"I brung her in."
"You"re just the man I"m looking for," returned the officer. Then turning to a Sergeant who had just come up at the end of a squad, he said:
"Here, Sergeant, take charge of this citizen and this cow, and bring them both up to Army Headquarters. Don"t let that citizen get away from you. He"s a slick one."
As they moved off. Shorty bolted into the crib and shouted:
"Great Jehosephat, Si, that dad of your"n "s a goner! He"s got nerve that looms up like Lookout Mountain! He"s a genius! He"s got git-up and git to spare! What do you think he done last night? Walked up to Gen.
Rosecrans"s Headquarters, and stole the General"s cow right from under the noses o" the Headquarters Guards, and brung her down here and milked her. Did you ever hear o" sich snap? I only wisht that me and you was half the man that he is, old as he is. The only trouble is that he isn"t as good a hider as he is on the take. They"ve dropped on to him, and they"re now takin" him up to Headquarters. But he"ll find some way to git off. There"s no end to that man. And to think that we"ve bin playin"
him right along for a hayseed."
And Shorty groaned in derision of his own ac.u.men.
"Pop stole Gen. Rosecrans"s cow from Headquarters? They"ve arrested him and are taking him up there?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Si in amazement. "I don"t believe a word of it."
"Well, the cow was here. He brung her here last night, and owned up to it. He milked her, and you drunk some of the milk. The Provost-Guard"s now walkin" the cow and him up to Headquarters. These are early mornin"
facts. You kin believe what you dumbed please."
"Pap arrested and taken to Army Headquarters," groaned Si, in deepest anxiety. "What in the world will they do with him?"
"O, don"t worry," said Shorty cheerfully.
"Your dad ain"t as green as you are, if he has lived all his life on the Wabash. He"s as fly as you make "em. He"s fixin" up some story as he goes along that"ll git him out of the sc.r.a.pe slick as a whistle. Trust him."
"Shorty," said Si severely, "my father don"t fix up stories. Understand that. He"s got some explanation for this. Depend upon it."
"They call it explanation when it gits a feller out, and blamed lie when it don"t," muttered Shorty to himself, as he went out again, to follow the squad as far as he could with his eyes. "Anyway, I"ll bet on the Deacon."
The squad arrived before Headquarters, and the officer dismounted and went in. Early as it was he found the indefatigable Rosecrans at work with his staff and clerks.
"General, I"ve found your cow, and got the man who took her," said the officer.
"Good," said the General joyfully. "Now we"ll have some fresh milk again. I can give up anything cheerfully, rather than fresh milk. Say you"ve got the thief, too?" continued the General, relapsing into one of his testy moods. "Put the rascal at the hardest labor you can find. I"ll give him a lesson that stealing from Headquarters don"t pay. The rascals in my army seem to think that I and everything I have belongs to them as much as it does to me. But I"ll draw the line at my cow and my horses.
They can steal everything else but them. Hold on a minute. I"ll go out and see if it"s really my cow."
"Yes, that is she; glad to see you back, Missy," said the General, patting the cow on the back. "Take her back and give her a good feed, if you can find it, for probably she"s pretty hungry."
Then turning to the Deacon:
"You old rascal, you"ll steal the General"s cow, will you? Fond of thorobred stock, are you? And a citizen, too. Well, I"ll see whether a month of hard work on the fortifications won"t cure you of your fancy for blooded cattle."
"Look here, Gen. Rosecrans," said the Deacon firmly, "I didn"t steal your cow, and I won"t allow you nor no other man to say so. I"m an honest man, or at least I"ve always pa.s.sed for one at home. I was out over the river yesterday, tryin" to git a hoss back to his owner, and a Captain of a cavalry company come along and took my hoss away, and give me this cow in exchange. He said his men"d got the cow down the road apiece, and that"s all I know of her."
"A very likely story," sneered several of the staff.
"Let me see," said the General, who prided himself on remembering names and faces. "Haven"t I met you before? Aren"t you from Indiana?"
"Yes, sir; from Posey County."
"And you"ve got a son in one of the regiments?"
"Yes, sir. Corporal Si Klegg, Co. Q, 200th Injianny Volunteers. Him and his partner Shorty wuz badly wounded, and I come down here to take care of "em. I"ve bin moseyin" around out in the country tryin" to find something for "em to eat, and the other day I--borryed a hoss, which I was tryin" to take back, when this cavalry Captain come along, and tuk the hoss away from me and give me this cow instid. I hadn"t no idee where he got her, and he didn"t give me time to ask, for he started on the jump after some guerrillas."
"I shouldn"t wonder if his story is true, General," said a member of the staff. "You see, your cow has been gone really two days. Day before yesterday we sent Blue Jim out into the country with her. She needed it awfully. We laid the law down to Blue Jim about being very careful with her and keep her near the road. It seems that he found a good piece of meadow, and turned her loose in it, but then, n.i.g.g.e.r like, he forgot all that we had told him about staying light alongside of her, and wandered off to gather persimmons, and afterward fell asleep in a fence-corner.
When he woke up the cow was gone, and he was scared nearly to death. He hunted around for her all day, and came in last night nearly starved to death, and whimpering and blubbering. We told him that you would order him shot as soon as you found out. He has been to see the Chaplain twice, to prepare for death."
"So?" said the General, smiling. "Well, Mr.-- Mr.-- I did know your name once--"
"Klegg, Josiah Klegg," answered the Deacon promptly.
"Yes; how stupid of me to forget it. Well, Mr. Klegg, I"m very much obliged to you for finding my cow and bringing her home. You"ve got a very fine son--splendid soldier. How is he getting along?"
"Tollably well, General, thank you. Look here, General, please let me take those boys home. If you will, I"ll send "em back to you in a few weeks good as new. All they need is mother"s cookin" and mother"s nursin" to bring "em right out. And I want to go home, too. The army is demoralizin" me. I guess I"m gittin" old, and "m not as strong to resist sin and the suggestions of sin as I once was. I"m gittin" scared of myself down here."
"It"s pretty hard work getting back now," said the General. "Do you think you can do it, if I give you leave?"
"O, yes. Jest give the order, and I"ll get the boys and myself back home, sure"s you"re livin"."
"Very well," said the General; "you shall have the chance." He turned to one of his staff and said:
"Look into this matter. If the Surgeon thinks they can be moved, have furloughs and transportation made out for them and the father. Good-by, Mr. Klegg. Take good care of those boys, and send them back to me as soon as they are well."
CHAPTER IV. THE DEACON"S PLAN
DEALING WITH AN OBSTRUCTION TO THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY.
THE Surgeon, who had conceived quite a good opinion of the Deacon"s ability, readily certified that the boys could be safely taken home, since they would have the benefit of his care and attention, and the necessary papers came down from Headquarters that day. The Deacon had the good luck to find his old friend, the Herd-Boss, who took a deep interest in the matter. He offered to have as good a team as he had at the crib the next morning, with the wagon-bed filled with cedar-boughs, to make as easy a couch as possible for the rough ride over the mountains.
With his heart full of hope and joy, the Deacon bustled around to make every possible preparation for the journey.
"It"s a long way back home, I know," he said to himself, "and the road"s rough and difficult as that to the New Jerusalem; but Faith and Hope, and the blessin" o" G.o.d"ll accomplish wonders. If I kin only hold the souls in them boys" bodies till I kin git "em back to Bean Blossom Crick, I"ll trust Mother Klegg"s nursin" to do the rest. If there ever was a woman who could stand off the Destroyin" Angel by good nursin"
that woman"s Mother Klegg, bless her soul."
The next morning he was up betimes, and cooked the boys as good a breakfast as he could out of the remainder of his store and what he could get from the hospital, and then gave what was left to whoever came. The comfortable crib, which had cost the Deacon so much labor, had been pre-empted by the Surgeon for some of his weakest patients.
The news had reached the 200th Ind. that the boys were going home, and they came over in a body to say "Good-by."
The sight of them pained the Deacon"s good heart. Instead of the hundreds of well-fed, well-clothed, comfortable-looking young men he had seen at Murfreesboro a few months before, he now saw a shrunken band of gaunt, unkempt men, their clothing ragged and patched, many of them almost shoeless, many of them with pieces of blankets bound around their feet instead of shoes, many of them with bandages about their still unhealed wounds, but still keeping their places bravely with their comrades, and stubbornly refusing to count themselves among the sick and disabled, though it required all their will-power to do their share of the duty. But all of them were br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with unconquerable cheerfulness and pluck. They made light of their wounds and disabilities, jested at one another"s ragged clothes, laughed at their hunger, teased one another about stealing corn from mules, jeered at the rebel sh.e.l.ls from Lookout Mountain, yelled derisively at the rebel pickets across the creek, and promised them to soon come out and run Bragg"s army off the face of the earth.
All were eager to do something toward the comfort of their departing comrades. They scanned the arrangement of the boughs in the wagon with critical eyes, and picked them over and rearranged them, so as to avoid every chance of uncomfortable knots and lumps. They contributed blankets from their own scanty supply, to make sure that there would be plenty, and so many were eager to help carry Si out and put him in the wagon, that the Orderly-Sergeant of Co. Q had to take charge of the matter and make a detail. The teamster was given strong admonitions as to careful driving, and fearful warning as to what would happen to him in case of an accident.
"Hain"t anything to send back home with you, boys, this time, but our love," said one of them. "That"s the only thing that"s safe now-a-days from bein" stole, because no one kin eat or wear it. Tell the folks to pay no attention to what the paper says. No danger o" bein" run out o"
Chattanoogy. Tell "em that we"re all fat, ragged and sa.s.sy, and only waitin" the word from Gen. Rosecrans to fall on old Bragg like a thousand o" brick and mash the lights outen him."
"Yes," joined another, "tell "em we"ve got plenty to eat, sich as it is, and good enough, what there is of it. Don"t worry about us. We"re only blowin" up our muscle to git a good lick at old Bragg."
"Your muscle," said Shorty, satirically. "You"ve got about as much muscle now as a musketo. But you"re good stuff all the same, and you"re goin" to everlastingly lick the rebels when the time comes. I only wisht I was here to help you do it. I don"t think I"ll go any further than Nashville. I"ll be well enough to come back by that time. I"ll see Si and his father off safely, and then gether up a crowd of other convalescents, and come back and clean the rebels off your cracker line."