CHAPTER XXVIII
THE RESULT OF THE FLANK MOVEMENT
Even the title of major which had been thrust upon him could not makethe planter of Riverlawn feel like a military commander as he led hisbattalion of foot and mounted volunteers to the old road, which mightprove to be a battle-field. His force consisted of only four whitemen,--himself, his son, Tom Belthorpe, and Squire Truman. Deck had beenprovided with a saddle horse from the stable of the Lyndhall planter, sothat all of them were well mounted.
Four of the mounted boys from Riverlawn, four of them on foot, and abouttwenty of the colonel's ablest hands formed the rest of his force. Thelatter were as emulous to fight the battle of their master as those whohad been sent to the new road. Major Lyon's boys had already been underfire, and they were exceedingly proud of the experience. They talkedrather large, perhaps, to the Lyndhall volunteers, and told them theymust stand up to it when the enemy fired, and must not run away thoughthey were sure they would be shot. They were earnestly counselled not"to disgrace the race."
At that time a negro soldier was unknown, and most white men, especiallyat the South, would as soon have thought of arming and drilling a lot ofbaboons and monkeys; and even those in Barcreek who were willing toaccept their services in defence of their families and their propertyhad never dreamed of such a thing as making soldiers of the negroes.Their steadiness under fire, though they had been subjected to only adischarge of random shots, filled the slaveholders present withastonishment, if not with admiration.
When the force reached the old road, there was nothing to be seen of theruffians, for it was quite dark, and they were beyond the hill, whichobstructed their view. But the scouts had reported them as approaching,and the major in command was not inclined to await their coming. He gavethe order to march; but they had gone only a few rods before the columnwas seen at the top of the hill. A halt was called in order to enablethe prudent commander to prepare a plan for the assault.
The advance of the force was evidently perceived by the ruffians, forthey also halted, and in a few moments more a great fire was blazing upat the side of the road. On the march so far, Tom and Deck had done agood deal of talking together. Since his brave and determined defence ofMiss Kate in the cross-cut, and his strategy in disposing of BuckLagger, Tom had a very high respect and regard for Deck.
"My father isn't much of a soldier, any more than the rest of us," saidDeck, as the major gave the order to halt. "If we fire at thosescalliwags, they will scatter and run away, as they did at the creekbridge, and be all ready to burn a house or run off with a girl as soonas they get the chance. I believe we ought to punish them so that theywill remember it till to-morrow or next day."
"Just my idea," replied Tom. "These niggers stand up to the fight likewhite men. I believed they would all run away at the first shot from anenemy."
"Not one of them flinched on the bridge or in the road when the ruffiansfired into them, my father says, for I was not there then; I was in theartillery service just at that time."
"In the artillery service!" exclaimed Tom, laughing at the magnificentspeech of his companion in arms.
"Exactly so; you have heard the story of the capture of the arms at thesink-hole; the cannon are mounted in the ice-house. If you see one ofour darkeys flinch when the firing begins, I wish you would let me know,and we will cut down his hominy ration," rattled Deck, as enthusiasticas though he had slept all night instead of half an hour. "But I havegot an idea."
"You seem to have one in tow all the time."
"I want you to mention it to my father if you believe in it, and he willthink more of it than if I put it forward."
"Your father seems to think a good deal of what you say and do."
"He will think I am too old for my years; but he is the best father Iever had, and I want him to come out of this scrape with flying colors."
"But what is your idea, Deck?" asked Tom curiously.
"I think my father is waked up to the bottom of his boots; he won't foolwith any flags of truce, and he will order us all to fire as soon as thetime comes, though his own brother is in the gang ahead of us, or in theone over on the other road."
"I am sure he won't wince."
"And the moment we fire, the ruffians will all run away, which thedarkeys won't do. That is just what I have seen them do twice to-night.I wonder what they came over here for if they didn't mean to fight."
"They came over here to burn your father's house and that of mine; but Ireckon they didn't expect to get the reception Major Lyon had preparedfor them."
"They will run away, Tom," repeated Deck; "and that is just what I don'twant them to be allowed to do."
"Not if we can prevent it; for I believe that hanging would do good tosome of them."
"We can prevent it if my father will adopt your suggestion," added Deck.
"My suggestion! I haven't got any suggestion, and I don't know what youare talking about, Deck," replied Tom, puzzled with the remark. "All theway I can see to manage this affair is to rush at the ruffians and drivethem off."
"We don't want to drive them off till we have given them a littlewholesome discipline. I suppose you know what a flank movement is,fellow-soldier?"
"I have an idea what it is."
"We used to practise it when we were snowballing on sides away up in theglorious State of New Hampshire, if we got a chance to do it."
"We don't practise snowballing much down here, and I never was engagedin a flank movement at a snowball match. But I have an idea that it isgetting around the enemy, whether in a battle or a game, and taking themon the side or in the rear."
"You could not have stated it any better if you had been studying theart of war or the science of snowballing all your lifetime," added Deck.
"Be a little more serious, Mr. Lyon, and I shall understand you better,"said Tom, looking very grave himself.
"I will be as serious as the parson at a funeral, Mr. Belthorpe. We haveplenty of men to flank them handsomely; for it don't take a great crowdwith seven-shooters in their hands to hold that gang where they are."
"I see what you mean now."
"What kind of ground is it over on the left of this road, Tom?"
"It is one of our best fields."
"Can horses travel on it?"
"Just as well as on this road."
"Then your suggestion to the commander-in-chief of the forces is that hesend a detachment of six men, mounted and armed with repeating rifles,through the field on the left, with orders to fire on the ruffians whenthe fight opens," continued Deck earnestly.
"It is a brilliant idea, and I will do it at once," replied Tom.
"Hold on a minute, and suggest that the detachment be under the commandof Captain Tom Belthorpe," added Deck.
"I shall amend that by substituting the name of Captain Deck Lyon,"replied Tom, as he started ahead to overtake the commander.
"Don't do that!" shouted Deck.
Everything seemed to be at a standstill; but the blazing fire revealed aflag of truce flying in front of the enemy. Tom delivered his suggestionto Major Lyon without mentioning the fact that it came from his son; andthe commander promptly approved it. He believed that there must surelybe fighting this time, and that if the defenders, as he called them,were defeated, Colonel Belthorpe's mansion would soon be in flames, andperhaps his lovely daughters would fall into the hands of the viciouswretches composing the mob.
"How many men do you need?"
"The four mounted men from your place, Deck, and myself," replied thebearer of the suggestion.
"Very well, I give you the order to that effect; but don't you thinksome older person than Dexter had better be in command?"
"Decidedly not, Major!" answered Tom with emphasis. "I believe Deck isthe smartest fellow in the crowd, except yourself."
"All right; have your own way, then," replied the commander. "But canyou tell me the nature of the land on the right hand side of the road?"
"The creek runs from above the ma
nsion in that direction to the river,and it is swampy on both sides of it," replied Tom, as he hurried awayto rejoin Deck.
During the absence of Tom Belthorpe, the young hero had been carefullystudying the position of the enemy and the surroundings. He could seethe brook, or creek as such streams are called in that region, by thelight of the fire on the hill, hardly deserving that appellation, for itwas only a very slight elevation. The bushes were like those he had seennear the spring road, and several pools or ponds reflected the light ofthe fire. He was satisfied that the ruffians could not retreat in thatdirection.
Before Tom joined him the flag of truce with four men began to advancetowards Major Lynn's force. The commander's "infantry," consisting offour Riverlawn negroes, were drawn up in front. The twenty Lyndhallhands, miscellaneously armed with clubs and such implements as they hadbeen able to obtain, had also been formed across the road; and they wereas eager to "pitch into" the marauders as their fellows on the new roadhad been; but the commander restrained them.
"Here you are, Captain Lyon, and my mission has been a success," saidTom, as he rode up to the "cavalry" posted in the rear, where that armis not usually placed. "You are to command the flanking party, andSquire Truman is requested to join the commander at the front."
The lawyer, who had not been informed of the intended movement,immediately hastened to the front. Tom reported what had passed betweenthe major and himself, and a few minutes later the squire was seenriding towards the hill. He had been directed by the major to inform theruffians that no flag of truce would be respected, and that he wouldopen fire very soon.
Deck objected to taking command of the cavalry; but Tom insisted, for hereally believed his companion was better qualified for the position thanhimself, and the young man finally yielded the point. Captain Lyon, ashe had been called more than once during the night, proceeded to addressthe four cavalrymen, informing them what was to be done, and what wasexpected of them.
He did not put on any airs, though he could hardly help "feeling hisoats;" but he was too much absorbed in the success of his enterprise tothink much of his personal self. There were no fences at the side of theroad; and, giving the command to march, he started his spirited horse,and dashed at full gallop into the field, with Tom at his side, and thefour riders from Riverlawn in rank behind them.
Deck passed beyond the range of the firelight, so that the enemy couldnot see his force, and in less than ten minutes they were abreast ofthem. By this time the message of the major had been delivered by thesquire; and the result was a manifestation on the part of the ruffians.Those who were armed with muskets or other firearms appeared to havebeen placed in front, and they delivered what was intended for a volley,though it was a very shaky one.
As the cavalry were passing over a knoll, Deck saw that his father wasmarching his fore up the road; for the combatants were too far apart todo each other much mischief by their fire. The enemy kept up a desultorydischarge of their guns, but they were evidently not repeating-rifles.When he had reduced the distance by one-half between them, he ordered ahalt. At this point he unslung his breech-loader, as the squire had donebefore, and ordered the front rank to fire.
But Deck did not halt; on the contrary, he urged his horse forward at amore rapid rate, and was closely followed by his command. The infantryin the road continued to fire at will after the first volley, and it wasevident to Captain Lyon that the enemy were breaking under this hotwork. Those in the rear had already taken to their heels; but thecavalry dashed in ahead of them, and the young commander drew up hislittle force in front of them. As soon as he had given the order tohalt, and the six men in line faced the enemy, he gave the command tofire in detail. In the case of Major Lyon and his son, both officers didduty as privates as well as commanders. The retreat was instantlychecked; and this was the situation when Colonel Belthorpe appeared uponthe field.