The Sword of Antietam: A Story of the Nation's Crisis Part 30

"I thank G.o.d again that the notion took you to come by the house," he said. "It's pleasant and cool here at the window, isn't it, d.i.c.k, boy?"

d.i.c.k knew that he was thinking nothing about the window and the pleasant coolness of the night. He knew equally well the question that was trembling on his lips but which he could not muster the courage to ask.

But he had one of his own to ask first.

"My mother?" he asked. "Do you know where she has gone?"

"Yes, d.i.c.k, I came here in secret, but I've seen two men, Judge Kendrick and Dr. Russell. The armies are pa.s.sing so close to this place, and the guerillas from the mountains have become so troublesome, that she has gone to Danville to stay a while with her relatives. Nearly everybody else has gone, too. That's why the town is so silent. There were not many left anyway, except old people and children. But, d.i.c.k, I have ridden as far as you have to-night, and I came to ask a question which I thought Judge Kendrick or Dr. Russell might answer--news of those who leave a town often comes back to it--but neither of them could tell me what I wanted to hear. d.i.c.k, I have not heard a word of Harry since spring. His army has fought since then two great battles and many smaller ones! It was for this, to get some word of him, that I risked everything in leaving our army to come to Pendleton!"

He turned upon d.i.c.k a face distorted with pain and anxiety, and the boy quickly said:

"Uncle George, I have every reason to believe that Harry is alive and well."

"What do you know? What have you heard about him?"

"I have not merely heard. I have seen him and talked with him. It was after the Second Mana.s.sas, when we were both with burial parties, and met on the field. I was at Antietam, and he, of course, was there, too, as he is with Stonewall Jackson. I did not see him in that battle, but I learned from a prisoner who knew him that he had escaped unwounded, and had gone with Lee's army into Virginia."

"I thank G.o.d once more, d.i.c.k, that you were moved to come by my house.

To know that both Harry and you are alive and well is joy enough for one man."

"But it is likely, sir, that we'll soon meet in battle," said d.i.c.k.

"So it would seem."

And that was all that either said about his army. There was no attempt to obtain information by direct or indirect methods. This was a family meeting.

"You have a horse, of course," said Colonel Kenton.

"Yes, sir. He is on the lawn, tied to your fence. His hoofs may now be in a flower bed."

"It doesn't matter, d.i.c.k. People are not thinking much of flower beds nowadays. My own horse is further down the lawn between the pines, and as he is an impatient beast it is probable that he has already dug up a square yard or two of turf with his hoofs. How did you get in, d.i.c.k?"

"You forgot about the front door, sir, and left it open six or seven inches. I thought some plunderer was within and entered, to find you."

"I must have been watched over to-night when forgetfulness was rewarded so well. d.i.c.k, we've found out what we came for and neither should linger here. Do you need anything?"

"Nothing at all, sir."

"Then we'll go."

Colonel Kenton carefully closed and fastened the window and door again and the two mounted their horses, which they led into the road.

"d.i.c.k," said the colonel, "you and I are on opposing sides, but we can never be enemies."

Then, after a strong handclasp, they rode away by different roads, each riding with a lighter heart.

CHAPTER XII. THROUGH THE BLUEGRa.s.s

d.i.c.k's horse had had a good rest, and he was fighting for his head before they were clear of the outskirts of Pendleton. When the road emerged once more into the deep woods the boy gave him the rein. It was well past midnight now, and he wished to reach the army before dawn.

Soon the great horse was galloping, and d.i.c.k felt exhilaration as the cool air of early October rushed past. The heat in both east and west had been so long and intense, that year, that the coming of autumn was full of tonic. Yet the uncommon dryness, the least rainy summer and autumn in two generations, still prevailed. The hoofs of d.i.c.k's horse left a cloud of dust behind him. The leaves of the trees were falling already, rustling dryly as they fell. Brooks that were old friends of his and that he had never known to go dry before were merely chains of yellow pools in a shallow bed.

He watered his horse at one or two of the creeks that still flowed in good volume, and then went on again, sometimes at a gallop. He pa.s.sed but one horseman, a farmer who evidently had taken an unusually early start for a mill, as a sack of corn lay across his saddle behind him.

d.i.c.k nodded but the farmer stared open-mouthed at the youth in the blue uniform who flew past him.

d.i.c.k never looked back and by dawn he was with the army. He found Colonel Winchester taking breakfast under the thin shade of an oak, and joined him.

"What did you find, d.i.c.k?" asked the colonel, striving to hide the note of anxiety in his voice.

"I found all right at the house, but I did not see mother."

"What had become of her?"

"I learned from a friend that in order to be out of the path of the army or of prowling bands she had gone to relatives of ours in Danville. Then I came away."

"She did well," said Colonel Winchester. "The rebels are concentrating about Lexington, but the battle, I think, will take place far south of that city."

Before the day was old they heard news that changed their opinion for the time at least. A scout brought news that a division of the Confederate army was much nearer than Lexington; in fact, that it was at Frankfort, the capital of the state. And the news was heightened in interest by the statement that the division was there to a.s.sist in the inauguration of a Confederate government of the state, so little of which the Confederate army held.

Colonel Winchester at once applied to General Buell for permission for a few officers like himself, natives of Kentucky and familiar with the region, to ride forward and see what the enemy was really doing. d.i.c.k was present at the interview and it was characteristic.

"If you leave, what of your regiment, Colonel Winchester?" said General Buell.

"I shall certainly rejoin it in time for battle."

"Suppose the enemy should prevent you?"

"He cannot do so."

"I remember you at Shiloh. You did good work there."

"Thank you, sir."

"And this lad, Lieutenant Mason, he has also done well. But he is young."

"I can vouch for him, sir."

"Then take twenty of your bravest and most intelligent men and ride toward Frankfort. It may be that we shall have to take a part in this inauguration, which I hear is scheduled for to-morrow."

"It may be so, sir," said Colonel Winchester, returning General Buell's grim smile. Then he and d.i.c.k saluted and withdrew.

But it did not take the colonel long to make his preparations. Among his twenty men all were natives of Kentucky except Warner, Pennington and Sergeant Whitley. Two were from Frankfort itself, and they were confident that they could approach through the hills with comparative security, the little capital nestling in its little valley.

They rode rapidly and by nightfall drew near to the rough Benson Hills, which suddenly shooting up in a beautiful rolling country, hem in the capital. Although it was now the third day of October the little party marked anew the extreme dryness and the shrunken condition of everything. It was all the more remarkable as no region in the world is better watered than Kentucky, with many great rivers, more small ones, and innumerable creeks and brooks. There are few points in the state where a man can be more than a mile from running water.