ONE AGAINST THREE ON THE ROAD
Lieutenant Gordon looked about him with something like amazement as he
entered the fort. Levi Bedford and the boys had arranged the arms in
racks made by the carpenters. The two Napoleons, as the twelve-pounders
are sometimes called, were pointed out at the embrasures, and the aspect
of the place was decidedly warlike. Buck Lagger had been removed to the
hospital, where he found three of his comrades of the Home Guards, two
others having been sent to their homes.
"These are my sons, Lieutenant," said Major Lyon, introducing each of
them by name. "They are stout boys, very nearly eighteen years old, and
are good riders. They will be the first recruits to put their names on
your paper after mine when you enter upon the work of your mission."
"They are the kind of recruits I like to add to our forces, for they are
not only stout, but intelligent," replied the officer, as he took from
his breast pocket the printed form of document for the enlistment of
soldiers. "Where did you get the name of this fort, Major Lyon?"
"From my overseer, the first man you met on my premises. He was formerly
connected with an artillery company in Tennessee; but he is a Union man
to the core," replied the planter, who proceeded to give Levi the
excellent character he deserved.
"Then he will be our fourth recruit?" suggested the lieutenant.
"No, sir; he is about fifty years old, and he is to take charge of my
plantation in my absence. But I think there are over a hundred men in
this vicinity who are ready to put their names down on your paper. The
horses are all ready for them, for they were pledged in the Union
meeting of which I told you."
"We shall not need the horses at first," added the lieutenant.
"Not need the horses, sir!" exclaimed Deck, who was listening with all
his ears to the conversation. "How are we going to get up a company of
cavalry without horses?"
"The company will be first drilled like infantry, and the exercises with
horses come in later," replied the officer with a smile at the eagerness
of the boy; and Artie was just as enthusiastic, though he said very
little.
"Both of them will make good soldiers, sir, for they have been under
fire in a small way," added the father.
"I should say that you have little need of soldiers for the protection
of your place, Major Lyon," added the officer, as he looked at the
cannon and the breech-loaders arranged around the interior of the fort.
"Are these the arms you captured in the cavern?"
"The same, sir; and they have already enabled us to defend ourselves
from the mob that came over here to burn my house."
"These muskets must have cost a round sum of money, for they are of the
best quality, and have the latest improvements. Unfortunately they are
not adapted to the use of cavalry, and we shall need carbines."
"Well, it is something to keep them out of the hands of the enemy,"
replied Major Lyon. "I suppose we are ready to make a beginning in the
business before us, Lieutenant Gordon. What is the first thing to be
done?"
"The first thing is to enlist the men," replied the officer, as he took
from his pocket a handbill, printed for use in some other locality. "We
must post bills like this one all about this vicinity."
"We can't get them printed short of Bowling Green," said Major Lyon,
after he had read the placard. "And the Home Guards will pull them down
as fast as we can put them up."
"But some of them will be seen, and the news that a recruiting office
has been established here will soon circulate. You are between two fires
here, and your foes will talk about it even more than your friends. We
must have the handbills at any rate."
"Very well. Artie, this will be a mission for you."
"I am ready and willing to do anything I can," replied the quiet boy;
and in half an hour he was mounted on a fleet horse on his way to a
printing-office.
"I suppose the village of which you speak would be the best place to
establish the recruiting office," suggested Lieutenant Gordon, as soon
as Artie had gone to the stable for a horse.
"I am afraid not," replied the planter. "I fear the ruffians who abound
in that vicinity would mob you. Why not establish the office here, where
we shall be able to protect you?"
"It seems to be too far from any centre of population," said the
officer.
"All the better for that; for in the village they would not only mob
you, but the ruffians would intimidate those who were willing to enlist.
People in this vicinity don't mind going two or three miles when
business calls them," continued the planter.
"I shall adopt your suggestion, Major Lyon," returned the recruiting
officer, as he proceeded to alter the handbill to suit the locality. "I
suppose everybody in this neighborhood will know where to find
Riverlawn."
"Everybody in the county," replied the major, as Artie dashed up to the
door of the fort, where the officer gave him his instructions, and the
planter supplied him with money to pay the bill.
"I think I had better take one of those revolvers in my pocket,"
suggested Artie. "If I get into any trouble it may be of use to me."
"Do you expect to get into any trouble, my boy?" asked the major,
anxiously gazing into the messenger's face.
"I don't expect any trouble, but something may happen."
"Perhaps I had better send half a dozen of the boys with you," suggested
his father.
"The boys?" queried the lieutenant, wondering where they were to come
from, as he had seen only two of them.
"I mean the negroes who defended the place the other night," added the
planter. "They have learned to handle the breech-loaders, and they would
fight for my boys as long as there was anything left of them."
"I dare say they would," replied the officer with a significant smile.
"But if you send six negroes armed with breech-loaders to Bowling Green,
you may be sure there will be a row."
"Just my sentiments," added Levi Bedford. "I don't think Artie will have
any trouble if he goes alone."
"Very well, let him go alone; but I am confident half a dozen of the
boys would make it hot for any band that attempted to molest him," said
the major; and the messenger departed on his mission.
"Have you an American flag, Major Lyon?" asked the lieutenant when he
had gone.
"Two of them, for my brother always celebrated the Fourth of July."
"We always hoist one on a recruiting office."
Under the direction of Levi a flagstaff was erected in front of the
fort, and before dinner-time the Star Spangled Banner was spread to the
breeze. Major Lyon took off his hat and bowed to it as soon as it was
shaken out to the breeze; and cheers were heard from the negroes in the
field beyond the stables.
"If you had set that flag over your office in the village, it would have
been hauled down and trampled under foot inside of an hour," said the
planter.
"Are the people of this vicinity so disloyal as that?" asked Lieutenant
Gordon, astonished at the remark. "I supposed the Unionists were in the
majority here."
"So they are; but they are not half so demonstrative as the other side."
The bell rang at the door of the mansion for dinner; and while the
family were attending to this midday duty, Artie was entering the county
town. He had taken his dinner with him, and had eaten it as he
approached his destination. There were two printing-offices in the
place, and he called at the first one he saw.
"What's this? 'Union Cavalry!'" demanded the printer, as he read the
head-line in displayed type.
"What will you charge for printing two hundred copies of that bill, and
doing it while I wait?" asked Artie.
"'Riverlawn!'" added the man, as he continued to read the placard. "Who
are you, boy?"
"My name is Artemas Lyon, and my father lives at Riverlawn," replied
Artie.
"Well, Artemas Lyon, I would not print that bill if your father would
give me a hundred dollars a letter for doing it!" stormed the printer,
as he tossed the copy back to the messenger with as much indignation in
his manner as in his speech.
"All right, sir; if you don't want to do the job you needn't!" replied
Artie, as he returned the bill to his pocket and moved to the door.
"Stop a minute, boy! So you are recruiting at Riverlawn for the
Abolition army?" called the printer, who was perhaps a member of the
Home Guards. "I want to know something about that business."
"If you want to enlist in the Union army, you can do so at Riverlawn. I
am in a hurry, and I can't stop to answer any questions," replied Artie,
as he bolted out at the door.
"What are you doing here, Artie Lyon?" called a voice from the other
side of the street as he was unhitching his horse.
It was Colonel Cosgrove, though his house was some distance farther up
the street. The lawyer came over to him, and he explained the object of
his visit to the county town.
"You ought to have come to me at once, Artie," said the colonel, as the
messenger showed him the handbill. "That printer runs a Secession paper,
and he would lose all his subscribers if it was known that he printed a
placard like this. Come with me, and I will get the work done for you."
Artie followed him to the office of a Union paper, and it looked as
though it was in a more prosperous condition than the other. The printer
readily undertook the work, and promised to have it done by three
o'clock in the afternoon. The messenger was invited to the mansion of
Colonel Cosgrove, where he dined with the family.
"I signed the letter to General Buell with your father, asking him to
send a recruiting officer to this locality," said the colonel, as he
conducted his guest to the library. "I am very glad he has come. I
should have been in favor of establishing his office in this place if it
were not a current report that the town is to be occupied by the
Confederates within a short time."
"Father thought Riverlawn would be a better place than Barcreek village
for it," added Artie.
"I think he is right."
The messenger was called upon to tell the news of his vicinity, and he
mentioned all that had occurred since the fight, including the attempt
to murder Levi Bedford, and the capture of Buck Lagger. At three o'clock
Artie went to the printing-office, and found the handbills all ready for
him. He paid the bill, and went back to the colonel's house for his
horse, which had been as well cared for as his rider. He was advised to
hurry out of the town, and he galloped his horse for the first mile till
he reached the open country. Half a mile ahead of him was a wood.
The young horseman had reduced his speed to a moderate gait before he
reached this grove; but he had not gone far before three men stepped out
of the bushes and stood in front of him in the road. They had flint-lock
guns in their hands, and it looked as though they were there for a
purpose.
"Stop, boy!" shouted the man who stood in the middle of the road, with
one on each side of him.
[Illustration: "'STOP, BOY!' SHOUTED THE MAN."]
"What do you want of me?" demanded Artie, with his right hand on the
handle of his revolver.
"I want them handbills you just got printed," replied the spokesman. "We
ain't go'n' to have no Abolition troops enlisted round here. And that
ain't all nuther; we're gwine to clean out that Major Lyon that sent you
over here."
"Hand over the papers and we won't hurt you," added another of the trio.
"I shall not give them up!" replied Artie as decidedly as though he had
the new company of cavalry behind him. "Get out of the road, or I will
ride over you!"
"You won't give em' up, won't yer?" returned the man in the middle, as
he brought his old gun to his shoulder.
"No!" yelled the messenger, as he fired his revolver at the spokesman.
At the same moment he drove his heels into the flanks of his spirited
steed, giving him the rein as he did so. The horse darted ahead like a
shot from a gun, and choosing his way between the men, he knocked two of
them over, and galloped on his way. The sudden movement of the animal
had prevented the men from bringing their guns to bear upon him. The man
on his feet fired, and the rider heard a ball whistle near him. In a
minute he was out of the range of such weapons, and reached Riverlawn in
season for supper.
He delivered the bills to the lieutenant, and told his story. The next
morning the early risers saw these placards posted all over Barcreek
village, and along the roads for five miles in all directions.