The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam Part 15

"Sh-h-h, Sairy Ann. This yere man is a Union soldier--"

"How do yo' know he is?"

"He told me so."

"Yo' can't believe everybody," said the woman. "Ever since all this trouble with the secesh began, n.o.body can trust his best friend. If I had my way about it, I would put somebody in command of the Union soldiers that would do something. They wouldn't be runnin' at Bull Run the way they did, and I reckon Pope led the way, too, and probably made better time than any of them. Before McClellan gets his eyes open, I reckon the whole o' Maryland and Harper's Ferry, too, will run to join Lee's army. Pretty kind of men we have fighting for the Union! How do yo' know he is a Union soldier?" she repeated.

"If you'll hold the candle you can see for yourself, if there's any of the cloth of my uniform that will show through the mud," said Noel good-naturedly.

In spite of her apparent harshness, the young soldier was convinced that she was not so unfriendly as her words at first implied.

Taking him at his word, the woman advanced, and holding the candle above her head looked keenly at the intruder. "Yo' don't look so dreadful deceitful," she admitted, "but a body never can tell. Fine feathers sometimes make fine birds, and maybe yo' put on those clothes because yo' want to get into our house. Jim has the name of being a friend of the Union, but he's just about as lively as McClellan. I had to make him go out to see what was the matter with the cattle. They are all right, are they, Jim?" she demanded, turning once more to the man who plainly was her husband.

"Yas, Sairy Ann," he replied; "I reckon they got a bit restless endurin'

the storm."

"Yo' didn't see any signs of men being around?"

"This is the only man I saw."

"Well, they will be here pretty quick, I reckon," she declared. "If the secesh find out that there is a cow left on the place they will come for it. I reckon they have been here already. Jim isn't much of a protection, except to look at," she added, turning again to her visitor.

Under other circ.u.mstances Noel would have laughed at her words, for the huge Jim plainly was in full subjection to the little woman who was talking so volubly.

"What did yo' stop here for?" she abruptly demanded.

"I have been running almost all night," explained Noel, "and I found a negro out here. He said that Mr. Hilton was a friend of the Union. I thought morning would be here pretty soon and I didn't know just where to go. I'm a stranger in this part of the country."

"Whare yo' from?" asked the woman.

"New York State."

"I reckon that's a right sma't way from here. Well, I won't turn yo' out if yo' are the first cousin to Beelzebub such a night as this. Are you hungry?"

"I am. But I won't disturb you. If you'll let me lie down here on the floor, I'll wait until you have your breakfast."

"Yo'll do nothin' of the kind," said the woman brusquely.

"Do you want me to leave now?"

"Who said anything about your leavin'?" she demanded sharply.

"I did," said Noel.

"Well, I'm goin' to dry yo' out first. Yo' 're one ma.s.s of mud from head to heels. Yo' all go into that room," she added, pointing as she spoke to another little room that opened out of the kitchen, "and put your clothes outside the door. I reckon I'll have to bake 'em, before I ever can get 'em clean."

The woman's friendliness was so manifest that in spite of his suspicions Noel promptly decided to obey.

"Don't yo' be afraid," continued the woman, when Noel at last had carried out her directions, and had thrown his soaked and muddy uniform outside the door, as she had suggested. "I'm goin' to look out for yo'.

Yo' aren't much more 'n a baby, anyway. I wonder that your mother should ever let yo' come so far away from home. Much good yo' can do, fighting these secesh! Now, yo' get into bed and when I have your breakfast cooked I'll set it here by the door. Yo' can help yourself then, and after yo' have had all yo' want, yo' get back into bed an' stay there until I tell yo' to get up. I'm thinkin' the bed is about as safe a place as yo' can find in these days. It's been nothin' but soldiers marchin' up and down, back and forth, in and out, to and fro, for the past week! They seem to be goin' about like old Satan and roarin' like a lion seekin' whom they may devour."

The tall host whom Noel had followed into the house had remained seated near the door throughout the interview. In spite of his indifferent manner, the young soldier was startled when several times he was suspicious that the man was listening for the approach of some one. He glanced frequently toward the door, and there was an air of anxiety or expectation in every movement he made. However, Noel had been so tired and now was so refreshed by the simple food which the woman soon provided for him that he dismissed his fears from his mind and soon was sleeping soundly.

He was awakened by the sound of voices in the adjoining room. It was daylight now and his bedroom was flooded with sunshine. It was, however, the conversation in the kitchen that chiefly interested the young soldier, and in a brief time he was keenly excited by what he heard. He looked about the room for his uniform, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile from the parts of the conversation which he overheard, he was convinced that the visitor was a soldier in the Confederate army.

CHAPTER XIII

FRIENDS OF THE UNION

Noel's excitement gave place to alarm as he listened to the conversation in which the two men were engaged.

The lack of his uniform prevented him from trying to leave his room, and as yet he was uncertain whether or not the visitor even was aware that a young soldier of the Union was in the house.

For a time Noel listened intently, striving to discover something which would give him the information he desired; but the words of the visitor, whose part in the conversation was much greater than that of his tall host, did not imply that he was suspicious.

There were moments when s.n.a.t.c.hes of the conversation almost convinced Noel that the man was a spy. It was plain that he was more or less familiar with the conditions existing in the Union army, but how he had obtained such detailed information was something the listening young soldier was unable to explain.

"Where is McClellan now?" inquired Jim.

"Up near Frederick City."

"What's he doin' there?"

"What has he been doin' ever since he has been made commander?" laughed the visitor. "He's waitin', that's what he is, and if he keeps it up a little longer he won't have any more waitin' to do."

"Why not?"

"Because our army will snap him up between its jaws. I reckon there weren't many men in the whole army of General Lee who thought it was a good thing to divide his forces as he did when he sent McLaws and Walker after Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry. Why, man alive, Lee split his army right in two, and then put a good bit of distance between the two parts!

If McClellan knew enough about it, and if he is very much of a general he would know, he would throw his whole force against either of these divisions and smash it to pieces, before the other could come to its help. As it is, he's still tryin' to make up his mind, I reckon, and the result is that he's goin' to be caught between these two divisions just like a mouse is caught between the jaws of a cat. We have got him just as sh.o.r.e as you are born."

"I don't believe it," said Jim slowly.

"It doesn't make any difference whether you believe it or not, that's what's going to happen," laughed the visitor.

"Now you say that Stuart's cavalry has been thrown out in such a way that little Mac can't get any information about what Lee's plans are?"

"That's true enough, and yet, if McClellan had even a few men like those that are gettin' information for General Lee, he ought to know about it."

Noel fancied he could detect an importance in the words just spoken which confirmed him in his belief that the man in the other room was a spy from Lee's army. His excitement increased as his conviction gained in power, and he almost groaned as he realized how helpless he was.

Deprived of his uniform, without any weapon of defense, he was powerless to interfere with the man or his plans.

"I reckon Little Mac will give a good account of himself befo' long,"