The Young Lieutenant Part 29

"Any condition you please."

"You are my superior; but----"

"I know all about it. I will go as a volunteer, and you shall command the expedition."

"We will work together."

"With all my heart."

Somers then selected six men for the service, with special reference to their skill as boatmen, and ordered them to make the necessary preparations for duty. As there were still several hours to spare before dark, he used a portion of this time in writing a letter to his mother, informing her of the remarkable fortune that had attended him; and another to Senator Guilford, thanking him for the kind interest he had manifested in his welfare, in the postscript of which he wrote the history of Captain de Banyan's valuable services, and modestly added that any favor conferred on his friend would ever be gratefully remembered by the writer.

CHAPTER XIX

OVER THE RIVER

Captain Somers, as we are hereafter to call him, was proud and happy in the distinction which had been bestowed upon him; but he had some doubts whether he had fully earned his promotion. He had done as much as any, and more than some. Yet it seemed to him just as though nothing short of the capture or annihilation of a whole brigade of the enemy's forces could ent.i.tle him to such a distinguished honor, especially as he was only eighteen years of age. He was afraid that Senator Guilford had exerted too much influence in his favor; but the general of the division had a.s.sured him he had won his promotion, and would have received it in time, even without the powerful aid of the honorable gentleman at Washington.

This thought comforted him; and he only hoped that his friend De Banyan would be as highly favored as he had been. The valiant captain, in spite of his glaring faults, was a good fellow, a fine officer, and very popular with his inferiors as well as his superiors. He had become very much attached to Somers, and had proved by many substantial acts that he was animated by a warm regard for him. Though he talked a great deal about the favor of high officials in securing his promotion, he had never hinted a wish that Somers should attempt to influence his powerful friend to do anything for him.

Somers said nothing to the captain about the letter he had written. If anything was done, he wished to have his friend surprised as he had been.

But he had only slight hopes that anything would be accomplished by his application. Though Captain de Banyan had always behaved well in battle, and had always faithfully discharged his duties in the camp and on the march, there was something like a mystery hanging about him, which had a tendency to prejudice the officers against him. While they admired his bravery, and enjoyed his society, there was a certain lack of confidence, resulting from a want of knowledge of his antecedents.

De Banyan always evaded any allusion to his former residence or occupation. He desired to be regarded as a soldier of fortune, who had fought with every nation that had a quarrel with its neighbors. Where he was born, where he had lived, or how he obtained his commission, were secrets locked up in his own breast. Somers had some doubts in regard to him, and was constantly afraid that he should hear more of the captain than it would be pleasant to know.

Captain Somers reported his arrangements in due form to the general, and they were approved. About nine o'clock in the evening, he, with his little party, embarked on the river, and the rowers pulled towards the opposite sh.o.r.e. Of course, it was necessary to use the utmost caution; for a rebel picket on the opposite bank of the river might suddenly put an end to the career of some of the party.

"I think we are making a mistake, Captain Somers," said De Banyan in a whisper, when they had gone about half way across the river.

"So do I; but it is not too late to correct the error," replied Somers, as he turned the bow of the boat down the river.

"I believe you are my double, Somers; for you know my thoughts before I utter them."

"I was just thinking, when you spoke, that we were running into a nest of the enemy."

"Just before the battle of the Alma, I went on just such an expedition as this; but we went down the river beyond the enemy's lines, and doubled up in the rear of them; thus finding out all we wanted to know."

"That is what I propose to do."

"Captain Brickfield and myself landed, and walked sixty-four miles between nine o'clock in the evening and four o'clock in the morning,"

added Captain de Banyan.

"How far?"

"Sixty-four miles."

"Good!" exclaimed Somers. "Did you walk all the way?"

"Every step."

"It was tip-top walking, De Banyan--a little more than nine miles an hour."

"Do you doubt the story?"

"I don't doubt that it is a story."

"Now, that isn't kind of you, Somers, to be perpetually throwing discredit upon everything I say," replied the captain, apparently much hurt.

"You mustn't say such things, then. You don't expect any man in his senses to believe that you walked over nine miles an hour, and followed it for seven hours?"

"I was tougher then than I am now."

"And you can tell a tougher story now than you could then, I'll warrant."

"There it is again!"

"Now, my dear fellow, I'm afraid you will die with an enormous fib in your mouth."

"Come, Somers, you are taking a mean advantage of my friendship. You know that I like you too well to quarrel with you."

"Silence!" said Somers earnestly. "There is a boat coming out from the rebel side of the river."

The water was covered with vessels of every description in the vicinity of Harrison's Landing; and the boat had just emerged from this forest of masts and smokestacks. It was time to be entirely silent again; for the rebels were on the alert in every direction, watching to strike a blow at the grand army, or to pick up individual stragglers who might fall in their way. The boat which Somers had discovered was approaching from the rebel side of the river; and to be seen by the enemy, at this point of the proceedings, would be fatal to the expedition.

"Who goes there?" said a man in the rebel boat.

"Friends!" replied Somers.

"Who are ye?"

The tones were so unmistakably Southern, that there could be no question in regard to the party to which the boat belonged.

"Officers examining the enemy's lines," replied Somers.

At the same time he ordered his crew to pull, and steered the boat so as to run her alongside the other. On the way, he whispered to the men his instructions; and, as soon as they were near enough, they leaped on board the rebel boat, and captured her astonished crew before they had time to make any resistance. No doubt they thought this was very rude treatment to receive from the hands of those who professed to be their friends; but they had discovered their mistake by this time, and it afforded a sufficient explanation of the seeming inconsistency.

The capture of this boat involved the necessity of returning to the nearest steamer in the river to dispose of the prisoners. On the way back, Somers and De Banyan conversed with the rebels on general topics; for the latter refused to say anything which could be of service to their enemy. After the captives had been delivered on board the steamer, our party decided to take the boat which had been captured, instead of the one they had brought from the landing; for there were some peculiarities in its construction, which made it a safer conveyance in rebel waters than the other, the approach of which would excite suspicion if seen.

Again they pulled down the river, and pa.s.sed the point from beyond which the rebel boat had approached them. The sh.o.r.e was probably lined with pickets; and the wisdom of exchanging the boats was now more apparent to them than before. Somers steered into a little inlet or bay beyond the point, and at the head of it found a creek flowing into the river. It was wide and deep at the outlet; and he decided to ascend it.

"How was it, Andy?" said a voice from the sh.o.r.e, after the boat had advanced a few rods up the creek.

"All right!" replied Somers at a venture; though he was somewhat startled by the question.

"Have the Yankees any picket boats out?" demanded the man on sh.o.r.e.