CAUGHT
Sharply bidding the black man remain where he was Noel again peered into the road behind him and listened intently. There was no disguising the fact that men were approaching. Doubtless a part of the force which had been stationed in the road were aware of the corduroy way and had ventured to follow the fugitives, confident that they could find no escape from the place.
The venture on the part of the Confederate soldiers was one that tested their courage. The darkness had deepened, and it was well-nigh impossible to distinguish the body of a motionless man from the trunk of one of the near-by trees. There were strange noises in the swamp, too.
There was the flapping of unseen wings and the scurrying and calls of unseen birds, but in spite of all these things there was no doubt now in the mind of Noel Curtis that some men were approaching from the rear.
"Dat"s de only way," whispered Long John excitedly. "Dere"s no oder way outen de swamp. We des" got toe go back. Maybe Ma.s.sa Little Ben Fowler isn"t dere any mo" now."
Influenced by the positive manner of the grotesque negro, without a protest both Noel and Dennis followed him as he led the way in the direction from which he himself recently had come.
Striving to move noiselessly, at the same time the young soldiers did their utmost to advance rapidly. Occasionally some decayed log broke under their feet, but there was no other sound to reveal their presence.
Repeatedly the three fugitives glanced behind them, and then fearful of what might be before them glanced frequently in that direction. Long John was the only member of the band who apparently was unmoved by the excitement, a fact which was difficult for Noel to understand, inasmuch as when first he had seen the tall, awkward slave, it was the terror of the black man at his unexpected presence that had most impressed him.
The flight had continued not more than ten minutes before the young soldiers arrived at the end of the road.
"There"s somebody here," whispered Noel, as he grasped Dennis by the arm and all three fugitives halted.
"Yis, sor, that"s true for shure," replied Dennis in a whisper so loud that Noel warningly again grasped his arm.
It was too dark to enable the boys to determine just how many were in the waiting band. It was believed, however, that there were at least twenty. Perhaps there was another little force also approaching. The two boys in blue were caught between the two bands, and their only way of escape was through the swamp. A hasty inspection, however, convinced both boys that escape in that way was impossible. Even in the dim light they were able to see the water which covered the soft ground, and it was plain that if either of them should step upon the perilous footing he might be in greater danger than he would be compelled to face if he should be caught between the two little bands of their enemies.
Abruptly the lanky negro broke in upon the silence by calling loudly, "Is dat yo", Ma.s.sa Little Ben Fowler?"
There was silence for a moment, and then the reply came from some one whom the boys could not distinguish from the body of the men. "Is that yo" all, Long John?"
"Yas, suh. Yas, suh."
"Are yo" alone?"
"No, suh. No, suh. Dere"s two gen"lmen with me."
"Bring them out."
"Yas, suh. Yas, suh," repeated Long John, though he made his way so speedily to the more solid road that under other circ.u.mstances Noel might have laughed.
As it was, however, both boys were aware, or at least they now suspected, that the negro had been sent out by the rebels either to gain information or to serve as a decoy for any of the straggling soldiers.
There was, however, apparently no way of escape. In front of them was the band of which Little Ben Fowler undoubtedly was a member; while from behind was approaching part of the force which had followed them into the swamp after the two young soldiers had gained the corduroy road.
Noel heard a smothered exclamation of anger from Dennis and he knew that the feeling of his companion was not unlike his own. However, it was impossible now, after the loud warning which Long John had given, for them to expect to escape.
Suddenly some one called to them from the border of the swamp, "Come out of there, Yanks! There isn"t any use in trying to get away. The corduroy is the only safe spot you"ll find on either side of the road; so come out and give yourselves up."
"All right," responded Noel, although, as he spoke, Dennis grasped him roughly by the shoulder as if he was protesting against the surrender.
"You keep still, Dennis," whispered Noel to his companion. "You leave this to me and I"ll see what can be done. We can"t get away, and we might as well make the best of a bad bargain. We"re coming," he again called aloud.
"Don"t try any of your Yankee tricks here," called the voice which had spoken before.
Noel made no response, and in silence the two young soldiers advanced and in a brief time found themselves in the presence of a score of men.
They saw that every one was clad in uniform, but it was impossible at first to determine to which side the men belonged. However, Noel was convinced that the words of Long John had explained who the men were, and in spite of the treachery of the negro he at once decided that he and Dennis must give themselves up.
"Who are you, Yanks?" demanded a man, speaking in a voice which the boys recognized as the one by which they had been addressed before.
"Step up yere and give an account of yo"selves."
Obediently, Noel and Dennis advanced, and even in the dim light they were able to see that the man who addressed them wore the uniform of an officer.
"We are two boys who belong to one of the New York regiments."
"Glad to see you," said the young officer laughingly. "I wish you were back home where you belong, but as you"re down here, I"m glad you met us. We"ll see that you go with the rest of the Yanks, and that you don"t do any more damage to our country. I"m surprised the Yankee soldiers don"t fight better."
The tone in which the officer spoke was almost bantering. Noel"s anger was aroused, but by an effort he restrained himself and said in a low voice, "You talk very bravely! You"ll get over your surprise pretty soon."
"It will have to be "pretty soon," I reckon," said the officer good-naturedly. "The Yanks have been running so fast and so far that they haven"t gotten their breath yet. About all we have to do nowadays is to chase the Yankee soldiers. They didn"t make a stand at Mana.s.sas either time. They ran from General Lee on the Peninsula, and now, though they have been running after him up here, they will dodge and run in the other direction the minute he turns around."
Noel Curtis was unable to reply to the bantering of his captor. It was true that thus far in the struggle the Army of the Potomac had not covered itself with glory. In Tennessee and Kentucky, too, at the time, the Federal forces were meeting with disaster after disaster, and to many of the faint-hearted supporters of the North it seemed almost as if the end had come.
"We sure are going to march straight to Philadelphia, and then you won"t be able to stop us before we get into New York and Boston. If we ever get inside Boston, we"ll show some of those fellows a trick or two that will teach them some things they don"t know now. If it hadn"t been for that city I don"t believe there would have been any war."
"You don"t?" demanded Noel, and in spite of his predicament, he was interested in what the young officer was saying.
"No, sir! No, sir! There certainly would not have been any war. The trouble was that Boston thought she not only could attend to her own business, but that she could direct the business of all the rest of us.
It"s a great thing, my son, for a man or for a city to be able to mind its own business. That"s what I say; the c.o.c.ksureness of the Yanks is so great that they think they can tell all the rest of the world how to act."
Noel was listening only in part to the words of the leader of the little band, from which already wild thoughts of escaping had presented themselves.
As neither of the young soldiers had been asked to give up his gun, there were thoughts in Noel"s mind of suddenly darting to one side of the road and trying to flee before the men were aware of his attempt.
But the folly of such an effort was so marked that Noel abandoned every such suggestion.
"You"ll come with us," said the young officer at last, his voice still not unfriendly.
Under other circ.u.mstances Noel knew that he would have been strongly attracted to the young officer, whom Long John had called "Ma.s.sa Little Ben Fowler."
That officer now turned to three of his men, and in a voice so low that Noel was unable to hear what was said gave them instructions as to what was to be done with the prisoners. Then, turning once more to the young soldiers, the leader said, "We"ll have to have yo" guns, Yanks. Yo" all are our prisoners, yo" know, and I cannot permit yo" to retain yo"
weapons. Yo" "ll follow these men," he added, indicating the three who had been detailed for the duty, "and they"ll take yo" where yo" all will be safe for the night, anyway. The rest of us will stay right yere by the corduroy road and see if we can"t catch some more Yanks in our trap."
Without a word Noel and Dennis, obediently giving up their rifles, turned and followed the men who had been detailed to conduct them to what the young officer had described as a "place of safety."
CHAPTER VIII
UNDER GUARD
Directly back to the road over which the young soldiers had come their conductors led the way. Both Noel and Dennis were silent, and the disappointment which had seized upon the young Irishman was so manifest that even in the dim light Noel was aware of the depression of his comrade.