A Lieutenant at Eighteen Part 15

"He bunks in the jail with some of his company."

"I know a dozen others here who are in the same boat with me; and two more on us were hanged a month ago for shooting a Cornfed sergeant for killing two good Union men."

"I'll find Ripley for you," said Life, as he left the room, intent upon adding more men to the loyal army.

He went through the jail, calling the name of the lieutenant till he found him, and then conducted him to the room of the keeper. Ripley gave his hand to b.u.t.ters, and was very glad to see him. The bed was wide enough for two, and Life invited the lieutenant to sleep with him.

"No; I reckon I'll take Lieutenant Ripley up to my house, for he's an old friend of mine," interposed b.u.t.ters; "and he's the only man that can ever beat me shootin' with a rifle. I'm ready to jine for this campaign under him."

"I have thirty-six men now, serving for a short time till we get things settled, and I should like enough to make up a hundred," replied Ripley, as he left the prison with b.u.t.ters.

He had not been gone ten minutes before Lieutenant Lyon came in. The sentinel on duty showed him Life's room. The visitor was wet to his bones, as the French say; for he had been looking up some Union men his father wished to see, and he had brought them to the hotel where the officers were quartered. One of them was a captain, and another was his host in the town; and the major had been directed to report to the former.

Deck had been sent out to find him; for it was reported that he was in Jamestown, and not in Harrison, where he had expected to find him, but had not. His room had been taken from him for this officer, as he was the lowest in rank of any commissioned officer. His father had sent him out with directions to take a couple of men from the quarters of Lieutenant Belthorpe, who was the officer of the day, and find a room where he could in the town. But he knew that Life Knox was in command at the jail, and he preferred to go there.

"You are wet to the skin, Leftenant!" exclaimed the sergeant, as he admitted him to the room.

"Not the first time I have been so since we left Riverlawn," replied Deck. "You have got a good room here, Life."

"Good enough; but I cal'late to camp on the floor, and give this bed to you, Leftenant."

"Not at all, Life; the bed is big enough for both of us. I am not afraid to sleep with you, if you are not with me."

"'Tain't quite reg'lar; but it's just as you say, Leftenant."

There was a fireplace in the room, and a pile of wood in the corner; and the sergeant went to work at once to build a fire to dry his officer. There was plenty of light wood, full of pitch, in the pile; and in a few minutes a roaring fire was blazing on the hearth. Without asking any questions he proceeded to remove Deck's coat, and a.s.sisted him to take off the rest of his clothes, which had not been done before except when he took his baths in the streams.

"Now jump into bed, Leftenant; give me your shirt, and I will dry the whole of your duds. The room is warm now."

Deck had been so chilled by the rain that he was glad to comply with the sergeant's requests. Life placed the nether garments on the chair before the fire, and then moved up a light table, stretching his sabre from one to the other to form a clothes-horse. At midnight he waked his officer to have him put on the dry shirt, for Deck in the bed had slept like a tired boy. After a look through the corridors of the prison, Life went to bed himself.

CHAPTER XIV

THE AIDE-DE-CAMP OF THE GENERAL

When Life Knox left his bed at an early hour on the morning of the 18th, Deck was still sleeping, for no bugle had sounded to wake him.

The rain was still pouring in torrents when the sergeant looked out of the window; and it was not probable that any military movements would be made that day. Breakfast was served as usual, the cooks having taken possession of an old tobacco dry-house the night before.

About nine o'clock, after Deck had gone to the hotel where the officers were quartered, b.u.t.ters, Lieutenant Ripley, and about twenty more, marched into the jail. The keeper had been riding nearly all night, and had secured this number of riflemen, though he had been obliged to seek them, in part, miles distant from the town. They came with rifles and belts, with powder and ball in horns and pouches, as those from Millersville had appeared. They were ready for duty, and b.u.t.ters declared that every one of them could shoot very well with the rifles they had used in their practice.

They were introduced by Lieutenant Ripley to the members of his command lodged in the building, and they fraternized like brothers; for the ability to use the rifle with skill and precision seemed to be the bond which united them. The lieutenant of the sharpshooters now had fifty-six men in his company. When Captain Gordon called at the prison, he promoted Ripley to the rank of captain, and made b.u.t.ters, who was the second-best shot in the corps, lieutenant, though he could not give them commissions. They were then marched to the tobacco dry-house, only a small portion of which the cooks used, and drilled by the new captain.

At the hotel, Major Lyon and Captain Woodbine, an aide-de-camp of the commanding general, who had been sent to Harrison on account of his intimate knowledge of this locality, and was a man of influence in a neighboring county, were discussing the situation. Deck had found him, after no little difficulty, at the house of one of his friends, and reported to him the arrival of the Riverlawn Cavalry, re-enforced by a company of volunteer sharpshooters from Adair County, under the command of Captain Ripley.

"Ripley is an old man, isn't he?" asked Captain Woodbine.

"Sixty, I heard some one say, Captain; but I can a.s.sure you he is a very able officer," replied Deck.

"I dare say he is, for I know him well. Now will you introduce yourself, Lieutenant?" said the aide-de-camp with a smile, as he looked over the wet form of the visitor.

"My name is Dexter Lyon, Captain."

"Any relation to the commander of your squadron?"

"His son; but I was promoted from the ranks on the pet.i.tion of every member of the first company, and all the officers of the squadron except my father," replied Deck; and there was a blush on his wet cheeks, for he feared that the military official would conclude that he had been raised to his present rank by the influence of his father.

"A very commendable delicacy on the part of Major Lyon, but not always manifested in such cases," added the captain. "I heard that one company of Major Lyon's squadron had arrived at Harrison, and that the other was coming by the way of Jamestown. Your company was late, and the major went in search of it."

"We had several skirmishes with guerillas and foraging parties of the enemy, which delayed us."

"Tell me about them," added Captain Woodbine, whose curiosity was aroused; and he kept his eyes very steadily on the young lieutenant.

As modestly as he could, he related the events on the march of the first company, taking care to call his command the "second platoon."

The affair at the house of Mr. Halliburn was mentioned; and the manner in which the guerillas had been bagged excited the attention of the officer, and he asked then who commanded the second platoon.

"I did, Captain," replied Deck, looking on the floor of the parlor.

"It was very adroitly done, and you exhibited very good strategy." Deck bowed, and went on with his narrative. The fight in the road was then mentioned, with its result only.

"This was the same force that captured the brigands, and brought them as prisoners down to the road, was it?"

"The same, Captain."

"And you commanded it in the action that followed?"

"I did, Captain," replied Deck, looking at the ceiling of the room.

The battle of that day on the hill was then described; but in this narration he contrived to keep himself in the shade. He gave the most of the credit for the victory to the riflemen in the woods, though he did not omit to credit Captain Gordon for his plan of battle.

"Where are these sharpshooters now? They appear to have been a very useful body of men," inquired the aide-de-camp.

"Part of them returned to Millersville, where they belong, though thirty-six of them have volunteered to go with us for the present campaign, under the command of Captain Ripley."

"I must see Ripley," mused the official.

"He is at the jail with his men, or he went there with them," added Deck.

"Our carriage is ready," said Captain Woodbine; "and there is room enough in it for you."

It was a covered road-wagon, and Deck judged that the captain had talked with him to pa.s.s away the time while he was waiting for the conveyance. They were driven first to the hotel.

"I have heard a great deal about the Riverlawn Cavalry, as you call them, though its two companies belong to the first cavalry regiment,"

said the captain when they were seated in the vehicle.