The light from the door that was always open illumined the room. The
rising sun must have struck full upon it, because it was almost as
bright as day there. Slade was in his butternut uniform, and his rifle
leaned against the wall. Now that he had made the slight opening Dick
could understand their words.
“There are spies within Vicksburg, sir,” said Slade. “Colonel Dustin
detected one last night, but in the darkness he escaped down this
ravine. The alarm was spread and he could not have got outside our
lines. I must catch him. It will be a credit to me to do so. I was under
your command, and, although not in active service owing to your wound,
your word will go far. I want you to get me an order to search every
house or place in which he could hide.”
“Not too much zeal, my worthy Slade. Talleyrand said that, but you never
heard of him. Excessive suspicion is not a good thing. It was your chief
fault as an overseer, although I willingly pay tribute to your energy
and attention to detail. This business of hunting spies is greatly
overdone. The fate of Vicksburg will be settled by the cannon and the
rifles.”
“But, sir, they can do us great harm.”
“Listen to that, my good Slade.”
The deep booming note of the distant cannon entered the cave.
“That is the sound of Grant's guns. He can fight better with those
weapons than with spies.”
But Slade persisted, and Colonel Woodville, with an occasional word
from his daughter, fenced with him, always using a light bantering tone,
while the lad who lay so near listened, his pulses beating hard in his
temples and throat.
“Your vigilance is to be commended, my good Slade,” Dick heard Colonel
Woodville say, “but to-day at least I cannot secure such a commission
for you from General Pemberton. We hear that Grant is massing his troops
for a grand attack, and there is little time to thresh up all our own
quarters for spies. We must think more of our battle line. To-morrow we
may have a plan. Come back to me then, and we will talk further on these
matters.”
“But think, sir, what a day may cost us!”
“You show impatience, not to say haste, Slade, and little is ever
achieved by thoughtless haste. The enemy is closing in upon us, and it
must be our chief effort to break his iron ring. Ah, here is my nephew!
He may give us further news on these grave matters.”
Dick saw the entrance darken for a moment, then lighten again, and
that gallant youth, Victor Woodville, with whom he had fought so good a
fight, stood in the room. He was still pale and he carried his left arm
in a sling, but it was evident that his recovery from his wound had been
rapid. Dick saw the stern face of the old colonel brighten a bit, while
the tender smile curved again about the thin lips of the spinster.
Young Woodville gave a warm greeting to his uncle and elderly cousin,
and nodded to Slade. Dick believed from his gesture that he did not like
the guerilla leader, or at least he hoped so.
“Victor,” said the colonel, “what word do you bring?”
“Grant is advancing his batteries, and they seem to be massing for
attack. It will surely come in a day or two.”
“As I thought. Then we shall need all our energies for immediate battle.
And now, Mr. Slade, as I said before, I will see you again to-morrow
about the matter of which we were speaking. I am old, wounded, and I
grow weary. I would rest.”
Slade rose to go. He was not a pleasant sight. His clothes were soiled
and stained, and his face was covered with ragged beard. The eyes were
full of venom and malice.
“Good day, Colonel Woodville,” he said, “but I feel that I must bring
the matter up again. As a scout and leader of irregulars for the
Confederacy. I must be active in order to cope with the enemy's own
scouts and spies. I shall return early to-morrow morning.”
Colonel Woodville waved his hand and Slade, bowing, withdrew.
“Why was he so persistent, Uncle Charles?” asked Victor. “He seemed to
have some underlying motive.”
“He always has such a motive, Victor. He is a man who suspects everybody
because he knows everybody has a right to suspect him. He may even have
been suspecting me, his old, and, I fear, too generous employer. He has
a mania about a spy hidden somewhere in Vicksburg.”
Young Victor Woodville laughed gayly.
“What folly,” he said, “for your old overseer, a man of Northern origin
to boot, to suspect you, of all men, of helping a Yankee in any way.
Why, Uncle Charles, everybody knows that you'd annihilate 'em if you
could, and that you were making good progress with the task until you
got that wound.”
Colonel Woodville drew his great, white eyebrows together in his
characteristic way.
“I admit, Victor, that I'm the prince of Yankee haters,” he said.
“They've ruined me, and if they succeed they'll ruin our state and the
whole South, too. We've fled for refuge to a hole in the ground, and yet
they come thundering at the door of so poor an abode. Listen!”
They heard plainly the far rumble of the cannon. The intensity of the
fire increased with the growing day. Shells and bombs were falling
rapidly on Vicksburg. The face of Colonel Woodville darkened and the
eyes under the white thatch burned.
“Nevertheless, Victor,” he said, “hate the Yankees as I do, and I hate
them with all my heart and soul, there are some things a gentleman
cannot do.”
“What for instance, Uncle?”
“He cannot break faith. He cannot do evil to those who have done good to
him. He must repay benefits with benefits. He cannot permit the burden
of obligation to remain upon him. Go to the door, Victor, and see if any
one is lurking there.”
Young Woodville went to the entrance and returned with word that no one
was near.
“Victor,” resumed Colonel Woodville, “this man Slade, who was so
preposterously wrong, this common overseer from the hostile section
which seeks with force to put us down, this miserable fellow who had
the presumption to suspect me, lying here with a wound, received in the
defense of the Confederacy, was nevertheless right.”
Victor stared, not understanding, and Colonel Woodville raised himself a
little higher on his pillows.
“Since when,” he asked of all the world, “has a Woodville refused to
pay his debts? Since when has a Woodville refused asylum to one who
protected him and his in the hour of danger? Margaret, lift the blanket
and invite our young friend in.”
Dick was on his feet in an instant, and came into the chamber, uttering
thanks to the man who, in spite of so much bitterness against his cause,
could yet shelter him.
Young Woodville exclaimed in surprise.
“The Yankee with whom I fought at Bellevue!” he said.
“And the one who ignored your presence at Jackson,” said Miss Woodville.
The two lads shook hands.
“And now,” said Colonel Woodville, his old sharpness returning,
“we shall be on even terms, young sir. Your uniform bears a faint
resemblance to that of your own army, and Slade, cunning and cruel, may
have had you shot as a spy. You would be taken within our lines and this
is no time for long examinations.”
“I know how much I owe you, sir,” said Dick, “and I know how much danger
my presence here brings upon you. I will leave as soon as the ravine is
clear. The gathering of the troops for battle will give me a chance.”
“You will do nothing of the kind. Having begun the task we will carry it
through. Our cave home rambles. There is a little apartment belonging
to Victor, in which you may put yourself in shape. I advise you to lie
quiet here for a day or two, and then if I am still able to put my hand
on you I may turn you over with full explanations to the authorities.”
Dick noted the significance of the words, “if I am still able to put my
hand on you,” but he merely spoke of his gratitude and went with young
Woodville into the little apartment. It was on the right side of the
hall, and a round shutterless hole opened into the ravine, admitting
light and air. The “window,” which was not more than a foot in diameter
faced toward the east and gave a view of earthworks, and the region
beyond, where the Union army stood.
The room itself contained but little, a cot, some blankets, clothing,
and articles of the toilet.
“Mason,” said Woodville, “make yourself as comfortable as you can here.
I did not know until I escaped from Jackson that it was you who ignored
my presence there. You seem in some manner to have won the good opinion
of my uncle, and, in any event, he could not bear to remain in debt to a
Yankee. If you're careful you're safe here for the day, although you may
be lonesome. I must go at once to our lines. Cousin Margaret will bring
you something to eat.”
They shook hands again.
“I can't do much fighting,” said Woodville, “owing to this wounded arm
of mine, but I can carry messages, and the line is so long many are to
be taken.”
He went out and Miss Woodville came soon with food on a tray. Dick
suspected that they could ill spare it, but he must eat and he feared to
offer pay. It embarrassed him, too, that she should wait upon him, but,
in their situation, it was absolutely necessary that she do so, even
were there a servant somewhere, which he doubted. But she left the tray,
and when she returned for it an hour later she had only a few words to
say.
Dick stood at the round hole that served as a window. There were
bushes about it, and, at that point, the cliff seemed to be almost
perpendicular. He was safe from observation and he looked over a
vast expanse of country. The morning was dazzlingly clear, and he saw
sections of the Confederate earthworks with their men and guns, and far
beyond them other earthworks and other guns, which he knew were those of
his own people.
While he stood there alone, free from the tension that had lasted
while Slade was present, he realized the great volume of fire that the
Northern cannon were pouring without ceasing upon Vicksburg. The deep
rumble was continually in his ears, and at times his imagination made
the earth shake. He saw two shells burst in the air, and a shattering
explosion told that a third struck near by. To the eastward smoke was
always drifting. The Southern cannon seldom replied.
He resolved to attempt escape during the coming night. It hurt him to
bring danger upon the Woodvilles and he wished, too, to fulfill his
mission. Others, beyond question, would reach the fleet with the
message, but he wished to reach it also.
Yet nothing new occurred during all the long day. Miss Woodville brought
him more food at noon, but scarcely spoke. Then he returned to the hole
in the cliff, and remained there until twilight. Young Woodville
came, and he gathered from his manner that there had been no important
movement of the armies, that all as yet was preparation. But he inferred
that the storm was coming, and he told Victor that he meant to leave
that night.
He was opposed vehemently. The line of Southern sentinels watched
everywhere. Slade was most vigilant. He might come at any time into the
ravine. No, he must wait. The next night, perhaps, but in any event he
must remain a while.
Nor did he depart the next night either. Instead, two or three days
passed, and he was still in the house dug in the hillside, a guest and
yet a captive. The bombardment had gone on, his food was still brought
to him by Miss Woodville, and once or twice Victor came, but Dick, as he
was in honor bound, asked him no question about the armies.
The waiting, the loneliness and the suspense were terrible to one so
young, and so ambitious. And yet he had fared better than he had a right
to expect, a fact, however, that did not relieve his situation.
Another night came, and he went to sleep in his lonely cell in the wall,
but he was awakened while it was yet intensely dark by a cannonade far
surpassing in violence any that had gone before. He rushed to the hole,
but he could see nothing in the ravine. Yet the whole plateau seemed to
shake with the violence of the concussions and the crash of exploding
shells.
The fire came from all sides, from the river as well as the land. The
boom of the huge mortars on the boats there sounded above everything.
Dick knew absolutely now that the message he was to carry had been
delivered by somebody else.
He heard under the continued thunder of the guns sharp commands, and the
tread of many troops moving. He knew that the Southern forces were going
into position, and he felt himself that the tremendous fire was the
prelude to a great attack. His excitement grew. He strained his eyes,
but he could see nothing in the dark ravine, or out there where the
cannon roared, save the rapid, red flashes under the dim horizon. He had
his watch and he had kept it running. Now he was able to make out that
it was only three o'clock in the morning. A long time until day and
he must wait until then to know what such a furious convulsion would
achieve.
The slow time passed, and there was no decrease of the fire. Once or
twice he came away from the window and listened at the entrance to his
little room, but he could hear nothing stirring in the larger chamber.
Yet it was incredible that Colonel Woodville and his daughter should not
be awake. They would certainly be listening with an anxiety and suspense
not less than his.
Dawn came after painful ages, and slowly the region out there where the
Union army lay rose into the light. But it was a red dawn, a dawn in
flame and smoke. Scores of guns crashed in front, and behind the heavy
booming of the mortars on the boats formed the overnote of the storm.
The opening was not large, but it afforded the lad a good view, and he
thrust his head out as far as he could, every nerve in him leaping at
the deep roar of the cannonade. He had no doubt that the assault was
about to be made. He was wild with eagerness to see it, and it was a
cruel hurt to his spirit that he was held there, and could not take a
part in it.
He thought of rushing from the place, and of seeking a way through the
lines to his own army, but a little reflection showed him that it would
be folly. He must merely be a witness, while Colonel Winchester, Warner,
Pennington, the sergeant, Colonel Hertford, all whom he knew and the
tens of thousands whom he did not know, fought the battle.
A tremendous sound, distant and steady, would not blot out much smaller
sounds nearby, and now he heard noises in the larger chamber. The voice
of Colonel Woodville was raised in sharp command.
“Lift me up!” he said, “I must see! Must I lie here, eating my soul out,
when a great battle is going on! Help me up, I say! Wound or no wound, I
will go to the door!”
Then the voice of Miss Woodville attempting to soothe was heard, but
the colonel broke forth more furiously than ever, not at her, but at his
unhappy fate.
Dick, spurred by impulse, left his alcove and entered the room.
“Sir,” he said respectfully to Colonel Woodville, “you are eager to see,
and so am I. May I help you?”
Colonel Woodville turned a red eye upon him.
“Young man,” he said, “you have shown before a sense of fitness, and
your appearance now is most welcome. You shall help me to the door,
and I will lean upon you. Together we will see what is going to happen,
although I wish for one result, and you for another. No, Margaret, it
is not worth while to protest any further. My young Yankee and I will
manage it very well between us.”
Miss Woodville stepped aside and smiled wanly.
“I think it is best, Miss Woodville,” Dick said in a low tone.
“Perhaps,” she replied.
Colonel Woodville impatiently threw off the cover. He wore a long purple
dressing gown, and his wound was in the leg, but it was partly healed.
Dick helped him out of the bed and then supported him with his arm under
his shoulder. Within that singular abode the roar of the guns was a
steady and sinister mutter, but beneath it now appeared another note.
Colonel Woodville had begun to swear. It was not the torrent of loud
imprecation that Dick had heard in Jackson, but subdued, and all the
more fierce because it was so like the ferocious whine of a powerful and
hurt wild animal. Swearing was common enough among the older men of the
South, even among the educated, but Colonel Woodville now surpassed them
all.
Dick heard oaths, ripe and rich, entirely new to him, and he heard the
old ones in new arrangements and with new inflections. And yet there was
no blasphemy about it. It seemed a part of time and place, and, what was
more, it seemed natural coming from the lips of the old colonel.
They reached the door, the cut in the side of the ravine, and at once a
wide portion of the battlefield sprang into the light, while the roar
of the guns was redoubled. Dick would have stepped back now, but Colonel
Woodville's hand rested on his shoulder and his support was needed.
“My glasses, Margaret!” said the colonel. “I must see! I will see! If
I am but an old hound, lying here while the pack is in full cry, I will
nevertheless see the chase! And even if I am an old hound I could run
with the best of them if that infernal Yankee bullet had not taken me in
the leg!”
Miss Woodville brought him the glasses, a powerful pair, and he glued
them instantly to his eyes. Dick saw only the field of battle, dark
lines and blurs, the red flare of cannon and rifle fire, and towers and
banks of smoke, but the colonel saw individual human beings, and, with
his trained military eye, he knew what the movements meant. Dick felt
the hand upon his shoulder trembling with excitement. He was excited
himself. Miss Woodville stood just behind them, and a faint tinge of
color appeared in her pale face.
“The Yankees are getting ready to charge,” said the colonel. “At the
point we see they will not yet rush forward. They will, of course, wait
for a preconcerted signal, and then their whole army will attack at
once. But the woods and ravines are filled with their skirmishers,
trying to clear the way. I can see them in hundreds and hundreds, and
their rifles make sheets of flame. All the time the cannon are firing
over their heads. Heavens, what a bombardment! I've never before
listened to its like!”
“What are our troops doing, father?” asked Miss Woodville.
“Very little yet, and they should do little. Pemberton is showing more
judgment than I expected of him. The defense should hold its fire until
the enemy is well within range and that's what we're doing!”
The colonel leaned a little more heavily upon him, but Dick steadied
himself. The old man still kept the glasses to his eyes, and swept them
back and forth in as wide an arc as their position permitted. The hills
shook with the thunder of the cannon, and the brilliant sun, piercing
through the smoke, lighted up the vast battle line.
“The attack of the skirmishers grows hotter,” said the old man. “The
thickets blaze with the fire of their rifles. Heavy masses of infantry
are moving forward. Now they stop and lie on their arms. They are
awaiting the word from other parts of the field, and it shows with
certainty that a grand attack is coming. Two batteries of eight guns
each have come nearer. I did not think it possible for the fire of their
cannon to increase, but it has done so. Young sir, would you care to
look through the glasses?”
“I believe not, Colonel. I will trust to the naked eye and your report.”
It was an odd feeling that made Dick decline the glasses. If he looked
he must tell to the others what he saw, and he wished to show neither
exultation nor depression. The colonel, the duty of courtesy discharged,
resumed his own position of witness and herald.
“The columns of infantry are getting up again,” he said. “I see a man in
what I take to be a general's uniform riding along their front. He
must be making a speech. No doubt he knows the desperate nature of
the attack, and would inspire them. Now he is gone and other officers,
colonels and majors are moving about.”
“What are the skirmishers doing, Colonel?”
“Their fire is not so hot. They must be drawing back. They have made
the prelude, and the importance of their role has passed. The masses
of infantry are drawing together again. Now I see men on horseback with
trumpets to their lips. Yes, the charge is coming. Ah-h! That burnt
them!”
There was a terrific crash much nearer, and Dick knew that it was the
Southern batteries opening fire. The shoulder upon which the colonel's
hand rested shook a little, but it was from excitement. He said nothing
and Colonel Woodville continued:
“The smoke is so heavy I can't see what damage was done! Now it has
cleared away! There are gaps in the Yankee lines, but the men have
closed up, and they come on at the double quick with their cannon still
firing over their heads!”
In his excitement he took his hand off Dick's shoulder and leaned
forward a little farther, supporting himself now against the earthen
wall. Dick stood just behind him, shielded from the sight of any one
who might be passing in the ravine, although there was little danger now
from searchers with a great battle going on. Meanwhile he watched the
combat with an eagerness fully equal to that of the old colonel.
The mighty crash of cannon and rifles together continued, but for a
little while the smoke banked up in front so densely that the whole
combat was hidden from them. Then a wind slowly rolled the smoke away.
The figures of the men began to appear like shadowy tracery, and then
emerged, distinct and separate from the haze.
“They are nearer now,” said the Colonel. “I can plainly see their long
lines moving and their light guns coming with them. But our batteries
are raking them horribly. Their men are falling by the scores and
hundreds.”
Miss Woodville uttered a deep sigh and turned her face away. But she
looked again in a few moments. The terrible spell was upon her, too.
Dick's nerves were quivering. His heart was with the assailants and
theirs with the assailed, but he would not speak aloud against the hopes
of Colonel Woodville and his daughter, since he was in their house, such
as it was, and, in a measure, under their protection.
“Their charge is splendid,” continued the colonel, “and I hope Pemberton
has made full use of the ground for defense! He will need all the help
he can get! Oh, to be out of the battle on such a day! The smoke is in
the way again and I can see nothing. Now it has passed and the enemy is
still advancing, but our fire grows hotter and hotter! The shells and
the grape and the canister and the bullets are smashing through them.
They cannot live under it! They must go back!”
Nevertheless the blue lines came steadily toward the Southern
earthworks. Dick saw officers, some ahorse, and some afoot, rushing
about and encouraging the men, and he saw many fall and lie still while
the regiments passed on.
“They are in the nearer thickets,” cried the colonel, “and now they're
climbing the slopes! Ah, you riflemen, your target is there!”
The Northern army was so near now that the Southern rifle fire was
beating upon it like a storm. Never flinching, the men of the west and
northwest hurled themselves upon the powerful fortified positions. Some
reached shelves of the plateau almost at the mouths of the guns and hung
there, their comrades falling dead or dying around them, but now the
rebel yell began to swell along the vast line, and reached the ears of
those in the ravine.
“The omen of victory!” exclaimed the colonel exultantly. “Our brave lads
feel that they're about to triumph! Grant can't break through our line!
Why doesn't he call off his men? It's slaughter!”
Dick's heart sank. He knew that the colonel's words were true. The
Southern army, posted in its defenses, was breaking the ring of steel
that sought to crush it to death. Groups of men in blue who had seized
ground in the very front of the defenses either died there or were
gradually driven back. The inner ring along its front of miles thundered
incessantly on the outer ring, and repelled every attempt to crush it.
“They yield,” said the colonel, after a long time. “The Northern fire
has sunk at many points, and there! and there! they're retreating! The
attack has failed and the South has won a victory!”
“But Grant will come again,” said Dick, speaking his opinion for the
first time.
“No doubt of it,” said Colonel Woodville, “but likely he will come to
the same fate.”
He spoke wholly without animosity. The battle now died fast. The men
in gray had been invincible. Their cannon and rifles had made an
impenetrable barrier of fire, and Grant, despite the valor of his
troops, had been forced to draw off. Many thousands had fallen and the
Southern generals were exultant. Johnston would come up, and Grant,
having such heavy losses, would be unable to withstand the united
Confederate armies.
But Grant, as Colonel Woodville foresaw, had no idea of retreating.
Fresh troops were pouring down the great river for him, and while he
would not again attempt to storm Vicksburg, the ring of steel around it
would be made so broad and strong that Pemberton could not get out nor
could Johnston get in.
When the last cannon shot echoed over the far hills Colonel Woodville
turned away from the door of his hillside home.
“I must ask your shoulder again, young sir,” he said to Dick. “What I
have seen rejoices me greatly, but I do not say it to taunt you. In
war if one wins the other must lose, and bear in mind that you are the
invader.”
“May I help you back to your bed, sir?” asked Dick.
“You may. You are a good young man. I'm glad I saved you from that
scoundrel, Slade. As the score between us is even I wish that you were
out of Vicksburg and with your own people.”
“I was thinking, too, sir, that I ought to go. I may take a quick
departure.”
“Then if you do go I wish you a speedy and safe journey, but I tell you
to beware of one, Slade, who has a malicious heart and a long memory.”
Dick withdrew to his own cell, as he called it, and he passed bitter
hours there. The repulse had struck him a hard blow. Was it possible
that Grant could not win? And if he could not win what terrible risks
he would run in the heart of the Confederacy, with perhaps two armies to
fight! He felt that only the Mississippi, that life-line connecting him
with the North, could save him.
But as dusk came gradually in the ravine he resolved that he would go.
His supper, as usual, was brought to him by Miss Woodville. She was as
taciturn as ever, speaking scarcely a half-dozen words. When he asked
her if Victor had gone through the battle unharmed she merely nodded,
and presently he was alone again, with the dusk deepening in the great
gully.
Dick was confident that nobody but Colonel Woodville, his daughter, and
himself were in the cave-home. It was but a small place, and new callous
places on her hands indicated that she was doing the cooking and all
other work. His resolve to risk everything and go was strengthened.
He waited patiently until the full night had come and only the usual
sounds of an army in camp arose. Then he made ready. He had surrendered
his holster and pistols to Colonel Woodville, and so he must issue forth
unarmed, but it could not be helped. He had several ten dollar gold
pieces in his pocket, and he put one of them on the tiny table in his
cell. He knew that it would be most welcome, and he could not calculate
how many hundreds in Confederacy currency it was worth. He was glad that
he could repay a little at least.
Then he stepped lightly toward the larger chamber in which Colonel
Woodville lay. The usual candle was burning on the table near his bed,
but the great bald head lay motionless on the pillow, and the heavy
white eyebrows drooped over closed lids. Sound asleep! Dick was glad
of it. The colonel, with his strong loyalty to the South, might seek
to hold him, at least as his personal prisoner, and now the trouble was
avoided.
He moved gently across the floor, and then passed toward the open door.
How good that puff of fresh air and freedom felt on his face! He did not
know that Colonel Woodville raised his head on the pillow, glanced after
him, and then let his head sink back and his eyes close again. A low
sigh came between the colonel's lips, and it would have been difficult
to say whether it was relief or regret.
Dick stepped into the narrow path cut in the side of the ravine and
inhaled more draughts of the fresh air. How sweet and strong it was! How
it filled one's lungs and brought with it life, courage and confidence!
One had to live in a hole in a hill before he could appreciate fully the
blessed winds that blew about the world. He knew that the path ran
in front of other hollows dug in the earth, and he felt sorry for the
people who were compelled to burrow in them. He felt sorry, in truth,
for all Vicksburg, because now that he was outside his fears for Grant
disappeared, and he knew that he must win.
While he remained in the path a deep boom came from the direction of the
Union army and a huge shell burst over the town. It was followed in a
moment by another and then by many others. While the besieged rejoiced
in victory the besiegers had begun anew the terrible bombardment,
sending a warning that the iron ring still held.
Dick paused no longer, but ran rapidly along the path until he emerged
upon the open plateau and proceeded toward the center of the town. He
judged that in the hours following a great battle, while there was yet
much confusion, he would find his best chance.
He had reckoned rightly. There was a great passing to and fro in
Vicksburg, but its lights were dim. Oil and candles alike were scarce,
and there was little but the moon's rays to disclose a town to the eye.
The rejoicings over the victory had brought more people than usual into
the streets, but the same exultation made them unsuspicious, and Dick
glided among them in the dusk, almost without fear.
He had concluded that “the longest way around was the shortest way
through,” and he directed his steps toward the river. He had formed a
clear plan at last, and he believed that it would succeed. Twisting and
turning, always keeping in the shadows, he made good progress, descended
the bluff, and at last stood behind the ruins of an old warehouse near
the stream.
Southern batteries were not far away from him and he heard the men
talking. Then, strengthening his resolution, he came from behind the
ruins, flung himself almost flat on the ground, and crawled toward the
river, pushing in front of him a board, which some Northern gun had shot
from the warehouse.
He knew that his task was difficult and dangerous, though in the last
resort he could rush to the water and spring in. But he was almost
at the edge before any sentinel saw the black shadow passing over the
ground.
A hail came, and Dick flattened himself against the ground and lay
perfectly still. Evidently the sentinel was satisfied that his fancy had
been making merry with him, as he did not look further at the shadow,
and Dick, after waiting two or three minutes, resumed his slow creeping.
He reached the edge, shoved the board into it, and dropped gently into
the water beside it, submerged to the head. Then, pushing his support
before him, he struck out for the middle of the stream.