A Lieutenant at Eighteen

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER III

  THE LIEUTENANT BAGS HIS GAME

  The Riverlawn Cavalry had lost a number of its men, who had been killedin the several actions in which it had been engaged, and a greaternumber had been disabled by wounds; though both companies had beenrecruited up to their full standard. The squadron was so popular thatmore than twenty had applied to enlist after its ranks were full. Deckhad, therefore, his full quota, and two more.

  "The other horse is for you, Mr. Milton," said the lieutenant, when hewas ready to move on to the mansion invested by the ruffians.

  "Thank you, Lieutenant Lyon; I left my horse a mile beyond Mr.Halliburn's, when I learned that the guerillas were going in thatdirection," replied the guide. "I am satisfied, now that Grace issafe."

  "There is another band of guerillas or foragers in the direction ofBreedings; but the first platoon of our company has gone over to givethem a reception, and I don't believe any of them will get as far southas the house to which Miss Morgan is going," Deck explained.

  "I hope not, for I am very anxious about Grace," added the guide.

  "She is a very attractive young lady," suggested Deck.

  "Which makes her peril all the greater," replied her intended, for suchhe was, as they entered a forest of black walnut. "We have tried topersuade her to go to her uncle's house in Springfield, Ohio; but sherefuses to leave her guardian, who has been a father to her from herchildhood. I shall get my horse, if the ruffians have not stolen him,and hasten to Colonel Halliburn's, as soon as you have disposed ofthese villains."

  "I shall try to bag the whole of them," said Deck. "But so manyprisoners would be a nuisance to me."

  "There is a loyal Home Guard in Millersville, if the Confederates havenot scattered them; and they would take care of your prisoners,"suggested the guide.

  "Now, Mr. Milton,"--

  "Call me Win, as everybody else does, and that will save time,"interposed the young man.

  "As you please, Win; the name is shorter, and perhaps you willrecognize it more readily because it is more familiar to you than onewith a handle to it. Now, I want to know something more about thesurroundings of Mr. Halliburn's mansion. I wonder that this gentlemanis not a colonel, like most people of any importance in this State."

  "He was formerly a clergyman, and sometimes officiates now on anemergency. That fact saved him from any military infliction. Then hisbrother is a real colonel, and two of the same title would have madeconfusion in talking about them," the guide explained.

  The mud was so deep that no great speed could be made on the march, andthe guerillas were not likely to complete their mission for some hours,for they seldom left a plundered house without requiring a meal to beprovided for them. Still, the lieutenant pushed on with all practicablehaste.

  "How does the land lie about the house?" asked Deck.

  "All the land cultivated on the plantation, which contains over athousand acres, is on the east side of the mansion. Most of the groundon the west of it is in walnut; for in the dry season it is easilyhauled to the Cumberland River, and carried to a market during highwater. It is a profitable crop to the planter."

  "Does the walnut grove reach as far as the mansion?"

  "Very nearly. There is a small grove south of the house, and a woodedhill to the north-east of it."

  "Very well; I think I have got the idea of it," replied Deck, as herelapsed into silence to study his plan.

  Though he had a great deal of confidence in himself, he was fullyconscious of the responsibility which rested upon him. Probably ifCaptain Gordon had suspected that the lieutenant at eighteen wouldencounter an enemy, he would have come with the platoon himself, thoughhe had quite as much confidence in Deck as in Tom Belthorpe. But theother division was reasonably sure to engage an enemy, and doubtlessthis consideration had decided the question as to which he shouldaccompany.

  "This wood extends around to the north side of the mansion, if Iunderstand the situation," said Deck, when he had arranged the attackin his own mind.

  "Precisely so," replied the guide.

  "That is on our left; how is it on the right, Win?"

  "You come out of the woods into a cornfield; beyond this is a low hill,and beyond it is a grove, where the family walk in warm weather."

  "How far are we from the mansion now?"

  "Something more than a hundred rods."

  "Platoon--halt!" said the lieutenant, suddenly whirling his horse aboutas on a pivot. "Sergeant Knox!"

  Life rode up to him, saluted, and waited for further orders.

  "With fifteen men you will move to the left through the woods till youcome to the mansion now directly in front of us. Move without noise,and halt your force as near the house as you can without being seen bythe enemy, who are too busy to notice anything just now. When the buglesounds the 'Advance,' you will march at a gallop to the east side ofthe house. Do you understand me, Life?" said Deck, speaking veryclearly, but in a low tone.

  "I'll bet I do; shall I repeat the orders?" replied the sergeant.

  "It is not necessary."

  Deck then directed Corporal Tilford, another non-commissioned officer,to take twelve men and proceed to the right, through the cornfield,concealing himself behind the hill mentioned by Win, and halt in thegrove. At the same signal, a second time given, the corporal was tomarch his men in haste to the front of the mansion. The two detachmentswent to the left and the right as directed, and the lieutenantcontinued the march directly to his destination. The stable of theplantation was the first building they saw, for the west side of themansion was concealed by a dozen lofty trees. If the ruffians werestill in the house, they appeared to have taken no precautions to guardagainst a surprise: for there was no sentinel, and no person could beseen near the mansion.

  "Platoon--halt!" said Deck, when he had led his men into the shelter ofthe trees; but he spoke in a very low tone, for he was not more thanfifty feet from the mansion.

  Taking the bugler and the guide with him, he crept carefully around theprincipal building, halting at the corner. From this point he obtaineda full view of the ground in front. He counted twenty-two horses,secured to a fence and in other places where it could be done. This heconcluded was the force of the enemy. He could hear very loud noisesand shouts within the mansion, and the sounds appeared to come from theupper story of the building. It was evident that the marauders hadsearched the lower part of the house, and were now engaged in goingthrough the upper portion.

  "Was it known that Mr. Halliburn had a large sum of money in hishouse?" asked Deck in a whisper of the guide.

  "Probably it was; he kept it in several banks till recently. When hewithdrew the money from the banks, the officers of these institutionswere incensed against him; for his example would be followed by otherinfluential people, and the banks would be ruined," Win explained inthe same low tone.

  "Stufton, go to the rear of the house, and send the first six men youcome to around to me. Tell them to make no noise," continued thelieutenant, addressing the bugler.

  He was not absent more than three minutes, and the men crept around thehouse as though they had been engaged in a burglarious enterprise,securing their sabres so that they did not rattle. Milton wondered whatthe cavalryman in command intended to do, but he waited patiently forthe outcome. Ordering the men in a whisper to follow him, Deck stolesilently to the portico of the mansion on the east side, which wasprecisely like one on the west.

  The front door of the mansion was wide open. Deck stationed his six menon the piazza, close to the building, and then passed into the hallthrough the open passage. A door on each side opened into as many largeapartments. The one on the right was plainly the parlor. On a broadsofa reclined a man with white hair and beard. He lay there, and didnot move any more than if the breath had left his body. In the room onthe left lay an elderly woman on another sofa, as motionless as theother.

  Heavy footsteps could be heard on the floors of the upper story, withthe sound of rough voices, from which proceed
ed a constant flow ofprofanity. Deck stepped out of the hall to the piazza, and called themen to him one at a time, and then stationed them in the hallsurrounding the staircase leading to the second story.

  "If any one attempts to descend the stairs, warn him not to do so, andshoot him if he disobeys," said Deck to each of the troopers, who hadhis carbine in readiness for use.

  "Are there any back stairs in the house, Win?" asked Deck in the usualwhisper.

  "There are, by the dining-room in the rear," replied the guide, whobegan to understand the method by which the lieutenant meant tooperate, but he said nothing.

  Deck went to the west door of the mansion, opened it, and called threemore men, whom he instructed as he had the others, and stationed themat the foot of the back stairs. Calling a corporal and a private, hesent them to Life and Tilford, with an order to secure all horses, andload their carbines, putting their revolvers in their belts. Then theywere to wait for the signal from the bugle.

  "Now we will look into the two rooms, and see if the man and woman onthe sofas are dead," said Deck to the guide. "Come with me, Win, if youplease."

  Milton had not entered the house before, and had not seen the personson the sofas. He followed the lieutenant into the room where the manlay. Going nearer to him than before, he discovered that the gentlemanwas strapped to the sofa so that he could not move.

  "It is Mr. Halliburn!" was the whispered exclamation of Win.

  "Hush! Don't speak, sir," said Deck, as he proceeded to remove thestraps which bound him, aided by the guide.

  "Not a sound, sir!" continued the young officer. "You are safe, and sois Miss Morgan, and also the treasure-chest. Not a word!"

  Win assisted him to sit up on the sofa, and then went into the otherfront room with Deck. The latter warned her as he had the man not tospeak, and then asked the guide who she was, while both of them beganat once to remove her bonds.

  "Mrs. Halliburn," replied Win, who assisted her to rise as soon as shewas liberated.

  "Now, Win, if you wish to go and find your horse, I can spare you,though I should like very well to have you remain longer."

  "I want to see this thing through," answered Milton. "I have seen youpile up all the incidents of this affair, like those in a novel; andnow I want to see you pull out the pin in the last chapter, and leteverything down in a heap. I suppose Grace is safe with your men toguard her."

  "I will vouch for her safety. I am going to pull out the pin now,"added Deck, as he beckoned the bugler to follow him to the front oreast piazza.

  He ordered him to sound the "Advance," and the command was promptlyobeyed. The ringing notes of the startling call sounded clearly in thesilence of the retired locality, and it could have been heard at leasthalf a mile. Life Knox's force came first, and Deck directed thesergeant to surround the house, and shoot down any guerilla thatattempted to escape. The bugle sounded the second call, and CorporalTilford and his dozen men appeared in front of the mansion. Thesergeant continued to station the men till all of them were inposition.

  The marauders flocked to the windows, and found half a dozen carbinespointed at each opening. It checked their enthusiasm at once. At thestaircase those who proposed to descend found as many pieces aimed atthem. It looked just then as though Lieutenant Lyon had bagged thetwenty-two guerillas in the upper story of the mansion.