CHAPTER X.
_Hayward._
IT is time the reader was enlightened, somewhat, as to the fate ofCaptain Hayward.
The wound he had received the night of the attempted assassination, wassevere, but by no means fatal. The loss of blood had rendered him veryweak, and for some time he remained insensible.
At the moment the blow was inflicted, there was, upon the other bank ofthe river, and watching the Federals, a squad of rebel cavalry scouts.The water into which Hayward was thrown soon revived the wounded man. Hewas seen by this band, and carried to the house of an officer of theConfederate army, not half a mile from the spot. Here his wound wasdressed. It was not long before an order reached them, signed by“Colonel Brown,” to convey him to the camp of Colonel Price, at Ozark.This order was law, and immediately after the Federals left GrandPrairie, a boat was procured, and Hayward placed in it. But halfconscious, he reached the Ozark bridge at the critical juncture alreadydescribed in the chapter referring to the interview between NettieMorton and Charles Campbell, and the interruption by Colonel Price, therescue of Nettie by Fall-leaf, the approach of the Union forces, and theresolve of Charles Campbell to save the wounded captain.
It was at the moment when Price was in pursuit of the Indian thatCampbell, taking advantage of his absence, and observing the approach ofthe Federals, hastily penned the note previously referred to and thenpushed off with the boat, down the stream, in order to effect his escapewith the prisoner.
He began to hope that success would crown his efforts. The battlefavored his flight. All that day and the night following, he pursued hiscourse. It was his purpose to follow the Gasconade until he had reachedthe point nearest Rolla, where he supposed he would be free from theroving bands of rebels, who were so numerous in the vicinity ofSpringfield. But his hopes were doomed to disappointment. Colonel Price,anticipating the direction he had taken, immediately dispatched oneLieutenant Lewis, a most tireless wretch, with a squad of ten men, tointercept Campbell, and the prisoner captain.
Just as the morning dawned, Campbell saw the pursuing party approaching.Pulling for the shore, he lifted Captain Hayward in his arms, and borehim into a mill, which stood near at hand. There he quickly concealedhis charge in an upper loft, and returned to meet the rebels. He statedhe had been captured by a party of the Federals and conveyed to thatpoint, and that they had there released him upon his parole of honor.This story was generally believed, although one of the band appeared tobe incredulous, and left his fellows for a pretended search. Notobserving his absence, the remainder of the rebel band returned withouthim, taking care, however, that Campbell was not left behind.
When this person entered the mill, he found Hayward leaning upon hiselbow, quite conscious, but too weak to move. He paused before thewounded man, and was silent, Hayward saw, and recognized him.
“Are friends near?” was his feeble question.
“I am the only friend you have got in these parts, and I reckon as how‘ugly Jim’ ain’t just the man you want to see!”
“You are one of my own men!” returned Hayward.
“That’s a p’int as will admit of some argument, as the lawyers say! Imay be _your_ man when I am in Springfield, but you are _my_ man now! Sodon’t kick up any fuss, and after I have made you fast, I’ll tell youthe rest. Ha, ha!” he muttered to himself, “but Walker shall pay me wellfor _this_!”
Saying this the rebel rascal left the mill. Not far from this mill, in awretched log-hut, lived an old woman, who gloried in the title of “crazyMadge,” and of whom the rude backwoods people of the vicinity stood infear, as it was almost universally believed among them that she waspossessed of the devil. She told fortunes with great correctness, andemployed the most singular modes in doing this, such as burning powderand strange incense, and the uttering of fearful imprecations, andunearthly sounds.
The mill was owned by one Bohannan, a captain of Confederate guerrillas.Since the commencement of the war, it had not been in operation, excepton rare occasions. About one mile above Bohannan’s mill, there wasanother mill, of smaller dimensions, which had formerly been owned by athorough Union man, who, becoming a refugee, had abandoned this mill,also. So when the residents in that region, or any of the stragglingrebel bands, had occasion to grind their grain, they always went to theupper mill, more especially as it was believed that “crazy Madge” hadtaken full possession of the lower one after its proprietor left, andthat, being occupied in sacrilegious rites, it was very generallybelieved to be unsafe to venture in that vicinity. Even the mostreckless and hardy of the guerrillas held the spot in awe, and avoidedit at all times.
Madge was seated in her own door when Campbell entered the mill withHayward in his arms. She watched him closely, but uttered no word. Shesaw him emerge, and meet the rebel band. She watched their departure,and then discovered the newcomer, “Grouse Green,” as he was known. Whenhe came forth from the mill, Madge still was seated in the cabindoorway, smoking her pipe. She did not even raise her eyes, or pretendthe least consciousness of his presence, until, with a rude slap uponher shoulder, he said:
“Come, old woman, I want you!”
The old creature pretended not the least surprise, but, raising hersnake-like eyes to those of the speaker, she said:
“Does the son of Belial wish to know his fate? I need not the aid of mymagic charms to point it out to me. In less than a month, the mosthorrible death—”
“Bah, you old crone! I’d dash your brains out for a copper, you infernalcroaking old buzzard! I don’t come to have my fortune told, but I wantyou to serve me, and you shall have gold—do you hear, old woman? Nofooling now, and gold is yours!”
“Gold! It is the master-key to human hearts! And what am I to do forgold?”
“My bidding! First, I want a set of chains! Have you such things in yourinfernal den?”
“You can have them for gold!” she exclaimed, tottering to a closet, andrattling the cold iron. “I always keep them—it is necessary to mytrade!”
“Now for the bargain, old hag. You saw me enter that mill just now?Well, there is a captain confined, or will be confined before I leavehim, in the upper loft. He will be fastened. You must feed him daily,just enough to keep life in him. I will give you a hundred to startupon—more money than you ever saw, old woman, and when I return, if youhave well done your duty as keeper, I will give you another hundred.Will you be faithful and keep the prisoner in safety from rescue?”
“I swear it by my magic art!”
“Bah! blast your art! Swear it by the gold you will receive, and I’llbelieve you. But come!”
Green reëntered the mill followed by old Madge. He seized the helplessHayward and bore him to an upper loft. There he fettered him with thechains.
“And now I shall leave you here until we can attend to you at a moreconvenient time!” he muttered, as he gazed exultingly upon Hayward. Hewas about to leave him alone.
“Stay but a moment!” cried the wounded man. “Tell me of my sister!”
“She has become the wife of Colonel Brown, of the Confederate army, or,as _you_ know him, Captain Walker, of the Federals!”
“Liar!” cried Hayward. “But no! I will not use such terms now. Do youknow who struck the blow which so nearly deprived me of life?”
“Yes; it was William Nettleton! He is also enlisted in the service ofWalker. And I will tell you more. In two days after you disappeared,Lieutenant Wells was hung for your murder. Your sister fled with Walker,who pretended the greatest friendship for her. _I_ performed theceremony, and to-night they are not three miles from you.”
Hayward had become insensible, and sunk to the floor. Green saw this,and motioning to the old woman, they left him alone.
“That is the game I want _you_ to play!” said Green, as they emergedfrom the mill. “Of course, all I have told him is false. But I want youto carry it out, because Colonel Price wishes it as well as Walker, andas he is a most dangerous
man to our cause, I don’t care how poorly hegets along. It would be a good thing for us if he could never take thefield again. So see that you do your duty!”
Madge received her money, and agreed to follow all the instructions hehad given her.
Green now returned at once to the camp, and reported to Walker. It wasjust before the decision of the court-martial had been given, and thatofficer was free, not only from restraint, but from any thing which had,as yet, assumed a definite form. He was delighted with the intelligence,and resolved to take advantage of it soon as Wells could be thoroughlycrushed.
The Prisoner of the Mill; or, Captain Hayward's Body Guard Page 10