THE FIRE
"Dennis! Dennis! Is that you?" whispered the young soldier, as he gained
the place where the other occupant of the hiding-place was seated.
"Shure, and it's Noel! It's Noel, me lad!" exclaimed Dennis in high
glee.
"Hush! Don't talk so loud, Dennis! Somebody will hear us. What are you
doing here? Where did you come from? Are you going to try to go on to
the army to-night? Who brought you here? How long have you been here?"
"Listen to the lad!" exclaimed Dennis, delightedly, in one of his
loudest whispers.
Noel was more afraid of Dennis when he whispered than he was when he
spoke in a low tone. Accordingly he grasped his comrade's arm and said,
"Don't make so much noise, Dennis."
"Noel's the lad for me! He can ask more questions in a minute than any
man from the old sod could ask in five. Well, lad, I have been here
about two hours."
"Where did you come from?"
"You'll have to ask the people what brought me. I can't tell you, I'm
shure. I niver was in such a country and I hope I'll niver be again. I
wasn't so troubled about mesilf as I was about you, Noel, me lad. Tell
me about yoursilf."
"Hush!" repeated Noel. "Be still!" he whispered excitedly. "Do you hear
those voices?"
"Shure, I hear them."
"Well, keep still and see if we can find out what they are saying."
It was plain to both the listening young soldiers that a man, who, from
his tones and speech was undoubtedly white, was talking to a negro lad
standing near the stack within which the two young soldiers were hiding.
In a moment Noel recognized the voice of the little negro lad as that of
the son of Aunt Katie. The little urchin, not more than ten years of
age, had impressed the young soldier by the intensity with which he had
looked at him from the time of his arrival until he was conducted by
Aunt Katie to the place of his concealment.
Noel grasped fiercely the arm of Dennis as he heard the man outside
ask, "Have you seen any Yanks around here?"
"No, suh! No, suh!" said the small negro. "I ain't seen no Yankees
aroun' hyer."
"You are sure, are you?" repeated the man, not ill-naturedly.
"Yas, suh. Yas, suh."
"Do you think you would know a Yank if you should see one?"
"I shore would," replied the dusky child confidently. "Yo' all done tole
us dat de Yanks hab hawns. I ain't seen nary a man wif hawns 'round
yere."
"Have you looked for them?" laughed the man.
"Yas, suh."
"Well, if you find any you must be sure to report to me. Sometimes you
have to look right smart to find the horns on some of the Yankees."
"Does dey grow right out of dere haid like dis?"
"That's what they do, and their horns are sharp, too."
"Glory!" exclaimed the little negro. "I reck'n I don't want to see no
Yanks wif hawns. Is yo' all thinkin' dat dey is comin' yere sometime?"
"I think some of them have been here."
"What dey wan' hyer?"
"You ask Aunt Katie about that. I reckon she knows more about it than I
do. Are you sure, Little Jake, you haven't seen any Yankees that didn't
have any horns?"
"How would I know dey was Yankees if dey didn't hab any hawns? Yo' all
don' tole us dat de Yankees hab hawns, so when I sees a man what I don'
know I allus looks to see if he hab any hawns."
"If he does have horns, then you make up your mind he is a Yankee, do
you?"
"Yas, suh. Dat's what yo' all don' tole us, so I looks fo' de hawns."
"Well, the next time you find anybody in Aunt Katie's cabin whom you
don't know, you come and tell me, whether he has horns or not. I'm
expecting somebody to be in her cabin pretty soon. You're sure, are you,
there isn't anybody there now?"
"Yas, suh. You come 'long wif me," said the negro lad confidently, "and
I'll show yo' all dat dere ain't nobody in dat cabin 'tall, 'ceptin'
mammy."
"I'll take your word for it. Now, Little Jake, don't you forget to come
straight to the big house and tell me if you ever find any strangers
there, whether they have horns or not."
The conversation ceased, and with a sigh of relief Noel turned once more
to Dennis and said, "When do we move from here?"
"About midnight."
"Is Sam going to be our guide?"
"I don't know whether he is or not, but Aunt Katie told me that somebody
would come for us about that time."
"Do you know how far the Union lines are from here?"
"No, I don't," replied Dennis. "I think the best thing we can do is to
lie down here on these cornstalks and take a nap."
"But you haven't told me where you came from nor how you got here."
"'Tis a long story, lad, and I'm afraid to tell you here for fear
somebody outside will hear our voices."
"All right," responded Noel. "You can tell me after we leave. I think
we'd better do what you say."
Accordingly the boys stretched themselves on the earth which was covered
with cornstalks and in a few moments both were sleeping soundly.
Just how long Noel had been asleep he did not know, but he was awakened
by a vague feeling of uneasiness. Somehow he felt as if he were being
smothered, and for a brief time he was unable to decide just where he
was or why he was there.
The voice of Dennis in a hoarse whisper recalled to him the incidents
which had preceded the finding of the shelter within the strange
hiding-place.
"What's that?" whispered Dennis.
Noel saw that his Irish friend was alarmed, although as yet he was
unable to determine the cause.
"What is what?" responded Noel.
"'Tis smoke, I tell you!" said Dennis once more. "This place is on
fire."
"You have been dreaming," protested Noel, although even as he spoke he
was aware of the odor of burning wood.
"If I have been dreaming, I'm awake now," declared Dennis. "And the only
thing for you and me to do is to get out of this place."
"It isn't midnight yet."
"It's time to get up. The sooner we get out of here the safer it will be
for us both."
All this time Noel was sharing the alarm of his comrade. Not merely was
there an odor of burning wood, but there was no concealing the fact
that smoke was penetrating their hiding-place.
To add to his alarm, at that very moment there were sounds of men
running about near the shack, and then abruptly above the noise was
heard the voice of some one shouting, "Fire! Fire!"
The danger of meeting the owner of the plantation was not so great in
the mind of the young soldier at the time as that of being burned or
suffocated in the place where he and Dennis had been concealed.
"Come on, Dennis! Come on!" he called in a low voice, as instantly he
crawled toward the opening.
The place, however, had been closed after the entrance of the two boys
and in the darkness it was impossible at first for Noel to find the
exit. By this time his fears had been greatly increased and the sounds
of confusion outside were much more alarming.
Men were shouting and running about, and in the midst of it all were
heard the screams of the terrified children.
"Lad," whispered Dennis, "we can't wait to find the door. We must make a
break for it anywhere we can." As he spoke the young Irishman threw
himself with all his strength against the side of the little room.
Instantly the partition gave way and to the consternation of Noel the
entire structure collapsed. Both boys were buried beneath the
cornstalks, but it was only the work of a moment for them to free
themselves.
As they leaped to their feet they discovered that one of the little
whitewashed cabins, which they had seen the preceding evening, was on
fire. Surrounding it were crowds of colored people, and among them Noel
saw a tall white man, who he instantly concluded was the man whose voice
had been overheard by him and Dennis. Without question the man before
him was the owner of the plantation and the one who had warned Aunt
Katie's little boy against the "terrible Yankees with hawns."
Fortunately the collapse of the rude structure, within which a
hiding-place had been made for the escaping soldiers, apparently was not
noticed by the people on the plantation. It was evident by this time
that only the little cabin was doomed and that the fire without
difficulty would be prevented from spreading to the adjoining buildings.
Men in lines were passing buckets of water from hand to hand and the
flames promised to be under control in a brief time.
Convinced that there was no immediate danger now to be feared from the
spread of the fire, Noel turned to Dennis and in a low voice said, "We
must get away from this place before that chap sees us."
Even as he spoke, however, the man turned and instantly discovered the
presence of the two young soldiers.
As he advanced toward them both boys turned and fled from the place,
running swiftly, and hoping that the surrounding darkness would soon
hide them from the sight of the man whom they believed to be a friend of
the Confederate cause.
Unmindful of the direction in which they were running Noel and Dennis
fled at their highest speed, keeping well together until they came to
what seemed to be an abandoned cabin on the border of the plantation.
"We'll stop here and abide until mornin'," suggested Dennis, who was
laboring hard and breathing heavily under the exertion.
"No! No!" replied Noel. "We must not stop a minute. The only hope we
have is in getting as far away from the plantation as possible in the
shortest time."
"I can't go any farther," said Dennis; "I'm winded."
"What's that?" demanded Noel suddenly as he turned and looked toward the
plantation, which now was far behind them, but from which the glow of
the fires still could be faintly seen.
"'Tis nothin', lad. What is it you think you hear?"
"I thought I heard the dogs. If they set the dogs on us, we shall have
more troubles than we ever had before, Dennis," said Noel, speaking
rapidly and excitedly.
"I can't help it if they do set the dogs on us," muttered Dennis
sturdily. "I can't go any farther. My wind is gone, and my side is
thumpin' as if--"
"Here!" said Noel excitedly; "here's a well! I don't know whether
there's any water in it or not, but the thing for you to do is to hide
there. You can do it," he added abruptly as he stretched himself on the
ground and, peering into the depths, found that the old well was lined
with rough stones that projected unevenly from the sides. "Go down a few
feet and wait until the excitement is over."
"Will you come with me?"
Noel hesitated and then said, "No, I'll not stay here. There will be
more danger if both of us try to hide in the same place. I'll keep on,
and after a while you follow me and I'll be on the lookout for you, and
not very far ahead."
"See that you are," said Dennis, as he at once prepared to make his
descent into the forbidding hole which his companion had discovered.
Without waiting to discover what success attended his comrade's efforts,
Noel Curtis instantly turned and resumed his flight.