A FRUITLESS INTERVIEW
As conversation ceased for a time Noel and Dennis withdrew to a part of
the tent where they were by themselves. The face of every man in the
tent betrayed his feeling of anxiety. Even Noel, the youngest of the
soldiers, was becoming alarmed at the outlook. Far removed from his own
regiment, among those who were strangers to him and who knew nothing of
his record or even of his presence in the army, the young soldier
desperately tried to think of some one to whom he might appeal for aid.
If he had been left free to follow his own wishes he would immediately
have sought the colonel and stated his case to that officer. As it was,
however, he was not only prevented from seeing the leader, but also was
in a position in which his statements would not be accepted without
further proof. His anger at the little sutler, who had brought the
trouble upon him, became keener, but his very helplessness tended only
to increase his anxiety.
The anxiety of the young prisoners would have been much greater if they
had known that at this very time Harper's Ferry was about to be taken
and the soldiers of the garrison made prisoners. The two great divisions
of the Southern army, as we know, had been planning to cross the
mountains and reunite at Hagerstown or Boonesborough.
General Jackson, energetic and prompt, successfully carried out the task
which had been assigned to him. Indeed, he was as prompt in his actions
as was his great commander. On the first day of his advance he marched
fourteen miles and that same night decided to cross the Potomac River.
The following day he was only four miles west of Martinsburg, and in the
morning when he moved upon the little place, to his surprise he found
that the garrison already had abandoned the post.
The general quickly resumed his march and on the following day, after
his troops had covered more than sixty miles in the four days, he came
within sight of the Federal forces.
There was a slight delay now, but on the 13th of September General
McLaws reached the hills known as Maryland Heights and at the same time
General Walker, who was meeting with no resistance at all, occupied
Loudon Heights above Harper's Ferry.
All that night General Jackson was awake, receiving frequent reports
from both of his subordinates, and before the morning came he had made
all his plans for a combined attack upon Harper's Ferry by all the
divisions under his command.
Right at the angle formed by the junction of the Potomac and the
Shenandoah Rivers lies Harper's Ferry. To the south were heights which
were strongly held by the Union troops. It was in the afternoon of
September 14, when at the command of General Jackson the Confederate
batteries began to pour a heavy artillery fire upon the Union troops on
the heights, and when night fell he had worked his army into such a
position that it really commanded both flanks of the Bolivar Heights
where these Union soldiers were stationed.
The following morning there was a brief interval of quiet and then
General Jackson prepared to assault the heights. But before the attempt
was made the Union garrison capitulated.
Not only were more than twelve thousand prisoners secured (for the
garrisons which had been stationed at Winchester and at Martinsburg had
retired previously to Harper's Ferry), but there also were seventy-three
great guns and something like thirteen thousand small arms that became
the prizes of the victors.
"Whist!" whispered Dennis, speaking for the first time since the boys
had been consigned to the guard-tent. "'Tis a black day for us, I'm
thinkin'. 'Tis a foine way, too, to treat the boys that niver thought of
desartin'."
"We'll get out of this all right," said Noel, speaking with a confidence
he was far from feeling. "They'll have to find out first whether or not
we're really deserters before they punish us."
"If I had that little spalpeen, Levi, here, I'd get some satisfaction,
anyway! What for do you suppose he told the captain that we were
desarters?"
"There's fifty dollars reward offered to any one who will help in the
return of a deserter; at least, that's what I have been told," said
Noel.
"That explains it, thin," said Dennis confidently. "That explains it
all. For fifty dollars that Levi would sell his mother and his whole
family."
"Fifty dollars is a good deal of money, Dennis."
"So it is. So it is," acknowledged the young Irish soldier, "but it's a
lot more than Levi is worth."
"How much more?"
"Just fifty dollars, to a cint."
The attempt to speak lightly of their troubles, however, was almost
pathetic. Both boys were exceedingly anxious and their feelings were not
relieved by the manifestly increasing fears of their companions.
It was now early in the afternoon and the guard as yet had not come with
their food. Noel had decided that he would await the coming of this man
and beg him to obtain permission for him to see the colonel. The boy
felt that, if only he could be admitted to the presence of that officer,
he would be able to state some things which would lead to the prompt
release both of himself and his companion.
There was a long interval, however, before a soldier came to bring their
dinner, if hard-tack and water could be dignified by such a term.
Neither Dennis nor Noel ate of the food thus provided. Not only were
their appetites gone, but their anger had increased as they thought of
the way in which they were being treated after their difficult and
perilous services all through the campaign on the Peninsula.
The feeling of Dennis frequently found voice in his expressions of anger
and disgust. Noel, however, was more controlled in his manner and seldom
spoke except in reply to the questions of his comrade.
Noel eagerly had begged the soldier who had brought their dinner to
report to the colonel that one of the men was innocent and most
earnestly begged permission to explain to him how he had been falsely
accused.
He was by no means confident that the soldier would bear his request to
the colonel and still less was he hopeful that the colonel would grant
him an interview.
He was, therefore, the more surprised when an hour later an orderly came
to the tent and said, "Who is the man that asked to see the colonel?"
Instantly three of the inmates replied that they had made this request.
To the surprise and consternation of Noel Curtis the orderly simply
said, "There will be time for only one and he will have to be quick. I
don't see why the colonel waits, anyway. The only place for a deserter
is at the end of a rope that's tied so that his feet will be about three
feet above the ground. That's the way one of the deserters was served
this morning."
"What!" demanded Noel, his face turning pale in spite of his effort to
be calm. "Do you really mean to say that a deserter was hanged to-day?"
"That's exactly what I mean to say," said the soldier lightly. "So many
men have tried to break loose lately that it has been decided to use
stricter measures. Perhaps they will be better to you, though, and
instead of hanging you, they will just let you be shot. That's a better
way. Leastwise, that's what I would want if I had to take my choice."
"I'm the one," said Noel hastily, "who sent word to the colonel asking
for permission to see him."
"He isn't the man!" shouted the other three in unison; and each added,
"I'm the man!"
"How will I ever know?" said the orderly as he gazed in confusion first
at one prisoner and then at another.
"I'll tell you," suggested Noel. "Ask each man to tell how he sent his
message, and the one that gives it right is to be the one who shall have
a chance."
"Good!" said the orderly. "How did you send word?" he asked, turning to
Noel as he spoke.
"Ask these other men first," suggested Noel. "I was the last one to put
in a claim that I had sent word, so let me be the last one to explain
how I sent it."
"All right. Now, go ahead, you tell how you sent your word," the orderly
demanded as he looked keenly at the oldest of the trio.
"I don't just remember," stammered the soldier. "It seems to me I sent a
letter."
"That's what I did, too," said the second. "I wrote a note and sent it
by one of the boys."
"And how did you get word to him?" the orderly inquired as he turned to
the third man.
"I give it up. I'll own up, too, that I didn't send any word at all,
though I wanted to. Perhaps I took the wish for the deed."
"Now explain how you sent your message," said the soldier as he again
turned to Noel.
"I sent it by the man who brought us our dinner to-day."
"That's right. You're the boy. You come with me."
Without any delay Noel was conducted by the orderly to the tent of the
colonel, and soon was admitted.
He remained standing near the table upon which the officer was writing.
The colonel did not even glance at his visitor for a time as he
continued his task. At last, however, he looked up and said abruptly,
"Well, what is it?"
"I have come to tell you," said Noel, somewhat embarrassed in spite of
his determination to be self-controlled, "that I have been accused of
being a deserter."
"Oh, you're the man who sent word by Dan Tague."
"I don't know the man's name," said Noel respectfully.
"Well, he brought your message. And you say you are not a deserter?"
"Yes, sir."
"But you cannot prove it?"
"I can and I will if you'll give me a little time."
"But I have positive information here," said the colonel, taking a paper
from his pocket, "that you _are_ a deserter. It states that you and
another man named Dennis O'Hara both deserted at Harper's Ferry and were
discovered not far from here this morning by Captain Blowers."
"I don't know the captain's name, Colonel," said Noel. "I did not
desert at Harper's Ferry. I was outside the lines--"
"What were you doing outside the lines?" interrupted the colonel.
"I was foraging."
"Was any one with you?"
"Yes, sir. Dennis O'Hara."
"Ah, ha! Then the story is true that you both were outside the lines?"
"Yes, sir! that's true, although it isn't true that we deserted."
"To what regiment do you belong?"
"To the --th."
"To which company?"
Noel gave the number of his company.
"Who was your colonel?"
"Colonel Crawford."
"That's correct," said the officer. "All these things tally. I have a
statement here that you and--your name is Noel Curtis, is it not?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, I have a statement here that Noel Curtis and Dennis O'Hara, both
belonging to Company ---- of the --th regiment deserted just before the
attack on Harper's Ferry."
"Colonel, may I ask you who made that statement?"
"The sutler is the one who informed us."
"Did any one else tell you?"
"I think so. I haven't all the papers here and I have no time to go into
details about this. Have you served long?"
"We enlisted last spring, my brother and I. We were both in the
Peninsula campaign. My brother was sick and went home on a furlough."
"Where is your home?"
"In New York State, on the border of the St. Lawrence River. My brother
and I were both sharpshooters."
The colonel smiled incredulously as he looked at the young soldier, but
all he said in reply was, "I have nothing but your unsupported word for
this, while I have the testimony of others against you. The fact that
you were outside the lines at Harper's Ferry is against you, and it's
just about as black when Captain Blowers reports that he was informed by
reliable witnesses that you are a deserter and were seen several times
skulking about the region. We are compelled to make examples of these
men right now, or we shan't have anybody left to stand against Lee.
You'll have to find better reasons for convincing me than you have given
this afternoon."
"Will you make some investigations, Colonel?"
"No, not now. There is no time. Do you hear those guns?" he demanded as
the roar of distant cannon was heard. "We may be ordered to advance at
any time. Meanwhile I must give my men a good lesson, and I cannot do it
in a better way than by making an example of such men as you."
"Don't you believe what I have told you?"
"I don't," said the colonel tartly. "Your story is just about as
plausible as the one young Naylor told me before I had him hanged."
Noel's face became pale as he heard the statement lightly repeated by
the colonel that some one had been hanged that very day for desertion.
He was aware, however, from the attitude of the officer and the abrupt
manner in which he turned again to his writing that there was little use
in trying further to plead his cause. Turning about, Noel, still under
the guard of the orderly, left the tent and was conducted back to the
place where he had been confined with his companions.