An Undivided Union

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE SIGNALS IN THE DARK

  The Tennessee River passed, the Riverlawns, with the other cavalry,preceded the Twentieth Army Corps to Winston's Gap, not far from ValleyHead, at the base of Lookout Mountain, and some thirty-five miles southof Chattanooga. At the same time the other troops came over Sand andRaccoon mountains, and through various gaps, until, on the 6th ofSeptember, the army lay along the base of Lookout, from Valley Head,just mentioned, northward to Wauhatchee, several miles aboveChattanooga.

  The passage of Sand Mountain was a trying one, never to be forgotten byabout half of Captain Abbey's company, who were riding in advance of theregular body of cavalry. The Engineering Corps had had the roadsrepaired, but the ascent was steep, and in certain spots the trail wasbut wide enough for one horseman to pass at a time. The provisions werebrought along on pack mules, and the artillery had to take a roundaboutroute twelve miles longer.

  Captain Abbey was at the head of his men, and several hundred feet inadvance of any other body of cavalry, when, without warning, thirty-twoof the Riverlawns were caught on a mountain trail not over six feetbroad, having on one side a wall or cliff nearly a hundred feet high,and on the other a sheer descent of twice that number of feet into ahollow filled with jagged rocks.

  The accident which brought this condition of affairs about was inreality as simple as it was serious. The trail wound around the mountainin the shape of a horseshoe, and the cavalrymen were journeying slowlyalong at the bottom of the curve, when some rocks and sand far abovethem began to slide down. The rumble was heard in time to allow theriders to escape the landslide, but immediately the trail before andbehind them was choked up with boulders and sand to the height, ordepth, of fifteen feet or more.

  It cannot be denied that the members of the first company who were thuscaught were greatly alarmed. Second Lieutenant Burton was with CaptainAbbey, and he yelled out that the mountain was coming down. For severalminutes a score of cries and yells filled the air, but gradually thesedied away, and when the landslide stopped, and the dust had rolled away,the cavalrymen looked about them to see what damage had been done.

  "Nobody hurt," announced Captain Abbey. "That was the most fortunatelandslide I ever saw."

  "We'll have to go back," said Lieutenant Burton, who had surveyed thedisaster ahead. "We can't climb over that mass of rocks,--it wouldn't besafe."

  "I'd like to know how we are going back," put in one of the sergeants."We are blocked in the rear as well as in front. That stuff came fromthe top of yonder ridge, and half of it slid down on this side of thecurve and half on the other. We are hemmed in."

  This announcement made all feel very uneasy, and more than onecavalryman turned slightly pale. If they couldn't advance or retreatwhat were they to do?

  "Let us make a careful investigation of our condition first," saidCaptain Abbey, who was as calm as anybody in the detachment. "If we cando nothing better, we can clear that rubbish off the trail."

  At this Lieutenant Burton shook his head.

  "That would be a dangerous undertaking, Captain. When rocks and sandonce begin to slide there is no telling when they will stop."

  "But this stuff can only slide into the valley below, Burton."

  "This stuff can, that's true; but it may bring down ten times as much onour heads."

  At this Captain Abbey shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we'll investigatefirst and lay plans afterward. We can't stay here forever. In a coupleof hours more it will be dark."

  A cry now arose from other portions of the trail, front and back, askingif anybody had been hurt. The answer was reassuring: and then thecaptain began looking over the ground, moving cautiously around on foot,followed by the lieutenant and the sergeant. As the trail was so narrow,the other cavalrymen remained where they were, continually on the watchto see if more of the ridge above was liable to break away.

  There was no doubt but that the platoon was in a "tight fix," to useLieutenant Burton's way of expressing it. The boulders in the pathwaywere four and five feet in diameter, and several of them were wedgedtogether, all covered with sand and a sort of shell-rock. The blockadein the front was as bad as that in the rear; indeed, there seemed to beno choice between the two.

  "Well, we're treed," remarked the lieutenant.

  "I should say we were shelved," answered the captain, with a faintsmile.

  "We're in a bad box," added the sergeant. "What's to do?"

  "I think we might tackle that blockade in the rear, and thus open theway to join the rest of the regiment. Then, if Colonel Lyon says so,we'll clear the blockade ahead." The captain spoke thus of Colonel Lyon,for that officer once more occupied his position with the Riverlawns,having just about recovered, but no more.

  With extreme caution Captain Abbey advanced to the landslide in therear, and managed, with his lieutenant's aid, to reach the ground justabove the blockade. It was shaky and uncertain, and he sank into thesand up to his ankles.

  "If we had a lever of some sort we might pry those rocks over the edgeof the cliff," he observed. "I don't believe much more would come downoutside of sand and small stones, and that we could shovel away. Let ustry to find a pole, or--Hullo, Major!" he added, suddenly, "how did youget here?"

  "Climbed up from the other side of the fallen mass," answered Major DeckLyon, for the new arrival was he. "Here's a pretty how-do-you-do, eh?"

  "That's right, Major. I was just saying we might pry these rocks offwith a heavy pole, if we had the pole."

  "I thought as much, Captain, and have already sent back for the heaviestwagon pole the train possesses," responded Deck. "It will be here assoon as the boys can bring it up. The problem will be, can we get enoughstrength on one end of the lever to move the weight at the other end?"

  "The boys are strong, if only they can get a hold."

  "But they may not be able to get a hold,--in which case we'll have totry some other plan. To be sure, the men might climb back in thisdirection, but that won't be saving the horses, or opening the trailagain," concluded Deck.

  The problem on foot interested him, and as soon as the heavy wagon poleput into appearance he had it slid up on the rocks, and one end wasinserted between the largest of the boulders, and that next to it. Themajor, captain, and sergeant tugged with might and main, but the upperstone did not budge, and it looked as if ten men could not do the work.

  "I reckon that rock is there to stay," remarked Captain Abbey, as hewiped the perspiration from his face. "This is nigger's work; and I'mdone."

  Deck studied the problem for a moment. "Well, 'as the mountain wouldn'tcome to Mahomet, Mahomet went to the mountain,'" he quoted. "As thisrock refuses to budge, I don't know but that it is solid enough toremain where it is, and we can fix up a trail right over it."

  "By Jove! that's so!" cried Captain Abbey. "It's fairly flat on top.All we need is a slope from the front and the back."

  A number of men were now called forward, and under Deck's directions theupper surface of the landslide was cleared away. Everything in the shapeof a flat stone was placed before and behind the big rock, and the sandand fine shell-rock was shovelled into the cracks between. Inside of anhour, a new footway was formed at the spot, rising five feet in thecentre and sloping off fifteen feet in either direction. It was madeeasy for the horses, and the animals went over it without hesitation.

  In the meantime the other obstruction had been attacked by another bodyof workers. Here the heavy pole came into good play, and rock after rockwas sent tumbling into the valley below. The sand was shovelled afterit, and by the time the rear obstruction was taken care of, the otherwas likewise a thing of the past.

  "You had better join the Engineering Corps, Dexter," remarked ColonelLyon, as he came up, having been to the rear in consultation with thecommander of the cavalry forces.

  "It was a work of necessity, father," answered the major. "The platoonof the first company was stuck, and it would never have done to haveabandoned those horses. We haven't a single animal to spa
re, even thoughwe did round up those others in Alabama."

  "I know we haven't any to spare, Dexter. By the way, how do you likethat black charger you have chosen?"

  "Oh, he seems to be all right. But he isn't Ceph,--not by a good deal."

  "No, you won't find one horse in a thousand like Ceph, my son. I'mafraid the loss of that noble animal will handicap you in making thosefamous leaps on the heads of Confederate officers, such as you have madein the past."

  "No, this horse would never do such work--I wouldn't dare to try him,"answered the major. "He is of ordinary intelligence, and of good speedand endurance; and that is all I can say of him."

  "I have just been in consultation with the general commanding," went onColonel Lyon, after a pause. "He wishes a special piece of work done,and says he would like Major Dexter Lyon to do it."

  "I am ready, sir. What is the work?"

  "As you know, we are to move up to Winston's Gap. The general imagines adetachment of Wheeler's cavalry is located somewhere at this side of theGap, or near Valley Head, strongly intrenched, to take us unaware. Youare to learn the truth of the situation."

  "I will do my best."

  "It was agreed between us that you should take a detachment of six menwith you, and one of the number was to be Captain Knox."

  "That just suits me."

  "The other men are to be sharpshooters from Captain's Knox's company."

  "That will also be satisfactory."

  "Before you go you are to come to the general for instructions. He isjust below here, at the Knob, as it is called. You must remember passingthe spot."

  "Yes, I remember," answered Deck.

  It was supper time, but the major did not wait for the meal. Calling anegro orderly aside, he procured a bite and a strong cup of coffee, andhaving swallowed both, set off on a gallop.

  The conference with General Mitchell occupied the best part of quarterof an hour. Deck was instructed to take the road leading to theheadwaters of Town Creek, to the northwest of Valley Head. He was topass over the creek or around it, and note with care all of theapproaches to Lookout Mountain in that vicinity. The mission might provedangerous, and the sharpshooters were to do their best to avoid acapture by the enemy, should the Confederates develop in force andsurprise them.

  With these instructions well understood, Deck returned to the Riverlawnsand summoned Life. The selection of the five sharpshooters was left tothe tall Kentuckian, and it is needless to state that the captain pickedout the most able fellows his company afforded. The horses had alreadybeen watered and groomed, and the men had had supper; so after Deck'sown steed was cared for, they set off, the major and the captain side byside, and the sharpshooters by column of twos in the rear.

  At about eight o'clock the mountain was passed, and the seven cavalrymenfound themselves in a small valley, with rocks upon one side, and awoods backed up by a small creek on the other. The trail lay along thebank of the creek, and was easy to follow, even in the gatheringdarkness.

  "How long do you propose to travel--all night?" asked Life, presently.

  "That will depend upon circumstances," answered Deck. "We may as wellpush along while the trail is as clear as it is here."

  "But we can't locate any enemy in the dark."

  "I doubt very much if any Confederates are so close to us. I wasthinking, however, we might spot a camp-fire before midnight."

  "If they have any camp-fires."

  "They won't do without them in this fall weather unless orderedespecially to that effect, Life. An Alabama mountaineer loves hiscamp-fire almost as well as he loves his moonshine whiskey."

  "But the mountaineers are not exactly what we are after," insisted theKentuckian, who wanted to "corner" his companion, if he could, just forthe fun of it.

  "A mountaineer can tell a lot of things, if you can make him talk," wasthe major's significant response. "If Wheeler's cavalry is in thisvicinity you can lay odds on it that all the inhabitants of this wildterritory know it."

  "Well, I reckon you are about right,--as you always are, Deck. Ifwe--Hullo, what's the meaning of that?"

  Life drew rein suddenly, and pointed toward the rocky elevation to oneside of the trail. Deck looked in the direction, but could make outnothing unusual.

  "What are you pointing at, Life?"

  "It's gone now. It was--There it is again!"

  Deck now saw that which had attracted his companion's attention. A lighthad appeared, evidently a pine torch. It was swung around in a circleseveral times, then moved up and down,--and then it vanished as before.

  "It's a signal, Life!"

  "They moved it that way before," answered the captain of the seventhcompany. "What can it mean?"

  "It means that one detachment of the Confederates is signalling toanother," ejaculated Deck. "Come ahead; I am going to learn theparticulars of this movement if I can."