CHAPTER XVI
A HELPER
The moment was critical in the flight of the young soldier. It seemed tohim as if his heart for a moment almost ceased to beat. Resolutely heleaned still farther forward on the neck of the running horse, andshouting into the ear of the animal caused the frightened beast to boundto the opposite side of the road just as both of his pursuers fired.
Grateful as soon as he was aware that neither he nor his horse had beenhit, the young soldier gave his undivided attention for a moment tocontrolling the terrified steed.
Noel's long experience on his father's farm on the banks of the St.Lawrence River, where he and his brother Frank many a time as littlelads had ridden the colts bareback, now came in good stead. The saddlewas uncomfortable, but he had no difficulty in retaining his seat.
In a brief time the nervous animal once more was under control and wasspeeding forward at a pace which the rider was confident would soonleave his pursuers far behind him.
In his flight Noel hastily glanced over his shoulder to discover whetheror not the Confederate soldiers had abandoned the chase, or were stilldetermined to overtake him.
He plainly saw that they were not gaining upon him, although they stillheld doggedly to the pursuit. Just why they should do this, now thatseveral miles had been covered, the young soldier was unable tounderstand, nor was it until afterward that he came to know the reasonwhy the men, in spite of their failure to gain upon him, were unwillingto turn back.
Noel was unarmed. His rifle had been taken from him when he had firstbeen made prisoner. Although he had a place, as we know, among thesharpshooters of McClellan's army, it had not been until after hisreturn from his furlough that he had found himself fully able to do therequired work.
Now with all his heart he longed for a rifle. If it were only in hishands he was convinced that the two men who were so doggedly hanging tothe pursuit would abandon their efforts.
The mud in places in the road was thrown up in lumps by the hoofs of hishorse as he thundered on his way. As yet the animal was not displayingany marked signs of distress, and in the hope of wearing out hispursuers, Noel still kept him at his full speed.
The splotches of mud and the heat of the warm September day soon madethe appearance of the young rider as distressing as that of the animalupon which he was mounted. The great black flanks of the latter were nowreeking with sweat and discolored by the red-brown mud of the road. Asfar as Noel himself was concerned, his most intimate friend might havehad difficulty in recognizing, in the perspiring, dirt-covered youngsoldier the Noel Curtis whom they had known. Streams of perspiration hadpoured down his face and left furrows in the coating of Maryland mud anddirt. The exertion was telling upon the rider as well as upon the horse,and he was well aware that such violent efforts could not long becontinued.
Glancing once more anxiously behind him, Noel was unable to see hispursuers. He was aware, however, that it was only the bend in the roadthat hid them from his sight and that not yet was he freed from hisperil.
Slackening the pace at which he was riding, the young soldier removedhis coat and folding it placed it in front of him on the pommel. Therelief was instant and again speaking encouragingly to his horse, whichnow was breathing loudly, he continued his flight.
It became manifest in a brief time that the pursuit was stillmaintained, although the distance between the young soldier and the twoConfederates comparatively was unchanged. Why they should continue tofollow him became increasingly a perplexing problem. There were noprospects of his being overtaken, and now that five or six miles musthave been covered in his flight Noel was unable to understand why themen did not turn back and join their comrades. He himself was not ofsufficient value to warrant their severe labors. Of that fact he waswell assured. Why, then, did they still follow him?
The mystery was unsolved, but there was no delay on the part of theyoung soldier to meditate long upon possible explanations. The factremained that he was in a country with which he was unfamiliar, mountedupon the back of a horse with whose ways he was unacquainted, althoughhe was aware of his many excellent points, and was being pursuedrelentlessly by two men who doggedly held to their task.
Suddenly Noel, as he emerged from a small body of woods, beheld a groupof men directly in the road before him and not distant more than fiftyyards. Glancing keenly at the bank he saw that the men were repairing abridge over a little stream. A second look convinced him that the menwere all clad in the uniform of the Confederate soldiers.
For a brief moment Noel's courage seemed to depart. He could not turnback without running directly into his enemies, while if he advanced itwas equally plain that there were many more still to be passed.
Unaware of the perplexing thoughts of his rider, his horse did not relaxhis speed and with long and steady lopes was still advancing. Whateverthe young soldier was to do must be done quickly.
Almost before he was aware of what occurred Noel found himself closeupon the band. His coat, as has been said, was discolored and histrousers were so covered with mud that their original color, in ameasure, at least, was concealed.
Suddenly the young soldier decided to try to make his way through theband. He recalled an incident which he had read in the life of MadAnthony Wayne, who, with his men, in the swamp near Yorktown, foundhimself face to face with a division of red coats that far outnumberedhis followers. The consternation produced by the discovery was banishedas Mad Anthony resolutely called to his men and dashed forward. Thedaring man was relying upon the fact of his bold advance to convince theenemy that there must be more men behind him. No man in his senses wouldever think of attacking such a superior force. After the British lineshad broken and fled, Mad Anthony turned and said to one of his comrades,"The best way to overcome any difficulty is to drive straight throughit." This incident came back to Noel's mind as the trees and fieldsseemed to be racing past him.
His confident approach, too, for he was waving his hand as he drewnearer, seemed to confuse the band of Confederates. Instead of formingacross the road and stopping his flight, they divided and did not evenquestion him, although his appearance must have been such as to arousetheir curiosity at least.
Only partly checking the speed of his horse, Noel leaned low on his neckand as he drew near the men, he shouted, "Don't stop me, boys! How farahead is the captain?"
Even as he asked the question Noel was aware that his own apparentconfidence had had its effect, for the men drew back from the roadside,and one of them in reply to his query, shouted, "I reckon he's aboutthree miles up the road, sir."
"Good! That's fine!" shouted Noel in response. "There's some men comingbehind me and they'll stop to give you their message. They have a wordfor you."
The ruse had succeeded, and the young soldier had accomplished more thanin his excitement he had dared to hope. He knew that his pursuers in avery short time would be informed of his bold trick and perhaps would bemore determined than ever to secure him. But for a time, at least, hehad not been checked in his flight and he was not without hope also thatthe two mounted men might be delayed long enough by the band, throughwhich he had successfully made his way, to enable him to gain stillmore.
Noel had not advanced far beyond the sight of the bridge before hissudden feeling of exhilaration vanished. He had been astonished at thevery success of the trick he had played. It was his first lesson that ifa man is to succeed he must be bold.
His rejoicing now abruptly departed, when, running and breathingheavily, his horse suddenly stumbled and fell in the road. The youngsoldier had been riding with too loose a rein and his moment of elationhad made him somewhat careless of the need of constant attention to hissteed.
Fortunately Noel was able to free his feet from the stirrups and was notcaught by the body of the horse as he fell. He was thrown to one side ofthe road, but although he was bruised and for a moment almost stunned bythe sudden fall, he quickly rose.
Quick as his action was, however, that of his horse had been quicker.
After two efforts the fallen animal at last succeeded in leaping to hisfeet, and, disregarding the frantic calls of its recent rider, startedforward, running even more swiftly than when he had been carrying theyoung soldier.
In the midst of the fresh trouble which had arisen, Noel was aware thathis pursuers in a brief time would be upon him. Instantly turning to oneside of the road where some large trees were growing he darted intotheir midst and soon discovered one tree sufficiently large to enablehim to hide behind it.
Scarcely had Noel succeeded in gaining his hiding-place before he heardthe sound of the approaching horsemen. Instead of two horses now,however, there were five. The ruse which he had used upon the men atthe bridge had been discovered, and doubtless chagrin was added to thenatural desire to retake the daring man who had escaped through theirmidst.
Would they pass the place or would they discover the mark in the roadleft by his horse when it fell? Upon the decision of this question muchof his success depended. Breathlessly Noel watched the pursuingsoldiers, and a great sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw thatthey had not even glanced at the spot where the accident had befallenhim.
He deemed it unwise now to resume his flight in the road. He decidedthat he would make his way from tree to tree, and as he peered out atthe road, which he could see extended far in the distance, he wasrejoiced to discover that the woods also spread out far on either side.His plan was not to reenter the road until he had gone a distance whichwould be sufficient to insure his safety from discovery by the men whohad recently passed him in their wild chase.
By this time the afternoon sun was low in the western sky. Not amouthful of food had passed the lips of the young soldier since hisearly breakfast at the house of Jim and Sairy Ann. His strenuous effortsalso had wearied him, and thirst, as well as hunger, was now making itsdemands felt.
An hour had elapsed when Noel, from another hiding-place far up theroad, saw the band of five returning. He was positive that he recognizedthem as his recent pursuers from the fact that one of the horses wasstrangely marked, a fact which he had noticed when he had firstdiscovered the animals tied to the rail in the rear of the house towhich the treacherous Levi had conducted him.
When at last the band had passed beyond his sight, and Noel, with freshcourage, was about to reenter the road, he was startled when he saw ayoung colored man approaching from the direction in which the riders haddisappeared.
Loud and long sang the negro and repeated the same stanza of the songuntil Noel, who was interested as the black man came nearer, almost feltthat in spite of his difficulties he would join in the tune,--
"Then I sot right down and felt very blue-- Glory hallelujah, bress de Lord! Says I, O Lord, what shall I do? Glory hallelujah, bress de Lord!"
When the young black man came opposite the place where Noel was hiding,the latter suddenly decided to hail him.
"Hello!" called the young soldier.
The negro stopped abruptly and peered about him in a manner whichbetrayed to Noel that in intelligence he seemed to be far above the mostof his race.
"Who dat callin' me?" inquired the negro.
"I am," said Noel, as he stepped forth from his hiding-place.
The young soldier now was in his shirtsleeves, his coat having been lostwhen he had been thrown from his horse. His uniform was so discolored bymud that it was impossible for an observer to determine to which side hebelonged. However, convinced that his plight was so distressing that hemust trust some one, Noel had decided that he would cast in his lot withthe negro, and trust him to provide some way of escape.
"Have you seen any Union soldiers around here?" he called as he camenearer.
Before he replied, the negro looked quickly into the face of Noel, andthen with a smile said, "No, suh. I wish I had. I would like toe beinside the Union lines at dis bery minute. I reckon, too, yo' all wouldlike toe be in there, too."
"That's what I would!" said Noel enthusiastically. "And you'll have toshow me how to get there."
The black man hesitated a moment, and then said cordially, "The bes'thing fo' yo' will be fo' me toe take yo' all toe Aunt Katie."
"'Aunt Katie'?" inquired Noel, as he glanced once more apprehensively upand down the road. "Aunt Katie? Who is she?"
"Yo' come er long wif me and I'll done show yo'," replied the negro.