MAJOR VINEGOLD OF THE GUERILLAS
The second in command of the guerillas was a more sensible man than
Major Vinegold, who appeared to be a fire-eater, like Captain Stinger;
and when resistance was utterly hopeless, he announced his surrender in
a voice loud enough to be heard a long distance, and neither side struck
a blow afterwards. Deck Lyon appeared to have delivered the last
sabre-stroke; for as soon as his lieutenant saw his chief topple from
his horse, he uttered the words that ended the conflict.
"You gave the finishing touch to the fight, Deck!" exclaimed Captain
Truman in a loud voice, so that all the company could hear him.
"Three cheers for Deck Lyon!" shouted an enthusiastic trooper; and they
were given.
Of course Deck blushed; for he was a reasonably modest young man. He had
not made up his mind to do "a big thing," but simply to do his duty;
and he was doing it like any other member of the company when his
opportunity was presented to him. Major Vinegold was the bone and sinew
of the fight on his own side; and when the young cavalryman saw him
disengaged for the moment, he urged his horse forward to cross swords
with the commander.
Ceph's training seemed to be a part of his being; and when he was
pressed up to him, he rose on his hind-legs for a spring. An indifferent
rider could not have kept his seat in the saddle; but Deck had trained
himself and his steed to the manoeuvre, and each supplemented the
action of the other. The rider leaned forward, grasping the forward horn
of his saddle with the rein hand, while he kept his sabre in readiness
for use in the right. In the present instance, while the animal was in
this flying attitude, Deck struck at the head of his adversary; and the
shock carried him from his saddle to the ground.
"Ceph deserves three cheers quite as much as or more than I do," said
the young rider, while the company were waiting for further orders.
"He would not appreciate the compliment," replied the captain.
"Halloo, Artie!" exclaimed Deck, as his brother dashed into the presence
of the captain.
"Bully for you, Deck! We heard the company cheering you; what mighty
deed have you done now?" demanded the messenger, for such he was, from
the major, as he saluted Captain Truman. "It is Major Lyon's order that
you proceed to disarm the prisoners, as they are doing on the other
side."
"Order understood," replied the captain. "You can tell the major that
Deck gave the finishing touch to the fight, Artie;" and he described the
fall of Major Vinegold, and the immediate surrender that followed.
Artie hastened back to headquarters; and the captain formed the
guerillas near him in line, and took from them all their arms. The major
had ordered a large fire to be started at the side of the road, and the
scene was already well lighted. The prisoners had been formed in line in
the same manner on the south end of the battle-field, and their arms
taken from them. On the road, and beside it, seven men lay silent and
motionless; and perhaps there were others on the wooded knoll.
The squadron had not had a man killed, though about a dozen had been
wounded; and Dr. Farnwright and his assistants were attending to them.
Among the prisoners the men were binding up the wounds of each other.
The form of the fire-eater commander lay where he had fallen; and Deck
saw him move as he was about to report to the major. He felt more
interest in this man than in the others; and he dismounted from his
horse.
Ceph was as fond of his master as a kitten of the child that pets it;
and there was no need to secure him, for he would have stood there all
night. Deck was even more devoted to him than he was to pretty Miss Kate
Belthorpe, which is saying a great deal. He had fed him on dainties, and
made him his constant associate in the months when he was drilling. Ceph
was very intelligent, and seemed to understand his master's humor as
though he had been human.
The rider went to the fallen guerilla. He was not dead. He had been
stunned, and was just coming to his senses. By the light of the fire
Deck could see that his head was covered with blood. Looking closer, he
found that his left ear had been smitten entirely from the side of his
head. The sabre appeared to have struck him sideways, giving the blow
that stunned him, and then glancing off so as to take the ear with it.
If the blade had struck him fairly, it would have split his head open;
as it was, his brains were saved at the expense of his ear.
"How do you feel, Major Vinegold?" asked Deck in sympathetic tones,--for
a wounded or dying enemy was no longer a foe to him,--as he took the
handkerchief of the sufferer from his pocket and bound it over his head,
so as to cover the wound.
"I'm better, I think," replied the major, as Deck assisted him to sit
up. "Have we licked that Home Guard?"
"There is no Home Guard here. You have been fighting with a squadron of
United States cavalry, and your successor in command has surrendered."
"Strivers is a coward!"
"We were nearly three to your one; and your lieutenant was no coward,
but a brave fellow, and a sensible man."
"Who's we?"
"I am a loyal soldier, and the one that gave you your wound," replied
Deck.
"You!" exclaimed the major. "Then what are you doing with me now?"
"I am trying to assist you, if I can. I have bound up your wound, and
our surgeon will soon be able to attend to your case."
"Give me a drink of brandy out of your flask," added the wounded man
faintly.
"I have no brandy; but here is some fresh water; for I filled my canteen
at Plain Hill," answered Deck, as he presented it to his patient.
He drank freely; and perhaps it did as much good as the same quantity of
brandy would have done.
"I feel better now," said the major, as Deck assisted him to his feet.
"Where is my horse?"
"But you are a prisoner now. If you will give me your sword and pistols,
it will save you from any further annoyance," replied Deck.
"A prisoner!" he exclaimed bitterly. "Strivers surrendered."
"To three times his own force; and he could not do otherwise," added the
Union soldier very gently. "He would have murdered his own men if he
had fought any longer."
"I cannot help myself," continued the major, as he unbuckled his sword
and gave it to his conqueror. "I did not do it. Strivers did it; and I
am much obliged to you, young man, for striking me down before it was
done."
Dr. Farnwright dressed his wound; Deck found his horse, then assisted
him to mount, and placed him in the rank with the other prisoners. The
dead were ranged in a field, with two more found on the wooded knoll.
"Well, Dexter, you have been playing the hero again, have you?" said the
major, when he rode that way.
"Ceph and I have been doing our duty, and Major Vinegold is the
sufferer, father. I couldn't help doing what I did," replied Deck.
"And he ended the fight!" exclaimed Captain Truman with enthusiasm. "If
he had his proper reward he would be made a captain on the spot."
"A captain at eighteen!" exclaimed the major, who was somewhat
conservative in his ideas. "There is no authority here to make him a
captain, even if it were desirable, as I think it is not. Don't spoil
the boy, Captain Truman."
While they were waiting for the arrangements for the march to be
completed, Deck told his father about his interview with the fallen
leader of the guerillas; and it ended in introducing the major to him.
"I am sorry you are wounded, my friend," said the commander.
"Why do you call me your friend?" asked the prisoner, apparently
astonished. "You are not just our idea of the Yankees."
"On the battle-field we are enemies, and we do our best to kill each
other; but here we are friends, and we do what we can to save each
other. I am glad my son assisted you."
"He is the one-eared man's friend for life, except on the battle-field,
though he struck off that ear."
It was quite evident that he was not such a fire-eater as Captain
Stinger. But the column was ready to move. It was but a short distance
to the village; and when they arrived there, they found the fire in the
square burning even more vigorously, and all the houses lighted. They
were received with tremendous cheers, in which the ladies joined, while
they flourished their handkerchiefs in the absence of so many of the
male population.
The news of the battle and victory had been brought to the village by
Colonel Coffee; and the two magnates had provided a bountiful collation
for the soldiers, though it was in the small hours of the night. The
troopers were petted by the ladies, and Deck was a hero of the first
magnitude. The work of the day and night was finished, and the people
and the soldiers slept after their fatigues, while a portion of the Home
Guards guarded the approaches to the place.
The prisoners were marched under a strong guard to a railroad town, and
sent to Louisville. All was quiet at Greeltop and Plain Hill, and no
further attempt was made to molest these places. The discipline
administered to the guerillas was severe enough to put an end to their
operations in that part of the State. The squadron remained three weeks
in camp at Greeltop, occasionally sending out detachments where they
were needed.
Later in the year it was ordered to Munfordville, where a sharp little
battle was fought, in which the Riverlawn Cavalry had an opportunity to
meet again the old enemies, the Texan Rangers. It was while at this
place that a huge envelope came by special messenger, with other orders,
directed to "Mr. Dexter Lyon, Care of Major Noah Lyon." His father gave
it to him, and Deck opened it, wondering with all his might what it
could contain. It was a lieutenant's commission, and the recipient would
not have been more astonished if the sky had fallen upon him.
The two captains in the squadron had been the principal movers in
obtaining the commission. They had a paper recommending it signed by
every member of the first company; but the business had been done while
the command was waiting at Greeltop, fearful that Major Lyon would veto
or discountenance the measure for family reasons, or because he thought
his son was too young to be "A Lieutenant at Eighteen." With the
commission came a furlough for two weeks, to enable him to prepare for
his new duties.
Deck was astonished and confounded to find himself an officer; for he
had never sought such a position, and honestly and sincerely believed
that he had done only his duty, like every other private in the ranks.
He was overwhelmed with congratulations by the members of both
companies, and especially by the two captains.
"It hasn't come any sooner than I expected it, Deck," said Life Knox, as
he grasped the hand of the young cavalryman.
"I don't think I have deserved it," protested the recipient of the
commission.
"Ask Miss Kate Belthorpe," chuckled the Kentuckian, _par excellence_.
"She is not a military character, and don't understand the matter,"
replied Deck with a very heavy blush.
"She stuck to't that you ought to been made cap'n o' the fust company. I
didn't think so then, but I think you ought to be made a lieutenant as
you have been."
"I don't see why I was selected for this place; for I am appointed
second lieutenant of the first company, in place of poor Gilder."
"Everybody else can see it if you can't. Who brought Major Vinegold to
the ground? Who served Lieutenant Makepeace in the same way? And"--
"Ceph!" exclaimed Deck. "Don't say anything more about it, and we will
call it square;" but the tall and wiry cavalry sergeant was as fond of
Deck as though he had been his own son.
The young lieutenant procured his uniform at Munfordville; and when he
put it on, the whole of both companies cheered him, and the ladies
declared that he was the handsomest officer in the squadron, which was,
perhaps, saying much, for Captain Gordon was a remarkably good-looking
man.
Deck was going home for a part of his furlough; for his father wished
him to do so. He talked with his son full two hours before his
departure, giving him instructions about the plantation, and especially
about the family of Captain Titus Lyon, then a prisoner somewhere.
Of course his mother and sisters were extremely glad to see him, and
were prouder of his uniform than he was himself. Levi Bedford actually
hugged him; and the fifty-one negroes treated him as though he had been
an angel from the realms of bliss. Orly Lyon still desired to join the
Riverlawn Cavalry; and even Sandy had been so far cured of his Secession
tendencies as to be of the same mind.
Mrs. Noah had provided for the family of her husband's brother. She
consented, in the absence of her husband, that her boys should enlist on
the right side. The major had sent money for her to return to her father
in New Hampshire, if she still desired to go there. When Lieutenant Lyon
returned to Munfordville, Sandy and Orly went with him, wearing the
uniform of the squadron.
During his absence the command had been ordered to Somerset; and about a
month later had their first experience in a considerable battle at Mill
Spring. But our story for the present is told; and another volume will
relate the experience of Deck as an officer. His service was not
confined to his duty in command of a platoon, but an abundant
opportunity was given him to gratify to some extent his inborn desire
for stirring adventure in the service of his country, as will be found
in "A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN."
* * * * *
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AFLOAT
TAKEN BY THE ENEMY
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A VICTORIOUS UNION
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STAND BY THE UNION
FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT
* * * * *
ON LAND
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
IN THE SADDLE
A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
_Other volumes in preparation_
* * * * *
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Transcriber's Note. The punctuation and spelling are as printed in the
original publication. The oe ligature has been expanded. The character
Vinegold is referred to as both 'Captain' and 'Major' in the original
version of this book.