A PERPLEXING QUESTION.
Tom Somers, who had had some experience, in a small way, in the kind of
business now before him, was filled with hope when he had adopted his
plan. He was a resolute and energetic young man, and to resolve upon any
thing was almost equivalent to doing it. There were a great many
difficulties in the way of success, it is true; but, nothing daunted by
these, he determined to persevere. The church in which the prisoners were
confined was carefully guarded on the exterior, and the sentinels carried
loaded muskets in their hands--so that the affair before him was more
hazardous and trying than that of escaping from the attic chamber of
Squire Pemberton's house in Pinchbrook.
If he succeeded in making his way out of the church and eluding the guard
which surrounded it, even then his trials would only have commenced; for
there were many miles of hostile country between him and Washington,
whither he supposed the Federal army had been driven. The captain who
intended to escape at the same time gave him some information which would
be of service to him in finding his way to the Potomac. He charged him
particularly to follow the railroad, which would conduct him to
Alexandria, in the vicinity of which he would probably find the regiment.
At dark the prisoners disposed of themselves as well as they could for the
night. Tom saw the captain go through all the forms of preparing for a
comfortable lodging, and he did the same himself. For hours he lay
ruminating upon his purpose. When it was midnight, he thought it was time
for him to commence the enterprise. He worked himself along on the floor
till he reached the principal entrance. The door was open, as it had been
all day, to enable the guards to obtain an occasional view of the
prisoners.
The sentinels were evidently in no condition to discharge their duties
with fidelity, for they had been marching and fighting for two or three
days, and were nearly exhausted. Leaning against the door, Tom discovered
a musket, which the careless guard had left there. On the floor in the
entry lay two rebel soldiers. They had stretched themselves across the
threshold of the door, so that no one could pass in or out of the church
without stepping over them.
Tom carefully rose from his recumbent posture, and took possession of the
musket. Then, with the utmost prudence, he stepped over the bodies of the
sleeping soldiers; but with all his circumspection, he could not prevent
one of his shoes from squeaking a little, and it required only a particle
of noise to rouse the guard.
"Who goes there?" demanded one of them, springing to his feet.
"Is this the way you do your duty?" replied Tom, as sternly as though he
had been a brigadier general.
"Who are you?" said the soldier, apparently impressed by the words and the
tones of him who reproved his neglect.
"Who am I, you sleepy scum! I'll let you know who I am in about ten
minutes," added Tom, as he passed out at the front door of the church.
"Give me back my gun--won't you?" pleaded the confused sentinel.
"I'll give it back to you at the court-martial which will sit on your case
to-morrow."
"Who goes there?" challenged one of the sentinels on the outside.
"Who goes there!" added Tom, in a sneering tone. "Have you waked up? Where
were you five minutes ago, when I passed this post? There won't be a
prisoner left here by morning. The long roll wouldn't wake up such a
stupid set of fellows."
"Stop, sir!" said the astonished sentinel. "You can't pass this line."
"Can't I, you stupid fool? I have passed it while you were asleep."
"I haven't been asleep."
"Where have you been, then?" demanded Tom with terrible energy.
"Been here, sir."
"I'll court-martial the whole of you!"
"Stop, sir, or I'll fire at you!" added the soldier, as Tom moved on.
"Fire at me! Fire, if you dare, and I'll rid the army of one unfaithful
man on the spot!" said the soldier boy, as he raised the musket to his
shoulder.
"Don't fire, you fool!" interposed one of the men whom Tom had roused from
his slumbers in the entry. "Don't you see he is an officer?"
"I'll teach you how to perform your duty!" added Tom, as he walked away.
The soldier, governed by the advice of his companion, offered no further
objection to the departure of Tom; and he moved off as coolly as though he
had just been regularly relieved from guard duty. He had walked but a
short distance before he discovered the camp of a regiment or brigade,
which, of course, it was necessary for him to avoid. Leaving the road, he
jumped over the fence into a field--his first object being to place a
respectful distance between himself and the enemy.
The scene through which he had just passed, though he had preserved the
appearance of coolness and self-possession, had been exceedingly trying to
his nerves; and when the moment of pressing danger had passed, he found
his heart up in his throat, and his strength almost wasted by the
excitement. He felt as one feels when he has just escaped a peril which
menaced him with instant death. It was singular that the soldier had not
fired, but the fact that he did not convinced Tom that there is an amazing
power in impudence.
For half an hour, he pursued his way with haste and diligence, but without
knowing where he was going--whether he was moving toward Richmond or
Washington. As the musket which he had taken from the church was not only
an encumbrance, but might betray him, he threw it away, though, thinking
some means of defence might be useful, he retained the bayonet, and thrust
it in his belt. Thus relieved of his burden, he walked till he came to a
road. As there was no appearance of an enemy in any direction, he followed
this road for some time, and finally it brought him to the object of his
search--the railroad.
But then came up the most perplexing question he had yet been called upon
to decide. To that railroad, as to all others, there were, unfortunately,
two ends--one of which lay within the Federal lines, and the other within
the rebel lines. If Tom had been an astronomer, which he was not, the
night was too cloudy to enable him to consult the stars; besides, some
railroads are so abominably crooked that the heavenly orbs would hardly
have been safe pilots. He did not know which was north, nor which was
south, and to go the wrong way would be to jump out of the frying pan into
the fire.
Tom sat down by the side of the road, and tried to settle the difficult
question; but the more he thought, the more perplexed he became--which
shows the folly of attempting to reason when there are no premises to
reason from. He was, no doubt, an excellent logician; but bricks cannot be
made without straw.
"Which way shall I go?" said Tom to himself, as he stood up and peered
first one way and then the other through the gloom of the night.
But he could not see Washington in one direction, nor Richmond in the
other, and he had not a single landmark to guide him in coming to a
decision.
"I'll toss up!" exclaimed he, desperately, as he took off his cap and
threw it up into the air. "Right side up, this way--wrong side, that way;
and may the fates or the angels turn it in the proper way."
He stooped down to pick up the cap, and ascertain which way it had come
down. It came down right side up, and Tom immediately started off in the
direction indicated. Although he had no confidence in the arbitrament of
the cap, he felt relieved to find the question disposed of even in this
doubtful manner.
He kept both eyes wide open as he advanced, for if he had taken the wrong
way a few miles of travel would bring him to the main camp of the rebels
in the vicinity of Manassas Junction. He pursued his lonely journey for
some time without impediment, and without discovering any camp, either
large or small. He gathered new confidence as he proceeded. After he had
walked two or three hours upon the railroad, he thought it was about time
for Fairfax station to heave in sight, if he had chosen the right way--or
for the rebel camps to appear if he had chosen the wrong way. With the
first place he was familiar, as his regiment had encamped a short distance
from it.
He was sorely perplexed by the non-appearance of either of these expected
points. The country began to look wilder and less familiar as he
proceeded. The region before him looked rugged and mountainous, and the
dark outlines of several lofty peaks touched the sky in front of him. But
with the feeling that every step he advanced placed a wider space between
him and his captors at Sudley church, he continued on his way till the
gray streaks of daylight appeared behind him.
This phenomenon promised to afford him a gleam of intelligence upon which
to found a correct solution of his course. Tom knew that, in the ordinary
course of events, the sun ought to rise in the east and set in the west.
If he was going to the north, the sun would rise on his right hand--if to
the south, on his left hand. The streaks of light grew more and more
distinct, and the clouds having rolled away, he satisfied himself where
the sun would appear. Contrary to both wings of his theory, the place was
neither on his right nor his left, for it was exactly behind him. But his
position might be upon a bend of the railroad whose direction did not
correspond with the general course of the road. For half an hour longer,
therefore, he pursued his way, carefully noting every curve, until he was
fully convinced that his course was nearer west than north. The sun rose
precisely as had been laid down in the programme, and precisely where he
expected it would rise.
It was clear enough that he was not moving to the south; and, satisfied
that he was in no danger of stumbling upon Richmond, his courage
increased, and he plodded on till he discovered a small village--or what
would be called such in Virginia--though it contained only a few houses.
As he still wore the uniform of the United States army, he did not deem it
prudent to pass through this village; besides, he was terribly perplexed
to know what station it could be, and what had become of Fairfax. Though
he must have passed through the country before, it did not look natural to
him.
Leaving the railroad, he took to the fields, intending to pass round the
village, or conceal himself in the woods till he could go through it in
safety. After walking diligently for so many hours, Tom was reminded that
he had a stomach. His rations on the preceding day had not been very
bountiful, and he was positively hungry. The organ which had reminded him
of its existence was beginning to be imperative in its demands, and a new
problem was presented for solution--one which had not before received the
attention which it deserved.
In the fields and forest he found a few berries; but all he could find
made but a slight impression upon the neglected organ. If Tom was a
philosopher, in his humble way, he was reasonable enough to admit that a
man could not live without eating. At this point, therefore, the question
of rations became a serious and solemn problem; and the longer it remained
unsolved the more difficult and harassing it became.
After he had rested all the forenoon in a secluded spot, without
interruption from man or beast, he decided to settle this question of
rations once for all. If impudence had enabled him to pass a line of rebel
sentries, it ought to furnish him with a dinner. Leaving his hiding place,
he walked till he discovered a small house, at which he determined to
apply for something to eat.