There was no sign of life. Bruno, as he looked across the stream, gave a low, menacing growl, and his eyes shone like two coals of fire. The road, after crossing the bridge, was narrow, and ran between two hills, both thickly wooded.
"There"s something over there in the bushes," whispered Harry. "We"d better go back and report to the Captain."
They did so.
"We"ll wait until some of the command come up," said Lawrence.
They had not long to wait. A company of Merrill Horse that was leading the advance came in sight. To the Captain in command Lawrence explained his fear of an ambuscade in front. The company was halted, the men dismounted, and a skirmish line formed. The men were instructed to work their way carefully to the bank of the stream, but not to show themselves.
"I see nothing alarming over there," said the Captain of the company, as he swept the other side of the stream with his gla.s.s.
"There is something," said Lawrence. "I have just seen a bush tremble more than if stirred by the wind. That half-destroyed bridge is but a trap."
By this time more of the troop had come up, and had been halted. With them were a couple of pieces of artillery.
"We are losing valuable time," grumbled the Captain. "We"d better ride on, before McNeil gives us thunder."
"Not if I can prevent it," said Lawrence. "Bring up that artillery."
The two pieces were brought as close to the river as they could without being seen. The horses were then unhitched, and the pieces run forward by hand, so that a few yards more would bring them into view, and in a position where they could sweep the bushes on both sides of the road across the stream.
"Load with canister," ordered Lawrence. "When all is ready, I will order a volley fired across the river into the bushes. Wait for the returning volley, for I am sure it will come; then run up your pieces and sweep both sides of the road."
The skirmishers crept carefully forward, and at the word poured a volley into the bushes across the stream. The effect was electrical. The bushes seemed to burst into smoke and flame, and then came a crashing volley in return. Quick as thought, the two cannon were run forward and a storm of canister swept the bushes. There were howls of rage, curses and groans, and the guerrillas were in wild flight.
With cheers the men ran back, mounted their horses and started in pursuit, thinking the time had come for them to annihilate Porter and his gang.
Porter had planned well. A short distance from the bridge the road pa.s.sed through a narrow, rocky defile, and this was so obstructed that it took two hours to remove the obstructions so the command could pa.s.s through. Porter had left his horses on the other side of the obstruction, so when his men broke all they had to do was to make their way to their horses.
Porter did not try any more ambuscades. His only thought was to elude his pursuers and get away. He came nearly doing it, and for a day McNeil was in doubt as to which way he had gone--to the northwest or the north.
It was Lawrence and his scouts who brought the news. His report was: "Porter crossed the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad last night at Shelbina. He is said to be making for Kirksville, where he expects to be joined by the guerrilla bands of northwestern Missouri. His force is estimated at two thousand, which, I think, is an overestimate, but as he goes north, it is hourly increasing."
"I don"t care whether he has two thousand or five thousand; I am going to catch him and make him fight," said McNeil, grimly. The pursuit was once more taken up, the column headed for Kirksville.
There is only one county in Missouri north of the county in which Kirksville is situated. It was as far north as Porter could hope to go without being surrounded by enemies. Full of hope that he would be forced to give battle at Kirksville, McNeil pressed on.
So rapid was the pursuit that McNeil, as he neared Kirksville, could not bring over five hundred men into action. His trains and his men with broken-down horses had been left behind. All along the route Porter"s force had been reported as fully three thousand, but three thousand did not alarm McNeil, who had faith in his little army.
As the Federals approached Kirksville, Lawrence, who had been scouting, reported that Kirksville had been occupied by Porter, and that he had expelled the entire inhabitants of the place. His horses he had concealed in the brush west of the town.
"These facts," said Lawrence, "I have learned from the three prisoners I have here."
McNeil questioned the prisoners, but they were surly and would say nothing. The facts that Lawrence had learned were told him when they believed him to be one of their number. When undeceived and told to surrender, their surprise was only equalled by their chagrin.
In bringing them back, Lawrence noticed one of the prisoners stealthily throw away some papers. They were secured and found to be a parole and an oath of allegiance to the National Government.
"I"m sorry," said Lawrence, "but this fact must be reported to Colonel McNeil."[3]
[Footnote 3: This prisoner and fifteen others were afterwards executed by McNeil for the breaking of their paroles.]
It was a beautiful August morning when McNeil"s little army reached the outskirts of the village of Kirksville. To all appearances, they gazed upon a deserted town. If the angel of death had pa.s.sed over the place and had smitten every man, woman and child, it could not have been more silent, death-like. The hot sun beat down upon the streets and houses, but awoke no life. The stillness was unearthly, appalling. What did it mean?
"Can it be that Porter has slipped away without our knowing it?" asked McNeil.
"Impossible," answered Lawrence. "The whole guerrilla force is concealed in the stores and houses. They are hoping we will think the place unoccupied; then as we ride through the streets they can open fire and slaughter us without mercy."
"How can we find out where they are?" asked McNeil, rather anxiously.
Lawrence thought a moment, and then said: "Colonel, give me a few men and I will make a dash down the main street, and around the square. If they are hidden, we will surely draw their fire, and thus reveal their position."
McNeil looked at Lawrence in amazement. "Do you mean it?" he asked.
"I certainly do."
"Why, it would mean almost certain death--suicide."
"I am willing to try."
McNeil thought a moment and then said: "Captain, you must not do it. If you were one of my officers, I might consent; but with you it is different. You are on special duty from General Schofield. It is true you have acted as one of my aids, and as leader of my scouts, for which I am grateful. But for you to lead such a forlorn hope, I cannot--will not--permit such a sacrifice on your part."
Colonel Shaffer, of the Merrill Horse, who had been present during the conversation, now said: "Colonel, you are right. To permit Captain Middleton to do what he proposes would be a reflection on our command; especially would I consider it so on the Merrill Horse. I will make a detail, and lead the forlorn hope myself."
"No, you will not," cried three or four officers of his regiment, who had come up in time to hear his proposal. "Our Colonel leading as desperate an undertaking as that, and we looking on! Why, every mother"s son of us should be shot for cowardice. Detail one of us."
Shaffer looked upon his officers with pride. "It is just what I might have expected," he exclaimed, his voice trembling. "Lieutenant Coudrey, you spoke first. You may go if you wish; but mind, I don"t order you."
Coudrey saluted and said: "Colonel, I thank you. I need no order."
"How many men will you need, Lieutenant?" asked Shaffer.
"Eight, I think, will be enough. I do not wish to expose more than necessary."
Lieutenant Coudrey returned to his company, explained to them what was to be done, and added: "Not one that comes with me may ever come back. I want eight volunteers."
He looked up and down the line. For a moment there was not a sound. The men gazed into each others" faces blankly; and then, as if by common impulse, the whole company rode forward.
"G.o.d bless you, my men, my brave boys! I might have known it, but I cannot take you all. The first eight will do. That will save me choosing man by man."
History tells of great charges. Pickett"s charge at Gettysburg, and Hood"s at Franklin, will live as long as American history is written; but history tells nothing of these small affairs. Yet who will say that Lieutenant Coudrey and his eight men did not perform a braver deed than do men who, in the heat of battle, rush up to the mouth of the cannon?
It is the individual bravery, the scout and the skirmish, which make the romance of war.
All was ready, and as they started a thousand eyes followed them, and with bated breath their comrades watched them as they rode. Each carried a heavy revolver, that they might return the fire they would receive.
Down the street they rode at full speed, but not a shot was fired; the town lay still as dead. They reached the square. "Is it possible----"
exclaimed McNeil, but his speech was cut short. As the little squad turned to ride around the square, flashes of fire and little clouds of smoke burst from doors and windows of stores and houses. The village had suddenly come to life.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Down the street they rode at full speed.]