THE GUARD-HOUSE
The subject concerning which the little sutler and the captain were
conversing soon became manifest to Noel. The officer turned sharply to
him, and as he did so the young soldier was no longer able to discover
the presence of Levi in the band.
"There's no use in your trying to get away now," exclaimed the officer.
"'Get away!'" responded Noel, astounded by the suggestion. "That's the
last thing in the world I want to do! I have been looking for you or
some of the boys in blue for more than--"
"That's a likely story!" interrupted the young captain. "You can explain
that to the colonel after we are back in the lines."
"I'm perfectly willing to explain it to the colonel," declared Noel.
"And I'll explain it to you now."
"There's no use in that. I'm afraid your explanations won't do you any
good."
"What do you think I am?" demanded Noel angrily.
All the men in the band now were listening intently, and Noel was aware
that he was under a cloud that might not easily be dispelled.
"I know what you are. You are a deserter."
In spite of the charge Noel laughed, but he was sobered instantly when
he saw that every man before him firmly believed him to be what the
officer had charged.
"I'm no deserter!" declared Noel hotly. "I happened to be outside the
lines at Harper's Ferry and the Rebels took me. I have been doing my
best to get to the army ever since."
"You look as if you had been trying," sneered the officer. "Come on.
There's no use in talking any more. You come with us and we will turn
you over to the colonel."
"Is that man a deserter, too?" inquired Noel as he pointed to Dennis.
"He is. 'Birds of a feather flock together,' I guess that's why we found
two of you to-day. There must be a baker's dozen of them altogether. I
don't know what will be done with you, but I can tell you one thing, you
aren't going to lie on any bed of roses to-night after we get back."
"What makes you think I'm a deserter?" said Noel persistently.
"I don't 'think'; I know. We have absolute proof. Your name is Noel
Curtis, isn't it?"
"Yes," replied the young soldier in surprise.
Instantly, however, he concluded that Levi must have revealed his name
and the source of the officer's knowledge, therefore, was not unknown.
"We cannot stay here any longer," continued the officer emphatically.
"Take your place in the ranks with your friend. Do you know who he is?"
"Indeed, I do!" said Noel, somewhat defiantly. "He and I both belong to
the sharpshooters of the --th. You ask Colonel Crawford about us and
he'll tell you all you want to know. 'Deserters'! Why, man, we 're no
more deserters than you are. We have been trying ever since we left
Harper's Ferry--"
"You don't seem to have made very good time even if you did try,"
sneered the officer again. "Your story sounds fine, but when the colonel
listens to what you have to say and then compares your story with the
one Levi has to tell, he may have something to say about it himself."
Apparently it was useless longer to try to persuade the captain. When
Noel saw the expression on the face of Dennis and was aware that the
young Irishman also had failed to plead his cause successfully, he was
somewhat heavy-hearted.
"I'll go with you," he said quietly.
"That's mighty good of you," laughed the officer. "You might take your
place in there with the other deserter and we'll try to see to it that
you don't get very far away again. My advice to you is not to try any
more of your tricks."
For a moment Noel looked steadily into the eyes of the sneering young
officer. He was furiously angry, and withal was more seriously troubled
than he was willing to acknowledge even to himself. Because the men
under whom he had served were not now in the vicinity it would be
difficult for him to find any one who could recognize him. His father
had once met General Hooker, a fact which Mr. Curtis frequently enlarged
upon in talks with his boys, but even if admittance could be had into
the presence of the general, which was not at all probable, it would not
identify the young soldier who was charged with deserting.
Obediently Noel advanced to take the place which had been assigned to
him, and as he did so he glanced back at the house, and saw Eliza Jane
standing in the doorway and watching with manifest interest the
activities of the soldiers whom she professed to hate.
Noel was quite certain that he had a momentary glimpse of Levi standing
behind the woman, but of this he could not be positive, as the face
speedily vanished and did not again appear. At all events, the
treacherous little sutler was not to accompany the men on their way back
to camp and, fearful alike of his absence and presence, Noel was in dire
straits when at last the command to advance was given and by the side of
Dennis he obediently fell into step and marched with the men.
A sound like distant thunder caused Noel to look up hastily. He had
heard the sound several times, but as the sky was clear and there were
no thunder clouds anywhere to be seen, he had been somewhat puzzled by
the rumbling in the distance.
"I guess the boys are up and at it ag'in," suggested Dennis in one of
his hoarse whispers.
Startled by the suggestion, Noel glanced sharply at his companion and
said, "Fighting?"
"That's what it sounds like."
"Silence in the ranks!" ordered the captain sharply, and both young
soldiers became silent as the little band marched forward.
The threatening sound was occasionally repeated, and then after a
half-hour or more had elapsed it died away and was not heard again.
Ignorant of its cause, Noel's fears were not relieved. The suggestion of
Dennis that the sounds came from cannon was undoubtedly correct, and in
that event an engagement not far away was even now taking place.
Puzzled as well as alarmed, it was not difficult for the young soldier
to decide that the two armies now must be near each other. He had no
knowledge of the region through which he was moving, the only place of
which he had heard in the vicinity being Frederick City. Just where this
was situated, and what the sympathies of its inhabitants were, he did
not know.
Noel was aware also that his companion was manifestly in very low
spirits. Never before had he seen Dennis so cast down. The sight was
depressing, and in spite of his efforts to convince himself that his
fears were groundless Noel's confidence was rapidly vanishing as the men
advanced.
How far away the main body was lying was another matter of which he was
in ignorance.
Refreshed by the food that Eliza Jane had served him he was in better
condition to endure a long march, if such a demand should be made upon
him, than he had been at any time since he had escaped the attack at
Harper's Ferry. It was the unconcealed depression of Dennis that
influenced him now.
When he had first been charged with being a deserter he had looked upon
the matter as a joke. He was fearful by this time, however, as has been
said, that with his friends all in another division of the army or
prisoners of the Confederates, it might be impossible for him to prove
his identity, at least for a time.
That he was then a regularly enrolled sharpshooter, and in his small way
had done faithful service in the Peninsula campaign, was true. But could
he convince the captain that his record was clean?
There was no delay in the march. When two hours had elapsed, Noel was
surprised to find that they were approaching a camp. This camp, however,
was so manifestly only a temporary affair that he easily conjectured
that the men practically were under marching orders. Perhaps they had
come a considerable distance that very day.
Without waiting for any instructions the young captain directed that
Noel and Dennis should be sent to the guard-tent, into which both were
somewhat roughly thrust.
To Noel's surprise he found within the tent a half-dozen unfortunate
men, and in a brief time, from the confessions which followed, he was
aware that every one there was facing a charge of desertion. Indeed, one
of the men was describing the treatment which was measured out to those
who had deserted from the ranks.
"Most generally," he was saying, "if a man deserts, and is caught again,
they make him serve out all the original time of his enlistment without
any pay or allowance."
"For instance," suggested another man, "if a soldier has enlisted for
four years and deserts at the end of six months, if they should catch
him they would bring him back and make him serve three years and six
months more without pay, would they?"
"That's it," said the first prisoner. "Sometimes they send the deserters
off to Dry Tortugas."
"They might as well banish them from everywhere as to send them there."
"That's right."
"Where is this Dry Tortugas you're talking about?" inquired another.
"It's a group of islands that belong to the United States down near the
entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. It's about one hundred and twenty miles
southwest of Cape Sable."
"And where is Cape Sable?"
"That's the southern part of Florida. Where is your geography, man?
These islands of the Dry Tortugas are very low and swampy, and they are
covered with mangrove bushes."
"What are they?"
"Oh, they are something like the banana. Sometimes the deserters there
are made to serve a term of years with ball and chain."
"What do you think is going to happen to us?"
"That's not easy to tell. There have been so many men trying to get away
that I'm afraid that it will go hard with us."
Noel was listening intently to the conversation, but its effect upon him
was not so marked as it was upon Dennis. The fear in the heart of the
young Irishman was great, if it could be estimated by the expression
which appeared upon his face.