True To His Colors

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XII.

  THE FIRST COMPANY IN ACTION.

  "There," said Dixon soothingly. "I told you you shouldn't be hurt if youobey orders without making any fuss. Now come with us, and don't speakabove a whisper."

  "What do you reckon the kurn'll do to me?" inquired Caleb, who couldscarcely have been more frightened if the students had threatened him asBud Goble had threatened Rodney and Dick.

  "He'll not do the first thing to you," Billings assured him. "Why shouldhe when you come here as a friend to those two prisoners? We'll see yousafe outside the gate as soon as the officers are through questioningyou."

  "An' will you-uns give me the money?" asked Caleb. "If you don't, themboys is bound to get whopped."

  "Did Bud say so?"

  "He made that same remark. An' he said, furder, that if I wasn't back bysun-up with the hunderd dollars, he would know you-uns had held fast tome, an' then he would lick 'em, sure hope to die."

  "I promise you that you shall be back there before sunrise," said Dixonsignificantly. "We can't permit those fellows to be whipped on accountof a joke, and we won't, either. You are quite sure you can go straightto him?"

  Yes, Caleb was sure he could do that; and then his conductors, who hadall the while held fast to his arms, halted in front of Captain Wilson,the officer of the guard, who chanced to be pacing back and forth infront of the tent. The captain listened in amazement while the boys toldtheir story, and the light from the tent showed that there was a shadeof anxiety on his face when he inquired:

  "Where did you find this man?"

  "Outside the grounds, sir," Dixon promptly responded.

  "And what were you doing outside the grounds at this hour, when you knowthat such a thing is positively forbidden?" continued the officerseverely.

  "I had started for Barrington, sir," answered Marcy. "The commandantwouldn't give me a chance to ask permission to go."

  "And so you went without it?"

  "Yes, sir, I did. I was resolved to learn something about Rodney andDick before I slept."

  "I shall be obliged to shut you up," said the captain.

  "Very good, sir," replied Marcy. "But how about Rodney and Dick? Is thatvillain Goble to be permitted to abuse them as he pleases?"

  "I am surprised at your insolence, Private Gray," said the officersternly. "Go inside the tent under arrest."

  Marcy went, and all the boys, as well as Caleb Judson, went in with him,and Captain Wilson hastened away to lay the matter before the colonel.

  "Now, I'll tell you what's a fact," said Marcy. "Captain Wilson would dosomething for those boys if he were in command, but the colonel will notdo the first thing."

  "So be it," answered Billings. "Then we'll see whether or not thefellows will do something. They are not the lads I take them for if theydo not rally on center the minute they find out how the land lies."

  "What's up?" whispered a student, thrusting his head into the tent andthen looking back to see if there was any one coming. "Who's thatgentleman" (nodding at Caleb), "and what are you doing in there?"

  "In arrest for being sassy," replied Cole. "Say--"

  Here all the boys got upon their feet, stepped to the door and held ashort but earnest conversation with the student outside, who muttered,ejaculated, and scratched his head in a way that indicated theprofoundest surprise and bewilderment. Then he said: "You bet I'll doit," disappeared around the corner of the tent, and the boys ran back tothe table, beside which they stood, with their caps off and their handsto their foreheads, when the officer of the guard came in accompanied bythe colonel. The latter looked and acted as if the burden of hisresponsibility was too heavy for him to carry; and the worst of it was,it was growing heavier every day. He was out of patience, too, and ascross as a bear.

  "What sort of a cock-and-bull story is this I hear about Sergeant Grayand Private Graham?" said he snappishly. "I am in no humor for wastingwords."

  "Neither are we, sir," Marcy replied boldly. "My cousin is in trouble,and I should like to have him helped out of it."

  "If he hadn't run the guard and gone to town without permission, hewouldn't be in trouble," answered the colonel. "Now let me hear thestory from beginning to end, and in as short a space of time aspossible."

  Marcy Gray and Dixon could talk to the point when they made up theirminds to it, and the colonel was not kept in his chair a second longerthan was necessary to make him understand just how Rodney and Dick weresituated. That the recital made him nervous was plain from the way herubbed his hands together and tumbled his hair about his forehead.

  "Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" he asked, when the storywas concluded.

  "We should like to have you send an officer down there, under guidanceof this man Judson, and rescue those boys," said Marcy.

  "That is the duty of the civil authorities, and I cannot interfere withthem," replied the colonel, in a tone which seemed to say that thematter was settled so far as he was concerned. "Last night I tried to doa friendly turn for the citizens of Barrington, but I will never do itagain. They can be burned up or whipped for all I care."

  "But, sir, these boys are not citizens of Barrington," said Dixon. "Theyare pupils of this school, and as such they are entitled to all the aidand comfort it is in your power to give them."

  "When I think I need to be instructed in my duty toward those who areplaced under my care, I will send for you, Private Dixon," replied thecolonel loftily; but the boys all saw, and so did the officer of theguard, that he could not make up his mind how to act under thecircumstances. The colonel knew well enough that there was littledependence to be placed upon the Barrington authorities, and that thesurest way to help Rodney and Dick was to do as Marcy suggested; but hecould not make a move without running the risk of offending theinfluential members of the Committee of Safety. As he spoke he pointedtoward the door, and Dixon saluted and went out.

  "In order to relieve your suspense, Private Gray, I will tell you what Ipurpose doing," continued the colonel. "I will send this man with a noteto the police justice in town, and request him to take some stepslooking to your cousin's release. That is all I can do."

  "An' will you give me the hunderd dollars to hand to Bud?" inquiredCaleb.

  "I shall not give you a cent."

  "Then I sha'n't go nigh Bud, an' that's flat," declared Caleb, with morespirit than he had previously exhibited. "Them chaps will get licked ifI don't have that money to hand to Bud when I see him, an' I aintwantin' to get into trouble."

  Dixon, who was loitering about on the outside of the tent, did not waitto hear any more, but posted off to the hall, where he found an excited,almost frantic, crowd of students impatiently looking for some one tocome from the guard tent and tell them what the commandant had decidedto do.

  "Colonel," said Marcy, whose white face showed how desperate was theconflict that was raging within him, and how hard it was to berespectful to the man who had it in his power to help Rodney, and whorefused to use that power because he was afraid of the Barringtonsecessionists. "Your plan will not work, sir."

  "I can't help it," was the colonel's answer. "It is the only thing I cando. If Rodney had stayed within bounds he would not be in need of help.Now go, all of you."

  As soon as they were safe out of the tent Marcy caught Caleb by the armand whispered--

  "If the colonel hands you a note to carry to town, don't go away with ituntil I see you again. If you do you may get into difficulty. I'll raisesome money for you."

  "That's talking sense," said Caleb, in the same cautious whisper. "It'sthe only way to get 'em off without a lickin'."

  "Look here," exclaimed Billings, as the three moved away leaving Calebstanding near the guard tent. "Are you going to raise a hundred dollarsfor Goble?"

  "Not much. I don't think I could; but I'm going to raise something topay Caleb for guiding me to Bud's hiding-place."

  "Bully for you. Count us in."

  "I'll not a
sk any one to go with me," answered Marcy. "If you want tohelp, you can do it by telling me how I can smuggle my musket andcartridge-box out of the armory."

  "Now, that's an idea. Of course we'll help. Great Scott! What a crazycrowd, and what do you reckon they're going to do?"

  It was no wonder that Bob Cole asked this question. While he and hiscompanions were talking they walked through the archway into the hall,which was filled with pale, determined-looking students, who werequietly making their way up the wide stairs toward the armory.

  "What's up?" repeated Cole.

  "We're going after our muskets," replied one. "Fall in."

  "Not the whole school?" Billings managed to gasp, while Marcy Gray stoodspeechless, wondering at the magnitude of the rebellion which had beenbrought about by the colonel's refusal to send a squad to Rodney'sassistance and Dick's, and by the stirring appeals to which they hadlistened from Dixon, as well as from the lips of the boy who hadreceived those hasty instructions at the guard-tent.

  "Talk about rebels! Why, this is a riot," said Cole.

  "It looks very like it," replied Dixon, who stood at the foot of thestairs urging every boy to fall in. "They're all going except thecompany officers, who have taken themselves off out of sight, so thatthey cannot be called upon to oppose us. Where's Caleb?"

  "I made sure of him by saying that I would raise some money for him,"replied Marcy.

  "If we were only outside the gate we should be all right."

  "We'll get out easy as falling off a log," said Dixon. "If you hadglanced toward the gate when you came in, you would have seen four goodfellows there talking with the sentry. It will be their business todisarm him, if he shows fight when we attempt to march out, as it is hisduty to do; and if the officer of the guard tries to turn the key uponus, those four fellows will quietly take the gate from its hinges andtumble it over into the road. It's all cut and dried, and if the boyskeep as still as they are now, we'll be out before the colonel knowswhat we are up to. Oh, I haven't been idle since the commandant orderedme from the guard-tent."

  There was no need that Dixon should say this, for the actions of thestudents proved that he had done a good deal of talking since he wasordered out of the tent. Although they were pushing and crowding oneanother in their haste to get into the armory and out of it again beforesome busybody (there are boys of that sort in every school) could run tothe colonel and apprise him of what was going on, there was not theleast noise or confusion, not a word spoken above a whisper, and ifthere had been any studious scholars in the dormitories, they would nothave been in the least disturbed. In five minutes more the armory wasthronged with students, who having taken their muskets from the racks,were buckling on their cartridge-boxes. The weight of the boxesdispelled the fear that the colonel might have had the ball cartridgesthat were put in them the night before removed. Why he hadn't done it,seeing that he had promised to remain neutral in future, was a mystery.

  "This is a high-handed proceeding, boys," observed one, "and if ashoulder-strap should come in and order us to put these guns back, thenwhat?"

  "Then would be the time for you, to prove that you were in earnest whenyou promised that you would stand by Rodney and Dick if the colonelrefused to help them," said another. "Who cares? We're rebels anyhow,and we certainly would not go back on our principles at the command ofanybody up North."

  "Don't stop to discuss politics," said Dixon, who, by common consent,was the commander of the expedition, there being no commissionedofficers present. "Some of you take muskets number twenty-two,thirty-four, forty-four, and fifty-six from the racks in addition toyour own for those four fellows at the gate. Now fall in, in your placesas near as you can. We'll not stop to count fours or to divide thecompanies into platoons. So long as we get there, we don't care whetherwe go in military form or not. Fours right: Forward, column left,march!"

  "Charge bayonets!" shouted some half-wild fellow in the ranks, when thecolonel and officer of the guard, both with drawn swords in their hands,suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Run over everything that gets in theroad."

  "Young gentlemen! Boys! Private Dixon, what are you about?" cried thecolonel, who was so amazed that he hardly knew what he said. "I'll putthe last one of you in the guard-house. Just one moment, boys. Listen toreason. I'll do everything I can to get Rodney and Dick out of thatscrape. I will, I assure you."

  "Forward, double quick!" somebody shouted; and although the command camefrom one who had no business to give it, Dixon being the acknowledgedleader, the most of the students would have obeyed it with the greatestpromptness, had not the Kentucky boy jumped in front of the first fourand barred their way with his musket, which he held at the height of hisshoulders.

  "Halt!" he shouted. "Colonel, this is too plain a case, as you see. Ifyou will not help our friends who are in difficulty, we will. If we willbreak ranks, will you send the first company, under Judson's lead, tobring Rodney and Dick to the academy?"

  "I will," replied the colonel, who saw that if he didn't agree to theproposition, the boys would go without being sent.

  "Very good, sir," said Dixon; while the most of the rebels lookeddisappointed. "That is all we ask. Forward, column right, march. Fours,left, halt, right dress, front, order arms!"

  This brought the boys back into the armory, in line, and in readiness tohear what the colonel had to say to them; but the latter was in no humorfor making a speech. He could not praise the students for what they haddone, and he was afraid to find fault with them, because there was anexpression on their faces which said as plainly as words that therebellion was not yet subdued, and that they were ready to go on with itif the colonel did not do as he promised without any unnecessary delay.This was something new in the history of the Barrington MilitaryInstitute. It was the first time the students had ever taken the lawinto their own hands, and they had showed the colonel that he could notcarry water on both shoulders without running the risk of spilling someof it.

  "I shall close the school and send you to your homes the first thing inthe morning," sputtered the commandant, jamming his sword into itsscabbard, as if to say that he had no further use for it. "This is astate of affairs to which I will not submit."

  "And in the meantime, sir, permit me to remind you that my cousin is inthe hands of a ruffian who has threatened to beat him, if certaindemands he has made are not complied with," said Marcy, who wasimpatient to be off.

  The colonel bit his lip, glared savagely at Marcy for an instant, said afew hurried words to Captain Wilson, and left the armory. The firstthing the officer of the guard did was to remove his red sash and handit to another teacher--an action which all the boys in line greeted withhearty cheers; and his second move was to march the first company out ofline, and order the others to break ranks. This looked like business.Captain Wilson was going in command, and that meant that Rodney and hiscompanion in trouble would be found and released before the companyreturned. But would the captain permit them to give Bud a whack or twowith the butts of their muskets just to teach him to mind his ownbusiness in future? Probably not; and if Captain Wilson forbade it Budwould be safe, for the boys thought too much of him to rebel against hisorders.

  "We will wait a few minutes for the officers," said the Captain, "and inthe meantime--count fours."

  But the boy officers did not "show up." They had concealed themselves soeffectually that the orderlies sent out by the colonel could not findthem, and so the captain was obliged to go without them. They would bedisappointed when they came out of their hiding-places and found thattheir company had gone off with the colonel's permission, but that couldnot be helped. Caleb Judson was much surprised when he found himself atthe head of the column, surrounded by a corporal's guard who wereinstructed, in his hearing, to see that he did not give them the slip,but he did not refuse to act as guide.

  "All I ask of you, capting," said he, "is to let me stay back out ofsight when you grab Bud, so't he won't suspicion that I had anything todo with bringin' you-uns onto him. He's
a bad man when he's mad--"

  "So I have heard," said the captain dryly. "He must be a terrible fellowto let Elder Bowen walk him out of the yard by the back of the neck. Butyour wishes shall be respected, and my boys will never mention your namein connection with this business."

  This satisfied Caleb, who strode ahead as if he were in a great hurry toreach his destination.

  "It's queer doings, this taking nearly a hundred boys to capture twovagabonds," whispered Dixon, who had taken pains to secure a place inthe ranks next to Marcy Gray. "But it's the best thing that could bedone. If any of us had been ordered to stay behind, there might havebeen another rebellion. Besides, Bud and Silas are Injuns, and Ishouldn't be surprised if they slipped through our fingers."

  "I hope they will," said Marcy honestly. "Bad as they are, I shouldn'twant to see them hurt."

  The students marched through the principal street of Barrington, but ifany one saw then! they never heard of it. There was but one manstirring, and that was old Mr. Bailey, who devoted a wakeful half-hourto patroling his premises with his revolver in his hand. If he wassurprised to see the boys he did not say anything about it, for therapidity of their movements and the strict silence they maintained wereindications that they did not care to have the citizens know they wereout. Mr. Bailey would have given all the candy and peanuts in his storeto know what their errand was, but was forced to content himself withthe reflection that he would learn all about it the next time DickGraham came to town.

  "Now, capting," said Caleb, after they had gone a long distance down theroad that led to Mr. Riley's house, "Bud's camp is off that a-way abouta mile. The woods is tol'able thick, an' I don't reckon you can gothrough 'em in a bunch, like you be now, without scarin' him. He's gotears, Bud has. You-uns had best scatter out an' go one at a time."

  "Form skirmish line, I suppose you mean."

  "I don't know what you call it. Couldn't make 'em into something like ahorse-shoe, could ye?"

  "Certainly. Hold back the center and push the flanks forward. That'seasy enough."

  "Eh?" said Caleb.

  "I'll make a horse-shoe, if that's what you want."

  "All right. An' when you get to where his fire is, you can kinder bringthe heels of the shoe in t'wards each other, an' there Bud an' Silas'llbe on the inside of 'em. See?"

  The captain understood, and thought it a good plan to act upon theguide's suggestion, although he could not make up his mind that he wouldpermit his men to make prisoners of Bud and Silas. Perhaps, on thewhole, it would not be safe. Good-natured, obedient Dick Graham could beeasily controlled, but how about fiery Rodney Gray, angry as heundoubtedly was? The latter, quick-tempered and impatient of disciplineas he was known to be, when he found himself backed by nearly all theboys in his class and company might avow a determination to take amplevengeance upon his captors; and if he so much as suggested the thing,the students were in the right mood to help him through with it.

  "We don't want to make captives of those two men," said the captain, ashe passed along the ranks getting the skirmish line in shape. "We'llscare them out of a year's growth and show them that they cannot foolwith our boys with impunity, but that is as far as we will go. If theycan get away, let them."

  It took ten minutes to form the "horse-shoe" and make each boyacquainted with the signals that were to be used for his guidance, andthen the order was given to advance. The woods were pitch dark, and itwas a task of no little difficulty for the boys to find their waythrough the thick underbrush, and over the fallen logs that obstructedevery foot of the mile that lay between the road and Bud Goble's camp,but they did it without making noise enough to alarm him. What they weremost afraid of was that he would hear them coming and drag his prisonersaway from the fire and deeper into the woods, where they could not befound until Bud had had time to wreak vengeance upon them. But they neednot have borrowed any trouble on that score. If Bud Goble had had thefaintest idea of the commotion his senseless act had caused among theacademy boys, money would not have hired him to lay a finger upon Rodneyand Dick.

  TOO MUCH FOR THE MINUTE-MEN.]

  At the end of an hour Captain Wilson, who was in the center of the line,came within sight of Bud's camp-fire, and the order was passed for theflanks to close upon each other. In fifteen minutes more a shrillwhistle coming from the opposite side of the fire announced that thecommand had been obeyed, and with a charging yell, that was neversurpassed by any they afterward uttered in battle, the boys sprang upand rushed for the fire. Not a bayonet had been fixed or a piece loadedthat is, by orders; but some of the young soldiers had quietly drivenhome a cartridge while working their way through the woods, and when thesignal to advance was given, they fired their muskets into the air withsuch effect that Bud and Silas gave themselves up for lost, and theprisoners jumped from their beds of leaves by the fire, and shouted andwaved their caps to show their comrades where they were.

  "Death to all Minute-men!" somebody yelled; and the cry was taken up andcarried along the line with such volume that Bud's frantic appeals for"quarter" could not be heard.

  In less time than it takes to write it the students crowded into thecamp, and Rodney and Dick were being shaken by both hands. Their captorswere so completely surprised, and so very frightened that they had notthought of their rifles, which were leaning against convenient trees.And now came the very demonstration that Captain Wilson had been afraidof. Jerking himself loose from the detaining hands of his comrades,Rodney picked up a heavy switch lying on the ground near the log thatBud had been using for a seat.

  "Turn about is fair play, old fellow," said he. "You promised to usethis on our backs if you did not receive the hundred dollars you said weowed you, and now we'll see--"

  "Give it to him!" shouted the students, almost as one boy. "We'll standby you. Put it on good and strong. Stand back, Captain Wilson. We don'twant to go against you, but these men must have a lesson they will notforget."

  Thus encouraged Rodney raised the switch, and in a second more it wouldhave fallen with full force upon Bud's head and shoulders, had not MarcyGray, dashing aside three or four friends who stood in his way, jumpedforward and seized his cousin's arm.

  "Rodney," said he, "is this your manhood?"

  The angry boy glared at his cousin for an instant, and then, to thesurprise of all, he lowered his arm and gave up the switch.

  "You here, Marcy?" he exclaimed. "There isn't as much manhood in mywhole body as there is in your little finger. Don't look at me in thatway. Don't speak to me; I am beneath contempt. Goble, you're free to go,but don't come near me again."

  "Yes, Goble, clear yourself," shouted Dixon, who, although he did notunderstand the matter at all, thought Bud had better get out of dangerwhile the students were in the mood to let him go. "I'm about to stickthe butt of my gun through the air right where you are standing, and ifyou're there, you'll get hurt. One--two--"

  Goble turned and ran for his life, the boys dividing right and left, andjeering him loudly as he passed through their ranks.

  "He's a minute-man," said one.

  "Yes; and he'll get there in a good deal less than a minute," criedanother. "Go faster than that, for he's close after you. Ah, He camepretty near hitting you that time! Next time you'll be a goner."

  Dixon had not moved an inch from his tracks, but he had accomplished hisobject and sent Bud off without injury. Silas Walker must have goneabout the same time, for when the boys looked around for him they couldnot find him.