"What kind of a fellow are you, anyhow?" exclaimed Mr. Westall, who stood by listening. "Do you mean to say that you have come up here, intending to ride through these turbulent settlements, without bringing along something to defend yourself with?"
"That is the most dangerous article I have about me," answered Rodney, putting his hand into his pocket and drawing out the big jack-knife Lieutenant Odell had given him the day before he left home. At the same time he wondered what the Emergency man would have said and done if he had been aware that the boy to whom he was talking had brought a revolver with him, and that he had given it to Tom Percival to defend himself in case he was attacked.
"I never heard of a more foolish piece of business," exclaimed Mr. Westall, with an air which said very plainly that he had no patience with such a fellow as Rodney Gray was. "What sort of people did you think you were going to meet, I should like to know. I suppose you have heard that there are Northern sympathizers in this State, and that they are about the meanest folks you will find on top of the earth?"
"I have heard all about it; but I supposed that I should find our own people in the majority. This is a Southern State, isn"t it?"
"In some places they are in the majority and in some they are not," replied Mr. Westall. "Of course this is a Southern State; but don"t you know that those Dutchmen in St. Louis have gone back on Governor Jackson, and that he and the members of the legislature have had to run for their lives? Why, boy, you may be called upon to defend yourself in less than an hour after we leave you. Got a revolver to spare, Jeff?"
"Aint got none of that sort," replied the wood-cutter. "There aint nothing but rifles in the shanty."
"Then I shall be obliged to let you have one of mine," said the Emergency man, taking a belt down from a peg beside the door, and drawing an ancient Colt from one of the holsters. "I may be able to replace it some time or other; but whether I am or not, you mustn"t think of starting for Springfield without a weapon where you can put your hand on it. It is rather large and heavy for your pocket and you have no belt; so you will have to shove it into your boot leg. That"s as handy a place to carry it as any I know of."
When both parties are willing to trade it does not take them long to come to an understanding, and in a very short time some of Rodney"s gold went into Mr. Westall"s pocket, and the revolver into the leg of the boy"s boot. In ten minutes more the horses had been brought out of the yard and prepared for the journey, Rodney placing his own saddle and bridle on his new steed, and leaving Tom"s for Jeff to dispose of in any way he saw proper.
"I reckon I"m just that much ahead of the hounds," said the wood-cutter, with a grin. "That hoss-thief won"t never dare to come after his saddle, and mebbe it"ll bring me in a few dollars for tobacker. Farewell, and be sure and drop in as often as you come this way. Look out for yourself, you Louisanner feller."
The path that ran through the woods to the big road leading from Cape Girardeau to Lesterville, the place where Rodney"s companions would take leave of him and turn toward Ironton, was all of three miles long, and so narrow that they were obliged to ride in a single file. Mr. Westall remarked, with a careless laugh, that it was a good thing for them that the people living in the vicinity were mostly Confederates, for the woods on each side of the path were thick, and would afford the nicest kind of cover for a bushwhacking party.
"I suppose there are plenty of Union people between here and your settlement?" observed Rodney.
"Lots of "em; and they are not only dead shots, but they know every hog path in the woods and are as sneaking and sly as so many Indians. They"ll fight, too. We know that to be a fact, for we"ve got some of them for near neighbors."
"Then perhaps it is just as well that you have me instead of Percival with you," said Rodney. "If you had taken him a prisoner to Pilot k.n.o.b, what a.s.surance have you that you would not have been bushwhacked on the way?"
"None whatever; but we would have been willing to take our chances on it."
The Emergency man spoke carelessly enough, but Rodney noticed that he had not neglected to make preparations for a fight. The single revolver his belt contained had been transferred to the night holster, and the strap that usually pa.s.sed over the hammer to keep the weapon in place, had been unb.u.t.toned so that the heavy Colt could be drawn in an instant. This made Rodney feel rather uneasy. Perhaps he would not have been so very frightened at the prospect of a fair stand-up fight, but the fear that somebody might cut loose on him or some member of his party with a double-barrel shotgun before any of them knew there was danger near, was more than his nerves could stand. He was glad when they left the woods behind and rode out into the highway; but it wasn"t half an hour before he had occasion to tell himself that when the Emergency men took leave of him and turned off toward their own settlement, the woods would be the safest place for him. They were riding along two abreast, Mr. Westall and Rodney leading the way, when, as they came suddenly to a narrow cross-road, they found themselves face to face with a long-haired, unkempt native mounted on the leanest, hungriest mule Rodney had ever seen. He rode bare-back, his spine bent almost in the form of a half circle, his body swaying back and forth, and with every step his beast took he pounded its sides with the heels of his boots-not with the object of inducing the mule to quicken its pace, but because the motion had become a habit with him. He was surprised and startled when he found himself so close to the Emergency men, and partly raised the muzzle of the heavy double-barrel shotgun he carried in front of him; but a second glance seemed to relieve his fears, for he grinned broadly, and waited for the hors.e.m.e.n to come up.
"Wal, ye got him, didn"t ye?" said he; and the words went far to confirm the fear that had haunted Rodney Gray ever since he found that Tom Percival had gone off with the roan colt, leaving his own well-advertised horse behind him. This ignorant backwoodsman, who didn"t look as though he knew enough to go in when it rained, had recognized the horse the moment he put his eyes on him.
"Oh, this isn"t the man at all, Mister-a-I declare I have disremembered your name," exclaimed Mr. Westall.
"I don"t reckon ye ever knowed it, kase I never seed hide nor hair of none of ye afore this day," replied the native, with another grin. "But it"s Swanson, if it will do ye any good to hear it. I live back here in the bresh about a couple of milds."
"How does it come that you are so prompt to recognize us if you never saw us before?" inquired Rodney.
"Oh, I hearn tell that there was some of Jeff Thompson"s men riding through the kentry looking for a hoss-thief, and I knowed the hoss when I seen him. But ye say this aint the thief," answered the native, with an inquiring glance at Mr. Westall.
"That was what I said," replied the Emergency man. "He is a friend of ours, belongs to Price, and you want to take a good look at him and the horse too, so that you will know them again if you happen to meet them anywhere on the road."
And then Mr. Westall went on to tell who Tom Percival was and where he lived, not forgetting to lay a good deal of stress on the statement that he was not only a strong Union man, but a horse-thief as well. This made Rodney angry, but of course he couldn"t help himself.
"You want to keep a bright lookout for a young fellow in his stocking feet, riding a bareback roan colt," said the Emergency man, in conclusion. "If you fall in with such a chap, you will make something by bringing him to Pilot k.n.o.b settlement and asking for Mr. Westall."
"I"ll keep them words in mind," replied the native, urging the mule forward by digging him in the ribs with his boot heels.
"You"ll have to look in the woods for him," observed the man Harvey. "It isn"t at all likely that he will keep the road in daylight when he hasn"t a thing to defend himself with."
"I aint thinking about that any more"n I am about him having no boots on," said the Missourian, looking back over his shoulder. "There"s plenty of mean folks in this kentry that"ll give him we"pons and clothes for the asking. If I can"t get the drop on to him, I won"t say a word to him."
"This is just what I was afraid of," Rodney remarked, when the man had pa.s.sed out of hearing. "Every one who meets me on the road will look upon me with suspicion, and perhaps I had better take to the woods myself."
"Don"t think of it," answered Mr. Westall, hastily. "You would be sure to lose your way and stand a fine chance of being bushwhacked besides. You will find that the boldest course is the best; and that"s dangerous enough, goodness knows," he added, in an undertone.
When the party halted for dinner the scene we have just described was re-enacted. Before any of them had a chance to say a word the planter at whose gate they stopped began abusing Rodney in the strongest language he could command; and he was such a rapid talker that he succeeded in saying a good many harsh things before Mr. Westall and his companions could stop him. When he was made to understand that he had committed a blunder, and that the boy was as good a Confederate as he was himself, the planter was profuse in his apologies.
"Alight," said he, giving Rodney his hand and almost pulling him out of his saddle. "I"m sorry for what I said, but that horse made me suspicion you. I wouldn"t ride him through the country for all the money there is in Missoury. You"d best give up trying to find Price and jine in with Thompson"s men. You won"t have to go so far to find "em."
Rodney had thought of that, but there was d.i.c.k Graham! He could not give up the hope of finding his old schoolmate and serving out his year with him.
After the planter had given the Emergency men a good dinner he brought out writing materials, and Mr. Westall proceeded to write the letter he had promised to give Rodney, and which he hoped would be the means of taking him safely through to Springfield. He and all his friends, the planter included, signed it, and the boy tucked it into his boot leg.
"You may be sure that I shall not show it to any Union man," said the latter, with a smile. "It would hang me."
When they pa.s.sed through the little settlement of Lesterville about three o"clock that afternoon, Rodney and the horse he rode attracted attention on every hand. All the farmers in the country for miles around seemed to have flocked into town to discuss the latest news, and the streets were full of loungers, every one of whom stared at the party and had something to say regarding the boy, who was supposed to be a prisoner. On two or three occasions Mr. Westall thought it prudent to stop and explain the situation; and every time he did so, the loungers came running from all directions to hear about it. Some of them thought that Tom Percival had played a regular Yankee trick on Rodney in running off with the roan colt and leaving him a stolen horse to ride, and advised him to look out for himself. The story that Mr. Westall and his friends had circulated about Tom seemed to have made every one his enemy.
"I suppose you think every man we have been talking to is a Jackson man, don"t you?" said Mr. Westall, when they had left the settlement behind and reached the open country once more. "Well, they aint. I saw some Union men listening to what we said, and if they see a roan colt and a boy without any boots on, they"ll halt them and give them aid and comfort."
"I am very glad to hear that," said Rodney to himself. "Tom needs help, if any one ever did, and I hope he will get it. It"s going to be ticklish business steering clear of Union men, is it not!" he said, aloud.
Mr. Westall thought it was, but still he did not have very much to say about it, for since Rodney was resolved to go on, he did not want to discourage him. As his journey progressed he would learn all about the obstacles and dangers that lay in his course, and when they came, he would have to surmount or get around them the best way he could. A mile or so farther on they came to another crossroad, and there Mr. Westall drew rein and held out his hand to Rodney.
"Our course lies off that way," said he, "and we must bid you good-by. You"ve got money and letters, and know as much about the road ahead of you and the people who live on it as we know ourselves. Is there anything we can do for you that you think of?"
"Not a thing, thank you," replied the boy, as he shook hands with each of the Emergency men. "You have been very kind, and I believe the advice and information you have given me will take me safely through. Good-by; and whenever you hear that Price has whipped the Yankees, you may know that I was there to help him do it."
"That"s the right spirit, anyway. I like your pluck, and if we see you again, we shall expect to see you wearing an officer"s uniform."
The Emergency men lifted their hats and galloped off down the cross-road, and Rodney Gray was left alone in a strange country, and with letters on "his person that would compromise him with any party of men into whose company he chanced to fall. There was Tom"s horse, too. The animal was bound to bring his rider into trouble of some sort, for of course a description of him had been carried through the country for miles in advance. He felt savage toward the innocent beast which was carrying him along in an easy foxtrot, and bitterly hostile toward Tom Percival who had blundered into his way when he was least expecting to see him.
"Why didn"t he stay in his own part of the State where he belonged?" thought Rodney, spitefully. "I hope to goodness the Yankees-but after all it was my own fault, for didn"t I hand him that stick and give him the only revolver I had? And he couldn"t have got his own horse out of that yard without arousing the dogs. It"s all right, and I won"t quarrel with Tom Percival."
To Rodney"s great relief he did not meet a man that afternoon (no doubt the farmers had all gone into town to talk politics with their neighbors), but there were plenty of womenfolks in the houses along the road, and they had their full share of curiosity. They flocked to the doors and windows and looked closely at him as he pa.s.sed, and Rodney knew well enough that the men would hear all about him when they came home at night.
When darkness came on Rodney Gray began to realize the helplessness of his position. It was time he was looking for a place to stay all night, but what should he say to the farmer to whom he applied for supper and lodging? If he told the truth and declared himself to be a Confederate, and the farmer chanced to belong to the opposite side, or if he tried to pa.s.s himself off for a Unionist and the farmer proved to be a red-hot Jackson man:
"Ay, there"s the rub," thought Rodney, looking down at the ground in deep perplexity. "There"s where the difficulty comes in, and I don"t know how to decide it."
He was not called upon to decide the matter that night, for while these thoughts were pa.s.sing through his mind, a voice a short distance in advance of him began shouting:
"Pig-g-e-e! pig-g-i-i! pig-g-o-o!" And a chorus of squeals and grunts, followed by a rush in the bushes at the side of the road, told him that the call had been heard, and that the farmer"s hogs were making haste to get their supper of corn. Before Rodney could make up his mind whether to stop or keep on, his horse brought him from behind the bushes which had covered his approach, and the boy found himself within less than twenty feet of a man in his shirt-sleeves, who stopped his shouting and stood with an ear of corn uplifted in his hand.
"Evening," said Rodney, who saw that it was useless to retreat.
"I"ll be dog-gone!" said the man, throwing the ear of corn with unerring aim at the head of the nearest porker and beckoning to Rodney with both hands. "Come out of the road. Come up behind the bresh and be quick about it."
Rodney obeyed, lost in wonder; but as he rode across the shallow ditch that ran between the road and the fence behind which the farmer stood, he did not neglect to give his right leg a shake to loosen his revolver, which during his long ride had worked its way down into his boot. Of course the farmer had made a mistake of some kind, and Rodney was rather anxious to learn what he would do when he found it out.