CHAPTER VIII
UNDER GUARD
Directly back to the road over which the young soldiers had come theirconductors led the way. Both Noel and Dennis were silent, and thedisappointment which had seized upon the young Irishman was so manifestthat even in the dim light Noel was aware of the depression of hiscomrade.
Deprived of their weapons and conducted by three armed men, there was nochance likely to be given for escape, although wild thoughts of tryingto break away were still in the mind of each of the prisoners.
Not a word was spoken by their guard until about a quarter of a mile hadbeen covered, when one of the Confederates halting, said to the boys,"We'll turn in here."
As he spoke he pushed some bushes apart, and in a brief time Noel wasable to see that a corduroy path, or roadway, narrower than the one overwhich they recently had come was before him. One of the guards nowadvanced, while the other two took a position in the rear, and as soonas the directions were given the entire band began to make its way overthe rough pathway.
Once more silence returned, not to be broken until what Noel assumedmust have been a half-mile had been covered and again they wereapproaching more solid ground.
A rough stretch of land lay before them, which was without trees andapparently without a roadway. Without hesitation their conductors atonce led the boys across the intervening sandy stretch and soon arrivedat a low house, whose walls gleamed almost ghostly in the moonlight.Whitewash had been applied to the exterior of the rude building and alsohad been used upon the farm buildings and the fences that inclosed them.
Advancing to the low, covered piazza, which extended across the entirefront of the house, the approach of the band was speedily discovered bythe inmates, and in a moment a dozen or more soldiers came running outof the building.
Noel was able to see that every one was clad in the Confederate uniformand also was armed. At first the house seemed too small to contain somany men, but when several more emerged from the interior he suspectedthat there might be accommodations in the little building which did notappear upon the surface.
"Here we are, Captain!" called one of the leaders. "We've got two."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, sir. But we'll soon have more. We've got a trap down in the HedgeSwamp road. It's the only way the men can get through the swamp, and wehave stationed a few of the cavalry at the farther end. Some of the boysare on the watch on the other side of the swamp, and are doing theirbest to drive what Yankees there may be hiding anywhere around here onto the corduroy road and then they feel safe to leave them. The poorfools keep right on the road and run directly into the trap LieutenantFowler set fo' them. He is waiting there with about twenty men."
"Is this the first batch you have taken?"
"Yes, sir. We have sent out Long John to help draw the Yankees into thetrap."
The Confederate officer was unaware of the gleam which appeared for amoment in the eyes of Dennis, and he said lightly, "We'll be ready forall you can bring us, Tom. We'll put these two fellows in the pen untilwe have enough to make it worth while to send them on to Libby."
As he heard the name of the well-known prison in Richmond, Noel's heartwas heavy. Stories were current of the sufferings of the Union prisonerswho had been confined in the famous old warehouse, which had beentransformed early in the war into a prison for the Northern soldiers.There had come many a tale of daring attempts to escape as well as ofthe almost indescribable sufferings of its inmates. Perhaps it was all apart of the struggle, and yet with the bitterness of the time so keen,few were in a condition to look with calmness upon the sufferings of theprisoners of either side in the struggle.
To be sent to Libby Prison! For a moment Noel's thoughts ran back to hishome on the banks of the far-away St. Lawrence. He could see the littlehouse sheltered by the overhanging maples. There were the red barns justbeyond, and for an instant Noel seemed to catch a glimpse of the line ofcattle slowly moving up the lane toward the barnyard. In the distanceoccasional glimpses of the waters of the St. Lawrence, gleaming in thelight of the afternoon sun, were had. His mother was moving quietlyabout the kitchen preparing the evening meal. Frank was lying as hewas, when he had last seen him, on the couch in the room where hismother was busy. His father, perhaps, was singing at his task as hemilked the cows. Even the thought of the stirring words and tunes whichhis father best loved to sing failed now to find any response in themind of Noel. It was one thing to sing of the glory of war, but it wasanother and far different thing to be held as a prisoner in southernMaryland and to be threatened with confinement in the old prison-houseat Richmond.
However, there was no possibility of evading, at least for the present,the problem which must be confronted. Soon both Noel and Dennis weresearched and every loose possession was taken from them, to be helduntil such a time as the war should cease or the prisoners should beexchanged. There was another alternative in the thoughts of Noel, but hedid not refer to it. What that was became manifest after several dayshad elapsed.
As Noel now glanced about him he was able to discover that very fewnegroes were in the house. He was eager to discover the presence of LongJohn, but he soon concluded that the treacherous black man had retracedhis way over the corduroy road, and doubtless now was trying to leadsome others of the unfortunate Union soldiers into the same trap inwhich he and Dennis had been caught.
A half-hour after they had entered the house, Noel and Dennis wereconducted to a room on the first floor and thrust into it. The eveningwas warm and the door was left open, but the guard was stationeddirectly in front of it, so that any attempt on the part of theprisoners to escape would be instantly known.
Noel looked cautiously out of the window in the room, and was aware thata full guard had been established to patrol the place. At least four ofthe Confederate soldiers were assigned to this task, and each one wasresponsible for only one side of the house.
The guard that was inside and had charge of the door was good-naturedand looked at his Yankee prisoners with undisguised interest. It wasplain that he did not have any fear of the young prisoners attempting toescape. Such an effort would be worse than useless, for at least twentymen were in the band, and the prisoners themselves now were unarmed.
"Whar yo' from?" inquired the guard.
"From New York State," answered Noel quietly.
"I always heard that was a right sma't State. How many Yanks might therebe in it?"
"Enough to put an end to this war if they all would turn out," saidNoel.
"That can't be so, sir," said the guard solemnly.
Noel in the dim light looked more closely at the soldier. He was morethan usually stout and his good nature was apparent, not only in thetones of his voice, but in the friendly way in which he regarded hischarges.
"Daggone! I don't believe the Yanks can fight, and yet I saw one theother day who was a great sight and had all gone to pieces."
"Who was he? What about him?" inquired Noel, aware that he was expectedto follow up the implied question of the good-natured guard.
"Why, he had lost one hand; one leg had been shot away; he had only oneeye; he had broken some bones, and a part of his liver had been cut outof him, and yet he was ready to fight to the last."
"I should n't think he would know who he was," said Dennis. "Faith! An'ye say he had only one arm, one leg, one eye? An' how about his ears?"
"They were both all right," replied the guard. "His nose looked, though,as if he dragged it along the ground."
"How did it all happen?" inquired Noel.
"Why, he had been in two battles, and the surgeons had been at work athim. What our men did not do the surgeons thought they would finish. Thepoor chap had to leave the army, but he was game all the way through.What do you suppose will happen to him in the Resurrection?"
"I haven't looked quite as far ahead as that," said Noel.
"'Tis strange," broke in Dennis, "how much a man can lose of himself,and still be the same man. Faith! I wouldn't know, if I lo
st me arm andme leg and me head and me eyes, whether I was Dennis O'Hara or somebodyelse."
"The fellow was game all through, as I said," continued the guard. "I'ma sharpshooter," he added abruptly.
"Are you?" inquired Noel quickly, though he endeavored to conceal hisinterest in the simple statement. Did the man know anything concerningthe skill of Dennis and himself with the rifle? His gun, of which Noelhad been exceedingly proud, had been taken from him. Whether or not theguard had any suspicions concerning his skill, the fact remained thatwithout any kind of a weapon those suspicions mattered little.
"Yes," continued the guard. "I was in the pit firing at some Yanks overthere on the Peninsula one time last June. There was a fellow firingaway at me, and he was so good that he made me keep out of sight, too,most of the time. I thought I had him at the same minute when he thoughthe had me. We fired at the same time, and what do you think happened?"
"You both missed?" suggested Dennis.
"No, we didn't; at least both of us didn't miss. The strangest thinghappened."
"What was it?" inquired Noel, apparently still more eagerly.
"Why, would you believe it?" said the soldier, "the bullet of thatYankee sharpshooter had gone right down the muzzle of my gun. It struckperfectly square and went into the muzzle the whole length of it."
"And did your bullet do the same thing with his rifle?" inquired Dennissolemnly.
"I don't know. I never have heard. I did not know but that you mighthave heard something about the affair and could tell me what happenedto that Yank. Were you ever down on the Peninsula?"
"Yes, sor," said Dennis promptly.
"Maybe you were down there helping McClellan get away as fast as hislegs could carry him. You made good time!" laughed the guard.
"Faith, and we did," said Dennis, "but not as good as we might have madeif the Johnnies had followed us up. They were so afraid that we wouldturn on them and take their little tin capital away from them that theyran as fast as they could go back to Richmond."
"We weren't running in that direction," said the soldier, unmoved by thebantering of Dennis. "Don't forget about Manassas. And now we have allyo' Yanks bottled up right here in Maryland."
"How's that?" asked Noel.
"Why, we'll soon have the garrisons of Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, andevery other body except McClellan's army, and we have thrown outStuart's cavalry so that there won't be a Yank able to get througheither way. It won't do him any good even to try."
"Wait a little while before you say that," suggested Noel, aware thatDennis was pulling him by his sleeve.
"Whist," whispered Dennis in one of his most penetrating tones. "Don'ttalk anymore with the Johnnie. I have something to say to ye that is ofa good deal more importance."
"I'm not interested," replied Noel. "I haven't had any supper, and I'mhungry, and I want to sleep. Are we going to be fed here?" he asked,turning to the guard.
"I reckon you will be. When I am relieved I'll see what can be done."
Conversation for a time ceased between the prisoners and their guard,but the excitement of Dennis was not to be repressed.
When at last he had induced his companion to withdraw from the door, hedrew him into one corner of the room and renewed his whispering. At hiscompanion's request his voice at last was lowered so that the guard wasunable to hear what was said, and then, in spite of his weariness, in amoment Noel was eagerly listening to what the young soldier was tellinghim.