The Texican Way

by Bernard Veale

  Daniel saw instantly that the pistol was neither primed nor cocked so he stepped forward and grappled with the incensed man, wrenching the pistol from his hand.

  Daniel stepped back and produced his own pistol which, as he was traveling about at night, was loaded with caps and balls so that all he had to do was cock it.

  “Raise your hands, lieutenant. I am arresting you for attacking a superior officer.”

  Garner gave a roar of anger and threw himself at Daniel, causing the pistol to discharge directly into his chest.

  Daniel leaned over the body and checked for signs of life but there were none.

  “He is dead.” He announced to Arabella.

  “I will call Jonas. He will take him out to the canyon and bury him there. I will ask him to get one of his men to release the lieutenant’s horse on the other side of the town. Daniel, you had better disappear also. Your security in the Union army is very shaky.”

  “I have to collect some things from my quarters before I do that but I think that you are right. I will leave for Virginia immediately. Thank you for your help in this Arabella.”

  “If I were not doing it for you, Daniel, I would be doing it for Dixie. Come back to me after the war.”

  She kissed him long and even passionately before he left.

  Daniel rode quickly back to the barracks and packed his kit bag. He dressed in civilian clothing, pulled on his uniform jacket and hat and collected his Whitworth rifle.

  He rode out again traveling in the same direction as he had earlier but once out of sight of the sentries, he turned east and rode hard all night.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Once he was well on his way Daniel packed away his Union uniform except for the cavalry boots which were still his favorite footwear. On the long trip to Virginia, he spent hours studying the coded message and trying to find its meaning in the bible that Melissa Bridges had obtained for him.

  It took him much trial and error but at last he worked out that the first four digits represented the page number. The next digit indicated either column one or column two. The next two digits showed the line number and this explained why the particular edition of the bible had line numbers down the page instead of verse numbers and finally the last digit was the word number on the line.

  After working on it by firelight, where the large type helped enormously, for several nights, he finally produced this translation.

  “Send best troop possible with full rebel army clothing and expert track man to town 372 stop Captain of troop to send secret progress report and collect messages at each important town on journey stop Object of journey is to capture enemy king and general stop King and general to be slain in event of rescue attempt stop Captain to be provided with not limited gold stop Known details of object travel plan as follows stop155 stop 167 stop 239 stop 253 stop 290 stop, 341 stop 362 stop 372 stop Start on 115 stop Return not known by Absalom stop”

  He assumed that most of the numbers referred to towns from an index which was not available to him and the last number was a date, possibly the day number in the year but none of these numbers mattered any longer. Only one thing mattered: who was Absalom?

  General Lee had taken a licking at Gettysburg and was preparing to go back on the offensive by attacking northward. Daniel had considerable difficulty in locating him and when he finally did, no-one was prepared to give him access to the General.

  “I have some important intelligence for the General.” Daniel insisted.

  “Give it to me and I will pass it on to him.” The major said firmly.

  “Sir, I cannot do that. This intelligence is only for the General’s ears. He knows me, I am Lieutenant Daniel Beauregard and I escorted him from Gonzales in Texas.”

  “The general has never been to Gonzales in Texas. I am one of his intelligence officers, I should know. If you are a lieutenant kindly note that I am a major and I am ordering you to hand over what you have for the General and also lieutenant I would like an explanation for you presenting yourself here without a uniform.”

  Daniel simply turned on heel and walked away leaving the major somewhat flabbergasted at his blatant insubordination.

  Daniel found himself some quarters in the town and tried to think of a way to reach the general without interference from busybodies any one of which could be, or could be connected to, the unknown Absalom.

  In the end he wrote a letter to the general reminding him of the journey from Gonzales and telling him that he had important intelligence that could not be divulged to any but the general himself.

  Much to his surprise, an army dispatch rider appeared at his door a few days later with a message to say that the general would see him at a reception to be held in the town on Saturday evening. A formal invitation for Lieutenant Daniel Beauregard to the reception was enclosed.

  Daniel only possessed his Confederate corporal’s dress uniform and that was badly creased at the bottom of his Union Army bag so he went to a tailor in the town and explained what he wanted. The tailor was well-accustomed to tailoring uniforms for army dandies and he quickly produced what Daniel wanted in the finest cloth available.

  Of course, he charged Daniel freely but Daniel was not short of money and the result was particularly elegant despite the complete lack of unit identity on the uniform. Actually, Daniel did not even know whether he had ever been listed as a lieutenant since he had no documentation to support his claim barring the engraved invitation.

  On that Saturday evening, he arrived at the reception and found himself a complete stranger among people that knew each other well. Getting close to the general was not much different at the reception than it had been at Army headquarters.

  The general was surrounded by sycophants and officers, all greatly outranking Daniel so that he could hardly push his way through the crowd to get to the great man.

  He waited unhappily on the fringes until he felt a gentle blow upon his arm and found himself looking at the beautiful woman who had just tapped him with her fan.

  “Lieutenant, you are looking somewhat lost. Would you be so kind as to bring me a glass of punch?” She was about five years his senior but her left hand carried no rings.

  “Certainly, ma’am.” He bowed and went away looking for the punch bowl. He found it surrounded by officers on duties similar to his own and waited in line for his turn before drawing two cups of punch and carrying them back to where he had originally seen the lady. She was no longer there and he stood looking about him without seeing her anywhere. He was just about give up when she suddenly appeared behind him from the depths of the crowd around the general.

  “Ah, there you are lieutenant. Well done! I am truly parched. Do you think you could find somewhere for us to be seated?”

  He left her sipping her punch while he scouted around for chairs and found an unoccupied group behind a pillar. He hurried back to her and conducted her to the chairs.

  “Do sit down lieutenant. You cannot stand around looking lost all evening, I take it that you know no one here?”

  “No one except the general, ma’am.” He replied.

  She laughed. “Well, you will not be able to use him as a conversationalist so you will have to settle for me. I am Mrs Jane Arbuthnot and you are?”

  “I beg your pardon ma’am. You have no rings, I did not know you were married.”

  “I am a widow almost from the first day of the war. You were about to disclose your name?”

  “Daniel Beauregard, ma’am, at your service.”

  “How nice! .... To have you at my service, I mean. I do not see any unit flashes upon your uniform, Daniel. Of what branch of the service are you?”

  It was a long story but Daniel had plenty of time to tell it so he told her of Quantrill and the trip to Texas and meeting the General and his unorthodox promotion to lieutenant and his ne
ed to speak to the General but his inability to get near to him.

  “Oh that is easily remedied, Daniel, finish your punch and I will take you to him.”

  She was as good as her word. She took his hand and towed him through the crowd directly up to the General.

  “Robert, here is a young man that has been anxious to speak to you. I believe that you are well acquainted with him?”

  “Ah, yes, the redoubtable lieutenant Beauregard. Gentlemen, this is the young man that rescued me from a full troop of Union cavalry that had been sent to capture me. I have never seen the like. He predicted every move that they made. How did it all end lieutenant? Did you ambush them as you planned?”

  “We did sir. We killed the Major, lieutenant, sergeant, corporal and Indian Tracker among others.”

  “Note the modesty of the man, gentlemen, when he says ‘we’ he refers to himself, a cook and one of Quantrill’s irregulars. Lieutenant, I have reserved an hour for you at headquarters tomorrow at nine to enable you to provide me with this intelligence that you have gathered. Will that suit you?”

  “Of course, sir, I shall be there.”

  Jane drew him away and they returned to their seats.

  “You said nothing about taking on a troop of cavalry virtually single-handed.’” She chided gently.

  “No ma’am, one of my companions lost his life in that encounter and the other was seriously wounded: I was not single-handed.”

  “You must not call me ma’am any longer, please call me Jane.”

  They spent a pleasant evening together and Daniel found himself telling her all about his stay in the Union Army and how they had even promoted him until his dramatic encounter with Lieutenant Garner.

  “This is too fascinating, Daniel. Please escort me home so that you can continue with your tale.”

  Daniel had his stallion tied to the tailboard of her buggy and they were driven to a stately home in the best part of the town.

  “Jane, you have a lovely home.” Daniel commented as they arrived.

  “My late husband was very wealthy. He was related to the General by marriage and the General put him on his Headquarters staff. I would venture that the General felt very guilty when he was killed by a cannon ball aimed at the General.”

  Jane had servants everywhere. Daniel was led into the house and offered a glass of excellent wine while he finished telling Jane the story of the end of his career in the Union army.

  “You have had a very adventurous life, Daniel. If you enjoy playing poker, which is evident from the stories you have told me, there is a meeting here every Monday in which the stakes run rather high. I will stake you if you wish.”

  “It interests me that you should have a game here. Do you play yourself?”

  “I do and that is why the game is here. There are few places where a lady may join in a game of poker. It is one of the few means by which one can derive enjoyment of male company as well as the thrill of winning and the risk of losing.”

  “You are a most unusual woman apart from being devilishly attractive.” Daniel said with the wine coursing through his blood.

  “I am so glad that you think so, Daniel, since I find you attractive also. Why do you not spend the night with me?”

  Daniel felt that he had not heard aright.

  “I beg you pardon Jane but did you just..”

  “Yes, I asked you to spend the night with me.”

  “I cannot remember when I have had as pleasant a request.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jane was a superb lover which was just as well since Daniel was a virgin and needed some degree of tuition. He arose over-late and hurriedly washed and dressed so as to be on time for his interview with the General.

  He dashed back to his quarters to pick up the bible and arrived exactly on time having ridden like a madman through the streets, nearly bowling over an elderly gentleman stroller in the process.

  “The General will see you now.” The orderly told him after no more than a five minute wait.

  “Ah, come in my boy! I am so glad to see you. After such a long time I feared that you had been killed or taken prisoner. Sit down and tell me what has happened to you since I left you in Waco. I must apologize for that sudden departure, by the way, but I too am under orders and President Jefferson Davis summoned me. What happened to you?”

  Daniel recited the story of the fight in the canyon and how Jake Smith was killed and subsequently Pierre Chamont was wounded. He told of chasing after the remnants of the cavalry troop and how he had conducted them home and had been taken for Archibald Daniels. He then explained how he had come across the coded message and how he had worked out the means of de-coding the message.

  “This is excellent, lieutenant. It will be invaluable to us. But who can this Absalom be?”

  “Sir, I need to have a list of those people that work closely with President Davis. Perhaps we can, by a process of elimination, identify the person concerned even if it means feeding different information to each person to see which version turns up in their coded messages.”

  “That is an excellent idea. We could tell one that we are facing the 1st division and another the 2nd and so forth and wait to see which version reaches the Federals. May I take this Bible and the coded message? What unit are you with now?”

  “Sir, I am without a unit. I do not even have my commission as lieutenant as far as I know I am still a corporal in army records.”

  “Nonsense my boy, I made sure that you were listed as a lieutenant as soon as I returned to my office. President Davis already wishes to give you a medal for your services to the Confederacy. In view of this, your latest service, I am having you promoted to captain. Report here tomorrow morning, you shall remain on my intelligence staff.”

  Daniel left the General’s office with his head spinning from all that had happened.

  He returned to Jane Arbuthnot’s home and related to her everything that had happened in his interview with the General.

  “Daniel, I want you to move in here. It is much closer to headquarters than your present quarters and you shall have a groom for your horse and a personal valet.”

  Daniel was still young and in the throes of his first sexual relationship, he was not about to refuse.

  On the following morning after being shaved and groomed by what used to be Major Arbuthnot’s valet. Daniel rode to headquarters to take up his duties.

  Major Anson, the same that had ordered Daniel to hand over information to him on the earlier occasion, was there to meet him.

  “Ah, the General’s latest golden boy! Your promotion to captain has just been posted, why are you still wearing lieutenant’s insignia?”

  Daniel did not deign to answer the facetious question.

  “Good morning Major. Where will I be working?”

  “Oh? You actually expect to work do you? Well that is a refreshing change from the previous golden boys. Your office is there. It used to belong to Captain Corder until a sniper’s bullet did for him.” Anson strode away, having in his mind met his requirements to welcome the newcomer.

  “Sergeant,“ Daniel called. “Could you be so kind as to get me a list of President Jefferson Davis’s aides and assistants? Full names of each person, please.”

  “Certainly sir.”

  Two hours later a neatly penned list of the people surrounding the President was delivered to his desk.

  He scrutinized the list but none of the names on the list was Absalom.

  He went through the list again but there were no names that appeared to be Jewish.

  Perhaps the answer was to meet them. Maybe then he could better assess their characters and determine which man was the Federal agent.

  “Sergeant,” Daniel said. “Is it possible to find out where each of these people came from? W
here they were born, where they were raised, what nationality were their parents?”

  “Certainly sir.”

  Another two hours later the list had been expanded to include birthplace, schools of record and nationality of both parents. Daniel’s respect for Sergeant Basson rose considerably.

  He spent the rest of the day scrutinizing the list but there were so many with Northern connections that no-one stood out. He would have to ask the General to arrange a meeting in which each person could be assessed.

  He returned to Jane’s home to find a civilian evening suit set out for him.

  “Jeffreys, why is an evening suit set out for me?” Daniel asked.

  “Why sir, today is Monday. It is poker night.”

  Daniel dutifully dressed and went down to dinner where he found eight gentlemen had already arrived and he was introduced to each one by Jane.

  The meal was excellent as was the wine but Daniel drank extremely sparingly while the others did not.

  Jane automatically started as dealer, breaking open a new pack of cards.

  As usual Daniel played very quietly, folding often and only occasionally winning a hand of modest stakes. He watched until the evening drew on when the winners began to raise the ante and play seriously. By this time Daniel had memorized the cards and noted that most of the dealers shuffled the cards very sparingly so that in the main the patterns were little broken.

  He checked the show cards. With ten people playing, twenty cards were on show. He calculated what each player’s chances were to make a winning hand. His own showed a seven and a nine with two nines and a seven under his hand. Jane looked to have three queens a five and a two. Davidson on Daniel’s right had two jacks, two twos and an ace. The others held no combinations as far as Daniel could ascertain.

  Davidson seemed determined to bluff it out and he kept pushing the limit as the other seven players threw in their hands. Jane faced off against Davidson while Daniel quietly matched the betting. For a moment it looked as though Davidson had the bit between his teeth but suddenly his resolve crumbled and he folded. Daniel simply matched whatever Jane threw at him and collected the pot when she saw him. It was the biggest pot of the evening and it cleaned out Davidson and a few of the other players.