Rodney The Partisan

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XII.

  TWICE SURPRISED.

  During the whole of their journey through the woods, which did not cometo an end until long after four o'clock that afternoon, the negro guidenever once spoke to the boys unless he was first spoken to, nor did theysee any living' thing except a drove of half-wild hogs, which fledprecipitately at their approach. The plantation darkies, as a generalthing, were talkative and full of life, and this unwonted silence on thepart of their conductor finally produced an effect upon Tom Percivalwho, when the noon halt was called, took occasion to give the man a goodlooking over. He was not very well satisfied with the result of hisexamination.

  "How much farther do you go with us, boy?" said he.

  "Not furder'n Mr. Truman's house, an' dat aint above ten mile fromhyar," was the answer.

  "Truman," repeated Tom. "He's all right. I was told to stop on the wayand call upon him for anything I might need. Hurry up and take us there;and when you do," he added in a whisper, to Rodney, "we'll say good-byto you. You were right; he's treacherous. He's a red-eyed nigger, andwhen you see a nigger of that sort you want to look out for him."

  There was no need that they should "look out" for their guide now,because there was no way in which he could betray them secretly. Thedanger would arise when they stopped for the night or after they partedfrom him the next morning. Then he would be at liberty to go where hepleased, and as he was acquainted with every Union man for miles around,it would not take him long to spread among them the report that therewas a Confederate stopping at Mr. Truman's house in company with a youngMissourian who did not want his name spoken where other folks could hearit. If such a story as that should get wind, it would make trouble allaround--for Mr. Truman as well as for themselves; for Truman's neighborswould want to know why he gave food and lodging to a Confederate when heclaimed to be a Union man himself. The longer Rodney thought of thesethings, the more he wished himself safe back in Louisiana.

  At half-past four by Tom Percival's watch the negro stopped his mulebeside a rail fence running between the woods and an old field, on whosefarther side was a snug plantation house, nestled among the trees. Thatwas where Mr. Truman lived, and where Merrick had told them to stop forthe night.

  "And I suppose you will stay also, won't you?" said Tom, speaking to thedarkey who bent down from his mule and threw a few of the top rails offthe fence so that the boys could jump their horses over into the field.

  "Who? Me? Oh no, sar," answered the guide, with rather more earnestnessthan the occasion seemed to demand. "Marse Merrick done tol' me to besure an' come home dis very night, an' I 'bleeged to mind him, sar."

  "I'll bet you don't mind him," thought Tom, as he and Rodney rode intothe field and waited for the negro to build up the fence again. "There'sa bug under that chip and I know it."

  The appearance of three horsemen riding up to the back door in thisunexpected way created something of a flutter among the female portionof Mr. Truman's family, and even the farmer himself, who presently cameto the door of one of the outbuildings, seemed to be a little startled;but when a second look showed him that one of Mr. Merrick's negroes wasof the number, he came up to the pump near which the boys haddismounted.

  "This is Mr. Truman, I believe," said Tom.

  "Well, yes; that's my name, but I don't reckon I ever saw you before,"replied the man cautiously.

  "Do you know this boy who has been acting as our guide?"

  "Oh, yes. I know all of Merrick's boys, so it must be all right. But yousee in times like these--"

  "I understand," Tom interposed, for Mr. Truman talked so slowly that theboy was afraid he might never get through with what he had to say. "Intimes like these you don't know whom to trust. That's our fix, exactly;and we shouldn't have thought of stopping here if Merrick and Hobson hadnot told us who and what you are. Go on, boy, and tell Mr. Truman whoand what we are, where we came from, where we want to go, and all aboutit."

  The negro was talkative enough now, and the boys had no fault to findwith the way in which he complied with Tom's request except in oneparticular--he had too much to say regarding Rodney Gray's loyalty tothe Union, and his undying hostility toward everybody who was in favorof secession. He dwelt so long upon this subject that Tom Percival,fearing Mr. Truman's eyes would be opened to the real facts of the case,thought it best to interrupt him.

  "Yes; we passed the night in company with Mr. Hobson and five of hisfriends who have been compelled to go into hiding," said he, "and whilewe were eating supper in Mr. Merrick's kitchen, some of Thompson's mencame to the gate and asked for him."

  "I reckon it's all right," said Mr. Truman, who did not believe that hisfriend Merrick would have taken these two young fellows into his houseif he had not had the best of reasons for thinking that they could betrusted. "What did you say your names might be?" he added, beckoning toone of his darkies and indicating by a wave of his hand that the horseswere to be housed and fed.

  While the guide was telling his story he had not mentioned any names. Hehad simply referred to the boys as "dese yer gentlemen." designating theone of whom he happened to be speaking by a nod or a jerk of his thumb.Tom waited until the horses were led away and then said, in a low tone:

  "My friend's name is Gray, and as you have already heard he is fromLouisiana. The Secesh were too thick there to suit him and so he came uphere, hoping to find everybody Union."

  "Humph!" said Mr. Truman.

  "He has found out his mistake," continued Tom. "Ever since he has beenin the State he has been dodging rebels, and has traveled more miles inthe woods than he has on the highway. Do you know Justus Percival?"

  "Do you?" asked Truman in reply.

  "I ought to. He's my uncle, and Percival is my name; but I wish youwouldn't address me by it unless you know who is listening."

  "But when you left Cedar Bluff landing you were riding a roan colt andhad no boots on," said Mr. Truman, first looking all around to make surethat there was no one near to catch his words. "I was sorter on thewatch for such a fellow, for I thought maybe he'd need help."

  "Great Scott!" said Rodney, who was very much surprised. "Has that manSwanson been through here? It can't be possible. His crowbait of a mulecouldn't carry him so far."

  "I don't know anybody of that name, but I know about the roan colt thatwasn't stolen from Pilot Knob," replied the farmer. "Let's go in and seeif the women folks can't scare up a bite to eat."

  "One moment, please," Tom interposed. "Do you know anything aboutMerrick's boy? Is he Union or Secesh?"

  "Union and nothing else. The niggers all are, but of course they areafraid to say so."

  "That boy has got red eyes," said Tom. "And you know as well as I cantell you that a darkey of that sort is always treacherous. We don't likethe way he has been listening to our talk ever since we left Hobson'scamp. Couldn't you make some excuse to keep him here till morning?"

  "Job!" yelled the farmer; and when he had succeeded in calling theattention of the darkey who was attending to the horses, he went on tosay: "Tell Merrick's boy that he mustn't go off the place to-night. Thepatrols are picking up everybody who shows his nose on the road afterdark, white as well as black, and Price's men burned two houses lastnight not more'n five miles from here."

  "Is that a fact?" inquired Tom, who for the first time since Rodney methim began to show signs of uneasiness.

  "It's the gospel truth, more's the pity, and we in this settlement don'tknow how soon we may be called upon to defend our lives and property.There are not many of us and we are not organized; but we're tolerableactive and know how to shoot. Now let's go in."

  As Rodney Gray afterward remarked, Mrs. Truman "seemed to know withoutany telling just how the thing stood," for the welcome she gave them wasvery cordial and friendly.

  "We can give you plenty to eat," she said, extending a hand to each,"but I am not sure that you would be safe in accepting lodging if wewere to offer it to you. Mr. Truman has
no doubt told you that Price'smen were quite close to us last night. We saw the fires they lightedshining upon the clouds, and wondered how long it would be before someof our friends would stand and watch our burning houses."

  Mrs. Truman continued to talk in this strain while the supper was beingmade ready, and Tom Percival now and then glanced at his companion as ifto ask him if he thought Mr. Merrick's Secession wife was the only bravewoman there was in Missouri. The calmness with which she spoke of thetroublous times she saw coming upon the people of the nation, was indirect contrast to the behavior of her excitable husband, who more thanonce flew into a rage and paced up and down the floor shaking his fistsin the air. Rodney had often seen Confederates lash themselves into afury while denouncing the "Northern mudsills," but he had never beforeseen a Union man act so while proclaiming against the demagogues whowere bent on destroying the government. It showed that one could be assavage and vindictive as the other, and gave him a deeper insight intothe nature of the coming struggle than he had ever had before. GoodConfederate that he was, he began asking himself if it wouldn't be moneyin the pockets of the Southern people if they would rise in a body andhang Jefferson Davis and his advisers before they had time to do anymore mischief. In the days that followed, Rodney Gray was not the onlyone who wished it had been done.

  When darkness came on there were no lamps lighted to point out theposition of the house to any roving band of marauders who might happento be in the vicinity. The front door was thrown open, and Mrs. Trumansat just inside the room to which it gave entrance, so that she couldsee the road in both directions. She explained to the boys that therehad once been shade trees in the yard and flowering shrubs growing alongthe fence, but they had been cut away for fear that they would affordconcealment to some sneaking Secesh who might take it into his head tocreep up and shoot through the window. Mr. Truman had gone out to seethat everything was right about the place, and to shut up the boys'horses, which had been turned loose in the stable-yard. He wanted theanimals where they could be easily caught when needed, for he did notthink it prudent for Tom and his companion to remain under his roofduring the night. They would have a better chance to take care ofthemselves if they were camped in the woods. This was the way heexplained the situation when he came back to the house, and then he wenton to say:

  "There's something in the wind, and I wish I knew what it is. I don'tlike the way Merrick's boy has acted. I told him positively not to leavethe place before morning, and now he's gone, mule and all."

  "_By_ gracious!" thought Rodney. "That means harm to me. I was afraid Isaid too much in his hearing, and when I found that he had red eyes Iwas sure of it. He is going to put some Union men on my trail beforedaylight, and I must get out of here. He knew that if he spoke to Trumanhe would have to face me, and that was something he was afraid to do."

  "How long has he been gone?" inquired Tom, who was as impatient to leavethe house and take to the woods as Rodney was.

  Mr. Truman couldn't say as to that; probably two hours at least. Thatwas long enough for him to tell a good many Union men that there was aConfederate in Truman's house, and the boys began to be really alarmed.

  "This shows that there is no dependence whatever to be placed upon thedarkies," declared Tom. "They are divided in sentiment the same as thewhites. Some side with their masters and some don't. Of course I am notsure that this boy's absence means anything, but still I think we hadbetter get out while we can."

  But they had already delayed their departure too long, as theydiscovered a moment later. When Tom ceased speaking he got upon hisfeet, and just then there was a slight commotion outside the house, andMrs. Truman uttered an ejaculation of surprise and alarm as a couple ofdark figures bounded up the steps and stood upon the gallery. At thesame instant a back door opened and heavy boots pounded the kitchenfloor. The house had been quietly surrounded, but by whom? It was toodark to see.

  "Don't be frightened, Mrs. Truman," said one of the men at the door."You know us, and you know that we wouldn't harm you. We want a word ortwo with those young fellows who have come here trying to impose uponyou and all of us."

  "Then why couldn't you come to the door and say so like a man, insteadof sneaking up like a cowardly Secession bushwhacker?" demanded Mr.Truman, angrily. "Get out of the house and come in in the proper way."

  "Softly, softly," said one of the three men who had entered by thekitchen door. "Harsh words butter no parsnips, and in times like theseone can't stand upon too much ceremony. We don't mean to intrude, but wedo mean to get hold of that Secesh and the other chap, who for somereason of his own, is befriending him. Strike a light, please."

  "You have certainly made a mistake," said Mrs. Truman, going across theroom to a table to find a match. "Our guests are both Union."

  "Then there's no harm done," replied the man at the door. "We understandthat one of them claims to be some relation to old Justus Percival. Ifhe is, he can't have any objections to riding over to Pilot Knob withsome of us and proving his claim."

  The boys trembled when they heard these ominous works. A ride to PilotKnob meant death to Tom Percival at any rate, and perhaps to his friendRodney also. This was the darkest prospect yet, and it looked stilldarker when the lamp had, been lighted, and its rays fell upon the set,determined faces of the armed men who, with heavy shot-guns, covered allthe avenues of escape. Rodney thought they must be men who had sufferedat the hands of their secession neighbors, for they looked as savage asMr. Truman had acted a while before.

  "Which is the traitor?" demanded the largest man in the party, whoseemed to be the leader.

  "Neither one," replied Tom, settling back in the chair from which he hadarisen when the men first appeared.

  "Which one is Union then, if that suits you better?" was the nextquestion.

  "I say we both are," answered Tom. "I am Captain Percival, and I am nowon my way home after having offered the services of myself and companyto General Lyon. Justus Percival, of whom you spoke a moment since, ismy uncle."

  "And who is this friend of yours?"

  "He is a schoolmate who left his own State because things didn't go tosuit him, and who intends to enlist the first chance he gets."

  "On which side?" inquired the leader, squinting up both his eyes andnodding at Tom as if to say that he had him there.

  "Do you imagine that he would make a journey of almost a thousand milesfor the sake of enlisting in the Confederate army when he might havedone that at home?" asked Tom, in reply. "You must be crazy."

  "Not so crazy as you may think," said the leader, who seemed to be sureof his ground. "We have the best of evidence that he is secesh."

  "What sort of evidence?"

  "His own word."

  "Is the man who heard me say that outside?" asked Rodney, who thought bythe way Mr. Truman and his wife looked at him that it was high time hewas saying something for himself. "If he is, bring him in and let meface him. You have no right to condemn me until you let me see who myaccuser is."

  "That's the idea," said Tom. "Fetch him in."

  The boys played their parts so well, in spite of the alarm they felt andthe danger they knew they were in, and looked so honest and truthfulthat the leader was nonplussed, and Mr. Truman and his wife were firmlyconvinced that their visitors had made a mistake. There were reasons whythe latter could not produce Rodney's accuser, and for a minute or twosome of them acted as though they might be willing to let the matterdrop right where it was. But there is always some "smart man" in everyparty who thinks he knows a little more than anybody else, and it was soin this case; and when he spoke, he "put his foot in it."

  "Didn't you say to-day in the presence of--of--"

  "Merrick's red-eyed nigger," Tom exclaimed, when the man paused andlooked about as if afraid that he might have said more than he ought."Why don't you speak it right out? What did I tell you, Mr. Truman?Didn't I say that boy would bear watching? Now, what I want to know ofyou is, are you going to take that darkey's word in preference tomine
?"

  This was bringing the matter right home to the visitors, every one ofwhom was a slaveholder, and would have taken it as an insult if any onehad so much as hinted that their evidence was not as good as a blackman's.

  "Don't get huffy," said the smart man before alluded to. "We haven'tplayed our best card yet. One of you two was riding a roan colt when youcame to Merrick's, and there aint no such horse in Truman's stable."

  "Did Merrick's nigger tell you that?" asked Tom.

  His self-control was surprising. He sat up in his chair and boldly facedhis questioner, while Rodney, wishing that the floor might open and lethim down into the cellar, told himself more than once that he neverwould hear the last of that roan colt the longest day he lived.

  "No matter who told us," was the reply. "We know it to be a fact. Theroan was taken into Merrick's woods, and he wasn't brought out thismorning. Did you make a trade with Merrick, or with some of Hobson'sfriends?"

  "If you want to know you had better ask them," answered Tom.

  "That's what we intend to do; and we intend, further, that you shallstay with us till we get to the bottom of this thing. There is somethingabout you that isn't just right and we mean to find out what it is."

  "I can tell you all about that horse," Rodney interposed.

  "It isn't worth while for you to waste your breath, and besides this isa dangerous place to stay, with Price's men scouting around through theneighborhood," said the leader, who now showed a disposition to resumethe management of affairs. "It won't take more than two or three days toride back to Merrick's and from there to Pilot Knob, and straighteneverything out in good shape."

  "But we are in a hurry. We don't want to go back," exclaimed Tom; and itwas plain to every one in the room that the bare proposition frightenedhim.

  "I don't suppose you do want to go back," said the leader, in asignificant tone, "but we can't help that. It's time you Secesh weretaught that you can't go prowling about through the country imposingupon Union men whenever you feel like it. We have stood enough from suchas you, and more than we ever will again, and I believe we should bejustified in dealing with you here and now. As for you," he added,shaking his fist in Tom's face and fairly hissing out the words, "youare no more the man you claim to be than I am. You're traitors, the pairof you."

  The man was working himself into a passion, and it behooved the boys tobe careful what they said. He was in the right mood to do somethingdesperate, for when he ceased speaking and stepped back, breathing hardfrom the excess of his fury, he worked the hammer of his gun back andforth in a way that was enough to chill one's blood.

  "You'll be sorry for this and quite willing to acknowledge it," was whatTom said in reply. "We don't want to go back for we have had troubleenough getting here; but since we must, I hope--"

  Tom did not have time to say what, for while everybody's gaze wasdirected toward him, and no one thought of giving a look outside to seethat all was right there, a couple of new actors appeared upon thescene, glided into the room off the porch as quickly and almost assilently as spirits. They were Confederate officers in full uniform, andeach one carried a drawn sword in his hand. At the same moment twowindows on opposite sides of the room were shivered into fragments, thecurtains were jerked down and the black muzzles of a dozen carbines werethrust in. It was like a thunder-bolt from a clear sky, and it was alldone so quickly that no one had a chance to move. The five Union menwere as powerless for resistance as though they had held straws insteadof loaded guns in their hands.

  "Don't move an eye-lash," said the older of the two officers, liftinghis cap and bowing to Mrs. Truman. "No explanation is necessary, for weunderstand the situation perfectly." And to the infinite amazement ofthe two boys, though not much to the surprise of the other occupants ofthe room, the speaker, when he put his cap on his head again, turnedtoward Rodney and Tom and gave them a military salute.

  "What do you think of that, Mr. Truman?" said the leader of the Unionmen, whose courage did not desert him even if his face did change color."Are you satisfied now that these are not the Union boys they pretendedto be?"

  "I am," answered Mr. Truman, while his wife looked daggers at them. "Ifthey are not Secesh, how does it come that their friends recognize themso quickly? I suppose you are Price's men?" he added, turning to theofficer.

  "Lieutenant, send in two or three fellows to take these guns and soundthe prisoners. Yes, sir, we belong to Price."

  "And you came here expecting to find these two boys?"

  "Right again," answered the officer. "If we hadn't known they were herewe shouldn't have come."

  Of all the occupants of the room there were none so thoroughlybewildered and dazed as Tom and Rodney were. Was the officer telling thetruth or cooking up a story for reasons of his own? If he reallyexpected to find them in that house, he was certainly mistaken insupposing, as he evidently did, that they were both Confederates. Tomhad never set eyes on him before, and hoped from the bottom of his heartthat the officer did not know anybody in or around Springfield. Hehoped, too, and trembled while the thought flitted through his mind,that no one in the room would speak his name, for it was his turn tosail under false colors now.

  Having sent his subordinate after some soldiers to disarm the men ofwhom he had spoken as prisoners, the officer dropped the point of hissword to the floor, came to "parade rest," and looked about the room

  "With such a face of Christian satisfaction As good men wear, who have done a virtuous action."