EXPEDITION.
|But though he opened his eyes with astonishment, he did not open his
lips to say why he did so. To have done so would have been imprudent to
the last degree.
The question to the prisoner had revealed the fact that the captive whom
Harry was so closely guarding was the son of Mr. Jones, the treacherous
host from whom the two youths had had such a narrow escape, and the
brother of the girl who had given them the hint which led to their hasty
departure. He had joined Price's army as originally intended, and was
serving with a cavalry regiment that had been assigned to the duty of
harassing the union forces and preventing their obtaining the supplies
they desired. His company was the one with which the union cavalry
had disputed the possession of the haystack, as described in the last
chapter.
“Now,” thought Harry, “I've got a chance to pay off the girl for her
kindness to us. I 'll get her brother free and send him home to her. He
'll never know how it came about, but I'm sure she 'll understand.”
Further questioning showed that another of the prisoners was a near
neighbor of young Jones, and that he was very much attached to Miss
Cordelia; in fact, the twain were lovers, and this circumstance
determined Harry on his course of action, and on the way to Batesville
he studied how best to accomplish his object.
He found that the young fellows were heartily tired of the war, and
wanted to go home; this was particularly the case with the young lover,
whose interest was greatly roused when he found that Harry had seen the
girl he left behind him. Harry gave no particulars of his acquaintance
with her, other than that he had stopped at the house of Mr. Jones on
his way from Springfield to Forsyth, and remembered seeing a young
girl such as the prisoner described, or rather such as her brother
told about. He said he could not remember the name, but thought it was
Corinne, or Cor--something or other.
The prisoners were fearful that something terrible would happen to them,
as they had heard the usual wild stories about the barbarity of the
Yankees. Harry encouraged their belief as far as he thought judicious,
in order to make them all the more grateful for any service he might
render them. He promised to do his best to save them from being hanged
or shot, and suggested that a great deal would depend on their conduct.
“If you try to escape,” said he, “you will be shot down at once; but if
you obey orders and do exactly what is told you without question, you
'll find it to your advantage.”
They promised everything he asked of them, and on reaching camp they
went demurely to the quarters assigned them, and made not the least
trouble. As soon as he was relieved of his charges Harry went straight
to General Vandever and asked to see him privately, a request which the
general readily granted.
Under the seal of confidence Harry then told the whole story of how he
and Jack had been saved from capture by the warning given by Cordelia,
and how two of the prisoners then in camp were the brother and lover
of the warm-hearted girl. He wanted them set free as a return for
the service she had rendered the two youths, but at the same time he
specially desired that neither the prisoners nor any one else should
know or suspect the real reason of his request.
“We can easily arrange that,” answered the general. “I 'll see General
Curtis and ask him to turn the prisoners over to me, to do with as I
think best: I've no doubt he 'll do it, and if he does there won't be
any trouble about the other details.”
An hour later the general sent for Harry, who responded with alacrity to
the call.
“It's all right,” said the general, as soon as Harry came into his
presence. “The five horses that you and Jack captured that night are
worth more to us than the prisoners; the men might not like to know
they've been traded for horses, but that's the way I look at it. Go and
see if you can get the prisoners to take an oath not to serve in the
rebel armies again during the war, and you may tell them they 'll be
released if they 'll do it.”
Harry went at once to the guard-house, where the prisoners were
confined, and it did not take long for them to make the desired promise.
He explained that he had urged their case before the general, and had
persuaded the latter to grant his request on condition that they went
home at once and stayed there, and furthermore, that they signed the
required oath and gave no further aid in any way to the war.
This being arranged the prisoners were taken before General Vandever,
who gave them a severe lecture, pretended he was opposed to letting them
loose, but had only done so at the urgent request of Harry, who believed
them to be honest, but misguided, and who felt sure they would live
up to their promise. There was much more talk to the same effect, all
tending to show that they owed their liberation to Harry and Jack; and
finally the papers were signed, the oath was taken, and the prisoners
were escorted to the lines and allowed to go on their way toward Forsyth
and home.
It was afterward ascertained that the arrival of the pair at the
Jones' mansion was the cause of great astonishment to the family, and
especially to the senior Jones, who had been in mortal terror ever since
that night, for fear that the youths would cause his house to be burned
over his head in revenge for his treachery. Cordelia blushed down to the
roots of her hair, but her blushes were attributed to her joy at
seeing her lover and brother safe at home from the wars. No one had
the slightest suspicion that she had aught to do with the escape of the
youths and the capture of the horses. As the returned soldiers babbled
on about the kindness of Harry, and how he had brought about their
liberation, the tears came into her eyes, and it was with great
difficulty that she preserved her composure.
As before stated, the army in camp at Batesville, weakened by the
withdrawal of a portion of its numbers, which were sent to aid in the
siege of Corinth, and, being short of provisions and ammunition, was
in no condition to advance upon Little Rock. Its only line of march
was back to Rolla, or through the country that lay between it and the
Mississippi river. The movement upon Rolla would be a retrograde one,
while that toward the Mississippi would be an advance; consequently the
latter was selected without hesitation.
From the sixth of May until the twenty-fourth of June the army lay at
Batesville, making preparations for its future movements. Word came
that gun-boats and transports were ascending the White river, and
would probably come to Jacksonport, which is twenty-five miles below
Batesville and at the junction of the White with the Black river. For
ten days previous to the departure from Batesville, Captain Winslow, the
quartermaster-in-chief of General Curtis's array, bought corn and other
provisions, and saved the army rations so that he had enough on hand
for a twenty days' supply, which was considered sufficient to carry them
through to Helena, on the bank of the Mississippi, in case the gun-boats
and transports should fail to reach Jacksonport. As subsequent events
developed, this precaution was a wise one.
For the first time in its history this part of Arkansas was honored with
a navy. General Curtis built five large flat-boats, with strong decks,
partly for the transportation of supplies and partly for use as pontoons
in case a river was to be crossed. Cotton bales were ranged around their
sides and firmly fastened, as a protection against musketry in case the
rebels should attempt to hinder their progress, and it was thought they
would even be able to stop cannon-shot of the smaller calibers.
There were no naval officers and sailors with the army, and so it was
necessary to improvise them. There was a liberal number of volunteers
for the new service, as it promised to be exciting and was certainly
novel.
Captain Wadsworth, of the Thirteenth Illinois, was put in command of the
fleet, and his company formed the crew. Harry and Jack were accepted as
volunteers to aid in navigating the boats, each of which was provided
with sweeps, or long oars, that were necessary to keep it in the
channel. Some of the old soldiers were accustomed to flat-boat
navigation on the Mississippi, and felt confident they could avoid
getting ashore; but, of course, it was unknown what the rebels might do
to hinder their progress.
Harry was half inclined to back out when he found that the road from
Batesville to Jacksonport did not follow the bank of the river, but
wound among the hills at a considerable distance from it. In case of
an attack upon the naval forces of General Curtis the army would not be
near enough to furnish any efficient aid, except in a few places. But,
having agreed to go, he said nothing; neither did Jack.
The advance of the array moved out of Batesville on the morning of the
twenty-fourth of June. Then came each of the three divisions in its
order, and by noon the town was deserted. The navy pushed off from the
shore and floated slowly down the stream, the captain, who had been
promoted by his associates to the rank of admiral, ordering his men
to make no exertions at the oars other than might be necessary to keep
their craft in the current. Some of the natives of the country offered
to assist as pilots, and one of them who claimed to know all about the
river was taken aboard the “Cordelia,” the boat where Harry and Jack
were serving, and to which they had given the name. He was so enormously
fat that Jack suggested he should be called Pauncheous Pilot, but he was
careful to keep the suggestion from the ears of the subject of it.
The youths had intrusted their horses to the care of two of their
comrades, as it was not practicable to take them on board the
“Cordelia,” which had only sufficient room for her crew and was
encumbered with boxes and other freight. Convenient loopholes had been
made between the bales of cotton, so that the occupants of the boats
could defend themselves from musketry fire without serious risk. The
oars or sweeps were operated in openings between the bales somewhat
wider than the loopholes, and movable screens of thick plank were
arranged so that the oarsmen would be fairly well protected.