The Lost Army

by Frank Gee Patchin

  CHAPTER XXXV. A TREACHEROUS HOST--HOW THE BOYS TURNED THE TABLES.

  |The house where they asked for entertainment for the night was atwo-story frame building, and belonged to a well-to-do farmer, who wasthe owner of ten or twelve negroes, and therefore one of the aristocracyof southwest Missouri. Being an owner of slaves, he was naturally insympathy with secession, though he professed the most ardent unionismwhenever he was visited by any party of soldiers wearing the federalblue. His family consisted of his wife and two daughters. His son hadgone to join Price’s army, and the father took great pains to explainthat he had done so greatly against the parental will.

  The pronounced unionism of the man did not arouse any suspicions in theminds of Harry and Jack, who talked freely with him during and afterthe supper which was set before them. They retired early to bed, as theywere wearied with their day’s ride and intended to be off at an earlyhour in the morning, so as to reach Forsyth in good season. On theirarrival, before dark, they accompanied their horses to the barn and sawthem fed and cared for by one of the negroes, whose good graces theysecured by slipping a quarter into his hand. They took a general surveyof the barn and its surroundings, more from habit than from any thoughtthat such knowledge might be useful to them before the next morning.

  The room where they slept was in the upper story of the house, and therewas a window in it which opened upon a shed that served as a kitchen.There was no means of fastening the door, and neither of the youthsthought there was any special occasion for securing it, as they did notapprehend any disturbance from the family, and it was hardly likely thatan outsider could make an entrance without being stopped by some onebelow stairs.

  They threw off their clothing and retired to the double bed which stoodin one corner of the apartment, and in less than five minutes both weresound asleep. Harry was on the front of the bed, while Jack lay next tothe wall.

  About midnight Harry was waked by a hand upon his shoulder, and he wasabout to ask, “Who’s there?” in an audible voice, when he heard a gentle“Hush!” close to his ear.

  Instantly collecting his thoughts, he asked, in the same low whisper:

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Hush! don’t speak, and don’t move till I’ve been gone five minutes.Keep still, and listen.”

  “Certainly,” said Harry; “what’s the trouble?”

  “Father’s gone to get some men, who ‘ll carry you off. They are hidingin the woods a mile or so back from here, and he’s just gone for ‘em.You’ve time enough to git away, and you’d better git.”

  “We ‘ll git, you bet,” answered Harry; “but who are you?”

  “Never mind,” was the soft answer, “I’m your friend, that’s all.”

  “I want to know,” said Harry, “as it may be in our power to do you oryour people service some time. You may be sure we won’t betray you.”

  “Well, if you must know, I’m Cordelia, the youngest daughter of Mr.--------, who is such a Yankee when any of you fellers comes ‘round. He’ssecesh though, and so are we all, for that matter; but promise me youwon’t say so to anybody.”

  Harry made the required promise, and then Miss Cordelia explained thatshe overheard her father and mother talking about how they could havethe young Yanks carried off into the woods and kept there. “I did n’t somuch mind your being just carried off,” she added, “but I did n’t knowbut they might kill you as they’ve killed some of the union men abouthere. I’d taken a sort o’ liking to both of you, and did n’t want anyharm to come to you. And that’s why I came and told you.”

  “Now,” she added, “I’ll creep back to where sister Jane and I sleep, andyou must n’t stir for five minutes. Don’t try to go downstairs and outof the house that way, but get out on the shed, and at the further endof it you ‘ll find a big chimney that’s built up in steps like, so thatyou can get along it down onto the ground. Then find your horses and beoff jest as quick as you can. There’s a little lane from the back of thebarn that goes downhill, and if you keep along that lane and then turnto the right where it forks, you ‘ll come out on the main road about aquarter of a mile from the house. Now, good-bye!”

  “Good-bye!” whispered Harry, “and be sure we won’t forget yourkindness.” And as he said so he pressed to his lips the hand that hadbeen resting on his shoulder, and which he took hold of just as it wasbeing removed.

  Then he roused Jack, who would have spoken aloud, had not Harrypressed a hand on his mouth and whispered, not as softly as the recentwhispering had been, that he’d better shut up. As soon as Jack wasfairly awake the situation was explained, and the five minutes in whichthey had been enjoined to lie still were fully taken up in laying plansfor getting away.

  “In the first place,” said Harry, “we ought to fasten the door of theroom, so as to delay our would-be captors as long as possible.”

  “That’s so,” said Jack; “but how’ll we fasten it?”

  “I think the chair will do it,” was the reply; “at any rate I ‘ll tryit. We might move the bed against the door, but in doing it we would bevery likely to make a noise.”

  They dressed themselves quickly, but without noise, occasionallyglancing out of the window to the starlit but moonless sky. When theyhad completed their toilets, all but putting on their shoes, Harryleaned the chair against the door and found it made an excellent wedgebeneath the latch, and would greatly hinder an attempt to force anentrance.

  “That’s a splendid way to fasten a door,” whispered Harry. “I gotthe idea from Mr. Johnson, a commercial traveler, who used to cometo father’s house. He said that if you take a chair or a strongcane,--anything in fact that will go under the latch and rest on thefloor at a sharp angle,--it will defy any effort to open the door shortof bursting it in.”

  “All right,” answered Jack; “let’s have short talks and quick business.”

  Then they opened, and very softly opened, the window, and with theirshoes in their hands stepped out on the roof of the shed. Creeping alongthe roof they reached the chimney without making a sound, and found theplace that was “built up in steps like” and facilitated their descent tothe ground.

  There they sat down and put their shoes on, and then they moved in thedirection of the barn. But just before reaching it they heard voicesthat made them pause. After listening a moment they sought shelterbehind a broken cart that offered a friendly place of concealment.

  A group of five men on horseback came up and drew rein within a fewfeet of where the youths were lying. They talked in low tones, but loudenough to be distinctly heard, and both Harry and Jack perceived thatone of the voices belonged to their host.

  “We’d better get their horses out first and saddle’em,” said Mr.------(we ‘ll call him Jones, but that was n’t his name or anything likeit), “and then you won’t have to do it afterwards. I can help you now,but could n’t when the young Yanks are looking on.”

  “All right, squire,” was the answer, and with that all slid down fromtheir horses. The bridles were placed in the hands of one who appearedto be the youngest, as he certainly was the smallest, of the party, andthe others proceeded to bring out and saddle the horses of Harry andJack.

  When this had been done Mr. Jones suggested that all the horses shouldbe tied to the fence close to the barn, so that Billy, the man who hadbeen holding the five steeds, could be free to help them in case therewas occasion for anything. This was agreed to, and Billy was left towatch outside while the rest of the party entered the house. Mr. Joneswas to retire to bed and thus give the capture the aspect of somethingthat had been done against his will. In case of any outside alarm, Billywas to strike against the barn-door three times; it had been proposed tofire a shot from his rifle, but on careful consideration it was thoughtthe other signal would answer just as well and be less suspicious toears for which it was not intended.

  The four disappeared in the direction of the house, and from their placeof concealment Harry and Jack surveyed the scene and formed theirplans. Having no
thing else to do, the five horses of the guerrillas wereinclined to quarrel with the two strange ones, and the disturbance theymade gave our friends an opportunity to whisper easily to each other,without danger of being overheard by Billy.

  “We must watch our chance,” said Harry, “and jump on his shoulders so asto bear him to the ground before he can call out for help.”

  “That won’t do,” said Jack, “as he might give a yell as he goes down.Better drop him with a club, and then he ‘ll be senseless the moment ithits him and will stay so long enough for us to get away, and there ‘llbe no danger of his hollering.”

  Harry did not altogether like the idea of the club, but he realized thatit was a case of self-preservation, and the treatment was no worsethan what Mr. Billy would be ready to apply to them without the leastcompunction. So he assented to Jack’s proposal, and the two armedthemselves with clubs, which were conveniently furnished by the spokesof a crushed wheel of the cart.

  “I reckon them strange horse shad better be a little further off,” saidBilly to himself, “and then there won’t be so much furse.”

  Suiting the action to his thought, he proceeded to separate the old fromthe new, and while he was occupied with this prudential duty Harry andJack crept up behind him and, at an opportune moment, felled him with ablow from one of the cart-spokes. He went down without a sound; in lessthan a minute a handkerchief had been tied across his mouth, in which acorncob was inserted as a gag, his hands were securely fastened behindhim, and his feet were tied together. He was not likely to give analarm, no matter how soon he revived.

  Harry and Jack then took possession of the seven horses, mounting theirown and leading the other five. Harry took charge of three, and left theother two to Jack. They went at a walk down the lane which the girl hadindicated, and on reaching the high-road quickened their pace as much asthe led horses would permit.

  “It was very kind of them to saddle our horses for us,” said Jack, “andto save us any trouble about it.”

  “Yes,” replied Harry, “and I’d give one of their saddles to hear theirremarks when they find we’re not in the house, and come outside and seethe way that Billy is waiting for them.”

  “I’m afraid their remarks will not be of a Sunday-school character,” wasJack’s answer, “nor very respectful to us.”