The Courier Of The Ozarks Part 21

"Stop! Stop!" she gasped. "It was awful--awful! I cannot bear it."

"Wait and let me tell you how I escaped death," said Lawrence.

When he had finished, her eyes, though bedewed with tears, were s.h.i.+ning with joy and pride.

"Lawrence," she cried, "I am prouder of you than ever. You were shown mercy, because you were merciful; and I would have my knight-errant as merciful as he is brave."

"How can he be otherwise, when she whose colors he wears is so kind and merciful?" gallantly replied Lawrence, and, taking her little hand in his, he raised it and pressed his lips against her trembling fingers.

"A true knight can always kiss the hand of the lady he serves," said Lawrence. He then bade her good-bye, with the promise of coming again before he went to the front.

Is it strange that, as he went on his way, his thoughts were all of the beautiful girl he had just left? But, all unbidden, there arose before him a mental vision of the face of another girl--a girl whose queenly head was crowned with a wealth of golden hair, but whose eyes flashed with scorn at the sight of him--whose very soul loathed the uniform he wore; and he sighed, he hardly knew why.

Suddenly the thoughts of all girls were driven from his mind, for in the crowd before him he saw a well-known face--the face of Carl Meyer. Carl was a German boy, about a year older than Lawrence. It was he who had induced Lawrence to join the Home Guards, and thus paved the way to his acquaintance with Frank Blair. They had not met since the battle of Wilson Creek, when Carl went back with a broken arm.

In a moment the two clasped hands, their eyes telling what their lips refused to utter. At length Lawrence found voice. "My! how you have grown!" he exclaimed; "and this,"--he touched the strap of a second lieutenant on his shoulder--"Oh, Carl, I am so glad."

"And you," replied Carl, the joy gleaming in his honest eyes; "I see it's Captain now."

"Come with me, Carl. I must hear all that has happened to you since the last time we met."

In the privacy of Lawrence's room, Carl told his story--a story that Lawrence listened to breathless attention.

"The wound which I received at Wilson Creek was a bad one," said Carl, "and at first it was thought I would have to lose my arm; but I have it yet, and a pretty good arm it is. After I had recovered, which was early in January of this year, I was with the army which operated against New Madrid and Island Number 10. Lawrence, you should have been with me. It was glorious. The river fight--the mighty siege-guns--the great mortars which hurled sh.e.l.ls weighing hundreds of pounds. It was as if all the thunders of heaven had gathered in one place to smite the earth.

"Then think of digging a ca.n.a.l twelve miles long, six miles of it through heavy timber. Great trees were sawed off beneath the water, to make a road for the transports."

"How could you do it? How could you do it?" broke in Lawrence.

"By standing on rafts or in boats and using saws with very long handles.

It was a giant's task, but at last it was completed. Not only this, but, amid snow and chilling rains, bayous were waded, swamps considered impa.s.sable struggled through; and at last New Madrid and Island Number 10 fell.

"The fruits of these victories were glorious: nearly two hundred cannon, great and small; seven thousand prisoners, as many small arms, great stores of the munitions of war, and several transports sunk. All of this with a loss of only fifty."

"It was glorious, Carl," cried Lawrence. "No wonder you feel proud of being one of an army that dared so much, and accomplished so much."

"Wait until you hear the rest," replied Carl. "After Island Number 10 fell, most of the army was sent to reinforce Halleck before Corinth; but my command was left. We soon had possession of the Mississippi nearly to Memphis; but rumors came of the Confederates building an immense fleet of gunboats and ironclad rams.

"Our gunboats moved down and attacked, but were repulsed and driven back. Colonel Charles Ellet had been given authority to build some rams.

He hastily constructed some out of old river steamboats, converting them into engines of destruction. With these wooden rams, without cannon, and without an armed crew, Colonel Ellet proposed to attack and destroy the whole fleet.

"Eleven sharpshooters had been chosen and placed on the _Monarch_. I was fortunate enough to be one of the eleven. We were the only armed men aboard the ram. The _Monarch_ was commanded by Colonel Alfred Ellet, a brother of Charles. Charles was aboard the ram, _Queen of the West_.

"It was dusk when we came to our fleet of gunboats anch.o.r.ed across the Mississippi. Below them, a little above Memphis, lay the Rebel fleet, anch.o.r.ed in a line across the river. There the two fleets lay like two great beasts ready to spring on each other.

"Colonel Ellet anch.o.r.ed and waited for the morning. Hardly was it light when there came the boom of a great gun. It was a beautiful morning, and as the thunder of the gun reverberated over the water, thousands of the people of Memphis rushed to the bluffs to witness the battle and, with waving flags and shouts of encouragement, cheer their men on to victory.

"On, in imposing line, comes the Rebel fleet, the smokestacks of their vessels belching forth great clouds of smoke, and their guns thundering as they come. Now the guns of our fleet answer their thunder, and the bluffs on which the people are gathered shake and tremble with the concussion. A black wall of smoke settles down and hides our fleet from view; only through the blackness can be seen the flashes of the great guns.

"Hardly had the battle opened when Colonel Ellet signalled for his fleet of rams to get under way. The _Queen of the West_ and the _Monarch_ got off first, and straight for the wall of blackness, lit by the fitful flashes, we steered. We entered that wall, and everything was blotted from view--only around and about us was the roar of the great guns, the bursting of sh.e.l.ls.

"Suddenly, as if emerging from the mouth of a tunnel, we burst from the cloud of smoke, and before us at full speed was coming the Rebel fleet, nearly a dozen gunboats and ironclads, against two wooden, unarmed rams.

"Colonel Ellet never swerved; ahead at full speed he drove the _Queen of the West_ for the _General Lovell_. We could see the tall figure of Colonel Ellet standing on the hurricane-deck of the _Queen_. With his hat he signalled his brother to steer for the _General Price_, and on the two rams rushed, the _Queen_ slightly ahead.

"The _General Lovell_ drew out from their line and steered straight for the _Queen_. Like two great monsters, the boats rushed at each other. We forgot to cheer; we heeded not the thunder of battle; we could only look at these two vessels rus.h.i.+ng to what seemed certain destruction.

"Even the excited cheering of the crowd on the bluffs grew silent. With tense nerves and white faces, they watched the two vessels. Coming as they were, it meant the destruction of both. Would not one swerve to avoid the coming blow? Still standing on the deck of his vessel, his eye fixed on his prey, Ellet drove the _Queen_ forward--not a hair's breadth would he swerve.

"Just before the shock came, the _General Lovell_ swerved to try to avoid the coming blow--but too late. Full amids.h.i.+ps the _Queen_ struck her, cutting her through like a great knife, and the vessel sank beneath the turbid waters of the river, all the crew not killed struggling in the water.

"From the thousands on sh.o.r.e there came a mighty groan--a wail of agony which seemed to throb and quiver through the air, making itself felt even above the roar of the battle.

"Now was our turn. The _Monarch_ struck the _General Price_ a glancing blow, not sinking her, but shaving off her starboard wheel; and she was out of the fight.

"Before the _Queen_ could be disentangled from the wreck of the _General Lovell_, the _Beauregard_ and _Van Dorn_ both attacked her. Colonel Ellet fell with a ball through the knee; but as he lay on the deck, he continued to direct the fight.[9]

[Footnote 9: Colonel Ellet died of his wounds.]

"The _Monarch_ saw the danger which threatened the _Queen of the West_, and straight for the _Beauregard_ she went, cras.h.i.+ng into that vessel's side, and putting her out of the conflict.

"The Confederate fleet thought only of escape now. The battle drifted down the river, past the city. The gunboats joined in the chase, and but one Confederate vessel escaped. Those that had not been sunk or disabled were run on the sh.o.r.e on the Arkansas side and set on fire by their crews, before escaping into the swamp."

"Carl," cried Lawrence, "I would have given ten years of my life to have seen that battle, and, like you, to have been a part of it."

"Very little part I had," replied Carl, modestly, "except to fire a few shots when we were at close quarters. But after the fight--ach!

Lawrence, that is something worth telling."

"What was it, Carl?"

"Toward the close of the fight, a white flag was run up in the city of Memphis. Colonel Ellet sent his son, a medical cadet, no older than yourself, Lawrence, to demand the surrender of the city. He chose three men, of whom I was one, to accompany him.

"We rowed ash.o.r.e in a small boat, and landed in the midst of a howling, excited mob of thousands.

"Young Ellet handed the message which his father had written to the Mayor, and then we started for the postoffice. The mob closed in around us--four men in the midst of thousands. They cursed, they howled; they heaped upon us the most violent names; they threatened to tear us to pieces.

"We reached the postoffice, ascended to the top of the building, and began to lower the Confederate flag. A frenzy seized the crowd. They surged to and fro; they howled and gnashed their teeth like beasts of prey. Some drew revolvers and began shooting at us.

"'Don't fire back,' said young Ellet, coolly. 'They can not hit us this high.'

"The Stars and Bars came down, and the glorious Stars and Stripes arose, and as its folds unfurled to the breeze we swung our hats and gave a rousing cheer; but I do not think we were heard above the roar of the mob.

"Leaving the flag waving, we descended, and once more the mob surrounded us, snarling, cursing and howling; but a great fear kept them from tearing us to pieces.

"We walked through their midst as coolly as if we were being showered with bouquets instead of curses, and reached our boat in safety."

"It was a brave thing to do, Carl. I wouldn't have missed hearing your story for anything," said Lawrence, as he warmly shook his hand at parting.

The next day Lawrence went to bid his uncle and aunt good-bye, before starting for the front. As they talked, they were again interrupted by a newsboy crying, "Extra! Extra! All about the great battle at Corinth!