hen the stampede before the onrush of the virginians occurred, ephraim and lucius would have been heartily glad to bolt in the opposite direction—namely, towards their friends; but two circumstances precluded the possibility of such a course. the one, that without any consultation on the subject, they both recognised the danger they ran of being shot down or bayoneted by the men of the 37th, if they ventured to run towards them, dressed as they were in federal uniforms. for in the fury of that charge but little opportunity was likely to arise for either offering or receiving explanations. another and even more potent reason was that, however their inclinations might have prompted them to such a step, it was absolutely impossible for them to carry it out, for the rush of the federal troops behind them swept them forward with such an irresistible impulse that they had no choice but to take to their heels in the direction of lewiston. and this they did with a 132hearty good-will which the roar of cannon and rattle of musketry behind them kept very fully alive.
the retreat was not conducted in what is called good order. it was a regular sauve qui peut, and it was not until the fugitives ran into the fresh troops coming up to their support that a stand was made and something like a rally effected. but even these were of no avail, and the advance was promptly checked by the well-directed shot from the confederate batteries, which were now all in position upon the opposite heights across the river; and the supporting columns, shattered by the murderous discharge, wavered, recoiled, broke, and in their turn bolted back to the shelter of the woods near lewiston. as they fled, the confederates limbered up and pursued them, keeping, of course, to the north side of the river, till at last the discomfiture of the federals was complete; and shields, recognising the futility of any further attempt upon a position so well defended, and which he could only attack at such absolute disadvantage to himself, was compelled to remain quiet all day, actually within sound of the cannonade which told of the struggle in which frémont was engaged alone at cross keys.
when the second repulse and consequent flight took place, ephraim and lucius followed the example of most of their comrades by compulsion, and sought the shelter of the woods, where they were at least safer from the cannonade than in the open. looking up the valley from lewiston towards port republic, a bird’s-eye view would have revealed three marked topographical features, roughly speaking, parallel to one another. on the right was the shenandoah river; 133next to this, and to the left of it, open country and cultivated fields; and farther still to the left, the dense forest, three miles wide, which extended to the base of the blue ridge. when forced to descend in the balloon, the boys had entered the wood on the side next the mountain, and their flight from the colonel and subsequent wanderings had carried them clear across it to the side facing the river, where they had fallen in with the little hut in the clearing, which was really a woodsman’s cabin on the lewiston estate. they were now, therefore, still on the same side as the hut, but a mile or so above it.
‘i tell ye what it is, luce,’ said ephraim in his companion’s ear, as they hurried along, ‘we air goin’ too fast. we’ll be in the yankee camp at this rate before many minnits is over. let’s hang back a bit.’
they did so, gradually slackening their pace, and allowing the stream of fugitives to roll past them, till at last being, so far as they could see, alone, they sat down under a tree to take breath.
for a moment they looked at one another in silence. then ephraim said with a good deal of emotion in his voice: ‘i am the most or’nery fool in a town whar there’s a good few er the sort. i thort ter let ye hev a piece er funnin’, and now i’ve nearly been the death er ye twice, and gracious knows what’ll happen yit before we git through with this one-horse adventure.’
‘i don’t call it a one-horse adventure,’ replied lucius. ‘a whole team would be more like it. i imagine this is what you might call a pretty crowded day. eh, grizzly?’
‘waal, i ’low it is so fur,’ admitted ephraim with the ghost of a smile. ‘same time, i dunno what i’d 134hev done ter myself ef ennythin’ had gone wrong with ye in thet rumpus jest now. i’d never hev got over it or fergiv myself. by time! ter see them two pore men go down like thet alongside us all in a moment. it might jest ez well hev been you.’ he blew his nose loudly, and furtively knuckled his eyes.
‘but it wasn’t, you see,’ returned lucius cheerfully. ‘a miss is as good as a mile, grizzly. and i wish you wouldn’t blame yourself, for i came with you of my own free will.’
‘ye didn’t bargain fer all this, though,’ said ephraim mournfully. ‘ye didn’t ’magine ye were ter be stuck up ez a target fer our own boys.—by gracious!’ he added with animation, forgetting his troubles in the glorious recollection, ‘didn’t they give the yanks howdy in fine style? see ’em comin’ across thet bridge! didn’t they jest nat’ally tear along?’
‘they did,’ answered lucius with glistening eyes. ‘it was splendid.—so we’ve seen a battle after all,’ he went on, with a low laugh of satisfaction.
‘ah!’ replied ephraim. ‘and ye warn’t sittin’ on the ring fence nuther.’
‘no,’ chuckled lucius, ‘and thet bull er holmes’s is powerful servigerous.’ he laughed out again.
‘garn away! what air ye givin’ me?’ said ephraim. ‘but i ’low, luce, ter see ye standin’ thar in the ranks like a bit er rock, it war marvellious.’
‘i can tell you i felt badly enough at first, when those two men were killed alongside us,’ said lucius. ‘i might have been a thousand miles underground for all the power i had to move. i was simply stiffened where i stood. then it all seemed to go away and leave me, and i felt quite cool. how did you feel?’
‘pretty bad,’ admitted ephraim. ‘but i war so taken up with thinkin’ about you thet it soon went orf.’ he made this remark in the most matter-of-fact way, not in the least to draw attention to his own unselfishness, but as if it were the most natural thing in the world that lucius should be his first concern.
‘well, i’m afraid that i was thinking of myself,’ said lucius; ‘but after the first burst i only grew more and more interested in the fight.’
‘oh yes,’ exclaimed ephraim, struck by a sudden recollection. ‘what made ye turn round and say thet about old blue bag?’
the fire went out of luce’s eyes; the glow faded from his cheeks and left them pale. again the memory of those awful moments in the air overcame him. his voice was unsteady as he answered: ‘i don’t know what set me thinking of it; but all of a sudden the thought crossed me, and i felt as if i should die. i never shall forget it. i never can forget it as long as i live.’
he shuddered violently. he was not exaggerating. the impression made upon him by his adventures in the air had been supreme. it had taken fast hold of some corner of his brain in a manner which perhaps the doctors could explain, and whenever imagination or memory called it forth, it threatened to unman him.
ephraim considered him curiously. he could not understand the almost simultaneous exhibition of such opposite states of mind. however, he had wit enough to let the subject drop, and only answered: ‘waal, we won’t talk about thet any more; i guess it’s over now. see hyar, luce, i think our best plan will be to make fer thet little cabin agen and lie low thar till evenin’, when we kin make a break fer our lines.’
‘i don’t think that we ought to venture into that loft a second time,’ said lucius. ‘if the general caught us there again and recognised you, there would be trouble.’
‘thar would, shore enuff,’ agreed ephraim; ‘but ye misonderstand me, luce. i didn’t mean to hide in the loft, but ter walk right inter the cabin, lie down and take a snooze till it gits dark enuff ter be orf. ef any one comes in we kin jest walk out agin. we kin always say we’re makin’ fer our lines.’
‘i see,’ said lucius. ‘very well. besides, it doesn’t follow that the general will return. but are you sure that you can find your way there?’
‘why wouldn’t we?’ returned ephraim. ‘it’s on this side er the wood, and not so far away et thet. come on.’
they hugged the edge of the wood, and after walking for twenty minutes or so, again reached the clearing in which the log cabin stood. no one was in sight; but still, instead of approaching it from the open side, they preferred to skirt the wood a little further and reconnoitre through the window in case of accidents.
at last they stood opposite to the window, and here ephraim pulled lucius back.
‘you stay hyar, luce,’ he said. ‘i’ll go forward and see ef the coast is cl’ar.’
‘not at all,’ answered lucius; ‘you’re always doing that sort of thing. i’ll go for a change.’
‘no, lemme go,’ protested ephraim. ‘what’s the use er runnin’ yerself inter danger ’thout any reason?’‘’the danger is the same for you as for me,’ retorted lucius. ‘i tell you i am going.’
‘then we’ll both go,’ said ephraim decidedly, and accordingly they went.
cautiously approaching the window, they peeped in and surveyed the cabin. to their great relief it was empty; but before lucius knew what he was about, ephraim stole quietly round the hut and surveyed the open space.
‘it’s all cl’ar, luce,’ he said in a tone of satisfaction. ‘i don’t see nary a yank. they’re not fur orf, though, fer the camp is jest beyond the woods thar.’
‘then shall we go in here?’ asked lucius. ‘you think that is the best thing to do?’
‘i reckon,’ returned ephraim laconically, and slipped in through the window by way of illustration. ‘by time!’ he exclaimed when he was fairly in, ‘thar’s been some one in hyar sence we made tracks out er it.’
‘how do you know?’ inquired lucius, scrambling in to join him.
‘why, all the food is gone,’ sighed ephraim, pointing to the table with a sigh. ‘i war looking forward ter a fresh supply er them crackers after all this runnin’ around.’
‘i’ve got plenty here,’ said lucius, slapping his pockets; ‘and you’ve got the ham.’
‘it won’t do ter gobble up thet jest yet, luce,’ explained cautious ephraim. ‘ye kin hev jest wan slice ef ye’re sharp set, but we must keep some fer ter-night in case we run dry.’
‘no, i’m not very hungry,’ answered lucius; ‘but 138i’ve turned most unaccountably sleepy all of a sudden.’
‘nuthin’ onaccountable about thet,’ said ephraim, ‘seein’ ye never went ter bed at all last night, and hev been up all ter-day. lie down in the corner and take a snooze. i’ll look after things.’
‘why,’ asked lucius, surprised, ‘aren’t you sleepy, too? you said you were just now.’
‘ez ter thet,’ responded ephraim, ‘i kin hold old man nod orf a bit yit, i reckon. it’ll maybe suit better ef we don’t go ter sleep at the same time.’
‘i see,’ said lucius with a huge yawn. ‘well then, you lie down, and i’ll take the first watch.’
‘shucks!’ ejaculated ephraim. ‘what does it matter? ye air half over already. go ter sleep. i’ll git my allowance by-and-by.’
‘but,’ began lucius drowsily, ‘you always do everything. i—i—don’t see—why’——. he mumbled on for a second or two, nodded heavily, started into semi-wakefulness, nodded again, and rolled over fast asleep.
ephraim looked down at him with an expression in which tenderness for his friend and self-reproach were blended. ‘pore luce,’ he murmured, ‘ye air jest nat’ally tuckered out. i wish i hadn’t been sech a or’nery fool with my notions. i’d give suthin’ ter see ye back agen safe and sound in the old home et staunton. pray god i’ll git ye thar yit, though.
he stole to the door, and going outside, planted himself with his back against the logs of the cabin, so that he could command a view of all approaches by the front or sides. for he rightly judged that 139only skulkers would be likely to enter by the window, and for them he did not care.
‘“carry me back to old virginny,”’ he hummed softly to himself, as he glanced up and down; up to where he knew the federal camp lay concealed behind the bend of the woods; down to where, though he could not see them either, he knew that the confederates were still standing to arms, expecting a fresh attack on the part of shields, and wondering why it never came. but shields was too astute. it was as if he had heard the remark made by jackson to his chief of staff, when the latter expressed the opinion that shields would make a more determined attack on the bridge at port republic before the day was out. ‘not he,’ said stonewall, waving his hand towards the heights. ‘i should tear him to pieces. look at my artillery.’
boom! boom! boom! came the sound of the heavy guns at cross keys, and ephraim’s face brightened as he pictured the struggle, in which he made not the slightest doubt frémont was getting very much the worst of it.
‘old stonewall will be hyar ter-morrer,’ he thought, ‘and then thar’ll be big doin’s.’
boom! boom! the monotony of the sound, fraught with no matter what deadly meaning, began to weary him. he straightened up and walked slowly up and down in front of the cabin. he was fearfully tired, and the desire for sleep threatened to overcome him even as he walked. but he shook it angrily off, pinching himself into wakefulness, until at last the desire fled from him.
the hours wore on to mid-day, mid-day passed to 140afternoon, afternoon dragged towards evening, and still he kept his self-imposed vigil, pacing up and pacing down, leaning against the wall of the cabin, or occasionally stepping discreetly inside, when a messenger or a patrol hurried by, or when blare of bugle or roll of drum in the federal camp beyond the trees seemed to indicate a movement in the direction of the bridge.
it never occurred to him to wake lucius, who still lay wrapped in profound slumber, only every now and then he stole in to look at him as though to satisfy himself that the boy was safe, and then out again to his sentry go.
about four o’clock he had just stepped outside after one of these little visits, which consoled him a good deal for the trouble he was taking, for even to look at lucius was always a delight to ephraim—he had just stepped outside, when his watchful eye, turned in the direction of the federal camp, observed two persons coming round the bend of the woods.
one he instantly recognised as general shields; but with the features of the other, who was in civilian dress, he was unfamiliar. like a flash ephraim was back again in the cabin, peering round the corner of the door at the advancing couple. ‘i wonder ef he’s comin’ in hyar,’ he thought. ‘i should say not, but it’s better to be on the safe side these days. i hate ter wake luce; but i reckon it’ll have ter be done.’
he sped to luce’s side, and bending over him, shook him strongly. the boy stirred, moaned uneasily, but did not open his eyes. ephraim rushed to the door and back again.
‘wake up, luce!’ he called, shaking him more 141violently than ever. ‘wake up! the ginrul’s outside, and ef he comes in and ketches me hyar, thar’ll be trouble, ez ye said. wake up!’
this time lucius opened his eyes, but only to close them instantly, and fall once more heavily asleep.
‘by time!’ muttered ephraim, glancing at the window, the desperate thought occurring to him that the best thing to do would be to heave lucius straight out, as the most effectual way of awakening him. then he shook his head. ‘no,’ he said to himself, ‘thet’ll not do. he might yelp, and then we would be spotted shore and certain. whar air they now?’ he took another squint from his vantage point. the general and his companion were approaching, sauntering slowly along, deep in earnest conversation.
once again ephraim repeated the shaking process, and this time with such good effect that lucius sat up, rubbed his eyes, stared at the grizzly in a bewildered fashion for an instant, and concluded by asking where he was.
‘wake up!’ returned ephraim. ‘ye’ll soon know. through the window, quick! ah!’ as voices were plainly heard outside, ‘it’s too late. we must just face it out. maybe they won’t come in.’
his next glance relieved his apprehensions. evidently the unwelcome visitors did not intend to enter. they were walking wide of the hut, not looking at it, and in a moment or two would have passed it by. ephraim made a warning sign to the now wide-awake lucius, as fragments of the conversation floated to them.
‘so you see,’ general shields was saying, ‘it is of the highest importance that what we could not do for 142him to-day, general frémont should do for us to-morrow. whatever be the result of to-day’s fight at cross keys, he must effect a junction with me to-morrow, and to that end those despatches, detailing my plans, must be in his hands to-night. i know it is difficult; but do you not think’—— the rest of the sentence was lost in the distance, as the two passed on.
‘shall we get through the window now?’ asked lucius, as the voices died away.
‘i reckon not,’ returned ephraim; ‘they might see us from the other side. better stay whar we air till they air out er sight. they’re not thinkin’ er us jest now.’
‘what were they talking about?’ inquired lucius, who, having been further from the door, had not heard the conversation so perfectly.
‘i dunno rightly; but it’s suthin’ about gittin’ word over ter frémont about ter-morrer’s fight. sh! hyar they come back again. now, lemme do the talkin’ ef they come in.’
this time it was the voice of the civilian that reached them. ‘i’ve done it before in the boat, general,’ he was saying, ‘and i don’t know what is to hinder me doing it again.’
‘well, i don’t want to confuse you with suggestions,’ said general shields in reply. ‘you know your own business too well for that. you are sure the boat is there?’
‘it was there two hours ago, snug under the bank. i don’t see why it shouldn’t be there now.’
‘you know our new word, of course?’
‘oh yes; and theirs too, unless it has been changed since this morning.’
they came to a halt opposite the door of the cabin, behind the door of which ephraim instantly flattened himself, while lucius stood stiffly erect in a corner.
the general began to laugh. ‘if you can take a dip down, and learn anything of jackson’s intentions before you return, you admirable civilian, i shall be all the more pleased,’ he said. then noting the look of surprise on his companion’s face, he added hastily: ‘i was laughing at the recollection of a ridiculous incident which happened in there this morning. i’ll tell you as we go along.’ and taking the civilian by the arm, he continued his walk in the direction of the camp.
ephraim stole a cautious glance round the post of the door. ‘by time!’ he grinned, when they were out of earshot. ‘ef he’d come in and suspected we’d heard thet pretty bit of news, i reckon he’d hev larft the wrong side of his mouth.’
‘tell me, what does it mean?’ asked lucius eagerly.
‘i reckon it means thet the admire-able civilian, as the ginrul called him, is a pesky spy,’ replied ephraim.
‘as colonel spriggs said you and i were,’ laughed lucius.
‘ezackly! on’y this yer’s the real article, wharas we war on’y imitashuns. anyway, this is the way i put it up. the civilian thar—who most likely ain’t a civilian at all—hes got a pocketful er despatches fer ginrul frémont. likewise, he hes got a boat somewhar over thar under the river bank. likewise, he perposes to row across above our pickets and hand ’em ter frémont. likewise, his intention is, the orn’ery skunk, ter take a stroll down ter stonewall’s camp, and find out all he kin. likewise’——
‘likewise,’ interrupted lucius, ‘you’ve got an idea 144into your head that those despatches would be better in general jackson’s hands than in general frémont’s, and you are wondering if we couldn’t somehow manage to get hold of them.’
grizzly made a step forward and caught lucius by the hand. ‘right ye air, luce!’ he cried, beaming upon his friend. ‘ye hev struck it. thet war my idee, on’y i don’t ezackly see how it’s gwine ter be done.’ he paused to put on his considering cap.
‘i’d like to have a try for it,’ said lucius with a grimace. ‘you see, i’ve been thinking a good deal what an awful row there’ll be when i get home—that is, if i ever do get home; but if we could show that we’d done some real service to them, why, they wouldn’t have so much to say,’ he finished, having become rather mixed in his pronouns. ‘why shouldn’t we make for the river and head him off, grizzly?’ he continued, after a pause. ‘we’ve got guns and ammunition now. i believe we could do it.’
‘ef we on’y knew ezackly when he’d start, and how fur away his boat is,’ said ephraim dubiously.
‘well,’ said lucius, who had gone to the door, ‘there is a civilian walking towards the river now. see, he has just come round the bend of the woods from the camp. of course, i don’t know whether it’s your admirable civilian or not, for i didn’t see him, but’——
‘by time! it’s him, shore enuff,’ broke in the grizzly excitedly. ‘now, luce, ef we’re goin’ ter do ennythin’, we must do it sharp and quick. we carn’t foller straight in his tracks, thet much is cl’ar. he’s got a start, and we must allow him a leetle more. what we got ter do is, to go down the woods a space, 145and then make a bee-line fer the river. we kin steal up the bank through the belt er trees thet fringes it, and ef we carn’t head him orf, maybe we kin stop him before he gits across.’ he tapped his rifle significantly.
they set off running as hard as they could through the trees for a hundred yards or more, and then ephraim stopped to spy out the land.
‘he’s goin’ very slow, luce,’ he said. ‘i reckon we shall head him off if we kin git thar ’thout bein’ stopped. now, bub, across the first field fer all ye’re wuth.’
three wide fields intervened between them and the river, and the risk that they would be seen was very great. they were forced to incur it, though; and, besides, they hoped that their blue uniforms would divert suspicion from them if any one should catch sight of them. however, they crossed the first and second fields in safety, and concealed themselves in a ditch while making a survey of the third. the man was out of sight now, but it was only the conformation of the country which concealed him. as a matter of fact, the boys were nearer the river than he was.
‘thar’s one thing, though,’ said ephraim, as they sat in the ditch. ‘thet belt er wood by the river is bound ter be full er yankee pickets. we han’t got the countersign. what’s ter be done ef we air stopped?’
‘let’s go on until we are stopped,’ urged lucius the bold.
ephraim shook his head. ‘no,’ he said; ‘that’ll not do. we should on’y be turned back agen.’ he thought deeply for a moment, the blue vein coming 146out in the middle of his forehead, as it always did when his mind was concentrated. all at once he slapped his hand upon his thigh. ‘by time! i’ve got it!’ he exclaimed, and burst out laughing.
‘what have you thought of?’ asked lucius eagerly.
the grizzly made him a rapid communication, the effect of which upon lucius was to cause him to throw himself flat upon the bank of the ditch and roll about with delight.
‘come on!’ cried the grizzly. ‘now mind ye do ezackly ez i do, and when ye run, keep a sharp eye fer the boat.’
they set off again at a quick pace, until they had cleared the field and entered the broad belt of trees which fringed the water. here they slowed down, and made a bee-line, so far as they could, for the river. in five minutes or less they heard the splash of the swollen current against the bank, and turning their faces sharply down stream, moved on for two or three minutes more, making all the noise they could.
‘halt! who comes there?’
no sooner did the sharp challenge ring out than, as if at a signal for which they had been waiting, the two boys burst into wild, panic-stricken yells: ‘the rebs! the rebs! they’re on us! the pickets are driven in!’ shouting which they charged madly down upon the sentry who had challenged them. seeing, as he supposed, two federal sentries in full flight, the man never doubted for a moment that the alarm was genuine, and discharging his rifle in the air, set off as hard as his legs could carry him through the belt of trees towards the fields, beyond which lay the camp.
and now all along the river bank the cry was taken up, ‘the rebs! the rebs!’ and everywhere could be heard the sound of feet crashing through the undergrowth, as the pickets bolted in upon their supports.
bursting with laughter, ephraim and lucius watched the disappearance of the man immediately in their front; but the sharp call of a bugle and the noise of the long roll upon the drums, as the federal regiments sprang to arms in anticipation of the threatened attack, warned them that there was no time to lose, and they continued their race down the bank.
‘there’s the boat!’ panted lucius, after a few minutes. ‘i see her nose just peeping out.’
‘down in the underbrush, then!’ said ephraim sharply, ‘and don’t git up unless i call ye, or ye see thar’s need.’
‘what are you going to do?’ asked lucius, obeying the order.
‘give ’em a taste of their own sauce, i reckon! hush! hyar he comes. lie low!’
he flung himself in front of lucius, with his rifle at the port, and waited.
hurrying footsteps drew nearer. some one was coming on at express speed.
ephraim gripped his rifle tight, and set his teeth.
swish! the bushes parted, and the civilian stood before him.
‘halt!’ shouted the grizzly, bringing his bayoneted rifle down to the charge. ‘halt! who comes thar?’
