AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY'S SCOUTS
The baggage-train of the Guards had seen from a distance that the battle
had begun, and they had halted in the road. They still blocked the way
for Deck and Artie; but they could no longer remain as spectators to the
exciting scene which had just transpired, and had ridden down to the
field of action; but the fighting had ceased. The cavalrymen were
picking up their wounded; and Dr. Farnwright, the surgeon of the
battalion, was attending to their needs.
"Well, boys, this affair seems to be finished; and we made very short
work of it," said Captain Truman, as they rode up to the spot where he
was observing the labors of the men.
"We have seen the whole of it, and now we are ready to return to our
company," replied Deck.
"The road is clear now, and there is nothing to prevent your return."
"The wagons of the enemy have halted in the road, and there seems to be
half-a-dozen men or more in charge of them," said Deck.
"I will send a squad to bring them in," replied the captain, as he
called a sergeant near him, and directed him to take ten men and perform
this duty. "You will go with Sergeant Langford, boys, and I think you
will be all right."
"Have you any message for the major, Captain?" asked Deck.
"You have seen the skirmish yourselves, and you can report it as it was.
We were fired upon smartly for a time; but the muskets of the enemy were
of all sorts and kinds, and most of them good for nothing. We have eight
men wounded, two of them badly, and the rest slightly. Sergeant Langford
has just reported to me that the enemy lost eight men killed, and
fifteen wounded, some of them fatally. The rest of the command are
prisoners."
Sergeant Langford appeared with his ten men, and the boys went with him
on their return to their company. It was not yet sunrise, and the
principal task of the morning had been accomplished; for the action had
lasted hardly more than a quarter of an hour. Lieutenant Blenks was
compelling the Guards to pick up and care for their own wounded, and to
bury their dead. The men were sulky, and the cavalrymen were compelled
to drive them to this duty.
"It was sharp work for a few minutes," said Langford to the boys, after
he had called them to his side.
"It was; but the thing was very handsomely done," replied Deck. "I think
these ruffians have had quite enough of it."
"They are as sulky as a bear that has lost her cubs. They were not
willing to pick up their own dead and wounded, and wanted our boys to do
it for them; but a few slaps with the flat of the sabres brought them to
the point," added the sergeant. "I suppose the work in this quarter is
done now."
"I think not. I doubt whether we have finished," replied Deck; but he
said nothing about the Texan Rangers, for he did not feel at liberty to
use the information he had obtained as a messenger.
The wagons of the enemy had halted where the men in charge of them could
see what had happened at the bridge; but when the sergeant's squad
approached them, they brought their muskets to their shoulders, as
though they intended to defend their property.
"Unsling carbines!" called Langford to his men; and they promptly obeyed
the order.
But the baggage guard did not fire; for some one among them seemed to
have more sense than the others, and had interposed to prevent a useless
sacrifice of life. A dispute followed among them, and the sergeant
advanced upon them.
"No more jaw!" interposed Langford. "Start your mules, and go ahead!"
"Where are we going? We ain't no use over there now," said one of the
men.
"You are no use anywhere! Start your teams!" added Langford, as he
slapped the last speaker with the flat of his sabre. "Shove them along,
boys!"
"We ain't goin' over there; we'll turn round and go back where we come
from," added the spokesman of the party.
"Are you all idiots?" demanded Langford. "Your wagons are wanted over at
the bridge, and that is where you are going."
The troopers soon started the teams with a vigorous use of the flat
sides of their sabres. The guardsmen were disposed to resist; but they
were vigorously pushed forward, and when a fellow hung back, he was
gently pricked with the point of the sharp weapons.
"I believe a good part of these ruffians are idiots, as Langford
suggested," said Deck, as he and Artie rode forward. "They don't seem to
understand that they are taking part in the war."
"That's so," replied Artie, laughing. "If they find they cannot destroy
the bridge, all they have to do is to go back where they came from, and
call it square. But Langford has brought them to their senses."
A smart gallop of a few minutes brought the messengers in sight of the
mansion-house of the plantation. The first company was not where they
had left it in the early morning; but they soon discovered a couple of
the men, who seemed to be patrolling the south road.
"Where is the company, Yowell?" asked Deck, when they came within
speaking distance.
"Behind the mansion. We were sent down to look for you," replied the
soldier. "Major Lyon was afraid something had happened to you."
"We are all right. Have you seen any of the enemy up this way?"
"Not a man of them. If you take this path it will bring you to the
house, and you will find the major there."
The boys took the path indicated, and put their horses to their best
speed. When they came to the house, they were greeted in the yard by the
planter and his family, and the ladies poured forth their gratitude to
Deck for the service he had rendered the evening before. But the young
cavalryman could not stop to listen long to them.
"Where is Major Lyon?" he asked, looking about him.
"He is on the top of the house," replied Mr. Barkland.
"Come up here, both of you!" shouted the major from his elevated
position.
Giving the reins of their bridles to the orderly, who was there with the
commander's horse, Mr. Barkland showed them the way to a platform on the
roof of the mansion, from which a full view of the surrounding country
was obtained; only the railroad bridge was shut out by a hill.
"What makes you so late, boys?" asked the major, as they presented
themselves before him.
"The baggage-train of the enemy stopped in the road, with half-a-dozen
men in charge of it, so that we could not pass it without a fight,"
replied Deck.
"Has anything been done at the bridge?" asked the commander anxiously.
"Yes, sir; the battle has been fought and won, and the whole company of
Home Guards are prisoners," replied Deck, giving the entire story all in
a heap.
"That is good news, though I expected no other result. What was our
loss?"
"None killed; eight wounded, two of them seriously, the others slightly.
The enemy's loss is eight killed and fifteen wounded, some of them
fatally," replied Deck, who had studied over the report of the fight he
was to make; and then he proceeded to give the details of the affair.
This was in the beginning of the war, and before any battle of magnitude
had been fought, so that the action at the railroad bridge seemed to be
a considerable affair. The major listened with deep interest to all the
particulars. Doubtless he was pleased with the report of the result;
but he frequently raised the field-glass in his hands to his eyes as he
listened, and it was evident that he was more concerned in regard to the
approach of the enemy from the south.
He put several questions to the boys, which were answered by both of
them, and fully informed himself in regard to the situation at the
bridge, which was about three miles distant from the mansion.
"You will both return to the bridge; give my order to Captain Truman to
leave a sufficient force on the ground to guard the prisoners, to
dispose of the dead and wounded, and then to join me at this place with
all the men that can be spared," said the major.
The boys saluted him, and hastened to obey the order. In a few minutes
they were galloping over the road again. On their way down the stairs
they met Captain Gordon on his way to the roof. He had been the
recruiting officer sent by the commanding general of the department to
organize the first company, and the major had used all his influence to
elect him to the office he filled himself. He had declined the position,
for he thought it better that the planter of Riverlawn should fill that
place. He had an apartment at the major's mansion, and they had been on
the most intimate terms from the beginning.
"I have posted Lieutenant Belthorpe behind the hill," said Captain
Gordon, as he saluted his superior officer. "I have given him full
instructions."
"I have just sent for Captain Truman and as many of the second company
as can be spared," replied Major Lyon. "They have beaten Captain Titus's
command, and captured the whole of them."
"Can you make out any movement of the enemy to the south of us, Major
Lyon?" asked the captain.
"Nothing yet. Everything is in readiness, I suppose, to carry out our
plan."
"Everything; and the men are in fine spirits."
"The only thing I fear is that the Rangers will take the other road to
the bridge," suggested the major.
"But that would make the distance at least two miles farther," replied
Captain Gordon. "Can it be possible that the commander of the Rangers
has obtained information of our presence here, and of the result of the
affair at the bridge?"
"I think not; and yet it is possible, for not many in command could be
so neglectful of all reasonable precautions as Captain Titus was."
"If they come this way, we are all ready for them. I have scouts out to
the eastward of our position, who will report to us the passage of any
force by the east road, as they call it here," continued the captain.
"The Texans are not early risers, or we should have seen them by this
time. I will return to my company, and await further orders."
The boys understood the necessity of haste, and in less than fifteen
minutes their foaming steeds brought them into the presence of Captain
Truman, to whom they delivered their message. He had already reduced
everything to a condition of order. The wounded had been removed to a
deserted shanty, probably used by the railroad workmen, and the
prisoners were surrounded by a guard of twenty men. All was quiet on the
ground, and the captain was glad to receive the order brought by the
messengers.
Lieutenant Blenks had already been placed in command of the camp, and
the captain gave the order for Lieutenant Gadbury to have his men in
marching order at once; and twenty men from the second platoon were
added to their number. But Deck and Artie did not wait for this body to
move, but started at once on their return; for they were anxious to be
present in any engagement that might take place. They had little
compassion for their horses, fond as they were of them, and dashed down
the road at their best speed.
"Hi!" exclaimed Artie, as they reached the cross-road.
"What is it, Artie?" asked Deck, who was looking to the right.
"Don't you see? There are a couple of mounted men wearing the gray!"
exclaimed Artie with energy.
"What are they?" asked Deck.
"What are they? It is as plain as a stone wall to a blind man after he
has stumbled over it, that they are the Texans who are expected over
here."
"Are there only two of them?" asked Deck facetiously. "Your head is
level, Artie, and they are a couple of scouts who are feeling the way
for a bigger body further back."
[Illustration: "One of the Texans tumbled from his horse."]
Just at that moment a bullet whistled between the two boys; for the
scouts could have no difficulty in making out the uniform of the two
messengers. Both of them unslung their carbines; and, without
considering what consequences might ensue, both of them fired, Artie
delivering the first shot. One of the Texans tumbled from his horse, and
Deck aimed at the other; but he was less fortunate in his discharge, for
the remaining man still clung to his horse. Raising his carbine, he
fired.
"I am hit," said Deck, as he held up his left arm.
The man who had delivered his fire wheeled his horse as soon as he had
done so, and galloped back by the way he came.