THE LEADER OF THE SCOUTING-PARTY
As the squadron came to a region where Major Lyon was no longer familiar
with the country, scouts had been sent out ahead of the column to give
information in regard to any possible enemy. Confederate troops had been
reported from several different directions by those who had occasion to
travel about the State. As indicated by some of their operations, their
present policy was to destroy the railroad bridges, so as to prevent the
government from forwarding troops by them.
General Buckner, or his forces, had destroyed one at Rolling Creek; but
he was supposed to be falling back upon Bowling Green, as regiments from
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois began to reach this part of the State. It
was possible that the squadron might come in contact with some of these
forces; and the men were very anxious to find them.
Sergeant Knox was at the head of the scouts. He was a man of forty-two,
a tall, raw-boned Kentuckian, whose enterprise and love of adventure had
led him into the region beyond the Mississippi, where he had been a
regular soldier, a hunter, a trapper, and _voyageur_. For some reason he
had become a strong friend of Deck Lyon, who was never tired of
listening to his stories of the regions beyond the pale of civilization.
He was a bluff, good-natured man with those who pleased his fancy; and,
though he was not bitter or revengeful, he was capable of being a
terrible enemy.
Firing at a target was part of the regular drill of the cavalrymen in
camp, and Life Knox always put his ball inside of every other. His name
was Eliphalet, and he sometimes laughed at his parents for giving him
such a long name. Captain Gordon had had no little difficulty in
inducing him to sign his name in full on the enlistment papers. He had
abbreviated it to "Life," and declared that he had never signed anything
but that to any document in all his life.
He was born and "raised" in Warren County, though he had wandered far
from it at an early age, after the death of his father and mother. He
had a brother who was a prosperous planter, and with him he had lived
the last two years of his life. When he came to Riverlawn to enlist, he
brought with him a long rifle, which was a load for an ordinary man to
carry. He was told that he could make no use of it in the army; but he
asked Deck to take care of it for him, and he put it in his room.
It was occasionally brought out when the soldiers were firing at a
target, and Life produced the most surprising results with it. He was
pretty sure to hit the bull's-eye with it every time; for he had been
trained where his daily existence depended upon the accuracy of his aim.
He could bring down a squirrel as far as he could see him; and he always
insisted that the rifle had as much to do with the result as himself.
His shooting was observed with interest by the officers and men; and he
was called, not simply a good, but a remarkable, shot. He was a dead
shot to any living thing at which he aimed.
Life Knox was a good-hearted man; but there was a sort of inborn
aristocracy in him which would not permit him to associate intimately
with all his comrades in the ranks, though he treated them well, and
spoke pleasantly to them. Deck was always respectful to him, and Life
had taken a decided fancy to him. When the tall Kentuckian was ordered
upon the scout, he took care that Deck should be one of the party. They
had ridden together all the afternoon, and Life had made the time seem
short to the young man by relating all the details of a fight with a
party of Indians.
As the darkness of the evening came on, Life ordered his men to keep a
sharp lookout on all sides, and suspended his thrilling narratives that
his own watchfulness might not be impaired. The scouts were passing
through what appeared to be a plantation, though they could not yet see
any buildings. Suddenly the light of a fire flashed up at a considerable
distance to the right of the scouts in the road.
"A fire, Life!" shouted Deck, as he discovered the glare of the first
flame that rose in the darkness.
"Hush, little one!" interposed Knox. "Don't tell the neighbors about it,
for it might astonish them."
"I don't believe there are any neighbors very near us," replied Deck in
a low tone. "But there is something going on in this vicinity."
"We won't tell 'em, whoever's at work round here, that we are coming. By
the light of the fire I can see a mansion or farmhouse over yonder."
As he spoke, the report of the half-a-dozen muskets, more or less, that
had attracted the attention of the main body of the squadron, was heard,
though the scouts were half a mile distant. The building of the fire was
possibly a signal for the discharge which had so soon followed it; but
no other connection could be suggested between them.
"One man can always do better in lookin' inter things than a dozen,"
said Life, as he was trying to connect the fire and the firing in a
reasonable manner. "Ride over towards that fire, Deck, and see what you
can see."
"Be you uns soldiers, Mars'r?" asked a negro, coming out of a cornfield
at the side of the road, where the stalks had concealed his coming.
"Of course we are, Cato," replied Deck, who was nearest to him.
"Who done tole you my name, Mars'r?" asked the negro, whose surprise
seemed to have driven everything else out of his head.
"I guessed at it. But what do you want? I told you we were soldiers,"
added Deck. "Do you come from that house beyond the cornfield?"
"Yes, Mars'r; but if you uns is soldiers, which side was you on?"
inquired Cato very cautiously.
"Not gone, Deck?" asked Knox, riding up to him.
"This contraband has just come out of the field, and belongs to the
house we saw in the distance. I thought he could tell me better than I
could see for myself what is going on here," replied Deck.
"You are right, Deck."
"But he wants to know which side we are on before he says anything,"
added Deck.
"Then he is a sensible nigger. Of course we uns belong on the Union
side; and when you catch Life Knox on any other side, you'll catch a
coon asleep," replied the sergeant, decidedly enough to satisfy any
doubtful person. "What's gwine on at that fire, Minky?"
"Bress de Lod if you was Union sodgers! and my name is Cato!" exclaimed
the visitor, earnestly enough for a camp-meeting. "Dey is a hull
regiment of Sesh sodgers ober dar!" he added, pointing in the direction
from which the report of the firing had come.
Without waiting for any further information, Knox called Lane, one of
the scouts, and sent him back to report what the negro said to Major
Lyon. He was directed to move slowly after he had gone the eighth of a
mile; for the enemy were at some point on the right of the road, and he
would get a shot if he disturbed them.
"What are the Sesh soldiers here for, Cato?" asked Knox, as soon as his
messenger had gone.
"Gwine to burn de bridge ober dar," replied the man, pointing in the
direction in which the structure had been made out in the gloom of the
evening.
"Well, why don't they burn it, then?"
"Dey done got oder business at de mansion-house, sar."
"What other business have they got there?"
"I reckon de story's as long as Uncle Zeke's sarmints; but de fust thing
is, dey's gwine to hang Mars'r Barkland to one ob dem trees, if he don't
tell whar he hide his money," answered Cato, as he gave a hurried
glance at the fire.
"How many men are there at the house, or near it, Cato?" asked Knox with
deep interest.
"I done count six on 'em."
"Then we won't allow a Union man to be hung to a tree. Scouts,
attention, march!" called the sergeant hurriedly.
With this order, Life dashed into the cornfield, closely followed by
Deck and the others. The harvest had been gathered in the field, and
there was nothing but the stalks that remained to obstruct the passage
of the squad. The fire was at the edge of a grove, on ground slightly
elevated, and not far in the rear of the mansion, which could now be
distinctly seen. In approaching it, the cavalrymen came to a spot less
elevated than the grove, where Knox halted to reconnoitre.
"There's a lot of the villains coming from the house!" exclaimed the
sergeant, as he brought his horse to a full stop all at once.
"They have about finished hanging Union men in our county," said Deck,
"and I don't believe they will hang this one here."
"You can bet your horse they won't," added Life. "They can't see us
yet, and I think we had better fix things a little before we begin
business."
"We obey orders, Sergeant. There's a knoll over on the right covered
over with trees."
"I was looking at that; and we will move over there, and take a position
behind it, where they can't see us," replied Knox, as he led the way
through a hollow, which brought the party to it.
The mansion-house was on the highest ground in the vicinity, though it
was not on a hill. The fire seemed to be plentifully supplied with wood;
for it burned brightly, and shed its light on the road leading from the
house to the grove. A group of men could be seen approaching the
elevation where the fire burned. They moved very slowly, and appeared to
have considerable trouble in making any progress at all. There was a
prisoner in the midst of the party, and he was very unwilling to move in
the direction indicated by his oppressors.
While they were observing the spectacle, Cato joined them, for he had
followed the cavalrymen as rapidly as he could on foot. He evidently
belonged on the plantation, and knew all about the nature of the affair
in progress, though the sergeant was not disposed to listen to a story
as "long as Uncle Zeke's sermons."
"Do you know what those villains are doing there, Cato?" he asked, when
the negro had recovered his breath.
"Dey drag ole Mars'r Barkland ober to de tree, whar dey will hang him,"
answered Cato promptly.
"Then your master has plenty of money?"
"I dunno, Mars'r; he neber tole me notin' about dat."
"I s'pose not. Are the men who came to the mansion in uniform, Cato?"
"No, sar; no uniform but de rags dey wear. Cap'n Tites is out at bof
elbows, and a nigger'd be 'shamed to wear sich a coat."
"Did you hear what they said when they came to the house?"
"Hear ebery word dey say, Mars'r, 'cause I waits on de table when dey
done took supper."
"Then they had supper at the mansion?"
"Yes, sar; dey was all half-starbed, and dey eat more'n twenty men, and
done drink whiskey enough to float a canal-boat."
"Did that captain you spoke of drink whiskey, Cato?" asked Deck.
"He done drink more as all de rest on 'em. Mars'r Barkland willin' to
gib dem de supper and de whiskey, but he don't want to gib 'em any
money. Cap'n Tites tell him he done got million money; but mars'r say he
don't hab none. Den de cap'n say he hang 'im to a tree if he don't gib
up de money."
"That will do, Cato; I think I understand the matter now," said Knox, as
he changed his position so that he could get a better view of the scene
of action. "They have got nearly to the tree. It is about time to make a
move."
The sergeant questioned the negro in regard to the road which led to the
rear of the house, and some other matters relating to the locality. Knox
was a strategist in a small way, as he had been obliged to be in
defending himself from Indians and wild beasts. In a moment he had his
plan ready to put into operation.
"I count nine men there, taking in the planter," said he. "Cato says
there is a whole regiment camped in here somewhar. I don't believe it,
Deck; but we don't want to stir 'em up just yet. You will take Owens
and Fox, and ride round to that road Cato tells about, and I will go in
on this side. I'll do most of the job with my four; but I don't want 'em
to git off to their main body. Major Lyon'll tend to them."
Deck started at once with his two followers, directed by Cato again; and
the negro went himself with all the speed of his legs. He came to the
road, which was simply a driveway over the plantation, and soon reached
the house. He was galloping his steed; but when he came to the house he
reined him in at the plaintive supplication of an elderly woman and a
young lady, whose face he could not see in the gloom of the evening.