"Ask the time of day?" The operator stared, but the instrument clicked.
"What"s your name?" asked Lightning.
"Woolums."
"Well, Woolums, you"re a "plug." I wanted to see how you handled the key. Yes, Woolums, you"re a plug."
Then Lightning seated himself, and Woolums" mouth flew open-Lightning copied his style with such exactness. Again the instrument clicked and Lightning listened, smiling:
"Will there be any danger coming to Midway?" asked a railroad conductor in Lexington. Lightning answered, grinning:
"None. Come right on. No sign of rebels here." Again a click from Lexington.
"General Ward orders General Finnell of Frankfort to move his forces. General Ward will move toward Georgetown, to which Morgan with eighteen hundred men is marching."
Lightning caught his breath-this was Morgan"s force and his intention exactly. He answered:
"Morgan with upward of two thousand men has taken the road to Frankfort. This is reliable." Ten minutes later, Lightning chuckled.
"Ward orders Finnell to recall his regiment to Frankfort."
Half an hour later another idea struck Lightning. He clicked as though telegraphing from Frankfort:
"Our pickets just driven in. Great excitement. Force of enemy must be two thousand."
Then Lightning laughed. "I"ve fooled "em," said Lightning.
There was turmoil in Lexington. The streets thundered with the tramp of cavalry going to catch Morgan. Daylight came and nothing was done-nothing known. The afternoon waned, and still Ward fretted at head-quarters, while his impatient staff sat on the piazza talking, speculating, wondering where the wily raider was. Leaning on the campus-fence near by were Chadwick Buford and Harry Dean.
It had been a sad day for those two. The mutual tolerance that prevailed among their friends in the beginning of the war had given way to intense bitterness now. There was no thrill for them in the flags fluttering a welcome to them from the windows of loyalists, for under those flags old friends pa.s.sed them in the street with no sign of recognition, but a sullen, averted face, or a stare of open contempt. Elizabeth Morgan had met them, and turned her head when Harry raised his cap, though Chad saw tears spring to her eyes as she pa.s.sed. Sad as it was for him, Chad knew what the silent torture in Harry"s heart must be, for Harry could not bring himself, that day, even to visit his own home. And now Morgan was coming, and they might soon be in a death-fight, Harry with his own blood-brother and both with boyhood friends.
"G.o.d grant that you two may never meet!"
That cry from General Dean was beating ceaselessly through Harry"s brain now, and he brought one hand down on the fence, hardly noticing the drop of blood that oozed from the force of the blow.
"Oh, I wish I could get away from here!"
"I shall the first chance that comes," said Chad, and he lifted his head sharply, staring down the street. A phaeton was coming slowly toward them and in it were a negro servant and a girl in white. Harry was leaning over the fence with his back toward the street, and Chad, the blood rushing to his face, looked in silence, for the negro was s...o...b..ll and the girl was Margaret. He saw her start and flush when she saw him, her hands giving a little convulsive clutch at the reins; but she came on, looking straight ahead. Chad"s hand went unconsciously to his cap, and when Harry rose, puzzled to see him bareheaded, the phaeton stopped, and there was a half-broken cry:
"Harry!"
Cap still in hand, Chad strode away as the brother, with an answering cry, sprang toward her.
When he came back, an hour later, at dusk, Harry was seated on the portico, and the long silence between them was broken at last.
"She-they oughtn"t to come to town at a time like this," said Chad, roughly.
"I told her that," said Harry, "but it was useless. She will come and go just as she pleases."
Harry rose and leaned for a moment against one of the big pillars, and then he turned impulsively, and put one hand lightly on the other"s shoulder.
"I"m sorry, old man," he said, gently.
A pair of heels clicked suddenly together on the gra.s.s before them, and an orderly stood at salute.
"General Ward"s compliments, and will Lieutenant Buford and Lieutenant Dean report to him at once?"
The two exchanged a swift glance, and the faces of both grew grave with sudden apprehension.
Inside, the General looked worried, and his manner was rather sharp.
"Do you know General Dean?" he asked, looking at Harry.
"He is my father."
The General wheeled in his chair.
"What!" he exclaimed. "Well-um-I suppose one of you will be enough. You can go."
When the door closed behind Harry, he looked at Chad.
"There are two rebels at General Dean"s house to-night," he said, quietly. "One of them, I am told--why, he must be that boy"s brother," and again the General mused; then he added, sharply:
"Take six good men out there right away and capture them. And watch out for Daws Dillon and his band of cut-throats. I am told he is in this region. I"ve sent a company after him. But you capture the two at General Dean"s."
"Yes, sir," said Chad, turning quickly, but the General had seen the lad"s face grow pale.
"It is very strange down here-they may be his best friends," he thought, and, being a kindhearted man, he reached out his hand toward a bell to summon Chad back, and drew it in again.
"I cannot help that; but that boy must have good stuff in him."
Harry was waiting for him outside. He knew that Dan would go home if it was possible, and what Chad"s mission must be.
"Don"t hurt him, Chad."
"You don"t have to ask that," answered Chad, sadly.
So Chad"s old enemy, Daws Dillon, was abroad. There was a big man with the boy at the Deans", General Ward had said, but Chad little guessed that it was another old acquaintance, Rebel Jerry Dillon, who, at that hour, was having his supper brought out to the stable to him, saying that he would sleep there, take care of the horses, and keep on the look-out for Yankees. Jerome Conners"s hand must be in this, Chad thought, for he never for a moment doubted that the overseer had brought the news to General Ward. He was playing a fine game of loyalty to both sides, that overseer, and Chad grimly made up his mind that, from one side or the other, his day would come. And this was the fortune of war-to be trotting, at the head of six men, on such a mission, along a road that, at every turn, on every little hill, and almost in every fence-corner, was stored with happy memories for him; to force entrance as an enemy under a roof that had showered courtesy and kindness down on him like rain, that in all the world was most sacred to him; to bring death to an old playmate, the brother of the woman whom he loved, or capture, which might mean a worse death in a loathsome prison. He thought of that dawn when he drove home after the dance at the Hunts" with the old Major asleep at his side and his heart almost bursting with high hope and happiness, and he ran his hand over his eyes to brush the memory away. He must think only of his duty now, and that duty was plain.
Across the fields they went in a noiseless walk, and leaving their horses in the woods, under the care of one soldier, slipped into the yard. Two men were posted at the rear of the house, one was stationed at each end of the long porch to command the windows on either side, and, with a sergeant at his elbow, Chad climbed the long steps noiselessly and knocked at the front door. In a moment it was thrown open by a woman, and the light fell full in Chad"s face.
"You-you-YOU!" said a voice that shook with mingled terror and contempt, and Margaret shrank back, step by step. Hearing her, Mrs. Dean hurried into the hallway. Her face paled when she saw the Federal uniform in her doorway, but her chin rose haughtily, and her voice was steady and most courteous:
"What can we do for you?" she asked, and she, too, recognized Chad, and her face grew stern as she waited for him to answer.
"Mrs. Dean," he said, half choking, "word has come to head-quarters that two Confederate soldiers are spending the night here, and I have been ordered to search the house for them. My men have surrounded it, but if you will give me your word that they are not here, not a man shall cross your threshold-not even myself."
Without a word Mrs. Dean stood aside.