Si Klegg, Book 3

by John McElroy

  CHAPTER VIII. A PERIOD OF SELF-DISGUST

  SI AND SHORTY HAVE AN ATTACK OF IT, FOLLOWED BY RECOVERY.

  IT TOOK many days for the boys' lacerated feet to recover sufficientlyto permit their going about and returning to duty. They spent the periodof enforced idleness in chewing the cud of bitter reflection. The thornshad cut far more painfully into their pride than into their feet. Thetime was mostly passed in moody silence, very foreign to the customaryliveliness of the Hoosier's Rest. They only spoke to one another on themost necessary subjects, and then briefly. In their sour shame at thewhole thing they even became wroth with each other. Shorty sneered atthe way Si cleaned up the house, and Si condemned Shorty's cooking.Thenceforth Shorty slept on the floor, while Si occupied the bed, andthey cooked their meals separately. The newness of the clothes they drewfrom the Quartermaster angered them, and they tried to make them look asdirty and shabby as the old.

  Once they were on the point of actually coming to blows.

  Si had thoughtlessly flung some dishwater into the company street. Itwas a misdemeanor that in ordinary times would have been impossible tohim. Now almost anything was.

  Shorty instantly growled:{110}

  "You slouch, you ought to go to the guard-house for that."

  Si retorted hotly:

  "Slouch yourself! Look where you throwed them coffee-grounds thismorning," and he pointed to the tell-tale evidence beside the house.

  SHORTY AND SI ARE AT OUTS. 110]

  "Well, that ain't near so bad," said Shorty crustily. "That at leastintended to be tidy."

  "Humph," said Si, with supreme disdainfulness. "It's the differencebetwixt sneakin' an' straightout. I throwed mine right out in thestreet. You tried to hide yours, and made it all the nastier. But{111}whatever you do's all right. Whatever I do's all wrong. You're a pill."

  "Look here, Mister Klegg," said Shorty, stepping forward with doubledfist, "I'll have you understand that I've took all the slack andimpudence from you that I'm a-goin' to."

  "Shorty, if you double your fist up at me," roared the irate Si, "I'llknock your head off in a holy minute."

  The boys of Co. Q were thunderstruck. It seemed as if their world wastoppling when two such partners should disagree. They gathered around invoiceless sorrow and wonderment and watched, developments.

  Shorty seemed in the act of springing forward, when the sharp roll ofthe drum at Headquarters beating the "assembly" arrested all attention.Everyone looked eagerly toward the Colonel's tent, and saw him comeout buckling on his sword, while his Orderly sped away for his horse.Apparently, all the officers had been in consultation with him, for theywere hurrying away to their several companies.

  "Fall in, Co. Q," shouted the Orderly-Sergeant. "Fall in promptly."

  Everybody made a rush for his gun and equipments.

  "Hurry up. Orderly," said Capt. McGillicuddy, coming up with his swordand belt in hand. "Let the boys take what rations they can lay theirhands on, but not stop to cook any. We've got to go on the jump."

  All was rush and hurry. Si and Shorty bolted for their house,forgetful of their mangled feet. Si{112} got in first, took his gun andcartridge-box down, and buckled on his belt. He looked around for hisrations while Shorty was putting on his things. His bread and meat andShorty's were separate, and there was no trouble about them. But thecoffee and sugar had not been divided, and were in common receptacles.He opened the coffee-can and looked in. There did not seem to be morethan one ration there. He hesitated a brief instant what to do. It wouldserve Shorty just right to take all the coffee. He liked his coffee evenbetter than Shorty did, and was very strenuous about having it. If hedid not take it Shorty might think that he was either anxious to make upor afraid, and he wanted to demonstrate that he was neither. Then therewas a twinge that it would be mean to take the coffee, and leave hispartner, senseless and provoking as he seemed, without any. He setthe can down, and, turning as if to look for something to empty it in,pretended to hear something outside the house to make him forget it, andhurried out.

  Presently Shorty came out, and ostentatiously fell into line at adistance from Si. It was the first time they had not stood shoulder toshoulder.

  The Orderly-Sergeant looked down the line, and called out:

  "Here, Corp'l Klegg, you're not fit to go. Neither are you, Shorty. Stepout, both of you."

  "Yes, I'm all right," said Shorty. "Feet's got well. I kin outwalk a WeaInjun."

  "Must've bin using some Lightning Elixir Liniment," said theOrderly-Sergeant incredulously.. "I saw you both limping around likestring-halted{113} horses not 15 minutes ago. Step out, I tell you."

  "Captain, le' me go along," pleaded Si. "You never knowed me to fallout, did you?"

  "Captain, I never felt activer in my life," asserted Shorty; "and youknow I always kept up. I never played sore-foot any day."

  "I don't believe either of you're fit to go," said Capt. McGillicuddy,"but I won't deny you. You may start, anyway. By the time we get to thepickets you can fall out if you find you can't keep up."

  "The rebel calvary's jumped a herd of beef cattle out at pasture,run off the guard, and are trying to get away with them," theOrderly-Sergeant hurriedly explained as he lined up Co. Q. "We're tomake a short cut across the country and try to cut them off. Sir, thecompany's formed."

  "Attention, Co. Q!" shouted Capt. McGillicuddy. "Right face!--Forward,file left!--March!"

  The company went off at a terrific pace to get its place with theregiment, which had already started without it.

  Though every step was a pang. Si and Shorty kept up unflinchingly.Each was anxious to outdo the other, and to bear off bravery before thecompany. The Captain and Orderly-Sergeant took an occasional look atthem until they passed the picket-line, when other more pressing mattersengaged the officers' attention.

  The stampeded guards, mounted on mules or condemned horses, or runningon foot, came tearing back, each with a prodigious tale of the numbersand ferocity of the rebels.{114}

  The regiment was pushed forward with all the speed there was in it,going down-hill and over the level stretch at a double-quick. Si felthis feet bleeding, and it seemed at times that he could not go anotherstep, but then he would look back down the line and catch a glimpse ofShorty keeping abreast of his set of fours, and he would spur himself torenewed effort. Shorty would long to throw himself in a fence-cornerand rest for a week, until, as they went over some rise, he would catchsight of Si's sandy hair, well in the lead, when he would drink in freshdetermination to keep up, if he died in the attempt.

  Presently they arrived at the top of the hill from which they couldsee the rebel cavalry rounding up and driving off the cattle, while aportion of the enemy's horsemen were engaged in a fight with a smallsquad of infantry ensconced behind a high rail fence.

  Si and Shorty absolutely forgot their lameness as Co. Q separated fromthe column and rushed to the assistance of the squad, while the rest ofthe regiment turned off to the right to cut off the herd. But they werelame all the same, and tripped and fell over a low fence which the restof the company easily leaped. They gathered themselves up, sat on theground for an instant, and glared at one another.

  "Blamed old tangle-foot," said Shorty derisively.

  "You've got hoofs like a foundered hoss," retorted Si.

  After this interchange of compliments they staggered painfully to theirfeet and picked up their{115} guns, which were thrown some distance fromtheir hands as they fell.

  By this time Co. Q was a quarter of a mile away, and already beginningto fire on the rebels, who showed signs of relinquishing the attack.

  "Gol darn the luck!" said Si with Wabash emphasis, beginning to limpforward.

  "Wish the whole outfit was a mile deep in burnin' brimstone," wrathfullyobserved Shorty.

  A couple of lucky shots had emptied two of the rebel saddles. Thefrightened horses turned away from the fighting line, and galloped downthe road to the right of the boys. The leading one suddenly halted ina fence-corner about
30 yards away from Si, threw up his head and begansurveying the scene, as if undecided what to do next. The other, seeinghis mate stop, began circling around.

  Hope leaped up in Si's breast. He began creeping toward the first horse,under the covert of the sumach. Shorty saw his design and the advantageit would give Si, and, standing still, began swearing worse than ever.

  Si crept up as cautiously as he had used to in the old days when hewas rabbit-hunting. The horse thrust his head over the fence, and begannibbling at a clump of tall rye growing there. Si thrust his hand outand caught his bridle. The horse made one frightened plunge, but thehand on his bridle held with the grip of iron, and he settled down tomute obedience.

  Si set his gun down in the fence-corner and climbed into the saddle.

  Shorty made the Spring air yellow with profanity{116} until he saw Siride away from his gun toward the other horse. When the latter sawhis mate, with a rider, coming toward him he gave a whinney and dashedforward. In an instant Si had hold of his bridle and was turning back.His face was bright with triumph. Shorty stopped in the middle of asoul-curdling oath and yelled delightedly:

  "Bully for old Wabash! You're my pardner after all Si."

  He hastened forward to the fence, grabbed up Si's gun and handed it tohim and then climbed into the other saddle.

  The rebels were now falling back rapidly before Co. Q's fire. A smallpart detached itself and started down a side road.

  Si and Shorty gave a yell, and galloped toward them, in full sight ofCo. Q. who raised a cheer. The rebels spurred their horses, but Si andShorty gained on them.

  "Come on. Shorty." Si yelled. "I don't believe they've got a shot left.They hain't fired once since they started."

  He was right. Their cartridge-boxes had been emptied.

  At the bottom of the hill a creek crossing the road made a deep, widequagmire. The rebels were in too much hurry to pick out whatever roadthere might have been through it. Their leaders plunged in, their horsessank nearly to the knees, and the whole party bunched up.

  "Surrender, you rebel galoots." yelled Si reining up at a littledistance, and bringing his gun to bear.{117}

  "Surrender, you off-scourings of secession," added Shorty.

  SI AND SHORTY AS MOUNTED INFANTRY 117]

  The rebels looked back, held up their hands, and said imploringly:

  "Don't shoot, Mister. We'uns give up. We'uns air taylored."

  "Come back up here, one by one," commanded Si,{118} "and go to our rear.Hold on to your guns. Don't throw 'em away. We ain't afraid of 'em."

  One by one the rebels extricated their horses from the mire with moreor less difficulty and filed back. Si kept his gun on those in thequagmire, while Shorty attended to the others as they came back. Co. Qwas coming to his assistance as fast as the boys could march.

  What was the delight of the boys to recognize in their captives thesquad which had captured them. The sanguinary Bushrod was the first tocome back, and Si had to restrain a violent impulse to knock him offhis horse with his gun-barrel. But he decided to settle with him whenthrough with the present business.

  By the time the rebels were all up, Co. Q had arrived on the scene. Asthe prisoners were being disarmed and put under guard, Si called out toCapt. McGillicuddy:

  "Captain, one o' these men is my partickler meat. I want to 'tend tohim."

  "All right. Corporal," responded the Captain, "attend to him, but don'tbe too rough on him. Remember that he is an unarmed prisoner."

  Si and Shorty got down off their horses, and approached Bushrod, whoturned white as death, trembled violently, and began to beg.

  "Gentlemen, don't kill me," he whined. "I'm a poor man, an' have afambly to support. I didn't mean nothin' by what I said. I sw'ar't' LordA'mighty I didn't."

  "Jest wanted to hear yourself talk--jest practicin' your voice," saidShorty sarcastically, as he took the{119} man by the shoulder and pulledhim off into the bush by the roadside. "Jest wanted to skeer us, and seehow fast we could run. Pleasant little pastime, eh?" "And them thingsyou said about a young lady up in Injianny," said Si, clutching him bythe throat.

  BUSHROD PRAYS FOR HIS LIFE 119]

  "I want to wring your neck jest like a chicken's. What'd you do with herpicture and letters?"

  Si thrust his hand unceremoniously into Bushrod's pocket and found theambrotype of Annabel. A brief glance showed him that it was all right,and he gave a sigh of satisfaction, which showed some amelioration oftemper toward the captive.{120 }

  "What'd you do with them letters?" Si demanded fiercely.

  "Ike has 'em," said Bushrod.

  "You've got my shoes on, you brindle whelp," said Shorty, giving him acuff in bitter remembrance of his own smarting feet.

  "If we're goin' to shoot him, let's do it right off," said Si, lookingat the cap on his gun. "The company's gittin' ready to start back."

  "All right," said Shorty, with cheerful alacrity. "Johnny, your ticketfor a brimstone supper's made out. How'd you rather be shot--standin' orkneelin'?"

  "O, gentlemen, don't kill be. Ye hadn't orter. Why do ye pick me outto kill? I wuzzent no wuss'n the others. I wuzzent rayly half ez bad. Ididn't rayly mean t' harm ye. I only talked. I had t' talk that-a-way,for I alluz was a Union man, and had t' make a show for the others. Idon't want t' be shot at all."

  "You ain't answerin' my question," said Shorty coolly and inexorably. "Iasked you how you preferred to be shot. These other things you mentionhain't nothin' to do with my question."

  He leveled his gun at the unhappy man and took a deliberate sight.

  "O, for the Lord A'mighty's sake, don't shoot me down like a dog,"screamed Bushrod. "Le'me have a chance to pray, an' make my peace withmy Maker."

  "All right," conceded Shorty, "go and kneel down there by thatcottonwood, and do the fastest prayin* you ever did in all yourborn days, for you have need of it. We'll shoot when I countthree. You'd{121} better make a clean breast of all your sins andtransgressions before you go. You'll git a cooler place in the camp downbelow."

  Unseen, the rest of Co. Q were peeping through the bushes and enjoyingthe scene.

  Bushrod knelt down with his face toward the Cottonwood, and began anagonized prayer, mingled with confessions of crimes and malefactions,some flagrant, some which brought a grin of amusement to the faces ofCo. Q.

  "One!" called out Shorty in stentorian tones.

  "O, for the love o' God, Mister, don't shoot me," yelled Bushrod,whirling around, with uplifted arms. "I'm too wicked to die, an' I'vegot a fambly dependin' on me."

  "Turn around there, and finish your prayin'," sternly commanded Shorty,with his and Si's faces down to the stocks of their muskets, in the actof taking deliberate aim.

  Bushrod flopped around, threw increased vehemence into his prayer, andresumed his recital of his misdeeds.

  "Two!" counted Shorty.

  Again Bushrod whirled around with uplifted hands and begged for mercy.

  "Nary mercy," said Shorty. "You wouldn't give it to us, and you hain'tgiven it to many others, according to your own account. Your light'sflickerin', and we'll blow it out at the next count. Turn around,there."

  Bushrod made the woods ring this time with his fervent, tearful appealsto the Throne of Grace. He was so wrought up by his impending deaththat he{122} did not hear Co. Q quietly move away, at a sign fromthe Captain, with Si and Shorty mounting their horses and riding offnoiselessly over the sod.

  For long minutes Bushrod continued his impassioned appeals at the topof his voice, expecting every instant to have the Yankee bulletscrash through his brain. At length he had to stop from lack of breath.Everything was very quiet--deathly so, it seemed to him. He stole afurtive glance around. No Yankees could be seen out of the tail of hiseye on either side. Then he looked squarely around. None was visibleanywhere. He jumped up, began cursing savagely, ran into the road, andstarted for home. He had gone but a few steps when he came squarely infront of the musket of the Orderly-Sergeant of Co. Q, who had placedhimself in concealm
ent to see the end of the play and bring him along.

  "Halt, there," commanded the Orderly-Sergeant; "face the other way andtrot. We must catch up with the company."

  Si and Shorty felt that they had redeemed themselves, and returned tocamp in such good humor with each other, and everybody else, that theyforgot that their feet were almost as bad as ever.

  They went into the house and began cooking their supper together again.Shorty picked up the coffeecan and said:

  "Si Klegg, you're a gentleman all through, if you was born on theWabash. A genuine gentleman is knowed by his never bein' no hog under nocircumstances. I watched you when you looked into this coffee-can, andmad as I was at you, I said you was a thorobred when you left it all tome."

  {123}