AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE.
Surely this camping by themselves was exceedingly pleasant, Isaac
thought, as the old soldier took upon himself the duties of cook,
leaving his recruit with nothing to do save watch him as he worked.
On the previous night they had slept in the midst of a noisy throng who
chattered and made merry until an exceedingly late hour, thus preventing
the more weary from sleeping, and everywhere in the air, hanging like
clouds, was the dust raised by the feet of so many men.
Now these two were in the seclusion of the woods, with a carpet of grass
for a bed; the rippling brook to lull them to slumber, and nothing more
noisy than the insect life everywhere around to disturb their slumbers.
Corporal 'Lige was in a rare good humor. He prepared an appetizing meal,
although his materials were none of the best, and when it had been
eaten, seated himself by Isaac's side with pipe in his mouth, ready and
willing to spin yarns of his previous experience as a soldier.
The boy was an eager listener; but after a certain time even the tones
of the old soldier's voice were not sufficient to banish the sleep
elves, and his eyes closed in unconsciousness just when his comrade had
arrived at the most exciting portion of his narrative.
"Perhaps I shan't be so willin' the next time you want to hear what I've
seen in this world," Corporal 'Lige said testily when he observed that
his audience was asleep, and then, knocking the ashes carefully from his
pipe, he lay down by the side of his small companion.
It seemed to Isaac that he had hardly more than closed his eyes in
unconsciousness when he was aroused by the pressure of some heavy
substance upon his hand, and looking up quickly he saw, in the dim
light, three men standing over the corporal.
The foot of one of these strangers was upon the boy's hand, as if he did
not think Isaac of sufficient importance either to warrant his taking
him prisoner, or to so much as step aside that he might be spared pain.
Before hearing a single word, Isaac understood that these late-comers
were no friends of the corporal's, and he endured the pain in silence,
hoping that by so doing he might escape observation.
It was hardly probable the strangers failed to see him, for he had been
lying within a few feet of his companion; but that he was not the object
of their regard could be readily understood.
The man who had thus pinned the boy to the earth by his heel wore
moccasins rather than boots, otherwise Isaac would have received severe
injury, and as it was, the corporal's recruit suffered considerable pain
before the foot was finally removed; but yet made no sound.
So far as he could judge by the conversation, these strangers must have
been in camp some time before he was awakened, for when he first opened
his eyes they were in the midst of an unpleasant conversation with the
old soldier, such as had evidently been carried on for some moments.
"If he don't choose to tell, string him up to a tree," one of the party
cried impatiently at the moment Isaac first became conscious that
matters were not running smoothly in this private encampment. "A dead
rebel is of more good than a live one, and we have no time to lose."
"Hang me, if that's what you're hankerin' for!" Corporal 'Lige cried in
a voice that sounded thick and choked as if a heavy pressure was upon
his throat. "Even though I knew more concernin' this 'ere expedition
than I do, not a word should I speak."
"We'll soon see whether you're so willing to dance on nothing," the
first speaker cried vindictively, and then came noises as if the man was
making ready to carry his threat into execution.
"Give him another chance," one of the Tories suggested. "Let the old
fool tell us all he knows of Allen's plans, an' we'll leave him none the
worse for our coming."
"I know nothing!" the corporal cried in a rage. "Do you reckon the
colonel would lay out his campaign before me?"
"It is said he did so before you left Pittsfield."
"Whoever says that is a liar; but even though he had made the fullest
explanations, I would not reveal the plans to you. You must think I'm a
mighty poor kind of a soldier if I don't know how to die rather than
play the traitor."
"You'll soon have a chance of proving what you can do!" the third man
cried angrily, and then it was he stepped forward, leaving Isaac free to
do as he thought best.
That these three Tories were bent on hanging the old soldier, or at
least so nearly doing so as to frighten him into disclosing all he knew
regarding Colonel Allen's plans, there could be no question, and young
Rice, trembling with fear though he was, had no other thought than as to
how it might be possible for him to aid his comrade.
It did not seem probable the men were ignorant regarding the boy's
presence, and the only explanation which can be made as to why they
failed to secure him is that he was so nearly a child as to appear of
but little consequence. They evidently had no thought that he could in
any way thwart their purpose, and, therefore, no heed was given to him.
It can readily be imagined that Isaac did not waste much time in
speculations as to why he was allowed to remain at liberty.
Now was come the moment when he might repay some portion of the debt he
believed he owed Corporal 'Lige, and the only anxiety in his mind was
lest he should not do it in proper military fashion.
He could not even so much as guess what a genuine soldier would do under
the same circumstances; but he had a very good idea as to how a boy
might extricate himself from such a difficulty, and lost no time in
beginning the work.
The three men were so busily engaged trying to frighten the corporal
into telling them what he might know of Colonel Allen's forces as not to
heed the noise Isaac made when he rolled himself toward the bushes in
that direction where the two muskets had been set up against a tree
under the foliage in such manner that they might not be affected by the
dew.
It was impossible for him to say exactly what these intruders were doing
to Corporal 'Lige, but, from the noises, he judged they had first made a
prisoner of the old man by seizing him around the throat, perhaps while
he was yet asleep, and now there was every indication that they were
making ready to carry out the threat of hanging.
"Give him another chance to tell what he knows," one of the men cried,
and immediately afterward the old soldier replied:
"String me up if you will, for there's no need of waiting any longer
with the idea that I'm goin' to give you any information, even if I have
it."
"Then up with him!" the man who had first spoken shouted, and Isaac,
without looking in that direction, heard the confused noises which told
him the enemy were trying to raise the old man to his feet.
By this time the boy had his hand on one of the muskets, and his first
impulse was to discharge it full at the intruders; but before he could
act, the thought came that there were two shots at his disposal, and he
ought to so plan as to make both of them count. He believed it was
necessary to work with the utmost speed, lest these three Tories should
have hung the corporal before he was ready to interfere, and yet a
certain number of seconds were absolutely necessary before he could
carry out that plan which had suddenly come into his mind.
With both muskets under his arm he crept cautiously a few paces onward
until screened by the foliage, and then raising one of the weapons, took
deliberate aim at the nearest enemy.
There was no thought in his mind that he was thus compassing the death
of a human being. He only knew his comrade's life was in danger, and
that a well-directed shot might save him.
The three men had by this time gotten a rope around Corporal 'Lige's
neck, and, finding that it was difficult to raise the old man to his
feet, were throwing the halter over the limb of the nearest tree as a
method of saving labor.
One of the Tories, he who appeared to be the elder, and who was
directing the movements of the others, stood a few paces from his
comrades, and, taking deliberate aim at him, Isaac shouted:
"Throw down your weapons, and surrender, or you are dead men!"
The words had but just been spoken when he discharged the musket, and a
scream of pain from the living target told that the bullet had sped true
to its mark.
The two men who were as yet unarmed dropped the rope they were holding
and sprang toward their weapons, which had been left on the ground near
by; but before they could reach them, Isaac had emptied a second musket,
and another cry of pain rang out.
"Throw down your weapons and surrender, or you are dead men!" he shouted
again, and at this the third Tory, who must have believed there was more
than one man in the thicket, took to his heels in alarm, while Corporal
'Lige, who had received no worse injury than a severe choking, seized
upon the three muskets which were lying close beside him.
Even now, when two of the intruders were wounded and the third running
for dear life, Isaac was doubtful as to whether he should show himself.
He remained in concealment, while the corporal gazed around him in
surprise for a dozen seconds or more, and gave no token of his
whereabouts until the old man shouted:
"Hello, friends! Show yourselves!"
"Is it all right?" Isaac asked timidly, and in a tone which was little
better than a squeak. "Is it all right, corporal?"
"Come in here, Isaac Rice. Can it be it was you who fired those shots?"
The raw recruit came forward almost timidly, and Corporal 'Lige,
shifting the three muskets he had taken possession of over on to his
left arm, seized the boy by the hand.
"I've done a good bit of soldierin' in my day, lad; seen surprises, an'
ambushes, an' attacks of a similar kind without number; but never did I
know of anything that was done with more neatness an' dispatch than this
same job of yours, which has saved my neck from bein' stretched. I'm
proud of you, lad!"
Isaac was overwhelmed by this praise, yet not to such an extent but that
there was a great fear in his mind lest he had taken a human life, and
he asked anxiously:
"Do you suppose I hurt either of them seriously, Corporal 'Lige?" and he
pointed to where the wounded men lay.
"It is to be hoped you killed 'em both, so that we may be spared any
further trouble with the vermin," and not until then did the corporal
condescend to give any attention to those enemies who had been so sadly
worsted by a boy.
Just at this moment the wounded Tories suffered more in mind than in
body, for they now understood who had made the attack upon them, and it
can readily be fancied that both were ashamed at having been thus
defeated in their purpose by one whom they had considered of so little
importance that no effort was made to deprive him of his liberty when
they surprised the encampment.
It was with the most intense relief that young Rice heard the corporal's
report, which was to the effect that he who had acted as leader of the
party had a severe but apparently not exceedingly dangerous wound in the
shoulder, while his comrade was suffering from a bullet-hole in the leg.
"They're disabled, lad, but not killed, an' the first bit of soldierin'
that you have been called on to do is like to give great credit with
such as Colonel Allen and Colonel Easton. Tell me how you happened to
think of overcoming them in this shape?"
"I didn't think of it," the boy replied. "It seemed to me you were like
to be hanged and I only did what was in my power."
"I came nigher to havin' my neck stretched than ever before, an' as it
was, the villainous Tories pulled mighty hard on that rope, before you
effected the rescue; but, lad, you must have thought! This attack you
made in such a soldierly fashion wasn't the result of chance, an' that
I'll go bail."
It was useless to make any attempt at convincing Corporal 'Lige of what
was only the truth.
The old man was so determined to look upon the rescue as a soldierly act
that he would not accept any other explanation, and the boy ceased his
fruitless efforts by asking:
"What is to be done with these two Tories?"
"I reckon they must be got back to camp, although it would be no more
than servin' 'em right if we put an end to their miserable lives without
further parley."
"Oh, you wouldn't kill them in cold blood, Corporal 'Lige?" Isaac cried
in alarm.
"No; I don't reckon I would, though that's what ought to be done with
'em. It's plain you an' I can't lug the two a matter of a mile or more,
so one must stand guard over 'em while the other goes back to the camp.
I'm leavin' it to you to say which service you'll perform, for after
this night's work I'm willin' to admit that my recruit has in him the
makin's of a better soldier than I can ever hope to be."
The boy gave no heed to this praise at the time, although later he
remembered the words with pleasure.
Now there was in his mind a fear lest the corporal should desire him to
guard the prisoners, and, the more imminent danger over, he was growing
exceedingly timorous.
"I'll go back to the encampment if it so please you, Corporal 'Lige,
because I can run faster than you."
"As you will, lad, as you will. Explain to Colonel Ethan Allen what has
happened here and let him say how these venomous snakes are to be
treated."
During this conversation neither of the wounded men had spoken; but now,
as the boy was about to set out for the encampment, he who had evidently
acted as the leader cried sharply:
"Hold on a bit! What is the sense of sending us into your camp when we
are like to die? Why not give us a show for our lives?"
"In what way?" Corporal 'Lige asked sternly.
"By allowing us to go to our homes."
"That will do," the old soldier said angrily. "After your attempt to
kill me I'm not such a simple as to let you go scot free. Get you gone,
lad, and make the report to Colonel Allen as soon as may be."
The wounded Tory continued to plead with the corporal; but Isaac did not
wait to hear anything more.
He set out at full speed down the road in the direction where the troops
were encamped, running at his best pace, and fearing each instant lest
that Tory who had made his escape should suddenly come upon him.