A SURVEY OF THE SITUATION.
We enjoyed our supper very much, for hunger is the best sauce. If the
same meal had been set before us in the refectory of the Institute, we
should have deemed ourselves a much injured body of students, because
there were neither cakes nor pastry, preserves nor relishes. But the
coffee made us decidedly shaky in the nerves, as I have before hinted.
We had it only in the morning at the academy, and then not half so
strong as our cooks made it on the present occasion.
As the darkness began to gather, some of the ingenious ones set
themselves at work to provide beds for the night, and various
expedients were resorted to, with no mean results. One of our blankets
was big enough to cover two students, and with the other the couple
made a kind of shelter tent. The dry foliage of the pine trees, which
carpeted the ground in the grove, formed a soft and comfortable bed,
and there was no danger that any one would suffer, unless he was too
lazy to provide himself with suitable accommodations. We were used to
camping out, though we were generally supplied with straw to sleep
upon; but the pine foliage was a good substitute.
By the time we had finished our suppers we were satisfied that Tommy’s
forces must be aware of our presence in the vicinity. Briscoe had
stationed a couple of our fellows near the ravine, where they could see
all that transpired on High Bluff, with orders to report any unusual
movement on the part of the enemy--for as such we now regarded the
major’s forces, at least in a technical sense, though I am sure there
was no real hatred between the parties. We were contending very much as
we would have played a game of base ball, or football.
After supper Briscoe and I walked over to the sentinels’ post. A group
on the other side were attentively surveying the ground in the vicinity
of our camp. They did not speak so that we could hear them, but we were
satisfied that they had discovered us. They seemed to be much annoyed
and disturbed at the fact that we had halted so near them without
making any demonstration to apprise them of our presence. Probably they
suspected that we were up to some trick, and intended secretly, in the
sombre shades of midnight, to assault their fortress, and carry it by
storm.
“As they seem to be expecting something, I think we had better stir
them up a little,” said the senior captain, in a low voice.
“How stir them up?”
“Why, make a feint at some point where we don’t intend to do
anything--just for the fun of the thing,” laughed my companion.
“If we could only get over there, we could capture their camp in about
two minutes and three quarters.”
“I don’t know about that. Sixty-five fellows, with guns and bayonets,
would be more than a match for eighty-five without anything,” replied
Briscoe.
“The bayonets don’t amount to much, nor the guns either, without powder
and ball. A long pole, in our kind of warfare, is just as good as a
fixed bayonet. I saw a pile of hoop-poles on the road, half a mile
back. We could arm ourselves with them, and be just as formidable as
though we had bayonets.”
“But Tommy got a little ahead of us when he took away our muskets.”
“That’s so; and I feel just a little cheap about it, though it was no
great achievement on his part.”
“Still I should like to get even with him on this point.”
“So should I.”
“We ought to have gumption enough to get over a chasm thirty feet
wide,” added Briscoe rubbing his head to stimulate his ideas.
“We could get over easily enough if we only had the material to work
with. I don’t think the gully is so wide over by the road.”
“Perhaps not; but what could we do if it were not more than twenty, or
even ten, feet wide?” asked the senior captain, anxiously; for he was
ripe for any undertaking that would give us even a temporary advantage,
or enable us to obtain our guns.
“Let us find a narrow place in the gully first; then we will see what
can be done.”
We left the spot, and examined the gully nearly to the lake on the
upper side of High Bluff. The narrowest place was at the side of the
road where Tommy’s party had removed the bridge; but even here it was
over twenty feet wide. However, it was not more than fifteen feet
deep, the waters of the stream falling into the lake over a series of
cascades. It was a noisy torrent in the gully, though there were plenty
of rocks above the water to afford us a standing place if we could
descend into the abyss. This was the most hopeful point for operations,
and a suggestion of a plan by which the difficulty might be overcome
dawned upon my mind; but, as we had nothing to work with, I did not
mention the idea to my companion.
We continued our walk to the lake above the bluffs. Just above the
inlet we found an inclined plane in the rocks leading down to the lake.
Though nature had prepared the way for this descent, the hotel-keeper
at Priam had done most of the work; for off the point of which High
Bluff formed the extremity were the best fishing grounds on the lake.
At the foot of the inclined plane, moored off in the lake, was a kind
of raft, such as that upon which my friend Wolf had picked up Colonel
Wimpleton, for the convenience of the fisherman. It was reached by a
plank, about twenty-five feet long, covered with ledges to prevent the
person who went down upon it from slipping.
“Here is just what we want,” I suggested, as Briscoe and I walked down
the plank to the raft.
“What?”
“This plank.”
“To cross the ravine?”
“Yes.”
“Good!”
“We can cross that ravine just as easily as though it were not more
than two feet wide,” I added, with enthusiasm; for I was quite anxious
to make a reputation as an engineer, for that was the foundation of my
great regard for my friend Wolf.
“I don’t see it!” laughed Briscoe. “You can get this plank up to the
gully; but it will be another thing to put it across the chasm. Let me
tell you, this is a pretty heavy piece of lumber.”
“I know that.”
“If you mean to stand it up one end, and then let it fall across the
gully, I want to tell you in the beginning, that not enough of our
fellows can take hold of it to raise it to a perpendicular,” said
Briscoe, anticipating a difficulty.
“I don’t intend to do it in that way,” I answered, rather smartly, for
I was not pleased to have my new fledged engineering skill disputed.
“If you will leave the matter to me, I will give you my bond, in the
penal sum of two cents, to put this plank across the bridge as soon as
it is dark enough to cover the operation.”
“I appoint you engineer-in-chief of the army of the rebels,” replied
Briscoe, with his usual good-nature. “But how are you going to do the
job?”
“I have no doubt you will trump up plenty of objections to the method
if I state it; therefore I would rather not do so.”
“Just as you please, Skotchley.”
“Don’t be offended. Of course I will tell you if you desire it.”
“No; I don’t care.”
“I will take the responsibility of the job.”
“All right.”
“But I want about a dozen of the stoutest of our fellows.”
“You shall have the whole crowd.”
“I don’t want them. They would be in my way.”
“But you will permit me to ask whether you think Tommy’s fellows will
let you cross your bridge after you have laid it down,” continued
Briscoe. “You must remember that the regular army, with guns and
bayonets, is on one side, while you are on the other.”
“If I understand your purpose, all you wish to do to-night is to obtain
our guns.”
“That’s all. When we go over to the election we will use the tree which
Jed will fell for us. But while we are about it, and you have your
bridge across the chasm, why not capture the bluff?”
“That would spoil all the fun. We want to step in about the time Tommy
is holding the election, and cast our votes for a good and true man for
major.”
“Precisely so; but if Jed should not come, or his plan should not
work--”
“Hold on, Briscoe!”
“What’s the matter now?” demanded Briscoe, startled by my enthusiasm as
a new idea took possession of me.
“We must regulate this matter a little.”
“How?”
“On the whole, I think it will be better to have the election come off
in legal earnest.”
“Why don’t you say what you mean, Skotchley!” added the senior captain,
impatient with me, as my ideas so far outreached my speech.
“I will. We must give Tommy men enough to let him have a quorum.
We will pick out ten good fellows, true-blue, and send them over
to-night--let them walk the plank. Of course they are not to vote for
Tommy for major.”
“They can if they like,” added Briscoe, modestly.
“They will not. To-morrow noon, when the balloting has commenced, the
rest of us will go over on the tree, and see that the election goes as
it should.”
“Suppose the tree should not work to suit us?” suggested the prudent
senior captain.
“Then we can throw this plank over again. But there will be no trouble
about the tree--not a bit.”
“All right; I am satisfied.”
“I want you to make a demonstration, Briscoe, while we are laying down
the plank.”
“I’m ready; what shall it be?”
“Anything you like.”
“As you are engineer, you must say what you will have done.”
“You can take this raft and work it over to the bluff, for I shall want
one of the ropes with which it is moored, and make a feint of scaling
the rocks. This will bring all of Tommy’s fellows to the spot, and I
shall be permitted to work without interruption.”
“Well, I will do so. It is not necessary for me to remind you that this
raft and this plank do not belong to us.”
“We will leave everything just as we find it, and make it all right
with the hotel-keeper when we get to Priam.”
“I don’t like to meddle with private property.”
“Nor I; but it is one of the necessities of war.”
“Humph! Well, we will pay the damage, and recommend the hotel to all
our friends. Mine host will be satisfied, I know.”
Having thus disposed of this difficult question, we walked back to the
camp.