"I pelieve I shoots one of them dorgs, ain"t it?" said the captain; and he thrust his rifle cautiously through the bushes.
"No, no," commanded the major, "save your ammunition. The men will be here in a minute. Here they come now." And, as he spoke, there was a loud crashing in the bushes, and four hors.e.m.e.n came in sight.
"Thunder!" exclaimed one of them, who wore the uniform of a colonel, "I was in hopes we should catch the rascal before he reached this place. Here, Tige," he continued, addressing a powerful white hound, "hunt "em up, hunt "em up!"
The hound ran down to the edge of the stream, and barked and whined furiously, but still hesitated to enter; for hounds are always averse to going into water.
"Hunt "em up, sir!" shouted the colonel, angrily.
The dog, evidently, feared his master more than the water, for he plunged in, and commenced swimming toward the place where Frank and his companions were concealed; and the others, after a little hesitation, followed him.
"Ready, now, boys," whispered the major. "Captain, you shoot that white hound. Frank, you take the colonel, and I"ll attend to the man just behind him. Don"t waste your lead now."
The three rifles cracked in rapid succession, and the colonel and one of his men fell heavily from their saddles. The white hound gave one short howl of pain, and sank out of sight. Every shot had reached its mark.
The remaining rebels stood aghast at this sudden repulse; and the smoke of the rifles had scarcely cleared away, when they wheeled their horses, and disappeared in the woods.
The death of the white hound produced no less consternation among his canine a.s.sistants, for they each gave a short yelp, and turned and made for the sh.o.r.e.
CHAPTER XV.
The Rescue.
"Now"s our time, boys," exclaimed the major; "come on, and load your guns as you run;" and he started rapidly down the path.
All sounds of the rebels were soon left behind; but our party kept on their way, until they emerged from the woods, and found themselves in full view of a plantation.
"I pelieve somebody lives in that house," exclaimed the captain, drawing back in the bushes.
"No doubt of it," answered the major.
"Let"s move back into the woods a little further, and eat some dinner," said Frank; and he turned to walk away, and felt for the haversack the negro woman had given him. But it seemed that he was destined to disappointment, for the haversack was gone.
During all the perils he had encountered that day, he had been buoyed up by the thought that he had food sufficient to last him for a day or two, and that he was in no danger of suffering the pangs of hunger. But now his spirits fell again to zero.
"How unfortunate!" he exclaimed. "But it"s just my luck."
"Yes, it is too bad," said the major; "for now we shall be obliged to run the risk of being captured, in order to procure food. But let us move on, and get as far away from this place as possible."
Frank silently shouldered his rifle, and followed the major, who threaded his way along in the edge of the woods, taking care to keep out of sight of any one who might be in the house. They kept on until dark, and then halted in the rear of another plantation, to hold a consultation relative to the manner in which they should obtain food.
"Well," said the major, "we must have something to eat, that"s certain; and the only way I can think of, is to draw lots to see who shall go up to the house after it. It is a dangerous undertaking, but that is the fairest way to see who shall run the risk;" and the major selected three sticks of different lengths, and continued, as he held them out to Frank, in his closed hand, "Now, the one that draws the shortest stick must go to the house and procure us some food."
Frank drew first, then the captain, and the major took the one that was left. The lot fell upon Frank.
"Now," said the major, as he shook Frank"s hand, "be careful of yourself, my friend. We will remain here until you return. When you get into the woods give two low whistles, that we may know that it is you. Good-by."
Frank silently returned the pressure of the major"s hand, and moved away. He climbed over the fence that ran between the woods and the plantation, and walked fearlessly toward the house. He was not at all pleased with the part he had to perform, for he remembered the danger he had run the night before; but his determination was to do his duty, and trust to his skill to carry him safely through.
He shaped his course toward the negro quarters, which were in the rear of the house; but he soon discovered that these were entirely deserted. He carefully examined all the cabins, in hopes of finding a hen-roost, but in vain. His only alternative was to try the house. There was a light shining in the window, and Frank determined to reconnoiter the premises, and, if possible, learn who were in the house, before asking admittance. With this intention he shouldered his rifle, and was about to move forward, when he was startled by the sound of horses" hoofs behind him, and a voice exclaimed:
"Hullo, my friend! Have you an extra bed in the house, for a soldier?"
Frank turned, and found that the horseman was so close to him that flight was impossible. His first impulse was to shoot him where he sat; but he was still ignorant of the number of persons there might be in the house. Perhaps it was filled with soldiers. The report of his gun would certainly alarm them, and might lead to his capture. Besides, the man had addressed him as though he were the proprietor of the plantation; perhaps he might be able to obtain some information. So he answered, with some hesitation:
"Yes, I suppose there is an extra bed in the house; but I should really like to know who and what you are, before I agree to accommodate you."
"I am Lieutenant Somers," answered the rebel; "and I belong to the Seventeenth Georgia Infantry. You belong to the army too, do you not?" he continued, noticing the bra.s.s b.u.t.tons on Frank"s coat.
It was a lucky circ.u.mstance for the young hero that the night was so dark, or he would certainly have been discovered.
"Yes," he answered, in reply to the rebel"s question, "I am in the service. But what are you doing around here this time of night?"
"I have been hunting after an escaped Yankee prisoner-a gun-boat officer."
"Did you catch him?" inquired Frank.
"No; but I caught two others. I chased this gun-boat fellow with blood-hounds; but when I overtook him, I found that he had been reinforced by half a dozen others, and I was obliged to retreat. The scoundrels killed Colonel Acklen and one of his men, and the best blood-hound in Louisiana."
"Where are the prisoners you captured?" inquired Frank, hardly able to suppress his exultation at finding himself face to face with one of the men who had hunted him with blood-hounds.
"Oh, I left them at the back of the plantation, one of my men is keeping guard over them; but there is scarcely any need of that, for the Yankees are securely bound."
"They are, eh!" exclaimed Frank, who could restrain himself no longer. "Well, here is a Yankee who is not bound, and never intends to be;" and he raised his rifle to his shoulder, and glanced along the clean, brown barrel. "I am the gun-boat fellow you were pursuing with blood-hounds. So, if you wish to live five minutes longer, don"t attempt to make any resistance."
The rebel was taken so completely by surprise that he could not utter a word, but sat on his horse as motionless and dumb as though he had been suddenly turned into a statue.
"Come down off that horse!" commanded his captor.
The rebel obeyed, without hesitation.
"Now, have you got any dangerous weapons about you?" inquired Frank.
"Tell the truth, now, for your life isn"t worth a picayune."
"Yes," answered the rebel, "I have a revolver and a Bowie-knife;" and he raised his hand to his breast pocket.
"Hands down! hands down!" exclaimed Frank; "I want to examine your pockets myself;" and he stepped forward and relieved the rebel of a Bowie-knife, a revolver, several cartridges, a flint and steel, and some papers. These, with the exception of the revolver, he laid carefully on the ground, and placed his rifle beside them. "Now," continued Frank, "it would be a great accommodation if you would trade uniforms with me. The people in this part of the country don"t seem to like Uncle Sam"s clothes very well. Come out of that coat."
The rebel hesitated to obey.
"Come out of that coat, Lieutenant Somers," repeated Frank, slowly; and he raised his revolver until it was on a line with his captive"s head.
The sight of his own weapon, whose qualities he probably knew full well, brought the rebel to his senses, and he quickly divested himself of his coat.
"Now, pull off those pants," commanded his captor.
The rebel obeyed; and Frank continued, as he divested himself of his own clothes: "Now, if you wish, you can put on these."
The rebel had no other alternative, and he slowly donned the naval uniform, while Frank quickly converted himself into a fine-looking rebel lieutenant. He then carefully pocketed the articles which he had taken from the rebel, with the exception of the papers.