An Undivided Union Part 27

"Very well; advance one by one, and throw down your arms in a heap.

Captain Abbey, have your company cover them well."

"Say, but you're a young rooster to be givin' orders around hyer," went on the "angel."

"You will keep silent and do as ordered," said Deck, briefly; and then no more was said.

One by one the Confederates advanced and deposited their arms as commanded. This being concluded, Captain Abbey was ordered to form the enemy into columns of fours and march them to the highway beyond the swamp. The second company took charge of the horses, of which there proved to be forty-seven all told. Four were found to be in a pitiable condition, and these the major ordered shot, to put them out of their misery.

"Well, Major, we have made a fine capture truly," remarked Captain Blenks, of the second company, after reporting that at least thirty of the horses were thoroughbreds. "Those animals alone are worth twelve or fifteen thousand dollars."

"Where are the three prisoners the Confederates were holding?"

"I haven't heard of them."

Without delay Deck summoned the leader of the captured crowd before him.

"I want to know something about the three prisoners you had with you,"

he said.

"They got away from us last night."

"You are telling me the truth?"

"Yes, Major. We had a traitor among us--a lad from Kentucky named Feswell. He untied 'em, and the hull four skipped in the darkness."

Unwilling to believe the fellow, who looked the rascal in his face, Deck waited until daylight, and then sent a detail to search the swamp from end to end. The men were under the command of Sandy Lyon, and in less than an hour they returned with the three prisoners, who had been tied to trees and gagged. One of the poor fellows, the captain of an Illinois company, was in distress from a bullet-wound in his arm, and all three were suffering from hunger and thirst.

Deck's indignation over this discovery was great, and he at once visited the batch of prisoners and read them a lecture on their brutality. "War is one thing, and uncalled-for heartlessness is another," he said. "Had these three men been left to die in the swamp, every one of you who knew of their plight would have been guilty of murder. I had intended to send you into the Union lines as you are; now each of you shall ride the distance with his arms strapped behind him, and your rations shall be hardtack and water,--nothing more."

At this there was an outburst of indignation. But Deck was obdurate, and the Confederates were forced to submit. Men and horses were placed in the charge of the third battalion, and by noontime Major Truman was on his way northward with them, the three Union men accompanying the command, and a.s.sisting in watching the prisoners.

By nightfall the first and second battalions had reached a small hamlet known as Conners, and they encamped on the outskirts, occupying a deserted farmhouse, and a half-dozen barns close by. Sentinels had been carefully posted, and Deck and the others got a good sleep after the night of wakefulness at the swamp.

It still wanted two hours of daylight when a message was brought to Deck that the Riverlawns were wanted at a spot two miles south of where they were encamped. It was reported that a portion of Minty's cavalry had encountered a body of Forrest's command, to which was attached a number of Tennessee guerillas. Help was wanted at once, or the Union troops would be annihilated.

The message perplexed Deck not a little, as he had no idea that Minty was in the vicinity. Yet, if help was needed, he was not the one to hold back, and in less than half an hour the Riverlawns were on the way, eating their ham and hardtack as they galloped forward. The messenger, an elderly man who wore the shoulder straps of a lieutenant of cavalry, stated that he knew every foot of ground in that part of Alabama, and was, therefore, allowed to take the lead without question.

For half a mile the course was along a well-defined trail leading out of the swamp lands to a rocky and sandy elevation covered with a stunted growth of trees. Then they came to a narrow defile where but two cavalrymen could ride abreast. Here a guard was thrown out; but no enemy developed, and the defile was left behind and they emerged upon an open plain ending in a slight depression. From here a woods could be seen, almost three-quarters of a mile distant.

Deck had been riding at the head of the column, but at the defile he had turned back, to make certain that every company came through in safety.

Now he moved forward once more, just as Captain Abbey made the discovery that the trail was becoming dangerous through quicksands.

"We have gone wrong, Major, I believe," said the captain. "Where is that guide?"

"Why, I left him with you!" exclaimed Deck, in astonishment.

"I know you did; but he rode back to interview you and see if it wouldn't be advisable to branch off on two roads which he stated were just beyond here."

"I have seen nothing of him," said Deck, and instantly became suspicious. Several messengers were sent out, to the front and the rear, and it speedily became known that the guide had disappeared. Hardly had this word come in than the rear guard announced the presence of a body of Confederate cavalry on the hills on both sides of the defile just pa.s.sed. Deck had but listened to the report when there came another from the front. The plain was impa.s.sable, being nothing more than an immense bed of quicksand. The Riverlawns were caught in a trap.

CHAPTER XX

MAJOR LYON WINS A BATTLE AND LOSES HIS HORSE

Major Dexter Lyon realized that he had been played false by the so-styled guide, and that his two battalions were in a dangerous situation. The eight companies of hors.e.m.e.n were in the centre of a small plain. In a semicircle in front was a low and treacherous quicksand, impossible of pa.s.sage; in a semicircle to the rear was a rocky elevation, divided in half by the defile through which the cavalry had just pa.s.sed. On the rocky elevation, on both sides of the defile, Confederate cavalry had been discovered, ready to pour in a hot fire on them the moment they attempted to turn back on their trail.

"Major, it looks as if our goose was cooked," remarked Tom Belthorpe, after the reports from the front and the rear had been considered. "They couldn't have laid a neater trap for us."

"And I allowed myself to walk into it blindfolded," answered Deck, somewhat bitterly.

"The rebels kept mighty shady when we came through the defile," put in Captain Abbey, who was also at hand. "I wonder why they didn't open on us then and there?"

"That is an easy question to answer, Captain," said Deck. "If they had opened up, our command could have retreated; now they have every one of us just about where they want us."

"But you won't surrender without a fight, will you?" demanded Kate Belthorpe's brother, anxiously.

"I have never yet done any surrendering, Tom. I want to know just how bad--What is it, Captain?"

"A flag of truce," answered Captain Life Knox, as he dashed up. "A private is carrying it, and there is a Confederate captain of cavalry with him."

"Indeed! They evidently want to rush things. Come with me, and we'll see what they want."

Side by side Deck and Life rode off, the way being to the lower edge of the rocky elevation. Here the Confederates had come to a halt in the midst of some underbrush.

"I am Captain Adairs, Mississippi Volunteer Cavalry," said the Confederate officer, with a salute, which the others promptly returned.

"Who is in command of those Union troops?"

"I am in command," answered Deck.

"Major Dexter Lyon," put in Life, introducing him.

"Well, Major Lyon, I reckon you know we have you in a pretty tight box,"

went on the Confederate captain, with a smile.

"Is that so?" returned Deck, as though the thought was brand-new to him.

"We have. Ahead is nothing but swamp and quicksand, and back here my command hold the defile and the entire elevation."

"You must have your company pretty well spread out," remarked Deck.

"I have more than one company with me--fully enough men to hold the spot. So you see you are entirely cut off."

"Cut off from where?"