by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXXI
LIFE KNOX ON THE MOUNTAIN ROAD
Life Knox contrived in one way or another to keep his tall form out ofsight of any person who happened to be in the vicinity of hisoperations. Deck Lyon had told him the nature of the present enterprise,so that he understood perfectly the work in which he was engaged. Whenhe reached the east end of the valley, behind the colonel's mansion, hewas aware that Captain Gordon, with Lieutenant Belthorpe's platoon ofthe company, was posted here; but they were so well concealed, inaccordance with the orders, that he could not see them, or even thepickets sent out by the officer.
It was nearly dark, and Knox thought it was time for the enemy toappear, if they intended to accomplish anything that day; but itoccurred to the Kentuckian that they "chose darkness because their deedswere evil." He could neither see nor hear anything that indicated theapproach of mounted men. He walked up the gentle declivity of themountain road, and found a country better adapted to his work thannearer the village. He found one of the knolls which abound in thisregion, and he cut his way through the brambles and bushes to the top ofit; for he saw that it commanded a view of what was called the CliffRoad, though he did not know it by this name.
The marauders had passed the cliffs, and had halted on a little hill inthe road, evidently to make their final preparations for the assaultupon the village. He counted twenty-eight mounted men,--for theguerillas were not more than a hundred yards from him,--and there was aconsiderable number of men on foot, among whom the scout noted two orthree negroes. He looked upon them with interest, and had an excellentopportunity to observe them. The mounted men seemed to be engaged in adiscussion which became warm, judging from the gestures of some of thoseengaged in it.
Knox made up his mind that these ruffians were not regular troops,though they might be one of the "Partisan" bands, of which he had heardsomething from Deck. The men on foot appeared to be vagabonds and"bummers," eager to share in the spoils of the expedition. The coloneland the clergyman were perfectly confident that the mansion of theformer was the objective point of the Partisans. They knew it would berich in plunder, which was doubtless the sole purpose of the marauders;for they could do nothing in this manner to advance the cause of theConfederate States.
Knox had a distinct method of treating the present problem; and thoughhe commanded nothing, he thought he could bring it about. If he had beenin communication with one of the principal officers of the squadron, hewould have stated his plan to him. He had observed a portion of theground not seen by the others, and could easily divine the intendedmovements of the commander of the guerillas, if there was any suchpersonage among them. They had begun to move; and Life thought it wastime for him to do the same. He descended the knoll, and took a positionby the side of the mountain road, in a clump of bushes.
He had hardly taken a favorable place to observe the approach of thebrigands, when he discovered a couple of men approaching from the town,mounted and armed. They were hard-looking ruffians, and the sergeant didnot like the appearance of them. He had but a moment to consider, and hedid his thinking on the double-quick. The guerillas could not be awarethat a squadron of United States cavalry had just arrived at Greeltop.If they had known this fact they would not have come; and if informed ofit now, they would take to their heels, and make the dust fly till theyreached a safe retreat.
The two mounted men coming from the village looked ugly and recklessenough to be brigands; and Life promptly concluded that they had heardof the approach of the marauders, and were going out to warn them of thepresence of the troops in the place. Each of them carried an oldflintlock gun, which might have seen service in the time of DanielBoone, and had a package strapped on behind his saddle. Possibly theybelonged to the band of mounted men, and were going out to join themwith the important news they had obtained.
"Where are you uns bound?" demanded Knox, breaking out of his covert,and planting himself in the road in front of them.
The Kentuckian was as prudent as he was brave; but if these brigandswere permitted to proceed, the business of the Riverlawn Cavalry wouldbe ended in this immediate locality for the present. The enemy beforehim were two to his one; but he did not appear to take this fact intoconsideration.
"Who are you?" shouted the foremost of the pair in a ferocious tone, asthough he expected to frighten the stalwart inquirer, and with a volleyof oaths which startled the Kentuckian, who, maugre his variedexperience, was a high-toned man morally, and never used any profaneexpletives.
"I am in command of this road jest now; and no one, not even Gov'norMcGoffin hisself, could pass out the way you uns is go'n'," repliedLife.
"I reckon we uns is gwine out," replied the spokesman of the pair.
"I reckon not," added the sergeant, as he seized the bridle of thefellow's Rosinante, whisked him around, pointing him to the village, andgiving him a slap to set him going.
If the brigand had any bad blood in his veins, this decided action wassufficient to make it boil; and he brought up his old flintlock, andbegan to point it at the "commander of that road just then," and wouldno doubt have put some of the contents of the rusty barrel through hishead or chest, if Life had waited for him to do so. He did not; and hedid not even take the trouble to unsling the loaded carbine at his back,but, reaching up, seized the brigand by the throat, and dragged him fromhis horse, planting him very solidly on the ground.
The ruffian seemed to be as powerless as an infant in his grasp. Knoxthen snatched the gun from his hands; but the man, clinging to it, cameup with it. The sergeant shook him off as he would a fly, and he fellall in a heap on the ground again. Life tossed the weapon over the fenceinto the bushes. The brigand sprang to his feet, and with a long knifein his hand rushed upon his herculean assailant.
Knox bestowed a blow on the arm with the blade at the end of it, whichwas heavy enough to break the bone; and the weapon dropped in the road.Then he seized the brigand by the throat again, and batted him over thehead with his iron fist, causing him to drop limp and senseless on theground. The other ruffian, who did not seem to be so desperate acharacter, looked as though he were paralyzed by the vigorous treatmentof his companion; but he had by this time recovered enough of hisself-possession to think of his own safety; and he attempted to run bythe Kentuckian, in the direction of the guerillas.
"You're go'n' the wrong way, Chopsticks," said Life, seizing the bridleof the horse, and bringing him up with a shock which nearly unseated therider. "You're bound for the village, and that's the way your go'n',"continued Knox, as he unslung his carbine, standing in front of thehorse.
"I want to go the other way; and I reckon you'll git hung to one o'these big trees for what you've jest did," said the second ruffian.
"I ain't go'n' to hang jest yet; and you're go'n' back to the villagewhether you want to or not," replied Knox. "If you move without leavefrom the commander of this road, a ball from his carbine will worry itsway through that head o' yourn."
"The ruffian seemed to be as powerless as an infant inhis grasp."]
As he spoke, the sergeant wrenched the gun from the hand of theruffian, and tossed it after the other. He seemed to be enjoying thelittle scene in which he was the principal actor, and he was as unmovedas though he had been taking his coffee and hard-tack at a camp-fire.The horse of the disabled brigand still stood within reach; and, pickingup his first victim, he laid him, face down, across the saddle, as hewould have done a bag of grain. Then he led the steed, with his load, tothe side of the uninjured ruffian, and handed the rein to him.
"Now you can go back to the village where you kim from, and take thisload of carri'n with you. If you feel as if you wanted to jine that bandof ruffins as is comin' this way, the lead from this little piece willketch you."
He hit the horse of the rider a slap with the breech of his carbine, andstarted him on his way. The sergeant was not a reckless man; though forthe sake of the old flag he worshipped he would have attacked any sixmen that assailed it. He had time now to look out for t
he business ofhis mission, though the scene described had occupied but a few minutesof his time. Taking the side of the road, he walked a short distance inthe direction of the mountains, when he heard the tramp of the horsesof the ruffian band.
A moment later he saw the head of the column appear at a bend in theroad; and it was time for him to begin his retreat. Taking to the bushesin the field, he made his way back to the valley where Captain Gordonwas posted; but he could see nothing of him. He was in no hurry, and hewalked a short distance into the valley. One of the pickets showedhimself then; and Knox sent word to the captain that the guerillas wouldarrive in about fifteen minutes.
Then he returned to the road, and followed it as long as he could seethe column of brigands approaching. He came to a bend in the highway;and there he discovered the ruffian with the "load of carrion" on theled horse, with Deck interviewing him.
"You don't want nothin' o' that piece o' rot, Deck!" he shouted to hismate on the scout.
"But he says he and his friend have been nearly killed by the ruffiansthat are coming to take the village, and been robbed of their guns,"replied Deck, when the sergeant came up to him.
"He is a liar, and so is the feller that is takin' a nap on the hoss. Idid all the mischief that was done to them; for they was go'n' to tellthe cutthroats yonder the last news from Greeltop, and I thought itwasn't best for them to go that way. Drive on, Be'lzebub!" said thesergeant, as he gave the horse a slap; and he went on, dragging the"load of carrion" along with him.
"Have you seen anything of the guerillas, Life?" asked Deck.
"Seen the whole on 'em; and I wish we had a meal-bag big enough to holdthe whole on 'em, and I'd put 'em into it; but I reckon we shall bag thewhole on 'em, if we hain't got no sack."
"How many of them are there, Life?"
"I reckon them two swinktoms I sent back belonged to the gang; and ifthey had j'ined the rest of the crowd, it would 'a' made thirty mountedmen," replied Knox. "But they've got as many more without hosses ormules. They're a jolly lot o' rag'muffins. You'll see 'em in a fewminutes; but I'll ride back and tell the major about it. You stay here,and keep out o' sight; for we don't want any of the blocusses to see oneof our uniforms, for that would sp'ile the stew all to onct."
Knox arranged this matter with Deck while he was mounting his horse. Hewent off at full gallop down the slope, and turned into the road thatled by the front of Colonel Coffee's house. He found the second platoonof his company posted a short distance from the corner. He saw the majorand his party, including Mr. Elbroon and some other citizens of theplace, and dashed up to them with a grand flourish, saluting hiscommander as he did so. Life was in high feather, and thought it inorder to make a proper impression upon the spectators, of whom not a fewhad gathered near the spot, perhaps expecting to see a battle.
The sergeant reported to the major, who had withdrawn himself from hisfriends, giving the number and present location of the advancing gang;but no one else was permitted to hear him.
"I reckon I oughtn't to say nothin' more, Major Lyon; but I'm afeerdsome o' them blocusses will git off; and it would do the whole crowdgood to hang 'em higher'n Haman."
"We will attend to the hanging, if there is to be any, after the fight;but if you have any suggestion to make, Knox, I will hear it," repliedthe commander.
"I left Deck squarin' the great circle round the corner; and he'll letyou know jest as soon as the gang comes in sight."
"We will attend to them as soon as we get the opportunity," added themajor rather impatiently.
"I'm afeerd you won't hit 'em jest right; for I believe you can bag thewhole on 'em. That circle's a holy good place for a fight, and"--
"Station yourself at the corner, Knox, and make a signal when it is theright time for the platoon to advance," interposed the commander, whothought the Kentuckian was making a long story of it.
"Good, Major!" exclaimed Life, who had the matter as he wanted it now;and he dashed off for the corner.
