay very much attention to that dispatch, although Drummond saidthat if you tried to go up the river you ought to be chucked into thecalaboose, the last one of you; but when Randolph came in again thatevening and sent off another dispatch that was all about _you_, I beganto open my ears and think it was time I was giving you a hint."
"What could he have to say about me? It wasn't I who defeated him forsecond lieutenant."
"No, but you voted against him, and the company gave you the positionyou wanted without making any fuss about it, and presented you with asplendid sword, and all those things made Randolph pretty middling mad,I can tell you."
"Did he tell the Governor in his second dispatch that I was gettingready to leave the State, and that he had better be on the lookout tostop me?"
"Eh? No. He didn't send the second dispatch to the Governor. He sent itto his father's cotton-factor in St. Louis, who is a Yank so blue thatthe blue will rub off."
"The--mischief--he--did!" exclaimed Rodney, who began to feel bluehimself even if he didn't look so. "And what did he have to say to thatYankee about me?"
"He told him to watch the steamboats for a Confederate bearer ofdispatches--a young fellow, dark complexioned, slight mustache, dressedin citizen's clothes and a roan colt for company."
"It is his intention to have me arrested the minute I get into St.Louis, is it?" cried Rodney, getting upon his feet and moving about theroom with long, angry strides.
"It looked that way to me, and that's why I am here," replied Griffin.
"I appreciate your friendship, and assure you that I shall always bearit in mind," said Rodney, stopping long enough to give the operator'shand a cordial gripe and shake.
"That's all right," said the latter. "I haven't forgotten the winterwhen I was down with the chills and couldn't work, and that mortgage ofours liked to have worried my mother into a sick bed--"
"That's all right too," Rodney interposed. "I was at school and hadnothing whatever to do with it."
"No, but your father had something to do with it, and it's all in thefamily. I know it is Randolph's intention to get you into trouble withthe Yankees if he can, for I heard him tell Drummond so. And he couldn'thave taken a better way or a better time to do it," continued Griffin."If all reports are true, things are in a bad way in St. Louis. You knowthere are a good many Dutchmen there, and they are mostly strong for theUnion. During one of the riots they fired into their own ranks insteadof into the mob, and that made them so wild with rage that they areready to hang every Confederate they can get their hands on, withoutjudge or jury."
"A bearer of dispatches," repeated Rodney, once more seating himself inhis chair. "And did Drummond send off that telegram when he knew therewasn't a word of truth in it?"
"Course. Don't I tell you that he's too mean for any use? He andRandolph are and always have been cronies, and I heard them talking andlaughing over the dispatches as though they thought they were going toget a big joke on you."
"What other thing has Drummond done that's mean?" inquired Rodney.
"Let's talk about something else," replied Griffin, evasively.
"Just as you please," answered the Barrington boy. "But I shouldn'tthink you would take the trouble to come to Baton Rouge and run the riskof losing your position in the telegraph office, unless you are willingto trust me entirely. I asked for information and not out of curiosity.If Drummond attempts any foolishness with you, my father may be able tocheckmate him."
"Well, then," said the operator, with some hesitation. "You musn'tbetray me. Drummond has sent the names of all the Union men in andaround Mooreville to the Governor."
"Why, I didn't suppose there were any Union men there," exclaimedRodney, who was greatly surprised.
"Of course you didn't. You wouldn't expect one of them to make himselfknown to as hot a Confederate as you are known to be, would you? Thereare plenty of people at home who don't suspect such a thing, but I don'tmind telling you of it, for you are not mean enough to persecute a manwho differs from you in opinion."
Rodney thrust both hands deep into his pockets, slid farther down in hischair, and fastened his eyes on the carpet without saying a word. Whatwould his visitor think of him if he knew that he had been mean enoughto do just that very thing that in order to punish his cousin for hisUnion sentiments and drive him away from the academy, he had written aletter to Budd Goble which came within an ace of bringing Marcy Gray aterrible beating? The matter came vividly to Rodney's recollection now,and he would have given everything he ever hoped to possess if he couldhave blotted out that one act.
"Yes, there are Union men in Mooreville," continued Griffin, getting
upon his feet and buttoning up his coat, "and Randolph and his friendDrummond are laying their plans to bring sorrow of some sort to them.There was still another telegram which was sent to this place."
"Was there anything in it about me?" inquired Rodney.
"It was all about you. In it Drummond asked the operator here to keep aneye on you if he could conveniently, and send word to Mooreville whenyou went up the river and what boat you went on. Then he will send offanother dispatch to that St. Louis Yankee, who will know just when toexpect you."
"He means to be revenged on me for voting as I did, doesn't he?" musedRodney. "I shall not have any dispatches about me, but I don't want tobe arrested. It would delay me just that much, and might make itimpossible for me to get out of the city."
"Really I must be going," exclaimed Griffin, "or my cousin, who thinks Icame here on purpose to see him, will have his suspicions aroused. Canyou show me the way out? Remember I musn't be seen by anybody."
The Barrington boy, who was as well acquainted in that house as he wasin his father's, led the way to the front door, and after again thankinghis visitor for the trouble he had taken and the friendship he had shownin warning him of his danger, he ran down the steps to the sidewalk andlooked in both directions. There was no one in sight; and having madesure of it Rodney motioned to Griffin, who quickly disappeared in thedarkness. Then Rodney went slowly back into the house and entered theroom in which he had left his father. He told him and their hosteverything, even at the risk of hearing Mr. Gray declare that he shouldnot stir one step toward St. Louis. That was just what the boy thoughthis father would say, and he was ready for it, having hit upon a planwhich he was sure would throw his enemies off the scent.
Rodney's father was as angry at Randolph and Drummond as he was gratefulto young Griffin for the service he had rendered his son, but all he hadto say about it was that he would remember them all. And we mayanticipate events a little by saying that he kept his word so far asGriffin was concerned. When the Confederate Congress passed that famousconscription law "robbing the cradle and the grave," that is to say,making every able-bodied man in the South between the ages of seventeenand fifty subject to military duty, it did not neglect to provide forthe exemption of those who were able to pay for it, thus proving thetruth of the assertion that the war of the rebellion was a rich man'swar and a poor man's fight. The fact that young Griffin was the solesupport of a widowed mother made not the slightest difference to theConfederate enrolling officers, who would have forced him into the armyif Rodney's father had not come to his relief. According to the terms ofthe law there was one exempt on every plantation employing more thanfifteen slaves. Mr. Gray owned four such plantations and he gave youngGriffin charge of one of them, at the same time handing over the hundredpounds of bacon and beef that Griffin would have been obliged to pay asthe price of his exemption. Of course this made Randolph angry, and theburden of his complaint was:
"Griffin is Union and I know it; and old Gray has no business to shieldhim from the conscription in that fashion. My friend Drummond had to runwhen the Yankees came here, and now he is starving in the Confederatearmy; and is this Griffin any better than Drummond? _My_ exemption isall right. My father is free by reason of his age, and I must look outfor the plantation; but Griffin ought to be made to light. I'd givesomething handsome to know what made those Grays take such a shine tohim all of a sudden."
The knowledge that he was watched, and that the telegraph was to bebrought into operation against him, did not keep Rodney Gray awake fiveminutes after his head touched the pillow. He slept soundly, ate ahearty breakfast, and in company with his father took his way to thetelegraph office and wrote a dispatch, addressing it to Dick Graham'sfather at St. Louis. Mr. Graham did not live in the city. His home wasnear Springfield; but Rodney knew from something Dick said in his letterthat his father was sojourning in St. Louis watching the progress ofevents. His first telegram had reached Mr. Graham all right, and it waslikely this one would also. He made a great show of writing it, and evenread it to his father in a tone loud enough for the operator to hearit.
"'Will start for St. Louis by first steamer, and shall be glad to haveyou meet me at the wharf-boat,'" was what he wrote in the dispatch. "Ofcourse Mr. Graham can easily find out what boats are due in the city,and will know about what time to expect me. How much?"
The operator, who seemed to take a deeper interest in this dispatch andthe sender than operators usually take in such things, named the priceand gazed curiously at Rodney as the latter brought out his purse andlooked for the money.
"That's the fellow Drummond wants us to watch," said he to hisassistant, when Rodney and his father were out of hearing. "I wonderwhat's up? Do you suppose he has been stealing anything? He's got ahandful of gold--big pieces, too."
"So far so good," said Rodney, as he and his father went out upon thestreet. "Now let that Yankee cotton-factor watch the St. Louiswharf-boats if he wants to, and see how much he will make by it. I knewI could throw them off the scent."
"You may not have done it as completely as you think," replied Mr. Gray,"I shall not draw an easy breath until I hear that you are safe underMr. Graham's roof. When you get aboard the steamer be careful whatacquaintances you make. Take warning by what Griffin told you last nightand take nobody into your confidence."
That afternoon their host learned, through business channels, that thesteamer _Mollie Able_ was in New Orleans loading for St. Louis, andmight be expected to arrive at Baton Rouge bright and early on thefollowing morning, provided she was not impressed by the Confederatequarter-master. She came on time, and Rodney afterward learned that hewas fortunate in securing passage on her, far she was one of the lastboats that went up the river. Navigation was closed soon after shereached St. Louis, and all communication between the North and South wascut off by the Confederate batteries that were erected along theMississippi. The telegraph lines, which up to this time had been used byboth Union men and rebels alike, were seized by the Government; and ifRodney had been a week later, he would not have been able to get thatdispatch through to St. Louis. But that would not have interfered withhis arrangements, for he did not now expect to meet Dick's father in St.Louis. He had used the telegram simply to deceive Tom Randolph and theBaton Rouge operators.
Rodney Gray and his father, as well as the roan colt and a goodly supplyof hay and grain that had been provided for him, were on the leveewaiting for the _Mollie Able_ when she turned in for the landing, andRodney did not fail to notice that in the crowd of lookers-on there wasone young fellow who made it a point to keep pretty close to him,although he did not appear to do so intentionally.
"It's one of the operators Randolph set to watch me," he whispered tohis father. "I hope he will follow us up to the clerk's office and standaround within earshot while I buy my ticket."
His wish was gratified, for that was just what the young operator hadbeen sent there for--to find out whether or not Rodney secured passageto St. Louis. When the latter had seen his horse and forage disposed ofon the main deck he ascended to the office, and there was the spy,standing with his hands behind his back and his gaze directed across theriver. He stood close to the rail, but still he could hear every wordthat passed between Rodney and the clerk; and when the latter turnedaway with his ticket in his hand, the spy ran down the stairs andstarted for his office to tell Drummond the Moorville operator that hehad seen Rodney Gray pay his passage to St. Louis.
"Good-by, my boy," said Mr. Gray, when the steamer's bell rang out thewarning that the gang-plank was about to be hauled in.
"Write to us as often as you can, and remember your mother's partingwords. As often as I hear from you I shall expect to hear that you didyour duty. Remember too, that you are fighting in a just cause. TheNorth has forced this thing upon us, and we would be the veriest cowardsin the world if we did not defend ourselves. Good-by."
A moment later Rodney Gray was standing alone on the boiler deck, wavinghis handkerchief to his father, and the _Molli
e Able's_ bow was swingingrapidly away from the landing. Young as he was the boy had traveled agood deal and was accustomed to being among strangers; but now he washomesick, and when it was too late he began to wonder at the step he hadso hastily taken, and ask himself how he could possibly endure a wholeyear's separation from his father and mother.
"I've played a fool's part," thought he, bitterly, "and now I am goingto reap a fool's reward. Why didn't I stay with the company and shareits fortunes, as I said I was going to do, or why didn't father put hisfoot down and tell me I couldn't go to Missouri? Heigh-ho! This is whatcomes of being patriotic."
Then Rodney tilted his chair back on its hind legs, placed his feet onthe top of the railing and fell to wondering what had become of the restof the boys in his class, and whether or not all the Union fellows hadbeen as true to their colors as his cousin Marcy Gray had tried to be.Some of the Barrington students who were strong for the Union were fromMissouri, and they did not believe in neutrality as Dick Graham did.They believed in keeping the rebellious States in the Union by force ofarms if they would not stay in peaceably. Had they joined Lyon's army,and would he and Dick have to meet them on the field of battle? He hopednot, but if he did, he would be careful to follow the advice Ed Billingsgave his cousin Marcy and shoot high.
The journey up the river was an uneventful one. The tables were prettywell filled at meal time, but Rodney could not have been more alone ifhe had been stranded on some sandbar in the middle of the stream. Hishorse was the only companion he had, and the animal seemed to be aslonely and homesick as his master was. Rodney visited him a dozen timesa day to make sure that he did not want for anything, and the coltalways rubbed his head against the boy's shoulder and told him by othersigns, as plainly as a horse could tell it, that he was glad to see him.There was an utter lack of that sociability and unrestrained intercourseamong the passengers that Rodney had always noticed during his trips upand down the river. Some of them were solitary and alone like himself,while others, having formed themselves into little groups, had nothingto do with the rest of the passengers, but kept entirely on their ownside of the boiler deck. Rodney thought they acted as though they wereafraid of one another. This state of affairs continued until the _MollieAble_ reached Memphis, where the Confederates were building a fleet ofgunboats, and then a remark made by one of the passengers broke down allreserve, and showed some of them, Rodney Gray among the rest, that theyhad been keeping aloof from their friends.
"When these boats are completed," Rodney heard the passenger say to oneof his companions, "you will see fun on this river. The first point ofassault will be Cairo, and then we'll go on up and take St. Louis awayfrom Lyon's Dutchmen. Those Missourians are a pretty set of cowards tolet a lot of ignorant foreigners take their city out of their hands."
Well, they couldn't help it, and besides, the loyal Germans were by nomeans as ignorant as some of the men who fought against them. They weregood soldiers and hard to whip; and it was owing to their patriotism andcourage that such fellows as Rodney Gray and Dick Graham did not succeedin their efforts to "run the Yankees out of Missouri." And as for theConfederate gunboats of which such great things were expected, theywere, with a single exception, destroyed in a fight of less than anhour's duration by the Union fleet under the command of Flag OfficerDavis. The _Van Dorn_ alone escaped, and she was never heard ofafterward.
When the _Mollie Able_ resumed her journey Rodney waited and watched foran opportunity to question the outspoken Confederate, for he believed hecould trust him. As he had often told himself, he was "going it blind,"and a little information from some one who knew how things were going onup the river, might be of the greatest use to him. The opportunity hesought was presented the very next day. While he was feeding his horsethe Confederate sauntered along and stopped and looked at the colt withthe air of a man who knew a good thing when he saw it.
"There ought to be some 'go' in that fellow," said he.
"I think there is," replied Rodney. "But I have never tried him at hisbest, and don't expect to unless the Yankees get after me."
"Well, if you keep on up the river you will go right where the Yankeesare," said the gentleman, who looked a little surprised. "If you are onour side what are you doing here?"
"Pardon me, but I might ask you the same question," answered the boycautiously.
"My business is no secret," was the smiling reply. "I am going up intoOhio after my family. I want to get them home while I can. All ourhighways will be shut up after a while."
"Do you think there will be any fighting?"
"Lots of it, and I have promised to help"; and as the man said this heput his hand into his pocket and drew out an official envelope. Helooked around the deck to make sure that there was no one withinearshot, and then produced a printed document which he unfolded andhanded over for Rodney's inspection. "I knew you were a Southerner theminute I saw you, and have several times been on the point of speakingto you, for you seemed lonesome and downhearted," he continued "But whenone is about to beard the lion in his den as I am, it behooves him to becareful whom he addresses."
"That was the reason I kept to myself," answered Rodney, handing backthe paper which proved that his new acquaintance was a captain in theConfederate army. "I should think you would be afraid to have thatcommission about you. I left all my soldier things at home."
"I reckon I am safe now, but I might not be a week hence," said thecaptain. "Who are you any way, if it is a fair question, and where areyou going?"
Rodney explained in a few hasty words, and was sorry to hear the captaindeclare, as he shook his finger at him:
"You are making a great mistake. The place for a young man with amilitary education is in the regular army; not the volunteers,understand, but the regulars, who will be continued in the service afterour independence has been acknowledged. I am surprised that your friendsdidn't point that out to you."
"I have gone too far along this road to back out now," replied Rodney."We'll get by Cairo all right, won't we?"
"I think so. There have been no restrictions placed upon travel yet thatI have heard of."
"How about Cape Girardeau?"
"That place is garrisoned. You mustn't think of getting off there. Howwould you get through the lines without a pass?"
"Well, I must get off somewhere along the Missouri shore, for itwouldn't be safe for me to go on to St. Louis."
"Of course it wouldn't. That Union cotton-factor would have you arrestedthe minute you put your foot on the levee. I'll tell you what I'll do,"said the captain, after thinking a moment. "The first clerk, with whom Ihave a slight acquaintance, is solid, and I'll make it my business toask him if we are going to land anywhere on the Missouri side betweenCape Girardeau and St. Louis. If we are, I'll tip you the wink, and youcan be ready to go ashore."
"Thank you, sir," said Rodney, gratefully.
"That young chap has no idea what he is going into," said the captain,after he had told Rodney's story to some of his friends on the boilerdeck. "It's neighbor against neighbor all through the southern andwestern parts of Missouri, and for a week or two past there has been theworst kind of a partisan warfare going on. How he is going to getthrough I don't know, for if he meets an armed man on the way how is hegoing to tell whether he is Union or Confederate?"
There was but one opinion expressed when the captain finished his story,and that was that Rodney Gray was a foolhardy young fellow.
Rodney The Partisan Page 5