THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIVIL V['AR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 

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THE 
 
 THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. T. TROWBRIDGE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " CUDJO'S CAVE," " THE DRUMMER-BOY," ETC. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 J. E. TILTOX AND COMPANY. 
 
 1865. 
 
' Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 
 J. T. TROWBKIDGE, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY 
 
 C-. J. PETERS <fc SON 
 No. 13 Washington St. 
 
 PijESS OF Geo. C. Kand & Aveky. 
 
CON-TENTS. 
 
 I. • 
 
 A SPUTHEEN UNION MAN 7 
 
 II. 
 GOBBLED UP 19 
 
 III. 
 A STRANGE EIDE 27 
 
 lY. 
 
 •THE CONSCRIPT ...... , 34 
 
 Y. 
 THE MAN FROM THE NORTH 44 
 
 YI. 
 
 THE FORTUNES OF ENOS CRUMLETT .» 56 
 
 YII. 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE GUERILLAS 69 
 
 YIII. 
 OLD FRIENDS 78 
 
 603292 
 
4 CONTEXTS. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE RESCUE 
 
 X. 
 
 A CHA2s'CE FOR A SPECULATION 95 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE PEDDLER BOY 110 
 
 • XII. 
 
 CARL'S ADVEXTUTIE 11.'2 
 
 XIII. 
 
 p:nos falls ixto temptation 132 
 
 XI Y. 
 
 POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT 112 
 
 XY. 
 
 FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF 152 
 
 t 
 
 XYI. 
 
 WHAT BECAME OF FRED 164 
 
 XYII. 
 WHAT HAPPENED TO POMP AND OTHERS 170 
 
 X Y I I I . 
 THE KIDNAPPER'S PASS 180 
 
 XIX. 
 
 A DANGEROUS LEAP .- 186 
 
CONTENTS. 6 
 
 XX. 
 
 FRED MAKES ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO 195 
 
 XXI. 
 A TALK IN THE DARK 209 
 
 XXII. 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. — THE MORNING " 218* 
 
 XXIII. 
 OLD COMRADES, AND THEIR ADVENTURES 229 
 
 XXIV. 
 THE MAN IN THE CASK 245 
 
 XXY. 
 MR. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITUTE 250 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 A STRANGE MEETING 4 262 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 FLIGHT AND FLTISUIT 271 
 
 XXVIII. 
 THE DISCOVERY 279 * 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 OLD JOEL'S HATCHET 289 
 
 XXX. 
 
 DANIELS 302 
 
 1* 
 
6 CONTEXTS. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 THE COUET-MARTIAL 320 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 A CAPTURE AN'D AX ESCAPE 329 
 
 XXXIII. 
 THE rmST ATTACK 336 
 
 XXXIY. 
 
 INDIAN WAEFAKE 349 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 TO NASHVILLE. — A SURPRISE 3G3 
 
 X X X Y I . 
 
 THE SPY - 371 
 
THE THREE SCOUTS, 
 
 I. 
 
 A SOUTHERN UNION MAN. 
 
 N the borders of a deserted estate belonging to 
 a wealthy secessionist, some Federal pickets were 
 one evening making themselves at home. 
 Around them were all the evidences of desolating war, — 
 neglected fields, demolished fences, and orchards converted 
 into stump-lots. In their front, stretching southward, was a 
 wild region of wooded ridges, concealing, not far off, the 
 rebel outposts, and threaded by daring scouts of both armies 
 by night and day. A few miles distant, in the opposite 
 direction, was. the city of Nashville, beautiful in the sunset- 
 light, its lofty capitol gilded with faint gold, and its church- 
 spires pointing heavenward as peacefally as if the din of war 
 had never been heard in the land. 
 
8 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 It was early in the month of December, 18G2, wben 
 tlie Army of the Cumberland under Rosecrans, and the 
 rebel army under Bragg, confronted each other. The nights 
 were chill, and the soldiers were kindling a fii-e in some 
 confiscated rails. 
 
 " Pile on the sticks, boys ! Rebel fences" make good 
 Union fires ! " said a tall fellow, stretching himself comfort- 
 ably upon the gi'ound. 
 
 *' Pile 'em on yom-self, Jake/' querulously said the oldest 
 of the party, — too old to be called a boy (the others named 
 him "Old Joel"), but that all were *'boys" in the regi- 
 ment, " You needn't lay there, and tell the rest on us what 
 to do." 
 
 " That's always Jake's way," said the youngest of the 
 group, — a boy indeed, scarcely sixteen yeai's of age, with 
 almost too tender a young face for the rough company he was 
 in. "I knew him at home. ' Lazy Jake ' is his name 
 there. He always showed a fine talent for lying down, and 
 telling others what to do." 
 
 "How happened it, then," said Jake, laughing good-na- 
 turedly, " that I raised such crops on my place? " 
 
 " Crops? You did raise the noblest crop of weeds ever / 
 saw ! I remember a gi'ovc of pig-weeds right before your 
 front door, about as tall as those cedai's. You'd ^iavep||. 
 
A SOUTHERN UN'ION MAN. 9 
 
 laughed, boys, to see how carefully he used to walk around 
 them, rather than take the trouble to pull them up ! " 
 
 ** I didn't raise any corn, did I, Fred ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and your mother used to hoe it while you were loaf- 
 ing about the tavern." Jake winced at this severe hit, and 
 looked sharply at the merry youngster who was exposing him 
 so unmercifully. " The way you used to get it husked was 
 to make a bee, and invite us young fellows to come and help 
 you, then tell stories and sing songs to keep us amused till the 
 work was done. He could work, though, boys, if he was a 
 mind to. He used to think every thing of Cy, and go over 
 and lounge in the fields where he was ploughing or mowing. 
 But Cy wouldn't have him around, unless he would help ; 
 so he used to make him diive the horses, or spread the hay 
 after him, to pay for his company. My mother used to say, 
 * Jake Evarts had rather work for Cy Thm'ston for nothing, 
 than for himself for a dollar a day.' " 
 
 Jake blushed fiery red, and raised himself upon his elbow ; 
 his hps parting and his eyes kindhng. But when he saw 
 Fred's innocent, laughing face, his resentment cooled ; or else 
 he was too lazy, as old Joel suggested, even to get angry in 
 earnest. * 
 
 " Fred is young," said Jake, his lips relaxing with an in- 
 dulgent smile. "He is privileged to say just what he 
 
10 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 pleases ; and you can believe just as much of what he says as 
 you like." 
 
 " If they don't believe me, they can ask Cy," said Fred. 
 " There he comes now ! " 
 
 ** With a reg'lar Southern Union man alonp; with him ! " 
 said old Joel sarcastically. " That's a fire-eater that's 
 taken the oath, I'll bet my rations. Always know them 
 chaps ; and I'd give about as much for their patriotism as 
 I would for the fui- that grows on a rail." 
 
 " Hello, Cy ! what you got there? " said Jake with lan- 
 guid curiosity. 
 
 " Oh ! only a secessionist I've picked up. The last of an 
 unlucky family ; all been killed before him ; he's been 
 spared till now on account of his tender years; but the 
 necessities of the service, you know, boys! Ain't he a 
 handsome feller?" And Cy showed proudly, not the 
 stranger at his side, but a pig which he had speared, 
 and brought away triumphantly on the point of his bay- 
 onet. 
 
 "Bully for you, Cy!" cried Jake, rousing up with an 
 interest which imparted unusual energy to his athletic frame. 
 "Ain't very fet, though, is he? Let's see." 
 
 "Roast pig is Jake's favorite flower," laughed Fred. 
 "Have you arrested that man, Cy?" — with a glance at 
 the stranger. 
 
A SOUTHERN UNION MAN. 11 
 
 *'No," said Cy; "he has got a pass.'* 
 
 ** Cy," said old Joel, "is it true, Fred Rivers's mother 
 said Jake 'u'd nither work for you for nothing than for 
 himself for a dollar a day?" 
 
 "If she did," said Cy, "it wasn't a great ways from 
 the truth." 
 
 " I thought so ! and that's what made him redden up 
 so," said old Joel. 
 
 "■ Or else it was because she's a pretty young widow," 
 said Cy. "Jake's always sensitive about what the women 
 think of him." 
 
 "Is your mother a widder, Fred? I thought you said 
 'tother day she wan't a widder;" and old Joel eyed the 
 boy inquisitively. "How's that?" 
 
 It was Fred's turn to blush, this time. It was a mo- 
 ment before he raised his eyes. AVhen he did so, they 
 met the eyes of the stranger who had come in with Cy. 
 He was a singularly quiet man in his demeanor, but with 
 a face full of resolution, and eyes that burned with a 
 deep and steady intensity of gaze. At least, such was 
 their expression at the instant Fred looked up. For a 
 moment longer, the boy forgot to answer Joel's question, 
 surprised and embarrassed by those eyes : so Cy answered 
 for him. 
 
12 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 »' 
 
 "Ye see, she passes for a widow; aud I guess she 
 don't know but what she is one." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Joel, ** parted from her husband, has she? 
 That's nothing uncommon. I've parted from my wife 
 about fifty or sixty times; but somehow we never could 
 stay parted : one or t'other or both on us — gen'er'y both 
 — was always foolish enough to want to tiy living to- 
 gether agin. Habit, you know; that kind o' gits to be 
 second nater." And Joel lighted his pipe, and puffed. 
 
 " I showed you the way to the turnpike, stranger," said 
 Cy. "Didn't I make myself understood? Shall I show 
 you again? " 
 
 "No, I thank you; don't trouble yourself," replied the 
 stranger indifferently. And instead of moving on, as Cy 
 evidently expected him to do, he coolly seated himself on 
 a rail by the fire. 
 
 Cy sat down too, and commenced dressing the pig.- Joel 
 in the mean time, with the curiosity of one who had had much 
 experience on the subject, was questioning Fred about the 
 separation of his parents. 
 
 " If you must know," broke forth Fred, smarting with 
 ii-ritation, "my mother was from New Hampshire. She 
 maiTied a Kentuckian." 
 
 " That's curi's ! " said old Joel. " How did they ever 
 git acquainted?" 
 
A SOUTHERN UNION MAN. 13 
 
 m 
 
 "She was living in Hanover; and he was a student 
 there, in Dartmouth College, She went home with him, 
 and found herself mistress of twenty slaves. That was the 
 trouble, I suppose. My mother did not like the institution ; 
 my father did. So they agreed to disagree. One summer 
 she took me North with her on a visit, and forgot to take 
 me back again. Since then we have been living "With my 
 uncle in Illinois ; and my father has been taking care 
 of his twenty slaves, I suppose." 
 
 *' Wal, he's had enough to do the^e times, to take care 
 o' that kind o' prop'ty, I guess!" said old Joel, "But, 
 seems to me, if I'd been in her j^hice, I'd have stuck to 
 him and the slaves; fact, more slaves the better. I be- 
 lieve," he added complacently, "it's always the women 
 that are. m the wrong, when there's family trouble." 
 
 Fred looked up with spirit. "My mother wasn't in the 
 wrong \ You don't know any thing about it, old Joel ! 
 She is a woman of principle. She thought slavery was 
 a sin ; and whether it was or not, since she thought so, 
 she did right to take herself and me away from it as she 
 did." 
 
 "But hain't you never heard from your father? Hain't 
 he done nothing to support ye ? " 
 
 "It isn't his fault, if he hasn't. He commenced send- 
 
14 THE THREE SCOl^S. 
 
 ing my mother money, after she left him ; but she sent it 
 all back again. It was ' the price of sin,' she said, and 
 "wouldn't have any thing to do with it." 
 
 *' Wal, that's more principle'n I've got, I allow ! " said 
 Joel. " If money was throwd upon my hands, I be hanged 
 if I'd throw it back agin, if ^ticas arnt by slaves. Though 
 your fafher was a bad man, I suppose?" 
 
 ''Just the contraiy," said Fred with strong feeling. 
 ' ' He was a very good man, in most respects ; and I 
 know my mother loved him. And if it hadn't been for 
 the curse of the institution, and, I suppose, a good deal 
 of pride and temper on both sides — well, no matter what 
 might have been ! " And Fred arose with an excited air, 
 and walked about. 
 
 "Slavery has caused a good many troubles and sepa- 
 rations," remarked Cy over his pig. "It's been the oc- 
 casion of the biggest kind of a family jar in Uncle Sam's 
 house. But I guess the two parts of the couutry'U do 
 as old Joel and his deary have done so many times, — 
 come together again, and be better friends than ever. 
 Don't you think so, stranger?" 
 
 The man, who had been sitting for some time with his 
 eyes fixed on the ground, slowly raised his head. 
 
 "Did you speak to me, sir?" 
 
A SOUTHERN UNION MAN. 15 
 
 " Yes, I did. I take it you belong in these parts. And 
 fjom the remai-k you made about destroying private prop- 
 erty, when I was confiscating this pig, I judge your sym- 
 pathies are more on t'other side of the secession fence 
 than on ours." 
 
 "You ai-e mistaken, permit me to say," was the quiet 
 reply. *'I told you I was a Union man." 
 
 "I know you did. But, if you had true Union gi-it, 
 you wouldn't have thought- it such a pity that a miserable 
 rebel pig should go to comfort good patriot stomachs." 
 
 The man smiled ii'onically. "As for Union grit, few 
 men, I reckon, have made greater sacrifices for the country 
 than I have. I have been persecuted, driven from my 
 home ; I have seen my own buildings fired, and crops de- 
 stroyed, by guerillas, assisted by my own neighbors. I 
 was rich ; now I am homeless, — a poor man, — my family 
 scattered. Do you wonder, then, that I say such things 
 are a pity? For you ai^e much mistaken, my friend, in 
 supposing I alluded to your pig." 
 
 This little speech, uttered with calm dignity, yet with 
 
 an undeitone of earnest feeling, made an impression. Fred 
 
 halted in his walk, and stood regarding the stranger with 
 
 cui-ious interest. The man looked up : again their eyes met. 
 
 "You are young for the business you are in, my lad ! " 
 
16 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 And once more the bronzed Southern face lighted with a 
 smile, — not of irony, this time. 
 
 " I shall he older before it is done," Fred replied. 
 
 *' So you will, so you will ! " said the stranger sadly. 
 " The country needs all her able-bodied men in this crisis, 
 but not her young boys." 
 
 ''If the men won't go, then the boys must," said Fred. 
 " That's what I told mother. ' I'll go,' said I, ' and shame 
 'em.' " 
 
 " And she gave her consent ? " 
 
 "Of course she did, — though not till she saw it was 
 no use to refuse it. TVe lived with my uncle, and I'd 
 never done any thing for myself, or her, or anybody ; but, 
 when the war broke out, I Ijelieved my time had come. 
 ' Mother,' said I, ' don't you say a word ; for I'm going into 
 this war, boy as I am. It's what I've been waiting for/ 
 said I : ' now I'm going to do something for my country, and 
 pay all debts that way.' " 
 
 " And didn't she oppose you ? " 
 
 " Oppose me?" Fred laughed, with a tear in his eye. 
 "My mother is a woman that likes to have her way about 
 as well as I like to have mine. And I was all she had, 
 ye know : that's what made it hai-d for her. ' But mother,' 
 says I, ' other mothers have had to let their sons go. You 
 
A SOUTHERN UNION MAN, 17 
 
 ain't the only one. But I wouldn't ask you, if I didn't 
 believe this is what God designed me to do.' That's the 
 way I talked, and finally she let me go." 
 
 Fred's voice quite failed him as he spoke the last words ; 
 but he winked the tears from his eyelashes, and laughed. 
 He was evidently proud of his mother, and liked to spealv 
 of her, except when questioned by old Joel. - 
 
 The stranger had arisen from his seat on the rail. He 
 took the boy's hand. 
 
 " You have got the right spirit. I like a lad that stands 
 by his mother. Don't do any thing to shame her, and you 
 will do well. Good-by, my boy!" 
 
 '* What ! going, stranger? " said Cy. 
 
 *' Yes : I have business, unfortunately ; or else I would 
 stay, and show you what a good Union man I am by eating 
 a slice of your confiscated pig." And the stranger walked 
 away in the direction of the turnpike. 
 
 "I guess he's all right," said Cy ; "though I own he 
 kind of riled me at first." 
 
 ** Wal, Cy Thurston ! " said old Joel. ** I thought more 
 o' your common sense thali all that ! That man is a 
 pesky rebel spy, I'll bet my rations. They all pretend 
 to be good Union men; they all have stories to tell about 
 
 2* 
 
18 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 being parsecuted, and druv from their homes, prop'ty 
 destroyed, and all that. What do you think, my boy?" 
 "I think he is a man who knows his own business a 
 great deal better than we can guess it," replied Fred, 
 watching the dark form of the stranger as he walked over 
 the western ridge into the fiery eye of the sunset. 
 
GOBBLED UP. 19 
 
 n. 
 
 GOBBLED UP. 
 
 LD Joel's suspicions would certainly have been 
 confirmed had he watched the progress of the 
 stranger beyond the ridge. Reaching the turn- 
 pike-road, he turned southward, passed the picket guard, 
 and, hastenmg on at a rapid pace, entered the rebel lines 
 before dark. 
 
 The sun set upon the city; upon the white tents of 
 the patriot camps encircling it, stretching for miles over the 
 sombre hills like a chain of snow-drifts; and upon the 
 lonely sentinels of the distant outposts. Night came on. 
 The soldiers in their canvas city slept ; while far-away 
 mothers, sisters, wives, in their comfortable homes, dreamed 
 of the loved ones here. 
 
 Did Fred's mother sleep that night? Did she dream 
 of her darling boy resting upon the hard ground with those 
 of the guard who rested, or watching with those who watch- 
 ed? Did she see him start from deep sleep late in the 
 
20 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 night, and, leaping up with his comrades, answer to his 
 low-spoken name? 
 
 They are going to relieve the sentinels. The fires are 
 out, and in silence and darkness they proceed along the 
 shadowy side of the ridge. They mount towards its crest, 
 in the du-ection of some dwarfish trees faintly defined 
 against the dim sky. Suddenly a voice beyond challenges. 
 
 "Halt!" The party halts. 
 
 " Who goes there ? " 
 
 " Relief," is the low response. 
 
 " Advance, sergeant, with the countersign." 
 
 The sergeant advances, and whispers the magic word in 
 the ear of the challenger. The latter in turn whispers it 
 in the ear of the soldier who relieves him. The new sen- 
 tinels take theu' places ; the old ones fall into the rear of 
 the relieving party, as it marches on. Then all is silence 
 again on the dark crest of the ridge. 
 
 Fred is stationed near some low cedar-trees that screen 
 the pickets there from the enemy's observation. He is not 
 alone : he has old Joel for a companion. There is no moon, 
 and but few stars are visible. What a strange, silent, 
 lonely night ! Nobody knows how near the enemy is. He 
 may be far away m those woods yonder; or he may be 
 dangerously close, — within a few rods. 
 
GOBBLED UP. 21 
 
 Fred moves continually about, examining the ground. 
 
 "Didn't ye hear nothing?" whispers old Joel. *' A 
 crackling noise down there in the holler ! " 
 
 They listen : not a sound ! Fred crouches low, in order 
 to discern against the sky any object ihat may be moving 
 near. He puts his ear to the ground. Footsteps ! There 
 is somebody approaching. Two or three forms are visible. 
 
 "Halt! Who goes there ? " 
 
 " Patrol." 
 
 "Stand! Advance one with the countersign." 
 
 The countersign is right. The patrol asks a few ques- 
 tions, and moves on. Again silence. 
 
 "There'll be an attack along the line here, somewheres, 
 about daylight," prognosticates old Joel. " There always 
 is after one o' them spies has been around." 
 
 "Do you mean that Union man Cy brought in? He 
 was no spy ! " says Fred. 
 
 *' Bet my rations on that. 'He's in the rebel camp, long 
 'fore this. I believe Southern Union men are a humbug, 
 gen'ly ; and the whole pass system is wus'n the dense. I 
 wouldn't grant one o' them chaps a pass to go where they 
 please, any more' n I'd — Was that noise anything?" 
 
 "Only the* wind: it is rising a little." 
 
 "By time! there's something! see it!" 
 
22 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 *' Challenge it ! " says Fred. 
 
 Joel challenges. No response. He is about to fire, 
 when Fred, v?ho can scarce restrain his laughter, stops 
 him. 
 
 "It's nothing but a bough waving in the wind!" 
 
 "So I thought, when I challenged it," says the old man ; 
 " but it's always well to be sure." 
 
 Slowly the moments di-ag. The stars grow dim. The 
 dawn is not far off. What thoughts come to the boy sol- 
 dier as he watches there? — his mother, who loves him, 
 and whose life would be left so desolate if any accident 
 should happen to him ! the deadly, terrible war ; (and 
 when, when, will it ever end?) the strange sense of lone- 
 liness and mystery that fills him as he hstens, and looks 
 up at the far, dim stars ; and, beating under all, a wild 
 pluse of ambition, as he thinks of the glory which may be 
 won. 
 
 Hark ! what is that ? Surely a sound of hoofs, dis- 
 tant, moving slowly as with cautious approach. 
 
 " Jake ! " whispers Fred ; " a troop of horse ! " 
 
 "It's only our videttes," says Jake languidly. "You 
 and old Joel are always seeing bug-bears." 
 
 A small stream flows thi'ough a ravine in fi'ont of the 
 picket line. Beyond that tha ground is broken and par- 
 
GOBBLED UP. ^ 23 
 
 tially wooded. Ridge and hollow are beginning to appear 
 faintly defined in the early December twilight. Fred strains 
 his eyes, gazing to catch the first indication of a movement 
 in that direction. Suddenly, crack ! crack ! The enemy 
 has been discovered by pickets farther down, and been 
 fired upon. 
 
 The reports are a signal of alarm to the outposts. 
 They also serve as a signal to the enemy that his approach is 
 perceived. Instantly the muffled sound of hoofs breaks 
 into a clatter, a clash, — a galloping headlong rush over the 
 hillsides, down the slopes, — crash, crash, through the 
 thickets ! plash, plash, into the water ! and crack, crack, 
 flash, flash, all along the line of pickets ! 
 
 *'Told ye so!" cried old Joel. "I said there'd be 
 an attack." 
 
 " Nothing but a little cavalry dash ! " says Jake, alert. 
 "Don't ye run!" (Jake is decidedly averse to running.) 
 " I don't beheve there's going to be much of a shower ! " 
 
 "They have dashed into our boys below!" cries Fred. 
 "FaU back, or we shall be cut off." 
 
 "Don't ye run, I tell ye!" reiterates Jake. "The 
 boys down there will look out for themselves. It's only a 
 little squad of guerillas : stand our ground, and we'll cap- 
 ture the whole caboodle of 'em ! " 
 
24 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The firing is rapid, but irregular. Pistol-shots mingle 
 with rifle-shots. Then the clash of sabres, — shrieks, 
 shouts, yells. The pickets fall back upon their guard, — 
 Jake and his companions with the rest, but more slowly than 
 some, — too slowly ; for suddenly the rebel cavahy are 
 upon them. Having dashed into the line, and captured a 
 few prisoners, they wheel, and make a swoop to take in what 
 stragglers they can. Here they come, a swift, tumultuous 
 troop, yelling, with sabres in air. 
 
 "Rally by fours!" shouts Jake. 
 
 There is an attempt to rally; but it is useless. "What 
 can a few scattered bayonets do against such an impetuous 
 charge of cavahy? 
 
 " Quarter ! " cries old Joel, throwing down his musket, 
 and throwing up his hands. 
 
 "Blast the luck!" growls Jake, following the discreet 
 example. 
 
 Fred does the same ; but he has fired first, emptying one 
 saddle. 
 
 They have yielded just in time. The rebels surround 
 them, more like demons than men, — spui-ring, brandishing 
 their sabres, and drivmg them furiously down the slope, 
 into the water, and into the thickets across the stream. 
 
 A body of Federal cavalry, with an infantry support, soon 
 
GOBBLED UP. 25 
 
 comes cLarging after them. The pursuit is kept up, with 
 occasional skirmishing in the rear of the raiders, until a 
 strong force of rebels, advancing to their protection, charges 
 in turn, and drives the pursuers back. 
 
 "3Iy mother! — what will she think?" is Fred's bitter 
 reflection, when all hope of rescue is over. " There isn't 
 much glory in this, is there, boys ? " 
 
 "It's rascally," says Jake, "to make men travel this 
 way ! " 
 
 "It's better'n being mowed down on the spot with them 
 pesky sabres," says old Joel. "Hanged if I didn't think 
 'twas all over with us, one spell. It's all owing to that spy. 
 But, boys, there's one thing, — we may live to see him 
 ketched and hung, yet ! " 
 
 These words are uttered at inteiTals, with panting breath ; 
 for the poor fellows are well-nigh exhausted with their forced 
 march. The pursuit over, the rebels slacken their pace ; and 
 two or three of the prisoners, who have been wounded, are 
 taken upon horses. 
 
 "I'll take this boy behind me," says one. "Mount, 
 youngster ! ' ' 
 
 Fred is seized by the collar : Jake gives him a boost,and 
 he is mounted behind the horseman. "They think I'm 
 wounded," he says to himself; "but never mind the mis- 
 take I " 
 
26 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 "Here! hello! I'm disabled!" says Jake, hugely dis- 
 contented with his forced march. '* Give us a lift, can't 
 ye?" 
 
 "I'll give you a slash over the head, if ye don't keep 
 quiet! " answers one of the guard, pricking him on with his 
 sword-point. 
 
A STRANGE RIDE. 27 
 
 III. 
 
 A STRANGE RIDE. 
 
 RED had not ridden far behind the horseman, 
 when he perceived that he was becoming sepa- 
 rated from his companions. They were hun-ied 
 on, closely guarded ; while the man who had him in charge 
 gradually fell into the rear. 
 
 " That was rather a neat operation, Daniels," said an 
 officer, reining up beside them. He was a brigandish-look- 
 ing man, with long black hair, and a face almost hidden by a 
 thick beard, out of which advanced* a stout red nose. He 
 appeared garnished all over with pistols : there were pistols 
 stuck in his belt, and pistols in his holsters, besides a formida- 
 ble pair which he wore in the legs of his boots. 
 
 " Very neat, indeed, captain," replied the man in a voice 
 that sounded strangely famihar to Fred's ear. 
 
 "Is that boy badly hurt?" asked the captain. 
 
 *' Not so but that he can ride by holding on to me. Are 
 you faint?" — to Fred. 
 
28 ^ THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " No, not very," said Fred, puzzled and astonished. 
 
 He tried to remember where he had heard that Toiee. 
 His guard was chid in the ordinary di'ess of a citizen, and 
 he wore no sword. 
 
 " I must tighten this girth a Httle, if my horse is to carry 
 double," he said loud enough for the captain's ear, and 
 halted. 
 
 He seemed about to dismount. He of the pistols also 
 drew rem, asking if he could be of any assistance. 
 
 "No," said Daniels. *'I reckon I'll let it go for the 
 present." And he spurred on again, after endeavoring to 
 tighten the girth, without dismounting. 
 
 Durino; the brief halt, the distance between them and the 
 main body had materially increased. Moreover, something 
 else had happened, of deep interest to Fred. The horse- 
 man, tugging at the stri^p to which the saddle was buckled., 
 had turned his profile towards his prisoner. Glimpses of 
 the silver east, brightening through the trees, shone upon 
 it, lighting for an instant the russet beard, the calm, reso- 
 lute face, the deep, quiet eyes, shadowed by the felt-hat. It 
 was the same profile Fred had daguerrotyped upon his 
 memory the evening before, when the suspected stranger 
 turned from him, and walked over the hill into the fiery eye 
 of the sunset. 
 
A STRANGE RIDE. 29 
 
 *' Joel was rlglit : the man is a spy ! 'Twas he that 
 guided the rebels ! He had exaiuiued our position, and 
 knew just where to make the attack. But I may pay him 
 yet!^' The blood rushed violently to Fred's brain, and 
 these were the thoughts that mshed with it. 
 
 " Come, Daniels, we shall be left quite behind ! " called 
 the officer. 
 
 " I am with you," rephed Daniels, spurring forward. 
 
 A desperate resolve flashed its Hght into the boy's soul. 
 To be revenged upon this man, and at the same time to 
 escape ! Carefully he withdi-ew his right hand Kom the 
 horseman's waist, carefully felt with it in his own pocket, 
 and drew forth a knife. It was a stout knife, with a Ions;, 
 pointed blade. He opened it with his teeth, behind the 
 shoulder of the spy. Then, with the handle in his grasp 
 and the ])lade in his sleeve, he softly returned his hand, now 
 closed, to the horseman's waist, and awaited his chance. 
 
 ** Perhaps the officer will ride on. Oh, to be one minute 
 alone with this villain ! I'll strike him with all my might 
 in his neck, tumble him off, snatch the reins, and away ! " 
 
 Such were the boy's thoughts, not formed definitely in 
 those words, but passing throngh his mind in electric flashes. 
 
 He saw the possibility of escape clearly enough, provided 
 
 the officer would take himself out of the way. True, the 
 3* 
 
30 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 rebel pickets were passed long ago ; it was now broad da^; ; 
 they were in the enemy's ^untry, travelling the open road ; 
 and, although it was a good horse they mounted (as he was 
 pleased to observe), he could not hope to gallop back to 
 camp without encountering danger. He seemed to think of 
 every thing in an instant of tune. He even thought of the 
 glory of such an exploit ; and of the delight of writing to his 
 mother about it, when all was over. His plan was firmly 
 outlined in his mind, — to plunge into the woods, and there, 
 abandoning his horse, if necessary, to hide in the thickets 
 from his pursuers, elude the rebel scouts, and make his way 
 back at last, somehow, to the Union lines. 
 
 Once more the spy's horse fell behind. The man with 
 the pistols galloped on after his companions. *' Let him pass 
 that ridge ! " thought I^red, thoroughly nerved for his pur- 
 pose ; "and then!" He examined the horseman's neck, 
 and thought where he should strike. 
 
 *' My boy, let me give you a word of advice," said the 
 spy, in a voice so calm and friendly that Fred felt compelled 
 to wait and listen to him. Besides, the officer was not yet 
 out of sight : nothing would be lost by a little delay. 
 
 ** Well, sir," said Fred, in a tone he vainly endeavored 
 to make as calm as the stranger's. He felt so much depend- 
 ing upon the action of the impending instant, that every 
 nerve seemed alive with excitement. 
 
A STRANGE RIDE. 31 
 
 "Put that thing back into your pocket," said Daniels. 
 *' Don't you see you will spoil all? " 
 
 ''Sir? What thing?" faltered Fred, utterly confound- 
 ed, and no more able to usa the blade than if the stranger's 
 hand had grasped his wrist. 
 
 That, however, Daniels had not done, and did not attempt 
 to do. He had not even made a movement indicating that 
 he knew what the boy's fingers held. 
 
 " I mean that knife in your right hand^ against my side. 
 You thought of killing me. Yery well : it was a bright 
 idea. I knew you were a lad of spnit, or I shouldn't have 
 taken a fancy to you. But, next time, don't open a blade 
 with your teeth so near to your man's ear : learn to open ♦^ 
 it in your pocket, jor under your thigh." 
 
 **I might kill you now!" uttered Fred, with his heart 
 in his throat, and wondering why he didn't. 
 
 " But you won't." 
 
 "Why won't I?" 
 
 " Because it would be the foolishest thing you could do, 
 my boy. You would spoil all I am doing for you." 
 
 "Doing for me! What have you done for me?" ex- • 
 claimed Fred. 
 
 " Not. what you iraagmc. I am truly your best friend. 
 Don't you see how hard I have been trying to rescue you? 
 
32 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 And I have almost succeeded. The captain will be out of 
 sight in a minute. What makes you tremble so ? " 
 
 " I don't know what to make of you ! " said Fred, ex- 
 periencing a strange revulsion of feeling. 
 
 " But you think better of mo than you did? " for Fred 
 had taken the man's advice, and put his knife back into his 
 pocket. '* Now, havk ye. We are about to part. I have 
 business that must be attended to. I should have been about 
 it now, if it hadn't been for this piece of work. I have got 
 you off at a risk to myself that you know nothing of. All I 
 ask in return is, if we ever meet again, that you will trust 
 me. Whatever appearances may be, whatever you may hear 
 said of me, believe in me, my boy : will you? " 
 
 " I will," said Fred, almost involuntarily. 
 
 "Remember! for we shall meet again. I leave you in 
 these woods. Aljout a mile at the left, over on the next 
 cross-road, lives a Union man, named Ellsmer. Go to his 
 house, at night, when you want any thing. Be very cautious. 
 Stick to the woods. Take these crackers." (Fred put them 
 into his pocket.) " I shall be back this way to-morrow, 
 when I will get you off." 
 
 "And our boys, the prisoners: can't you do something 
 for them?" 
 
 " You don't know what you ask ! But I will see." The 
 
A STRANGE RIDE. 33 
 
 man tlien gave Fred simple and brief directions for findinf* 
 the house, and also for meeting with him on his return. By 
 this time they were quite alone on the road, with woods on 
 either side. 
 
 ** Now alight, and run into the timber as if for your Hfo. 
 I shall shoot at you, or pretend to ; for we may be ob- 
 served." 
 
 Fred obeyed. Daniels spurred after him, and fired a 
 pistol in the woods. Fred, to keep up appeai-ances, tumbled 
 into some bushes. 
 
 *' My prisoner tried to escape, and I shot him : you un- 
 derstand ! " 
 
 With these parting words, and with a strange, bright 
 look — almost a smile — from under his felt hat, the horse- 
 man wheeled about, and galloped away. 
 
34 
 
 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE CONSCRIPT. 
 
 HE morniDg was cool, and very pleasant. The 
 sunlight flushed the dark tops of the pines, 
 gilded the naked boughs of the deciduous trees, 
 and slanted, in soft, bluish golden bars, through the hazy 
 atmosphere, to the cai'pet of loose leaves that covered the 
 ground. 
 
 But Fred had no leisure to appreciate the fresh, sweet 
 beauty of the early day. It is only when the spirit is at 
 peace that Nature instils her tranquil influences into it ; and 
 his spirit was strangely perturbed. 
 
 The excitement of his captui-e and escape ; the mystery 
 surrounding the man Daniels, who, his reason told him, was a 
 spy, and yet to whom his heart acknowledged a debt of grati- 
 tude ; the knowledge that at any hour he might be retaken or 
 shot, — all these things kept his thouglits in a whirl. He 
 found a good hiding-place under a fallen tree, and Iny there 
 several hours. He ate one of the crackers Daniels had 
 
THE CONSCRIPT. 35 
 
 given hira, — a diy, solitary breakfast. After that lie grew 
 thirsty, and resolved to go out, and look for water. 
 
 After wandering about for half an hour, he came to a little 
 thread of water that trickled among stones in the almost dry 
 bed of a woodland stream. Although so late in the season, 
 the springs were low. Fred looked along for a good place to 
 drink, and ciime at last to a gravelly basin, scooped out of 
 the stones and earth, where some thirsty wayfarer had duo- 
 for water before him. He got down on his hands and knees, 
 dipped his face into the clear, bright pool, and drank deli- 
 cieus draughts. 
 
 After quenching his thii-st, he .observed the prints of 
 horses' hoofs on the bank. There were several of them in 
 the soft earth ; evidently tracks of animals going down to the 
 basin. This was, tlien, a watering-place, known to travellers. 
 " In that case I must look out," thought Fred. And now 
 he was startled to see half a dozen horsemen go gallopino- 
 among the trees not ten rods off. Evidently the road was 
 there : he had not supposed it was so near. 
 
 Behind hun was a thicket, where the undergrowth was en- 
 couraged by the moistui-e of the low ground about the stream. 
 He crept into it, and, finding a spot where he was perfectly 
 liidden, stretched himself out there, ate another cracker, 
 which he called dinner, and went to sleep. 
 
36 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Being very weary, he slept long and well. If any one 
 came to the pool to drink, he did not know it ; for his slum- 
 bers were undisturbed. It was late in the afternoon when he 
 awoke. He crept out of the thicket, and drank again : then, 
 being very hungry, he ate the last of his crackers ; that he 
 called supper. " Unless," thought he, "I am lucky enough 
 to find friends who will give me a more substantial meal ; m 
 which case," — swallowing the last crumbs, — "I call this 
 luncheon." 
 
 As it was some distance to the house of the Union man 
 Daniels had recommended him to find, he resolved to set out 
 early to search for it. Cautiously making his way through 
 the woods, he anived on the outskirts of theui just at dusk. 
 The house was in sight. His heart swelled with joyous antici- 
 pations. Yonder, beneath that brown roof, were friends of 
 the cause for which he was fighting ; and no doubt they would 
 prove friends to him. 
 
 " An old man and his wife," Daniels had said. " Their 
 sons are in the rebel army, and thoy live alone." 
 
 He waited until he could trust to the darkness to screen 
 bun from observation, then left the cover of the woods. He 
 approached the premises in the rear, and reached safely the 
 shelter of a stable. The house was perhaps twenty yards 
 distant. All was still about it, and there were no lights in 
 
THE CONSCRIPT. 37 
 
 tlie wlnclows. Neither were there any cattle, nor aLy living 
 creature whatever, stirring in the yard. 
 
 Fred felt uneasy, "without very well knowing why. It 
 seemed to him that all was not right here. He had hoped to 
 meet the old man at the stable or the corn-cribs, and avoid the 
 lisk of fii'st entering the house, where there might be visitors 
 he would not like to see. He coughed ; then called aloud, 
 " Hallo, there ! " In case ho had brought out a suspicious 
 looking character, or anybody but an old man, he was pre- 
 pared to run for the woods. The worst of it was, he brought 
 no one whatever. 
 
 " They have gone to bed," thought he. ''I'll just slip 
 around, where I can see in front of the house." 
 
 In front of the house was a porch ; and Fred perceived, 
 standing under it, before the door, perfectly motionless, in 
 the gloom of the early evening, the form of a man. 
 
 He waited a minute to see if his presence would be 
 noticed. No : the man stood like a statue, his hands behind 
 him, and his head on one side, in an aHitude of the most 
 profound and melanchol}^ meditation. He had on a queer 
 thing in place of a hat. He seemed very tall ; or was ho 
 standing on something that raised his feet from the floor ? 
 
 Fred approached, determined to attract attention. " Good- 
 evening, sir I " said he. Still no motion, no response. The 
 4 
 
38 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 lad's hair began to lift itself with thrilling roots. A fearful 
 mystery was here. 
 
 Still he advanced, resolved to know who the man was, 
 and why he did not speak. " Good-evening ! " he said again, 
 setting his foot upon the steps, and steadying himself with 
 his hand against one of the posts. 
 
 Speechless as a spectre, motionless as the post itself, rigid- 
 ly erect but for the drooping head, the figui-e kept its 
 place in the gloom. But now Fred's attention was directed 
 to another figure, — a woman on the porch floor; an old 
 woman, with a wound in her temples, and her gray hair 
 clotted with blood. 
 
 "What — who has done this?" he exclaimed with ac- 
 cents of horror. 
 
 He looked up at the man. Ilis hands behind him were 
 tied. The queer thing oq his bead was a handkerchief, tied 
 over his eyes. Instead of standing before the door, as at 
 fii'st appeared, he was liaiiging by the neck from a rope 
 attached to a rafter of the porch. That was what made him 
 look so tall. 
 
 " Look at 'cm ! look at 'em I " said a deep voice hol- 
 low with passion and dcspan. "A pleasant sight, ain't 
 it?" 
 
 Where did the voice come from ? Fred did not know at 
 
THE CONSCniPT. 39 
 
 first. It seemed to be the voice of the present hoiTor, that 
 was in no particukr spot, but surrounding him. Then he 
 saw a movement in the open door of the house. A gun- 
 barrel was pushed out menacingly towards him ; and, behind 
 the weapon, he discerned, in the darkness of the room be- 
 yond, the outlines of a human form. Fred did not recoil. 
 A strange and terrible calmness had come over liim. 
 " It is dreadful ! dreadful ! " he said. " Who did it? " 
 Upon that the individual in the house came out. He 
 stood, holding his gun before his breast, while he pointed at 
 the corpses. He was a young man ; a mere youth even, as 
 Fred could plainly see. He was in his shirt-sleeves : his 
 throat was open, his head uncovered, his hair tangled wildly 
 over his brow ; his whole aspect ghastly and savage. 
 
 " Look at that old man ! Look at that old woman I " he 
 said. "That's my father; that's my mother. I'm their 
 son, — the youngest. I was the baby, ye know. They sot 
 more by me than they did by their own lives. That's the 
 way it happened, ye see ! " 
 
 The young man's chest heaved with a sudden convulsion, 
 a fierce, dry sob ; and he gnashed his teeth, leaning upon his 
 gun, and looking down at his mother. 
 ** But how — how did it happen? " 
 "How? I'll tell ye. You ain't one o' them I was 
 
40 THE THREE SCOUTS, 
 
 watching for; lucky for you!" — witb a hideous laugh at 
 Fred. " Ye see I was watching; my gun ready, loaded to 
 kill, I thought they might be coming back." 
 
 -They? who?" 
 
 "I'll tell ye. We was Union folks here; leastwise, aU 
 on us but Bob : that's my brother. He's as bad a rebel as 
 any on 'em. But I stuck to the Union, 'long with the old 
 man, till I was conscripted. They forced me into the ranks, 
 and made me fight ; only I wouldn't. I hain't pent nary 
 bullet at a Federal uniform yet; for I swore I wouldn't. 
 Wal, I got mad, and made up my mind I'd come home. I 
 come three nights ago, and have been hid here ever since. 
 But, to-day, GrufScy's Eiders come hunting for me. They 
 didn't catch me napping, though. ' Go into yer hole, my 
 son,' says the old man. ' Ye're safe thar ; they can't find 
 ye; and me and the old woman won't betray ye, if we die 
 fast.' So I went into my hole. I couldn't hear nary tiling 
 that was going on ; but I waited for the old man to come and 
 tell me 'twas all rio-ht, and I could come out. But he didn't 
 come, and I growed oneasy. Last I ventured out ; and this 
 yer's what I found. They wouldn't tell whar I was : they 
 give their lives for me ! " 
 
 " You found them dead? " 
 
 " Jest as ye see 'em. Tliat was three or four hours ago. 
 
THE CONSCRIPT. 41 
 
 I didn't tech to take the old man down ; for what was the 
 use ? 'Twas all over with him. I jest took my gun, and 
 staid in. I knew the devils was waiting for me to show 
 myself: so I waited for them. They'll be here agin, if they 
 ain't watching now ; and I'm bound to have a bullet in the 
 heart of one of 'em, if I wait a week. Now, who are you, 
 and what do you want ? Jest step into the house ; for, dark 
 as it is, we may get a shot." 
 
 They entered the dark kitchen, where Fred told his story. 
 
 " So ye come here for help, did ye ? Wal, my father 
 has hid and protected many a Union man ; but that time's 
 over, ye see, and ye couldn't have come to a wus place now. 
 The devils have stripped the house of every thing to eat, 
 and druv off the cattle. I might hide ye ; but I can't eat 
 
 ye." 
 
 " Why do you stay? If you wait to kill somebody, you 
 will be certainly killed yourself." 
 
 "That's about so. I reckon. And, I tell ye, I'd about as 
 lives die as any way ; only let me have my revenge fust. If 
 it's starving, I can starve ; or, if it's being shot, I can be 
 shot : but I'm going to have my revenge." 
 
 Fred earnestly entreated the conscript to fly to the woods 
 with him. "It is useless to stay here. You know the 
 country : we will dodge the bushwhackers and rebel pickets, 
 and get into our lines." 
 
42 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " That's best for you ; but I stay here. I can take care 
 of myself." 
 
 " Show me your hiding-place, will you ? " 
 
 '* Xo, I reckon I won't. 'Twouldn't do you no good, and 
 it miorht do me harm. We don't know who to trust these 
 
 o 
 
 times. As for the man Daniels ye speak of, I don't know 
 him; but I'd advise ye not to trust him, anyhow. Don't 
 trust nobody : don't trust me. Ye'd better leave me, and 
 take care of yourself: that's my advice to you." 
 
 "Can't I assist you in any way?" Fred inquured, 
 horribly depressed by the young man's despau*. 
 
 "Nary a bit." 
 
 *' Are your neighbors all secesh?" 
 
 " They mought as well be, if they ain't. There's a man 
 further up the road, name of Crumlett : he's Union at 
 heart, but he's the biggest coward. He's from the North 
 too ;• and wishes himself back thar, I reckon." 
 
 "From the North!" Fred caught eagerly at this fact, 
 and asked many questions concerning the man, to which the 
 conscript gave miserably discouraging answers. 
 
 " Don't ye go nigh him. Don't ye have nothing to do 
 with him, any way. He'll like as not betray ye. if he finds 
 it's for his interest. Durn these half-and-half men. If you 
 want some clothes to hide your uniform, I can give 'em to 
 
THE C02fSCniPT. 43 
 
 ye ; and that's more'n ye could get out'n him. Here's an 
 overcoat and hat that'll do ye. Never mind the trouse's : 
 our folks have robbed your dead and wounded, till Federal 
 pantaloons are common enough on secesh legs. But you'd 
 better give up your cap, and put this coat on, if ye don't 
 Wimt to excite too much attention." 
 
 Fred hesitated ; for he had hoped to enjoy the triumph of 
 wearing his uniform ^back to camp. But the experiences of 
 the past half-hour had made a powerful impression upon him. 
 He had seen shocking evidences of the barbarous ferocity of 
 his enemies. The man upon whose assistance he had de- 
 pended was hanging here before his own door. His faith in 
 the man Daniels was weakened. He felt that his presence 
 in the house with the young conscript was unwelcome ; and 
 he saw no way before him but to betake himself once more 
 to the woods. Then what dangers must be encountered be- 
 fore he could hope even to reach the Federal outposts ! He 
 saw what advantages a disguise might afford, and he accepted 
 the proffered hat and coat. 
 
 " Now be sharp," said the conscript, letting him out of 
 the house by a back door. " I know this place is watched ; 
 and, if you can get safe into the woods again, ye may think 
 yerself lucky." 
 
44 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 THE MAN FROM THE NORTH 
 
 OW I suppose I may consider myself in luc]i," 
 tliought Fred, rememberiug the conscript's last 
 words, and pausing to take breath a quarter of 
 an hour later. Ho had, in the mean time, quitted the house, 
 and reached the woods unmolested. " It doesn't look much 
 like luck, though ! " 
 
 The prospect was indeed dismal. The night was cloudy, 
 the moon was hid, and darkness filled the woods. He had 
 never before been in a situation so utterly forlorn and dis- 
 couraging. He knew not a path ; and, even if he had known 
 all the paths in the forest, it was then too dark to find them. 
 Besides, the boy was hungry. 
 
 Bat he did not lo.^e heart. He thought of the son of the 
 murde^;ed old couple, in that house of hon-ors, waiting for 
 revenge ; and said to himself, " I am indeed lucky, compared 
 with him ! " 
 
 He thouglit of his own dear mother, for whose sake he was 
 
THE MAN FROM THE NORTH. 45 
 
 deterrained to come off conqueror in this struggle with diffi-* 
 culty and danger. 
 
 " I won't wait for Daniels," he said to himself. " I am 
 sorry I have waited for him at all. I might have found my 
 way to the rebel pickets by this time ; and what a jolly night 
 this would be to run past 'em ! That is north. Now I 
 must remember and travel straight ; for I'm bound to make 
 the most of this night, and get in, if it's possible, before 
 morning." 
 
 He plunged straight into the woods, and bravely pressed 
 forward. He could see his way dknly at first; but he 
 had not gone far when the last glimmer of light faded, and 
 he became enveloped in almost total darkness. He ran 
 against tree-trunks; he tripped over roots and sticks; he got 
 entangled in invisible thickets. Then he saw that he had 
 made a mistake. He ought to have followed the roads on 
 such a night as this. 
 
 But regret was useless now. Besides, he hoped, by 
 changing his course a little, to strike the turnpike soon. So 
 he struggled on, feeling with his hands before him, stumbling 
 often, and scratching his hands and face. At last,' to his 
 great relief, he saw that he was coming out of the woods. 
 He arrived at open fields. But what was this ? The turn- 
 pike should be here ; but there was no turnpike ! He could 
 
46 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 not remain long in doubt as to what had happened. In 
 avoiding the obstacles in his way, he had lost his course, and 
 emerged from the woods in a place where he was as ignorant 
 of his situation, and of the points of the compass, as if he had 
 just issued from a sack. 
 
 Fortunately, he saw a light. " A house ! " And he 
 resolved to approach and reconnoitre. 
 
 There was a road in front of the house ; and, as he crossed 
 it, a man appeared, standing in red shirt-sleeves, relieved 
 against the back-ground of a fire-lighted room. 
 
 "Who's there?" 
 
 "A friend," said Fred, boldly advancing. 
 
 ''What's wanting?" • 
 
 "I'm a stranger," said Fred, '* on my way to join the 
 army. I've got lost, and I want some supper." 
 
 " Wal, that's bad ! I don' know," said the man hesi- 
 tating. "Which army?" looking anxiously at Fred as 
 the firelight from the door shone upon him. 
 
 " The right one, of course," replied Fred. 
 
 " Of course ! " said the man. " What do ye say, ma? " 
 turning to a woman in the house, about whose gown half a 
 dozen boys and girls were huddling, some hiding their heads 
 under her apron, and some peeping from behind the folds of 
 her dress with looks of fright. " We hain't got an inch o' 
 
THE MAN FROM THE NORTH. 47 
 
 room to spare," the man added immediately, without waiting 
 for her response ; " and I don't see how we can take ye in, 
 any way in the world." 
 
 *' I only want some supper : I have money to pay for it," 
 said Fred. 
 
 "Oh! that all ye want? Wal, I s'pose — what do ye 
 say, ma ? Can ye scare him up a bite o' suthin' ? Guess 
 he won't be very pa'tic'lar." 
 
 "I don't know," said the woman despondingly. "It's 
 as you say : / don't have the ordering of any thing, now- 
 days." 
 
 "Yes you do, too!" said the man sharply. "Don't 
 ye talk that way, now ! Why ain't the young ones sent to 
 bed?" 
 
 "They're so scaret: you know as well as I do. And 
 ever since Tildy come home, and told about seeing IMr. 
 EUsmer hung 'fore his own door, you've been as scaret as 
 any of us." 
 
 " Wal, 'twas enough to make a man feel a Httle narvous, 
 I own: next neighbors, so. But I ain't scaret : no ! " said 
 the man stoutly. " Ye see," to Fred, who, in the mean time, 
 had entered the house, " there's been dreadful doin's right in 
 our neighborhood here this very afternoon. You've heered 
 on't, maybe? " 
 
48 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Yes," said Fred : " I heard an old man and woman had 
 been murdered." 
 
 ''Mui'dered? /didn't say murdered, did I? " the man 
 hastened to interrupt him, evidently in gi'eat alarm. " Their 
 son had deserted, and come home ; and they wouldn't give 
 him up, ye know. Set down, stranger. Been travellin' 
 fur?" 
 
 " A good many miles since morning." 
 
 "You don't look much like the generality I see goin' to 
 jine the army. Where ye from? " 
 
 ** From the vicinity of Nashville," replied Fred. 
 
 The man stood by the fire, with his hands on his hips, and 
 his head one side, and regarded him with anxious interest. 
 
 *'You ain't Tennessee: I know by your looks. You're 
 from the North, somewhere, ain't ye? " 
 
 " ]My father was a Kentuckian," said Fred evasively. 
 
 "But your mother wan't? See here!" The man 
 stepped to the door to assure himself that it was latched. 
 "Ma, you be gittin' him some supper. Maybe he won't 
 want nothin' more'n some bread and milk. Ye can fry him 
 some pork, and warm hmi up some petaters, though, if ho 
 prefers. Like suthin' pcrty hearty, would ye? Wal, I 
 s'pose. Guess a slice o' that ham, and an egg, mother." 
 
 The woman set about her task with a discontented air, 
 
THE MAN FROM THE NORTH. 49 
 
 scolding the children, and giving them an occasional cuff 
 when they came in her way. 
 
 The man took a chair, and leaned over the back of it, 
 scrutinizing his guest, and questioning him. Fred stood the 
 ordeal well. He felt that he was master of the situation. 
 He knew his host much better than his host knew him. For 
 it had not taken him long to satisfy himself of the fact, that 
 he had come out of the woods on the same side from which 
 he had entered them, and arrived by accident at the house 
 of the man " from the North," who was " Union at heart," 
 described by the son of the mmxlered old couple. 
 
 '' Was the Union army about Nashville when you left? " 
 said the man, confidentially drawing the chair near Fred's, 
 and seating himself near by, facing him, with his back towards 
 the fire. ''What do ye think? is Bragg going to git 
 whipped out? " 
 
 " If he should," said Fred, "that would take old Ten- 
 nessee back into the Union, and you with it, Mr. Crum- 
 lett." 
 
 " That's so ! " with excitement. " But how did you 
 know that my name was Crumlett ? " 
 
 '* Oh ! I have heard of you before," laughed Fred. 
 
 *' Have ye ? " The man fidgeted, hitched his chair, and 
 recrossed his legs. " Read about me, hey? Wal, I heered 
 
60 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 tbat affair had got into a book ; though I never seen it, and 
 never wanted to." 
 
 " What affair? " asked Fred, interested. 
 
 "■ Wal, that affair of Neighbor Jackwood's, ye know." 
 
 ** What I you don't mean to say that you are that Mr. 
 Crumlett ? ' ' ejaculated Fred. ' ' Not Enos ? ' ' 
 
 " That's my name," said the man, with a curious, weakly 
 smile, as if he did not quite relish the reminiscence. 
 " They've put me into a theatre-play too, I hear. Though 
 Tildy, she never would beheve that. The idee o' playin' us 
 in a theatre was too silly ! " And the man forced a laugh, 
 as he looked over his shoulder at the mother of his children. 
 
 "Is this Tildy?" said Fred with increasing astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " ** That's Tildy ! " said Enos, his spirits rallymg as he saw 
 how much his guest was interested in the discovery. " But 
 ye'd hardly know her now : she's changed." 
 
 "And no wonder," said Mrs. Crumlett petulantly, "af- 
 ter what I've had to go through ! " 
 
 "Go through?" echoed Enos tartly. '^ Come, now, 
 what have ye had to go through that's so dreadful ? Hain't 
 I been a good provider? bought ye good tea and good 
 snuff?" 
 
 " Wal, I ain't a-going to tell over my troubles 'fore stran- 
 
THE MAN FROM THE NORTH. 51 
 
 gers," said Mrs. Crumlett with the air of an injured woman, 
 who could tell volumes if she chose. 
 
 *' By Sidon ! " exclaimed Enos, unable to restrain 
 
 his wrath even in the presence of his guest. " If you ain't 
 the unreasonablest woman ! Didn't I marry ye out of a 
 poor family, and take ye right into a good home, and give 
 ye — say, didn't I give ye a whole chistfiil o' gownds 
 and things that was ma's, the very summer you come to live 
 with me, when it might have been expected you'd bring 
 your own outfit? " 
 
 "Wal," said Tildy sarcastically, "if you've flung that 
 blue chist of old duds into my face once, you have a hun- 
 dred times. I wouldn't mind it, if't wasn't 'fore stran- 
 gers. I might fling back ; but 'tain't my way to rake over 
 family musses, presence of company ! " referring to Fred, 
 with a polite simper, and the' air of a person who felt that 
 she knew how to be a lady. 
 
 *' Company or no company," broke forth Enos, " I ain't 
 goin' to stan' by and hear that chist of nice valoobles of ma's 
 called old duds by you nor nobody ! " 
 
 " Wal," said Tildy with an independent toss, as she 
 busied herself over the spider, "all I got to say is, that I 
 had two good dresses when I was married, — the one I stood 
 up in, that I paid for with my own money, and the one 
 
52 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Berthy Rukely give me ; and that I haven't had what you 
 may call a decent dress to my back since." 
 
 " Hain't had a decent — thunderation ! " said Enos, 
 sprmging to his feet. "But it's no use! " He sat down 
 again, running his fingers through his haii' with a look of 
 desperation. " She's the most aggravatin' woman ! and, if I 
 hadn't got the most forbearin' temper in the world, we sh'd 
 been divorced long ago ! " 
 
 " I'm perfectly willin' to be divorced, if you want to be," 
 said Mrs. Crumlett airily. " Guess 'twouldn't break my 
 heart, neither." 
 
 " Wal, then, by jingoes, we will be ! See then how you'll 
 git along for want o' dresses to your back. You'll go and 
 workout for a livin,' I s'pose, as ye did 'fore I married ye I " 
 and Enos grinned. 
 
 " You've flung that in mj face, too, often enough, I 
 should think," retorted Mrs. Crumlett, flaring up. "If 
 you'd been any thing of a man, you never would have seen 
 me go out to work, after you'd made up your mind to offer 
 yourself." 
 
 " Fact is," cried Enos, "I never did make up my mind 
 till ye coaxed me into it, and I kind o' took pity on ye. 
 Then wlien I seen what a tenible temper you'd got, — 
 ungrateful, discontented, always flingin' out, — I'd been 
 
THE MAN FROM THE NORTH. 53 
 
 glad to break off many a time, and tried to, but ye wouldn't. 
 No, indeed ! " with glittering sarcasm in his glances. 
 " You'd hooked too good a fish ; ha, ha ! Ketch you lettin' 
 him off after you'd once got him well on, I guess ! Ha, ha, 
 ha ! " and Enos laughed with bitter and vehement scorn. 
 
 " There ! " exclakned iMatilda, slapping a plate down 
 spitefully on the table, "I never will touch to do another 
 stroke of work in your house, Enos Crumlett, if I die ! 
 I've made a slave of myself for you long enough, if this is 
 the way I'm to be thanked ! Out from under my feet, 
 Eeny ! " — to her oldest boy, named after his father, — 
 giving him a smart slap. " Now go to crying, and I'll 
 give ye another to keep that company. Tildy, put that 
 young one to bed, or do what you're a mind to : I don't 
 care. I've done having any thing to do in this house, if 
 your pa wan%s to get rid of me ! " and Mrs. Crumlett threw 
 herself upon a chair, muffling her sobs in her apron. 
 
 " Come, come, ma," said Enos, alarmed by this violent 
 demonstration : " don't be silly, now. I hain't said I 
 wanted to git red on ye." He examined the plate to see if 
 it was cracked. " 'Twan't your fault if you didnH smash it 
 Lucky for me I thought to buy thunderin' stout crockery, 
 when you was to have the handhn' on't, by jingoes ! Hurt 
 ye, Eeny? Wal, ye must lam to kept out o' tlie way when 
 5* 
 
54 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 yer ma's got her temper up. Run to roost, as the chickens 
 do when there is a storm comin'. Come, Tildy, come ! " 
 coaxingly. " This young man is waitin' for his supper." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " sobbed Mrs. Crumlett in her apron, " if 
 there's any thing ye want me to do, ye can be so pleasant ! 
 Then, when my feelin's is a little grain tried, — and it's you 
 that try 'em, — you'll begin to talk about divorce ! " 
 
 " Sho, now, ma ! I tell ye I didn't. 'Twas you fust 
 spoke o' divorce. I hain't put up with yer failin's all these 
 years to want to give ye up. You can be jest the best woman 
 in the world, if you're a mind to : I'll say that for ye. 
 She ain't very well, ye know," said Mr. Cmmlett, address- 
 ing his guest in words he intended should have a socthino; 
 effect on Mrs. Crumlett. " Have to make allowances. 
 She's a good wife and mother, after all. Come, Tildy," — 
 to his oldest, a dirty-faced girl, of the same age as Eeny, — 
 "can't ye finish gittin' the gentleman's supper? Mamma 
 ain't well, ye know." 
 
 Fred, amused by this altercation, yet becoming weary of 
 it, and hungiy for his supper, resolved to divert the conver- 
 sation into another channel. This he did so adroitly, that 
 Mrs. Crumlett, perceiving that her sufferings were no longer 
 the chief object of attention, soon began to dry her eyes, and 
 peep over her apron to see what Tildy was doing. Tildy 
 
THE MAN FROM THE NORTH. 55 
 
 was, of course, doing every thing awkwardly and wrong; 
 observing which, the mother, losing patience, and forget- 
 ting her resolution to do no more work in her husband's 
 house, sprang to her feet, jerked the dishes from the 
 child's hands, shook her arm with a sharp reprimand for 
 her stupidity, and sent her to look after '* that young one," — 
 meaning the baby. Tildy went to the baby; while her 
 mother jDut Fred's- supper on the board. 
 
56 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 YI. 
 
 THE FORTUNES OF EN OS CRUMLETT. 
 
 OW happens it, Mr. Crumlett," said Fred, 
 drawing his chair to the table, " that you are 
 living down here in Tennessee ? " 
 
 " Wal," said Enos, "I can't hardly tell, myself. Got 
 sick o' Vermont. That Jackwood business had kind o' 
 raised a prejudice agin me, ye know. So, after ma she 
 died, Tildy and me pulled up stakes, and moved to the 
 JVIichigan. But Tildy she wan't contented there." 
 
 " You needn't say / wan't contented ! " interposed jMrs. 
 Crumlett. " 'Twas you that wan't contented, just as much 
 as 'twas me, and more so." 
 
 "Me?" cried Enos, prepared sharply to dispute that 
 point, " But let it go ; let it go ; any thing for peace," said 
 he, in a tone which signified that he, being a man of exem- 
 plary forbearance, was ready to concede every thing in view 
 of his wife's infirmity. 
 
 **You know you was discontented ! " persi>^ted Matilda. 
 
THE FORTUNES OF ENOS CRUMLETT. 57 
 
 '• And I won't liave you lay it all to me, tbat we couldn't 
 stay there, and had to move down here into Tennessee, — the 
 foolishest move, if I do say it ! " 
 
 " What made me discontented, I'd like to ask? " Enos in- 
 quued with preternatm-al mildness of tone, designed to con- 
 vince his guest how meek and conciliatory he was obliged to 
 he with a woman of her temper. 
 
 "What made ye? 'Twan't me that made ye, if that's 
 what you're trying to insinuate. But the same thing 't made 
 us leave Vermont had followed us to the Michigan, and made 
 us leave there." 
 
 ** Wal ! " remarked Enos with a scowl, while, he tried to 
 look candid and unconcerned, drawhig down the corners of 
 his mouth with an expression of swallowing something bitter, 
 which he pretended not to taste, — " wal ! I own that may 
 have had suthin' to do with it. But what had I done ? 
 Only jest mentioned to a man in search of his property 
 where that property was to be found. So they had to nick- 
 name me Judas Crumlett I " 
 
 " But that property was a human being ! " said Fred. 
 
 "Wal, yes, — a slave, ye know, though she was white. 
 But that wan't my lookout. Property — why, property is 
 property." And Enos coughed, trying to look even more 
 candid than before. 
 
58 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 '.' But you received money for telling where slie was ! " 
 Upon that Enos suiiled biliously. " All I received, and 
 a hundred times over, wouldn't begin to make me good for 
 the trouble and expense I've been put to on account of that 
 — wal, I won't swear in presence of the children; but I 
 want to, bad enough, when I think o' the pay I got for my 
 share in the transaction. We shouldn't a' gone to the Mich- 
 io-an, and had the fever'n ager there two seasons, and we 
 never should a' come to Tennessee, that's mighty sartin, if 't 
 hadn't been for that. They say bad news travels fast : and, 
 by jingoes I it does ; for we'd no sooner got settled in 
 Michio;an than it o-ot noised about there 't I was the man 
 that took money for givin' up a fugitive. Bime by I 
 got mad. ' Jerushey mighty, Tildy ! ' says I, 'we may as 
 well be hung for an old sheep as a lamb. Since this slave 
 business has got us a bad name, let's go the whole hog.' 
 ' Why,' says she, ' what'U ye do, Enos ? ' says she. * Do ? ' 
 says I: 'I'll go where my friends be,' says I. 'I'll go 
 where slave-huntin' 's the fashion ; where folks beheve in't, 
 and cry it up, and there ain't none o" these mean prejudices 
 agin givin' up a fugitive ! By the laws ! ' says I, ' we'll 
 own slaves, TiLly ! ' says I ; ' we'll have the game as well 
 as the name ! ' " 
 
 " There ! " said Mrs. Crumlett triumphantly, " I'm glad 
 you've owned up 'twas i/ovr idee, and not mine 
 
 1 " 
 
THE FORTUNES OF EN OS CItUMLETT. 59 
 
 " Wal ! " replied Enos, disconcerted, but rallying immedi- 
 ately, " 'twas my idee, after I see how res'less and uneasy 
 you was, — that I own." 
 
 Fred, seeing that Mrs. Crumlett was about to flare up 
 again, made haste to inquire how Enos liked Tennessee. 
 
 "Between you and me," — Crumlett lowered his voice 
 to a confidential whisper; then, as if fearful of commitr 
 ting himself, he added, " Wal, to state it mild, I was a 
 leetle grain disappinted. They don't know how to farm 
 it here, no more'n they know how to fly. Jest look at 
 the kind o' tools they use ! Then, if a man undertakes to 
 interduce improvements, they grow suspicious on him rio-ht 
 oflf, 'specially if he's a Northerner ; and give him hints 't 
 he'd better keep the old track, if he don't want to git 
 into trouble." 
 
 " But slavery — you found that a beautiful system, didn't 
 you?" 
 
 " I hain't a word to say agin the system, of course ! " 
 Enos smoothed his chin. "I'd kind o' placed myself that 
 side o' the fence, and I come here prepared to fall in love 
 with't head over heels. I bought three darkies, to begin with ; 
 averaged six hundred dollars apiece, they did ; thought I 
 was a goin' to make a fortin' out on 'em, and live at my 
 ease. But, by jingoes ! I couldn't git so much work onto' 
 
GO THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 them three blacV liands as I could out o' one white one to 
 the North, if I was to die. Whippiu' was good for 'em, long 
 as I follered it up. and stood over 'em with a lash till the 
 work was done But they beat all the shirks, the minute my 
 back was turned ; and theio wan't no such thing as makin' 
 'era do their work to suit me. They tried me to death ! " 
 said Enos : '• till, finally, I come to the conclusion 't if I 
 wanted my work done as't should be, the way was to pay 
 somebody to do it ; for a man won't do nothin' well without 
 he takes an interest in it, and he won't take no interest with- 
 out you pay him. That's my experience. But, by the 
 laws ! the minute I hinted it to my neighbors, there was the 
 dense to pay. They said I'd come to meddle with their insti- 
 tutions; though I'd no prejudice agin slavery, and all I 
 wanted was to git a livin'. But when I see 't the interest 
 on my eighteen hundred dollars 't the niggers cost me, and 
 the expense o' keepin' on 'em, not to speak of the wear and 
 tear o' prop'^y, — • for nigger- flesh, like horse-flesh, '11 wear 
 out, course o' time, — when [ see 't all that was about 
 double what I'd haf to pay a single hired man to the North 
 for doin' the same work, and doin' it well, — why, it sot me 
 to thinkin'. But I soon see 'twan't safe even to think on 
 that subject, much less to try to work out o' the beaten 
 track : so I jest watched to see what my neighbors done, and 
 
THE FORTUNES OF ENOS CUVMLETT. 61 
 
 done the same, — let the niggers jog about as they pleased, 
 and every thing about the farm go to seed and shiftlessness ; 
 for that's the order o' the day here. Then come along an- 
 other pair o' twins : Eeny and Tildy's twins, and Rukely and 
 Berthy's twins. If children is a blessin', I guess we've had 
 about our share. I tell ye, it's bean a hard time for us ; and 
 I don't know what in creation we should done, if 't hadn't 
 been for some prop'ty my uncle left me. But then this 
 plaguy secesh business turned up : that's cost me every 
 thing! " Mr. Cmmlett looked a picture of pecuniary dis- 
 tress. " Fust place, it's cost me over a thousan' dollars to 
 keep out o' the army, — besides my niggers. One on 'em 
 run away, and got into the Federal lines, where I guess I 
 never shall see him agm. ; and t'other two has been took by 
 the Confederate Gov'ment to work on fortifications. So here 
 we be ! " added Enos in a voice tremulous with emotion ; 
 "and what'll happen next, the Lord only knows, and he 
 won't tell. You're from the North, or I never should talk 
 to you this way ; for, I tell ye, I've had to look sharp and 
 not git into more serious trouble, all this time. See here, 
 now ! didn't I guess right ? Ain't you from Ohio or Illi- 
 noize? Come on here with spec'lators? to buy cotton, 
 mebby? I was sure on't ! " he exclaimed triumphantly, as 
 Fred gave him a sly wink. " Can't ye let me into the se- 
 cret, if there's a chance for a spec'lation? " 
 6 
 
62 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " When the riglit time comes, perhajjs,'" said Fred. "I 
 have to be a little cautious in my movements. By the way, 
 can you keep me over night ? I didn't think of proposing 
 it when I came in ; but really, Mr. Crumlett, it is so nice to 
 find myself in the house of a Northern man, — a friendly, in- 
 telligent man like you ! " 
 
 Fred, you see, was careful not to trust Enos too far. On 
 the other hand, Enos, scenting a chance for some speculation, 
 and confident that the hospitahties extended to his guest 
 would be paid for, began to consider whether, after all, there 
 might not be an * ' inch of room ' ' in the house for his accom- 
 modation. 
 
 " What do you think, ma? Can manage to pack three 
 o' the young ones into the trundle-bed, can't ye ? Then you 
 can put him into the bed along with Eeny. You won't ob- 
 ject to sleeping with Eeny, will ye V " 
 
 "Not particulaiiy ; although" — Fred glanced at the 
 younger Enos, who had already fallen asleep with his head on 
 the table, where he was snoring vigorously — " I should pre- 
 fer to sleep on the floor : I'm used to that." 
 
 " Wal, then, ma, make him up a bed on the floor." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Mrs. Cmmlett, " it's easy, ain't it, for you to 
 set there, and say make him up a bed on the floor, when you 
 know there ain't a feather, nor even a straw tick, to spare, 
 
THE FORTUNES OF ENOS C R U M L E T T. 63 
 
 say nothing of pillers and comforters ! That's always the 
 way : I'm expected to manage without a thing to manage 
 with." 
 
 " Without a thing to manage with ! " echoed Enos, aghast 
 with astonishment. " If you ain't the capsheaf of all the 
 complainin' women ! What did you do 'fore I married ye, 
 hey ? Had lots to manage with then, didn't ye ! I guess 
 you've forgot how you come out of a family poor as Job's re- 
 lations, right into a house where there was furnitewer, beds, 
 and beddin', and every thing convenient and comf table : no 
 thanks to you for't, neither ! " 
 
 " Wal, fling that in my face agin, will ye ? I say there's 
 nothin' to manage with, and I can prove it." 
 
 "I deny it!" Mr. Cramlett stood erect, and slapped 
 down the fact on the table with his hand so forcibly, that 
 Eeny started up, and stared about him, exclaiming, " Who's 
 shot ? " — " Come, now," said his father, defiantly inviting 
 opposition, "I deny it! though I own we hain't the con- 
 veniences we once had : and whose fault 4s't, if we hain't ? 
 You've had the things, and why didn't you take care on 
 'em?" 
 
 " / take care on 'em ! when you've kept me knocking 
 about the world, from pillar to post, so it's been much as I 
 could do to take care of myself, say nothmg of the chil- 
 
64 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 dren. Such treatment as I have had I I'm sure I never ex- 
 pected it, after going two temis to boarding-school; when I 
 might have married a'most any man I pleased." 
 
 " When you might a' married I — why in Sam Hill didn't 
 ye, then?" said Enos furiously. " K you've got sic]^ of 
 me, you can quit any time you choose : you can go to Indi- 
 anny, and git a divorce there, short notice ; then go fishin' 
 for another husband. Mebby you'd like to have me give ye 
 a letter o' recommendation ; tell what a sweet, amiable dispo- 
 sition you've got ; what good care you've always took of your 
 ongrateful fust husband ; always made the best o' things, 
 without a murmur, when he was unfortinit in business, and 
 couldn't always pervide as he'd like to ! I can say what an 
 even hand ye always carried with the children : never gittin' 
 cross, no indeed ! never gittin' into a tantrum and slappin' 
 on 'em around jest 'cause they happen to be in your way. 
 Guess I could write you a certifkit 'u'd make your eyes 
 swim ! Mebby ye could git ye a bran-new husband on the 
 strength on't ; and, then agin, mebby ye couldn't. I'm will- 
 iu' you should try, any time ye choose ; that's all ! '^ And 
 Enos paced the floor in great excitement. 
 
 " I beg of you," Fred entreated, " don't let my presence 
 here cause any trouble : I'm used to camping in the woods ; 
 and I'd rather do so to-night," rising. 
 
THE FORTUNES OF ENOS CRUMLETT. 65 
 
 '^ No, ye sha'n't ! " cried Enos, forcing him back into his 
 chair. "I ain't goin' to see a stranger, — from the North 
 too, and wilHn' to pay at that, — I ain't goin' to see him 
 turned out into the woods a night Hke this, jest 'cause my 
 ■wife's got on her high-heeled shoes ; not by a long chalk ! " 
 
 '* I don't want to turn anybody out of the house : I 
 should think 'twas me that was turned out ! " said ^Irs. 
 Crumlett. ' ' To have my husband tell me to my face he 
 wants to git rid of me, and will give me a recommendation 
 to go and git a divorce, — presence of company too ! I 
 never thought it would come to this ! But I can go ; I can 
 go right off to-night, if my staying here is so disagreeable : 
 only I can't take the children with me ; I wouldn't subject 
 them to hardships." 
 
 "Ye can leave the children," suggested Enos coolly. 
 ** Ye needn't wony' about them. If you're so anxious to 
 go, don't let any sich consideration as that bender ye, I 
 beg!" 
 
 '* Nobody has said I wanted to go ; only you turned me 
 out I " snapped INIrs. Crumlett, actually putting on her 
 bonnet, and wrapping an old faded shawl about her shoul- 
 ders. " Good-by, Tildy ; good-by, Eeny. You won't have 
 any mother any more,Tdl your pa brings you home a new 
 one : see then if she can 'put up with the treatment I have 
 
 6* 
 
G6 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 had to put up with, and be any more patient than I have 
 been!" 
 
 " I hain't turned ye out ! Come," said Enos, after pacing 
 the room obstinately for a minute, but finally relenting, when 
 he saw she was resolved to leave the house. 
 
 *' Same thing : you don't want me You're all the time 
 hinting about a divorce, and telUng me to find another home." 
 
 " No, I ain't : it's you that keeps ta'ntin' ! I hain't said 
 but that you've been patient. I hain't said / could a' 
 married any woman I pleased : never. I say, if you're 
 bent on gittin' a divorce, why, I sha'n't hender. I don't 
 want ye to stay and live with me, if ye don't want to; and 
 I'm sm-e that's fair." 
 
 " I ain't bent on gittin' a divorce, and never said I was," 
 replied the afflicted Mrs. Crumlett, with pins in her mouth, 
 drawing her shawl together. " But human nature " — tak- 
 ing the pins out — " is human nature. I own I'm human. 
 I can endui-e as much as a'most any woman, for my chil- 
 dren's sakes ; but when I'm told in so many words that I've 
 outlived my usefulness, and ain't wanted any more, that's 
 enough. I can go out in the woods, and lay myself down 
 and die, a sacrifice to the peace of my family, that's got sick 
 and tired of me, if I can't do any thmg more ! " 
 
 " Come, ma: ye hain't no notion o' goin' out into the 
 woods, ye know ye hain't ! " Yet Fnrp locked disturbed. 
 
THE FORTUNES OF ENOS C R U M L E T T. 67 
 
 " You'll see whether I have or not! Ye won't deny mo 
 the privilege of bidding my children a last farewell, will jq ? 
 No, ye won't be so cruel as that ! " Mrs. Crumlett went to 
 the cradle, and bent over the baby, — her fingers busily 
 pinning the shawl in the solemn interval of grief. " Poor 
 thing ! he won't realize his loss yet a while ; but ye may 
 have twenty wives, and they can't fill the place of a real 
 mother to your children ! " 
 
 Mrs. Crumlett wiped her eyes with a corner of her shawl, 
 and, bending over again, kissed the baby very carefully, in 
 order not to waken it. Enos looked on with visible remorse. 
 
 " Come, come, mother ! take off yer things, and don't 
 talk of leavin' the baby ! You never can leave it ; you know 
 you can't ! " 
 
 "I'm glad it's weaned," Matilda went on, tying her 
 bonnet-strings. " It won't miss me much. Tildy is getting 
 very handy about the house : so I don't see as I shall be 
 missed much, any way. Kiss me, Tildy ! Eeny, Eeny, 
 my dear ! can't you wake up, and kiss your mother : she's 
 going away ; and you probably will never, never, see her no 
 more ! " 
 
 "Le' me be ! " said Eeny peevishly. "You're always 
 going to leave pa; but you never have yet ! " and the in- 
 credulous urchin nestled his face in the crook of his arm, and 
 persisted in sleeping. 
 
68 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Well, you'll be sorry after I've gone! I s'pose you'll 
 say good-by to me, if I have been such a miserable wife and 
 mother ! " Mrs. Crumlett pathetically addressed her hus- 
 band. 
 
 " No : I won't do any thing of the sort," said Enos with 
 a conciliatory smile ; "for you ain't goin', Tildy. /don't 
 want ye to go, ye bioia.'^ 
 
 " No, I don't know it. If I did, I'm sure I shouldn't 
 want to leave you and the dear, dear children ! " 
 
 " Well, then, take off your bunnet ; don't le's part on a 
 little misunderstandin' : come, Tildy I " 
 
 " If ye re'ly want me to stay, — to please you ; but I'm 
 sure " — Mrs. Crumlett's voice choked ; and, to relieve the 
 obstruction, she sighingly untied her bonnet-strings. 
 
 "Now say no more about it," said Enos. "The best 
 woman in the world," — aside to his visitor, — " only not 
 very well, and subjick to low sperits. Come, mother, chirk 
 up, and see what we can do for — What did ye tell me 
 your name was ? " 
 
 Fred gives his name. Mrs. Crumlett regains her compos- 
 ure, and concludes that she can manage to make a bed on 
 the floor ; and so he is provided for comfortably for the 
 night. 
 
THE RETURN OF THE GUERILLAS. 69 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE GUERILLAS, 
 
 AM as safe here as anywhere, for the present," 
 thought Fred. "I'll rest to-night, take to- 
 morrow to reconnoitre, and feel my way as near 
 as possible to the rebel lines ; then, to-morrow nifrht, I'll 
 dodge their pickets. This will be the best way, if nothing 
 else turns up." 
 
 Something did "turn up," however, as we shall see. 
 After breakfast the next morning, he paid Mr. Crumlett for 
 his entertainment, and proposed to take leave of him. He 
 had business, he said, which required his attention. 
 
 " Wal," said Enos, who, having scented a speculation, 
 was determined to learn the secret of it, "if ye must be 
 movin', I guess I'll walk a little piece with ye, and show ye 
 the way." 
 
 To this proposal Fred had no valid objection to make. 
 Mr. Cramlett buttoned his coat, and directed Mrs. Crumlett 
 to loo A sharp after things during his absence. 
 
70 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Just as if I needed to be told that ! " said Mrs. Crum- 
 lett. "Don't I always look after things when you're 
 away ? " 
 
 ** Sometimes ye do, and sometimes ye don't," replied Enos 
 bluntly. " Ye needn't be so uppish jest 'cause I mentioned 
 it." 
 
 " I ain't uppish ; but I do wish you would give me some 
 little credit for what I do : guess I look after things well 
 enough ; and I shouldn't wonder if we got along sometimes 
 about as well in your absence as when you're here to order 
 and find fault." 
 
 " Oh, wal ! " exclaimed Enos, " if you do so much better 
 without me, I might jest about as well stay away : I guess 
 I'll go for good. How would that suit, I wonder? " 
 
 " 'T would suit well enough, if yc want to ! " 
 
 " Oh ! would it? That's interestin' ! I'm goin' off with 
 this young man ; and, if any thing should happen 't I can't 
 come back, it'll be comfortin' to know I've got a wife to hum 
 that can take care o' things better'n I can ! Glad ye told 
 me ! " and Enos went back into the house, and put some 
 money into his pocket; an act designed to impress Mrs. 
 Crumlett with the fact that he was preparing for dire emer- 
 gencies. 
 
 " I hain't said I could take care of things better than 
 you could, Enos! " she said in a modified tone. 
 
TUE EETUEX OF THE GUERILLAS. 71 
 
 But Enos didn't seem to hear. " I ain't the kind," he 
 muttered, " that wants to be in anybody's way." And he 
 proceeded to fill his pockets with doughnuts. 
 
 " Ain't ye coming back, Enos? " asked Mrs. Crumlett af- 
 fectionately. '* Say, Enos ! " 
 
 " I don't know ; and, more'n all that, I don't care ! It's 
 discouragin' to a man to be told by his own wife she can git 
 along better without him." 
 
 In vain Mrs. Cmmlett protested against this unjust con- 
 struction of her words, and entreated to be told when she 
 might look for his return. 
 
 "These is tickhsh times," said Enos grimly; "and no 
 man knows, when he leaves home, what' 11 happen. Lucky 
 for them that's got wives that can manage so much better 
 without 'em ! " 
 
 Having uttered this sai'casm, Mr. Crumlett marched away 
 sternly with Fred, turning a deaf ear to Matilda's tearful 
 expostulations. 
 
 It was yet early morning. As Fred expressed a wish to 
 avoid observation, they proceeded towards the woods. Before 
 they had entered them, however, a band of mounted men 
 came galloping along the road, and ordered them to halt. 
 
 " Come back here ! " shouted an officer. 
 
 Fred, who happened to be a few yards in advance of Mr. 
 
72 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Crumlett, on the edge of some bushes that skirted the woods, 
 hoped that he had not been seen : at all events, he did not for 
 an instant entertain the idea of going back. He had recog- 
 nized in the officer his acquaintance of the previous morning, 
 — the captain ^yith the pistols. 
 
 ** It's Gruflfley's Riders ! " said Enos, turning pale. 
 
 "It is you they want," Fred whispered : "I'll see you 
 again ! " and, plunging into the bushes, he was immediately 
 lost to sight. 
 
 Enos was greatly alarmed ; he was afraid to obey the 
 harsh orders of the guerilla chief, who could have no errand 
 to him promising either pleasure or profit. The rebels had 
 already paid him too many visits, and he lived in perpetual 
 dread of more disagreeable attentions. However, to avoid 
 these attentions, by attempting now to escape, he felt would 
 be the most dangerous and impolitic course he could 
 pursue. 
 
 '* Is it me ye want? " he called, after a moment's fearful 
 hesitation. 
 
 The profane reply he received left no doubt in his mind on 
 the subject ; and, trembling with apprehensions he endeavored 
 to hide, he returned to the road. 
 
 " Mebby I've been harborin' a sjjy, and now they'll serve 
 me as they served old Ellsmer yesterday ! " 
 
THE RETURN OF THE GUERILLAS. 73 
 
 Only the captain and one other horseman remained : the 
 rest had ridden on in the direction of Ellsmer's house. 
 
 " How de do ? " said Enos, nodding with a ghastly attempt 
 at cheerfulness. 
 
 To his surprise, the men made no inquiries at first concern- 
 ing the lad who had just left him. They wished to know if 
 he had heard any thing of the young conscript, Ellsmer, 
 whom they had been in search of the day before; or. if he 
 had been near the Ellsmer premises. Mr. Crumlett's an- 
 swers to these questions would have been satisfactoiy enough 
 but for his pale looks and embarrassed manner. 
 
 " Wasn't there somebody with you when I first called? " 
 
 ** Yes : boy that come to my house last night; said he 
 was goin' to jiue the Confederate anny." 
 
 " Where was you going with him ? " 
 
 *' Wal, nowhere pa'tic'lar. Ye see," said Enos, '* I kind 
 o' wanted to know more about him : so I follered him into 
 the woods." 
 
 "You're lying to me!" said the captain. "I believe 
 that boy was young Ellsmer himself." 
 
 "Then the quicker ye send and overhaul him, the bet- 
 ter ! " ejaculated Enos. " He's no more Ellsmer than I be, 
 Captain Grniffley. Ketch him : I wish you would, if you've 
 any sich idee." 
 
 7 
 
74 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I'll attend to that," said Gruffley. " Corporal, wait here, 
 and watch the woods. Crumlett, you must eorae with me." 
 
 Hearing this stern order, Mrs. Crumlett, who had come out 
 of the house and approached the spot, uttjred a shriek of 
 despair. Her husband's dai'k and bitter words on quitting 
 the house had left her in the lowest kind of spirits, and now 
 she believed her worst feai's were about to be realized. 
 
 " Enos, Enos ! " flinging herself on his neck, " what will 
 become of me if you're took away ? " 
 
 AVhich violent demonstration of feeling convinced the offi- 
 cer of Crumlett's guilty complicity in young Ellsmer's es- 
 cape. 
 
 " You're a Northern man, and youVe long been suspected 
 of treachery to the South. Now, if it's proved, j'ou swing ! 
 No more words ! Fling off that woman ! Mai'ch ! " 
 
 " What will become of me? what will become of mo ? " 
 repeated Mrs. Crumlett, wildly wi'inging her hands. " Enos, 
 Enos ! hadn't you better give me back the money you put 
 into your pocket ? for if you should be hung, ye know, — 
 think of me and the children, Enos ! " 
 
 Mr. Crumlett, who had received her caresses with remorse- 
 ful affection, thinking this calamity had come upon him as a 
 judgment for threatening to abandon his family, now tui'ncd 
 from her wrathfully. 
 
THE RETURN OF THE GUERILLAS. 75 
 
 " By jingoes ! if you think more of a little money than 
 you do of me, good-by ! " And he marched away. 
 
 Fortunately for him, proof was not long wanting to corrob- 
 orate his denial of the charge that his guest, who had fled 
 into the woods, was Ellsmer, the conscript. 
 
 The captain, with sabre ratthng, pistols bristhng, and long 
 bushy hair streaming behind under his bandit's hat, drove 
 Enos at a trot along the road towards EUsmer's house. The 
 rest of the band had already arrived on the premises, and the 
 house was surrounded ; although, after the thorough search of 
 yesterday, and the murder of the parents^ it was scarcely to 
 be supposed that the deserter still hngered about the old place. 
 The guerillas had given him up, and retired, after the 
 butchery. They had now returned, perhaps for very shame, 
 to cut down the old man, and to buiy him and the old 
 woman from the light of God's sun and the eyes of men. 
 
 " Find a shovel somewhere ! Dig a hole anywhere ! 
 Tumble the Union-shiiekers in, and cover 'em up ! " 
 
 A spade and some hoes were discovered in the bam. 
 Three or four men fell to digging a gTave. The rest guarded 
 the approaches to the house. At this juncture the captain 
 anived, accompanied by the worthy Enos, who had trotted 
 himself into a ludicrous condition of breathlessness and 
 sweat. 
 
76 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 A sergeant of the party, without dismounting, had ridden 
 up to the porch with his sword drawn, prepared to cut old 
 EUsmer down. Enos forgot his side-ache, his asthma and 
 sweat, in the horror of the sight. He winked invokmtarily 
 at the sword circling through the au\ But he did not shut his 
 ears, which heard distinctly the report of a gun, followed by 
 the sound of a body tumbling heavily to the gi-ound. AVhen 
 he opened his eyes, he looked to see the rope severed and the 
 hanged man fallen. But the rope was untouched : there 
 hung the old man still. But the sergeant's saddle was 
 emnty ; it was he who had fallen : his sword lay on the 
 steps ; there was a bullet-hole in his head. That was the 
 meaning of the gunshot Enos had heard. Young EUsmer, 
 who had waited so long for his revenge, had not waited in 
 vain. 
 
 " He is in the house ! " shouted the guerillas, faUing back 
 in consternation at the sight. 
 
 They rallied quickly, however. Five men rushed into the 
 house with drawn sabres and pistols cocked, while their com- 
 panions kept guard outside. A glimpse of the conscript had 
 liecn seen, after the firing of the gun within : the smell of 
 the powder was still in the room. But where was he ? In 
 the mterval that elapsed between the shooting of the sergeant 
 and the entrance of the Eiders, the fugitive had disappeared. 
 
THE RETURN OF THE GUERILLAS. 77 
 
 He had certainly not left the house ; nor yet was he any- 
 where to be found in it. A thorough search from cellar to 
 attic revealed no trace of him. 
 
 "Never mind! waste no more time, boys!" cried the 
 captain. " Fh-e the house ! " 
 
 The house was filled in several rooms at once, and the 
 guerillas surrounded it to see it burn. 
 
 " Now let hun roast, or come out and be shot ! " said they, 
 
 hungry to be revenged for their comrade's death. 
 
 7* 
 
THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 
 
 N the city of Nasliville, a few evenings previous 
 to the events just related, two men were engaged 
 in private conversation at the head-quarters of 
 the army police. One of them was an officer of the depart- 
 ment : the other was a negi'o. Their chairs were drawn near 
 together, and they sat face to face, — the officer speaking in 
 low, confidential tones ; while the negro listened with singu- 
 larly calm, intelhgent, proud features, giving now and then a 
 nod, a smile, or brief word, in reply. 
 
 " But how to trap him ? that is the question ! " the officer 
 was saying. " He knows he is suspected, and is as sly as 
 any old fox. There's no doubt but that he is in the practice 
 of smuo-o-lino; contraband o;oods and information throup;h our 
 hues to the enemy : but he seems to know a detective by 
 instinct ; and, with that veneral)le white beard and smooth 
 tongue of his, he has outwitted some of our best men. But 
 now, though he has been so careful to keep clear of the traps 
 
OLD FRIENDS. 79 
 
 we havo set for him, there is a chance of his getting caught 
 in one of his own. It is a very delicate piece of business, 
 and we need your assistance." 
 
 The negro nodded with a peculiar smile. The officer 
 understood its meanino:. 
 
 "Yes, I know your readiness to undertake any service 
 that has danger to recoiBmend it. But this is somethinf^ 
 
 o 
 
 different from what you have been used to. It is not to risk 
 your life passing the enemy's pickets, creeping around his 
 camp, hiding in the woods, dodging his cavalry, picking off 
 his scouts with that famous rifle of yours, and never coming 
 in until you have gained us some important information worth 
 risking your life for. This man has made a request for 
 negroes to work on his farm, outside of our picket lines. He 
 thmks we ought to let him have them to repau- some fences 
 our soldiers have destroyed. His own negroes have been 
 sent down into Georgia to prevent their escape to us. Now, 
 I propose to let them have one stout fellow, and that you 
 shall be the man." 
 
 The negro nodded again with 'a thoughtful and dubious 
 frown. 
 
 ** He will come to the fortifications to-morrow, where the 
 engineers are at work, to learn if his request is gi-anted. 
 You must be there. Captain Jones, to whom he made the 
 
80 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 request, will say, ' I have permission to let you take one 
 man, if there's any that will go with you ; but I cannot com- 
 pel any to go.' He will then call you to him, as if select- 
 ing you by chance. You will be in the gai'b and have the 
 air of a laborer. It will be easy for you to assume the 
 clothes ; but not so easy, I fear, to put off that proud look 
 of yours, which shows at once that you would not be a very 
 easy subject to manage. Do you think you can do it? " 
 
 " I can do any thing for the service, sir," answered the 
 black. 
 
 " Then we shall succeed. The captain will say, ' Here, 
 Bill : will you go with this man ? He will pay you.' Then 
 you will make a bargain with him, and a hard bargain 
 too ; for he must not think you go willingly. With regard 
 to that, however, I need give you no instructions. The 
 thing is this : You are to go with him, and even set to work 
 repairing his fences, if necessary; but, at the same time, 
 keep your eyes open, see every thing that is going on, learn 
 all about his operations, and return here when you get ready. 
 I am confident he has other work for you to do besides 
 making fences, and that you can get at some secrets our 
 detectives couldn't." 
 
 x\t that moment an ofBcial looked into the room. "I 
 liave brought that boy you sent for, colonel," said he. 
 " \Yill you sec him now "' " 
 
OLD FRIENDS. . 81 
 
 "Yes: brill o; him in. Meanwhile," — to the neo-ro, — 
 " you can be considering what I have said. Sit in the 
 corner there. I shall be through with this other case in a few 
 minutes." 
 
 The official entered, conducting a lad in the uniforai of a 
 United-States private, with a broad, good-humored face, un- 
 mistakably German. The negro, in the mean time, had en- 
 sconced hmiself in the corner, where he sat in shadow, with 
 his chin upon his hand. 
 
 The colonel spoke pleasantly to the boy, inquired his name, 
 the number of his regiment, the length of time he had been 
 in the service, and so forth ; to all which questions he 
 returned deliberate and precise replies, in accents as decided- 
 ly German as his face. 
 
 *' And now it is proposed to you to desert, I understand," 
 said the colonel. 
 
 " Yat you unterstand is wery tme," said the boy. 
 
 " Well, sit down here, and tell me all about it." 
 
 The lad asked permission first to help himself to a glass of 
 water from a pitchy that stood on the table : " It is such dry 
 times talking," he remarked. And, having drank, he seated 
 himself, and began his story. 
 
 " It is two days now, a man comes into our camp, who is 
 aTutch Chew." 
 
82 TBE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " A Tutcli Chew ? Ob ! you mean a Geraian Jew ? " 
 
 '^ That is vat I mean : a Hebrew from my country. 
 And, ven he sees me, he just gives me van little vink out of 
 bis eye, — so ; and says to me, in our language, that I am 
 Tutch as he." 
 
 ''How did be know that?" 
 
 " That is vat vas so queer : for I do not look wery 
 Tutch, nor speak so ; do I ? But he picks me out, and I 
 vas pleased to make acquaintance ; till be says to me, ' Vat 
 for you let youi'self to be a tam Yankee soldier ? ' And be 
 says, ' I could put you into a pizness petter as that ! ' And 
 he vinks again to me out of bis eyes ; and he says, ' I can 
 show you to make five bunder' toUar in two vcoks.' — ' That 
 is much money,' I says to him. ' It is wery much for two 
 veeks, and a poy as you,' he says to me. ' I vould not tell 
 anypody else ; but I vill tell you.' And so be tells me. He 
 says be vill help me to desert from my regiment, and give me 
 some clothes as nopody shall know me ven I vonce have 'em 
 on ; and then he vill get me a pass to go through the lines, 
 and give me some goods to sell, and I shall go sell them to the 
 rebels, and make fifty toUars for vun, easy, and give him half 
 ven I shall come pack. He says ho has sent out two, tree 
 poys, that have smuggled for him, and made much money. 
 Then be says, ' You get a furlough to coine into the city to 
 
OLD FniENDS. 83 
 
 wi^^it your relations : if not, then you just slip by the guard 
 some dark night. ' And he says his name is Yoseph ; but he 
 vill not tell me his firm, or the house vai-e his goods are 
 smuggled, fear of trouble. But he says, ' You get into the 
 city, and come to the street and house, so,' — vich he 
 iiiai"ks on this paper, — ' and ask for Yoseph, and you shall 
 find me, and I vill do vat I promise.' " 
 
 The lad produced the paper. The colonel, who had listened 
 with keen interest, examined it carefully. 
 
 " Well, did you agree to his proposition? " 
 
 "Not wery much." The boy laughed with an expression 
 of shrewd good-humor. " I say to myself, ' This fellow is a 
 willain ! Suppose I let him go on and tell just how much he 
 is a willain, if that vill please him.' For I hear the Chews 
 are pad men here ; that they help spies and smugglers, and 
 are wery slippery to catch. So I say, ' You shall hear from 
 me so soon as conwenient.' Then, ven he is gone, I go 
 straight to my captain and show him this paper, and say to 
 him, ' If it is the same thing to you, I should like to desert, 
 and go and make some money.' That vas for fun, you 
 know. But my captain says, * Keep quiet, my boy, and may 
 be ve shall catch these rogues.' Then he wiites a letter to 
 you ; and so I suppose you send for me." 
 
 The colonel regarded the lad searchingly, and asked him 
 
81 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 many questions. He seemed studying to learn just how far 
 he could make use of him to advantage, — how far it would 
 be safe to trust his honesty and shrewdness ; when suddenly 
 the negro left his comer, and came forward. 
 
 "Colonel," said he with cordial emphasis, "you can 
 trust this boy to any extent. I know him well ; and I am 
 light glad to see him ! " He extended his hand, which 
 the youngster seized as if it had been a brother's. " Cai'l, 
 how are you 'i ' ' 
 
 " Pomp I I thought it vas you ! " exclaimed Carl, with 
 tears of joy brimming his bright blue eyes. 
 
 The colonel, surprised at the recognition, wished to know 
 where the two had become acquainted. 
 
 ' ' I vas vun of the Union refugees he guided over the 
 mountains from East Tennessee last year," said Carl eagerly. 
 " Ye had been driven to a cave there by the rebs. You 
 have heard of Cudjo's Cave? That vas the place. A wery 
 long story it vould be to tell ; but the short of it is, ven 
 Cudjo vas killed, and lSh\ Willars and Wirginie had got 
 away, then ve conclude it vas time to close that hotel for the 
 season, and take a little journey into Kentucky, — for our 
 healths, you know. Yell, it vas a rough road to travel ; but 
 ve come to Camp Dick Robin.'on at last, and that vas the last 
 ever I see of Pomp till now. But I hear of him, though. 
 
OLD FRIENDS. 85 
 
 He vas a scout in Eastern Kentucky for General Nelson, 
 and more so for General Gai-field; and some on liis own 
 hook, yen he had nothing else to do." 
 
 ''And what became of you," said Pomp, "and the 
 schoolmaster?" 
 
 "After ve said good-pie to you and Stackridge, ve kept 
 straight on to Pennsylwany, — just going out of our vay a 
 little, you know, to pay a wisit to Wirginie and her father, 
 who had got safe to Ohio. Then ve go to IVIr. Hapgood's 
 home, yair he enlists, wery much to the surprise and dishgust 
 of some good friends of his. But I did not wolunteer then. 
 He said I vas so young, I must stay at home, and take care 
 of his sisters ; and wery pleasant persons they vas to take 
 care of too," said Cai'l, blushing. " But, after that, he vas 
 detached from his regiment, and promoted to be a lieutenant 
 in the regiment ve are now in. And vun of his sisters vas 
 married; and the other," — Carl dropped his eyes, — "she 
 has gone to live with the man-ied vun, you unterstandt. So 
 he did not preweut me any more, and that is the reason I 
 enlishted unter him. He has been promoted vunco since ; 
 and that is the reason he is now my captain." 
 
 " Well, Carl, if you will consent to, part from your captain 
 for a fej? days, and do a little work for me, I shall be gi'eatly 
 obliged to you. These smugglers, and particularly your 
 
86 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 friends the Jews, are the pest of this department. I should 
 like to catch that Joseph, — or Yoseph, as you call him, — 
 and as many of his tribe as can be drawn into the net. Sup- 
 pose you desert. You have got permission to come into 
 the city to see your friends ; and, now, suppose you give 
 Joseph a call. Find out where he is, and all about him. 
 Loarn who his accomplices are, what are his plans, and all 
 that. Agree to every thing he proposes, even if it is to 
 smuggle goods to the rebels ; and then report to me. Will 
 your- 
 
 "I suppose I shall do any thing you say; for that vas 
 Captain Hapgood's orders," replied Carl, with a bright look, 
 which showed that he scented sport in the adventure. 
 
 The colonel gave him still fiu'ther instructions with regard 
 to his dealings with the Jew ; then called the officer who had 
 brought him in. 
 
 " This man will show you the street and house marked on 
 this paper ; but do not let it appear that he is showing you 
 tlje way. He or some of our men will be near you day 
 and night. "V\Tien you wish to communicate with me, appear 
 on the street with this little flag pinned to your cap or coat- 
 sleeve. This is the signal by which you will know my 
 man." And the colonel, drawing his handkerchief from his 
 pocket, shook it, and put it back again. " He will make 
 
OLD FRIENDS. 87 
 
 ofi, and joii follow him at a distance. When the coast is 
 clear, you will speak to him, or you will follow him here. 
 The rest I leave to your own good wit and discretion." 
 
 Carl scratched his ear : he seemed to have a doubt on 
 some subject. 
 
 " I suppose it vill be right for me to fool him? He is 
 from my country ; and vat I vould never do is betray a 
 fi'iend." 
 
 " Depend upon it, he is no friend of yours : it was only to 
 make a tool of you, for his own villanous purposes, that he 
 sought you out." 
 ■ " That is vat I think," said Carl, brightening. 
 
 ** Besides, it is right to circumvent traitors at all times." 
 
 "Wery good: I shall try to circumwent 'em!" And 
 Carl, taking leave of Pomp and the colonel, departed with 
 his guide. 
 
 The business which his arrival had interrupted was now re- 
 sumed, and speedily concluded ; Pomp engaging to under- 
 take the job proposed to him. 
 
88 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Tffi: RESCUE. 
 
 MMEDIATELY on parting from Mr. Crumlett, 
 Fred slipped through the bushes, and dashed 
 into the woods ; fii-mly believing that he was the 
 person the guerillas were in quest of, and expecting pur- 
 suit. 
 
 No horsemen came after him, however. "They'll go 
 around by the road to head me off! " thought he. " My 
 best way is to hide." 
 
 To conceal himself in some spot where he could observe 
 the movements on the turnpike, without being himself per- 
 ceived, seemed the wisest thing he could do. He remem- 
 bered the thichet by the brook, where he had lain hid so long 
 the day before. Towards this he made his way with all con- 
 venient speed, keeping a sharp lookout the while for rebel 
 horsemen. 
 
 He reached the thicket in safety, and crept into it. The 
 rustling of dry leaves and crackling of twigs where he passed 
 
TEE RESCUE. 89 
 
 had ceased ; the beating of his heart had become still ; he 
 could hear the trickling of the little brook among the stones ; 
 when three horsemen appeared on the turnpike, and turned 
 aside into the woods. 
 
 They rode du-ectly towards the thicket where he lay watch- 
 ing them through the net-work of saplings. Two of them 
 were tall, lank, coarse-looking men, with vicious faces : the 
 other was a person of venerable aspect, with hair and beard 
 white as snow. 
 
 Between the two younger men of the party was a led 
 horse, upon the back of which was bound some strange 
 burden. It was some time before Fred could make out what 
 it was. The party halted at the little watering-place scooped 
 out of the bed of the brook : there the younger men dis- 
 mounted, and took turns drinking, — one holding back the 
 horses, while the other got down on his face, and drank. The 
 horses were then watered. The old man did not dismount, 
 but sat in his saddle, watching the burden on the led horse, 
 with gray eyes twinkling complacently under his white eye- 
 brows. 
 
 And now Fred was enabled by degrees to make out what 
 that burden was. " Dead or alive, it is a man ! " thouoht 
 he with a thrill of horror ; for it was not a man sitting up- 
 right on the horse, but a figure bound hand and foot, stretched 
 
90 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 lengthwise along the animal's back, and secured by ropes 
 wound snake-like around botb horse and man. His head 
 hung down helplessly on one side of the horse's neck. Fred 
 saw the face : it was that of a negro. There was a gag in 
 the mouth ; and the eyes, rolHng with an expression of agony, 
 betrayed that the man was alive. 
 
 " He will bring two thousand dollars in Atlanta," said the 
 old man with a thoughtful smile. "You'll do so well with 
 him, boys, you ought to give me a hundred extra." 
 
 "A bargain's a bargain, deacon!" rephed one of the 
 young men with a coarse laugh of satisfaction. " S'pose we 
 do get two thousand : that's only six hundi'ed apiece for us, 
 after paying youi' share. I'll fix that with you now, soon as 
 you please. Carter'll stay here and watch the nigger, 
 while we go back to the tavern and get pen and ink to write 
 a receipt with." 
 
 "Don't be gone long, neither," said Carter;; "for it's 
 about time to ease up on the ropes a little, and take the gag 
 out, I reckon." 
 
 "Not yet awhile," replied Carter's companion grimly. 
 " He ain't tame enough yet. Nothing tames a nigger like 
 toting him that fashion. He'll be as gentle as a kitten when 
 we come to put him into a wagon. Now, old deacon ! " 
 
 The venerable man went away with the speaker, and the 
 two soon disappeared on the turnpike. 
 
THE RESCUE. 91 
 
 Carter remained, and watched the negro; while Fred, in his 
 ambush, watched both. 
 
 "Getting uneasy ? " said Carter, shipping the thigh of the 
 blaclf Mazeppa. "Wal, it's rough, that's so; but 'twill do 
 ye good, my bo}^ — do ye good !" Another hearty slap. 
 " We had too much trouble tying ye in the fii'st place, to let 
 ye loose in a hurry, — a plucky boy like you ! Now make 
 youi'self comfortable as you can while I stretch." 
 
 The horses were tied to a tree, and Carter lay upon the 
 ground beside them. Almost immediately Fred could hear 
 him snore : for a moment only, however ; the sound itself ap- 
 pearing to awaken the sleeper. 
 
 "Blast me," said he, starting up, "if I wasn't on the 
 pint of snoozing ! This beuig up all night, nigger-ketching, 
 makes a fellow sleepy as a bar in the dead of winter, next 
 day. But don't be skeert, my boy : I shall keep awake, for 
 company, — so's 't ye won't be lonesome, ye know." 
 
 Having said this, the man suffered his head to droop until 
 once more it rested on the ground. In a few seconds, he 
 snored again. This time the sound did not awake hun. He 
 was fast asleep. 
 
 Then the negro began desperately to struggle with his 
 bonds. He was evidently a man of great strength ; for the 
 tension of the ropee, as he strained at them, put the horse in 
 
92 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 pain. The animal bounded forward ; then backed suddenly, 
 tugging at liis halter ; and finally attempted to lie down and 
 roll. These movements, so near the head of the sleeper, 
 awoke him. He rose to a sitting posture. 
 
 " What's that beast trying to do ? Stand up, Lark ! " He 
 struck the horse with a whip, without noticing that the negi'o's 
 legs came in for a share of the blow. " Now be still, can't 
 ye ? " And he stretched himself once more upon the bank. 
 
 The negro's condition seemed hopeless. He could not free 
 his hands from the rope, nor attempt to break it without start- 
 ing the horse again. He lifted his head, and rolled his 03'cs 
 about him despairingly. They rested on an object which at 
 once inspired him with courage. It was a boy creeping from 
 the thicket, with one hand on the ground, and the other 
 raised with a gesture of secrecy and warning. 
 
 The negro waited motionless. His guardian slept on the 
 bank. Fred advanced cautiously, yet making the twigs 
 snap and leaves rustle at every movement. Stopping only 
 to assure himself from time to time that Carter still slept, he 
 approached the brooklet which was to be crossed, went over 
 on hands and knees, and crouched behind the tree to wliieh 
 the horses were tied. Already he had taken from his pocket 
 the knife with which, the day before, ha had come so near 
 assassinating Daniels. This time he did fiot open it with his 
 
THE RESCUE. 93 
 
 teeth. When he arose to his feet, it was open in his hand. 
 Quickly, and with little noise, he cut the negi'o's bands. A 
 moment later, the negro was himself crouching by the tree : 
 he relieved his own mouth of the gag, and stripped the frag- 
 ments of the rope from his wrists and limbs ; and still the 
 sleeper slept. 
 
 A terrible smile lighted up the black man's face. Fred 
 saw that he was a person of powerful bone and muscle, but 
 that he was nearly disabled by injuries he had received. His 
 limbs were so stiff, that he could with difficulty stand. Flight 
 from his captors was out of the question. What was to be 
 done ? 
 
 ** Mount the horse ! " said Fred in a whisper. 
 
 But the negro shook his head : evidently he knew well 
 that escape on horseback by daylight, in that region, would 
 be impossible. 
 
 He motioned Fred to give him the knife. Fred gave it. 
 The negro then pointed at the led horse. " Turn him loose ! " 
 he said, with lips so sore and rigid from the effects of the 
 gag, that articulation was painful. 
 
 As he spoke, he crept to the side of the sleeping man, and 
 held the knife over hun. ready to plunge it into his heart 
 should he awake. 
 
 Fred doubted the pohcy of turning the horse loose. Yet 
 
94 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 there was sometbino' in the neoTo's look and manner — 
 sagacious, resolute, commanding — that impelled him to 
 obey. There was on the head of the led horse a halter only. 
 That Fred slipped off, leaving it tied to the tree. Imme- 
 diately the animal, appreciating the delights of freedom, es- 
 pecially after bearing so uncomfortable a bui'den, frisked, 
 and walked away. All this time, the kidnapper, having 
 gi'own accustomed to the movements of the horses, — for his 
 own horse was pawing, — enjoyed that profound sleep which 
 sometimes visits the wicked as well as the innocent. 
 
 So much accomplished, the negro^, still holding the knife 
 over his captor's heart, du*ected Fred, with a gesture of his 
 unoccupied hand, to return to the thicket. Fred, beginning 
 to comprehend the stratagem, obeyed. He had scai'cely con- 
 cealed himself, when the black, softly withdrawing ftom his 
 position, gathered up the fragments of the rope, and followed 
 him. Before entering the thicket, however, he paused, and 
 threw a pebble picked from the bed of the brook, hitting the 
 heels of the released horse, as he was walking somewhat too 
 leisurely away. The horse started off on a trot through the 
 woods, and the negro crept into the thicket. 
 
A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 95 
 
 X. 
 
 A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 
 
 OT a word was spoken. The little brook trickled 
 |) with a pleasant sound among the stones, the 
 wind stured the trees, and the kidnapper snored 
 on the bank. The negro laid his hand *on Fred's foot, and 
 they exchanged exultant glances. After that they scarcely 
 looked at each other, but waited, lying close to the ground, 
 and peering through the bushes. 
 
 In about half an hour, iha other kidnapper was heard re- 
 turning. He rode up the bank of the brook, whistling a gay 
 tune. He had got rid of the old - deacon ; " and now he 
 possessed a clear claim to one-half of the neoro 
 
 o 
 
 "Two thousand. Carter?" he cried in the distance, ceas- 
 ing to whistle. - We'U get three thousand, if we do a 
 dollar ! Three thousand or nothing, I say ! " 
 
 "Yes, three thousand or noth— Hillo ! " said Carter, 
 stai-ting up. " Whar >- whar is the nio-o-er ? ' ' 
 
96 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The returning kidnapper now perceived, that, where he had 
 supposed two horses were standing, there was but one. 
 
 " Carter ! " he exclaimed with a great oath, spurring to 
 the spot, " what have you done with the nigger ? " 
 
 "Me?" said Cai'ter, stupefied. "It's you, Bodson ! " 
 turning fui'iously upon his accomplice. " You've robbed 
 me ! You and that cussed old deacon have come and tuk 
 away the nigger in my sleep ! " 
 
 "None o' that ! " said Bodson, springing fi-om his horse, 
 and di-awing a tremendous bowie-knife. " I'll slice ye as I 
 would a chicken ! " 
 
 "No, ye won't ! " retorted Cai'ter, producing a revolver, 
 and levelling it. " Come an inch nearer, and I'll let day- 
 light through ye ! " 
 
 The enraged kidnappers stood confronting each other, little 
 knowing what interested spectators were witnessing the 
 scene. The negro's grasp tightened on Fred's foot ; and, 
 looking back, the boy saw the ebon visage glowing with 
 triumph. 
 
 "Now give an account of yerself!" said Bodson, still 
 menacing his friend with the bowie-knife, but manifesting a 
 wholesome respect for the pistol. " Who's yer pardner in 
 this trick ? AYhar's he gone with the nigger ? No use of 
 yer denying what's as plain as daylight through a Virginny 
 
A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 97 
 
 fence. Ye hain't been asleep at all. Ye only pretend. 
 But ye can't fool me ! '' 
 
 Bodson's earnestness began to make an impression on 
 Carter; and Carter's astonishment and wrath produced a 
 similar effect on his friend Bodson. 
 
 " K you and the old man didnH come and steal the m'gger, 
 then somebody else did, — hoss and all ; or else he rubbed 
 his halter off! That must be the way on't. So, 'stead of 
 fighting about an accident, le's hunt up the hoss. One 
 thing's sure, — the nigger never could git off his back without 
 help. Find the hoss, and we find the nigger." 
 
 Bodson was more than half convinced of his friend's 
 sincerity; but his rage did not abate. That Carter, who had 
 been left to guard their captive, should stupidly fall asleep, 
 and suffer the horse to slip his halter and walk away, was, in 
 his eyes, an unpardonable offence. 
 
 " If ye'd stole him, I should think more on ye. I knew 
 ye was something of a rascal, and I don't object to that ; but 
 I didn't think ye was a fool ! " 
 
 However, he agreed with Carter that no time was to be lost 
 in quarrelling ; and, leading their horses, they wandered away 
 in the woods, searching for the tracks of the missing animal. 
 
 " They are on his trail ! " said the negro, watching them 
 from the thicket's edge. " As Soon as they find the horse. 
 
98 • THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 they'll come back here to hunt for the ' nigger ' ! " he added, 
 laughing. "They took me once at a disadvantage; but they 
 don't take me again ! " 
 
 " You were kidnapped? " 
 
 " Yes : that gray-headed villain took me out from Nash- 
 ville to repair damages the Union soldiers had done to his 
 fences. But his real object was to kidnap and sell me. As 
 it was my business to learn what his object was, I allowed 
 him to get me in his power." 
 
 ** How your business ? " 
 
 •* Never mmd about that now. It was my busmess : so, 
 when he called me up last night to go and take care of some 
 horses, I went ; saw one of those men at the stable, and 
 received a blow on the head from another I did not see. 
 I was knocked down, and bound. Then the old man himself 
 helped them tie me on to the horse. . They carried me that 
 way, in order that they might come by paths where wagons 
 wouldn't pass. They were not to pay the old man his share 
 of the profits untd they had got me safe beyond both army 
 lines ; and so he came with them here. You are a Union 
 boy ? I thought so : one of the prisoners taken yesterday 
 rjoming ? I heard of that affair. How did you escape ? " 
 
 Fred was telling his story, when the negro stopped him. 
 
 ' ' See ! they are going out of sight ! They haven't found 
 
A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 99 
 
 the horse yet ; but tbey will find him soon. Then, whether 
 they'll hunt further for the * nigger,' or hasten back here first, 
 is a question. At all events, we had better not remain. 
 The man's name was Daniels who rescued you, did you say ? " 
 
 ** Yes : do you know him ? " 
 
 *' If he is the man I think," said the negro, " I know him, 
 and I know yi^u can trust him. If you see him again, ask 
 him if he knows Pomp." 
 
 *' Is that your name ? " 
 
 " It is one of my names : it is the name he knows me 
 by," answered the negro with a smile. " Now is the time ! " 
 
 And before Fred could stop him, or demand what course 
 he proposed to pursue, Pomp sprang out of the bushes. 
 Fred followed. In order not to leave any tracks to betray 
 them, they avoided the soft gi'ound of the banks, but kept 
 the bed of the brook, tracing its course up into the woods. 
 Pomp had recovered from his soreness of joint and muscle 
 suf&ciently to make good speed over the dry stones. Fred, 
 perceiving that they were approaching the edge of the woods, 
 beyond which was the cross-road where Crumlett lived, and 
 where he had last seen the guerillas, called to him to stop. 
 
 " In the brush yonder!" said Pomp; and, leading , the 
 way to another thick undergrowth, he found an opening, and 
 cropt into it. 
 
100 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 In tlie midst of the thicket were a few saphngs taller than 
 the rest. One of these Pomp climbed in order to take an 
 observation. 
 
 ** They have found the horse ! " he said. " They are lead- 
 ing him back to the watering-place. You can hear them 
 swear, even at this distance." 
 
 Fred not only heard, but he could soon se6 also ; having 
 climbed into another sapling beside Pomp. The kidnappers 
 returned to the spot where the horses had been tied, examined 
 the ground there carefully, and even penetrated the thicket 
 where the fugitives had so lately been concealed ; all the time 
 breaking the stillness of the woods with their angiy oaths. 
 Then suddenly, leaving the led horse fastened to a tree, they 
 separated, and galloped off in different directions ; one resum- 
 ing the search in the quarter of the woods where the animal 
 had been recovered, while the other disappeared on the 
 turnpike. 
 
 "All right!" laughed Pomp, slipping down from the 
 saphng. '* They have divided their forces : that was kind in 
 them ! " 
 
 " Instead of two against one, they will now be one against 
 two, if they happen to meet us ! " said Fred. 
 
 "But they are armed," suggested the negi'o, regarding 
 with admiration the bright, brave young face of the boy. 
 
A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 101 
 
 "So are we," replied Fred. "We have a jack-knife 
 between us." 
 
 Pomp mused. " Perhaps I ought to have used the knife 
 when I had Carter in my power. Then, when Bodson re- 
 turned, he should have received a bullet from Carter's pistol : 
 that would have finished him. But I hate to take life, — 
 even that of a villain, — when it can be avoided," said he, 
 rubbing his galled limbs. 
 
 "It is better as it is," said Fred. " Our stratagem has 
 worked pretty well, so far. But you have had no breakfast ? " 
 
 " No matter : I only wish I had a drink of water. Will 
 you keep watch while I crawl down to the run ? " 
 
 Fred consented, keeping his station in the sapling. Pomp 
 crept to the brook, hollowed a little place in the stones 
 and gravel, and waited for the water in it to settle. Then, 
 having drank, he bathed his chafed and swollen limbs. 
 
 " Whiit a blessing is water ! " said he. " Now I feel fresh 
 again." 
 
 " Shall we stay here all day ? " said Fred, as Pomp crept 
 back into the bushes. *' I know where I can get you some- 
 thing to eat, if you are very hungry; " and he related his 
 adventure with the Crumletts. 
 
 " And would you really run the risk of going back there 
 
 for me ? " said Pomp. " Well, we'll see." 
 9* 
 
102 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Hist ! there is somebody ! " said Fred, perceivmg a 
 movement in the direction of the cross-road. 
 
 "A man?" 
 
 "Yes, on foot." 
 
 "More than one?" 
 
 " I don't know : I can see only one yet. There he comes, 
 around the bushes ! " 
 
 "Take care ! " said Pomp. " You will be in sight up 
 there. Drop down ; but don't shake the tree." 
 
 Fred stopped to take a last look, and presently began to 
 laugh. 
 
 " It is Tildy's husband ! it is Mr. Crumlett himself ! " 
 
 " Good ! " said Pomp. " Perhaps we can make him 
 useful." 
 
 " He is looking for me, I believe," said Fred, dropping to 
 the ground. " Shall I go out and speak to him ? " 
 
 After some hesitation, the cautious Pomp consente-l ; and 
 Fred, creeping out on the side near the brook, went around 
 the bushes, and met, as if by accident, Mr. Crumlett. 
 
 " Sho I " said Enos. " I was jest looldn' for you I How 
 about that spec'lation? " 
 
 "It's progressing," replied Fred cheerfully. "What's 
 tlie news?" 
 
 "Had an all-fii-ed excitin' time since I see you!" said 
 
A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 103 
 
 Enos, wiping the sweat from his neck. " They've burnt up 
 EUsmer's house, and young Ellsmer in it ! But he paid two 
 of Gruffley's men — killed one and wounded t'other — 'fore 
 they got through with him." 
 
 " What did they want of you?" Fred inquired, horrified 
 by this news. 
 
 " They wanted to know o^ me if I had seen him ; and 
 they driv me with 'em till they got pretty well convinced that 
 you, that they'd seen with me, wasn't him ; for he was fir- 
 ing at 'em out of the house, you see. Then they let me go : 
 and I remembered oui* partin' had been rather sudden ; 
 and thinkin', if there was a chance for a spec'lation, I'd like 
 to be counted in, I kind o' litered alor.g, hopin' to find 
 
 je." 
 
 "A speculation at such a time as this, Mr. Cmmlett?" 
 said Fred, making Enos sit down with him under cover of 
 the thicket. " You're a cool man." 
 
 *' Wal, I be some cool, considerin'," replied Enos. '* By 
 jingoes, I never knew a man could git so used to blood and 
 murder as I have these tearin' times, till I don't think 
 scarcely any thing of 'em ! Besides, I've been bled so aw- 
 fully by tbe reb — the confederates," — Mr. Crumlett cor- 
 rected himself, looking around nervously, — -''that I must 
 light on some sort of spec'lation to help myself, or I'm 
 swamped." 
 
104 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Where are the bushwhackers now ? " 
 
 " Lucky for you and me, they've got a new job on hand : 
 for they say they're goin' to overhaul you ; and, when they 
 hain't got nothm' else for idle hands to do, they've a mis'ble 
 habit o' makin' calls on me, confound 'em ! " 
 
 ''What's the job now?" 
 
 " Ye see, jest as they had finished bumin' Ellsmer's 
 house, a man comes ridin' up in a thunderin' hurry, and tells 
 the captain about a nigger that had jest got away from him, 
 and was escapin' to the Union lines. It's for the interest of 
 the reb — the confederates, ye know, to keep all the niggers 
 they can this side o' the split in the country. Besides, the 
 captain knew the man that had lost the nigger : so he called 
 off his men, and sent some on 'em ai'ound by the turnpike, 
 and went with the rest himself around t'other side o' the 
 woods, so as to head off the nigger as he runs North. For 
 he'll nin North, of course : that's the way niggers take now- 
 days; that's the way mine took." And Enos groaned. "A 
 splendid nigger he was too ! Oh ! " 
 
 Rapid thoughts flashed through Fred's mind as Mr. Crum- 
 lett talked. 
 
 ** They have all gone around the woods? " 
 
 "Every 'tarnal one of 'cm. There'll be no chance for a 
 nigger runnin' North; but if he was only fool enough to 
 
A CHANCE FOE A SPECULATION. 105 
 
 move South, now, he'd be a wise dog ! For, ye see, the side 
 o' the woods here towards my place is left open : there was a 
 man stationed there at fust ; but even he has gone on the nio-- 
 ger hunt. After they surround the woods, and cut the 
 darky off, then I s'pose they'll beat through the bushes till 
 they find him." 
 
 Fred rubbed his forehead, scratched his head, and bit a 
 twig to pieces, in extraordinary mental excitement, for a min- 
 ute or two : then, seeming to feel the strong will of the sa- 
 gacious negro in the thicket sustaining and impelling him, he 
 spoke boldly : — 
 
 "Mr. Crumlett, I'll tell ye something about that nigger. 
 The man you saw go for the bushwhackers is one of three 
 who stole him from Nashville, and smuggled him through the 
 lines." 
 
 " Sho ! " said Enos, opening his eyes in astonishment. 
 
 *'Yes," Fred continued. "He may have been an es- 
 caped slave; but he never belonged to them. Probably they 
 never lost a slave. But you have, Mr. Crumlett ; and who 
 knows but this may be your man ? " 
 
 " Yes : who knows? " ejaculated Enos, growing excited. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Crumlett, the only speculation I'm interested 
 in is this nigger ! " 
 
 •' Ye don't say ! " said Enos. 
 
106 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I do," said Fred. *' And, now, look here. If jou and 
 I can do something handsome by him, we've as good a right 
 to as anybody, haven't we ? " 
 
 *' Yes to that, de-ci-dedly ! " replied Enos with sound em- 
 phasis. 
 
 " You'd know your man, of course, if you saw him ? " 
 
 " I guess! Know him ! I'd like the chance ! " and Mr. 
 Crumlett laughed. 
 
 " Well, see if this is he. — Pomp ! " called Fred. 
 
 And Pomp came tearing his way out of the thicket so 
 suddenly, and with such a commotion of the boughs, that 
 Enos sprang to his feet with an exclamation of fright. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed, IVIr. Crumlett. This is the boy I'm 
 speculating on. See if he looks like yours." 
 
 ** I thought the very ©Id scratch was coming ! " said Enos 
 nervously : " he took me so suclden in the rear \ But ain't 
 he a noble feller?" 
 
 "Is he youi's?" Fred urged; while Pomp sat quietly 
 where Enos had sat before, and waited meekly to be 
 scanned. 
 
 " I wish he was ! that is — he does look a little like — I 
 don't know. Do you remember me. Bob ? '* said Enos, try- 
 ing hard to imagine Pomp his property. 
 
 "Don't remember, sar," replied Pomp indifferently. 
 
A CHANCE FOR A SPECULATION. 107 
 
 ''He looks terrible like him! I believe — I guess — I 
 swan — it's his brother, if Hain't him! " 
 
 *' He is a real good nigger," said Fred, patting Pomp's 
 shoulder patronizingly. ' ' He's grateful to me for taking 
 him away from the kidnappers, and will do any thing I tell 
 him to ; won't you. Pomp ? " 
 
 " Yes, sar : you's been right good to me, sar." 
 
 " Now I'll tell you what we'll do, Mr. Crumlett. It isn't 
 at all probable that the kidnappers will search your premises 
 for him. So, if we can only get him to your house, we might 
 keep him there till we have a chance to dispose of him ; that 
 is, unless he concludes to stay with you. In which case," 
 said Fred confidentially aside to Enos, "you'll manage to 
 satisfy me for my claim without much trouble." 
 
 "Oh 1 of course," said Enos, all the avarice of his nature 
 aroused by the prospect. "But how to git him to my 
 house ? If we should be ketched at it, ye know ! Or if 
 them fellers should find him there afterwards ! " 
 
 " If they should," said Fred, " I don't believe they would 
 know him. They never saw him till last night, when they 
 knocked him down in the dark, and then tied him on the 
 horse by the hght of a lantern. He doesn't look to me now 
 like the same being I saw an hour ago, bound, with his head 
 hanging, and with a gag in his mouth. Just give him some 
 
108 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 different clothes, clap an old hat on his'^ead, and pass him 
 off for your man : why can't you ? ' ' 
 
 " By George, I can ! But will he do it ? Say, Bob, will 
 you go and be my man? " 
 
 " I do any ting sooner 'n be tied on to dat 'ar boss agin," 
 said Pomp, shaking his head and rubbing his ankles. " Too 
 rough, dat wuz I " 
 
 "I'll try it! " exclaimed Enos. "I'll take him right to 
 my house, jest as if he was my nigger, and nobody's busi- 
 ness. Jest le' me see if the coast is clear fust. I'll w 
 
 o 
 
 ahead, and beckon to you from the road if it's all right." 
 
 This arrangement pleased the others ; for it gave them an 
 opportunity to confer privately together for a few minutes, 
 and form their plans. This done, they followed Mr. Crum- 
 lett, who led the way to his house. He reached the road, 
 where not a rebel was to be seen ; made the concerted sisnal : 
 and laughed with delight to see Pomp approach at a lazy 
 and slouching pace across the field, with a load of sticks in 
 his arras. 
 
 "Why, Enos!" said Matilda ft-om the door, "have you 
 come home ? " 
 
 " I've come home, Tildy," replied Enos, glancing up and 
 down the road : there was a smoke in the direction of EUs- 
 mer's house ; bnt still not a rebel, not a neighbor, was in sight. 
 
A CHANCE FOE A SPEC ULATION. 109 
 
 " The cutest spec'lation you ever heard on in all your born 
 days, Tildy!" 
 
 " Why, what is it ? Is that our Bob coming home again ? 
 No, it am't Bob, Enos ! " 
 
 " Yes it is Bob, too I " cried the hilarious JMr. Cnimletfc. 
 " Or if 'tain't exactly Bob, it's his brother, and as Hke him as 
 a vi'lin is like a fiddle. Say nothing, but laugh, Tildy ! Git 
 out some o' Bob's old clo'es for him to put on. Quit yer 
 starin', young ones, and go into the house ! The thunderin- 
 est spec'lation ! " chuckled Enos, as Pomp came bringing his 
 armfol of sticks to the door. 
 
 10 
 
110 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE PEDDLER EOT. 
 
 RED lino-ered on the edo;e of the woods until he 
 had witnessed the negro's safe arrival ; then fol- 
 lowed him. He found Pomp ensconced in the 
 Crumlett kitchen, with Mr. Crumlett admiring him, Mrs. 
 Crumlett waiting upon him, and all the little Cnimletts star- 
 ing at him. 
 
 " A good breakfast ! a good breakfast, ma ! " Enos was 
 saying. **By jingoes, he deserves it ! Some o' these 'ere 
 doughnuts," — emptying his pockets, — " and a shce o' that 
 cheese, and a bowl o' milk : show him he's among friends. 
 I'll keep a lookout from the door. If anybody comes," — to 
 Fred, — " you and the nigger had better slip out of sight." 
 
 ]\Ir. Crumlett walked up and down before the house, his 
 hands deep in his pockets, and his mind deep in the contem- 
 plation of the profits to arise from this shrewd operation. All 
 at once he heard a voice singing in the distance; and, looking 
 
THE PEDDLER BOY. Ill 
 
 up the road, he saw, just coming over the hill, the appearance 
 of a man on horseback. 
 
 ** No 'tain't, neither ! " he said to himself, scanning the 
 figure closely. "He's a muleback; and 'tain't a man, nei- 
 ther, — it's a boy. Guess it's nobody I need be skittish 
 about." 
 
 The boy on the mule drew near, singing gayly a song which 
 Euos did>not understand. He seemed perfectly happy and 
 contented ; and you would have said his mind was as free 
 from care as the blue sky above was from clouds. He was a 
 droll-looking object, however, mounted on the most ancient 
 and long-eared of mules, which it seemed impossible for him 
 ever to urge out of a walk. He was seated on a tattered old 
 saddle, with ropes for stuTups, into which his feet were thrust 
 to his ankles. Behind him was a pair of saddle-bags, as an- 
 tique as the saddle itself. He carried in his hand a short 
 cudgel, with which he belabored the flanks of the indifferent 
 animal from time to time, ceasing his singing to accompany 
 the blows with fitting words. 
 
 *' It's one o' them pesky Dutch peddlers ! " said Enos, as 
 the boy rode up, and turned upon him a broad, jovial face, 
 smiling under a broad hat-brim. " No ; don't want to trade 
 none to-day : you can travel right along," he cried forbid- 
 dingly, well aware, that, if his wife should see the peddler's 
 
112 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 goods, sHe would find something among them which the family 
 could not live without another day. 
 
 *'I vas not asking you to trade," said the boy good-na- 
 turedly. " I vas going to a petter market as this. But my 
 mule vould like to make a pargain for a pucket of vater, if 
 you please." 
 
 "Well is low: no water to spare," replied Enos curtly. 
 "You'd better whip along." 
 
 "Wip along I vill, then!" said the boy, as good-hu- 
 moredly as before. And he began to ply his cudgel, — 
 thwack, thwack, thwack ! But the mule would not stir. 
 The boy stopped beating him, and giinned. 
 
 " He's a wery obstinate peast ! Ven I get rested, I vill 
 wip him some more." 
 
 " It's a trick to stop and show his goods," said Enos, with 
 increasing alarm lest Matilda should spend some money in 
 traffic with the peddler. " I'll help ye along ! " and, seizing 
 a heavy piece of bush from the bundle Pomp had brought to 
 the door, he ran out to try its virtue on the mule. 
 
 "Thank you," said the boy, backing the animal around, 
 so that he presented his heels to Mr. Crumlett. The mule 
 seemed to understand the trick, and to favor it. " Now 
 wip : wip so hard as you can. If you succeed to make him 
 go, I vill hire you to 'company me on my woyage, and make 
 the ship to sail." 
 
THE PEDDLER BOY. 113 
 
 Enos whipped ; the mule kicked. On which side soever 
 he attacked, there the vicious mule's heels presented them- 
 selves, and flew back to meet his advances, greatly to his 
 discomfiture, and to the amusement of the merry youngster in 
 the saddle, who laughed until he seemed in imminent danger 
 of tumbling oflf. 
 
 "I'll fix him ! " and the enraged Crumlett ran to find a pole. 
 
 Mrs. Crumlett was already standing in the door, with her 
 six children, wondering at the altercation between her hus- 
 band and the mule. Fred and Pomp were at the window. 
 Fred was laughing heartily ; whilst Pomp's eyes glistened 
 with something more serious than fun. He had recognized 
 the peddler-boy; and he knew that his appearance in that 
 place, and in that shape, had a meaning in it, beyond what 
 Enos saw in the stuffed saddle-bags. 
 
 The moment, therefore, that Enos ran for the pole. Pomp 
 seized the sink-pail, half filled with water, and hastened to 
 offer it to the mule, with the customaiy obsequiousness of 
 the black man serving a white master. 
 
 The mule drank complacently, while his rider started in 
 amazement. 
 
 *' Pomp ! is that you? " 
 
 The negro responded with a significant look. ''I'll go 
 and fetch a little more water, — a little more water, sar," he 
 
 10* 
 
114 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 repeated, as Enos came rushing to the spot, flourishing a 
 bean-pole. 
 
 '' What are ye 'bout? " shouted Enos. 
 
 *' Watering de ge'man's mule-brute, sar," said Pomp. 
 
 ••' You go into the house, and I'll tend to the ge'man, and 
 his mule too I " said Mr. Crumlett wrathfully. 
 
 Pomp obeyed, but with a sullen look, which reminded 
 EnOs that he was not absolute master here, and that the suc- 
 cess of his speculation depended upon the good-will and con- 
 sent of the negro himself. Mr. Cmmlett, therefore, followed 
 him to the door, saying to him in a modified tone, — 
 
 "Ye must keep out of sight, ye know; for your own 
 good, ye understand." 
 
 Pomp, who understood vastly better than Enos di-eamed, 
 entered the house, where he found hunself alone with Fred ; 
 Mrs. Crumlett having cone out with the children, baby and 
 all, to gaze at the ped-l: r. 
 
 " I must speak with that boy alone," said Pomp. " How 
 can we manage it? " 
 
 *' See, he understands what you want ! " said Fred. " He 
 is dismounting, in spite of Crumlett. He will come in, if 
 ho can get in." 
 
 " But the whole tribe will come in with him ! " Pomp 
 glanced rapidly around the room : it was certainly no place 
 
THE PEDDLER BOY. 115 
 
 for a private conference with the peddler-boy. In a chair, 
 were some clothes which Mrs. Crumlett had just brought for 
 the black to put on in place of those he wore. He caught 
 them up, and once more stai-ted to leave the house. 
 
 " Where ye goin' ? " demanded Enos. 
 
 " To de barn, massa," replied Pomp: "git into dis yer 
 new rig." 
 
 Enos did not like to trust him out of his sight. Neither 
 was he willing to leave Matilda an instant alone with the 
 peddler. He compromised the difficulty by requesting Fred 
 to go with the negro, and keep an eye on him ; himself re- 
 maining to prevent traffic between the peddler and Mrs. 
 Crumlett. 
 
 " There ain't nothin' ye want, ma: so don't look at his 
 things, but go along into the house, and take fifty or sixty of 
 these everlastin' young ones with ye." 
 
 " I haven't traded with a peddler for six months/' com- 
 plained Mrs. Crumlett, casting hungry eyes at the saddle- 
 
 " And ye won't for six months to come, I tell ye now ! " 
 her husband declared. " High as every thing is, you're 
 crazy to think of tradin'. Come, kitchen's the place for 
 you : go, and look after yer work." 
 
 "I guess I look after my work well enough, without 
 bein' told by you ! " retorted Matilda. 
 
116 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ** Ye don't: ye neglect it half the time! You're a Fos- 
 dick; and the Fosdicks always was a shif'less set." 
 
 ** What did ye marry one of 'em for, then? " cried Mrs. 
 Crumlett sharply. " Seems to me you wasn't very bright, 
 if we was sich a very shif'less set ! " 
 
 " Wal, I was a fool once in my Hfe, — I own up to that ! 
 I thought, git ye away from the rest on 'em, I might 
 mebby make suthin' of ye : but ye can't make a silk puss 
 out of a sow's ear ; I've found that out ! " 
 
 " Yery well : if you're so sick of yer bargain, I can go 
 back to the Fosdicks, that you've such a mean spite against. 
 If we are such a shiftless set as you call us, I'm sure I 
 always lived a much sight easier hfe at home than I ever 
 have since the day I was silly enough to make myself a slave 
 to you." 
 
 "A slave to me!" roared Enos, exasperated. "By 
 Jimmy Neddy ! if that ain't the coolest impudence, after I've 
 supported ye in yer laziness all these years ! " 
 
 " Yery well," repeated Mrs. Crumlett with intensified 
 ^^corn and spite; "I sha'n't trouble you to support me in 
 my laziness any longer ! " 
 
 "Do as ye please, do as'ye please ! " cried Enos. ** I'm 
 wiUm'. I've got tired of your threats and complaints ; and 
 now, if ye want to quit, — why, quit. Ye ain't my slave ; T 
 
THE PEDDLER BOY. 117 
 
 sba'n't hender ye : you're yer own master, and can do what 
 ye like." 
 
 " Very well ! that's all I ask. Glad you are so ready to 
 give mo up ! Thank Providence, I've got a little money of 
 my own." 
 
 *' Yes, ye have; a little that ye got sellin' eggs that my 
 hens laid, and butter from milk my cows give. That's the 
 kind o' slave you've been to me I But, if ye want to make 
 a journey, you can take the money ; and, if there ain't enouo^h, 
 guess mebby I can 'commodate ye with a little besides : any 
 thing to 'commodate ! " And Enos laughed maliciously. 
 
 " But I shall want some things first to get ready for the 
 journey: so I'm going to trade with this peddler," said 
 IMrs. Crumlett triumphantly. " Of course, since you give up 
 all claim to me, I can do as I'm a mind to." 
 
 " No, ye can't ; not on my premises ! " Enos turned to 
 look after the peddler. *' Where you goin' with that 
 beast?" 
 
 The lad, having deliberately finished watering his mule 
 during this altercation, bringing fresh water from the weU for 
 the purpose, was now leadmg him with equal deliberation to- 
 wards the barn, whither Pomp had gone before him. 
 
 " I vas going to inwite hun to wisit your staple," said be, 
 stopping reluctantly, and only upon compulsion. 
 
118 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I'll inwite this rock to wisit your head I " shouted Euos, 
 mocking him. " Come back here ! Quit my premises ! " 
 
 *' If he does," said Matilda, " I can leave the premises to 
 trade with him, I guess ! " 
 
 " If you do, you don't set foot inside my door agin ! Re- 
 member that ! " 
 
 " Oh, I'll remember : no danger ! I'm sure I ain't going 
 to degrade myself by living with a man that's got tired of 
 me, now I've worn myself out in his service. I'll just take 
 time to pick up my things a little : then I'll go ; for I may as 
 well start first as last. — AVhat have you got " (to the peddler) 
 " that'll be useful to a poor unfortunate woman that's driven 
 out of her house and home by her own husband and the fa- 
 ther of her children, — six in all, and a baby only just 
 weaned, and two pair of twins? " 
 
 " Pins, needles, lace," said the peddler, drawing his sad- 
 dle-bags from the mule's back; " and some wery goot fine- 
 tooth combs." 
 
 "Oh, dear! I should like some lace so much! But I 
 suppose I can't afford it : other women can ; for they have 
 husbands different from mine. What's the price of your 
 combs?" 
 
 "I vill show you. This is the article; audit is vorth 
 vun dollar apiece, green-backs, madam." 
 
THE PEDDLER BOY. 119 
 
 " One dollar ! " ejaculated Enos, like a man homfied by 
 some fearful announcement. " Jest sicli a comb as we used 
 to git for a shilling." 
 
 " But jou will observe, things is wery high," said the boy. 
 " These is all contraband goots; has to be smuggled through 
 the lines. I smuggled 'em myself; and there is risks. I take 
 my load to Shelbywille, and I sell out for some profits : I 
 vas not vishing to trade before I got to Shelbywille. You 
 see," — running his finger-nail along the ringing teeth of 
 the comb, — " it is prime ivory, and vondei-W strong ! " 
 
 " Iv'ry ? " sneered Enos. " It's no more iv'ry than my 
 shin-bone ! So take your traps away." 
 
 *' Iv'ry or no iv'ry," said IVIrs. Crumlett, ''we need just 
 such a comb for the children's heads." 
 
 " What have you to do with the childi-en's heads ? " cried 
 Enos. ** Thought you was goin' to leave 'em ever so 
 fast ! " 
 
 " I can't help feeling a mother's interest, if I am driven 
 away from 'em," replied Mrs. Crumlett. "I hain't had 
 any thing for then- heads but a broken piece of comb an inch 
 long since we came to Tennessee ; and I shouldn't have had 
 that, if I didn't look closer after their welfare than ever their 
 father did or will ! " 
 
 "Thunder and jingoes!" snarled Enos, " if you don't 
 
120 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 beat all the women for makin' flings ! Don't I look after 
 their welfare ? You'll see ! Guess their heads '11 be took as 
 good care on, and their faces kep' as clean, after you're gone, 
 as they ever have been." 
 
 **Well," said Mrs. Crumlett, changing her tactics, and 
 trying the pathetic mood, *' I think I'll buy one of these 
 combs, to make a present on't to the children, for the dear 
 things to remember me by after I'm gone. Whenever they 
 comb their heads, they'll think of me, the darlings ! Won't 
 you, Eny, wonit you, 'Tildy, think of your poor, unhappy 
 mother, turned out of doors just as you was gi'owing up to be 
 some comfort to her, after all her trials and troubles, and her 
 devotion, and her — boo-hoo-oo ! " 
 
 At this critical juncture, Fred made his appearance from 
 the bam. 
 
 " Look here, peddler : have you got any sort of a plaster 
 that will be good for a negro's bruised ankles ? " 
 
 *' I shouldn't be wery much surpnsed if I could do 'em 
 some goot. But sticking-plasters is high." 
 
 " No matter : I'll pay for them. Come with me." 
 
 Fred led the way ; and the boy followed him to the bara, 
 carrying his saddle-bags with him. Mr. Crumlett was but 
 too glad of this diversion, which broke off the trade for the 
 comb : so that, this time, he raised no objection to the ped- 
 
THE PEDDLER BOY. 121 
 
 dler's visiting the stable. In case he had shown an inclina- 
 tion to accompany him, and look into the affair of the stick- 
 ing-plasters, it was Fred's intention to stop him on the way, 
 and propose some new speculation, whilst Pomp and the ped- 
 dler would take that opportunity to confer together. But, 
 just then, Mrs. Crumlett started to go into the house, with 
 the air of one driven wild with the desperation of grief; and 
 
 Enos, fearful of consequences, hastened to overtake her. 
 11 
 
122 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 xn. 
 
 CARL'S ADVENTURE. 
 
 Y, Pomp ! " exclaimed the boy on entering the 
 bam, " how ever did you come here ? " 
 
 "Carl! how did you come?" said Pomp, 
 grasping his hand. ' ' I was kidnapped and smuggled ; but 
 it seems you have turned smuggler yourself? " 
 
 ** Yes, wery much so," said Carl with a meny wink and 
 twinkle. " I vill tell you how. I vent to find my friend 
 Yoseph, you know. He vas to show me how I could do so 
 much petter making money as I vas doing in the serwice. So 
 he says, * You take some goots I shall let you have, and go 
 down to Shelbywille, and I vill give you a letter for intro- 
 duction to my broder there ; and he shall help you to sdl 
 your goots, and get you passes to come pack.' And then 
 he says to me, ' There vill pe some letters from Nashwille to 
 confederates in Shelbywille ; vich if you take 'em to my 
 proder, he vill get much money for 'em : ' for he says, ' I 
 have smuggled letters and news many times that vay, and it 
 
CARL'S ADVENTURE. 123 
 
 is wery goot piziness for profits.' And I says to him, ' Some 
 goot piziness for profits is vat I vant ; and I vill see vat I 
 vill do. How sball I get my goots through the lines ? ' 
 And he says, ' That is easy : ve have some pretty tricks for 
 that.' — ' Tell me some pretty tricks,' I says. And then he 
 tells me, ' The secesh farmers help us ; and some help us 
 that is not secesh. They does it for profits,' he says ; ' for 
 men vill do any thing for profits, you know.' And I says, 
 ' I know.' And he says, * Ye have vun vagon, made vith a 
 false bottom ; and that's vat the guard sees ven they stop it to 
 look if any thing contraband is in. But unter that bottom's 
 another^ and two inches between ; and in them two inches 
 ve stow much goots. So, ven our friends is in town, vun 
 leaves his vagon, and takes ours that has the goots in, and 
 carries it tlu'ough the lines vith his pass to his house. Then 
 the goots is took out, and hid till ve are ready to send 'em on 
 to our friends South, vich is suffering for 'em, you unter- 
 stan'. ' And I says, ' I unterstan' : it is a wery pretty trick. 
 And he says, ' Yun day, a load of manure goes through the 
 lines : the guard does not stop thut ; for the farmer has a pass 
 to draw out vat he vants for his fann. But, you see, unter 
 that load is boxes of fine stuffs for the rebs, vich goes from 
 us, and prings pack much money. Is that a pretty trick ? ' 
 And I says, ' Wery ! ' And he says, ' Ye have goots vaiting 
 
124 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 outside the lines, vich you shall take^ and go make profits for 
 you and for us in Dixie, ^d pring the letters to my broder.' 
 And I says, ' All that's wery goot to talk ; but how do I 
 get through the lines? ' — ' That is easy as any thing,' he 
 says. * A friend of ours is clerk in the provost-marshal's 
 office, and he steals plank-passes for us ; and ve writes in 'em 
 names and descriptions as ve pleases.' — ' So that is another 
 ■wery pretty trick,' I says. And then all vas agi-eed ; but I 
 must pay him some money, so he vill not loose if I forget to 
 come pack to him after I have made some profits. So I says, 
 * I have a friend vill let me have money ; ' and I go to find 
 my friend. By mishtake, I go pack to the office, vere I found 
 you, Pomp ; and I see the colonel, and I tell him the pretty 
 tricks. And he takes down all I tell him ; and joy and py 
 he says, * How would you like to, go and smuggle goots for 
 your friend Yoseph? You shall go,' he says, ' and find out 
 all about his agents that smuggle for him, and pring pack 
 pesides much waluable information of the rebel forces and 
 fortifications.' And I says, ' Vat you say I vill try.' And 
 that is the reason," added Carl, " that I am turned smug- 
 gler." 
 
 To this story both Pomp and Fred listened with deep in- 
 terest ; and, in return, Pomp related his adventui-e. 
 
 " I hope you will be luckier than I have been, Carl. You 
 have undertaken a dangerous business." 
 
CARL'S ADVENTURE. 125 
 
 " If it vas not some clanger, it vould not be fun," replied 
 Carl. 
 
 "But how happens it that you are on this cross-road ? " 
 
 " Pecause. I come out on the ^luifreesborough pike ; for 
 the goots vas carried out that yay. But I shall not go to ^lur- 
 freesborough till after I go to Shelbywille, and see Yoseph's 
 broder, who vill give me passes to go through Murfreesborough 
 ven I come pack. So I cross to go to the Nolenswille pike. 
 The farmer that smuggles the goots let me have the mule at 
 a pargain : only seven toUars for that vonderful peast," 
 laughed Carl. 
 
 ' ' And how about the letters you were to take out to the 
 rebs?" asked Pomp. 
 
 " The colonel could think of pretty tricks too ! " Carl 
 answered. *' He looks into all the letters Yoseph gives me, 
 and gives me pack some vich he says vill do no hurt for the 
 rebs to see. So here I have 'em unter the lining of my 
 west ; " and Carl tapped his bosom. 
 
 At that moment, Mrs. Crumlett, with bonnet and shawl 
 on, approached the barn in violent haste, followed by Enos, 
 endeavoring to pacify her. 
 
 "Come, come, ma! Ye ain't in earnest: ye know ye 
 
 ain't ! " 
 
 " I'll show ye whether I'm in earnest or not, Mr. Crum- 
 11* 
 
126 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 lett. I sha'n't wait to be told again that you want to get 
 rid of me. But I must see the peddler first, and have that 
 comb for the children. The Fosdicks always knew what 
 was due to children's heads, if they be such a shif 'less 
 set!" 
 
 "I didn't mean you when I said that, Tildy. You ain' 
 exactly like the rest of 'em, — I always stuck to that." 
 
 *' Yes, I am : don't take back any thing you've said ! I'm 
 a Fosdick ; and, of course, can't pretend to be as smart as 
 the Crumletts. The Crumletts are aristocratic, everybody 
 knows!" — spoken with withering emphasis. "Nobody 
 ever heard of a Grumlett doing a mean thing : oh, no I " 
 
 " Gosh all hemlock ! " broke forth Enos, wiithing and 
 smarting under the sarcasms : " won't ye never stop twittin' 
 a feller?" 
 
 " You never twit ! " said Matilda with a scornful toss, 
 still pushing towards the barn. "Where's that peddler? 
 I've got the dollar all ready to buy the comb." 
 
 " He is attending to the negro," said Fred, stopping her 
 at the door. " It will hai-dly be proper for you to go in just 
 now, ma'am." 
 
 " Oh ! if it wouldn't be proper, I can wait a minute. The 
 Fosdicks know what belongs to propriety, if they be so very, 
 very shiftless ! " — with a simpering, satirical glance at Enos. 
 
CARL'S ADVENTURE. 127 
 
 ** Come, ye ain't going to spend that dollar now, I tell 
 ye ! " said Mr. Crumlett. " Come, come, Tildy," he added 
 coaxingly, " stay with the young ones yourself: that'll be 
 a better present than a cartload of combs." 
 
 " Oh ! how very flattering you do speak, sir ! and I'm sure 
 I'm very much obliged to you ! " Mrs. Crumlett continued. 
 " But it seems it's the dollar you care most about, and not 
 me : you'd rather I'd stay than spend that ! You sing a 
 dijSerent tune from what you did a little while ago. Then 
 you was ready to make any sacrifice to get rid of me : it was 
 * any thing to accommodate,^ then ! " 
 
 " Wal, you provoked me. You musn't take to heart what 
 a fellow says in the heat of passion, Tildy." 
 
 " Oh ! then you do get provoked sometimes, do you ? You 
 own up that you say some things in the heat of passion ? 
 Glad to hear it, JMr. Crumlett I I thought you had such a 
 forbearing temper ! " 
 
 " Wal, I gene'lly always have. But a man can't stand 
 every thing ! " 
 
 " Oh, no, indeed ! but a woman can ! A woman's expecied 
 to put up with every thing, no matter how bad her husband 
 treats her, and be so meek and forgiving through it all, up to 
 the very minute when she's told she ain't wanted any longer 
 (a pathetic snufF) ; and then turned out-doors (another 
 
128 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 snuff), separated from her children (a sob), and no matter 
 what becomes of her ; for that's the way it is I " And Mrs. 
 Cnimlett resorted again to tears. 
 
 " Come, Tildy ! come ! " said Enos softly. Then, with 
 sudden spirit, " Don't wipe your eyes with that dollar-bill, 
 any how I Don't you know no better'n that? " 
 
 " Oh, well : I forgot ! If a dollar-bill is of so much more 
 importance than my feelings, I must look out ! I'll spend it 
 before I spoil it. — Do tell that peddler to come out, can't 
 you?" said Mrs. Crumlett, with difficulty rising above the 
 sea of affliction in which she had sunk, but still heaving on 
 its waves. 
 
 " Wal, spend it then, and be daraed I " said Enos, out of 
 patience. " If you will be so thundeiin' obstinate and ex- 
 travagant, go ahead ! I've said my say. A dollar for a 
 comb ! I guess that'll be sufficient grounds for a divorce, if 
 notb'ng else. Children, look at youi' mother ! payin' a dollar 
 — a dollar — for a comb ! " 
 
 Carl had now come out of the bam, and was ready for a 
 trade. But Mrs. Crumlett, who had appeared so violently 
 determined to make the purchase as long as she was\opposed, 
 beo^an to recede from the stronoj stand she had taken, the 
 moment that opposition was withdrawn. 
 
 " Is that the comb you showed me before ? " 
 
CARL'S ADVENTURE. 129 
 
 " The wery identical comb," said Carl. 
 
 '' No, I'm sm^e it ain't ! " said Mrs. Crumlett. " It ain't 
 near so good a one as that was, — not near ! Let me see some 
 more." 
 
 " Take your pick, madam," said Carl. 
 
 *' Well," said Matilda discontentedly, after examining the 
 lot, " I don't see any quite as good as that fust one. On 
 the whole, I guess I won't buy any, my husband is so dread- 
 ful set against it." 
 
 " No, I ain't, neither I I say, Go ahead ! Why don't ye 
 spend yer dollar ? Never say I bender ye ! " 
 
 " No, I think I won't trade to-day," said Matilda, who, left 
 free to assume the responsibility, could not now be driven 
 even by her husband's taunts to make the extravagant pur- 
 chase. " I never can think of buying any little thing of a 
 peddler, without making trouble in the family : so I learn to 
 sacrifice my own wishes and inclinations, just for peace." 
 
 Enos hardly knew whether to be nettled or pleased by this 
 speech. However, the dollar was saved ; and that was a solid 
 satisfaction. Still he was not at ease in his mind ; for, the 
 moment Matilda gave up buying the comb, he began to feel 
 that it was really needed in the family, and that he might 
 regret his opposition to its purchase, especially if combs 
 should be higher in a month or two, as Carl had taken occa- 
 
130 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 sion to suggest. Besides, Enos may have foreseen that he 
 would probably never hear the last of the affak from Matilda, 
 unless he secured the comb. " That will shut her head, as 
 well as comb it," he said to himself. And, in his turn, he 
 began to examine the combs. 
 
 "Don't need one, as I see," he muttered; "git along 
 with the broken one that's in the house jest as well: but 
 mother'U be everlastin'ly dissatisfied, I s'pose, if I don't 
 make some sort of a dicker for't." 
 
 " No, I sha'n't ! Don't buy it to please me, I beg of 
 you ! " And Matilda turned away. 
 
 " You are so terrible set on havin' a comb ! Look here, 
 peddler ! " and Enos whispered to Carl. 
 
 "I wouldn't buy it, I guess, Enos," said Mrs. Crumlett, 
 quite seriously this time. " Come, we don't want any thing 
 to-day. Well," — as Enos continued to talk aside with 
 C^d, — "if you do buy it, remember that it isn't to please 
 me ; for I do think a dollar is twice what the miserable thing 
 is worth ! " and she swept abruptly into the house. 
 
 Enos followed presently, and smilingly presented her with 
 a comb. She looked at it resentfully, until ho said, — 
 
 " There, Tildy : that's to please you ! Don't say a word : 
 I got it cheap, — a bargain, Tildy ! " 
 
 " What ! didn't you give a dollar for it? " 
 
CARL'S ADVENTURE. 131 
 
 '^> A dollar ! S'pose I'd be sich a dunce ? " 
 
 " I hope not ! " said Mrs. Crumlett. 
 
 *' Not I, I vum ! I'm jest goin' to give his mule a little 
 nibble o' corn, and liim a bowl o' bread and milk ; and he's 
 to give me twenty-five cents to boot ! Wasn't I cute ? " 
 
 " Why, Enos ! And it's a real good comb, after all ! " 
 said Matilda. 
 
 Thus the difficulty was settled ; for, singularly enough, not 
 another word was said, by either, of the proposed separation, 
 ^latilda had already quietly laid aside her shawl and bon- 
 net ; and now she set cheerfully about getting Carl's dinner. 
 
132 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XIIL 
 
 EN OS FALLS INTO TEMPTATION. 
 
 ARL had seen his mule fed, and partaken of 
 ,. _ ,^ Mrs. Crumlett's humble fare, and was setthng 
 
 ^-i^^^ " with Enos, senior ; while Enos, junior, was lead- 
 ing the mule to the door. Fred was at table, fortifying his 
 stomach also against emergencies ; when suddenly Mr. Crum- 
 lett discovered a movement in the woods. 
 
 "They're after the nigger!" he exclaimed, di-awing an 
 anxious breath. 
 
 In fact, the kidnappers and their rebel allies had by this 
 time scoured the woods pretty thoroughly, and made their ap- 
 pearance on the southern side. They had not succeeded in 
 their seai'ch, and the guerillas were inclined to give it up. 
 Four or five of Gruffley's men came galloping across the field 
 towards Mr. Crumlett's house. The captain was at their 
 head. Enos turned pale ; feeling that a critical moment for 
 his speculation, and also for his fortunes generally, had ar- 
 rived. 
 
EXOS FALLS INTO TEMPTATION. 133 
 
 "Mr. Crumlett," said the captain, "you profess to be a 
 good patriot." 
 
 "Yes — patriot — to the back-bone!" said Enos in an 
 agitated voice. 
 
 " And you've done a good deal, you say, for the Confeder- 
 ate cause." 
 
 " Wal, I have that ! " said Enos with emotion. 
 
 " I am glad to hear it, and to give you an opportunity of 
 doing a trifle more. This foolish nigger job has delayed us, 
 and we are unfortunately obliged to call upon you for forage." 
 
 " Forage ! " articulated Enos. 
 
 "For fifteen horses," added the captain cheerfully. 
 
 " Fifteen — horses ! " gasped Mr. Crumlett. 
 
 " And a dinner," continued the caj)tain, " for fifteen 
 men." 
 
 "Dinner! — fifteen! Goodness gracious, captain! we 
 
 couldn't scare up a dinner for fif fifteen ! to save our 
 
 souls ! Should be tickled to death to obleege ye, and do 
 suthin' for the cause ; but we hain't a thing in the house fit 
 for you and your men to eat." 
 
 "Oh! we're not particular. A few slices of that bacon 
 hanging in your wood-shed, and three or four dozen of those 
 eggs packed in bran in your cellar, will do very well for hun- 
 gry men. In half an hour, Mr. Crumlett. Meanwhile, 
 sergeant, see about the forage." 
 
 12 
 
134 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The captain, dismounting, adjusted liis sabre, felt the pis- 
 tols in his belt, and glanced at the pair that ornamented his 
 boot-tops ; then stood with folded arms, as picturesque a ban- 
 dit as any that ever flouiished in a novel. His eyes, looking 
 out from between his slouched hat and his immense beard, 
 fell on Carl. 
 
 " Who is this fellow ? the boy I saw with you this morn- 
 mg?" 
 
 Enos, whose mind dwelt upon the appalling ravages that 
 must necessaiily be made by fifteen men and their beasts, did 
 not heed the question. 
 
 " I am domg a little pizinessfor profits," said Carl. 
 
 " No doubt ! " said Captain Gruffley. " You rascals care 
 mighty little for our cause, but every thing for youi* own 
 profits." 
 
 "Yes, captain," said Carl with a smile, affectionately 
 stroking the mule's nose as he prepared to mount. " Ye 
 look out for our own interests ; that is so. But, ven our in- 
 terests is your interests too, that makes it goot for all. This 
 is my first trip ; and I vas told I could do much benefit for 
 your cause." 
 
 " Have you any pistols? " 
 
 " No, captain, — wcry sorry to say. Pishtoles is hard to 
 get through. But," added Carl with a smile, " you seem to 
 be prowided already." 
 
ENOS FALLS INTO TEMPTATION. 135 
 
 '' Any percussion-caps, or any powder or bullets ? " And 
 the captain overhauled the saddle-bags. 
 
 "Bullets is too heavy to priug ; and powder and caps is 
 not conwenient, the police is so sharp in Nashwille ! " 
 Whereupon the captain expressed boundless disgust. 
 " Next time you come out, bring somethuig we want, or 
 I'll take from you every thmg you have. What we want is 
 materials to fight with. A great deal of good you do the 
 cause with your needles and pins and side-combs ! Go about 
 youi' business now, you Dutch peddler ! " — with a very dis- 
 paraging epithet. 
 
 " That is vat I vas vishmg to do," said Carl pleasantly 
 as he mounted. 
 
 He was in no haste to depart, however. Both he and Mr. 
 Crumlett were experiencing keen anxiety at that moment con- 
 cerning Pomp's safety. The Riders had led theii' horses to 
 the barn, and were about to enter in seai'ch of forage. The 
 negro might indeed attempt to hide hunself : but the proba- 
 bility was that he would be discovered ; and discovery, under 
 these cu'cumstances, would be fatal. Pomp knew that, and 
 chose a bolder course. As the sergeant of the party was going 
 in, the negi'o came out. 
 
 " Take your boss, massa? Hay or corn, sar? " said he, 
 ducking, and taking off his hat (an old one of Mr. Crumlett's), 
 obsequiously. 
 
136 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ** Ha ! " said the captain, " you told me you liad lost your 
 niggers, IMr. Crumlett ! " 
 
 " All but this one ; that is," said Enos, " I've let 'em to 
 Gov'ment. This one, he did run away ; but he got sick of 
 his bargain, and was glad enough to run back again." 
 
 " Like as not you'll have a chance to lend him to Govern- 
 ment too," quietly suggested the captain, hghting his cigar. 
 
 "Wal," faltered Enos, "he's all we've got to depend 
 on now; but, if it's necessary, they ain't a man, Cap'n 
 Gruffley, more willin' 'n I be to make sacrifices for my coun- 
 try." 
 
 " Perhaps you'll be called on to prove that soon. Mean- 
 while, you'd better be ordering our dinner; for fifteen, re- 
 member." 
 
 " For sixteen ! " cried a new-comer, riding to the door. 
 It was Bodson, the kidnapper. " I reckon I shall have to 
 tie up here with you, captam." 
 
 " That's right, Bodson. This gentleman will be delighted 
 to entertain you. Have you given the nigger up ? " 
 
 " Yes, about. He ain't in these woods, that's certain. 
 Say, stranger, you hain't seen that nigger put out of the 
 bush, have you? " 
 
 Enos was almost too faint to speak ; for, at that moment, 
 Pomp came, by the sergeant's orders, to take the captain's 
 horse. 
 
ENOS FALLS lyTO TEMPTATION. 137 
 
 ** What sort of a nigger ? " Mr. Cmmlett inquired. 
 '* What sort ? Any nigger ! A boy worth twenty-six hun- 
 di-ed dollars of any man's money ! A noble fellow, taller'n 
 your man thar " (Pomp had assumed a judicious stoop ; and, 
 in the humble part he was playmg, he appeared really less 
 than he was), "and stout m proportion." 
 
 "No, I hain't seen any nigger but him," said Enos. 
 "Niggers is gitting skase around here. I've got two to 
 work for Gov'ment, and I 'xpect they'll be borryui' this." 
 
 " Take my boss along too, you black rascal ! " cried Bod- 
 son. 
 
 " Yes, massa ! " said Pomp, ducking and grinning. 
 "What' 11 you take for that boy, stranger?" Bodson in- 
 quired, watching hun as he led the horses away. 
 
 " For him? " Enos started. Here was an openmg for a 
 speculation ! To sell Pomp to one of the very men who had 
 kidnapped hun, and were even then in search of him, — what 
 a splendid joke that would be ! Enos relished hugely jokes 
 of that sort. He disguised, however, the eagerness with 
 which he eyed the enticing bait ; and added, with the assumed 
 indifference of a practised jockey, " I don't know : he's the 
 only one I've got left. Would you like to buy ? " 
 
 "I'll buy, if I can buy cheap enough. I never saw the 
 time yet when I wasn't ready for a nigger-trade, if there was 
 a chance to save myself by it. Is he sound ? 
 
138 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Oh, perfectly ! — far's I know." 
 
 " "Wal, if he's all right, I reckon you'll expect to git about 
 eight or nine hundred for him : though he ain't worth that ; no 
 nigorer is, these times." 
 
 " Only the one you're lookin' for, — worth, you said, twen- 
 ty-six hundred ! " And Mr. Crumlett smiled. 
 
 " Oh I that was talk, mostly," replied Bodson. "Besides, 
 he's a partic'lar nigger : I've got a use for him. If you'd 
 like to say about eight hundred for this one, then we'll talk, 
 — provided we don't ketch the one we're huntin' : in that 
 case, I shouldn't want to give so much." 
 
 "Couldn't think of eight hundred, stranger." Yet Mr. 
 Crumlett did think of it, and reasoned within himself, that if 
 he could get Pomp off his hands, and realize half that sum 
 for him, he would consider himself amazingly fortunate. 
 But there was his partner in the transaction, — Fred: what 
 would he say ? " Shouldn't wonder if I could buy out his 
 share cheap," thought Enos. And what would Pomp say? 
 He did not trouble himself much about that. A negro, in 
 lus eyes, was — a nigger ; mere property : and, besides, even 
 if he sold Pomp to the kidnapper, he would be no worse off 
 than he was before he escaped from the kidnapper. And the 
 fraud practised upon Bodson, — " That's nothin' !" thought 
 the honest IMi-. Crumlett. "The nigger never was his'n. 
 
EN OS FALLS INTO TEMPTATION. 139 
 
 any how. And, after all my losses, I ought to make snthin' 
 on him, if anybody." 
 
 These thoughts passed through his mind as he entered the 
 house to give directions about the dinner ; leaving Bodson 
 at the door. He found Matilda in gi'eat excitement and dis- 
 tress, not knowing " what on earth she should do" to get 
 dinner for so many men. 
 
 ** Do the best you can," said Enos. " 'Tain't so bad as 
 it might be, Tildy. They'll pay in Confed'rate money, 1 
 know ; but I've got an idee for a dicker that'll make it all 
 right, if things turn out as I guess they will. I'll go and 
 cut the ham, and help you all I can." 
 
 He went to the pantry for a knife and platter, and dis- 
 covered his associate in the negro speculation, standing up 
 stiffly behind the door, and appealing extremely modest about 
 being seen. 
 
 " Sho ! I'd a'most forgot about you ! Thought you was 
 to the bftni ; but I remember now, — you was eatin' your 
 dinner. 'Fraid o' these fellers, be ye ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Fred decidedly ; for again he had recognized 
 the guerilla captain who rode by Daniels's side on the morn- 
 ing, and almost at the moment, of his escape. "If they 
 discover me, it will spoil every thing." 
 
 "Will it? How so ?'^ 
 
140 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ** They will inquire into my business ; and I'm afraid it 
 wouldn't bear investigation. Especially if they know I came 
 from Nashville, it will go hard with me." 
 
 " What do ye think they'd do with ye ? " 
 
 " Carry me off; imprison me." 
 
 " You don't say ! And the nigger — what would become 
 of the ni^ofer ? " 
 
 CO 
 
 " If any thing does hajDpen to me," said Fred earnestly, 
 " do the best you can for him." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! certain, certain," replied Enos with feeling. 
 
 " They haven't recognized hun yet, have they? " 
 
 " No ; and I guess they won't." 
 
 *' And the Dutch peddler — where is he ? " 
 
 "He's jest gone off." 
 
 " And will I be safe here ? " 
 
 " Safe as anywhere. If they should sarch the house for 
 ye, they'd find ye 'most any place ; and, if they don't sarch, 
 you're as well off here. But darned if I don't wish you 
 was out of the house, though ! " 
 
 " So do I," said Fred ; "but it's too late for that." 
 
 Enos took the knife and plate, and proceeded to the wood- 
 shed. At every slice of the ham, he paused to think. What 
 agitating fancies crowded upon hun ! " It'll take the hull 
 ham to feed sich a slew of men ! " *(A slice.) " Confederate 
 
EXOS FALLS INTO TEMPTATION. 141 
 
 paper ain't worth its weight in corn-husks ! " (A groan, and 
 another *lice.) *' If I can make four or five hundred dollars 
 for my share on that nigger, though, that'll go a little ways 
 towards makin' up for my losses. If 'twan't for this young 
 feller, now, I might make double that. Wonder what he'd 
 take, and quitclaim ? I thought o' makin' on him an offer ; 
 but I'm glad I didn't. If the bushwhackers should diskiver 
 hun, and carry hun off, then I don't see but that I'd be 
 left in full possession ; and that's nine pbits o' the law." 
 (A long pause, and then another slice ; Enos appearing ex- 
 tremely troubled about something. ) "Of course, ' ' — poising 
 the knife again, — " I wouldn't tell on him ; no, I wouldn't 
 do that : but, if they should kind o' accidentally stumble on 
 him, that would be a good thing for me ! I could sell the 
 nigger, without askin' leave of nobody. And why should 
 I divide with him ? Wouldn't they have ketched the nio-o-er 
 'fore this, if't hadn't been for me ? What claim has he on 
 him, I'd like to know? He never's lost a nigger, as I 
 have." And, having thoroughly reasoned himself into the 
 conviction that nobody had any right to reap benefits from 
 the speculation except himself, Mr. Crumlett took off another 
 vigorous slice. 
 
142 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 RS. CRUMLETT could not make veiy rapid 
 progress cooking "witli one spider over a wood- 
 fire ; and, before she liad got half through the 
 wilderness of ham and eggs to be fried, the huugiy soldiers 
 began to eat in pursuit of her. 
 
 The family's supply of crockery was Hmited ; but, fortu- 
 nately, each man had his camp knife and fork and tin plate. 
 Only the captain and three others, of whom Bodson was 
 one, entered the house, and sat in chairs at the table : the 
 rest remained out of doors, and ate with their plates in their 
 laps, sitting on the ground. 
 
 Mrs. Crumlett, heated and flushed and flurried to the 
 last degree, continued to fry the bacon, and to roast her own 
 face over the fire ; while Euos and the two older children 
 flew about excitedly, waiting on their guests. No sooner was 
 an egg or a slice cooked than it was transferred to the 
 plate of some hungry Rider waiting for it. Carter and two 
 
POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT. 143 
 
 of the band had not yet arrived. Carter had postponed the 
 claims of appetite, in order to gallop off, and bring to the 
 hunt a friend of his who owned a pack of bloodhounds that 
 would "follow the track of a man" (as the newspaper 
 advertisements said of them) ; while the two guerillas re- 
 mained in the woods, at his request, to keep a lookout for 
 Pomp. 
 
 And now, to the astonishment of Mr. Crumlett, and of 
 Fred, who sui'veyed the scene through the crack of the pan- 
 try door. Pomp himself entered the house. 
 
 " Beg pardon, ge'men, for not comin' before; had to look 
 a'ter de bosses ; den jes' stop to wash myse'f to de well, 'fore 
 I waited on de cap'n," he said with the air of a menial 
 proud of rendering service to so distinguished a personage. 
 
 He tied a towel about his waist, and performed his self- 
 appointed task with a neatness and alacrity that delighted 
 Gruffley. Bodson also regarded him with increasing interest, 
 and with the complacent sidelong glance of a connoisseur. 
 
 " Look here," he said, beckoning to Enos, and whispering 
 in his ear : " will ye say eight hundi^ed? If you will, it's 
 a bargain. '• 
 
 " Couldn't, nohow ; " and ^Mr. Crumlett shook his head 
 discouragingly. 
 
 "I'll make it nine hundred. That's fair, now, my 
 friend." 
 
144 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Yes, fair; but then ! " said Enos with a look implying 
 that such a piece of property would command a vastly greater 
 sum. 
 
 " What do you expect to do with those dogs, Bodson? '' 
 asked the captain. 
 
 *' Do with 'em ? Tree that nigger," replied Bodson. " K 
 Carter can get 'em, he's a gone case, he is ! Dead or alive, 
 we have him." 
 
 "Fill your glass, sar? " said Pomp with servile polite- 
 ness, advancing the water-pitcher. 
 
 "Have a taste of this, Bodson," said the captain, who 
 had a flask of spirits at his elbow. " Then a little dash of 
 water, Robert." 
 
 Robert was Pomp, who helped the gentlemen so adroitly 
 to water, after they had helped themselves to the spirits, that 
 Bodson regarded hun with still-increasing admiration. 
 
 *' Say nine-fifty : a big price it is too ! " he whispered, 
 pulling Enos down till his ear was level with his lips. " Is't 
 a trade?" 
 
 But still Mr. Crumlett shook his head. 
 
 " Well, here's to the success of your hunt, Bodson," said 
 the captain, raising his glass. " When do you expect to get 
 the dogs on the scent? " 
 
 "Before night, if possible; for I'm afraid 'twill be too 
 
POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT. 145 
 
 late in the mommg : the scent will be cold then. I hope 
 you'll join us, captain, and see the sport." 
 
 ** Should be delighted," replied the captain, warming with 
 his drink; "but we have a hunt of our own to prepai-e 
 for." 
 
 " What's that ? " said Bodson. 
 
 "A secret," laughed the captain. "Even my own men 
 don't know it yet, — only the lieutenant here. The truth is, 
 we succeeded so well in our little dash yesterday morning, 
 that we are going to try another. This time we are going 
 in greater force. There's a Federal forage-train that will 
 either get captured or burned, unless they know of our inten- 
 tions, and prepare for us ; which isn't likely." And another 
 glass of liquor disappeared behind the captain's beard. 
 
 "Egg, sar," said Pomp, skilfully introducing the freshly 
 cooked morsel to Gruflfley's plate. 
 
 " Thank you, ExDbert. I should like that boy for a body- 
 servant, Bodson. Are you tiying to bargain for him ? " 
 
 " No," said Bodson indifferently : " his master either don't 
 want to sell, or else he expects to get too much for him. 
 Tell me about the forage-train, captain. I'm interested." 
 
 There was another present still more deeply interested in 
 that subject than Bodson. It was Pomp. It was in order 
 to gather, from the chance talk of these men, information that 
 13 
 
146 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 might be valuable to the Federal cause, that he had come to 
 wait upon them. 
 
 The captain continued to ply the flask of spirits ; and 
 presently, rendered indiscreet by its contents, he openly 
 boasted of a rebel plan for surprising a position on Mill 
 Creek at daybreak the following morning, and destroying a 
 forage-train stationed there, and (according to one of Wheel- 
 er's spies) insufficiently guarded. 
 
 " We have some of the ablest men acting as spies that 
 can be found in the service," he continued. " One of them 
 dined with General Negley's staff the other day, heard 
 Yankee plans discussed, and reported to our general the 
 next morning. We have an agent in Nashville, who is mak- 
 ing arrangements to furnish Rosecrans himself with a body- 
 servant. K he succeeds, what a joke it will be to receive 
 almost daily reports of the Federal general's table-talk, 
 faithfully jotted down by the rascal behind his chau' I " 
 
 The captain's friends all laughed at this ; and even Pomp 
 grmned, who perhaps had the best reasons of any one for 
 appreciating the humor of the idea. 
 
 " Is't a nigger you 're going to give Rosecrans? " Bodson 
 asked. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said the captain : " the Abolition generals don't 
 object to nigger body-servants ; but we couldn't trust one in 
 
POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT. 147 
 
 such a position. The niggers, somehow or another, aie all, at 
 heart, on the Yankee side." 
 
 **If I had my way," said Bodson, " I wouldn't leave a 
 nio-Q-er within a hundred miles of the Union hues. Better 
 send 'em South, at any sacrifice." This was meant for Crum- 
 lett's ear ; and holding up ten fingers, indicating that he had 
 raised his bid for Pomp to a thousand dollars, he lifted his 
 brow interrogatively as he caught Enos's eye. 
 
 " I haven't much faith in anybody," spoke up the lieu- 
 tenant. " What do you think now of that man Daniels, 
 captain?" 
 
 " I think he is a true man, and I always did." 
 
 ' ' Well, he may be ; but I believe he dehberately helped 
 that boy to escape yesterday morning." 
 
 It was now Fred's turn to be interested ; and he strained 
 his ear to catch the captain's reply. 
 
 "According to his account, it was all right; though I con- 
 fess I was rather suspicious when he rode up without the 
 prisoner. I questioned him sharply. He said his saddle- 
 girth kept troubling hhn ; and once, when he halted to fix it, 
 the boy jumped off, and tried to escape in the woods. He 
 rode after him, and ordered him to halt. x\s the boy 
 wouldn't, he fired. The boy fell, and he left him for dead 
 under a bush." 
 
148 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " It was in these very woods we have been beating througli 
 to-day; and it is a little singular, if the story is true, that we 
 have seen no signs of the dead body." 
 
 " So it is ! I hadn't thought of that," said the cap- 
 tain. Then, turning to Mr. Crumlett, " Describe that chap 
 that was with you this morning, when I called you from the 
 woods." 
 
 " Wal," began Enos, " he was a young feller, don' know 
 exactly how old : he had on — wal, I don't exactly remem- 
 ber what clo'es he did have on ; and as for his complexion, he 
 was either light or dark, I mos' forgit which." 
 
 " TaU or short ? " 
 
 " Wal, I should say he wan't veiy tall for a man, nor very 
 short for a boy. I couldn't swear to it ; but that's my im- 
 pression." 
 
 ** Wonderfully definite your description is ! I reckon 
 you're interested in that boy." 
 
 *' Wal, I be some, I allow. He owes me for a meal he 
 et in my house ; though I don't much expect ever to git my 
 pay. I've had to feed a good many strangers, cap'n, past 
 year ; and I hain't realized nothin' worth while for it, nei- 
 ther," said Enos pathetically. 
 
 " Well," said the captain, " before settling my bill, allow 
 me to inquire if yoa have any blankets in your house." 
 
POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT. 149 
 
 *' Gracious, no ! " replied Enos, teriified at the question : 
 " not half as many as we want ! Two pah* o' twins, cap'n, 
 and" — 
 
 " And a suffering country to call out your patriotism," 
 added the captain. " We have cold nights now, and colder 
 are coming ; and my command is short of blankets. Gov- 
 ernment can't supply them ; and I have to take them where I 
 can find them, — paying for them, of course." 
 
 " In Confed'rate money ! " said Enos. 
 
 " Certainly : what else would you have ? What have you 
 to say against Confederate money ? " demanded the captain, 
 sternly eying his host. 
 
 " Oh, nothin', nothin' ! " said Enos. ** Only I ham't got 
 a blanket : not a blanket to spare ! " 
 
 " Sergeant, just take a look about the house with this 
 man, and see if you can't find something he may be induced 
 to part with, being such a good patriot." 
 
 Enos looked like a sick man as he accompanied the ser- 
 geant in his search. And now Fred had reason to congratu- 
 late himself that he was not concealed in the chambers of the 
 house ; yet might not the search be earned even into the pan- 
 try, where he was hid ? He did not know. Anxiously he 
 awaited the sergeant's re-appearance. At length, he came, 
 followed by the miserable Enos, bearing his arms full of bed- 
 
 13* 
 
150 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 diner. Mrs. Cnimlett was so overcome at the sio;lit, that, hav- 
 ing no chair to sit in, she sat down; with a shriek, upon the 
 kitchen-floor. 
 
 "0 Enos, Enos ! we can't let them go! Captain, cap- 
 tain, you wouldn't rob us of our all, would you? " 
 
 "Rob you,- madam?" said the captain. " If you call 
 supplying soldiers, who sleep on the ground, with blankets to 
 protect them from the inclemency of the season, — if you 
 call that robbery, your patriotism and that of your husband 
 will have to be inquired into." 
 
 " Oh, no ! not robbery ; but them's all we have for our 
 own family ! Think of two pair of twins, sir, and be merci- 
 ful ! You've got my comforters too ! " 
 
 "That patch- work quilt," said Enos, "is one my own 
 mother, that's dead and gone, pieced and quilted ! " His 
 voice trembled, and his eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " She did it in a good cause ! " cried the captain. " These 
 things are a godsend to my men. Is that all you can find, 
 sergeant? There's a room you haven't searched." 
 
 "That's the pantry!" said Mrs. Crumlett, fearing not 
 so much for Fred as for a fine row of cheeses on the shelf, 
 which she feared might prove a temptation to the soldiers. 
 
 But Enos said not a word. Perhaps he reflected, that to 
 oppose searching the pantry would insure its being searched. 
 
POMP FINDS EMPLOYMENT. 151 
 
 Perhaps he was so afflicted by the prospect of losing that in- 
 teresting memento of his mother, the patch-work quilt, that he 
 took no thought of other things. And. yet it is barely pos- 
 sible that there did steal into his mind a gleam of solace in 
 the consideration, that, if Fred should be taken, Pomp would 
 be left. Only for a moment, however, did he appear indif- 
 ferent to the sergeant's entering the pantry. Then — proba- 
 bly reflecting that the discovery of Fred concealed in his 
 house, especially after the recent conversation concerning 
 him, might prove a circumstance fatal to himself — he 
 started forward. But the movement, if intended to inter- 
 cept the sergeant, was too late. And it was perhaps better 
 so ; for even Pomp, who had become aware of Fred's presence 
 behind the door, was too sagacious to attempt to prevent what 
 could not be prevented. 
 
 The sergeant entered. He discovered no blankets in the 
 pantry; but he did discover Fred. Perhaps that circum- 
 stance saved Mrs. Crumlett's cheeses. 
 
152 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XV. 
 
 FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF. 
 
 RED, who had had ample time to prepare for the 
 unfortunate event, maintained perfectly his self- 
 possession, and marched out with a very cheerful 
 au, considering the tight hold the sergeant had on his collar. 
 " What's that ? — a skulker ? — a spy ? " cried the 
 captain. 
 
 "■ I don't know. I found him hid behind the door here." 
 " Is that a son of yours, Crumlett? " 
 " Wal, not exactly," stammered Enos. 
 " Not exactly ! What's he hid in your pantry for ? " 
 " He knows better'n I do. I had nothin' to do with hidin' 
 him there ; that's one thing sui'e." 
 
 " What ! don't you know who he is? " 
 " No more'n I tell you, cap'n." 
 " He's the chap we've been talking about, then ? " 
 "I s'pose he is, cap'n." 
 , " Why, then, when I asked you for a description of him, 
 
FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF. 153 
 
 wLicli you couldn't give on account of your poor memory, 
 •why didn't you call out the fellow himself? " 
 
 " Hospitality ! — hospitality ! — the laws of hospitaUty, 
 cap'n! " was all Enos could say in reply to this very perti- 
 nent and embarrassing question. And this, it would S3em, 
 should have been a sufficient argument in the chivalrous 
 South ; but it did not satisfy the captain. 
 
 ** You had some other reason, Mr. Crumlett ! " 
 
 " Wal, I don' know but I did ; though if I did think of 
 his owin' me for his dinner, which he might forgit to pay 
 if he left before you did, that wa'n't the main reason. Hos- 
 pitality is hospitality, cap'n." 
 
 * * That will do, sir. ' ' Gmffley turned to Fred : ' ' Who are 
 you ? Where do you come from ? " 
 
 Fred was now beginning to realize the very impoiimit cir- 
 cumstance in his favor, that he had not yet been recognized as 
 the escaped prisoner. He therefore answered, with a bold 
 face, that his name was Rivers, and that he was from the 
 vicinity of Nashville. 
 
 " But you are from the North ! " 
 
 " I have spent a few summers at the North, and have been 
 to school there ; but I was born in Kentucky : my father is 
 a Kentuckian, and a man of strong Southern principles." 
 
 " Well, how came you here ? " 
 
154 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 *'I came witli some friends of mine. I didn't want to 
 come ; but I was rather forced into it by ciix-umstances." 
 Fred omitted to state, however, what those cux^umstances 
 were. 
 - " And wher« are your friends now ? " 
 
 " They have gone on South." 
 
 '* x\nd why didn't you go with them?" 
 
 '* Because I preferred to remain here rather than go 
 farther." 
 
 ** And you are expecting their return ? " 
 
 *' I shall be veiy glad to see them again," said Fred sin- 
 cerely ; " but I don't suppose they'll be back immediately." 
 
 " Were they smugglers? " 
 
 " Well, they brought a few things with them through the 
 lines." 
 
 " Any arms or ammunition ? " 
 
 "A — ^very — limited supply," said Fred, thinking of 
 what had been taken from him and his comrades when they 
 surrendered. " But we disposed of them pretty soon. We 
 met a party of Confederate cavalry that took all we had." 
 
 " And did you get your pay ? " 
 
 " They did not pay us then ; but my friends went with 
 them, and of course the cavalry fellows will do all they prom- 
 ised." 
 
FEED AXD POMP DISPOSED OF. 155 
 
 " Well, now tell me what you hid behind that door for ? '* 
 
 " I'll tell you truly. I didn't wish to be seen by you." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Because" — Fred hesitated a moment — " because the 
 soldiers I have — had dealings with — since we disposed of 
 our arms and ammunition — have not treated me very well. 
 Besides, I saw that you did not appear pleased to see the 
 peddler that you sent away on his mule." 
 
 *' Is he one of your friends ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " But you told this man, when you came to his house last 
 night, that you were going to join the army, — did you 
 not?" 
 
 " I beheve I made some such remark to him." 
 
 " Well, sir," said the captain, " I'll furnish you facilities 
 for joining the army." 
 
 " But I didn't mean just what he understood me to say," 
 replied Fred, aghast at this sudden turn in the conversation. 
 " I shall wait till I am older before I go into camp." 
 
 " You are old enough. What you lack in years you make 
 up in smartness. You've told me a mighty smooth story ; 
 and, to save the trouble of learning whether it's all a story, 
 I shall just turn you over to the next recruiting-of&cer. 
 You'll make a good soldier ; and that's a much better way to 
 
156 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 serve your country tban smuggling pins and peppermints. 
 Sergeant, away with him! He's bothered us long enough." 
 
 Fred looked the captain steadily in the face for several sec- 
 onds ; then raised his eyes to the face that shone upon him 
 from behind the captain's chair. It was the face of Pomp ; 
 and it said to him plainly, " Go ; appear to consent : it 
 is your best chance." Already the negro, by his innate 
 power and sagacity, had gained a strong influence over the 
 boy, who hesitated no longer, but went accordingly. 
 
 Mr. Crumlett, who had watched these proceedings with ex- 
 treme uneasiness, now experienced a feeling of relief amount- 
 ing almost to exultation. His connection with the negro 
 speculation had not been betrayed. Fred was removed qui- 
 etly out of his way; and there was Pomp remaining, with 
 Bodson at hand, anxious for a trade. 
 
 " Never mind about payin' for your dinner ! " he said to 
 Fred magnanimously as they parted at the door. " And 
 now," thought Enos, " if I can git a good rousin' price for 
 the dinners and the bcddin', why, I sba'n't make sich a very 
 bad thing on't, after all. I'll stick the cap'n on a big price, 
 or my name ain't Crumlett ! " 
 
 Already the captain was producing his pocket-book. 
 
 " Well, friend," said he, " about what do you think I 
 ought to pay you ? Remember that you're a good patriot, 
 and I'll let you make your own terms." 
 
FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF, 157 
 
 " Wal, — Confed'rate currency so, — I only want to live, 
 ye know : every man must live." 
 
 " I don't know about that," said the captain dryly. 
 
 '* Wal," Enos added, too intent on his gains to take the 
 significance of the retort, " say ahout — dinners four dollars 
 apiece — call it fifty dollars for all ; thirty dollars for the 
 horses, that's eighty ; then there's the blankets and comfters, 
 — say seventy dollars for them ; total, hundred and fifty 
 dollars. Guess that'll be about right, won't it, cap'n? " 
 
 *' Certainly, if you say so," replied the captain with a 
 smile. " The sum is rather larger, howevQy, than I expected ; 
 and I shall not be able to pay cash to-day." 
 
 " Wal, then," said Enos, who was not surprised to have 
 his bill disputed, "what can ye pay ? " 
 
 *' I will give you a certificate of indebtedness, to be paid at 
 the convenience of Government, on proof of your loyalty." 
 And the captain, making out the paper, shoved it across the 
 table to the thunderstruck Mr. Crumlett. 
 
 "Now see here, cap'n! " — it was some seconds before 
 Enos could speak, he was so choked with discontent, — "I 
 can't do nothin' with this 'ere stiffkit ! " 
 
 " It is the best I can do for you." And the captain, ris- 
 ing abruptly, left the house, striding slouchingly m his pistol- 
 garnished boots. 
 
 14 
 
158 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 'Pomp went out to assist tlie men in getting up their horses ; 
 so that Bodson alone was left with Enos. 
 
 " I'll give ye a thousand dollars for that nigger, Georgia 
 currency. I'll go over to Nolensville and raise the money, 
 and. come back before night, and take the nigger." 
 " Say nothin' to nobody, and it's a bargain ! " 
 ** x\ll rio^ht ! " and Bodson went for his horse. *' This 
 
 o 
 
 extry boss of mine," said he significantly to 3Ir. Crumlett, 
 who followed him, — it was the same animal upon whose 
 back Pomp had been bound — "I'll leave with you till 
 along towards night, when I call to settle my bill. I shall 
 want to" take him away then," he added, with a gloating look 
 at Pomp, 
 
 There was now but one difficulty remaining to be over- 
 come : the negro must be managed. But Enos was a man 
 of inventive genius, and he never doubted his ability to do 
 that. He took ample time to consider the matter; Pomp 
 meanwhile refreshing himself after past fatigues, and prepar- 
 ing for future action, by sleeping in the barn. 
 
 " Hillo, hillo, Bob ! " said Enos, coming to wake him. 
 
 " Yes, massa I " said Pomp, sitting up on the straw, and 
 winking at Mr. Cramlett. 
 
 " Bob, my boy," said Enos with a great show of sincerity, 
 " I been thinkin' about your ease ; and I can't see the way 
 clear to keep you here much longer." 
 
FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF. 159 
 
 " Whar sli'll I go ? " Pomp asked with a blank expres- 
 sion. 
 
 " I been tryin' to fix things for ye ; and I guess I've got 
 'em about in shape. Do ye know that cap'n got his eye 
 on you ? They mean to rob me of every thing I have ; and 
 I shouldn't wonder, if, this very night, you was sent to work 
 on the fortifications. Then there's another danger, — them 
 dogs. I don't much expect they'll be here before to-morrer 
 mornin' ; and I could see Bodson didn't much expect they 
 would, neither : but then they may. 'Twould be uncom- 
 f 'table for both on us to have 'em track you here." 
 
 ** Yes, sar." Pomp scratched his head. " Now I do jes' 
 what you say, massa." 
 
 " That's right; that's the way to talk ! My plan's this : 
 Bodson wants to hire you for a few days, and he engages to 
 keep you out o' the clutches of Gov'ment. He wants you 
 to go to Chapel Hill to take care of some bosses for a friend 
 of his that he's interested with, furnishin' bosses for Gov'ment. 
 He'll use you well, and bring you back when I want you. 
 You'll be as safe with him as with anybody : only be careful 
 he don't find out you're the man he kidnapped." 
 
 " Tank ye, massa : s'pose ye know best," said Pomp. 
 
 " Wal, then, you can go to sleep agin; and, when you're 
 wanted, I'll let ye know." And Enos withdrew, delighted 
 
160 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 with Ms apparent success; while Pomp stretched himself 
 again upon the straw, and slept again. 
 
 At about sundown, Bodson returned. 
 
 "I've seen Carter," he said. "He couldn't get the 
 dogs. That's his business : the nigger's his loss, and I've no 
 more to do with it. "Whar's the boy I bargained for ? " < 
 
 "In the barn," said Enos. "I've talked with him, and 
 he ain't very willin' to go." 
 
 " That don't make no difference : they never be ! " and 
 Bodson laughed. "I've got some handcuffs to put onto 
 him, if necessary." 
 
 " On the hull," said Enos, " I guess he'd bettor not know 
 he's sold. I've told hira you'll hire him, and take him to 
 Chapel Hill to look after bosses ; and he 'pearcd to like 
 that. It'll be easier and pleasanter all around to let it go 
 that way." 
 
 " Yery good," said Bodson. " I ain't partic'lar." 
 
 " By the way," observed Enos, " I come by that nigger a 
 kind of a roundabout way. I don't want you to inquire 
 into't too close ; but, as you're buyin' him, I thought I'd 
 mention it." 
 
 " What ! can't you give me a good claim to him 1 " 
 
 " Wal, good enough to answer your purpose. There ain't 
 nobody that's got a better claim to him tlian I have ; and I'll 
 make that over to ye clear." 
 
FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF. 161 
 
 "Look here!" said Bodson seriously; '^ tell me about 
 that ! " 
 
 " Agree not to ax no questions that 'twouldn't be agi-ee- 
 able for me to answer, and I'll give ye the bare facts. You 
 won't approve," said Enos with a preternaturally honest 
 face, " and I don't approve. I wouldn't kidnap a nigger, 
 and you wouldn't, of coui'se." 
 
 " What do ye mean ? " cried Bodson. 
 
 " But if a nigger should fall into your hands after he's 
 kidnapped, that would be diflf'rent," said Mr. Crumlett. 
 "Now, I suspect, — for I don't know, I don't know," 
 emphatically, — "but I suspect Bob was ketehed some- 
 where in the Union lines, and smuggled through by some of 
 our boys. / hadn't nothin' to do with't, though : / come by 
 him honestly. Sich things do happen, I'm told." And the 
 upright Enos scraped his nails. 
 
 " How long ago was this ? " 
 
 " That I don't know : fact, I never knew the partic'lars. 
 I've had him now — wal, it's conside'ble less'n a year." 
 
 "Crumlett," said Bodson with emotion, "you're an 
 honester man than I thought, if ye be Yankee-born. You 
 might have sold me the nigger, and said nothin' of all that. 
 But honor in trade : that's my motto." 
 
 " Of course, of course ! " said Enos sympathetically. 
 14* 
 
162 TEE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Now, I'll tell ye what I'll do with ye. I can't give ye a 
 thousand down, considering your claim ain't no better ; but 
 I'll give ye five hundred, and ask no questions, and run my 
 own risks. Then, if it turns out all right, and I make a 
 good speculation, I'll give you t'other five hundred in six 
 months." 
 
 '' Couldn't possibly," said Enos. " But I'll tell ye what 
 I will do. Give me eight hundred down ; and, as you say, 
 ax no questions, and run your own risks : sign a paper to that 
 effect, and he is yourn." 
 
 To this proposition Bodson at length consented : the paper 
 was drawn up and signed, and the money paid. 
 
 Pomp, in the mean time, brought the horses to the door. 
 
 " Wal, Bob," said Enos, with difficulty concealing his 
 delight under an honest, sober aspect, "ye goin' with this 
 man? Jes' for a few days, ye know." 
 
 " I spec' I do as you say, massa," said Pomp. / 
 
 "Wal," said Bodson, "tie the horses' heads together, 
 and jump on to that one." Pomp obeyed. His horse had 
 no bridle, and his halter was fastened to that of Bodson's 
 horse. " Good-day, Mr. Crumlett ! Whenever you want 
 your man back again, you've only to let me know." 
 
 " All right. Good-evenin' ! Good-by, Bob ! Be a good 
 boy, Bob, and don't forgit. — The greatest spec'lation, 
 
FRED AND POMP DISPOSED OF. 163 
 
 Tildy ! " exclaimed Enos, unable longer to conceal bis joy, 
 but laugbing excitedly as be watcbed tbe borses trotting 
 briskly away witb tbeir riders, "tbe all-firedest cutest tbin^y 
 ever I done in all my born days ! " And again be counted 
 bis money, and read over tbe paper, by signing wbich Bodson 
 bad cut himself off from all redress. 
 
lU 
 
 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XYI. 
 
 WHAT BECAME OF FRED. 
 
 EANWHILE Fred, placed upon a horse, and 
 guarded by a mounted rifleman, the sight of 
 whose carbine he particularly disliked, -was con- 
 ducted over the cross-road towards the Murfreesborough pike. 
 
 ** Where ai-e we going? " he inquired of his escort. 
 
 '* To Stewartsborough," replied the man. 
 
 " What are we going to Stewartsborough for? " 
 
 " Enlist : you are a recruit ; didn't you know it? " 
 
 "Yes," said Fred; " but I'd rather choose my own time 
 and place for enlisting." 
 
 " Can't help it. We're bound for Stewartsborough : that's 
 the captain's orders." 
 
 " x\nd there's no way I can get off ? " 
 
 " Not as I know on," said the man sullenly. 
 
 " Not if I give you money ? " 
 
 " How much money have ye got ? " 
 
WHAT BECAME OF FRED. 165 
 
 "Four dollars, in green-backs," replied Fred with a 
 gleam of hope. 
 
 "That all?" 
 
 " I have thirty cents in fractional currency." 
 
 '* Give me the four dollars and thirty cents." 
 
 " And you will let me go ? " 
 
 " I'll do what I can for ye." 
 
 Encouraged by this promise, Fred gave the man his 
 money ; and the man, glancing at it with satisfaction, put it 
 into his pocket. 
 
 •' Now where will you take me ? " asked Fred. 
 
 ** Same place," repUed the guard stolidly. 
 
 "To Stewartsborough?" 
 
 "Precisely." 
 
 "What shall I do there?" 
 
 "Enlist." 
 
 " Then you don't mean to let me go?" Fred demanded 
 indignantly. 
 
 "Nary a bit of it." 
 
 " Then what did you take my money for ? " 
 
 ' ' To prevent your offering it to the next man, who would 
 take it, as I do, and might let you go, as I don't." 
 
 Fred, vexed as he was, could not help smiling — though 
 rather bitterly — at the fellow's dry humor. The prospect 
 
166 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 before him was discouraging in the extreme. They were 
 travelling faster and faster in the du-ection in which he did 
 not wish to go. Reaching the Murfreesborough pike, they 
 continued their course towards the south-east amid clouds of 
 dust raised by army wagons and troops passing to the front. 
 Of course, any attempt to escape, under the circumstances, 
 would have proved futile, if not fatal. 
 
 Only once, and only for an instant, Fred saw a ray of 
 hope. It shone upon him through a dusty cloud that envel- 
 oped a sutler's wagon, on the other side of which rode a 
 horseman at a rapid trot. That horseman was Daniels. 
 Whether a spy or not, whether an enemy or a fi-iend to 
 the Union cause, he appeared to Fred, for the moment, 
 only as the disinterested stranger who had rescued him once 
 from rebel hands, and might rescue him again. He lifted his 
 hand to attract his attention, and was about to call to him ; 
 when he remembered that already this man had run a great 
 risk on his account, and that it might prove his iiiin to claim 
 his acquaintance now. He shrank from an act of such in- 
 gratitude ; and Daniels, who was riding in the opposite di- 
 rection, evidently on urgent business, failed to recognize him, 
 if he noticed him at all, through the thick dust-cloud. 
 
 *' Do you know that man? " asked the guard. 
 
 "I thought I knew him at first," said Fred. " Who is 
 he?" 
 
WHAT BECAME OF FRED. 167 
 
 '•He's the man that shot a young fellow he was guarding 
 yesterday morning, — one of the prisoners we gobbled up ; 
 just as I shall serve you, if you go to playing me any tricks." 
 
 " Did he actually shoot a prisoner? " 
 
 " So he says; though some of our boys doubted it. The 
 fellow tried to get away from him, and he stopped him with a 
 bullet. It must have been somehow so, or else he let his 
 prisoner get away, and was ashamed to own it." 
 
 You may be sure that Fred listened with pecuhar interest 
 to this story ; and he was now more than ever glad that he 
 had not spoken to Daniels when they met. "He maybe 
 going now to look for me in the woods, and help me get 
 away ! " thought he. "I wish he had seen me ! But, if I 
 bad called, I might have betrayed myself and him too." 
 
 Regrets were useless ; forebodings of evil in store for him at 
 Stewartsborough were equally useless. To Stewartsborough he 
 must go ; and there was nothing now for him to do but to trust 
 bhndly in Providence to guide him through perils which he 
 could not even foresee. Enhst? "I'll die," thought he, 
 "before I ever take the oath of allegiance to Jeff's govern- 
 ment ! " 
 
 "There's you quarters, over yonder," said his guard, 
 pointing out an infantry camp on the outskirts of the village. 
 
 Kidiug up to the line of sentinels, he made known his busi- 
 
168 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ness, and was conducted, with his unwilling recruit, into the 
 presence of the officer of the day, 
 
 " He's too light for our service," said he : "so the captain 
 sends him as a present to you." 
 
 "Your captain is very kind," replied the officer; "but 
 our regiment is full." 
 
 Fred's heart gave a bound of hope. 
 
 " That's a pity," said his guard; "for he's very anxious 
 to enlist." 
 
 " So very anxious," interposed Fred, assuming an air of 
 gayety, " that if you'll allow me to choose my own regiment, 
 and have my own way, it will not be long before I have a 
 musket on my shoulder." Indeed, he most devoutly wished 
 that he was in the ranks of his "own regiment " at that very 
 moment. 
 
 The officer to whom he had been brought seemed inclined 
 to regard him favorably ; but the man who had brought him 
 whispered in his ear something which effected a change in his 
 manner at once. 
 
 "I'll take care of him. We have orders to send all such 
 cases to the conscript camp at Mui-freesborough. Tried to 
 bribe you to let him go? Well, we'll j&x him." 
 
 So much Fred overheard the officer saying : and he knew 
 that all he had accomplished by offering his guard money was 
 
WHAT BECAME OF FEED. 169 
 
 to lose it in the first place ; and, in the second place, to secure 
 for himself stricter treatment here in the rebel camp than he 
 might otherwise have received. 
 
 In fact, he was immediately taken to the guard-tent, and 
 confined. Even if he had been allowed the freedom of the 
 camp-ground, escape would have been extremely difficult ; 
 but, under present circumstances, it was impossible. There 
 were two or three prisoners with hun in the tent : their sup- 
 pers were .soon brought in ; and instead of losing heart, and 
 repining at his misfortune, he cultivated a cheerful aspect, 
 made acquaintance with his chance companions, and ate his 
 supper with them. Then, when night came, he lay down 
 upon the ground, and thought of his mother and of the mor- 
 row, and of Him whose power is over all things, until he fell 
 asleep. 
 
 15 
 
170 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 xvn. 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED TO POMP AND OTHERS. 
 
 RISKLY along the cross-road, towards the turn- 
 pike, rode Bodson and his new man. The kid- 
 napper was scarcely less pleased with his bar- 
 gain than Enos himself. 
 
 ** For the nigger," he reasoned, "is Carter's loss. This 
 one is equally as good, and I sha'n't be obliged to share the 
 profits on him with any one. Just as lieves have a kidnapped 
 nigger as any other ; and I'm afraid I sha'n't be as honest 
 with the man I sell him to as Crumlett was with me. What 
 are ye grinning at, Bob ? '* 
 
 " Massa," said the fictitious Bob, "I know sumfin' ! — 
 "^sumfin' you'd be glad to know too ! " 
 *' Wal, whatisit?" 
 '"Bout dat darky." 
 " What darky, you rascal ? " 
 " De one you lost to-day." 
 
POMP AND OTHERS. 171 
 
 " You know about him ? " 
 
 '■* I know sumfin' ! You tell me one t'ing, and I tell you 
 eber't'ing." 
 
 ** What ! You try to drive a bargain with your master? " 
 cried Bodson angrily, stopping the horses. 
 
 " Yes, massa ! " said Pomp humbly, but firmly. " One 
 t'ing I wants to know. Have you bought me, massa? " 
 
 *' Yes, you black villain ! Now tell me what you know 
 about that nigger, or I'll stop and lick ye on the spot." 
 
 " Did Massa Crumlett sell me? " 
 
 " I tell you, yes, — for eight hundred dollars, cash : I paid 
 him the money." 
 
 " Dat's all," said Pomp. ** On'y wanted to know. 
 Now you go wid me, and I show you whar dat darky was 
 hid." 
 
 "Is he there now ? " demanded Bodson earnestly. 
 
 *' He won't be fur from de spot. I'll show him to you. 
 
 " Bob ! " cried Bodson with excitement, V if you're tell- 
 ing me the truth, and if we ketch the nigger, I'll do the 
 handsome thing by you, — see if I don't ! But by " — he 
 swore a dreadful oath, and showed the handle of his bowie- 
 knife, — "if you're fooling me, it'll be as much as your skin 
 is worth ! " 
 
172 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I know, massa," said Pomp, so quietly, yet decidedly, 
 that Bodson was convinced of bis sincerity. 
 
 They reached the turnpike ; then, instead of turning south- 
 ward, Bodson, by Pomp's direction, reined the horses into 
 the woods, and approached the thicket in which Pomp and 
 Fred liad been last concealed. 
 
 " Dis de place, massa," said Pomp. 
 
 Bodson, peering eagerly into the bushes, halted the borses, 
 and dismounted. 
 
 " Alight ! " he commanded. " Come with me, and show 
 me." 
 
 " Dis way, massa. Here's de proof." And, creeping a 
 short distance into the thicket, he withdrew again, dragging 
 something with lum. "You know dat, massa? " 
 
 Bodson knew it: 'twas the rope wherewith Pomp had 
 been bound. 
 
 *' But whar — whar is the nigger? " cried Bodson. 
 
 No longer suspicious of Pomp's fidelity, but thrown 
 entirely off his^guard, he stooped to peer into the deep twi- 
 light gloom of the thicket, hoping to discover his stray negro 
 there. Then, with the suddenness of a hghtning's flash, a 
 change came over Pomp. The humble, obedient slave dis- 
 appeared ; and in his place stood the untamable, terrible 
 African. 
 
POMP AND OTHERS. 173 
 
 *' I am the nigger ! " he said in a voice as changed as his 
 face, — a voice which smote the soul of Bodson like a thunder 
 clap. 
 
 Pomp waited for him to turn ; for he would not smite 
 even his foe, as he had been smitten by him, from behind. 
 But as Bodson started back, thrusting his hand into his 
 bosom for his knife and confronting him, Pomp sent out 
 from the shoulder one light, swift, straight blow with his j5st, 
 which felled him like an ox sti-uck by the butcher's sledge. 
 Then, in an instant, the kidnapper was disarmed. " Scream, 
 and you are a dead man ! But, in a minute, you may scream 
 as loud as you please. Do you remember this thing ? " 
 Pomp di-ew from his pocket the identical gag which had been 
 thrust into his own mouth the night before. As Bodson had 
 dene unto him, so now he did unto Bodson. Then, from the 
 pocket of the kidnapper, he took the handcuffs which were to 
 have been placed upon his own wi'ists in case of necessity, and 
 fastened them on the kidnapper's. Then, having bound his 
 feet, he threw him upon the same horse that had carried him, 
 and lashed him there with many a twist and turn of the rope 
 inextricable. And all the while poor Bodson, in his terror 
 and pain, could only writhe, and utter gi'oans stifled by the 
 ruthless o-ao;. 
 
 *' Now good-by, my honored friend! I have to pay a 
 
 15* 
 
174 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 visit to Cruralett : then you'll see me again, if it isn't too 
 dark by that time." 
 
 Leaving the horses tied, Pomp dashed across the field, and 
 bounded in upon Enos in his kitchen before that self-com- 
 placent speculator had done chuckling over his trade. 
 
 ** What's to pay ? " ejaculated Enos^ springing to his feet 
 at the sight of the threatening black face. 
 
 " Eight hundred dollars ! " said Pomp, stern and men- 
 acing. 
 
 **Why, Bob!" Enos chattered with fright: "what do 
 you mean ? " 
 
 "I mean, I have been sold. The money has been paid 
 to you. It belongs to me. I have settled with the owner 
 of this knife ;" showing Bodson^s weapon, at which Matilda 
 and the children uttered screams. *' Now I have come to 
 settle with you." 
 
 *' To kill me ! " gasped Enos, white with mortal fear. 
 
 " Instantly ! " said Pomp in a terrible voice, " unless 
 you give me what is mine ! " 
 
 "The money, the money! — here it is!" said Enos, 
 showing it on the table, where he liad been counting it for 
 the twentieth time. Much as he loved lucre, he loved life 
 more ; and he knew the black visage meant death to him, if 
 he did not obey. ' 
 
POMP AND OTHERS. 175 
 
 " Ono thing more," said Pomp, pocketing liis price with 
 a grim smile. "Yon forget that you sent me off without 
 my supper/* 
 
 " The soldiers et every thing ! " said Enos, his hair still 
 bristling erect on his head. 
 
 " There are cheeses left," said Pomp. " Bring me one." 
 
 One was brought ; by whom, not one of the family could 
 ever tell : for Enos declared afterwards that he did not bring 
 it ; and Matilda was stuck up in a comer of the room, dumb 
 and motionless with fright ; and the cheese was too large for 
 the children to lift from the shelf. But all remembered 
 seeing the black man carve out a liberal wedge of it with two 
 strokes of his horrid knife ; and after he was gone, the visi- 
 ble proof remaining, that his visit was not a hideous dream, 
 was the cut cheese on the table. 
 
 With the price of his bone and muscle in his pocket, 
 together with his untasted supper of cheese, Pomp ran back 
 to the woods as swiftly as he came ; found Bodson bound as 
 he had left him; then unfastened the horses, mounted 
 the kidnapper's, and, leading the other, drove away north- 
 ward through the woods. 
 
 " Enos, Enos ! " moaned Matilda, wrmging her hands. 
 " Did he take all the money ? " 
 
 Enos was speechless. He paced the floor wildly; then 
 
176 TEE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 threw himself upon a chair, with smothered groans, and 
 exclamations of rage gi'ound fine between his teeth. The 
 hair of his head, which had of late been standing erect with 
 fear, he now began to pluck out despairingly by the roots. 
 
 "What made you let him?" cried Matilda. "You 
 didn't even say no ! If he'd asked for your soul, I' 
 do believe you'd have given it up to him, you was so 
 scaret ! " 
 
 ''Thunder and lightning!" bui'st forth Enos, "wasn't 
 you scaret ? You aggravate me to death with your talk ! 
 Ain't it enough to be robbed and murdered, without havin' 
 to be blamed for it afterwards ? " 
 
 " You ain't murdered yet ! " 
 
 " Nobody knows when I shall be, if I ain't ! Don't you 
 wish I was ? I do ! I've lived long enough ! Sich a 
 day's work ! Oh ! " 
 
 *' To stand still, with your hands folded, I may say, and 
 have your money took from you in that way ! " said 
 Matilda. ** I'd have done something. I'd have said 
 something at least. I'd have thought of my duty to ray 
 wife and children, even if I was too mean-sphited to stand 
 up for my own rights." 
 
 "Duty to wife and — Jerashy mighty!" roared Enos, 
 like a stung wild beast. "Stop the children's noise! — 
 
POMP AND OTHERS. 177 
 
 that's your duty. You and them keep up sich a clatter, I 
 can't hear myself think ! " 
 
 " Do you expect you're going to be frightened out of your 
 wits by a great black negro, and they won't cry ? Oh ! it's 
 for men to be scaret, I see ! but women and children are 
 expected to keep calm ! Eight hundred dollars : was it eiglit 
 hundred'^ " 
 
 *' There, now : I never shall hear the end of that ! " said 
 Enos in the tone of a broken-hearted man. *' You'll fling 
 it in my face to the end of time ! I may as well give up all 
 idea of having any more comfort in my own house, first as 
 last." 
 
 *'Well," retorted Matilda tartly, "if you can have any 
 more comfort out of it, you're welcome ! " 
 
 " By George, I will ! I may as well leave this country 
 now as any time. It's nothin' but rob, rob, rob, as long as 
 I stay here. I'd rather live a beggar in the North, than 
 have property here ; and, if I can git there, you're welcome 
 to what's left behind. No doubt you can take care of things 
 enough sight better'n I do ! " And Enos, putting on his 
 hat, pitched recklessly over his eyes, and buttoning his coat, 
 strode to the door. 
 
 Matilda simpered and sneered ; seeming to say, "Go, if 
 you want to; but I know well enough you won't ! " Mr. 
 
178 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Crumlett, a little disappointed that she did not appear alarmed, 
 gave her an angry " Good-by ! " and put one foot across 
 the threshold. The door was open, and every thing seemed 
 to favor his desperate resolve. But all at once he stopped, 
 and drew back the foot he had advanced, recoiling into the 
 house with a look of terror. 
 
 Matilda was not long in doubt as to the occasion of this 
 sudden change of front. As Enos retreated, a dark figure, 
 that had crept noiselessly to the door, followed him in. Was 
 it Pomp, returned to finish the work he seemed to have left 
 half done ? or some spy, who had overheard Mr. Crmnlett's 
 table-talk ? The figure was that of a man, black as any 
 negro, but of inferior stature to Pomp, and with a still fiercer 
 intensity in his aspect, which betokened rather the assassin 
 than the spy. 
 
 "Mr. Crumlett," said he in a voice of command rather 
 than entreaty, " give me something to eat." 
 
 " Gracious goodness ! " said Enos with increasmg amaze- 
 ment. " EUsmer ! is it you? " 
 
 The conscript — for it was he — smiled grimly as the fire- 
 light shone upon his blackened face. 
 
 *' It's either me or my ghost ! " he answered. 
 
 *' But I see you in the house, burnt up ! " 
 
 " The house burnt ; but I'm alive to do some mischief yet. 
 Give me somethino: : I'm starved." 
 
"* POMP AND OTHERS. 179 
 
 As he reached forth to grasp the cheese, Enos could see 
 that not his face only, but also his hands and garments, were 
 covered as with soot. 
 
 " You was hid in the chimney ! " 
 
 " No, I wasn't ! ' ' with a maniacal smile . " I got this black 
 off from the timbers. Don't ye tell no one I'm alive. I 
 can't starve. This will do for to-night. I'U call again when 
 I want more." 
 
 With these words, the conscript, having cut off a section 
 of the cheese to match that which Pomp had carried away, 
 glided \wth it from the house as silently as he had come in. 
 
180 
 
 THE THREE SCOUTS. * 
 
 XYIII 
 
 THE KIDNAPPER'S PASS. 
 
 OMP was by this time in the midst of the deep 
 woods ; and it was night. Events had thus far 
 seemed to shape themselves, and he had merely 
 taken advantage of them ; but now it appeared necessary to 
 form some decisive plan, and act upon it at once. 
 
 Finding himself in a dark hollow, surrounded by a scat- 
 tered undergrowth, he halted, and tied the horses to a sap- 
 ling. He then reconnoitred the position to satisfy himself 
 that he was not discovered. This done, he returned to the 
 horses and the bound man. 
 
 "You're a smoker," he observed in a friendly tone to 
 the kidnapper ; " and I suspect you have matches," — feehng 
 in Bodson's pockets. " Ah, here they are ! Very thoughtful 
 in you, certainly ! Now let's see what papers you have, and 
 what use we can make of them." 
 
 Having possessed himself of the kidnapper's pocket-book, 
 he proceeded dehberately to examine its contents. He 
 
THE KIDNAPPER'S PASS. 181 
 
 scraped together some dry leaves, touched a lighted match to 
 them, and laid on a handful of broken twigs. By the flame 
 thus kindled, he looked oyer Bodson's private papers, until 
 — as Bodson, with uproUed eyes, discovered by the smile of 
 triumph which seemed to illumine his sable countenance more 
 brightly than did the firelight — he had found the particular 
 document he was in search of. It was a pass, permitting the 
 bearer, with his servant, to go and come through the Confed- 
 erate lines. 
 
 " I thought you had such a pass," said Pomp ; "for you 
 couldn't carry on your business very well without it. I'll be 
 your servant, for once ; and, if we don't get through the lines 
 on the strength of this pass, I'll give you leave to discharge 
 me. But you can't ride in that shape without attracting too 
 much attention. It's only servants that can be treated in 
 that way, and have it seem all right. Come, you shall ride 
 like a gentleman." He unbound the kidnapper, and placed 
 him in a sitting posture in the saddle, with the handcuffs still 
 on his wrists, and the gag ui his mouth. *' Now behave your- 
 self, and all will be well ; but attempt to escape, or to com- 
 municate with any person we meet, by signs or in any way, 
 and I drop this knife-blade into your back several inches. 
 That's the main thing for you to understand : I'll manage the 
 
 16 
 
182 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Pomp was then about to remove the gag ; but Bodson's 
 face wore such an expression of desperation and ferocity, that 
 he resolved not to run the risk. 
 
 " I think well keep that in a little while, so that you can 
 enjoy the comfort of it ! It mustn't be seen, though. Your 
 handkerchief will just come in play ! " 
 
 He bound the handkerchief around the kidnapper's 
 jaws, tying it behind. Then he placed his hat on his head 
 in a manner disguising well his eyes. Lastly he removed 
 the handcufis. 
 
 ' ' You see I give you much more liberty than you gave 
 me. If you take advantage of it, so much the worse for 
 yourself. Now for a start." 
 
 Eemountmo;, with the horses' heads tied too;ether, he reined 
 boldly out of the woods, and struck the turnpike. He then 
 turned northwai-d, and kept on at a lively trot. It was a 
 moonlight evening ; and gusts of wind, blowing among the 
 trees, made, to the kidnapper's ear, a dreary accompaniment 
 to the clatter of hoofs over the lonely road. 
 
 Horsemen, and men in wagons or on foot, were met here 
 and there ; but nobody paid much attention to the solitary 
 gentleman, with his face tied up, riding with his servant. 
 Fields were passed, white with rebel encampments ; and Bod- 
 son had the satisfaction of seeing ofl&cers and men on guard 
 
THE KIDNAPPER'S PASS. 183 
 
 within call, without the power of making known his situation 
 to them by a word. 
 
 At length, a mounted patrol was met, and the travellers 
 were challenged. Pomp halted the horses, and said in Bod- 
 son's ear, — 
 
 " One movement now to betray me, and you get this iron 
 into you! " 
 
 Prepared to accomplish his threat, and at the same time 
 to wheel, and fly for his life, if necessary, he awaited the 
 scrutiny of the patrol. 
 
 " My master is Kichard Bodson," said he, showing the 
 pass. " He has been wounded in the jaw by an accidental 
 discharge of a gunshot. I am taking him to his brother-in- 
 law, Mr. Atkinson; " naming the venerable old secessionist, 
 called the " deacon," through whose agency he had been kid- 
 napped. 
 
 "What Atkinson?" demanded one of the men; while 
 another struck a light, and held it for a tMrd to examine the 
 
 Pomp could answer any questions that might be asked 
 concerning that aged reprobate ; and he now made good use 
 of the knowledge he had picked up during his brief stay on 
 his premises. 
 
 "I know him," said one of the men. "If this is his 
 brother-in-law, I suppose it's all right." 
 
184 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " The pass is all right," said another, returning it to 
 Pomp. 
 
 " Will the pickets let us pass ? " asked Pomp. 
 
 ^' Not without the countersign. You ought to have got 
 that at the camp back here." 
 
 " My master, gentlemen," Pomp explained, " ain't in a 
 condition to do business 'cording to rule. He'll be much 
 obliged to you if you'll give us the countersign." 
 
 " Couldn't do that. But I'll tell ye what you can do," 
 said one of the men. " Kide on till you're challenged by 
 the guard on the pike ; show your pass then, and tell your 
 story; and perhaps the officer will pass you through the 
 pickets." ^^ 
 
 " Thank you, gentlemen," said Pomp, riding on. 
 
 Accustomed as they were to the sight of wounds and 
 wounded men, the patrol had merely glanced at Bodson's 
 bandaged face. The negi-o, greatly encouraged by the suc- 
 cess of this experiment thus far, pushed on until challenged 
 by the outpost guarding the turnpike. There, as he had 
 been advised to do, he told his story, and saw his pass 
 examined by the light of a lantern. The result was favor- 
 able ; and a sergeant was sent forward to pass him and his 
 charge through the line of sentinels. 
 
 The order was given, and Pomp was thanking the sergeant 
 
THE KIDNAPPER' S PASS. 185 
 
 for his trouble, when Bodson, who had all along watched in 
 vain for an opportunity to make known his condition, without 
 drawino- down upon himself the negro's instant vengeance, 
 seeing now that his last chance had come, got the better of 
 his fears, and attempted to leap from the horse. At the firet 
 motion, however, Pomp's hand was upon his neck, holding 
 him with a giant's grip in his seat. 
 
 "Halt!" shouted the sergeant, perceiving at once that 
 all was not right, and revoking his order to the sentinels. 
 
 Pomp had just passed them ; and he had no thought of 
 risking all he had gained by obeying the command. 
 
 " Halt ! " repeated the sentinels ; and he heard the click 
 of gun-locks. 
 
 Instead of halting, he struck with his heels the horse he 
 rode, and, with the toe of his boot, the flank of Bodson's 
 horse, cheering them into a sudden gallop by the sound of 
 his voice, and plunged into the darkness beyond ; while the 
 bullets of the pickets whistled over his head. 
 
 Fortunately he encountered no rebel videttes outside of the 
 line ; and, in less than a quarter of an hour, he was chal- 
 lenged by the Federal picket-guard. He gave himself up to 
 a sentinel, who conducted him to ttie office of the guard, 
 who in turn, at his earnest request, forwarded him with his 
 prisoner to the office of the army police at Nashville. 
 16* 
 
186 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 A DANGEROUS LEAP. 
 
 HE next morning, Fred was released from con- 
 finement in the guard-tent, and allowed the 
 liberty of a soldier in camp. He walked about, 
 and amused himself by observing how the sentinels were 
 posted, and imagining ways of escape. "If I am not put 
 under guard again at night/' thought he, "I shall either get 
 out of this camp, or get shot, very sure ! " 
 
 He was destined to pass the guard sooner than he sup- 
 posed ; not, however, in the manner he anticipated, or pre- 
 cisely as he would have wished. He was summoned after 
 breakfast to accompany a corporal who was going to jNIur- 
 freesborough with three invalid soldiers. These were to be 
 placed in the Murfreesborough hospital, while Fred was to 
 be delivered at the conscript camp. 
 
 The little party was conveyed in a wagon to a station on 
 the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and then placed on 
 board a Government train from Lavergne, almost before Fred 
 
A DANGEROUS LEAP. 187 
 
 had time to look about him ; and, a minute latv^r, he was on 
 his way to Muifreesborough, whirled away at thunder-speed 
 into the very heart of the Confederacy. 
 
 The corporal left the sick soldiers to look out for them- 
 selves, and complimented Fred with the principal share of 
 his attention. He; sat on the same seat with him in the car ; 
 and would not, under any pretext, allow him to leave it. 
 
 *' I wish to speak to the conductor," said Fred; thinking 
 that if he could but reach the platform, where the conductor 
 then was, he might avail himself of the only chance of 
 escape which had yet occurred, or which probably would 
 occur before he reached the dreaded conscript camp. It 
 would be at the risk of life and limb ; but he was resolved. 
 Swiftly as the train was flying past rocks and woods, he 
 would jump off! 
 
 "If the corporal will jump after me, he is welcome ! " 
 thought he. 
 
 But the corporal had no wish either to take a leap himself, 
 or to permit his charge to try the experiment. 
 
 " Sit still ! " he said gruffly; and, as he had Fred be- 
 tween him and the window, it was easy for him to enforce 
 obedience. " The conductor will be this way in a min- 
 ute." 
 
 " No chance ! " thought Fred, his heart sinking as he saw 
 the conductor coming through the train. 
 
188 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The corporal had a pass for himself, the three mvalids, and 
 Fred. He showed it, and pointed out his men ; saying at the 
 same time to Fred, "Now you can ask any questions you 
 want." 
 
 " I just wanted to inquire," said Fred (since it was neces- 
 sary to say something), " how far it is to Murfreesborough." 
 
 " We shall be there in about fifteen minutes," said the 
 conductor, glancing at his watch. 
 
 " Then how far is it to the station beyond ? " 
 
 " To Christiana, the first regular station, ten miles." 
 
 " Thank you," said Fred ; and the conductor passed on. 
 
 The brief fifteen minutes soon elapsed. The train slackened 
 speed; the brakemen screwed up the brakes. " 3Iurfrees- 
 borough ! " was shouted in at the doors. The corporal laid hold 
 of his musket; and Fred's heart swelled anxiously as ho 
 thought of the conscript camp, now so near at hand. 
 
 Arrived at the stopping-place, the corporal kept close by 
 his side as he conducted him from the platform of the car to 
 the platform of the station. There Fred found a guard 
 placed to prevent all persons without a pass from taking or 
 leaving the train. 
 
 " Keep this boy till I call for him," said the corporal to 
 one of the guard. " I've got to send these sick men to the 
 hospital; then I'll come and take him." 
 
A DANGEROUS LEAP. 189 
 
 ** All rigbt," said the sentinel. 
 
 The corporal walked off with his men, leaving Fred, unfor- 
 tunately, inside the guard line. 
 
 "If I was only outside now," thought he, "I'd run for 
 it! " He attempted to pass; but instantly down came a 
 bayonet to the level of his waist. 
 
 "Have you a pass?" 
 
 " The corporal has my pass." 
 
 " Wait, then, till he comes back." 
 
 There was no other way : the platform was so guarded, 
 that he could not leave it except by going back into the cars ; 
 neither could he escape from them on the other side. All 
 this time, he saw soldiers and citizens coming aboard the 
 train ; although a few who attempted to do so, unprovided 
 with passes, were sent back by the guard. The signal-bell 
 was ringing. 
 
 " The tram will be off again in a minute ! " Fred thought, 
 looking anxiously for tie return of his corporal. 
 
 Rapid thoughts passed through his excited mind. True, 
 the train was headed in the opposite direction from that in 
 which he ardently wished to be travelling ; but — 
 
 " All aboard ! " cried the conductor, waving his hand at 
 the engineer. 
 
 It was a time for quick, decisive action. Should Fred re- 
 
190 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 main tamely where he stood, waiting for the coi-poral to return, 
 and hurry him off to that place of all places where he most 
 dreaded to go, — the conscript camp ? Better, penniless and 
 friendless as he was, an escaped prisoner and an enemy, rush 
 into obscurity in the midst of the enemy's country, and trust 
 to Providence for safety and sustenance, than be forced into 
 the rebel ranks. 
 
 The engine panted and wheezed ; the train started with 
 irregular motion and clanking sound ; and the corporal, having 
 disposed of his invalids, came hurrying back in search of 
 Fred. But Fred was not to be seen. 
 
 •' Where's that boy ? " he demanded of the guard. 
 
 "Don't know." 
 
 " I told you to keep him ! " 
 
 " We did. He hasn't passed out : all we had to do was 
 to see to that. He was here a minute ago." 
 
 '* Then he's on board the train ! " exclaimed the corporal, 
 exasperated ; for already the train was steaming away in 
 the distance. 
 
 ''Outwitted!" and the guard laughed at the unlucky 
 subaltern. 
 
 *' If the train had been going t'other way, I should have 
 looked out for that ! But he's from the North ; wanted to 
 get back to Nashville ; and I'd as soon have thought of his 
 
A DANGEROUS LEAP. 191 
 
 going to the moon as further south. But I know what I can 
 do. The train don't stop till it gets to Christiana ; and I 
 can telegraph, and have him nabbed there ! " 
 
 So saying, the corporal hurried away to the telegraph of- 
 fice ; while Fred, from the car window, watched the receding 
 suburbs of the rebel town, and congratulated himself that he 
 was out of it. 
 
 But were his troubles ended? On the contrary, he felt 
 that they were but just begun. Still he congratulated him- 
 self; for even had he passed the guard at the platform, and 
 escaped into the streets of the closely guarded city, there he 
 would have been still a prisoner, with far less chance of es- 
 cape than he had now. 
 
 He saw the conductor coming through the train, demanding 
 passes and tickets. Fred had no ticket, and no money to buy 
 one ; neither had he a pass. But he had one thing which 
 often serves in the place of others, and is especially useful to 
 an escaped prisoner in an enemy's country, — a shrewd and 
 self-possessed mind. 
 
 •* Ticket, pass ! " said the conductor, extending his inex- 
 orable hand. 
 
 " The corporal has my pass," said Fred. 
 
 " What corporal? " 
 
 " The same who came down with me to Murfreesborough 
 
192 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 We had some sick soldiers with us : don't you remem- 
 ber?" 
 
 ** Are you the young fellow that asked me some ques- 
 tions?" 
 
 " Yes," said Fred, secretly rejoiced that he had thus called 
 the conductor's attention, and caused himself to be remem- 
 bered. 
 
 ** Well, where is your corporal ? " 
 
 *' He is behind," — and Fred pointed towards the rear of 
 the train. 
 
 " All right," said the conductor, passing on. 
 
 He passed through to the end of the train without finding 
 the subaltern, who was farther behind than that, a gi-eat deal. 
 
 ** Your corporal isn't aboard," said he, retummg to Fred. 
 
 "Isn't!" exclaimed Fred in great surprise. "Where 
 is he?" 
 
 " You ought to know." 
 
 *' I ! He told me to stay with the train while he went to 
 take cai-e of the sick men ! He said that he would come 
 back to me ; and I saw him coming back just as we started." 
 
 *' Did you see him come aboard? " 
 
 " No : but he might have jumped on to the last car ; and 
 I don't see why he didn't." And Fred appeared hugely 
 disappointed. " He's got my pass, and I don't know what I 
 shaU do ! '' 
 
A DANGEROUS LEAP. 193 
 
 " You can go back to Murfreesborough." 
 
 " Yes, so I can ! " But Fred had no wisb to return to 
 INIurfreesborough, and become inextricably entrapped within its 
 network of picket-guards, even if not caught at once by the 
 corporal. 
 
 The conductor passed on, leaving him to his reflections. 
 " He'll certainly send me back to Murfreesborough by the first 
 train," he thought. " He said it was ten miles to Christiana. 
 I don't want to go to Christiana, If the station is guarded 
 there too, there'll be no chance for a fellow. Besides, a tel- 
 egraphic despatch may be sent along to head me oflf." 
 
 As a last- resort, he determined to jump from the train ; but 
 it was going at full speed, and he was in no haste to try the 
 dangerous experiment. He wished some cattle would get on 
 the track; but then he reflected that stray cattle, in such 
 close proximity to the rebel army, must be very scarce. He 
 almost hoped there would be a railroad accident ; but railroad 
 accidents do not happen every day. All this time, the cars 
 were running through a picturesque region, which, troubled as 
 his thoughts were, he could not but admire. 
 
 At length, he behoved he must be within two or three miles 
 of Christiana. There was now no surly guard to keep hun 
 in his seat. The conductor was out of sight. The brake- 
 men did not consider it their business to prevent passengers 
 17 
 
194 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 from breaking their necks. Fred walked at a careless gait 
 through the car, and stood upon the platform. The traui was 
 stni running at its usual speed, and trees, bushes, rocks, and 
 stumps were flitting by. But, seeing no evidence of slacking 
 up before the stopping-place was reached, he resolved to risk 
 a leap. 
 
 He considered weU what he was about to do, however, and 
 used every possible precaution. He got down on the plat- 
 form-step, and pretended to be looking ahead. He was, in 
 fact, seai'ching for a smooth spot. Then suddenly he threw 
 himself clear of the cai\ He had kept his face turned in the 
 direction it was going, in order to save himself from a violent 
 fall by running a few steps as he struck the ground ; and, to 
 counteract the motion of the train, he gave a spring back- 
 wards. For a second, he was suspended in the air ; then the 
 train shot past him as he lay sprawling by the track. 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO, 195 
 
 XX. 
 
 FRED MAKES ACQUAINT AN GE WITH 
 A LASSO. 
 
 HE boy was on his feet again in an instant. 
 He did not stop to consider whether he was 
 hurt, or even to see if he was observed from 
 the train, but ran straight for a woody hill. 
 
 Beaching its shelter, he paused to take breath, and col- 
 lect his senses, which had been somewhat scattered by the 
 shock of his fall. 
 
 "I dare not stay here," he thought; *' and it won't be 
 safe to follow the railroad back again. I'll dive deep into 
 the country, where nobody'll think of looking for me. To 
 go north, I'll start west, — make a flank movement. I've 
 hiu't my foot a little; but no matter ! " 
 
 He passed over the hill, and came to a dusty turnpike. 
 " This must be the Murfi-eesborough pike," he thought : ' I'll 
 cross it." He did so, without being accosted by an} one, 
 and entered the woods still farther west. 
 
196 THE THREE, SCOUTS 
 
 Through woods, over hills, and across fields, in a beauti- 
 ful undulating country, avoiding farm-houses and the sight 
 of men, he travelled for two hours or more. At lenorth, 
 from a commanding elevation, he discovered the white line 
 of another thoroughfare running north and south. " That 
 must be the Shelbyville pike," he reasoned. "I'd better 
 strike it, and follow it back to Nolensville. That can't be 
 more than twenty miles from here. I can sleep in the woods 
 to-night, and reach Crumlett's to-morrow." 
 
 He had no wish to pay Enos a visit, except for the pur- 
 pose of getting something to eat, and learning what had 
 become of Pomp. He did not object to sleeping in the 
 woods; but starvation was not so pleasant. Already he 
 began to experience the inconveniences of hunger. If he 
 bad had money, he would have gone boldly to a farm-house, 
 and asked for refreshment. Notwithstanding all that he 
 had heard said of Southern hospitality, he was aware that 
 Southern farmers were in the habit of receiving pay fi-om 
 strangers who sat at their tables ; and he was unwilling to 
 beg so much as a crust. There's nothing so suspicious as 
 poverty ; and, unless he could first find out the residence of 
 a Union man, he felt that it would be unsafe to make his 
 necessities known. 
 
 A long journey, therefore, with weariness and starvation, 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO. 197 
 
 appeared before him; to say nothing of all the clangers that 
 must be encountered. *' Never mind," he said stoutly to 
 himsolf : " I can stand it ! " One thing, however, troubled 
 hiin, — his ankle. He knew he had sprained it in jumping 
 from the train. He had scarcely observed the pain at first ; 
 but it increased alarmingly as he walked. 
 
 He reached the turnpike ; but had scarcely commenced 
 travelling upon it, when he was refreshed by the sight of a 
 squad of cavalry. The chance of being pressed into the 
 rebel service, or of being aiTCsted as an escaped prisoner, 
 was not invitmg. He could give no satisfactory account of 
 hhnself, if stopped and questioned ; and he did not like to re- 
 sort to invention, even with an enemy. He had just time to 
 throw himself down behind a clump of trees, when the horse- 
 men galloped past him. Fortunately, he was not seen. But 
 he was strongly impressed with the danger of keeping the 
 turnpike ; and he began to thmk that he had made a great 
 mistake when he exchanged the hardships of the untrodden 
 woods and Mils for the smooth but unsafe highway. 
 
 He lay for some minutes behind the bushes, watching the 
 people and teams that passed. But he felt that he had no 
 time to lose; and, getting up, he once more set out to walk. 
 To his dismay, he found the lameness of his ankle worse 
 than ever. If it should increase during the hour to come 
 17* 
 
198 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 as it had dui-ing the hour past, he would be unable to walk. 
 The thought was appalling. 
 
 He fortified his soul against the pain, however, and limped 
 away, grimacing at every step ; but soon found hunself 
 obliged to sit down again. The prospect before him was 
 more dismal than it had yet been at any time since his 
 capture. As long as he had the use of his limbs, he had 
 hopes ; he shrank from no hazard, from no hardship : his 
 brain teemed with plans of escape. But the worst prison 
 he could be put into was his own lameness. He could run 
 from the rebels ; but he could not run from a disabled foot. 
 He thought of the weary, weary miles before him ; only 
 enemies around him ; starvation in prospect ; not a cent in 
 his pockets ; himself a stranger to the country ; and, what 
 was worst of all, a cripple. WHat should he do ? 
 
 Do you wonder that he was, for a moment, discoui'aged ? 
 But something within him said, " Have faith ; be brave ; 
 shrink from nothing : a way will yet be provided for your 
 safety." And in his heart he resolved, "I'll do my best, 
 and never give up till the last. I'll pick me up some 
 crutches in the woods, and hobble. I'll live on air, water, 
 roots, and my own spunk ; and I'll go back to oui- lines, if 
 I have to crawl ! " 
 
 He was startled from his reflections by the sight of two per- 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO, 199 
 
 sons, mounted, riding towards liim. The savage aspect of the 
 foremost drew his entire attention. His hair was long, his 
 beard bushy, aild his whole appearance rough and shaggy in 
 tlie extreme. He wore a broad, slouched hat : he was armed 
 with a carbine, and carried a curious coil of rope at his sad- 
 dle-bow. Perceiving Fred trying to limp out of the way, he 
 spurred towards hun like a wild man on horseback, and with 
 a swift, dexterous motion of his right hand, throwing his 
 whole body forward to second it, he loosed the coil of rope. 
 It shot out like a streak of untwisted lightning from the 
 saddle ; and, what was very remarkable, a noose at the end of 
 it fell, neatly as possible, over Fred's neck. The man was 
 a Texan ranger, half drunk; and he" had lassoed the boy 
 for fun. 
 
 Something far more serious than fan^ Jiowever, might 
 have been the result, if the ranger had not suddenly 
 reined up his horse ; or if Fred had not seized hold of the 
 rope with his hands, just as the noose was tightening. 
 
 The Texan burst into peals of laughter, and reeled in his 
 saddle, partly with merriment, and partly with intoxication. 
 Fred took advantage of his unsteady movements to slip the 
 noose over his head. By this time the ranger's companion 
 came riding up, thwacking his beast's sides with a stout 
 stick. That beast was a mule ; and Fred, released from the 
 
200 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 lasso, and looking up, recognized with surprise and joy the 
 rider. It was Carl. 
 
 Carl did not, however, appear to recognize Fred. 
 
 " Yat for you throw your lash-you at him ? You preak 
 somepody's neck vith your fooling, py and py ! " 
 
 " No offence, no offence ! " cried the ranger, replacing 
 the coil at his saddle-bow. " All a joke, you understand, 
 my friend," he added thickly, offering to shake hands with 
 Fred. 
 
 Fred felt an impulse to pull him from the saddle, disarm 
 him, and take possession of his horse. But the man was 
 not drunk enough to render this an easy undertaking : be- 
 sides, the tune and place were unfit. 
 
 "I've a broken ankle already; and you came very near 
 giving me a broken neck ! " said Fred, as good-naturedly as 
 was possible under the circumstances. 
 
 "Boy, you're a brick!" said the ranger, shaking his 
 hand again with maudlin enthusiasm. " I like a chap that 
 can take a joke ! Is any thing I can do for you ? " 
 
 "Nothing in the world," replied Fred, anxious only to 
 get rid of him. 
 
 " Look ! " cried Carl, perceiving the wish, and sympathiz- 
 ing in it, " yonder is sport, old fellow ! " 
 
 He pointed to a dog trotting along the roadside in the dis- 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO. 201 
 
 tance; at sight of wliich the Texan steadied himself once 
 more in his saddle, and spurred towards it eagerly. Carl 
 laughed heartily. 
 
 "He has lashoed every dog we have met these last six 
 miles ! But it is queer to see you. You vas vith Pomp ! 
 Vair is Pomp ? And how does it come you are here ? " 
 
 The Texan, tipsy as he was, lassoed the dog with great 
 skill, and dragged him, struggling and howling, at the heels 
 of his horse ; until, fortunately for the poor quadruped, the 
 rope slipped over his ears, and he ran away, with his tail 
 betwixt his legs brushing the dirt. The owner of the dog 
 jumped from his wagon, and confronted the ranger with rage 
 and oaths, until he discovered active preparations makiQg to 
 lasso him next, when he discreetly returned to his wagon. 
 
 Fred, in the mean while, related briefly his adventures, 
 and demanded, in return, how Carl had picked up so terrible 
 a companion. 
 
 " I didn't pick up him : he picked me up," said Carl. 
 " I vill tell you how. I vas riding my mule-peast like a 
 shentleman, ven he comes shrieking after me, and lashoes my 
 mule-peast as if he vas a vild horse of the prairies." 
 
 ** With you on him? " 
 
 " I vas on him : yes. And ven I see vat vas the choke " 
 (Carl meant to say joke), " I just sits pack, and voids my 
 
202 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 arms, and have vun goot laugh. But the mule-peast vas not 
 wcry much pleased to pe lashoed : it vas a choke he did not 
 like. So he just settles pack on his hind-legs, and pulls vun 
 vay, vile the horse pulls another. So I laughs more yet to 
 see vieh vould p^at. The horse peat, and muley vas dragged 
 after him like a vooden plough vith four feet. He vouldn't 
 valk, and so he sHd. And I kept on to say, ' Wery goot, 
 wery goot ! you give me much help ! ' till py and py the wil- 
 lain he shtops. It vas time ; for he had wery nigh joked my 
 muley to death. I say, ' Much opliged to you, sir.' He say, 
 ' Vat for ? ' — ' For making my peast move fcr vunce in his 
 life against his vill,' I say. ' He is a wishous peast, audit is 
 goot for him ! ' Then he says to me, vat he says after to you, 
 * that I vas vun brick,' and shakes my hand to conwince me 
 he is my friend. Then ve travel together : but I travel too 
 slow for him ; and he takes up the time lashoing dogs, till py 
 andpy he lashoes you." 
 
 " I wish I had his horse," said Fred enviously; "for I 
 shall soon be unable to step on my lame foot." 
 
 " I vish I vas going your vay," said Carl. " But I must 
 go to Shelbywille first. And now I vill tell you : you shall 
 go to Shelbywille too." 
 
 " I ! " exclaimed Fred. "I am fai' enough in the wi'ono: 
 direction already ! " 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO. 203 
 
 " But sometiraos doctors give sick men medicines to make 
 'em more sicker before they get veil. If you are far in 
 the wrong vay, go a little more so, and that vill help to make 
 you in the right vay. You shall turn peddler like me, and 
 pass easy." 
 
 " But my lame foot ! " 
 
 " That is the wery thing : you shall ride. Get right up 
 here behind me, and ve vill punish muley ; for he is so wicious ! 
 If he vill not carry vun decent, he shall see how he likes to 
 carry touble." 
 
 Fred was very much averse to becoming thus a burden to 
 Carl ; but Carl insisted : and, indeed, this seemed the only 
 thing that he could do. Accordingly, he mounted behind 
 Carl. But no sooner had he done so than the vicious nature 
 of the anunal showed how it resented such punishment, — by 
 refusing to budge an inch with the additional load. Carl be- 
 gan to beat him ; and he began to kick up his heels in a 
 manner that threatened to throw both riders together over his 
 head. At this juncture approached the Texan. Seeing the 
 condition of affairs, he generously proffered his assistance. 
 Should he cast his lasso once more over the mule's neck, and 
 drag him on towards Shelbyville with his double burden, or 
 take Fred behind him on his own beast ? 
 
 The latler proposition was chosen by the boys ; and Fred, 
 
204 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 mounting behind the ranger, wondering at the strange combi- 
 nation of circumstances which had placed him in such an odd 
 situation, pursued his journey still farther into the heart of 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 At CaiTael they stopped to dine ; and there was a friendly 
 strife between Cai-l and the Texan — who, though a " rough " 
 of the roughest sort, enlisted in a bad cause, was a most gen- 
 erous fellow — as to who should pay the tavern-bill. Thus 
 Fred, who but a little while before knew not where he should 
 obtain a crust to keep him from starvation, enjoyed the satis- 
 faction of seeing two companions, money in hand, struggling 
 to pay for his dinner. 
 
 The ranger drank sufficient whiskey at Caimel to keep 
 himself in a condition of tipsy merriment. His mania for 
 throwing the lasso continued unabated ; and Fred, mounted 
 behind him once more on the way to Shelbyville, had a fine 
 opportunity of witnessing the j^ractico of that art. Every 
 dog, every stray pig. they fell in with on the journey, had a 
 taste of the lasso. The Texan even propo3ed to teach the 
 art to Fred, and swore that he should try his luck on the 
 next pig. Before another pig was seen, however, they were 
 stopped by the turnpike guard at Shelbyville. 
 
 The Texan showed his farlough. Carl explained that he 
 and Fred were visiting the place on business ; and they were 
 permitted to enter the town. 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO. 205 
 
 Carl's first precaution was to inquire out the whereabouts 
 of Joseph's brother. He found him — a little man with a 
 prominent face, nearly all nose — in a little, low, dark variety- 
 store, on the main street ; and, making known his errand, was 
 welcomed by him with eager cordiality. 
 
 Fred waited with the Texan at the door while Carl went 
 in. "He is provided for," he thought ; " but what is to be- 
 come of me V " In a little while Carl came out again, smiling, 
 accompanied by his new friend, with whom he was convers- 
 ing in German. 
 
 ** I shall shtop here," he said to Fred. " But since you 
 have got lame, and vill not be much use to me peddUng, you 
 had petter go to the tavern, and shtay." 
 
 This proposal, however, the Texan vetoed with a tremen- 
 dous oath. He was going over the river to visit some friends 
 in a regiment encamped there ; and he swore, that, if Fred 
 would go with him, he should be treated like a brother. 
 There was to Fred something romantic in the idea of his be- 
 coming, not only a comrade of a genial rebel, but actually a 
 guest in the camp of a rebel regiment. He saw that Carl, 
 whose real business it was to learn the numbers and positions 
 of the rebel forces, favored the plan ; and he accepted it ac- 
 cordingly. And there the friends parted : Carl remained 
 with the Jew; but Fred, still riding behind the ranger, 
 crossed Duck River, and entered the rebel encampment- 
 
 18 
 
206 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 K Fred had been astonished and entertained by his Texan 
 friend, what must have been his emotions on making the 
 acquaintance of half a regiment of such ! True, they were 
 not all drunk ; yet many of them had evidently tasted 
 whiskey. Neither did Fred see, among them all, more than 
 two or three lassoes. They treated him with boisterous hos- 
 pitality, and in their company he soon found himself at 
 home. 
 
 His lameness did not allow him to move about much that 
 evening. But the next morning, provided with a crutch by 
 his new friends, he hobbled around the camp. In the after- 
 noon, Carl came over to visit him ; and guided by their origi- 
 nal Texan friend, who furnished them with horses borrowed 
 of his comrades, they made the tour of the encampments on 
 that bank of the river. An entne division of the rebel army 
 was there, besides the rangers ; and you may be sure the 
 boys kept both eyes and ears open to all that was to be seen 
 and heard. 
 
 The ranger, having transacted the business which had 
 brought huu to Shelbyville, was to return the next day to 
 rejoin his company, which had been detached upon some ser- 
 vice at the rebel front. Carl and Fred resolved to accom- 
 pany him. 
 
 *' I have had vonderful goot success I " Carl whispered in 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH A LASSO. 207 
 
 his friend's ear. '* I have disposed of my shtock for wery 
 handsome profits to the Chew ; and he has promised to have 
 us passes to return^ and go vair ve please ; and he says the 
 letters I prought is wery acceptable, and vill do much goot, 
 pesides making for us friends of the rebel ofi&cers. Pesides, 
 I have learned all about the forces on both sides of the river ; 
 and now, the sooner ve get off, the petter. I have traded 
 my mule-peast for a horse varranted to carry touble : so ve 
 can both ride." 
 
 The next day, accordingly, they set out on their return, 
 and aiTived late in the afternoon at a small public-house on 
 the Murfreesborough pike, just outside of the rebel pickets. 
 Fred had no wish to proceed further in that direction : so he 
 remained at the tavern, while Carl and the Texan passed the 
 guard and entered the city. 
 
 Carl had promised to return for him after transacting his 
 business in Murfreesborough. They had but one pass for 
 both, and that Carl carried with him. It was a dangerous 
 mission on which Carl had gone ; his object being to do at 
 Murfreesborough what he had already done at Shelbyville : 
 and, should any thing happen to him, what would become of 
 his companion? Unfortunately, neither of them knew the 
 real danger which he was destined to encounter. 
 
 It was not until the evening of the following day that Fred 
 
208 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 began to grow really anxious. Carl had not been heard 
 from. The next day, he still remained absent. Another 
 mornino- came, and another nio-ht, but broup;ht no tidino;s. 
 
 Then Fred became seriously alarmed. The little money 
 Carl had given him was all spent. Again he was penniless ; 
 he had no pass; he was without a friend ; he was still lame ; 
 and he was aware that he was surrounded by camps of the 
 rebel army. Well might these circumstances render him 
 sleepless and feverish ; nor would his mind have been at all 
 set at rest had he been informed of the fact, that Carl had 
 been arrested as a spy, and was awaiting his fate in a rebel 
 prison. 
 
 It was not long, however, before news reached Fred of his 
 friend's captivity. It happened in the following manner. 
 
A TALK IN THE DARK. 209 
 
 XXL 
 
 A TALK IN THE DARK, 
 
 HE boy's lameness afforded him a good excuse 
 for keeping his wretched room at the tavern ; 
 and he saw only a few scattering guests at the 
 table, to which he always contrived to come late. 
 
 That evening, however, just at dusk, while he was sitting 
 by his solitary window, holdmg his lame foot, wondering if it 
 would ever get well, and if Carl would ever come back, a 
 stranger was shown in. 
 
 ♦' Well, my friend," said he, " it seems we're to share this 
 little pigeon-hole together." 
 
 '* You are very welcome, sn," said Fred ; '* and I should 
 be dehghted to give you the whole of it, if I could." 
 
 " You are anxious to get away, then ? " 
 
 " Yes : do you come from Murfreesborough ? " 
 
 " I was there lately." 
 
 " Then," said Fred, " may be you can tell me somethmg 
 
 of what I wish to know." And he related as much as he 
 18* 
 
210 TEE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 deemed prudent of his connection with Cai'l; concerning 
 whom, in conclusion, he eagerly questioned the stranger. 
 
 " I am afraid," said the latter, seating himself on the bed, — 
 for there was but one chair in the miserable room, — " that 
 your fellow-peddler has got into difficulty." 
 
 " How so ? " Fred asked breathlessly. 
 
 *' Such a boy as you describe came into the city about the 
 time you say he left you. He had a letter of introduction to 
 a Geiman engaged in smuggling contraband goods, who is 
 tolerated by the authorities because he has really done 
 them some service by getting letters and important informa- 
 tion through the Union lines. Well, two days ago, he 
 brought the boy you speak of to Greneral Bragg's head- 
 quarters. I happened to have busuiess with one of the gen- 
 eral's staff, and was present at the interview. Your brother 
 peddler was questioned, both by the general and his chief of 
 staff, with regard to affairs at Nashville ; and it was remarked 
 by all, that his answers, boy as he was, were wonderfully 
 shrewd and intelligent ; though it was afterwards remem- 
 bered that he gave little information of real importance to 
 anybody. The jDrobability is that he had been told just what 
 to say, and not to say, by those who sent him." 
 
 " \\1io sent him?" demanded Fred, his fears for his 
 friend almost betraying him. 
 
A TALK JN THE DARK. 211 
 
 " The managers of Rosecrans's police and spy system, it is 
 supposed. For there is not much doubt, my friend," added 
 the stranger, coolly lighting a cigar, " but that your friend is 
 a spy." 
 
 "But why — how — what reason have they to think 
 so ? " 
 
 "I'll tell you" (smoking). "While the boy was at 
 headquarters, the guai'd outside was changed " (puff, puff) ; 
 " and, when he went out, there happened to be on duty a 
 man who knew him" (another puff : it seemed that the 
 stranger would have smoked, had Fred's life depended on 
 the next word), — " a soldier belonging to Colonel Derring's 
 East Tennessee regiment, of the name of Pepperill. It 
 seems that he and the boy are old acquaintances ; and he 
 was so glad to see him, that he never considered that calling 
 him by name at such a time was equivalent to pronouncing 
 his death-sentence." 
 
 " How so ? I don't understand." 
 
 ** Don't you? Well, I'll tell you. Your friend once 
 joined the same regiment this man Pepperill belongs to ; 
 but during the Union troubles in East Tennessee, and the 
 fighting at the Cave there, he deserted, joined the refugees, 
 and escaped with them over the mountains. Of course, he 
 pretended not to recognize Pepperill; and Pepperill, seeing 
 
212 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 what a blunder he had committed, immediately began to dis- 
 claim his acquaintance. But, by this time, the attention of 
 another soldier was attracted, who declared that your peddler 
 friend was a deserter from the regiment, and that his name 
 was the same Pepperill had called him by, — Cai'l Minne- 
 vich. Still the boy might have got off; but, just then, up 
 rides Colonel Derring himself, who orders him arrested. 
 So your unfortunate friend is now under guard, awaiting his 
 trial on a double charge, — of being a deserter and a spy." 
 
 So saying, the stranger smoked away complacently, while 
 Fred's thoughts were whirling in a vortex of pain and fear. 
 
 " What will they do with him? " he asked, as soon as he 
 could trust his voice. 
 
 " Hang him I " The stranger quietly knocked the ashes 
 from his cigar. " Nor is that all," he added, with another 
 whiff. " His pass was for two boys, instead of one. The 
 other must have been his accomj^hce, so the authorities rea- 
 soned ; and they have ordered search to be made for him 
 too." 
 
 " And what will they do whh him? " demanded Fred, his 
 courage and spirits returning, now that he saw his own life in 
 peril. 
 
 ' ' Hung him too ! " replied the stranger. He laid his hand 
 impressively on Fred's shoulder. " Now, my friend, you are 
 
A TALK IN THE DARK. 213 
 
 confessedly this boy's accomplice. And do you know who I 
 am?" 
 
 " An officer sent to arrest me ! " exclaimed Fred, spring- 
 ing to his feet, and grasping the chair with the instinct of self- 
 defence. 
 
 " On the contraiy," quietly returned the stranger, striking 
 another match, — for his cigar had gone out, — "I have 
 come to save you. Haven't you recognized me yet? " 
 
 His voice changed, as he spoke, to a tone strangely famil- 
 iar to Fred's ear. At the same time, the flame of the match 
 lighted up his bronzed, bearded, resolute, calm face. With 
 a thrill of joy, Fred put down the chair, and started towards 
 him. 
 
 *' Daniels ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " That is my name ; but you should never speak the 
 name of a friend so loud, if at all, under such circumstances. 
 Your friend Carl has lost his Hfe, probably, through a similar 
 indiscretion on the part of that stupid wretch, Dan Pepperill. 
 Let me advise you, moreover, to keep quiet, and sit down. 
 You are standing too long on that lame leg of yours. Let 
 us talk a little quietly. Nothing is to be gained by heat and 
 hurry. Remember that." 
 
 Daniels spoke in the tone of a man conversing on an ordi- 
 nary topic of business. 
 
214 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Fred, agitated by conflicting emotions, knew not what to 
 say. His fii*st question was. about Carl: "Was there any 
 hope of his rescue? " 
 
 " Very, very little : it is a pity. He is a bright boy : I 
 like bright boys!" Daniels turned his eyes upon Fred, 
 with a look which seemed to reach his soul, even in the dark- 
 ness of the room ; and his voice, usually low and imperturba- 
 ble as it was, had something like a thriU of tenderness in it. 
 "I have taken an unaccountable liking to you: do you 
 know it ? I have been looking for you ever since you were 
 carried off by Glruffley's men to be conscripted." 
 
 " I know : I met you riding down the pike that very day. 
 But how — how did you ever find me ? " 
 
 *' It would be a long story : I'll make it short ; for we 
 have not much time to lose." Daniels looked at his watch 
 by match-light. "I went back to the woods where I lefb 
 you, — to the spot where I told you to meet me. You were 
 not there ; nor indeed did I much expect to find you ; for I 
 had seen the ruins of Ellsmer's house : I did not suppose you 
 would apply at any other for assistance. What, then, was 
 left for you but to try to get back to the Union lines without 
 my help ? I concluded you had done so ; and, as I had 
 pressing business at Nashville, I gave up the search, and hur- 
 ried on. I reported your case at the array police on my 
 
A TALK ly THE DARK. 215 
 
 arriTal, and made inquiries conceiTiing you : you had not 
 been heard from. That very night, however, news came : it 
 was brought — by whom, do you suppose? By your negro 
 friend Pomp." 
 >" Then he escaped ? " 
 
 " Yes, curiously enough. He brought in as a prisoner 
 one of the rascals that had kidnapped him. He also brought 
 intelligence of the greatest utility to the Yankees, concerning 
 an attack to be made the next morning on their position on 
 Mill Creek." 
 
 " Was the attack made ? " Fred eagerly asked. 
 
 " It was attempted; but the Confederates found the Yan- 
 kees prepared for them, and barely escaped falling into a 
 trap." 
 
 "And the kidnappers? I hope Pomp has had his re- 
 venge on them." 
 
 Daniels related how Bodson had been captured, and 
 added, — 
 
 " The gray-headed old villain who had taken him out of 
 Nashville, and had him kidnapped, was abeady under arrest. 
 He had been brought to Nashville, as soon as it was ascer- 
 tained that Pomp had disappeared. He professed utter ig- 
 norance of the manner in which the negro had left him, and 
 of his reasons for running away ; for he assumed that he had 
 
216 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 run away, and even had the solemn effrontery to request the 
 loan of another laborer' to take his place ! His venerable 
 white beard and pious demeanor did not serve his purpose 
 this time, however. He was retained until Pomp's return, 
 when Bodson himself denounced him, and confessed the 
 kidnapping ; and they were both sent to prison, where they 
 will probably remain until the end of the war." 
 
 *' Grood ! "ejaculated Fred. " I was never so glad to hear 
 any thing in my life." 
 
 " But what chiefly interested me in Pomp's revelations," 
 Daniels continued, " was the news he brought of you. I 
 could not leave Nashville for twenty-four hours ; but, as soon 
 as my business would permit, I started. I traced you to the 
 camp at Stewartsborough, and thence to IMurfreesborough. 
 There, at the railroad depot, I lost you : worse than that, I 
 could not pursue my inquu'ies without great risk ; for, ever 
 since I helped you to escape, I have been a suspected man. 
 "Well, I saw your friend Carl arrested. Pomp had told me 
 of Carl; and, when I saw his pass for two, — knowing he 
 came from Shelbyville, and believing you had taken the train 
 south, — I thought it barely possible that you might have? 
 fallen in with him. But I did not think you would enter 
 Jflurfrcesborough ; and, in fact, it was ascertained that nobody 
 had come in with him but a Texan rano;er. The ranger 
 
A TALK IN THE DARK, 217 
 
 had gone on to Lavergne* I followed, and had the good 
 luck to find him ; and he told me where I could find you." 
 
 " Good for him ! " exclaimed Fred. " So much is gained 
 by being lassoed ! But how much trouble you hare given 
 yourself on my account ! How can I ever repay you ? " 
 
 " Ask no questions; but believe in me, and that will re- 
 pay me. I took a fancy to you in the first place ; and, 
 having once undertaken a thing, I never like to give it up. 
 I have undertaken to get you oflf. The difficulties in the 
 way make me only the more determined." Again Daniels 
 struck a match, and looked at his watch (the tavern did 
 not furnish candles) . ' ' Now, how is the thing to be done ? 
 You are hunted, and I am suspected. I have a pass for 
 myself; but I dare not ask for one for you. It is almost nine 
 o'clock. Can you walk? " 
 " A little, with a cane." 
 " But you can ride ? " 
 *' If I have a chance." 
 
 "Well," said Daniels, "one thing at a time. The first 
 thing is to get out of this tavern. I reckon you are out of 
 money. Take this and your cane, hobble down to the bar- 
 room, pay the landlord what you owe him, and tell him you 
 are going on towards Muifreesborough. You will not get far 
 before I shall overtake you on horseback, and pick you up. 
 Then we'll see what is % be done next." 
 
 19 
 
218 THE THREE S C U I S. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. — THE 3I0RNING. 
 
 RED followed Daniels's advice, and went hob- 
 bling along the turnpike in the darkness. A 
 horseman soon stopped at his side. It was his 
 stranger friend ; and, a minute later, he was seated behind 
 him, on the animal's back. 
 
 They turned into a lane, and were soon climbing hills, and 
 riding over ridges, along by-roads and bridle-paths, in dark- 
 ness that would have been universal and absolute but 
 for the surrounding camp-fires. These lighted up the waste 
 of blackness about the city, and made the night picturesque. 
 Daniels carefully avoided them. At length, he turned his 
 horse into a dense, dark wood ; so dark, that he had to 
 dismount and lead him, feeling his way among the trees. 
 Some of these were pines : all night their fragrance filled the 
 au' with balm. 
 
 * ' I have no more idea where we are than as if we were in 
 the moon ! " said Fred. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 219 
 
 It was almost the fii'st word that bad been spoken since 
 their ride began. 
 
 "I know the country pretty well," replied Daniels. 
 "Here is the safest place for you at present. We'll camp 
 down for the night." 
 
 ** "Won't it be a waste of time ? " said I^'red. " We might 
 travel a good many miles before morning." 
 
 " Yes ; but you don't know the difficulties in the way. 
 Besides, I must be in Mui-freesborough in the morning, to 
 meet an engagement, and to avert suspicion." 
 
 "You know best what to do," said Fred gratefully, yet 
 regretfully. " But, oh! I'd like to ride, and ride all night, 
 and never stop till I was once more in sight of blue-coats ! " 
 
 " That can't be. Here we tie up." Daniels helped Fred 
 to dismount ; then made him lie down on the ground, wrap- 
 ping him in his blanket. " Now sleep, my boy : you need 
 to. You are safe here : I'll watch." 
 
 " Sleep while you watch? Take your blanket, and leave 
 you none ? No, sir : I can't do that." 
 
 Daniels used persuasion, then commands ; but Fred, 
 although so ready^to yield to hun in every thing else, would 
 not in this. At length, the matter was compromised ; 
 Daniels consenting to lie down, and share the blanket with 
 him. 
 
220 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 From the first, Fred had felt a strange respect and admira- 
 tion for this man ; and now, lying under the same blanket 
 with him, conscious of a strong arm stealing over him and 
 infolding him in a tender embrace, his heart began to warm 
 towards him with something deeper even than gratitude. 
 
 " How kind you are to me ! " said he, nesthug close to the 
 man's heart. 
 
 *' My boy," replied Daniels in a low, gentle voice, " we 
 must be khid to each other in this world : we cannot be too 
 kind. Have you brothers ? " 
 
 *' I am an only child," said Fred. 
 
 " Then I will be your brother. Is your mother living ? " 
 
 '* I have the dearest, best mother there is in this world ! " 
 said Fred with a gush of emotion. 
 
 " I am sure she must be, since you say so. Few boys 
 know what a prize a good mother is. I remember now 
 hearing you speak of her that first night I saw you. Did 
 she and your father consent to your going to the war, young 
 as you are ? " 
 
 *'She consented; but I had no father whose consent to 
 ask. 
 
 ''What! is he dead?" 
 
 *'He may be: I don't know. We have not seen nor 
 heard from him for a long time," said Fred in a voice that 
 betrayed how painful the subject was to him. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 221 
 
 " All ! I remember : you said he was a slaveholder, I 
 believe ; and your mother separated from him on that 
 account. Well, no doubt she acted nobly, since she acted 
 conscientiously. But I have known good and even noble 
 men among slaveholders. I am not a slaveholder myself; 
 but I would do them justice." 
 
 "And I believe," replied Fred earnestly, *' that my 
 father was a good man ; or at least would have been, if it 
 hadn't been for slavery. My mother says slavery makes 
 men selfish and tyrannical. They soon learn to pKefer might 
 to right. They get into a habit of being unfeeling, if not 
 cruel. They despise honest labor, and become so proud and 
 passionate, that a man, or even a woman, that has different 
 opinions, can't live with them." 
 
 "■ Well, she is more than half right in her judgment, I am 
 afraid ! Couldn't your father see it so ? It seems to me, if 
 she is the woman I take her to be, he ought to have been 
 wilHng to give up a thousand slaves, rather than such a 
 wife." 
 
 "And so he would, I presume, if it hadn't been for his 
 prejudices. Good-hearted he was, my mother says, but the 
 most wilful man in the world. If he had set his mind on a 
 thing, he would have it or nothing ; and what he said he 
 would do, ho would, though the world should come to an end.'* 
 19* 
 
222 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ** Strange that men will be so ! And is not your motlier 
 a little self-willed too V " 
 
 " She is very firm : yes, I don't know bnt she is self- 
 willed," Fred confessed. " But, oh ! she is such a generous, 
 noble-hearted woman ! She makes sure she is right, in the 
 first place ; then she is capable of any thing. I don't think 
 there was ever a mother that loved a son better than she 
 loves me ; but when she saw how I wanted to go and fight 
 for my country, and that I was right, then ' ' — 
 
 Fred could not finish the sentence : all his love for that 
 noble and dear mother seemed welling up in his heart, and 
 choking him. 
 
 Daniels was silent for some minutes; but there was a 
 thrilling tenderness in the touch of the hand, and the pres- 
 sure of the arm, that drew the boy softly and closely to his 
 breast. 
 
 *' Well, Frederick," said he at length, " I hope, for her 
 sake as well as yours, that you will get out of this trouble, 
 and go through the war safely, and return home to comfort 
 her." 
 
 " I thank you, — I thank you, from my inmost heart! " 
 said Fred. But he added, "My^name isn't Frederick, 
 though." 
 
 *' I thought the boys called you Fred." 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 223 
 
 " That is my nick-name ; but my name is Alfred." 
 
 " Well, Alfred, it is time for you to go to sleep. I shall 
 leave you soon ; but dqn't be disturbed when I go. Some 
 time to-morrow you will see me again." 
 
 '* I hope you will not go into any danger on my account ! " 
 
 ' ' I never go into danger unnecessarily : that is very fool- 
 ish. So set your mind at rest ; and good-night ! " 
 
 The " good-night " meant " sleep." And soon the tran- 
 quil, deep breathing of the man indicated that he slept. But 
 Fred, excited, lay awake, and envied him. He envied the 
 sleeping horse, and all the sleeping creatures in the woods. 
 The woods themselves seemed to slumber; and the night- 
 wind, swelling through them, beaved them gently, as it were, 
 with long-drawn sighs of repose. 
 
 At length, Fred, too, fell into a light slumber, from whicb 
 he was awakened by the stirring of his companion. Daniels 
 was getting up. 
 
 " Are you going? " whispered Fred. 
 
 '* Yes, Alfred. Have you slept ? " 
 
 "AUttle." 
 
 " You are not much of a soldier, or you would have slept 
 a good deal. A soldier learns to sleep at all times, and in 
 all weathers, in the face of danger, and on any kind of a 
 bed, when he has a chance." 
 
224 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Oh ! my bed is well enough. It isn't danger nor the 
 strangeness of the place that troubles me ; but I couldn't 
 help thinking." 
 
 **xibout what?" 
 
 " About my mother, — and my father. 1 wonder if she 
 has heard by this time that I have been taken prisoner. Oh ! 
 I know just how she will feel. Then I can't help thinkmg 
 that my father is probably in the rebel army, and we are 
 fighting against each other, and may be we shall meet yet." 
 
 •'And if you should?" 
 
 " I hope I shall not know that he's my father ! " 
 
 "I hope so too. But now good-by. I leave my saddle- 
 bags with you. They make a good pillow ; and you will 
 find they are good for something else when you open them." 
 
 Fred sat up ; while his companion, scarcely visible in the 
 gloom of the woods, untied his horse, and led him slowly 
 and cautiously out through the trees. Soon the sound of 
 hoofs and footsteps and the rustling of boughs ceased. 
 The lad was alone in the darkness and silence. 
 
 He now lay down again, wrapped the blanket well about 
 him, and slept three or four hours. He awoke at last, feel- 
 ing very cold ; for the night, though still, was wintry. It 
 was not yet day. He looked up, and saw, thiough the black 
 boughs of the pines, the high, calm, holy stars, twinkling in 
 
THE MORXIXG. 225 
 
 the far-off heaven. He lay watclimg those glittering points 
 of light, as they moved across an opening in the branch- 
 es, until he thought the deep, dark blue of the vault of 
 night began to pale a little, and that a dim, gray glimmer 
 began to infuse itself, so to speak, into the gloom of the 
 woods. 
 
 Yes, the dawn was at hand. But hark ! what sound 
 was that ? Footsteps ! Could it be Daniels returning ? 
 Fred sat up, and listened with strained nerves. More than 
 one man was approaching, — stealthily, quickly, with sup- 
 pressed whispers, and now and then the sudden shaking of 
 a bough or sharp snapping of a twig. There must have 
 been half a dozen, at least, treading the dark mazes of the 
 woods. They passed very near the spot where he sat 
 watching for a development of the mystery. He could even 
 see their dim forms start like darker shadows across the shad- 
 ows of the woods. One came treading close by his lame 
 foot outstretched upon the gi-ound, and another passed on 
 the other side of him. Had he been betrayed? and were 
 these enemies surrounding him? They might have seen 
 him sitting there, close by the trunk of the pine-tree, with 
 the saddle-bags behind him, and the blanket, fallen from his 
 shoulders, upon the ground ; but, in the obscurity, he might 
 have been taken for a stump, he was so motionless and still. 
 
226 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Now^ Fred was not a coward ; yet the mystery of these 
 moving human forms impressed him strangely. They passed 
 on, out of sight, out of hearing, and the woods were silent 
 again; and he felt that he was once more alone. But he did 
 not cease to wonder at the incident ; and he sat long, hsten- 
 ing to catch the faintest sound, and watching the shadows all 
 around him in the great sombre woods. 
 
 " Well, whoever they are, they are gone," he said to 
 himself. He lay down again ; but he could not sleep. His 
 open eyes kept looking up through the pine boughs, watching 
 the stars fade and the bl-je brighten. At length, there were 
 no stars; and a subdued, still light filled all the woods; 
 and suddenly, into the topmost boughs above him, there 
 shot a golden flash. It was sunrise. 
 
 He sat up, with the blanket wrapped about him ; for he 
 was hardly warm yet. He found himself in a little hollow 
 of a woody hill. The pine-leaves matted the ground. All 
 around hun were still, solemn trunks and gi'eat roots grasp- 
 ing the soil, and here and there clumps of undergrowth, 
 filling up the vistas; all so peaceful and pleasant in the 
 early light, that Fred, breathing the fresh dawn and the piny 
 odors, was almost happy. 
 
 He got upon his feet, or rather foot, and, with the aid 
 of his cane, hopped about a little for exercise, and to take 
 
THE MORNING. 227 
 
 an observation. He could discover no traces of the myste- 
 rious men who had passed so near him just before dawn. 
 He took his blanket and the saddL-bags, and carried them 
 to a clump of bushes near by, which would afford him a 
 sort of shelter in case others should come. 
 
 Having placed the blanket on the ground, and seated 
 himself, he proceeded to open the saddle-bags for amuse- 
 ment. He found them well stored with provisions, consist- 
 ing chiefly of hard biscuit and bacon. There was also a 
 flask of water, with a flask of something besides water. 
 Fred ate and drank, and felt grateful; interrupted two or three 
 times, however, by sounds that startled him a little. Was 
 somebody coming behind the bushes? He could see no 
 one ; and concluded that what he had mistaken for the 
 crackling of a twig or the rustling of a leaf was the crush- 
 ing of the brittle biscuit between his own teeth. 
 
 "This is a breakfast for a king !" he said to himself. 
 " There's enough for a dozen ; and I only wish I had some-^ 
 body to share it with." 
 
 He had scarcely made the wish, when, lo ! once more the 
 startling sounds ! It could not be the biscuit this time ; for he 
 had but just drank, and his mouth was empty. He started 
 up, determined to take a good look behind the bushes. No 
 sooner had he done so, however, than up leaped half a dozen 
 
228 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 men from the ground, over which they had been for the past 
 ten minutes creeping like so many cats, ready, at a motion, 
 to spring upon him. Ho was smTOunded in an instant ; and 
 two in rebel uniform rushed upon him. The foremost, pre- 
 senting a musket at his breast, said in a suppressed voice, — 
 
 " You're our piisoner ! " 
 
 The rest crowded around. One brandished a hatchet, the 
 others had guns or clubs. Not a word was spoken loud 
 enough to be heard ten yards off. Fred, frightened at fii-st 
 by the sudden onset, — thinking neither of resistance nor 
 flight, for he was defenceless, and running was out of the 
 question, — stared at his captors with astonishment ; then 
 stared again with still greater astonishment ; winked, to make 
 sure that his eyes did not deceive him ; and burst into a joy- 
 ful laugh. 
 
 "Hello, Fred! is it you I" exclaimed the foremost man 
 with the musket. 
 
 That man was Cy Thurston ; and the man next him was 
 lazy Jake ; and the man with the hatchet, now pressing for- 
 ward to seize the saddle-bags, was old Joel. 
 
 "It's me, boys! How are you? how are you?" cried 
 Fred, grasping then- hands two at a time, as if he would have 
 embraced tlicm all at once, so great was his delight. 
 
OLD COMRADES. 229 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 OLD COMRADES, AND THEIR 
 ADVENTURES. 
 
 AL ! if this don't beat all natur ! " said old 
 Joel, dropping liis prize, and coming in for a 
 share of Fred's attentions. "Who would ever 
 have knowed you in that rig ? " 
 
 *' Sit down, boys," said Fred. " Where did you all come 
 from ? What luck ! I was just wishing for company at 
 breakfast! " 
 
 " Well, it's breakfast we want," said Cy. " We are half 
 famished. We have travelled something less than a hundred 
 miles, with not enough to eat to keep a cat from starving." 
 
 " And you were going to rob me ? " Fred laughed, glan- 
 cing delightedly from one to the other. ** If that isn't a 
 joke I " 
 
 ' ' We came into these woods this morning just before light, 
 and hid for the day," said Cy. " But hunger was pressing. 
 Old Joel and I crept out to reconnoitre. We spied a young 
 
 20 
 
230 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 fellow in a butternut coat making for these bushes, with sad- 
 dle-bags in his hands. I watch him whilst old Joel informs 
 the rest. I see him open the saddle-bags, and begin to 
 crunch. It's a matter of life or death to us ; and taking you 
 all the while for a good rebel, sent in our way by a kind 
 Providence, we pitch in." 
 
 * ' And came near splitting my brains with that hatchet ! 
 Well, here's something else to split : split those biscuit. 
 Take hold, boys ; take hold ! Eat, old Joel ; eat ! " 
 
 " Bless me ! " said old Joel, " I furgit the victuals look- 
 ing at you ! It's breakfast enough jest to see you agin. 
 We was in hopes you had got off; but the rebs said you'd 
 been shot, and we didn't know what to thmk. Been hit in 
 the leg? or what's the matter that makes ye lame ? " 
 
 Fred told his story in as few words as possible, hurrying to 
 get through, so great was his curiosity to hear how his com- 
 panions had escaped. 
 
 " Get well into the bushes here ^ boys," said Cy. "You 
 keep watch on that side, Jake : Joel will keep a look-out on 
 the other. You and your saddle-bags are a tremendous treat, 
 Fred ! Wine ? " — tasting the contents of j9ask number two. 
 "Oh! that is royal I " 
 
 "Pass it around," said Fred. "It's just the stuff for 
 you. You are the haggardest set of fellows I've seen this 
 
OLD COMRADES. 231 
 
 many a day. Jake, you look as though you'd "been drawn 
 through a knot-hole ! " 
 
 "I feel as though I'd been di^awd through about sixty! 
 If any one calls me lazy Jake after this, he deserves to be 
 hung!" 
 
 "Jake, git him woke up once, is a dense of a feller," 
 said old Joel. "He could out-travel the best on us, 'cept 
 Cy ; and he's done wonders other ways : but Cy must tell 
 you about that." 
 
 " You see," said Cy, — " keep a sharp look-out while I 
 tell, boys, — the rebs hurried us on to the railroad, and 
 shipped us aboard a train bound south ; taking us to Macon, 
 down in Georgia, there to rot in prison till the end of the 
 war, we understood. Well, 'twasn't a pleasant prospect. 
 Even Jake preferred a little more active kind of life. But 
 what should we do ? We were under a strojig guard, and 
 even our jack-knives had been taken from us. We passed 
 through Murfreesborough, and on towards Chattanooga. We 
 didn't have the chance you did to jump from the cars, and 
 sprain our ankles without knowing it. Shut up in a little air- 
 tight freight-car, we were, a dozen of us, all together, and 
 locked in. We came as near suffocating in that horrible box 
 as ever mortal men did. No window, scarce a crack to let 
 in light or air, nothing but the bare boards, we were piled in 
 
.232 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 there like so many cattle ; only no drover, with any common 
 sense or a grain of humanity, would treat dumb beasts in 
 that way. At Tullahoma the guard did have the kindness 
 to unlock the door in reply to oui' shrieks for air and water, 
 and inform us, that, if we did not keep still, we should be shot 
 without notice. He couldn't help seeing the condition we 
 were in, though : and we got a bucket of water, which was 
 a great luxuiy ; for by that time we were dying with thirst. 
 We got half a breath of aii% besides ; and that's all we had to 
 live on for the next two houi-s. We stopped some time in 
 Tullahoma, locked up again as before, and waiting for the 
 train to start, and gTowing impatient ; for we were in a huny 
 now to get to Macon, — to get anywhere out of that car. 
 We didn't believe a rebel prison could be worse. But it 
 was two hundred miles to 3Iacon : think of two hundred 
 miles of suffocation before us ! 
 
 "Well, we were off at last, and running horribly slow, as 
 we judged by the motion of the car. At last, we grew des- 
 perate. Although we knew we should be fired into for the 
 attempt, — whether we succeeded or not, we determined to 
 make one grand rush, in a mass, and bui-st the door, or break 
 the lock or something : we cared little what. 
 
 " Just as we were going to try it, an accident happened ;^ 
 and a very fortunate one, as it proved for us. The train ran 
 
OLD COMRADES. 233 
 
 off the track. There was a terrible shock and crash and we 
 knew what it meant. 
 
 " ' Now is our chance, boys ! ' says I ; and three times — 
 crash, crash, crash ! — we went against the door before it 
 gave way. 
 
 " It was not merely a breath of air we were after now, 
 but escape. Webster Jones — you remember him ? — was 
 the first one out : he was shot down in a twinkling. I was 
 next ; and a bullet whizzed across the back of my head, cut- 
 ting my hair, and just grazing my scalp. Lazy Jake left the 
 first part of his name behind him in that car, and leaped like 
 a deer : he ran betwixt the bullets, just as I believe he would 
 have run betwixt the drops if it had been raining a shower. 
 Then up came the bayonets, cutting off the escape of the 
 rest : so that only he and I got away." 
 
 " One on us killed," said old Joel, " and three others 
 wounded, — two with bayonets, and t'other with a ball : that's 
 all we made out o' that stampede, for the time. But Jake 
 and Cy had cleared ; and that was glory enough, even for 
 the wounded fellows." 
 
 " I rather think," said Jake, " me and Cy did some tall 
 running just then ; hey, Cy ? " 
 
 " I should know ji^u would go where Cy went," said Fred 
 in the gayest spirits. " It was to keep him company, I sup- 
 pose, that you concluded to try a race with the bullets." 
 
 20* 
 
234 TEE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " You would have said lie had kept his mnniug powers 
 bottled up all his life, and uncorked them on that special 
 occasion," said Cv. " Bullets couldn't catch him. He went 
 ahead of me like a streak. You couldn't see his legs, any 
 more than you could the spokes of a wheel making sixty rev- 
 olutions a second. There was just a twinkling mist where 
 legs should have been ; while his body flfew through the air 
 like a very large bu'd with very small wings : I mean his 
 arms." 
 
 " I might have looked so to any one in the distance," said 
 Jake ; " for, I own, my nose cut the wind like an an-ow- 
 head for a few minutes. But Cy was too near my heels not 
 to see them." 
 
 "Well," Cy laughed, "I thought with Jake, that, since 
 our leojs had found somethino; to do, we had better do it with 
 
 ID O ' 
 
 all our might. I looked behind, and saw thi-ee of the guard 
 coming after us with fixed bayonets. I looked ahead, and 
 saw the loveliest mountain slopa that ever cheered on a hunted 
 fugitive, — such tremendous woods, such a wild, grand forest, 
 to hide in ! Jake reached it first, and turned around, and 
 swung his hat, and yelled defiance at the rebs ; and, the 
 next minute, we were both safe in the timber." 
 
 " But the rest — what became of the rest of you ? " 
 
 " We was jammed back into the car again, by time ! " said 
 
OLD COMRADES. 235 
 
 old Joel. "But the door had been broken open once, and 
 might be agin. Besides, the train couldn't be got on to the 
 track, and damages repaired, short of six or eight hours : 
 by that time it would be night ; and the guard was small. 
 So it was concluded that the best thing to do with us was to 
 march us men to the nearest county jail, and lock us up for 
 safe keeping till called for. We was in Franklin County, on 
 the borders of Alabama ; and the jail was at Winchester, — 
 about four miles from where we run off the track. Wal," 
 added Joel, "we made them air four miles at a double- 
 quick ; and, in 'bout an hour from the time o' the accident, 
 we was behind grated winders and double-locked ii'on doors." 
 
 " How did you ever get out of that scrape? " asked Fred. 
 
 " I must tell you fii'st what became of Jake and me," said 
 Cy. " We were hunted, of course ; and, after the rest of the 
 boys were disposed of, the guard had a good time with us. 
 They scoured the mountain ; and once came so near where 
 we were hid, that we could hear them talking about us. We 
 didn't know the country, and we didn't dare trust to the 
 bushes : so we had climbed up a couple of low pine-trees ; and 
 there we were like a couple of coons, peeping down through 
 the tops, which were just thick enough to prevent us from being 
 seen, but not too thick for us to see something of what was 
 going on below. 
 
236 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " "Well, the rebs hunted beyond us, and all around us; 
 and finally it began to grow dark. Then we saw two fellows 
 coming through the woods. They had been hunting us for 
 miles, but had given us up, and were on their way back to 
 the railroad. ' If we could only capture 'em, and get their 
 guns ! ' says Jake from his tree. ' If we only had their 
 guns, then we could capture the men themselves,' says I 
 from my tree. But neither of us imagined, for a moment, 
 that the thing was possible. We were only waiting for 
 night, when we expected to slip down from the trees a little 
 faster than we had slipped up, and travel towai'ds the north 
 star till morning. 
 
 " But 'twasn't so to be. We were destined to come down 
 from those tops a little faster even than we anticipated. I 
 thought the r«bs must have discovered us, they marched so 
 straight to where we were. But, instead of looking up into 
 the trees, they stopped near them, and began to shout for 
 their comrades. Finally they set their guns against the very 
 tree I was in, and threw themselves on the ground. They 
 appeared tired ; and there they lay talking over their bad luck, 
 when something curious happened. Jake must tell you about 
 that." 
 
 **What happened," said Jake, "was this. I'm a lazy 
 cus, as you know, Fred, and as you take the trouble to in- 
 
OLD COMRADES. 237 
 
 form folks, every chance you git. But I forgive you, I 
 am kinder inclined that way, I allow. Wal, you see, I was 
 too lazy to come down that tree the way I went up. So 
 when I see one o' them rebs stretched out there, within 
 jutQpmg distance, — so tempting to a lazy peep like me, ye 
 ]jnow, — says I to myself, ' If I can light on him, 'twill be 
 killing two birds with one stone.' One bird would, like as 
 not, be the reb : besides that, I should break my fall on his 
 fat stomach, and so get down from that roost easy." 
 
 "And you jumped?" cried Fred, laughing at Jake's 
 humorous way of stating an exciting fact, but eager to hear 
 the result. 
 
 "You should have seen him!" said Cy. "I always 
 knew, that, when he could be got to jump, he was a pro- 
 digious jumper. But I never expected such a leap from 
 such a ticklish foothold as he must have had on the tree. No 
 kangaroo ever equalled it. The reb must have been a dozen 
 feet from the trunk. He heard a rustling, and both rebs 
 started up. If they had the leisure to observe, they might 
 have seen a spread-eagle of the largest dimensions soaring 
 out of that tree-top, but suddenly changing his mind, and 
 pouncing down upon 'em. They didn't have time to reach 
 theii' guns, or even to get well on their feet. The nearest 
 was just rising, when Jake struck him, and he went down 
 
238 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 again as if a thousand of brick had fallen on him. Jake's 
 knees went into his body, and his breath went out of it, with 
 a loud 'Ha ! ' you might have heard half a mile." 
 
 " T'other reb," said Jake, biting a slice of bacon as deliber- 
 ately as if he had been telling the most coramonplace story in 
 the world, " sprung for his gun; and, before I could have 
 got untangled from the ribs I had smashed in, he'd have been 
 on me, and it might have been said of me that I'd made my 
 last jump. But just then another spread-eagle might have 
 been seen coming out of Cy's tree. He didn't go the full 
 figure quite so extensive as I did ; but he was some. He 
 didn't hit the reb neither, but come down between him and 
 the guns, just in season, — on all-fours, of course ; but any 
 how was better than no how." 
 
 " The reb might even then have got the start of me, and 
 snatched a gun before I could stop him," added Cy. " But 
 he looked as if he expected to see a spread-eagle come out 
 of every tree in the woods, and turned to i-un like a coward. 
 ' Stop him ! ' says Cy ; and I stopped him. I got hold of a 
 gun ; and, as he was legging it straight from me, I took good 
 aim, and — no matter about the rest. He didn't run fai\ 
 That's his coat Jake has got on. Show Fred the hole in the 
 back, Jake." 
 
 It was a bullet-hole, and there was a blood stain around it. 
 
 \ 
 
OLD COMRADES. 239 
 
 "By this time," said Jake, "the cushion I had jumped 
 on to gasped, and came to a little. He was more frightened 
 than hurt ; and when we stood over him, with the p'int of 
 his own gun at his breast, and told him if he lied to us, or 
 yelled, we'd blow his brains out, he had no more gumption 
 than to out with every thing we wanted to know. He told us 
 how the jail was situated, but said it wasn't possible for the 
 boys to break out. Then Cy and I put our heads together, 
 and hit upon a neat Kttle stratagem. , Tell about it, Cy ! " 
 And Jake, having finished his repast, stretched himself un- 
 der the bushes languidly. 
 
 " We promised to spare the fellow's life^if he would do 
 every thing we required. He promised. Then I made him 
 change clothes with me. At the same time, Jake got into the 
 dead rebel's uniform. We waited till it was dark enough ; 
 then, armed with the guns we had captured, and with our 
 prisoner between us, we started. As we were getting off 
 the mountain, we met a rebel farmer. We halted him, and 
 inquired the most direct road to Winchester Jail. He told 
 us, and said, ' So ye cotched him, did ye ? ' — ' Cotched one 
 of the scoundrels,' I said, ' and killed t'other.' 
 
 " We didn't meet with any difl5culty until near Winches- 
 ter. There we fell in with the night patrol going the rounds. 
 As they were only two, and we were two, our prisoner didn't 
 
240 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 dare to make any demonstration. We were challenged ; but 
 we told our story, and inquired the way to the jail. ' We'll 
 go with you,' said they, ' and see your prisoner jugged.' 
 ' There's no necessity of that,' I said : ' we had the glory of 
 capturing him, and we mean to jug him without any help.' 
 Then one of them said he would go and show us the way to 
 the jail ; and we couldn't refuse his pohte offer, without ex- 
 citing suspicion. We made him go ahead, and tell the jailer 
 a prisoner was coming. It was midnight : the town was all 
 asleep, and the jailer had to be called up. Knowing the 
 patrolman, he supposed all was as it should be, and came 
 with his lantern and keys to let us in." 
 
 " We were just the least mite tickled to find no guard 
 about the jail," said Jake, raising his head among the bushes; 
 " but Cy made believe he was mad to see such neglect. 
 'What's the reason there's none of our fellows on duty 
 here?' says he. 'Oh! there's no need of that,' says the 
 jailer ; ' for this is one of the strongest jails in Tennessee. 
 Your boys was tired out after theu- hunt, and concluded to 
 go to bed.' Just then, the prisoner undertook to speak; 
 but I fetched him a blow on the mouth, and swore, if he 
 opened his head to make a fuss, I'd put the cold steel 
 through him." 
 
 Cy resumed : "The patrolman was now behind, and the 
 
OLD COMRADES. 241 
 
 jailer before, opening the doors. * Come, hurry up ! ' says 
 I. 'We don't want to be all night about this little job.' 
 He opened one door. I went in with him and the prisoi^- 
 er : Jake staid outside to take care of the patrolman. The 
 jailer locked the door behind us, then selected another key 
 to open the door that led into the main hall of the jail. Just 
 then, the prisoner, seeing that I was one, and they were two, 
 burst out with a few words ; and I couldn't stop him without 
 knocking him on the head. Down he fell senseless. But he 
 had said enough to alarm the jailer. ' I'm afraid all ain't 
 right,' says he. ' All will be,' says I, ' when you've opened 
 that door ! ' He gave one yell for help, — but not two. 
 He got a stunner on the temple ; and, before he had recov- 
 ered from that, he felt the bayonet biting his ribs, * Not a 
 word; but unlock that door, or this iron goes through 
 you ! ' He was too frightened to make any resistance ; and 
 so he unlocked it." 
 
 "By that time," said Jake, "I had my hands full. 
 " At the first screech of the jailer, the patrolman (I had 
 kept him talking till then) started, and said, ' What does that 
 mean ? ' — 'It means you are my prisoner ! ' says I ; and 
 my bayonet was at his breast before he could say Jack Roh^ 
 inson. He undertook to get away, and was drawing a re- 
 volver, and shouting : so I was obliged to let hiai have it. I 
 
 21 
 
242 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 gave one lounge ; he went back agin the fence, and there 
 he stuck. The bayonet went clear through hun into the 
 post, and there I left him pinned. I let go my gun, 
 snatched his revolver, and ran back into the jail. I heard a 
 rumpus in a room opposite the cells. I sprang to the door, 
 and threw it open ; and there the jail lamp showed me an 
 interesting sight, rather ! It was the jailer's sitting-room, 
 and there four rebel soldiers — the same that had been hunt- 
 ing us, and had got tuckered out — had been asleep. But 
 they were wide-awake enough now. Theu' guns stood close 
 by the door I had opened. They were making a rush for 
 'em. One had just got hold of his. I fired the revolver 
 square in his face, and he dropped, with the horriblest gi*oan 
 ever I heard in my life. That struck terror into the rest. 
 ' The first that touches a gun is a dead man ! ' says I. Then 
 I shouted, as if giving orders to a dozen men outside, 
 ' Guard the passages ! Shoot the first one that goes out or 
 in! Take these guns, one of you!' — I took them, and 
 handed them out, as if to some one in the hall, but only just 
 set them agin the wall, out of their reach, you know. By 
 this time, the jailer's fiimily seemed to be screaming all over 
 the house. I knew the town must be getting alarmed; and 
 I looked with pretty considerable interest, you may believe, 
 to see what luck Cy was having. At last he came, and the 
 
OLD COMRADES. 243 
 
 boys with him, and the jailer, white as a sheet, carrying the 
 lantern and keys. But Cy must tell the rest." And Jake 
 sank down again. 
 
 " Joel found a hatchet in the jail. Four more of our 
 boys were armed in a moment with the guns Jake had cap- 
 tured ; and, two minutes later, his prisoners, and the jailer 
 himself, were locked up with the one we had brought in. 
 Then we started : and it was high time ; for the lown was 
 wakmg up, the fire-bells were ringing, and we could see men 
 runnino-. Then commenced the famous retreat of our forces. 
 Josiah "Williams was so badly wounded, we were obliged to 
 leave him behind at the jail. Another of the wounded men, 
 Cale Hobbs, gave up before we had got forty rods, and 
 was retaken. We couldn't help scattering a little in the 
 dark ; for not one of us knew the country : and when we 
 rallied, a mile or so out of the village, two more men were 
 missing. We have lost one since : he went out on a scout, 
 and to bring in provisions, and, I suppose, got captured. We 
 have been hunted like foxes ; but, like foxes, we have kept 
 to the woods and hills. We have hid in bushes and rocks 
 and hollow trees by day, and travelled by night. When we 
 couldn't stand starvation any longer, Jake and I, or some- 
 body else in our secesh uniform, would go to a solitary farm- 
 house, pass for rebel soldiers di'unk and reckless, and ask for 
 
2-44 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 proTisions ; wMcli nobody ever dared refuse. But this is a 
 dangerous trick, and we have resorted to it as rarely as pos- 
 sible. "We have seen hardships ; but, on the whole, we con- 
 sider that we have been very fortunate. TTe have lost but 
 three of the guns we captured ; and the thi-ee we have left 
 are all we have wanted to cany. It would be too long a 
 story to tell all our adventui'es now ; and I'm afraid we are 
 not in a very safe place here." 
 
 " There's some grand good bushes to hide in, just over 
 that knoll," said old Joel. " There's a ravine there, and a 
 brook i-uns throuo-h it : and there's first-rate thickets both 
 sides. We can get water there too. There's a long, bare 
 hiU t'other side of the ravine ; but that ain't no objection : 
 nobody can see us if we keep in the bush ; but we can see 
 if anybody is coming from that direction better 'n as if 'twas 
 all woods. I move we adjourn to the ravine." 
 
 The motion was carried ; Fred's objection, on the ground 
 that Daniels was to return for him to that spot in the after- 
 noon, being disposed of by Cy, who said, " In the afternoon, 
 one of us will be here to meet him." 
 
THE MAN IN THE CASK. 245 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 THE MAN IN THE CASK. 
 
 HE party removed, with suitable precautions, to 
 the ravine. There Fred and his old comrades 
 talked over their adventures, or spent the fore- 
 noon in sleep. After dinner, at which they finished the con- 
 tents of the saddle-bags, one of the company borrowed Fred's 
 hat and butternut coat, and returned to the rendezvous where 
 Daniels was expected. 
 
 Two hours elapsed ; at the end of which time, old Joel, who 
 kept watch on the side of the hill-slope, announced a dis- 
 covery. The boys all crept up to the edge of the bushes 
 fringing the ravine to see what it was. 
 
 " It's the curi'sest thing : I don't understand it ! " said 
 Joel. " They're rolUng something to the tip-top of the hill." 
 
 "It's a cask o' whiskey," said Jake. "They're going 
 up there to have a drink. I wish the cask would get away, 
 
 21* 
 
246 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 and roll towards some good thirsty fellows in a ravine I know 
 ofl" 
 
 "The cask is empty," said Cy, "I know, by the way 
 that chap kicks it along the ground. Keep quiet, boys, or 
 we may have trouble." 
 
 " They ain't but four o' them, and there's six of us," said 
 Joel, flouiishing his hatchet. ,"If't only was whiskey, 
 'twould be worth the resk of capturing, I say." 
 
 ** One of the men is a prisoner! " said Fred. "Don't 
 you see ? They're putting him into the cask ! " 
 
 "So they be I " said Joel. "See him squirm: he's 
 pleading with 'em not to ; but down he goes into it, head 
 fust, by time ! " 
 
 "It seems to me, I know that man ! " murmured Fred. 
 But he wasn't sure. 
 
 "Hear 'em swear at him ! See 'em jam his legs ini" 
 said Jake. " They're heading of him up, I swow ! " 
 
 " It's some Union man : this is the way they treat Uaion 
 men in this cui-sed country ! " said Cy, his eyes glittering 
 with excitement. " It's hard to stand and see that ! " 
 
 "If ye can't stand it, lie down, then," said old Joel. 
 " We can't afford to interfere : there may be twenty more 
 secesh jest over the hill." 
 
 "Joel believes in non-intervention, when there's only a 
 
THE MAN IN THE CASK. 247 
 
 barrelled-up Union man in question," said Fred. " But he 
 was for pitching in when he thought 'twas a cask of whis- 
 ke^" 
 
 ** Biile me for a mackerel, if they ain't going to roll the 
 poor de^dl down hill ! " ejaculated Jake. 
 
 "K they do, the slant is this way, and the barrel will 
 come straight to us ! " said Joel. " The place is gittin' too 
 hot for us. I move that we adjourn." 
 
 Nobody seconded this motion; but Cy said, authorita- 
 tively, — 
 
 " Keep still ! If he comes near us, and they follow, some- 
 thing may occur to surprise 'em ! You may have a chance 
 to use that hatchet of yours, Joel, on a secesh head. Be 
 ready for emergencies, boys ! The thing is coming ! " 
 
 The three men who had barrelled up the fourth now pro- 
 ceeded to send him on his unwilling journey. With laugh- 
 ter and oaths and brutal jests, they tumbled the cask over 
 on its side, not gently by any means, and kicked it violently 
 to the brow of the long slope. Then they adjusted it for the 
 descent, and gave it a final push. It rolled a few yards, 
 and, turning endwise, stopped, notwithstanding their loud, 
 wild cheers. Then they went at it again ; and, havmg now 
 reached a point of more rapid descent, set it once more in 
 motion, with brilliant success. The cask went whirlinor down 
 
248 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 tlie slope, bounding and leaping like a living thing over 
 hummocks and rocks, and uttering smothered shrieks from 
 the voice of the victim within. * 
 
 The cask came crashing into the thicket by the ravine, 
 broke through the fii'st thin bushes, struck a stout sapling, 
 and stopped almost within arm's-length of Fred and Cy. 
 
 The creature inside was groaning dismally. Cy and Jake 
 grasped the cask, hauled it a little farther into the thick- 
 et, and set it up on end. At this movement, the muffled 
 groans within became shrieks for mercy, faintly audible 
 through the stout hoops and staves. 
 
 " Oh, don't ! I've had enough, I've had enough ! I'm 
 bruised to a pumace a'ready ! Bo let me out, — do ! and 
 I never'U do it again, — never ! " 
 
 " He's a cowardly fool, whoever he is ! " said Cy. " But 
 never mind : give me that hatchet, Joel ! Keep a look- 
 out for the villains, boys ! " 
 
 " They've gone back to the top of the hill. By time, 
 they're going away ! " said old Joel. 
 
 *' They'll go and take a drink," said Fred ; '•' your chiv- 
 alrous Southern gentlemen always do on such occasions : 
 then they'll be back again." 
 
 " Meanwhile," said Cy, — " thus ! " — knocking off the 
 lioops that had just been driven on. Then he loosened the 
 
THE MAN IX THE CASK. 249 
 
 staves, and knocked in tlie Head upon the wretcli crowded 
 and crammed within that narrow compass. 
 
 '" You've got him wrong end up! " said Fred. 
 
 In fact, the victim, having been thrust into the cask head 
 foremost, was destined to come out of it feet foremost. He 
 straightened his legs apart in the air, and kicked helplessly, 
 his head on the bottom, and his voice, like a voice in a well, 
 entreating to be taken out. 
 
 '* Stop your noise," said Cy, '' or I'll head you up again ! 
 Don't you see you are among friends? Now get out." 
 
 He turned the cask down on its side. The man's legs 
 were already out. Then his hmd-quarters emerged. Next 
 came his body, crawling slowly backwards like a crab. 
 Lastly appeared the head ; and the head, being lifted- up, 
 revealed the most ludicrous expression of countenance any 
 present ever beheld. It was a miserable, frightened, blub- 
 bering, bleeding face ; for the nose of it had suffered. It 
 was the face of the meanest and most despicable man in the 
 world, — a " Northern man with Southern principles," — a 
 slave-catchino; Yankee. It was the face of Enos Crumlett. 
 
250 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 7^ 
 
 xxv. 
 
 3£R. CRUMLETTS SUBSTITUTE. 
 
 THOUaHT SO ! " said Fred. " Cmmlett, how 
 are you? " 
 
 Enos attempted to rise, but reeled, and fell 
 over. He recognized Fred, however. 
 
 " Pretty sick, thank ye ! Hold me, can't ye ! Stop my 
 whirlin' ! " 
 
 " You are not whii'ling now," said Cy, supporting him. 
 
 *' Ain't I? Then every thing else is ! " Enos rolled up 
 his eyes at his preservers. "How swift ye go round, — 
 round ! " And, closing his eyes, he gave another lurch. 
 
 "You're a little dizzy, that's all." 
 
 '* Wal, I be some dizzy, I guess ! It's kinder struck to 
 my stomach, besides. Tildy ! who'd ever a thought ? 
 Wliere is Carter and them other chaps ? If they hain't gin 
 me a dose ! Nose broke ! — darned if it ain't bleedin' all 
 over my Sunday shu*t ! Shoulder got an awful wrench ! 
 
MR. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITUTE. 251 
 
 Neck jest about broke*! Bmised from head to foot ! Jints 
 — never suffered so in my jints in all my life ! That knee's 
 out, I know I Tildy, Tildy ! " — winding up his lamen- 
 tation with a groan. 
 
 "Keep quiet!" said Cy. "Come down to the water 
 here, and wash; then you'll feel better." 
 
 " I can't move a step, I'm sich a jelly ! " 
 
 " Then we'll have to leave you behind. They'll be down 
 here looking after you pretty soon, and we must take care 
 of ourselves." 
 
 *' Take care o' me too, won't ye ? I'll give ye suthin' if 
 ye will. Don't let 'em git holt o' me agin. I'm loyal, 
 ain't I ? " appealing to Fred. 
 
 " To which side ? " demanded Jake. 
 
 "To the right side, — to the Confederates, of course!" 
 said Enos, perceiving that Jake and Cy wore the rebel 
 uniform. 
 
 " To the Confederates, you villain ! " — " You traitor ! " 
 x\nd the bluecoats, hidden hitherto by the bushes, came around 
 him. 
 
 " I mean, to the Union ! " gasped Enos. Then, glancing 
 again at the rebel uniforms, and seeing how wrathful their 
 wearers looked, his wits fell into inextricable confusion. " I 
 mean the — the — both sides ! I'm loyal to both ! that is, 
 to neither ! I'm neuter : ask him if I ain't ! " 
 
252 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Again appealed to, Fred explained Mr. Cnimlett's posi- 
 tion : " He's a man without amj principles." 
 
 *' That's it, — that's jest my ease ! " said Enos eagerly. 
 ** I hain't no principles, — not a darn'd one ! " 
 
 Fred lauo-hed. He rather pitied the poor wretch. He 
 had not yet heard of his treachery towards Pomp. He only 
 knew that Pomp had got away, and canied Bodson with 
 him. Accordingly, he gave the best account he could of 
 Crumlett's embarrassing situation, as a Northern man com- 
 pelled to profess allegiance to the Confederate despotism. 
 Enos was as grateful for these kind words as it is possible for 
 a mean spirit to be, and he entreated Fred not to suffer him 
 to be again abandoned to his enemies. 
 
 "It all comes o' that mis'ble spec'lation, — the nigger 
 spec'lation, ye know. The nigger got away that night, and 
 that's the last I've seen of him. But some secesh from 
 Nashville brought word to Carter how 'twas, — that Bodson 
 was took up, and the old man, and that this was the very 
 nigger they'd lost. He says nothin' to me ; but he comes to 
 our house when I'm away, and gits it all out of Tildy, every 
 bit. Darn the women !" said Enos: "they can't keep a 
 secret no more'n a fool ! Wal, he said nothin', but por- 
 tended friendship, and said he wanted to see me on pa'tic'lar 
 business, — about a spec'lation that would make up all losses 
 
 V 
 
X 
 
 MB. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITUTE. 253 
 
 to both on us. When I come home, and she told me the fust 
 part about the spec'lation, — for she put that fust, — I was 
 nat'rally int 'rested ; but, when she told me the rest, I allow 
 it riled me : we had the all-fii'edest flareup, and I left the 
 house." 
 
 " Separated," suggested Fred. '* Here's old Joel : he 
 will sympathize with you. He and his wife have separated 
 several hundred times, I beheve, and come together again." 
 
 " What a feller you be to set out a story ! " said old Joel. 
 
 *' Wal, it never went quite so fur with me and Tildy 
 afore," said Enos ruefully. "I s'pose I was jest the least 
 might hasty ; but then she was so terrible provokin' ! I slipped 
 on my Sunday shirt, and told her I never'd come back agin, 
 in the world ; but I'd no notion my words was so likely to 
 prove true." And with a remorseful, despairing sigh, he 
 felt of his broken nose. 
 
 " So you haven't been back to her ? " 
 
 "No; and the worst on't is, I'm afraid I never shall. 
 Tildy, Tildy!" Mr. Crumlett forgot his dignity so 
 far, even, as to snivel. "Little did I think, little did I 
 think ! That was 'arly this mornin'; and she, of course, ex- 
 pected I'd be back agin 'fore noon. But I hadn't got over 
 my mad fit, when I met Carter in a buggy. He 'peared ter- 
 rible friendly, and told me a long rigmarole story 'bout the 
 
254 THE TnnEB scouts. 
 
 new spec'lation. I was sucked in for once in my life, I own ! 
 I thought 'twould worry Tildy if I staid away till night : so 
 as Carter wanted me to git in, and ride with him to see two 
 fiiends of his'n that he said would advance the money, I got 
 in, and never 'spected the trick, thinkin' what a capital 
 chance 'twas to come up with Tildy, and make suthin' at the 
 same time, till about an hour ago. We kep' ridin' and ridin', 
 till bime by we found his two friends ; and the way they ad- 
 vanced the money was a caution to narvous chaps like me ! " 
 said Enos with a wild expression. " They dragged me to 
 the hill, and barrelled me up ; pashin' and punchin' me in 
 head fust, without no more feelin' for back-bone ^nd knee- 
 pans than as if I'd been a dead calf," — 
 "Instead of a live one," put in Fred. 
 " Come, come ! " said Cy, cutting the story shoi-t^ "we 
 know the rest. The question now is, Wbat's to be done ? 
 You can share our fortunes, if you like ; but they're des- 
 perate, I'll tell you to begin with." 
 
 " I think you'd better go back to your family, Mr. Crum- 
 lett," said Fred. 
 
 "It's too late for that!" Enos whunpered miserably. 
 " They told me, 'fore they spun me down hill, that was only 
 the beginnin' of my spec'lations ; and 't after they'd got 
 through wltii me I'd got to go into the army, whether or no. 
 
ME. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITUTE. 255 
 
 I can't do that : I can't fight ; I've got rehgious scruples 
 agin it." 
 
 ** How many scruples of that kind does it take to make a 
 dram? " asked Jake, amid the derisive laughter Crumlett'a 
 ludicrous apology for his cowardice called forth. 
 
 "I thought you hadn't any principles," said Fred. 
 
 "Political principles, I meant : I hain't got nary one of 
 that kind. But I'm a moral man: I — I — try to be a 
 religious man." 
 
 "1 respect religion," said Cy grimly; "but, if there's 
 any thing I detest, it's pretence and cant ! To see a low- 
 minded, sneaking, cheating scamp draw down the corners of 
 his mouth, and talk pious, just for a cloak, when he has no 
 more religion in his heart than this rebel musket has, — it 
 makes me sick I " 
 
 Fortunately for Enos, he had not told that part of his 
 negro speculation which was least creditable to his moral char- 
 acter ; else it is probable that this nauseating bit of cant 
 would have provoked the boys to head him up again in the 
 cask, and leave him to his fate. 
 
 Just then, one of the men left to watch the hillside re- 
 ported a movement. 
 
 ** They're coming back," said Cy, " after you again, — you 
 man with religious scruples ! They've probably got all the 
 
256 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 liquor aboai'd they can carry, and they'll miss their play- 
 thing." 
 
 " I ain't then* plaything ! Don't leave me in their clutch- 
 es ! " exclaimed Enos, starting to his feet, forgetful, in his 
 tremor, of his dislocated joints and his bruises. " Stand by 
 me, won't ye ? " fawning upon Fred. " I did by you, ye 
 know." 
 
 " There's only one of 'em in sight," said old Joel. 
 
 "It is Carter," said Fred. " He's coming to take a pri- 
 vate look at Crumlett's interesting case, while the others are 
 hghting their pipes." 
 
 "Alone, is he?" said Jake, rousing up. "I'll toll ye 
 what we'll do, boys. Glet down farther into the ravine, all 
 but me and Cy : we'll stay and watch. Mabby something 
 funny '11 come of it." 
 
 Smoking a thick cigar, and staggering slightly with in- 
 toxication. Carter came sauntering leisurely down the hill. 
 He could soon be heard muttering to himself, as he ap- 
 proached the spot where the cask liad lodged, and Jake and 
 Cy lay in ambush. As he kept the cigar in his mouth, only 
 now and then a word of Irs thick talk could be distinguished. 
 
 " Fooling Southern gentlemen — cussed Yankee — learn 
 hun manners — wus'n any nigger," &c., with a large admix- 
 ture of profanity. 
 
MR. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITUTE. 257 
 
 At last, he saw tlie bottom of the cask sticking up. 
 
 "How do ye fancy the spec'lation ? " he called to Enos, 
 supposed to be still inside. "Going to give ye another roll ' 
 soon, jollier nor that. Ye dead in thar? Why don't ye 
 make a row?" He kicked the cask. To his astonish- 
 ment, it sounded empty and open. 
 
 "Grot out? " he exclaimed with disappointment and rage, 
 bending forward to examine the open end, shielded by the 
 bushes. 
 
 He was so intent on looking for his victim, that he did not 
 see the but-end of a musket that had been quietly pushed 
 through the thicket, a minute before, towards the very spot 
 where his head was expected soon to be. Seeing the cask 
 open, and his victim gone, he looked around suddenly, and 
 perceived two men lying low in the bushes. He was staring 
 stupidly at them, wondering if there was really more than 
 one man, — for he was in that condition in which he some- 
 times saw double, — and trying to make out whether they 
 were the men he sought, when the said musket was sud- 
 denly pushed forward still farther in the same direction. 
 Something struck his head ; it was the but of the gun : 
 although, from the vivid flash of light which he saw, he was 
 afterwards inclined to think he received a discharge from 
 the muzzle. 
 
 22* 
 
258 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The viyid flash was the result of a violent collision be- 
 tween the musket and his cranium. He di'opped as if he 
 had indeed been shot ; and, before he could recover his feet 
 or his wits, he was seized, and thrust head-foremost, Crum- 
 lett-fashion, into the cask. His legs were crowded in after 
 his body, without much ceremony. He set up a hoarse bel- 
 lowing for help ; to stop which, and also to induce him to 
 forbear kicking the pieces of the head away as Jake endeav- 
 ored to adjust them, Cy found it necessary to prick him 
 gently with the bayonet. Thus admonished, the kidnapper 
 V became reluctantly quiet, and was headed up in the most 
 rapid and scientific manner by the accomplished Jake. 
 
 "Drive the hoops on tight!" said the delighted Enos, 
 coming from the ravine as soon as he saw his enemy secured. 
 "He can't git out! he can't git out! It's an almighty 
 stout cask ; and a fellow stuffed in in that shape, as you'd 
 stuff a sassidge, can't get no purchase with his legs. Goes 
 to push, he breaks his neck, ye see. I tried it." 
 
 All this time, the drunken kidnapper was struggling and 
 roaring for help. But his struggles only caused the cask 
 to wriggle a little ; and his roars were rendered exceedingly 
 small by the aperture through which they came. The bung- 
 hole had been left open to admit the little air necessary to 
 presorve life. Enos put his ear to it. 
 
MB. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITUTE. 259 
 
 " I'm dying ! " said the buried voice. 
 
 ''That's it!" said Enos, hopping with delight. "I 
 thought I was too ! I thought so too ! " 
 
 *' My neck — my neck is broke ! " gasped the bung-hole. 
 
 *' So was mine ! so was mine ! " And Mr. Crumlett 
 wiithed with vindictive joy. 
 
 " Oh, my back ! " groaned the man in the cask. 
 
 *"Tis hard on the back ! I can swear to that : I can 
 take oath to the back-breakmg ! " chuckled he who had been 
 in, but was now out. 
 
 " I smother ! I can't breathe ! " 
 
 *'I know! I know! You'll smother more bime by! 
 I did. But ye hain't been rolled yit. The roUin' 's the 
 best part on't. I want to see ye rolled ! " 
 
 Enos was so excited, that he quite forgot the danger with 
 which the rare fun was accompanied. Cy, although laugh- 
 ing convulsively himself the while, felt obliged to restrain 
 him. 
 
 " The other two'll be here soon. Get down into the ra- 
 vine again, boys. Jake and I'll stick by, and knock 'em 
 softly on the head, if necessary." 
 
 Just then, shouts were heard on the hill-top. " There they 
 are ! " said Fred. But, instead of two rebels, there were a 
 dozen. A rumor of the sport with which Carter was treating 
 
260 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 his friends had got abroad, and the chivahy were flocking to 
 see a Yankee rolled down hill in a cask. Several were in 
 uniform, and carried guns. 
 
 "Here's a scrape!" whispered Cy. "Hide, and keep 
 as still as death ! " 
 
 The rebels came rushing down the hill with yells and 
 laughter; one shouting, " Whar's Carter? Whar's he tuk 
 hunselfto?" 
 
 " Never ye mind Carter ! " cried another. " Here's the 
 
 cask, with the Yankee in it^ by ! Hear him take 
 
 on!" 
 
 " Lay hold here ! " said another; and they tumbled the 
 cask over and over, getting it up from the ravine. 
 
 Poor Carter shrieked and swore ; but his voice was so 
 muflled, that nobody recognized it. 
 
 '* It's me I " he screamed. 
 
 "Yes, wc know it's you, — you damned Yankee specu- 
 lator!" 
 
 •' It's me ! — Carter ! Carter ! " 
 
 " He's calhng Carter ! " And the rebels gave vent to a 
 chorus of laughter. "But why ain't Carter on hand?" 
 some one asked again. 
 
 !* Oh ! he's gone for more whiskey : the more company, the 
 more liquor. Le's heave the cask to the top o' the hill, time 
 he gets back." 
 
ME. CRUMLETT'S SUBSTITtJTE. 261 
 
 " I'm Garter ! " said tlie voice within as the tumbled cask 
 revolved. 
 
 ** What does he say?" 
 
 " He says, ' Damn Carter ! '" And agam the mob guf- 
 fawed. 
 
 " You idiots ! you fools ! Oh, cui'se you ! " And the en- 
 raged kidnapper, finding that he could not get a hearing, ut- 
 tered shrieks and oaths. 
 
 But, by the time he had been pitched and kicked to the top 
 of the hill, even those had become too faint to have any other 
 effect than to amuse his persecutors. Half dead from suffo- 
 cation, and the terrible whirling, jamming, and jolting, now 
 round and round, and now heels over head, he had given up at 
 last in utter exhaustion and despair. Even when he had 
 reached the summit, hi^ friends allowed him no peace. They 
 kept up an incessant clamor around him, — riding the cask, 
 drumming on it with stones to the tune of " Yankee Doodle," 
 and now and then — just to prevent him inside from going to 
 sleep, they said — canting it along the ground, or hurling it 
 end over end. 
 
262 
 
 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XXYI. 
 
 A STRANGE MEETING, 
 
 NFORTUNATELY, two of the chivalry re- 
 mained by the ravine in order to receive the 
 cask when it should come down ; and their pres- 
 ence prevented the withdrawal of the boys from their danger- 
 ous hiding-place. 
 
 " They're waiting for Carter to come with the whiskey ! '* 
 said one. 
 
 Indeed, the mob just then set up a shout for " Carter, Car- 
 ter ! hurry up ! we're waiting for the liquor ! " — cries which 
 must have been particularly edifying to the kidnapper in the 
 cask. 
 
 By this time, the two rebels by the ravine, becoming im- 
 patient, set out to climb the hill. The boys were just creep- 
 ing out of the bushes, when Daniels arrived with the man 
 who was sent tO meet him. 
 
 " This won't do ! " he said sternly. 
 
A STRANGE MEETING. 263 
 
 He was evidently not pleased to find his young protege in 
 sucli company. He helped him at once to his horse, and 
 directed him which way to ride. 
 
 ** Go at once : I'll follow as soon as I have spoken with 
 youi' friends." 
 
 So saying, he started the horse off through the woods, and 
 then descended into the ravme to consult with Cy and the 
 rest. 
 
 WHlst they were talking, the mob at the top of the hill, 
 weary of waiting for Carter, launched the cask. It came 
 spinning and ratthng down the slope with even greater . velo- 
 city than before ; and, striking the bushes, tore its way com- 
 pletely thi'ough them, bumping and bounding end over end 
 amongst the stones to the bottom of the ravine. 
 
 The mob came rushing after too closely to permit the party 
 below to escape from the spot undiscovered. 
 
 " We can fight the cusses ! " said Jake. 
 
 " Don't you think of it ! " said Daniels. ** Within a mile 
 there are three thousand Confederate troops. To the thick- 
 ets!" 
 
 The boys got as far as they could from the cask, and con- 
 cealed themselves just as the rebels came yelling and crashing 
 uito the ravine in pm'suit of their victim. 
 
 "Wonder how he liked that!" whispered Enos with a 
 
264 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 strange mixture of terror and deligbt, looking down at the 
 cask, and cono-ratulatino: himself that it was not his bones 
 inside. 
 
 It was the intention of the fugitives to wait until the mob 
 had returned with the cask to the top of the hill, and then to 
 beat a hasty retreat. But this was thwarted by an accident. 
 
 The bottom of the cask, striking a rock as it plunged into 
 the ravine, had been stove in. The skull that had been 
 packed into it, had, to all appearances, been likewise broken. 
 The rebels gave a howl of disgust and disappointment, think- 
 ing their sport spoiled by the death of the supposed Yankee. 
 They drew him out insensible, like a chicken out of a broken 
 egg-sheU. His countenance was so bloody and disfigured, 
 that even his most familiar friends did not recognize it until 
 it had been plunged two or three times into the shallow water 
 of the brook. 
 
 " Bring hun to, so's to have the fun of hanging him, if 
 nothing more!" said they, — a remark which made Mr. 
 Crumlett quake horribly in his hiding-place. 
 
 " Hold on ! " suddenly shouted two or three at once. 
 " Carter ! — it's Carter hunself ! " 
 
 At the same moment. Carter, gasping a little, rolled up 
 his eyes, and recognized his friends. Then* astonishment was 
 extreme. How came he in the cask? Was it a playful 
 trick of his ? And where was the Yankee ? 
 
A STRANGE MEETING. 265 
 
 They poured brandy down tlie throat of tbeir friend, wliom 
 tbey had come so near immolating by mistake. 
 
 "It's the Yankee's doings!" shouted furious voices. 
 " Look for the Yankee ! " 
 
 The Yankee heard, and his soul thrilled with mortal fear 
 as he shrank into the bushes, which the rebels rushed at once 
 to search. 
 
 Fred, riding over an inequality of the gi'ound, was already 
 out of sight. He looked sharply before him, at first, for reb- 
 els ; but soon began to look still more anxiously behind for 
 his friends. The sun had set : twilight was deepening. 
 
 Alarmed at the delay, he checked the horse's pace, and 
 was riding slowly among the trees, gazmg back over his 
 shoulder, and listening to the distant shouts, when a singular 
 incident occurred. 
 
 The horse stopped ; and Fred, turning quickly, saw stand- 
 ing directly in the path before him the form of a man. 
 
 The appai'ition was startling. For an instant, Fred half 
 believed it was a ghost, so motionless it stood there in the 
 gloom. But, if a ghost at all, it was that of a friend, not 
 a foe ; a very sturdy, stout young ghost : and it smiled, — 
 a broad, beaming, unmistakable smile. 
 
 " Carl! is that you V" 
 
 "Wery certain, " said the spectre, advancing. **And is 
 it you?" 
 
266 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I'm not so certain," replied Fred, too much astonisbed 
 to believe any thing real just then. "Haven't you been 
 hung?" 
 
 " Not wery much ! " Carl shrugged and laughed. " I 
 vas not tickled vith the idee to be hung : so I compromised." 
 
 " How so ? How did you get away ? " 
 
 " Just as easy as twice vun is two. You have heard how 
 I vas took up for a shpy and deserter ? Yell, it vas queer ! 
 And they vas going to hang me so fast ! but py and py 
 Colonel Derrino; comes to see me. It vas in his regiment I 
 vas enlisted for a rebel ; and I see it vas no use to deny that. 
 So I gives him the salute, and I says, * Colonel, this is wery 
 pad piziness for me ! ' — 'So bad,' says he, ' your neck will 
 be stretched for it to-morrow.' And I says, ' My neck vas 
 never so long as a goose-neck ; but it is long enough for prac- 
 tical purpose, and I shall be glad for to dispense vith the 
 stretching operation.' Then he said the court-martial vas 
 going to set on me in vun hour ; and I said I vas not unan- 
 imous to be set on py anypody. And then he said, ' Vat a 
 pity I should turn shpy, — a vine vellow like me ! ' — ' Shpy ! ' 
 says I ; and I opened my eyes vide, like I vas astonished, 
 till I sushpect they looked like two pig English vatches. 
 Veil, to be prief,^I conwince him, if he vill go see my friend 
 the Chew, he vill learn for sure, that, if I vas a shpy for any- 
 
A STRANGE MEETIXG. 267 
 
 pody, it vas for the Conwhederates ; and, if I vas a deserter, 
 it vas pecause I vas took prisoner first, and vas afraid to go 
 pack to his regiment after. And he says, ' Yould I go pack 
 to the regiment now?' and I says, ' That is vat I should 
 Lo wery dehghted to do.' And he thinks I am such a vine 
 vellow for a soldier, and such a innocent young Tuchman, ye 
 know ! So he sees my friend the Chew, and talks it over 
 vith the court that vas going to set on me ; and it vas conclude 
 I should be put pack in the regiment. But the regiment vas 
 moved foiTards to the left centre before Murfreesborough. 
 So I vas put unter guard of a rebel this afternoon, to be sent 
 vair it vas. Now, ven it vas in question to stretch my neck, 
 I vas more in favor to join the regiment ; but, ven it come to 
 joining the regiment, I vas more in favor to run avay. So I 
 says to my rebel, ' This marching is such try piziness, ve 
 ought to find something goot to triuk.' And he says, ' I 
 know a place to puy viskey ; but I hain't nary bit of money to 
 pay.' Wery fortunate^ I had sold all my goots, and had a 
 pocketful of money. So I says to him, if he vill go for the 
 viskey, I vill pay for vun pottle. And he says, ' You vait 
 here vile I come pack.' And I sets me down on the ground, 
 and says, ' You hurry ; for I vas never so furious for viskey 
 since I vas a poy ! ' So he takes the money, and goes. And 
 then I forgets to vait for him : so I jumps up from the gi'ound, 
 
268 THE TIIBEE SCOUTS. 
 
 and goes too, — in woiy much the wrong direction from that 
 he vas gone. I see some voods, and git lost in 'em quicker 
 as vink. And here I vas lost, and thinking of you I had 
 left vith your sprained ankle to the tawem, and vondering vat 
 I should do for you and for me, ven I sees somepody riding 
 horseback, and it vas you ! " 
 
 Fred, in return, related his own adventui-es since they 
 parted. Great was the joy of both at their re-union. Mean- 
 while they moved on to a secluded hollow. Fred remained 
 in the saddle ; Carl sat down on the end of a great log : and 
 thus they talked and waited, while the gloom of the woods 
 deepened around them. 
 
 Suddenly a rusthng of leaves and. bark was heard beside 
 the log. Carl sj^rang up with extraordinary alacrity for one 
 so phlegmatic as he. Noither he nor his friend had arms ; 
 and he was sure there was a man under him. 
 
 He was right. The bark of the log hung loosely from its 
 side, like a curtain : it shook, then lifted ; and out from im- 
 der it rolled a human fonn. 
 
 It was a young man with sharp Southern features, rifle in 
 hand. He was on his feet in an instant. His garments were 
 torn and filthy, his hair resembled tlie tangled mane of a 
 wild colt, and the expression of his countenance was haggard 
 and r-avafre. 
 
A STRANGE MEETING. 269 
 
 The boys know not what to make of him. Was he a spy, 
 who would betray them ? Although armed, he made no hos- 
 tile demonstration ; but on the contrary, after regarding Fred 
 fixedly a moment, he stepped forward, and_with a wan smile 
 offered him his hand, clamiing i^cnuaintance. 
 
 "You have got the start of me," said Fred, who could 
 not remember having seen him before. 
 
 " That coat and hat — whar did ye get them? " said the 
 young man, with a strange, piercing look. 
 
 The voice, and the pertinent allusion to his disguise, roused 
 Fred's recollection. 
 
 "EUsmer! But they said you were bm-ned up in the 
 house ! " 
 
 " I was in my hole," said the conscript ; and, in the sup- 
 pressed voice of one who has suffered until there is nothing 
 more in fate for him to fear or dread, he told his story. 
 
 A wing of the Ellsmer House had been _ built over the 
 Well, making a sort of floorless washroom and woodshed. The 
 guerillas, hunting for the conscript, had looked into the well, 
 of course. But, between the wall of the well and the sur- 
 roundmg earth, there was on one side a cavity covered by the 
 slabs of the curb. One of these slabs could be lifted ; and 
 the conscript, whenever he wished to conceal himself, had 
 only to get under it. This was his "hole," which nobody 
 
 23* 
 
270 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 thought of penetrating in search of him. He was in it when 
 the house was fired ; and would soon have been roasted, or at 
 least suffocated, had he not soon discovered his danger, and 
 descended into the well. This was fortunately free from nox- 
 ious gases; and in its depths he actually remained while the 
 roof was burning above him, and fiery cinders were show- 
 ered down upon his head and into the water. 
 
 " AVhat a terrible situation!" said Fred. " I should 
 think you would have been burned to death, or stifled, as it 
 was." 
 
 "I kept my clothes wet," said the conscript ; " and the 
 stifling — I didn't mind that, or any thing else, if I could 
 only live to shoot one more rebel. I staid about the old 
 place a couple of days : but I found the scoundrels had left 
 for good ; and finally I left too. I'm just hanging around 
 these parts for revenge. Whenever I see a cavalry-man, I 
 have a crack at him. I've knocked two over, and haven't 
 been ketched nary a time yet. When I spied you, I thought 
 you was another, and came nigh sending you my respects in 
 the shape of a bullet. But I'm glad to meet a fiiend again, 
 — glad to see a friendly face ! " 
 
 Once more he shook Fred's hand ; but now his touch, and 
 the glitter of his eye, made the boy shudder. His suffer- 
 ings had unsettled his mind ; on the subject of being re- 
 venged on his enemies, he was a maniac. 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 271 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 
 
 AE-L, ^ho was on the lookout, announced the 
 approach of hurrying footsteps. Immediately 
 after, several dark forms were seen speeding 
 swiftly through the dim woods. The conscript thought he 
 recognized the rebel uniform ; and, dropping beside the log, 
 lay in wait, taking aim across it. 
 
 '' Don't shoot, — they are my friends ! " said Fred, riding 
 out to meet them. 
 
 The fii-st man he encountered was Crumlett. Crumlett, 
 when there was danger in his rear, could run like a stag. 
 
 " What is the matter? " demanded Fred. 
 
 " We ai-e discovered; that is the matter," said Cy Thurs- 
 ton coolly. 
 
 " And pursued ! " said old Joel. " Who's that there ? " 
 
 " Friends of mine," said Fred,— " Carl, that I told you 
 about, and Ellsmer. Where's Daniels?" 
 
272 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ''The deuse knows ! " said Jake, bringing up the rear of 
 the retreating party. " The rebs set out to search for Crum- 
 lett ; and, to bluff 'em off, your man steps out, and begins a 
 parley. 'Soon as I've cleared the way for you,' says he to 
 us, * take care of yourselves and the boy : never mind me,' 
 says he. So, when he had diverted their attention, we sturted, 
 and mio-ht have got off shck enough ; but, whilst we was 
 slying out o' the bushes, Cramlett, finding himself ahead, 
 and meaning to take care o' number one, no matter what 
 'come of the rest, undertook to run, and stumbled down the 
 ravine. That sp'ilt it all. The rebs see something was to 
 pay, and pitched into us. ' Show 'em oiu- heels ! ' says old 
 Joel. ' Show 'em our guns fust ! ' says Gy. We jest 
 charged out on 'em once; and you should have seen 'em 
 scatter! That give us the start; but they'll be after 
 us!" 
 
 Jake told his story, trotting beside the horse, as the fugi- 
 tives swept Fred and his companions along with them in then- 
 retreat. 
 
 " But Daniels — we can't leave him ! " exclaimed Fred. 
 
 " We must ! " said Cy. " All he seemed to care for was 
 you; and, if we get you safe, he'll be satisfied." 
 
 " Is he a prisoner ? ' ' 
 
 "Likely, by this time: though, if Crumlett hadn't be- 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 273 
 
 trayecl us, be would have done well enough ; for be was fool- 
 ing the rebs splendidly ! " 
 
 Just then, the report of two or three muskets was heard 
 not far behind them, in the woods. 
 
 " Oh, I wish we'd left Crumlett in the cask! " groaned 
 Fred. 
 
 He looked behind, filled with remorse for the fate of his 
 friend. 
 
 " ShaU I fire ? Is't a reb ? Can you see ? " cried Ells- 
 mer, dancing ]jy his side with poised rifle, and glancing back 
 at some object in the woods. 
 
 It was a man running through the hollow they had just 
 cleared. 
 
 " No ! wait ! It is Daniels, — Daniels himself ! ' ' said Fred, 
 wild with joy. 
 
 And in a minute his benefactor was at his side. 
 
 '* All right ! " said he. " Push on, push on ! " 
 
 " Was it you they fired at ? " 
 
 " Yes : they are close upon us ! " 
 
 " Will you mount? " 
 
 " Not yet, if you can rein the horse among the trees. 
 We can travel faster than he can safely ; and the woods are 
 growing thicker ahead. Take care you don't hit your head 
 or -get your foot rubbed ! " 
 
274 ' THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The darkness increased, the woods were pathless, and 
 many branches gi-ew so low as to imperil continually the 
 rider's face and limbs. 
 
 "You must alight, and we must carry you," said Dan- 
 iels. 
 
 " You can't. The rebs are coming up the hill now, and 
 I shall hinder you so. No, no ; leave me behind ! " cried 
 Fred. 
 
 " Scatter and hide ! " said old Joel. " They can't find 
 us ! " 
 
 "There'll be whole regiments on our track in an hour," 
 said Daniels. " These woods will be surrounded, and re- 
 treat cut off on every side. Then they'll hunt you at their 
 leisure. You must get out of these woods, or you are 
 lost!" 
 
 Fred was obliged to dismount. "Don't carry me," he 
 said ; " but just help me a little, and I can get along on one 
 foot." But that was slow business. Just then, the rebels in 
 the rear fired a volley ; and the balls came singing and tap- 
 ping among the boughs, close above then: heads. 
 
 " Take hold here, one of you ! " said Daniels. 
 
 Jake — "lazy" Jake no longer — gave his gun to 
 another, and bounded to the boy's side. " Give me his 
 head and shoulders ; you carry his feet ! " said he : and in- 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 275 
 
 stantly Fred found Mmself taken up, and borne througli the 
 undergrowth in the arms of two strono; men. Carl followed, 
 leading the horse, in order to preserve him for future emer- 
 gencies. 
 
 But these causes of delay gave the pursuers a decided ad- 
 vantao-e. They were coming in superior numbers over the 
 hill, filing occasionally. Nobody was hit, however ; and, as 
 yet, not a shot had been returned. 
 
 At" length, an open space was reached. It w«s a hundred 
 yards across ; and, before the fugitives had entered the woods 
 on the opposite side, the rebels had emerged in full view, 
 under the soft light of the twilight sky. Two or three fired, 
 this time with clearer sight and more fatal effect. Fortu- 
 nately, the guns of the rest were empty, and there was no 
 time to reload. One ball went through Cy's clothes, grazing 
 his side ; another struck EUsmer's leg, shivering the bone 
 just below the knee. 
 
 " Give 'em one for that ! " said Cy. And the boys, 
 rallying on the edge of the woods, sent back a sudden and 
 sharp c?^ack, crack, crack / well aimed, blazing out of the 
 bushes, and checking the onset of their pursuers midway in 
 the open space. 
 
 Up to this time, Ellsmer, dissuaded by thti command of 
 Daniels, who was averse to fip;hting an overwhelming force, 
 
276 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 had refrained from firinG: a sliot. 13 ut soon, crawling into the 
 bushes, he prepared to take revenge. He refused to go far- 
 ther, and told the rest to proceed without him. 
 
 " I can be of .use here. Never mind me at all, but make 
 the most of the time while I'm picking off two or three of 
 them cowardly cusses." 
 
 Daniels and Jake hurried on with Fred. Crumlett was 
 ahead, of course. The rest, reluctantly leaving the conscript 
 to his fate, followed in all haste. They heard the report of 
 a rifle in theh rear, repeated several times at inteiTals. 
 That rifle was Ellsmer's. Bleeding, crippled, and devoted to 
 certain death, he coolly charged his piece, and discharged it 
 again, with deliberate aim, whenever an enemy appeared. 
 The rebels, thinking' the whole party had made a stand, 
 retreated to the cover from which they had emerged, bearing 
 their wounded back to a place of safety. Twice they started 
 forth a^aiu, confident that the fu2;itives had resumed their 
 flight ; and were again and again driven to shelter by the 
 accurate firing of a single rifle. Fearing to make a bold 
 charge upon an ambushed enemy of unknown strength, they 
 finally made a wide cii'cuit, keeping out of rifle-shot, and 
 entering the woods on Ellsmer's left. Perceiving this move- 
 ment, he crawled out into the open space, dragging his 
 maimed limb behind him, and lay flat on the field, until they 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 277 
 
 re-appeared, dashing with yells at the spot from which his 
 shots had been fired. Once more his rifle rang. The rebels, 
 discovering no enemy, but amazed at getting a shot from the 
 rear, stood baffled and confused a moment, then rushed upon 
 their victhn. Several gun-barrels might have been seen 
 converging at a figure on the ground : there was a simulta- 
 neous discharge, accompanied by yells of rage ; and the con- 
 script received, without a cry, without even a moan, the 
 death he did not fear. 
 
 This diversion gained for the fugitives much valuable time. 
 They struck a bridle-road, and Fred was mounted upon the 
 horse. But soon the animal's pace began to flag unaccounta- 
 bly, even with smooth ground under his feet. 
 
 "He staggers ! " said Fred. 
 • " He has been shot ! " added Daniels in his usually calm 
 voice. '* The poor brute is bleeding to death ! " 
 
 " Oh, what a misfortune ! " And Fred slipped oiF into 
 the arms of his friends. 
 
 The animal was driven into the bushes, and tui-ned loose to 
 die. Then Daniels called a council of the fugitives. The 
 bridle-path ran in a northerly direction ; and their course, up 
 to the moment of striking it, had been nearly north-west. 
 But now he proposed a change. 
 
 " You can't hope to escape directly through the Confcder- 
 
 24 
 
278 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ate lines, now that you are discovered and hunted. Besides, 
 you will be looked for in this direction. The shortest way 
 will prove the longest way. Bragg's lines extend from the 
 Lebanon pike to Franklin. Hardee commands the left ; and 
 you must get around him, somehow : it is your best chance. 
 Forrest's cavalry covers his flank, and may give you trouble. 
 But, if you attempt a shorter cut to Nashville, you will find 
 Wharton at Nolensville, and Wheeler at Lavergne, and their 
 videttes stretching across the country, not to speak of infant- 
 ry camps and pickets to be encountered everywhere." 
 
 " What, then, do you advise ? " 
 
 " A straight cut westward. That will throw your pur- 
 suers oflf your track. You will soon strike some of the 
 tributaries of Harpath Biver. The face of the country will 
 favor your escape. But keep well to the westward : cross 
 the pike and the railroad considerably south of Franklin ; 
 then make a wide circuit towards the Charlotte pike." 
 
 "You talk as though we knowed the country," said old 
 Joel; '^and there ain't a darned one of us knows a foot 
 on't." '"^ 
 
 ^** If you accept my plan, I shall go with you as far as you 
 need ^ guide." ij 
 
 " Agreed ! " said Cy, speaking for the rest. 
 
 " Well, therei s no time to lose ! " And the retreat, after 
 this brief breathing-space, was resumed with fresh vigor. 
 
THE DISCOVERT. 279 
 
 xxvin. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY. 
 
 LLSMER'S devotion had saved tbe little band 
 of fugitives from the harassing attacks of a 
 closely pursuing foe. As rapidly as possible, 
 and as silently as possible, they threaded the mazes of 
 the tangled woods. The evening was cold, gusty, and 
 cloudy. The moon had not yet risen ; and soon the last gleam 
 of twilight had faded, and darkness enveloped the forest. 
 
 " How that man knows which way he's travellin', when ye 
 can skurcely see your hand 'fore yer face, beats all my cal'c'- 
 lations ! " said old Joel. 
 
 " Tildy, Tildy ! " groaned Enos Crumlett ever and 
 anon. 
 
 " May be it's all right," said Jake, who preferred the ex- 
 citement of danger to long and tedious travel ; " but I be 
 hanged if I exac'ly fancy this going the longest way roynd." 
 
 "Moon rises at about half-past eight, boys," said Cy. 
 '"Twill be all right then ! " 
 
280 . THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 The coolness, decision, and quiet, silent power, wliicli dis- 
 tinguished the guide, inspired all with a certain confidence. 
 He said but little ; he shrank from no difficulties ; and he 
 marched like one inured to hardships, and accustomed to find- 
 ing his way in the darkest night. 
 
 He never left Fred's side. Others might become weaiy 
 of bearing their share of the burden, but not he. "I'll 
 take him now," he would say, as soon as those supporting 
 him began to flag; and his voice, whenever he spoke, was so 
 calm and cheerful, that nobody seemed to suspect that he 
 could ever tire. 
 
 And Fred — what a night it was to him ! How bitterly 
 he regretted his untimely lameness, which made him a bur- 
 den to his friends! "I'd give my three-years' pay," he 
 said, " for two good legs to-night ! " 
 
 Assured that their pursuers had been baffled, the fugitives 
 fell into a more leisurely pace, and avoided the woods which 
 had proved so essential to their safety before. The darkness 
 made progress through those trackless wilds terribly toil- 
 some antl painful ; but it favored their flight through by-roads 
 and fields. Fred, who had long insisted on using, at least, 
 the one sound limb that remafned to him, was now and then 
 permitted to support himself with his cane, and, with Daniels 
 at hir> side, hobble a little. 
 
THE DISCOVERT. 281 
 
 Notwitlistanding the pain be sufFerecl and his comparative 
 helplessness, and the danger that encompassed them, he was 
 happy, as gratitude and love make ns happy. His heart 
 overflowed, and he talked extravagantly. 
 
 "I'm going to live and get rich, and do wonders for all 
 you fellows : see if I don't ! I'll give you, Carl, a whole 
 menagerie, to pay you for the animal you have lost. Old 
 Joel, if you'll stop drinking and swearing, I'll give you a 
 farm and sixty yoke of oxen. As Jake don't like to work, 
 he'll have to become a minister : if he does, I'll build him a 
 meeting-house. Will you have a tower or a steeple, Jake ? 
 You've only to say the word." 
 
 So he promised munificent gifts to all, except Crumlett, 
 for whom he would have nothing, he said, but an empty 
 cask, whenever that gentleman wished to retire from life ; 
 except also Daniels, with whom he did not like to joke. But 
 Daniels said, "What are you going to give me, when you 
 come into your fortune ? " 
 
 " You?" said Fred earnestly. " I'll tell my mother all 
 you have done for me, and make her your friend forever, as I 
 am ; and that will be worth more than all the trifles I've 
 promised the rest." 
 
 "But why reward me more handsomely than you do 
 them?" 
 
 24* 
 
282 THE THEEE SCOUTS. 
 
 "Because they are my comrades, and they do nothing 
 more for me than I would do for them. But you are a stran- 
 ger ; and yet you have done more for me than they have, — 
 more, a great deal, than I should have done for you, I am 
 afi-aid. All this trouble just for me ! Then there is your 
 poor horse ; and, besides, your life is in danger ! What 
 right have I to accept all this from one I don't know ? " 
 
 "Wait till you do know me better than you do now; 
 then you will not ask that question. Once out of this scrape, 
 and all will be well : nobody will have any thing to regi'et." 
 
 "Nobody but me!" groaned Enos Crumlett. " Til- 
 dy ! what will she think ? I sha'n't da's to go back to her 
 now ! I hain't had a mouthful to eat since breakfast ! " he 
 added pathetically. 
 
 " And I hope you won't have, for seventeen days to come ! " 
 said Jake,'*exasperated at the man's pusillanimity. 
 
 For hours the fugitives pursued their wild journey. At 
 midnight, the clouds blew off. The moon was soaring in the 
 heavens. The wind had gone down, and the air was frosty 
 and still. Even Daniels had not, for a long time, known 
 where they were ; for there had been no stars by which to 
 shape their course, and the turnpikes could not be travelled 
 with safety. They halted on tlie edge of a wood to consult. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said Daniels, "we must be considerably 
 
THE DISCOVER Y. 283 
 
 farther north than I supposed. What we mistook for an 
 ordinary cross-road must have been the Murfreesborough 
 and Franklin Road ; and we must have crossed the Nolensville 
 pike north of Hardiman's, instead of south, as I intended." 
 
 " Wal, the further north, the better: that's my doctrine, 
 and it's a sound one ! " growled old Joel. 
 
 "Yes," said Daniels; "but in order to carry out our 
 original plan, and keep south of FrankUn, we shall have to 
 chanore our course ao;ain." 
 
 "Which I ain't a-going to do, if I die fust," said Jake 
 decidedly. "If we've been bearing more to the north than 
 we thought, le's make the most on't." 
 
 "And trust to luck," added Cy, "to get past the rebel 
 lines when we come to 'em." 
 
 " You speak my mind precisely," replied Daniels. " We 
 have thrown our pui'suers off the track, and we may possibly 
 get in this side of Franklin. But we must move very cau- 
 tiously now." 
 
 They resumed their flight, proceeding almost due north, 
 across a rolling farm-country. They had not gone half a 
 mile, however, when they discovered the fires of an extensive 
 encampment, and saw fields of white tents gleaming in the 
 moonlight. 
 
 "That must be on the Nolensville and Franklin Road," 
 
284 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 whispered Daniels.- "We must keep to the west now, or 
 camp down soon ; for it's too light altogether to think of run- 
 ning the gantlet of the enemy's pickets to-night." 
 
 " Let's put a mile or two between us and the rebels, any- 
 how," said Cy. 
 
 This was deemed good advice, and woods and hills soon 
 intervened between them and the Confederate camp-fii-es. 
 For an hour longer they plodded on, and then a halt was 
 determined upon. Travel by night over a rough and un- 
 known region is perplexing and laborious in the extreme. 
 All were weary : some were ready to drop down upon the 
 gTOund with fatigue. Fred was suffering intense pain in 
 his foot, and was exhausted with the efforts he had made to 
 walk. 
 
 They passed a sheltered little dell, and came to the foot of 
 a hill, crowned by woods, stretching in irregular long black 
 lines against the western sky. 
 
 "I think I know these woods," said Daniels. "They 
 are extensive. It is too far to go around them ; and we may 
 as well wait for daylight to get through them." 
 
 They climbed a steep, rocky crest, and entered the edge 
 of the forest. 
 
 "Here's a good place to camp down," said Fred. "We 
 can keep a lookout from this ridge, and have all the woods 
 beyond to dive into, if we see danger coming." 
 
THE DISCOVERY. 285 
 
 All threw themselves upon the ground, too weary to care 
 much where they lay. Daniels had preserved his hlauket, 
 which he once more shared with the boy, in whose welfare he 
 took so deep an interest. 
 
 " I am too tired even to thank you ! " murmured Fred ; 
 and, almost before he had ceased speaking, he fell asleep. 
 
 Fur an hour more, he was drowned in utter obUvion. Not 
 even the paui he suflfered could interrupt that blissful re- 
 pose. The last thing he remembered was his kind friend 
 ])utting his arm affectionately about him ; and the first thing 
 he observed on awaking was, that that friend was gone. 
 
 But somebotly was near, whispering to him, and gently 
 shaking his arm. 
 
 " Vidie up, vill yeV and say nothing; but come vith me 
 vile I show you." 
 
 " What is it, Caid? " said Fred, rousing himself, amazed 
 at the stranoje awakin";. 
 
 "I vill tell you; but I vas not vishing to tell the rest. 
 pecause he is your friend." 
 
 ' ' Who is ? Daniels ? Where is he ? " 
 
 " You shall see vith your own eyes," said Carl. 
 
 Leaving theu: comrades sleeping, they crept softly among 
 the trees, over roots and logs, to the brow of the crest. Hero 
 Fred became aware of a murmur of voices below ; ami ad- 
 
286 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 vancing, as Carl drew Mm by the hand, to the edge of a 
 rock which jutted clear from the fringing shi'ubs of the wood- 
 side, he looked down, and saw a bright fire burning in the 
 little dell beneath. Beyond the fire were horses picketed ; 
 around it were men lying, rolled up in their blankets, on 
 the ground ; and on a log near by sat two men conversing 
 amicably. * One of them had an immense beard, long hair, a 
 brigandish hat, and veiy brigandish pistols : it was Captain 
 Gruffley. The other was Fred's mysterious friend Daniels. 
 
 " It is he? " whispered Carl. "I thought so ; but I vas 
 not quite sure. I had not seen him by goot daylight, you 
 know. But I vake up sudden ; and I hear somepody step, 
 step, so shly jty my head : then I hear woices off here ; and 
 I say to myself, ' Old vellow, I vollow you soon ! ' So I 
 ToUow, and I see the rebs down there ; and this man comes 
 from Yun side, and he shakes hands vith the captain hearty ; 
 and then they make a sofa of that log, vith a blanket for 
 cushions, and have social times, vich I vas not weiy pleased 
 to see," added Carl. 
 
 "It is strange!" said Fred. "But why wasn't you 
 pleased?" 
 
 " Pecause, I vill tell you now all. That man, your friend, 
 is secesh : he is rebel all to his pack-pone, and vun tarn 
 shpy! " 
 
THE DISCOVERT. 287 
 
 Fred felt a strange sickness strike to bis heart. 
 
 ** Are you sm-e ? " he said faintly. 
 
 " Wery, wery sure ! " answered Carl earnestly. " Vun 
 time before now I have see bioi, and I know." 
 
 "When? where?" breathed Fred in an agony of sus- 
 pense. 
 
 " It vas ven I vas to General Pragg's headquarters." 
 
 "He said he saw you there ! " 
 
 "Yes, and I saw him too; and he vas showing to the 
 officers — vat you think? — some maps of Nashwille fortifi- 
 cations ; and he vas explaining how they vas to be attacked 
 for success. I vas instructed to spot all such vellows I see ; 
 and I spot him. It is no mishtake. It is against my prin- 
 ciple to shwear ; but vat I call him is vun tam shpy ! " 
 
 Carl uttered these words with a heat and vehemence very 
 unusual with him. Fred was astonished. All his former 
 doubts as to this man's good faith retui-ned with overwhelm- 
 ing force. It was a moment of torture to him. 
 
 " Carl ! I didn't know how I was beginning to like him ! 
 And now to think he is a traitor and a spy ! It must be — 
 it was he who betrayed our pickets : he guided the rebels ; 
 and then, from remorse, I suppose, because I am so young; 
 he helped me to escape ! Oh, see ! he is pointing this way 
 now!" 
 
288 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 *• He has got us in a trap ! " said Carl ; " and he is tell- 
 ing the captain how he shall catch us." 
 
 " But why, after doing so much to help us away, — why 
 will he give us up now ? ' ' 
 
 "He vas not Tishiug to help any but 3'ou; and now he 
 yill fix it to save you, if he gives up the rest." 
 
 " But I will not be saved by hun ! " said Fred with 
 bursting indignation. "Owe my life to a traitor to my 
 country ? Never ! I go with the boys ; and their fate shall 
 be my fate ! " 
 
 " Yell, vat shall ve do ? " 
 
 " Wait. Let's watch a httle longer. I hate to tell the 
 boys ! Oh, I wish I had never seen him ! " And Fred's 
 heart was wrung with giief. 
 
OLD JOEL'S HATCHET. 289 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 OLD JOEL'S HATCHET. 
 
 HEY watched until Daniels and the captain, 
 arising, shook hands again cordially, and sepa- 
 rated. The captain then stretched himself upon 
 the ground by the fire ; while Daniels, instead of returning 
 directly to the hill, disappeared in the shadows of the moon, 
 below its base. 
 
 " He is your friend," said Carl : " you shall do vat you 
 please. I say nothing to nopody." 
 
 Weighed down by the terrible responsibility thus cast 
 upon him, and filled with bitter and conflicting emotions, 
 Fred crept back to his bed. He found his comrades still 
 sleeping. Should he suffer them to sleep on, unwarned of 
 the threatening danger? He could not do that; and yet, 
 still secretly hoping, against all reason and proof, that 
 Daniels was not the spy he seemed, he could not make up 
 his mind to denounce him until he knew more. 
 25 
 
290 .THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 "Who is that?" said a low voice, — the voice of Cy 
 Thui'ston, who had been awakened by the movements of the 
 boy. 
 
 *' Cy," whispered Fred, ** there's rebel cavahy bivou- 
 acked just below the hill ! Carl discovered them ; and I 
 have just been to take a look." 
 
 "On which side?" 
 
 ** On the side we came up." 
 
 " Then they have ai-rived since we did, and they must be 
 on our track ! " 
 
 " So I thuik ! " said Fred. " Don't raise any alarm, but 
 go and look." 
 
 Cy went to take a peep at the enemy. Fred sat down 
 where he had lain before, instinctively discarding the blanket 
 of the man to whom he felt that he already owed too much. 
 There he waited, with intense anxiety, until Cy's return. 
 
 " Boys," said Cy, waking his sleeping comrades, " wake 
 up ! Make no noise, — not a word ; but move ! " 
 
 "What's the trouble, what's the trouble?" said Enos, 
 starting up wildly. " I thought it was Tildy punchin' 
 me!" 
 
 " Are you awake, Jake? Stirring, Joel? 'Do you hear 
 me boys, all of you? " said Cy. " Well, I have to tell you 
 there's rebel cavalry within forty rods ! Where's Dan- 
 iels?" 
 
OLD JOEL'S HATCHET. 291 
 
 "Here!" said Daniels, who had silently returned. "I 
 have just made the same discovery, and was coming back to 
 tell you." 
 
 Fred tremloled violently ; he was on the point of rising up, 
 and denouncing this man. 
 
 ** What do you say ? Shall we move ?-^— and which way ? " 
 said Cy. 
 
 ** You are a little too near such dangerous neighbors," 
 replied Daniels with his customary quietness of tone. " But 
 you need not go far. No doubt, they have been sent here to 
 be on the lookout for you. They have sentinels posted along 
 the base of the hill. It seems it has been expected that you 
 might pass this way ; and they are waiting for you now, not 
 supposing it possible that you have already passed, and got 
 beyond them." 
 
 *' They must be wery wigilant to come pat after us like 
 that," said Carl. " Vill you tell, sir, vat for they sushpect 
 ve shall be coming this vay ? " 
 
 '* Probably they have sent out to cut you off in many di- 
 rections. This party happens to arrive here, where it was 
 very reasonable to suppose you might pass, if you knew the 
 country." 
 
 " Yich you happen to know it, and vich ve have you to 
 thank for pringing us," said Carl, so dryly, that only Fred, 
 who knew his thoughts, perceived the irony. 
 
292 THE THEEE SCOUTS. 
 
 " It is just daybreak," said Daniels. "You had better 
 not think of getting out of these woods. You're safer here 
 than anywhere else. Move on quietly a little farther : take 
 Fred with you. I'll stay, and see what the Dixie boys do at 
 daylight, and warn you." 
 
 Without confusion, without noise or haste, the party retii-ed 
 farther into the woods, leaving Daniels to keep watch. 
 
 " This will do : let's wait here," said Cy. 
 
 " No, no ! further, further ! " Fred insisted. 
 
 So they kept on ; but, in a little while, not only Cy, but 
 a strong majority with him, declared they ought not to pro- 
 ceed another rod until they heard from Daniels. 
 
 "I have a particular reason for insisting," replied Fred. 
 ''Go a little farther, and I'll tell you : then you'll agree that 
 I was right. Won't they, Carl ? " 
 
 Carl, upon whose shoulder he was leaning as he hobbled 
 along after his friends, knew his determination, and answered 
 confidently, — 
 
 "He is right, — wery much so! Keep along to agoot 
 sitting-down place, and ve vill tell you a shtory vill make 
 you shtare ! '* 
 
 " Now, what is it ? " said Jake, when at length they had 
 reached a log, upon which Fred seated himself ; while all 
 stood around him in the dim early twihght of the woods, 
 eager to hear his reasons. 
 
OLD JOEL'S HATCHET. 293 
 
 Fred took his lame ankle on his knee, drew a deep breath 
 of anxiety and reluctance, then said in a suppressed voice, — 
 
 *' Boys, I have made a discovery. That man is what some 
 of you at JBirst suspected. He betrayed you once, and he will 
 again. He is a rebel spy ! '* 
 
 '* Told you so ! told you so in the beginning ! " said old 
 Joel with firm triumph. "And I hain't changed my mind 
 no time; though I didn't want to hurt Fred's feelin's by 
 say in' so." 
 
 " But, Fred, what has converted you? " 
 
 And Fred related all he knew. The doubt and astonish- 
 ment with which his comrades listened at first changed rap- 
 idly to certainty, and then to furious resentment. 
 
 ** Why didn't you tell us at once ? " 
 
 ** Because I was afraid you would kill him." 
 
 " And why not kill him ? — the dog I " 
 
 " No doubt he deserves it," said Fred; " but I couldn't 
 — I couldn't, traitor though he is, after all his kindness to 
 me. Oh, don't blame me, boys ! " 
 
 " And you meant he should get away from us? " 
 
 "Yes, or that we should get away from him. Hanging 
 him would do no good, and you couldn't keep him a pris- 
 oner. All we can do now is just to take care of ourselves." 
 Fred, gulping down his emotions stoutly, and forgetting all 
 
 25* 
 
294 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 pain, rose from the log. " We've no time to lose. We 
 should be miles from here by sunrise, — where not even he 
 can find us ! " 
 
 "I rather guess the boy is about half right," said Jake. 
 *' He means well, anyhow. But I be hanged if I'll stir a 
 step further till I lay my claw on that scoundrel's thi'oat. 
 I'm o;oino; back to find him." 
 
 " Don't ye do it, don't ye do it ! " remonstrated old Joel. 
 *' Don't mn no resks o' that kind. Better let him alone." 
 
 "Better for us, I suppose," rephed Jake. '* But I feel 
 it's a duty to stop the mischief he's doing the country. 
 Don't you, Cy?" 
 
 Fred trembled ; for he knew that Cy, such was his influ- 
 ence over Jake, had but to speak a decided "Yes" or 
 ** No " to determine Daniels's fate. 
 
 "I think he ought to be hung," said Cy in a low, firm 
 voice, after a moment's solemn thought. 
 
 "Besides," added Jake, "I'm such an unredeemed 
 wretch, I own up to a love of vengeance. I'm willing to run 
 some risk, and take a little trouble, to be even with the 
 traitor. Shall I go back for him? " 
 
 " Yes; and I will go with you," said Cy. 
 
 Fred's heart sank with misgivings and remorse for what he 
 had done. 
 
OLD JOEL'S HATCHET. 295 
 
 " Oh, don't go ! " he entreated. " I shall be sorry I told 
 you. I can never forgive myself or you, if you do, — boys, 
 boys ! " 
 
 But they would not listen ; and, even while he pleaded, 
 there arose in his heart, with strange inconsistency, the feeling 
 that perhaps he ought not to consult his own personal wishes, 
 but, for his country's sake, to let justice be done upon this 
 man. 
 
 He sat down upon the log, and covered his face with his 
 hands, writhing with anguish of spirit ; whilst his companions 
 stood around, silent, sullen, relentless, yet pitying him. 
 
 Then the boy, controlhng his passion, tried to pray, — a 
 voiceless, inward prayer, — his face still covered from the 
 cold and shadowy dawn and from the eyes of his compan- 
 ions. So he calmed himself; and into his heart stole a 
 ghmmer of light, like that from the brightening east difiusing 
 itself through the woods, — a gleam of trust, of faith in that 
 Providence his mother had taught him to revere, and which 
 had watched over him so wonderfully hitherto. 
 
 "Itvillbe all right, — all right, you see!" said Carl, 
 patting him kindly on the shoulder. 
 
 It seemed as if the Power to which he prayed had insphed 
 Caii to speak these comforting words. 
 
 ' Yes, I beHeve so I " exclaimed Fred manfully, uncover 
 
296 ' THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ing ids face. " I have done what I thought best. Now, 
 happen what may, I believe it will be all right." 
 
 '* There they come ! " said old Joel, seeing two tall forms 
 approaching, and looking eagerly for a third. 
 
 But there was no third. Fred leaped up, and gazed ; and 
 his heart leaped up also with gratitude and joy, when he 
 saw Cy and Jake returning without the spy. 
 
 " Couldn't find him ! " said Cy. " He has probably sus- 
 pected somethmg, and made off. Now, boys, for a double- 
 quick through these woods before the rascals are after us ! " 
 
 ** Any thing for exercise ! " grambled old Joel, stirring 
 himself. " I'm nigh about froze." 
 
 ''I've ketched the thunderin'est cold!" said Mr. Crum- 
 lett aguishly. "My legs are so stiff! — don't leave me 
 behuid, Tildy ! — I mean, gentlemen ! " Amid the gloom 
 and terrible uncertainty of that di-eary dawn, he had been 
 thinking ruefully of her at home ; and the name shpped from 
 his tongue before he was aware. 
 
 " I can stand the freezings," observed Carl ; " but I am 
 wery much awerse to stai'wation. I have nothing but the east 
 vind in my pelly since all night ; and it is lonesome ! " 
 
 " If I had only two good legs now," said Fred, "I 
 shouldn't care for cold or hunger either. — I'm so glad you 
 didn't catch him, Cy ! " 
 
OLD JOEL^S HATCHET. 297 
 
 "So am I ! " Cy answered with a stem smile ; " for it's 
 no trifling matter to hang a man." 
 
 The woods brightened with the morning Hght as they 
 passed through. The foliage, which would have overshadowed 
 them with its heavy canopy during the earlier months, was 
 lying on the ground, rustling under their feet. A few 
 brown and withered oak-leaves fluttered from their boughs, 
 among which the startled crows were beginning to caw ; and 
 there was occasionally a colony of pines, breathing out their 
 sweet odors upon the frosty air : but, with these exceptions, 
 all the forestrtops were bare. 
 
 "Nuts, boys! nuts!" at length cried Jake. "We 
 sha'n't starve now ! Yonder's hickories ; and we can do as 
 the squirrels do." • 
 
 " Shagbarks ! — that's what we call 'em in Vermont ! " 
 exclaimed Enos, running to look for nuts among the leaves. 
 
 "Valnuts! — that's vat they call 'em in Pennsylwany, 
 vair the Hapgoots live," observed Carl. 
 
 * ' Little did I think I should ever go a-nutting in secesh 
 woods!" chuckled Fred. "Joel's hatchet will be jast the 
 thing to crack them. You can send some of these to be 
 society for that lonesome stomach of yours, Carl ! " 
 
 "Yes! nuts makes wery excellent prowisions ! " And 
 Carl filled his pockets. 
 
298 THE THnEE SCOUTS. 
 
 m. 
 
 " Gather now, and crack afterwards," said Cy to old 
 Joel, who was beginning to use his hatchet on a log, 
 
 " Oh, yes, Joel ! wait till we come to a good safe place to 
 crack and eat," added Fred. 
 
 *' I shall crack jest where I'm a mind to, and eat jest 
 when I'm a mind to, for all anybody/' growled the old man, 
 who could never bear that the young should dictate to a 
 veteran of his wisdom and experience. 
 
 The surface of the log was rotten ; and his fingers were so 
 stiff with the cold, that he pounded them about as often as 
 he did the nuts. The others, in the mean time, scramblino- 
 over the ground and raking among the leaves, filled their 
 pockets. 
 
 " Come, old feMow ! we are too much exposed here ! " 
 And his companions, hastening on, looked out eagerly for 
 thickets in which to conceal themselves and enjoy their pro- 
 vidential breakfast. 
 
 Joel, determined to have something to nibble by the way, 
 continued crackino; the nuts and his numb fino-ers in' the 
 most stolid and obstinate manner, until, glancing up at 
 length, he discovered that he was entirely alone. The crows 
 cawed in the high tree-tops, and flapped then- black wings in 
 the silvery light. A squirrel, coming head foremost down a 
 tall oaken trunk, and perceiving an intnider robbing him of 
 
OLD JOEL^S HATCHET. 299 
 
 his winter's stores, stopped at half-mast, cocked up his little 
 head, jerked his tail angrily over his back, and scolded most 
 vehemently, filling the woods with chattering echoes. He 
 was so near, that the old man believed he could hit him with 
 his hatchet. 
 
 " I can make jest a little fire in a hollow somewhere, and 
 roast him ! By time, won't it be nice ! " 
 
 His mouth watering with the delightful anticipation, — 
 forgetting his absent companions, or thinking only of his tri- 
 umph over them when he should show his prize, and refuse 
 to share it, in order to punish them for running away from 
 him, — forgetting all danger from the enemy also, — he 
 stepped carefully forward, poising his weapon, until within 
 three or foui- paces of the trunk to which the saucy squirrel 
 clung. He looked up with a smile of confidence. The 
 squirrel looked down, spitting defiance. Suddenly the 
 hatchet, swung swiftly over Joel's head, sHpped fi-om his 
 hand, and sped straight towards the little stranger. 
 
 The tomahawk of a practised Iroquois could scarcely have 
 made a better shot. Unfortunately, however, Joel had failed 
 to take into consideration the squirrel's remarkable talent for 
 dodging. By the time the hatchet reached the spot where 
 the chattering head had been, head and body and tail had 
 disappeared on the other side of the trunk. That was the 
 last Joel saw of his fine breakfast. 
 
300 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 And the hatchet — where was that ? It had gone up, and 
 failed to come down again. In fact, it had quickly and 
 adroitly taken the squirrel's place; and there it clung, 
 fifteen feet from the ground, looking down at the astonished 
 Joel almost as intelligently as the squirrel had done before. 
 You see, there was another important contingency for which 
 the astute old man had neglected to make due allowance, — 
 the possibility of a hurled hatchet sticking where it hits. 
 
 " Wal ! " he muttered, " that didn't happen edsac'ly's I 
 ca'c'lated ! " "With a sudden feeling of consternation, he 
 looked for his absent friends, and seemed to realize the 
 danger of being separated from them altogether, and the 
 folly of his own obstinate conduct. To rejoin them with- 
 out his hatchet, however, would be too great a mortifica- 
 tion. So he hastily searched for clubs to throw at the 
 handle, in the hope to dislodge it. But his ill success in 
 discharging these missiles proved that he was either becoming 
 nervous, or that his previous capital shot at the squirrel had 
 been the result, not of skill, but of chance. 
 
 *' By time ! " he exclaimed, — appropriately swearing by 
 the precious thing he was los'ijg so much of, — "I can't 
 bring the pesky thing down in all day, at this rate ! But I 
 can shin up the tr^e in a jifiy ! " 
 
 Joel had been a good chmher in his youth ; but it was 
 
OLD JOEL'S HATCHET. 301 
 
 many years since he had had occasion to '* shin up " a trunk 
 like that. He over-estimated his agility. If the exercise of 
 cracking nuts and throwing clubs had not warmed him, he 
 was destined to get warm now. Clasping tight the trunk 
 with arms and legs, he succeeded with fearful toil, panting 
 and sweating prodigiously, in working his way up hitch by 
 hitch ; that is, inch by inch. 
 
 " I'm plaguy glad the boys ain't none on 'em here to laugh 
 at me ! " thousfht he, conscious of the ridiculous fio-ure he 
 cut. 
 
 There was a spectator, however, who witnessed the feat. 
 Attracted by the cawing of the crows, or the scolding of the 
 squirrel, or the thumping of the clubs, — or perhaps by all 
 these evidences of a man in the woods, — he approached the 
 spot, and reached the foot of the tree just as Joel reached the 
 hatchet. 
 
 The old man had been too busy to keep a lookout as he 
 climbed, and his own toilsome struggles and heavy breathing 
 had drowned the sounds of footsteps in the leaves. But hav- 
 ing, with a jerk, disengaged the hatchet, he glanced over his 
 shoulder to see where it should fall, as he was about to drop 
 it. Instead of dropping the hatchet, he came near dropping 
 himself, so great was his amazement to see a weU-remem- 
 bered face looking up at him with calm eyes from below. 
 
 It was the face of Daniels, the spy. 
 
 26 
 
302 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 DANIELS. 
 
 TiEAT was the vexation of Joel's companions 
 
 wlien they at length halted for him to come up 
 
 with them, and he did not appear. 
 
 ** Leave him behind, and good enough for him, if a man 
 
 will be a fool ! " said Enos Crumlett, strenuously opposed to 
 
 incurring any danger for the sake of another. 
 
 "If we had applied Mr. Crumlett's idea of justice to his 
 own case, I'm afraid we should have had but little of his in- 
 teresting company all this time ! " said Fred. 
 
 "Well, boys," said Qy, " we are nearer the enemy than I 
 wish ; but, since the old man is missing, we may as well crack 
 
 a few nuts whilst we're waiting. 
 
 "Hello I " cried Jake, who had gone on to reconnoitre: 
 " we're 'most out of the timber on this side ! " 
 
 Cy went forward to join him ; and they soon returned, an- 
 nouncing the discovery of a ban'cn field overlooking an ex- 
 
DANIELS. 303 
 
 panse of country, and clumps of low savins on the edo-e of 
 it, offering conveniences for concealment and nut-cracking. 
 
 " There's a ledge to crack on, and little stones we can use 
 in place of the old man's hatchet," said Cy. " We can see 
 if there's anybody coming for a mile on that side ; and one 
 of us can keep watch on this." 
 
 The opening was on the north side of the woods; and 
 Fred, hobbHng near enough .to look out, saw a large undu- 
 lating field, covered with white frost, and gilded here and 
 there with rays of the newly risen sun. In a still valley 
 below, the roofs and gable-ends of a few scattered and' half- 
 hidden dwelKngs were to be seen, with now and then a thin 
 wi-eath of smoke rising slowly from an out-door chimney, and 
 blending with the pale-blue morning haze that hung over all 
 the landscape. In the distance were more woods and hills, 
 dimly glorious in the sunlight and mist. 
 
 But Fred's eye was quickly diverted from ihQ beauty of 
 the scene by an alarming incident. By a road that wound 
 through the little village, and around towards the west side of 
 the woods, galloped a squad of cavalry-men. 
 
 " See ! — the rebels ! They are surrounding us ! " 
 
 " Sure as guns ! " said Jake. " Your friendly spy, Fred, 
 has done for us! " 
 
 *' If ve could have the pleasure to hang him from a sour 
 
304 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 apple-tree first, then ve could fight vitli goot stomachs ; for I 
 si^hpect fighting is in the programme now ! " And Carl's 
 broad, brown features hghted up belligerently. 
 
 *' Jake and I will make a reconnoissance on the west side, 
 and look after those fellows," said Cy. 
 
 They depai-ted, ghding swiftly among the trees. 
 
 " The rest of you be cracking our preakfast," said Carl; 
 ** and I vill squint vun eye out for old Joel and the rebs. 
 Maybe I shall clunb a tree to get a wiew.'* 
 
 He also disappeared. The others knelt, or sat tailor-fash- 
 ion, afbout the ledge, and cracked the nuts they had gathered, 
 and chatted in low voices, with as much apparent unconcern 
 as if they were on a mere pleasui-e excursion in Northern 
 woods, — all but Mr. Crumlett, who kept starting up, and 
 listening, and saying, *' Lord ! we shall all be killed ! " 
 whilst ravenously eating. 
 
 " I say, old Crumlett ! " exclaimed Fred indignantly, 
 " you're the only man that's eaten a nut. All the rest of us 
 are waiting to share with the other fellows when they come 
 back ; but you think only of yourself." 
 
 '' It ain't of myself: it's of my wife and children, my dear 
 wife and children ! " replied the affectionate husband and fa- 
 ther, cutting open a shell with trembling fingers holding a 
 jack-knife. " I must save my life for them, — for them ! " 
 
DANIELS. 305 
 
 and he snapped up the meat with his teeth, glancmg wildly 
 around once more for the enemy. " If I should starve, what 
 would come o' Tildy and the twins? There! there!" 
 — he leaped to his feet, prepai-ed to run like an Indian for 
 their sakes, — " the bushwhackers ! they're comin' ! " 
 
 ** Vait vile I show you if I am a pushvacker ! " and 
 Carl's genial countenance peered thi'ough the savins. " I 
 have got some sass to go vith your try preakfast," — empty- 
 ing a hatful of persimmons on the rock. 
 
 " Jerushy ! where j'e git them ? " And Enos made a 
 lunge to seize a handful of the fruit. But Carl quietly put 
 up his hat, and caught Mr. Crumlett's face in it. 
 
 " Wery sony to intervere vith your polite intentions, Mr. 
 Grumblett ! But you shall not crab ! ' These is for aU the 
 vellers, ven they come ; and I have not eat vun; and you shall 
 not, by swow ! " 
 
 *' You can't help my eating that, now I've got it in my 
 hand ! " said Enos, who had secured a single persimmon, 
 which he tossed into his mouth (for Tildy 's sake and the 
 twins'), before Carl could hinder him. 
 
 " I shall help it some ! " And the sturdy lad, leaping 
 upon Mr. Crumlett's back as he turned from hun, munching 
 the fruit, to separate the seeds from the pulp, bore him to 
 the ground, where he held him in a stooping posture, with his 
 
 26* 
 
306 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 fingers at bis throat. " Sbpit it out ! as tbe little girl said to 
 the bull-dog that had her doughnut. I shall joke you till 
 you do. And make haste ; for I must go pack to my post." 
 
 Mr. Crumlett, notwithstanding the urgent case of wife and 
 children, yielded to Cai-l's still more urgent persuasion, and 
 sacrificed the persimmon. 
 
 " Thank ye ! wery much opleeged ! " said Carl, smiling 
 grimly, when he saw ihe stolen fruit ejected. His fingers 
 relaxed their stern grip ; and Enos, terrified, and ghastly blue 
 from the throttling, arose to his feet, picking up his hat. 
 ** Now I go : and, if any of you see this wery comical indi- 
 widual do any more of his funny tricks " (for the boys were 
 laughing convulsively at poor Enos), " you shall tell me ven 
 I come pack ; and, if it is another plum, I shall prewail on him 
 to shpit it up, though it is three times swallowed." 
 
 "Darned fool!" muttered Mr. Crumlett, pressing his 
 hat into shape after Carl retired, and feeling of his windpipe. 
 " I believe he'd have killed me jest for one persimmon ! I 
 never had sich a tiger-cat's claws at my gullet in all my bora 
 days!" 
 
 Carl returned to his persimmon-tree, and was filling his hat 
 again, when he discovered two men walking through the dis- 
 tant woods. He said nothing, but crept back softly into the 
 savins. 
 
DANIELS. 307 
 
 " Fred Rivers ! I vish to shpeak vith you apout something 
 Tvery particular." 
 
 Fred promptly left his nufcKjracking, and followed his fiiend, 
 little dreaming what a shock the cool-headed Carl was pre- 
 paring for him. 
 
 ** An animal I have discovered ; and I vant to ask your 
 adwice." 
 
 *' What animil ? — where ? " said ^Ir. Crumlett, beheving 
 Carl had found something nicer still than the persimmons, 
 and meaning to have his share. 
 
 He was starting to accompany the boys, when Carl stopped 
 him. 
 
 " Mr. Grumblett, you are not inwited to the show. You 
 shtay vair you are, or I rap you." So Enos staid. 
 
 *' Now, Fred, my poy, my wision is not so goot for long 
 ranges as some, and I vant you vith your eyes to tell me vat 
 for an animal it is. Look through the voods there, and see. 
 Is its name Joel?" 
 
 " Old Joel, sure as the world ! " exclaimed Fred, de- 
 lighted at the sight of the lost old man. 
 
 *' And now you see another pibed coming from the hollow: 
 tell me if I see right, and if its name is Shpy Daniels ? " 
 
 " Oh ! " Fred could only utter a groan ; and his heart sunk 
 within him like lead. 
 
308 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I have been to cattle-shows, and I have seen animals I 
 vas gladder to see than hun ! I vas hoping he vas cleared 
 out. Now, as I have said vonce this morning, he is your 
 friend ; and I shall do vat you say. If ve call to Joel, he 
 vill come too : and it vill be sorry times for him if he gets 
 into the hands of our vellows." 
 
 " He is looking for me ! " said Fred. ** Oh ! when he got 
 away once, why didn't he stay ? Joel is hunting for us too ; 
 and we shall lose him again, if we don't call. See ! they are 
 going off towards the other side of the woods ! " 
 
 ** And you vill feel pad if something wery uncomfortable 
 should happen to your friend ? " 
 
 "I should, I should! But, Carl, do as you think best. 
 If the rebels are surrounding us, and he betrayed us to them, 
 why, then, if he was my own father, he ought to suffer, and 
 I ought to be wilhng ! " 
 
 " Eesides, ven ve have him in our hands, and the rebs are 
 coming too close for our fancy, it may be some adwantage to 
 have their man." 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " said Fred, his spirit rising up stem and res- 
 olute within him. " We must take him ! We must put it 
 out of his power to do any more mischief! " 
 
 "Then, shall I shtand up , and fizzle?" Carl meant to 
 say " whistle." 
 
DANIELS. 309 
 
 " No : I wiU ! " 
 
 ** That is goot : it vill be more surer to fetch him." 
 
 Fred rose up by the persimmon-tree, and whistled, and 
 waved his cane. 
 
 "VeU done!" said Cail ''That brings him! And 
 look how old Joel hurries vith his hatchet ! " 
 
 Full of grief, but determined ; looking pale, but inexora- 
 ble, — Fred sat down by the tree, and waited for the two to 
 come up. Carl in the mean time crept into the savins, and 
 warned the others. 
 
 " Well, Fred ! " said Daniels gravely, bending his keen, 
 magnetic eyes on the boy, with an expression kindly but 
 searching : " well, my boy ! what does this mean ? " 
 
 "I don't know, sir," replied Fred coldly: then with a 
 look, and in a tone sorrowful, reproachful, stubborn, he add- 
 ed, "I ask you, sir ! what does it mean ? " 
 
 " If you think I intended to desert you, you are altogether 
 mistaken," said the spy. " But it looks as if you had in- 
 tended to give me the slip." 
 
 " Yes, sir ! " — Fred rapped the ground nervously with 
 his cane, — " yes, sir ! I did intend to." 
 
 " You think you can do better without me, then ? " And 
 Daniels smiled, — a strange, signiJ3.cant smile. 
 
 " I think, sir, we could all have done very much better 
 without you from the first." 
 
310 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Then it will be useless for me to propose what I came to 
 propose," he said, folding his arms, and looking down with 
 a disappointed face at the boy. 
 
 " I am willing to hear any thing you have to say," Fred 
 answered sullenly, yet with a gleam of hope, — a feeble hope, 
 that this man, for whom he was beginning to feel such grati- 
 tude and aflfection, might yet say something to clear himself 
 from the terrible shadow of suspicion that rested on him. 
 
 Daniels got down upon one knee, and pretended to be 
 picking up some persimmons, as he said confidentially in 
 Fred's ear, — 
 
 "You do wi'ong to blame me for what has happened. 
 You are in a precarious situation here, I know. With 
 that lame foot of yours, I don't see how you can escape, 
 or how your comrades can get safely away with such a bur- 
 den on their hands. Now, I happen to know the officer in 
 command of the Confederate cavalry here " — 
 
 "I notice you always say 'Confederate cavalry, Confed- 
 erate government,'" interrupted Fred. '' I ssiy rebels. 
 But they are particular friends of yours, I perceive ! " 
 
 Daniels regarded him in silent astonishment a moment, 
 and went on in an unchanged tone of voice, as if no inter- 
 ruption had occurred. 
 ** I have a chance acquaintance with the officer ; and through 
 
DANIELS. 311 
 
 his influence I can get you oflT, put you on a horse, and per- 
 haps carry you through the Hues." 
 
 "And my friends here ? " 
 
 *' They must take care of themselves. I would help them 
 more, if I could ; but to relieve them of you is the most I 
 can do." 
 
 " Well, sir, I will call them, and put it to vote : and, if 
 they say I ought to accept your offer, I will accept it ; but 
 otherwise I sconi it. If they are tked of me, I'll rid them 
 of my company ; but, if not, I'll stick to them, and die with 
 them, if necessary, before I will degrade myself by receiving 
 any more assistance from a rebel spy ! Carl ! boys ! " 
 
 As Fred called, the boys rushed out. At the same mo- 
 ment, old Joel, who had been standing near, waiting for a 
 fitting opportunity to perform an act of valor he had long 
 meditated but feared to undertake, sj^rang upon Daniels, and 
 grasped his shoulder with his left hand, whilst he brandished 
 the hatchet with his right. 
 
 " You're my prisoner ! " 
 
 Daniels scarcely changed countenance as he rose from his 
 knee, and looked the old man fixedly in the face. 
 
 " Don't be a fool ! " he said in a tone of stern authority. 
 And with two motions of his hands, rapid as the play of a 
 wild beast's paws, he threw off the grasp from his shoulder, 
 and wrenched the hatchet from Joel's hand. 
 
312 THE 2HREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Scarcely bad he done so, however, when Carl, who had 
 crept behmd him, served him as he had previously served 
 Enos, — pounced upon his back, and throttled him. The rest 
 rushed to his assistance. One seized the hand that had 
 seized the hatchet, another secured its fellow ; and as Dan- 
 iels, choked and embarrassed as he was, flung his adversaries 
 about him with the strength and violence of an athlete, there 
 came suddenly a bayonet to his breast. Even Mr. Crumlett 
 aided, or sought to aid, in the capture, by standing afar oflT, 
 and exclaiming, *' Ketch him ! hang on to him ! for God's 
 sake, hang on ! " while he held himself in readiness to run 
 for his life, in case he had seen so dangerous an adversary 
 break loose again. 
 
 But Daniels, powerful and resolute as he was, could not 
 shake himself free fi'om the relentless clutches of his cap- 
 tors. 
 
 *' Don't hurt him ! don't I " cried Fred, restraining the 
 man with the bayonet. " He gives up. Let go, Cai-1 : he 
 is safe ! " 
 
 Indeed, the spy had ceased to struggle, seeing the utter 
 futility of his eflforts to release himself; and now, surrounded 
 and held, but not thrown, slightly flushed, and breathing 
 quick, but smiling quietly nevertheless, he glanced around 
 on his antagonists. 
 
DANIELS. 313 
 
 *' Well, wliat of it? You have got me. I am not equal 
 to half a dozen : I am in your hands. But you might have 
 had me with less trouble : for I have no wish to get away ; 
 only I don't like forcible restraint ! " 
 
 *' As the fox said, ven he found himself shut up in the 
 hen-coop : ' This is just the place vair I vas vishing to be,' 
 says he ; * only if you vill be so goot as open the vinder for 
 a little more air. How wery comfortable ! ' says he. So 
 madam hen, she opens the vinder, and out hops the fox. 
 But ve shall not open the vinder ; and so you shall not hop 
 out. Hillo ! there is Cy : just in time ! " cried Carl. 
 
 Grim and pleased looked the tall Blinoisan as he drew 
 near, and stood in his rebel uniform, with his rebel musket, 
 and observed what his comrades had done. 
 
 *' Happy to meet you, sir ! A little while ago, I was al- 
 most glad you were gone ; but now I hope to cultivate your 
 acquaintance still further. Boys, we have certainly been be- 
 trayed. The rebels are posting scouts on the west side of 
 us, and forming a complete line around us. They will close 
 in upon us when every thing is ready ; and we shall have 
 to fight like fury, or sun-ender. Meanwhile, let's quietly 
 deal with this man according to his deserts." 
 
 *' Don't do any thing rashly ! " Fred interceded. 
 
 "No," said Carl: '* ve vill go only on proof. Make a 
 court-martial to sit on him." 
 
 27 
 
314 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Daniels with calm dignity, touched 
 with a certain cool contempt for his captors, *' you only show 
 your ignorance and folly by these proceedings. I have been 
 actuated by a sincere desire to serve you ; and this is my 
 reward ! You are like the cat that bites the hand that is 
 binding up her wounds. You will see it some time, and be 
 ashamed of this. And you, Alfred, especially, — I thought 
 you had more confidence in me. I believed you had more 
 heart and more good sense than to join in such a silly piece 
 of business I " 
 
 His voice changed, and there was a degree of tenderness 
 in his manner ; and contempt gave place to sad disappoint- 
 ment, as he addressed the boy ; and the boy, called by his 
 name almost for the first time since his mother sent him from 
 her with blessings and tears, was deeply moved. He 
 trembled as he replied, — 
 
 " It is not a silly business, sir ; but altogether too serious. 
 I hope from my heart that you can clear yourself from the 
 charges against you : for you have shown kindness to me ; 
 and I — I wish you well." 
 
 *' Be sure I can clear myself." Daniels smiled, as if well 
 pleased to see the boy's emotion. " But I must first know 
 what the charges are." 
 
 "You shall, and have every chance to defend yourself," 
 
DANIELS. 315 
 
 said Cy. " But understand, once for all, there's to be no 
 trifling. We have no time to throw away. It is a matter of 
 life or death to you, sir, and may be to us. We have every 
 reason to believe you are a rebel spy, and that you have be- 
 trayed us. Prove the contraiy, and I for one will thank you 
 for taking a disagreeable job oflf our hands. That job is, to 
 hang you if you fail ! " 
 
 "What! murder me?" And Daniels shook his head 
 with a smile which was half a sneer. 
 
 " No, not murder ; for it will be a deed of necessity. 
 If we could convey you a prisoner to our lines, then you 
 should have a regular trial, and die if proved guilty. But 
 we can't have a prisoner on our hands : you see that. So, 
 as Carl suggests, you shall have a trial here, — slightly ir- 
 regular, it may be : but I'll see that justice is done ; and, if 
 proved guilty, you die here." 
 
 Cy spoke with a dignity and solemnity which surprised his 
 companions, and which all admired the more, because they 
 had never suspected what a noble and splendid spirit was in 
 him. They knew his bravery ; but that passed for nothing 
 extraordinary with men who were equally brave. Now, how- 
 ever, they saw hun assume the stern and impressive chai-acter 
 of a judge. 
 
 Daniels was conveyed to the concealment of the savins, 
 
316 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 and made to sit down upon the lodge, surrounded bj a strong 
 guard of his captors. 
 
 " I see you have your nuts cracked and fruit gathered," 
 he remarked with philosophical coolness. "Allow me to sug- 
 gest that you proceed to breakfast, and try me afterwards. 
 Men ai'e more apt to exercise patience and do justice on a 
 full stomach than when exasperated with hunger." 
 
 " As you please," said Cy. " But understand, if we are 
 attacked prematurely, or if you attempt to escape, we kill 
 you without a trial." 
 
 " Very well. I am in your power. You will do what 
 you like." 
 
 " Breakfast it is, then. By the time we have eaten, Jake 
 will be here. Help yourself, stranger: you shall not be 
 tried and hung on an empty stomach." 
 
 " Thank you : you are very thoughtful ! " And the spy 
 ate as fi-eely and unconcernedly as any. 
 
 Carl brought more persimmons; others cracked the rest of 
 the nuts. They guarded their prisoner, and kept a lookout 
 for the enemy, while they feasted. Before the repast was 
 ended, Jake arrived. 
 
 He, too, looked giim and pleased. at sight of the captive ; 
 and he, too, brought evidence that then* presence in the woods 
 was known to the enemy. He had penetrated to their south- 
 
DANIELS. 317 
 
 era edge, and seen scouts galloping along a cross-road on that 
 side also. 
 
 " Time's a precious article ; and I move we proceed to the 
 trial at once ! " said Cy. 
 
 " Hang him without a trial, I say ! " exclaimed Enos, 
 fearful of delay. 
 
 " Mr. Grumblett, you please let your wittles stop your 
 mouth," said Carl drjjy. Then, addressing the rest: **I 
 move Cy Thurston is appointed judge-adwocate of this court- 
 martial." 
 
 The motion was carried unanimously, and Cy gravely nod- 
 ded acceptance of the office. 
 
 "The detail for the court is as follows," — the judge- 
 advocate proceeded at once to declare: " Jake Evarts, Joel 
 Bangs, Greorge "Weston, Medad Parker, Fred E,ivers, and 
 Lyman Waterhouse. Gentlemen, hold up your right hands. 
 You do solemnly swear to perform your duty on this court- 
 martial to the best of your* ability, without prejudice, fear, or 
 favor : so help you, God." 
 
 The oath was taken. Then the judge-advocate said, 
 " Jake Evarts, being the first in rank, is president of this 
 court-martial. INIr. President, you will please administer 
 the oath to the judge-advocate." 
 
 Cy took the oath, and continued : — 
 
 27* 
 
318 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 "If the person about to be tried objects to anj' member 
 named being allowed to sit, lie is at liberty to state his ob- 
 jections." 
 
 " Grentlemen," said the spy, with more emotion than he 
 had hitherto betrayed, "I see you are determined to carry 
 out your pm-pose to a desperate extremity. You therefore 
 compel me to make known a secret which I had the best 
 reasons for wishing kept locked in my own breast." 
 
 Fred's heart gave a leap of glad expectancy. " Oh ! 
 now," thought he, "the mystery is to be cleared up, and 
 we shall know he is an innocent man ! " For, notwith- 
 standing his reason was convinced of the contrary, his heart 
 still clung to the hope that there was some mistake ; that 
 this strange man, who had befriended him, and shown so 
 many noble traits, was, after all, loyal to the cause of Free- 
 dom and the Right, and not the traitor he seemed. 
 
 What, then, was the breathless interest with which the 
 boy listened, what his horror and despair, when Daniels, 
 fixing his intense, deep, reproachful eyes upon him, said, — 
 
 "That boy must not be a member of this mock- court ! 
 I see you mean to murder me ; and I say it is not fit that 
 a son should unite in pronouncing the death-sentence on 
 his own father. My name is Daniel S. Rivers, of Adair 
 County, Kentucky. He is my only son; and this is the 
 portrait of his mother." 
 
DANIELS. 319 
 
 He drew from his breast a miniature, whicTi be extended 
 towards the boy. But Alfred, pale as death, staring glassi- 
 ly, kept his eyes fixed on the face of the spy, and did not 
 glance at the portrait, nor reach forth his hand ; appearing, 
 indeed, like one altogether stunned and paralyzed by what 
 he had just heard. 
 
 Cy took the miniature, however ; and, having looked at 
 it, passed it to Jake. 
 
 "The likeness is genuine: it is Mrs. Elvers as she was 
 ten or twelve years ago." 
 
320 THE THUEE SCOUTS. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 THE COURT-MARTIAL. 
 
 HIS unexpected revelation, and tbe unques- 
 tionable proof accompanying it, produced a 
 profound sensation among the rude men inter- 
 ested in the trial. The expression of earnestness and so- 
 lemnity which each dark countenance wore was intensified. 
 There was a pause of some seconds ; and then Cy Thurston 
 spoke : — 
 
 *' Gentlemen of the court-martial, it might, perhaps, be 
 expected that what the prisoner has just said should operate 
 in his favor. But we have sworn before Almighty Grod to 
 conduct this trial without prejudice, fear, or favor ; and his 
 assertion, that he is the father of our young comrade here, 
 rather tells against him than otherwise. I have known Mrs. 
 Rivers many years, and I know something of what that 
 noble-spu-ited woman has been made to suffer on his account. 
 And as for Fred, he owes every thing to his mother; but, to 
 his father, nothing but family sorrow and disgrace. I make 
 
THE COURT-MARTIAL. 321 
 
 this plain statement simply to offset the temptation some of 
 you may feel to violate your oaths through a mistaken pity. 
 And now I will show you the strong point which the prison- 
 er has unconsciously made against hhnself. By claiming 
 Fred as his son, he has explained away what appeared the 
 only evidence of his loyalty to our cause, — his kindness to 
 this boy. It was not because he loved the old flag, and 
 those who were fighting for it, but because he felt remorse 
 for having betrayed his own flesh and blood. However, I 
 consider his objection to Fred's remaining a member of the 
 court-martial a very reasonable one. Besides, we shall need 
 him as a witness." 
 
 Fred, in the mean time, had sat in a sort of stupor, — the 
 figures before his eyes, and the voice of the judge-advocate 
 ringing in his eai'S, no more to him than the ghastly phan- 
 toms of a sick dream, 
 
 ** Oh ! " said ho, when told that he was excused from the 
 court-martial : '' the trial ? the trial ? Is it going on ? " 
 
 *' Yes," said Cy; " and we want you now to tell every 
 thing you know about this man. What we want is the 
 truth ; and, if it is in his favor, so much the better : but let it 
 be the tnith, the whole tiiith, and nothing but the truth." 
 
 None who looked upon him — not even the prisoner, 
 j^bosc searching eyes were scarcely for an instant removed 
 
322 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 from the lioy — knew what a terrible strugfo;lo was takinpj 
 place in his heart. But now it proved too much for all his 
 powers of self-control. 
 
 " my father, my father ! " he cried out in an agony 
 of remorse and grief; and, hobbling upon the ledge, he threw 
 himself, sobbing convulsively, upon the neck of the stern pa- 
 rent, so long lost, and loved at last too late. 
 
 The spy folded him tenderly in his arms, and smoothed his 
 cheek and patted his shoulder with his hands ; and all the 
 while the features of that imperturbable, calm face scarcely 
 moved, but a light from within — the radiance of a proud 
 and satisfied soul — shone through them, and his eyes were 
 suffused with mist. There was something sublime in that 
 lofty, thrilled expression ; and more than one who saw it, and 
 heard at the same time the sobs of the boy, let fall sudden 
 tears, or choked them back. 
 
 " There, there, Alfred ! I don't blame you. You have 
 done your best : I also have done my best. I have always 
 loved you, and yeai-ned for you. I knew you, when I saw 
 you that first evening, from your resemblance to this portrait, 
 — to your mother ! " 
 
 " And it is for me that you must die ! and I betrayed 
 you ! " 
 
 " Oh, no, not you! — you have not betrayed me, my 
 boy ! " 
 
THE COURT-MARTIAL. 323 
 
 * ' I did, I did ! When I saw you talking with the rebel 
 captain this morning before day, then Carl told me what 
 you were, but left it all with me whether we should tell the 
 rest ; and I told them ! And, when we saw you in the 
 woods with old Joel, he left it with me again ; and I called 
 you : for I knew you would come to me ; and I knew, if 
 you did come, you would be taken and killed ! Oh ! why 
 didn't you tell me before that you were my father ? or why 
 have you told me at all ? " 
 
 " I tell you now, that you may not have a hand in my 
 death," said the spy very gently. " And I did not tell you 
 before, because I did not wish you to know who I was until 
 — but no matter for that. The time will come when you 
 will know that I have acted from as conscientious motives as 
 any of you here. Some things you will understand better 
 than you do now : then you will not blame me ; and then it 
 will be much for you to know that you had no hand in my 
 murder." 
 
 " Fred," said Cy kindly as a brother, laying hold of the 
 boy's arm to remove him, "we will excuse you even from 
 giving your testimony. What the rest of us know, and 
 what Carl can swear to, will be sufficient ; for the trial must 
 go on." 
 
 " You see, they are determined to have my life," said the 
 
324 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 spy vrith a smile. " I forgive them too : they, no doubt, act 
 as conscientiously from their views and belief as I have done 
 from mine. So, be a man, Alfred ! be worthy of your mother 
 and of me ! " 
 
 Then Fred controlled himself, and looked up. 
 
 " Kiss me, father ! Say you forgive me ! " 
 
 And his father kissed him and forgave him ; and, after 
 that, Cy took him away. 
 
 The trial then went on. Carl gave his testimony, which 
 alone would have been sufficient to convince any one of the 
 prisoner's guilt, even had they known no more. 
 
 "Have you any questions to ask?" said Cy, addressing 
 Mr. Rivers after Carl had finished. 
 
 " It would be useless. The boy has told the truth — as 
 far as he could possibly know the truth — with remarkable 
 clearness and precision. There is a passage in Scripture 
 something like this : ' Judge not from appearances, but judge 
 righteous judgment.' But I perceive that you are bound to 
 judge from appearances, and to judge unrighteous judg- 
 ment." 
 
 " No doubt," then said the judge-advocate, addressing 
 the court, "if we judged this man's acts from his own 
 point of view, we should consider that he had done right. 
 So, from their own point of view, we should excuse the au- 
 
THE COURT-MAETIAL. 325 
 
 thors of this infamous Rebellion, which has plunged the coun- 
 try in war, and desolated so many households, and cost so 
 many lives. So, by seeing every criminal as he sees himself, 
 we might excuse his crime, on the plea of fancied necessity 
 or ignorance or passion. But there is another point of view. 
 We are to judge by a standard of law and equity. This 
 man is proved to be a spy in the service of the rebels ; and, 
 by the laws of war, a spy, if found guilty, is worthy of 
 death, even if he is a spy in a good cause : but this man is 
 a spy in the worst and wickedest cause that ever convulsed a 
 country with war. All his sympathies are on that side. 
 You remember how respectfully he has always spoken of the 
 Confederates; you remember how averse he was to our 
 firing on them last evening, when we were running for our 
 lives. And now I ask you to consider all his acts of which 
 you have any knowledge, and then decide whether it is safe 
 for us, safe for our country, to suffer such a man to live. 
 In the fii'st place, he spied out our position, and led the rebels 
 to attack us ; and that has been £he cause of all our subse- 
 quent misfortunes." 
 
 " Excuse me, sir," interposed the prisoner ; " but, now that 
 you know my relation to the boy, do you think it probable 
 that I would direct an attack, when I knew his life would 
 be endangered? " 
 
 28 
 
326 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " I remember hearing the rebels say, after tliey captui-ed 
 lis," Thurston replied, " that the attack was made premature- 
 ly ; that it was the original intention to move later, but with 
 a larger force. In that case, Fred would have been relieved ; 
 and you probably knew it. But when you saw how the plan 
 was changed, no doubt against youi' recommendation and 
 wishes, you accompanied the party in order to save your son 
 from the mischief you were glad enough to bring upon the 
 rest of us. But, gentlemen of the court, words are of not 
 much account. It is very evident that this man gave the 
 rebels a hint last evening of the route he intended to lead 
 us, or they would not have come so close upon our heels : 
 and, having got us into the woods, he stole into the rebel 
 camp this morning before light, and eoncei-ted a scheme for 
 entrapping us ; a part of which, without dOubt, was the safe 
 removal of this boy. Now for Fred's sake, whom we all 
 love, I should like to see this part of the plan earned out. 
 But we owe a duty to oui'selves and our country as well as to 
 him. That duty compels us to put this man to death. Mr. 
 President and gentlemen, it is for you to decide whether 
 you will do your duty, and keep your oaths ; or fail in your 
 duty, and violate your oaths." 
 
 The judge-advocate ceased ; having impressed every one 
 by his dignity of manner and natural eloquence, which proved 
 
THE COURT- MARTIAL. 327 
 
 how much native ability as well as heroism lie's latent in 
 hundreds of our familiar acquaintances, waiting only for a fit 
 occasion to call it forth. 
 
 The members of the court conferred together in whispers. 
 The rest were silent. Fred did not dare to look at his father ; 
 he did not dare to read that father's fate in the countenances 
 of his comrades. The strange quiet of the woods, and the 
 beauty of the morning sunlight gilding and spotting them, 
 seemed all a sickening mockery to his senses : so he shut out 
 all sight from his eyes, and sat with his face buried in his 
 hands, as the trial drew to a close. 
 
 As for the spy, he was apparently the least disturbed of 
 any person present. There was no symptom of levity or 
 bravado about him ; on the contrary, he seemed perfectly well 
 aware of the terrible seriousness of the crisis to which his 
 career had come : yet you would have said that his mind had 
 been long made up to meet the event with perfect calmness, 
 an adamantine will, and a spirit schooled to keep its own 
 counsel through every vicissitude of fate. 
 
 *' Mr. President and gentlemen," said the judge-advocate,. 
 *' time presses. Have you agreed upon a verdict? " 
 
 '' We have." 
 
 " Is the prisoner guilty^ or not guilty ? " 
 
 ''Guilty." 
 
328 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " Prisoner," said the jaclge-advocate, "you have heard 
 the decision^of4he^.^ppurt. Have .you any thmg to say why 
 sentence of death should not presently be pronounced upon 
 you?" 
 
 " A few words I have to say," rephed the spy in an 
 equable tone of voice, and with a look of strange confidence 
 in the justice of bis cause, if not in his power to avert the 
 sentence. " Since it has come to this, and I am forced to 
 break silence" — 
 
 Fred uncovered his face, and lifted his eyes to his father 
 with an expression the most eager, prayerful, despairing, 
 which any who witnessed it had ever beheld. His father 
 saw, and smiled. 
 
 But, before he could proceed with his plea, Enos Crumlett, 
 who had been set to act as a sentinel for the party during the 
 trial, came rushing to the spot. 
 
 " Here's some cavalry-men coming up along by the 
 woods ! " he wildly whispered. 
 
 *' Be quiet! " said Cy authoritatively. " Guard the pris- 
 oner ! Kill him if he tries to escape ! " 
 
 " Tlie court will take an intermission of six minutes to 
 squint at the enemy," said Jake, lifting his musket with a 
 sparkle of gayety in his eyes, kindled by the prospect of a 
 fiirht. 
 
A CAPTURE AND AN ESCAPE. 329 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 A CAPTURE AND AN ESCAPE. 
 
 » 
 Y and Carl crept through the savins to recon- 
 noitre. The cavalry-men, six in number, were 
 galloping by the edge of the barren field. Be- 
 hind them, more slowly, rode the most thoroughly brigandish- 
 looking fellow of them all, examining carefully the woodside 
 with eyes that gleamed out from between a slouched hat 
 above, and an immense beard and projecting red nose below. 
 He wore a jingling sabre, and was studded all over with 
 pistols. 
 
 "It is Mr. Grumblett's friend, the captain ! '' observed 
 Carl, peeping from a bush. 
 
 Mr. Crumlett's friend, the captain, was passing on, follow- 
 ing his companions, who were already disappearmg over a 
 hill ; when suddenly the savins, which grew thickly all along 
 that side of the woods, excited his attention. He checked 
 his horse, and rode back along the edge of them ; reining 
 
330 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 straiglit towards the clump, surrounding tlie ledge where the 
 boys had cracked their nuts and tried their man. 
 
 "By lightning!" said Jake through his teeth, "we'll 
 have to kill that buck ! " 
 
 But Cy restrained him, aware that a shot would spoil 
 every thing. Something was to be done, however, or, in a 
 minute, the fugitives would be discovered. 
 
 " Yait vile I try some trick ! " And Carl, stepping from 
 behind his bush, appeared in full view of the advancing 
 rebel. 
 
 The latter pulled rein, and drew a pistol in an instant. 
 
 " Wery pleased to meet you vonce more ! " said Carl with 
 a bland smile, unshrinkingly. 
 
 " Advance ! " commanded the captain. " You're my 
 prisoner ! " 
 
 "I'm most happy to adwance and be anypody's prisoner 
 as vill protect me and my pishtols." 
 
 '' Your pistols ? Give them to me ! " 
 
 " That is just vat I was proposing to do. Yen I see you 
 last, you say to me, ' Next time you come through the lines, 
 pring pishtols, pring pishtols ! ' you say." 
 
 " And where are they ? " 
 
 " You come into the voods just a little vay, and I vill 
 show you. Yen I see your soldiers, I vas afraid : but I re- 
 
A CAPTURE AND AN ESCAPE. 3S1 
 
 member your wery benevolent countenance ; and I say to 
 myself, ' He vill protect me, and pay for my pishtols.' " 
 
 " Yes, I recollect," said the captain, after musing grimly 
 a moment. "You're the Dutch peddler. You did well to 
 smuggle pistols." 
 
 " You yait here, and I vill run and get 'em. You see," 
 said Carl, " I get into some wery pad scrapes vith my smug- 
 gling; and some things must be kept out of wiew." 
 
 "Halt ! " — as Carl was going. " How far is it ? " 
 
 " I shall not be gone more as three or four rods." 
 
 " Not if I go with you ; but, if you go alone, I'm afrciid 
 you'll forget to stop ! Have you seen any Yankee runaways 
 in these woods? " 
 
 " I have seen some men a little vile ago : but I thought 
 they vas Conwhederates ; and, as I said, I vas afraid." 
 
 " Where did you see them ? " 
 
 " Shall I tell you first, or shall ve see to the pishtols ? " 
 
 " You look like* an honest boy ! " said the captain, eying 
 him sharply. "But mmd, if you fool me, you will get 
 pistols enough ! " 
 
 "Yes, I see, you have a wast wariety! " remarked Carl 
 with a smile, glancing from the captain's belt to his boots. 
 "Yat a pretty little popper that is!" — as the captain 
 drew one, and cocked it. - , 
 
332 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 He was gaping admiringly at the weapon, and drawing 
 near as if to examine it, when the captain's ear caught a 
 rustle and his eye a movement behind tho bushes, in among 
 which he had remed his horse. Instantly up leaped Cy and 
 Jake with gleaming guns. Simultaneously, spurs were struck 
 into the horse's flanks, and the pistol aimed and snapped. 
 But Cai'l caught the bridle, and the pistol missed fire ; 
 and, before another could be snatched from belt or holsters, 
 Carl had seized the captain's arm, and was dragging him to 
 the ground. 
 
 " Help ! " cried the rebel, as he saw Jake and Cy rush- 
 ing to the boy's assistance. 
 
 " You stop that holler, or you die joking ! " And Carl, 
 for tho third time that morning, applied persuasive fingers to 
 another's wmdpipe. 
 
 The captain succumbed, and was carried " into court," 
 as Jake termed it. There, his arms taken from him, he 
 was permitted to sit upon the ground, and look around upon 
 the strange group and unexpected scene in the midst of 
 which he found himself. 
 
 " For the pishtols it vas my intention to show you, these 
 here is the wery articles," said Carl, assorting the weapons. 
 " Ve captured a whole arsenal ven ve captured you ! And, 
 for the men I had seen a little vile ago, they vas your own 
 cavalry, — all but these, vich is some friends of mine." 
 
A CAPTURE AND AN ESCAPE. 333 
 
 ** Stranger, do you know that man?" said Cy; for the 
 captain's eyes, after peering about him curiously for a min- 
 ute, had rested on the spy. 
 
 The captain nodded three times, slowly wagging his head 
 up and down, and parting his lips with a malign smile. 
 
 " Is this your work, Daniels ? Well, next tune I suspect 
 a man, I'll hang hini first, and investigate afterwards ! " 
 
 " That is a goot notion, and may be ve shall inwestigate 
 your case in the same vay. I go for the halter from that 
 horse : it vill come in fashion on some necks ! " And Carl 
 went to bring it. 
 
 " But you do wrong to suspect your friend, captain," said 
 Cy. " He has served you only too well ; and that service 
 has cost hun his life." And he explained. 
 
 " Is it so ? " said the captain. ^' Daniels, I beg your par- 
 don ; but don't be disturbed. My fellows will be here for 
 me in five minutes; and they'll avenge as well, I promise 
 you, if a hair of our heads is injured." 
 
 " In that case," said Jake, " we must hurry up. The 
 sentence of the court is, Daniels, that you be hanged by the 
 neck, from that beech-tree, with the captain's halter, until 
 you are dead ! " 
 
 '* But he was going to speak ! " broke forth Fred. " He 
 was going to say something why sentence should not be 
 passed. You said he might, Cy ! " 
 
334 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 " And so lie shall, if be will speak quick ! " 
 
 The spy glanced from Fred to the captain with a gloomy 
 expression, as if it was the presence of the latter that closed 
 his mouth ; and answered in a solemn, firm voice, — 
 
 " I have nothing to say." 
 
 " Nothing ? My father ! nothing ? Oh, don't say that ! " 
 
 *' Fred ! " — and, as Cy spoke, he himself was well-nigh 
 overcome with emotion, — " don't feel too bad ! It can't be 
 helped. We are obliged to do it ; or, God knows, I wouldn't 
 for all the world ! " 
 
 " Tie his hands behind him, Carl ! " said Jake. 
 
 "Thank you," replied Carl. "I vas only a vitness in 
 this trial : I vas not the court, and I am not the sheriff." 
 And, having brought the halter, he would not lift a finger 
 to aid in the execution. Phlegmatic as he seemed, his heai't 
 was heaving with sympathetic throes at the sight of Fred's 
 affliction ; and he turned away his face to conceal what was 
 mastering him. 
 
 " I'll tie 'em ! " said Enos Crumlett. 
 
 He took the throat-latch, which Jake had stripped from the 
 halter for the purpose, and was performing with shaky hands 
 the service for which he had volunteered, hoping thereby to 
 gain credit for zeal and courage, when he heard a movement 
 behind him, and looked around. 
 
A CAPTURE AND Ay ESCAPE. 335 
 
 The captain, taking advantage of the concentration of inter- 
 est about the spy, attempted an escape. He sprang to his 
 feet, knocking down Joel, who was guarding him ; and would 
 have got out of the savins, and into the open field, had not 
 Cj and Waterhouse leaped after him like tigers, seized, and 
 brought him down. 
 
 Mr. Crumlett, as I said, looked around : so also did 
 Jake and his assistants, who were guarding the spy. A 
 rapid turn, a swift blow or two, and Jake and Crumlett 
 went down in a heap together upon the ledge, and the 
 prisoner was gone. He went through the sa\ans like a bird ; 
 so suddenly, that Weston and Parker, attempting to grasp 
 him, only grasped each other. Carl, betrayed into careless- 
 ness by his own feelings, was not on hand to render assist- 
 ance ; and, before Jake could regain his feet, the spy, mount- 
 ing the captain's horse at a bound, was galloping through the 
 woods. 
 
 Fred jumped up eagerly to witness the flight of his father, 
 whose death, a moment before, seemed inevitable. He 
 strained his eyes ; he stood tiptoe on the ledge, regai'dless of 
 pain. Then, when the fugitive was out of sight, he sank 
 down again without a word, his hands clinched, his teeth 
 set, and his features convulsed and rigid. 
 
33G 
 
 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 TffU FIRST ATTACK 
 
 AL ! " said Jake, looking exceedingly cheap, 
 "I guess this court had better adjourn! I 
 hain't had such a blow ! I thought thunder 
 and lio;htninor had kicked me ! " 
 
 *' I could have fired some pishtols at him," said Carl; 
 " but that vould have been signals for the rebs ! " And he 
 appeared wonderfully cheerful as he saw the empty halter in 
 Jake's hands. " How goes it, Fred? He is in a conwul- 
 sion ! " 
 
 Fred recovered himself as Carl kindly lifted him in his 
 arms. 
 
 "Goot times is coming, Fred ! The court takes a waca- 
 tion to rub its eyes open ! That vas a veak sentence ; it 
 could not hold : and the shpy is gone, and you are glad ! " 
 
 " I am not glad, and I am not sorry ! " said Fred, sitting 
 up, the expression of his countenance gloomy almost to fierce- 
 ness. " It was hard to see my father hung ; but it is just as 
 
THE FIRST ATTACK. 337 
 
 hard to think he is a spy, and deserves hanging ! I be- 
 heved — I felt — he might have cleared himself; but you 
 were right, boys ! " 
 
 " We shall have it hot here pretty quick, I reckon ! " said 
 Cy. " The rebs will be on us ! " 
 
 " That's so I " said the captain. " And my advice to you 
 is, to give yourselves up, and receive the treatment of prison- 
 ers of war." 
 
 " Suppose you put that to wote, gentlemen. In mean time, 
 I shall appropriate this carvhig-knife." And Carl, consider- 
 ing himself entitled to the sabre he had been chiefly instru- 
 mental in capturing, buckled the belt about his waist, and 
 stuck one of the captain's stock of small arms into it. 
 
 " What say, boys," cried Jake : " shall we fight, or sur- 
 render? " 
 
 " Fight when we can, surrender when we must ; that's my 
 motto," said Cy. 
 
 A vote was taken ; and all agreed with Cy, except Fred 
 and Enos Crumlett. 
 
 "I'm a peace man," said Enos with a white and ghastly 
 smile. "I say, Kun when we can; but surrender ruther'n 
 fight the devils! They're so reckless, they don't mind 
 killin' a feller no more'n nothin' ! " 
 
 "Just vat I should expect from a disciple of,Mishter 
 
 29 
 
338 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Wallandigham ! " remai'ked Carl. "But I didn't expect 
 you vould turn coward or secesh, Fred ! " 
 
 "Coward? secesh?" Fred's eyes blazed. "I said I 
 didn't agree with Cy; and I don't. He says, ' Fight when 
 we can; surrender when we must.' I say, Fight any how, 
 and don't suiTcnder at all ! " 
 
 " That is vat I call a praisevorthy sentiment! It vas 
 mine all the time ; but I did not say it, fear some should 
 think I vas selfish." 
 
 "How, selfish, Carl?" 
 
 " You see, Cy, if I am took again, I shall make acquaint- 
 ance vith the hanging process this time, wery certain. I have 
 preferences for fighting. The rest of you may be treated 
 prisoners of war ; and so I shall not take it on myself to give 
 adwice." 
 
 "Prisoners of war! " said TVaterhouse wrathfully. "I 
 have had two brothers die in their inhuman jails ; and do you 
 suppose I want to go and rot and starve like them ? Better 
 die here, and done with it ! " 
 
 " Fight it is, then, boys ! " said Jake with a quiet chuckle. 
 
 " Fred, you're a cripple; and it's no more than fair you 
 should choose your weapon." 
 
 " Give me that horse-pistol ! " 
 
 " You make a goot choice for your veapon, Fred ; but I vill 
 
THE FIRST ATTACK. 339 
 
 tell you pefor«liand, that ammunitions is not plenty for pish- 
 tols. I have taken some liberties vith the pishtol-man's pock- 
 ets, and I conclude he vairs the small arms for ornament. 
 There is but two cartridges for the pig pishtols, some pullets 
 for the little arms, and just three charges in the rewolwer. 
 But there is a powder-flask that vill be velcome ! " 
 
 " Give it to me ! Jake's bullets will fit this bore ! " said 
 Fred with a lurid smile. "There'll be sport, boys, before 
 we are quite used up ! " 
 
 " When the ammunition is gone, then the bayonets ! " said 
 
 Cy. 
 
 " And the hatchet, by time ! — don't forgit the hatchet ! " 
 added old Joel. 
 
 *' And the rebel carving-knife ! " (Carl rattled his sabre. ) 
 '* And Mr. Gramblett's jack-knife, he's such a waliant 
 chick!" 
 
 '' ITush, boys ! " said Parker : "the cavalry-men are com- 
 ing back ! " 
 
 "Hunting for their lost captain!" laughed Cy. "Lie 
 low, and keep dark ! There they go ! they don't suspect ! 
 Now, boys, get every one a good position ; but don't fire till 
 we're discovered." 
 
 " Tell me if any thing interesting turns up," said Jake, 
 nibbling at the nuts that had been left for him. '' Seems to 
 
340 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 me, this is a rather slim breakfast for fighting-men ! I vfkh. I 
 had one of them turnips ! " 
 
 " Vat turnips ? " said Carl, starting up with an eagerness 
 he rarely betrayed. 
 
 "I see a whole field on 'em over t'other side of the 
 woods : but 'twas in sight of the rebs ; so I kept my vandal 
 hands oJ0f." ^ 
 
 " It is time turnips vas pulled ! Turnips is excellent wege- 
 tables. If I see some, I shall not keep my wandal hands 
 oflf! Vair did you see your turnip-patch, Jake ? " 
 
 Jake informed him more particularly, but warned him 
 against attempting to get any. 
 
 " Raw turnips is goot fodder ! " said Carl with a twinkle 
 of anticipation. " Gentlemen, you just give my compliments 
 to the rebs, if they come. Meanthne, I take my own lisks, 
 and go reconnoitre some turnips.'* 
 
 He stole out of the savins, and through the leafless, sunny 
 woods, and was soon out of sight. 
 
 '* Hello ! " said Weston, keeping an eye out towards the 
 north. " See that man riding up the road over the hills ! " 
 
 ** He goes like Jehu ! " said old Joel. 
 
 Fred, whose eyes were perhaps the best in the crowd, 
 gazed long at the flying horseman ; then, as the latter dis- 
 appeared in a gorge that opened among the hazy, cedar- 
 
THE FIRST ATTACK. 341 
 
 crowned bills, lie said quietly, tlirougli bis close-beld 
 teetb, — 
 
 *' That man is my fatber, on tbe captain's borse ! " 
 
 " G-oing for re-enforcements," observed Cy. *' One com- 
 pany of rebel cavalry ain't enougb to venture an attack on 
 a squad of Yankee runaways ! " 
 
 "Look bere, friend captam," said Jake, "bow many 
 bave you got bunting us? " 
 
 " Enougb, so tbat there needn't be any burry about beat- 
 ing up tbe game. There's no possible escape for you; and, 
 if more men are needed to make tbe capture easy, more are 
 witbin call." 
 
 " Wbat cavalry is youi'S ? " 
 
 " Grruffley's Riders. "We are a detacbed company." 
 
 "In otber words, busbwbackers," said Cy; "more po- 
 Ktely called guerillas. Is your name Glruffley ? " 
 
 Tbe captain nodded witb an appropriately ferocious 
 smile. 
 
 " It was be and bis men tbat murdered old Ellsmer and 
 bis wife ! " said Fred. " They are bloodtbirsty cowards ! " 
 
 " Tbey took part in tbe attack wben we were, gobbled 
 up," said Cy. " And now, my friend, tell us bow it bap- 
 pens you are on our track to-day." 
 
 "I'll tell you tbat; for I see you suspect my friend 
 
 29* 
 
34:2 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Daniels unjustly," replied the captain, pulling his beard. 
 *' You couldn't make such a row in an enemy's country as 
 you did last night, without receiving attention. Companies 
 were sent out for you in every du-ection where there was a 
 possibility of overhauling you. I happened to be in the 
 neighborhood with my men, — it is oui' business to look after 
 such little jobs, — and I was ordered to sweep the country this 
 way. I took the turnpike to head you off, and thi-ew out 
 scouts on all the roads. You almost walked over one of my 
 men : his horse was tied, and he was lying on the ground to 
 let you pass and hear what you were saying. He made 
 sure of the course you were travelling, — that was all he 
 could do, for he was alone, — then rode to find mo. That 
 brought us to this hill. I sent half my men around it, and 
 bivouacked the rest on the east side. This morning I found 
 your tracks on the frosty ground, and knew I had trapped 
 you." 
 
 ** You quite forget to mention one very important thing, 
 — Daniels's visit to your bivouac before daylight this morn- 
 ing."- 
 
 *' It was on very different business from what you suppose. 
 He had a plausible errand to me ; no matter what : but I 
 half suspected he was trying to find out my business and 
 intentions. I didn't enlighten him much. So he left me , 
 
THE FIRST ATTACK. 343 
 
 and it seems, from talk I have overheard among you, he 
 came back to you. I remember this boy ; and, now I know 
 he is Daniels's son, I understand some things that looked to 
 me suspicious before." 
 
 " Oh, I was sure he could not have betrayed us ! " ex- 
 claimed Fred. ** He may be a rebel and a spy ; I know 
 he is : but he couldn't be such a villain ! " 
 
 ** Perhaps not," said Cy. *' But I am no more sure of 
 it than I was before. You defend your absent friend well, 
 Captain G-ruffley ! In return, I suppose he will bring a 
 regiment or two of your brother rebels to recapture you." 
 
 "Ha, ha!" laughed Jake quietly: "there come your 
 Riders back, looking for you, captain ! " 
 
 " And SIX more with 'em ! " said Parker. 
 
 " They've got their eyes on these 'ere bushes too ! " said 
 old Joel. " By time ! they're steerin' straight towards us ! " 
 
 " Take aim ! " whispered Cy. 
 
 Each man, save Enos and the captain, thrust the muzzle 
 of his musket or pistol through the bush that sheltered him, 
 and waited. 
 
 " Don't shoot till I git under that log ! " gasped the terri- 
 fied INIr. Crumlett; and, plunging through the savins, he 
 made a rustling that alarmed the Riders. 
 
 They pulled rein, and, rising in their stirrups, looked 
 
344 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 eagerly over into the clump of evergreens. The captain 
 laughed, — noiselessly, however ; for he was bound to a bush 
 by the halter taken from his horse ; and he knew that there 
 were bayonets ready to turn, and thrust him through, if he 
 spoke or moved. 
 
 The Riders called his name. Receiving no answer, they 
 withdrew a few rods, and consulted. 
 
 " They've seen us ! " said Fred. " But the thicket is an 
 ugly place to charge into. Look ! they're going to fire ! " 
 
 Three or four of the Riders unslung their carbines, and 
 levelled them. 
 
 "They're going to feel on us that way!" said Jake. 
 *' Chance shots; not much danger : don't retui-n 'em ! Say 
 nothinoj but laugh ! " 
 
 Few felt like laughing, however. There was a gleam of 
 excitement in each face, as it watched for the flashinor of the 
 carbines. It's a queer sensation, not provocative of meni- 
 ment, to see a row of steel ban-els aimed at you, — or at the 
 bushes that conceal you, — not five rods oflT, and to wait for 
 the flame and the bullets ! The moment of suspense seems 
 strangely long ; and how all yom senses are intensified ! It 
 requires no ordinary degi-ee of courage, and strength of will, 
 for armed men to stand such an ordeal, and not attempt to 
 avert it by firing first. 
 
THE FIRST ATTACK. 315 
 
 lu the savins, every finger was at its trigger ; but not a 
 trigger was pulled. The carbines blazed. Crack, crack ! 
 — ping, ping ! — and the bullets, with short, sharp whizz 
 and clip, came cutting the twigs close around the ambushed 
 
 And now there was a laugh, — a savage, silent laugh. It 
 was Jake's. 
 
 "Told ye so! They'll try again; then they'll come 
 nigher. Then we'll give 'em Hail Columby ! " 
 
 " Lie flat, Fred ! " said Cy, ~ " flat on your belly ! You 
 expose yourself! " 
 
 " They can't see me," replied Fred; "and, if I get any 
 lower, I can't see them." 
 
 "Is this fair," muttered Gruffley, — "to expose a pris- 
 oner of war to the fire of his own men ? " 
 
 " You stand as good a chance as any of us, and a little 
 better," said Cy. " I'll get before you." And he magnani- 
 mously changed his position, so as to cover his enemy's body 
 with his own. 
 
 " Now we have it again ! " said Waterhouse. 
 
 Half a dozen scattered shots, fired more at random, came 
 singing among the savins. 
 
 "By time! look here!" whispered old Joel; and he 
 showed the handle of his hatchet, which he had held before 
 
346 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 bis head as a protection, nicked by a ball that bad glanced 
 off, and slashed a bne three inches long up bis coat-sleeve. 
 " If t hadn't been for this, 'twould have split my collar-bone, 
 and like as not played the mischief with me gener'ly ! " 
 
 And he laughed too, rejoiced to think be bad not left bis 
 hatchet stickino; in the tree, where he bad flunnr it at the 
 squin-el. 
 
 "They are dismounting!" said Fred. "No show for 
 horses in this brush : they're going to make a dash on foot ! 
 Cy, you must let us fire, this time ! You give the word ! " 
 
 " Gruffley's E.iders turned into Gruffley's Walkers ! " 
 joked Cy. " They're slinging their cai'bines : they're going 
 to give us a taste of the sabre." 
 
 " Tell 'em I surrender, I surrender ! " gasped forth Enos 
 Crumlett, putting up his bead from behind the log, and dodg- 
 ing out of sight again in a twinkling. 
 
 " They're coming ! Ready, boys ! " muttered Cy. 
 
 With sabres in air, and with hideous yells, ten of the 
 Eiders (the other two were left with the horses) came char- 
 ging at a double-quick towards the savins. 
 
 " Give it to 'em ! Fire ! " cried Cy. 
 
 Flash, flash, flash ! bang, bang, bang ! from the muskets, 
 mingled with sharper reports from the pistols ; and the flame 
 and smoke and crackling roar burst out of the bushes full 
 into the faces of the oncoming assailants. 
 
THE FIRST ATT A C K. 347 
 
 There was a momentary cheek. The smoke lifted. Two of 
 the rebels were seen upon the ground : a third had di-opped 
 his sabre ; his arm hung shattered. 
 
 " Come on, come on ! " shouted the Union boys. 
 
 Up went the defiant, bristling bayonets ; aloft glanced the 
 hatchet : the holders of the pistols lay low, and reloaded. 
 
 The Riders, although temporarily repulsed, saw but four 
 weapons against them : they were seven. Rallying at once, 
 they rushed to avenge their woundod and slain. Click, 
 clash ! — steel met steel, the sabre the bayonet ; slash and 
 thrust, shrieks and yells I Joel hurled his hatchet : lucky 
 again. No rebel could dodge as a squirrel could : a rebel's 
 face was spoiled ; the rebel himself tumbled. 
 
 And what was this ? Another sabre from behind, with a 
 running accompaniment of pistol-shots ! 
 
 It was Carl, astonishing to behold ; his hat off, lost upon 
 the wind in the fervor of mnning ; his sword-belt thrust fiill 
 of turnips, with the tops hanging and flapping like green 
 fiinges of a barbarian's war-sash ; his right arm brandishing 
 the captain's blade, his left filing the captain's revolver ; and 
 himself taking marvellous strides to join the fray. 
 
 The sight of him, and the lusty shouts of his belligerent 
 lungs, sufficed to turn the scale of battle. The assailants 
 showed heels, and scampered ; that is, all who were in a con- 
 
348 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 dition to scamper. One bad been killed outrigbt. A ball 
 from Fred's borse-pistol bad shattered another's knee. (" We 
 generally fire too bigb wben there's excitement," said Fred : 
 "so I' thought I'd aim low enough.") These two remained 
 on the field. A third, whom Joel's missile had damaged, 
 was only stunned : he had been struck on the cheek-bone by 
 the head of the hatchet, not the edge. Recovering himself, he 
 got up ; and, seeing what his companions were doing, did the 
 same. At least two others carried with them disabling 
 wounds. 
 
 Cy and Jake immediately rushed out, and, seizing the 
 fallen Riders, dragged them into the bushes. Their object 
 was twofold : first, to secure their arms and ammunition ; next, 
 to see what could be done for the men themselves. 
 
 Whilst they were thus occupied, the rest were busy reload- 
 ing. Grruffley, who had been waiting for this chance, slipped 
 his limbs free from the halter, which he had succeeded in 
 loosening, leaped over Mr. Crumlett's log, and dashed, not 
 in the direction of his defeated friends, but into the deep 
 woods. Carl fired the last shot from his revolver at him ; 
 but the ball was intercepted by a tree. There was no help 
 for it : the captain had escaped . 
 
IK D IAN WARFARE. 349 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 INDIAN WARFARE. 
 
 SHOULD have fired some turnips at bim ; but 
 that is' too waluable ammunition to lose on a 
 rebel. The pullets may go into their podies, 
 and velcome; but the turnips is predestined to go into ours ! 
 Lend us a jack-knife," added Carl, *' and I vHl make 'em into 
 cartridges." 
 
 " How did you get 'em, Carl ? " asked Fred. 
 
 " There vas rebs not more as twenty rods off; but I got 
 fiat on the ground like a mud-turkle, and crawled. Ven I 
 pulls a turnip, I takes him so, and slips the tops down through 
 my sword-belt. Then, ven it vas full all around, —more tur- 
 nips as ever the captain had pishtols, — I crawls back again ; 
 not quite so flat, for the turnips vas not vilhng. ' Never 
 mind,' says I : ' you are outside now ; but you shall be inside 
 soon.' Then I hear the firing : so I jumps up, and runs, 
 and gets here just in time to see some shport." 
 
 All was quiet now in the savins, and not a head was visible 
 
 30 
 
350 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 to the rebels on either side ; for they were on more than one 
 side now. Carl, when he leaped up from the turnip-patch, 
 had been discovered : three swift-spurring Riders pursued, 
 but were compelled by the undergrowth and prudential rea- 
 sons to haul rein on the edge of the woods. There they were 
 met by theii' cajDtain, who lost no time in marshalHng his 
 forces for a grand assault on the fugitives. 
 
 Forty Riders, dismounted, and deployed as skirmishers, 
 were soon advancing on all sides through the woods, like 
 savages, darting from tree to tree, and suiTounding the little 
 band of men and boys in the savins within an ever-narrowing 
 cu'cle. The latter, as before, withheld their fire. " Let 'em 
 come nearer ! " said Cy. " Don't pull a trigger till you are 
 dead sure of your men I " In the mean time, he bound the 
 halter about the leg of the wounded prisoner, just above the 
 knee, to prevent him from bleeding to death ; while Carl and 
 the rest coolly pared and ate the raw turnips. 
 
 " By time ! " said old Joel, " our little rumpus is raisin' 
 the countiy ! See 'em flockin' over the hill yender, comin' 
 to helj) suiTOund us ! There'll be a hundred rebs poppin' at 
 us from behind the trees in half an hour." 
 
 "Yes, and in less time than that!" said Fred. "But 
 the fun is, we can pop back." 
 
 " There ain't much fan fightin', though," grumbled old 
 
INDIAN WARFARE. 851 
 
 J«el, " wlicn there ain't no longer no chance, not even to 
 sell our lives dear." 
 
 " Plenty of negatives in that sentence, but not much 
 pluck," replied Fred. " Why can't we sell our lives dear? 
 We've got the carbines, and a little addition to our stock of 
 powder and lead ; and you've your hatchet again, that does 
 such splendid execution ! " 
 
 " If any man wishes to surrender, now's his time. He 
 can raise a white rag on a stick, and put," said Cy. " The 
 rest of us mean to fight it out." 
 
 " Wal, I guess I better stick by, if that's the decision." 
 And Joel, having finished his turnip, took a chew of tobacco, 
 a liberal supply of that interesting weed having been dis- 
 covered in exploring the two rebels' pockets. " By time, 
 don't that taste good ! I believe it's a week since I've had 
 a chaw. I never suffered so in my life ! " 
 
 " The rag is coming from the other side ! " laughed Fred. 
 In fact, one of the assailants, with a white handkerchief on a 
 stick, was advancing cautiously among the trees. 
 
 " Come along ! " said Jake. " You sha'n't be hurt ! " 
 
 The flag of truce approached until within twenty yards or 
 go of the fugitives ; when Cy ordered it to come no nearer. 
 
 " That's close enough! Do your Qirand, and be off! What 
 do you want ? " 
 
352 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ** Captain Gruffley demands your unconditional surrendef." 
 
 *' Tell Captain Gruffley he demands too much. After re- 
 ceiving such treatment as he got from us, he might at least 
 grant us some privileges." 
 
 " What privileges do you ask? " 
 
 Cy stood out from the savms, and answered in a loud 
 voice, — 
 
 " We demand to be paroled, and sent to the Union lines : 
 viQ, on our part, engage not to bear arms again until regu- 
 larly exchanged. Give us these terms, and pledge your honor 
 that not one of our party shall on any account be detained, 
 and we yield ourselves prisoners of war." 
 
 "I know Captain Gruffley will not grant any such con- 
 ditions. You are to surrender unconditionally." 
 
 ''We know what that means, " answered Cy in a voice 
 that reverberated through the forest. " It means, we are to 
 be shot. If we are to die, we prefer to die fighting. Now 
 go back, or you'll be fired upon ! " 
 
 The flag of truce withdrew, and Cy retreated into the 
 savins. 
 
 "Boys," said Waterhouse, ''remember how they served 
 Edson and his fellows in Kentucky : after they had prom- 
 ised to parole them, they took them out, and shot them down, 
 and beat out their brains like dogs ! Don't trust the fiends. 
 Lot them promise what they will, don't trust 'em." 
 
INDIAN WARFARE. 353 
 
 "Waterhouse is right!" said Fred. "Let's die like 
 men, if we must; not like dogs." 
 
 The flag of truce, having passed from sight over a wooded 
 knoll, was presently seen returning. 
 
 '* Captain Glruffley promises to spare your lives if you sur- 
 render without further trouble. If you fight him, he swears 
 to hang every man of you that is taken alive." 
 
 "Boys," said Cy solemnly, — indeed, it was a moment 
 of awful solemnity to all, — " shall we trust him ? " 
 
 "I beUeve they'll hang us, anyway, if they get us mto 
 their hands alive!" said Fred. "They are treacherous; 
 they'll promise any thing." 
 
 " That is my opinion. But, if there's a man here that wiU 
 take the bushwhacker's word, let him step out now, and try 
 hun." 
 
 Not a man stirred. 
 
 "Mr. Flag," then said Cy, "we have concluded not to 
 surrender. Now clear out, and don't bother us again. Go 
 and say to Captain Gruffley, that, if he or one of his men 
 shows himself within range of our pieces, he gets a shot ! " 
 
 " Wait, wait ! " cried Enos Crumlett, startmg up. "Do 
 you think they'll spare my life ? will they spare mine ? I 
 hain't fit, and I ain't a fightin' man ! " 
 
 "Yes, they'll spare your life, I've no doubt," said Fred, 
 
 30* 
 
354 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ** for the sake of your wife aud children ! Gi-uffley knows 
 you : go, and give yourself up." 
 
 "And he knows I didn't fight, don't he?" said Enos 
 with a gleam of hope. " Think they'll shoot me if I show 
 myself?" 
 
 " We'll fire on their flag of truce, if they do. Go with 
 the flag." 
 
 And Enos tremblingly went. 
 
 " Good riddance ! " said Ered. 
 
 *' Now comes the final struggle ! " added Cy. *' Our 
 only chance is in makmg it too costly for the rascals. Let 
 'em see they've got to give two or three lives for one, and 
 we may keep 'em oflf, and gain time. If we Can hold our 
 own till night, well and good ! " 
 
 "This carbine is jolly!" chuckled Fred. He sighted 
 it through the savins. He jvas a good shot; having had 
 practice on the Illinois prah-ies, picking wild geese out of 
 alighted flocks with the rifle, and bringing down wild hens 
 on the wing with the fowling-piece. " I believe I could put 
 my mark on the patch of Mr. Crumlett's pantaloons ! " 
 
 He was sustained by that exaltation of spirits, of which 
 those, whose souls have never risen sublimely above mortal 
 danger, know nothing. Was this terrible hour his last? 
 He did not stop to question. The future ? — he felt that the 
 
IXDIAN WARFARE. 355 
 
 future would take care of itself, and that all would be well 
 with him if he did his duty now. That duty was, to defend 
 himself and his comrades to the last against men whom he 
 knew to be assassins, whose promises were good for nothing, 
 and in whose hands his life would be less safe than here 
 with his fellows in their lair at bay. And his mother ? — 
 something fearful swelled up in his throat when he thought 
 of her ; but this heroic resolve came ever uppermost : "She 
 shall know that I died as a boy of hers should ; she shall 
 be proud of me ! " — and he put all softer thoughts aside. 
 
 They were a determined, cheerful company, all, — that 
 little devoted band of comrades in the bush. Cy and Jake 
 were unmarried ; but Jake had an aged mother dependent on 
 him for support : he had not always been as kind to her as 
 he might have been. Perhaps he thought of that ; for a 
 shadow of pain crossed his brow. And of whom did Cy 
 think? — for a strange expression of tenderness came into 
 that tanned, masculine, eagle-eyed, handsome Western face 
 of his. Did he reaUy care for that pretty Httle prairie maid 
 the others joked him about? Care for her!— she was 
 all he cared for now. And TVaterhouse had a wife at home ; 
 and Parker and Weston, though both young, had wives and 
 children,— children playing at their mothers' knees at that 
 very moment, perhaps! Carl had neither parent nor wife 
 
356 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 nor betrotlied : yet there were those he loved, — one "beauti- 
 ful Quaker girl above all, sister of his beloved Captain Hap- 
 good ; a tender-eyed, sweet-mouthed, mellow-voiced maiden, 
 who had smiled upon him, perhaps only for her brother's sake, 
 yet whom he had tremblmgly half hoped — but no matter 
 now ! He carefully cut a bullet in quarters to make slugs 
 for his revolver, and occasionally- took a bite of his pared 
 turnip. 
 
 Old Joel, who scarcely knew whether he owned a wife or 
 not (he had parted fi-om her and disowned her so often) , was 
 the only one who grumbled; but then he was always a 
 grumbler, happen what would. 
 
 Whizz came the ball of a carbine, aimed, Indian- 
 fashion, from behind a tree. It split the stem of one of the 
 little savins. 
 
 " I saw where that came from ! " said Fred. " Let the 
 Rider show himself again, and he'll be a tumbler ! " 
 
 Crack, crack, crack ! and the bullets, all fii'cd from be- 
 hind trees, began to come thick and fast. The log under 
 which Enos had sheltered himself served as a convenient 
 breastwork to the Union-boys now fighting on that side of 
 their ambush. Thoy could He behind it, and thrust their 
 pieces through the bushes, and see a great deal better than 
 they could be seen. 
 
INDIAN WARFARE. 357 
 
 Suddenly a shot responded from the savins. Fred's car- 
 bine spoke. The occasion was this : The rebel he had dis- 
 covered once more showed one arm supporting his short rifle, 
 one eye squinting, and one little spot of forehead peering 
 around the trunk. In an instant, Fred sighted him, and pulled 
 trigger. The carbine scarcely made any report : it must 
 have contained a very light charge ; but it did its work. 
 The bushwhacker did not fire at all, but flung up his hands, 
 dropped his piece, and with a faint yell plunged forward, fall- 
 ing headlong and heavily to the ground. 
 
 *' Bully for you, Fred ! " said Jake. 
 
 "Let every shot we fire tell such a story as that, and 
 there's a chance for us ! " said Cy. " Hello ! a pretty close 
 shave ! " A bullet had raked the top of his cap. 
 
 " You can shoot so petter as I can, Fred, I vill load vile 
 you fire." And Carl, passing his Mend a loaded carbine, 
 received the discharo;ed one in exchanorc 
 
 Just then, a dozen of the rebels made a dash ; each man, 
 at a signal, darting to gain the shelter of a nearer tree. 
 The movement was accomplished with such rapidity, that not 
 a shot was fired by the Union-boys ; whose motto was, not to 
 risk the wasting of a single cartridge. Other bushwhackers 
 followed the example ; and the hunted fugitives saw the cir- 
 cle of theii- foes still gradually narrowing. I said, the circle : 
 
358 THE TEREE SCOUTS. 
 
 yet semicii'cle would be the better tenn ; for, on the side of 
 the open field, there was not a rebel within rifle-range. 
 
 Since Fred had brought down his man, few shots had been 
 exchanged. 
 
 "Carl," whispered Fred, "take my cane, — it's on the 
 ledge there, — and just lift up my hat on it : see if we can't 
 draw their fii-e." 
 
 Caii obeyed ; and presently might have been seen the ap- 
 pearance of a head, cautiously rising among the bushes as if to 
 get a view of the enemy. Two carbines flashed in the woods, 
 and two bullets penetrated the hat. Fred fired ; and one of 
 the carbines was di-opped the instant it was discharged : but 
 the rebel himself di'ew back behind his tree. 
 
 " Never mind ! " said Fred. " I cut his hand off, I can 
 swear ! " 
 
 Whilst he was speaking, a bullet, aimed at the flash of his 
 piece, came buzzing through the boughs close by his ear. 
 
 " That was a bob-tailed slug, I know by the hum ! " said 
 he, laughing. " Damage any thing, Cy? " for Cy had fired. 
 " I winged him ! " Indeed, Cy had taken his game fly- 
 ing ; that is, as the rebel was darting from one tree to another. 
 The latter reached his goal, but staggeringly, and sank down 
 on the roots. 
 
 " A good lesson V" said Waterhouse. '■ They must stop 
 that trick : they're near enough." 
 
INDIAN WARFARE. 359 
 
 " By time ! I've got it now ! " growled old Joel. 
 " And so has the reb ! I paid him ! " said Jake through 
 his teeth, pulling his smoking barrel in over the log, and re- 
 loading as he lay on his back. 
 
 " Nothing but a flesh-vound, Joel! " said Carl. "But 
 it vas a mighty saucy vun, by swow ! " 
 
 A bullet had raked the old man's shoulder and back, 
 as the previous one had raked his arm ; but this time the 
 inimical lead had ploughed to the bone. 
 
 " If the pesky critter hain't took up lodgin's inside my 
 carcass, I don't keer ! " muttered the old man. " This 
 havin' to have lead dug out of a feller is wus'n bein' shot 
 in the fust place, a plaguy sight ! " 
 
 *' Hold on ! " said Fred : '' I see Gruffley himself ! If he 
 hadn't dodged behind that tree quite so quick — But never 
 mind : he can't stay there always ! " 
 
 The captain was quietly giving orders for a grand charge 
 by his whole line. His men were passing the word to each 
 other from tree to tree ; when the bushwhacking chief, who 
 didn't seem to realize the extent of his great beard any more 
 than a fashionable lady considers the sweep of her skuts, 
 unconsciously pushed the boundaries of the vast black bush 
 into view. Fred, thuiking that, where so much hair was, 
 there must bo a little face, let fly the waiting bullet. It 
 
360 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 whizzed through the mass, cutting close to the ambushed 
 jaw. The shock, the strange sensation of having his whiskers 
 tweaked in that way by an invisible leaden finger, betrayed 
 Captain Gruffley into an indiscretion. Dodging back hastily 
 behind the tree, he dodged too far, and exposed himself upon 
 the other side of the trunk. Fatal en-or ! Weston had long 
 been waiting for a good shot, and now he had it. The bush- 
 whacker tumbled over backwards with scarce a groan. 
 
 " The Ellsmer Family is avenged ! " murmured Fred. 
 
 " Not only that, but we are getting the best of them ! " 
 said Cy. 
 
 "I haven't another cartridge," said Jake. " How is it 
 with the rest of you ? " 
 
 The ammunition was already half spent : that was, after 
 all, the most distressing circumstance in this terribly unequal 
 conflict. 
 
 But now an event occurred that put an end to hope ; 
 if, indeed, any there had seriously indulged a hope, that, by 
 resistance until night, they might yet be saved. A distant 
 filing was heard. " Signals ! " said Cy. It was in the 
 du-ection of the hills, over which they had seen the escaping 
 spy disappear. Carl crept to the edge of the savins over- 
 looking the fields and the country-side, and saw hurrying 
 horsemen. 
 
INDIAN WARFARE. 361 
 
 "It is tbe re-enforcements ! " he said. *' Yat a shame ! 
 Vun company of rebs is not enough to wanquish eight feds ; 
 and so there comes two, three, four companies ! " 
 
 " We have but little time left," said Cy solemnly. 
 "Fire now, boys, whenever you have a chance ! " 
 . " I be blowed if ever I see sich a slew of the darned 
 graybaeks puttui' helter-skelter for a Kttle private shootin'- 
 match like this 'ere ! " growled old Joel ; who, feeling that 
 his wound entitled him to some indulgence, went to gratify 
 his curiosity by peeping at the enemy's re-enforcements. 
 
 On they came, pouring in a swarm through the gorge, 
 then scattering in every direction ; some keeping the road, 
 and others spurring across the fields. 
 
 "What in time makes 'em scatter so?" grumbled old 
 Joel. "Don't the plaguy fools know no better'n that? 
 They're sweepin' field and road : only they look more as 
 though they was beui' swept themselves ! There ain't no 
 discipline amongst them wild south-western hoss-jockeys. 
 They jest know how to ride, that's all : they're busters to ride, 
 I know ! Hello ! what's there ? " 
 
 A column of cavalry, whose splendid array contrasted 
 strikingly with the disorderly body of horse that had preceded 
 them^ came pouring through the gorge, their arms glittering 
 in the sun. They crossed the valley ; then, leaving the high- 
 
 31 
 
3G2 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 ways, a portion of them took to the fields, and came thunder- 
 ing up the slope directly towards the woods. Then Carl set 
 up a shout which made the forest ring. 
 
 " Blue-coats, blue-coats ! HuiTah^ huiTah ! " And he 
 fired his horse-pistol in the au\ 
 
 The rest heard ; they saw ; they took up the shout. 
 " Blue-coats, hurrah ! " At the same moment, the bush- 
 whackers, who had some time since ceased firing, in astonish- 
 ment, left their tree-shelters, and fled in confusion throuo^h 
 the woods. 
 
 *' Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah ! " 
 
 The boys leaped upon their feet ; they swung their hats ; 
 they made the forest echo and re-echo with their wild shouts 
 of joy. They were answered by swinging sabres, and cheers 
 from a hundred patriot throats. A minute later, they were 
 surrounded by their friends, — strangers all, personally, but 
 yet friends ; for did they not wear the dear blue coats ? and 
 were they not fighting in the just cause and true ? 
 
 Yet there was one who was not a stranger, — to Carl and 
 Fred at least. He bounded from his horse, and clasped the 
 hands of both boys at once. They were none the less de- 
 lighted to see him because his skin was black. 
 
 " Pomp ! you dear old vcllow ! " said Carl : " who vould 
 ever have thought of seeing you ? " 
 
TO NA SHVILLE. — A SURPRISE. 3G3 
 
 XXXY. 
 
 TO NASHVILLE.— A SURPRISE. 
 
 HE blue coats were worn by a regiment of Ohio 
 cavalry belonging to General Stanley's com- 
 mand. That popular officer — '' gay old Stan- 
 ley" he was filially called by his men, though still young — 
 was that day (it is written in history as the 11th of Decem- 
 ber) giving them exercise and practice with their new re- 
 volving rifles by making a reconnoissance in force, and a 
 dash on the rebel lines. 
 
 Pomp was acting as scout to the expedition. Mounted 
 on a magnificent black charger, he had done daring service 
 from the start. Moving along the Franklin pike in strong 
 force, they had found the enemy soon after passing the Fed- 
 eral outposts, and driven every thing before them. They 
 were now chasing the flying rebels towards Triune and No- 
 lensville ; watching, however, for the right moment to wheel, 
 and pounce upon the garrison at Franklin. 
 
864 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 How Pomp had learned the situation of his friends in the 
 woods, Fred did not ascertain until afterwards ; for it was 
 Pomp who had guided the Ohio boys so opportunely to the 
 spot. Captured horses were brought up, and the rescued 
 fugitives were speedily mounted, — Fred with his disabled 
 foot; old Joel with his gashed shoulder, clinging to his 
 hatchet, and growling good-naturedly ; Carl and Cy and 
 the rest; all indeed but Enos Crumlett, who was neatly 
 whisked away into captivity and tribulation by the rebels, to 
 whom he had unfortunately been in such haste to surrender. 
 Of the fate of this luckless Northern man with Southern 
 principles, the few words that remain to be said may as well 
 be said here. 
 
 That he was not hung on the spot by the enraged gueril- 
 las, he owed not at all to. their promise to spare the lives of 
 those who surrendered, nor to the fact that he was a non- 
 combatant, but simply and solely to the prospect of a bribe 
 which he held out to them. For them to take the lives of 
 their enemies was pleasant ; but to receive a heavy ransom 
 was more pleasant. And to Enos, though money was sweet, 
 existence — even the existence of a creature like him, 
 strange as it may seem — was sweeter. So he pledged his 
 house, his land, every thing, to raise the feaifd sum of 
 THREE THOUSANn DOLLARS, to givc in exchange for his life. 
 
TO NASHVILLE.-A SURPRISE. 365 
 
 A week afterwards, he was permitted to return home, in 
 order to pay the first instalment (two hundred dollars), and 
 to make preparations for paying the rest. Poor Matilda, 
 who had given him up for lost, was wild with joy at sight of 
 him. But, when she learned the price he was to pay for him- 
 self, she angrily declared that it was the silliest bargain he 
 ever made. She seemed to think, that, if he had been shrewd, 
 he ought to have let the rebels take his life, and to have 
 chuckled the while at the smart " speculation;" giving them 
 a thing so worthless in place of the substantial three thou- 
 sand dollars they had named as an equivalent. But Fortune, 
 which favors the brave, sometimes does not forget the mean 
 and cowardly. Enos paid the first instalment of his ransom 
 immediately ; but before January, when he was to pay the 
 rest, occurred the battle of Stone Biver, — or rather the week 
 of battles, — by which, after days of terrible conflict and ter- 
 rible slaughter, Bragg's magnificent army was driven back 
 from its strong position, and the rebel power in Tennessee 
 broken. The Crumlett Family woke up one morning, and 
 found themselves, to their great delight, inside the advan- 
 cing Union lines. Enbs became at once a devoted " Union 
 man from the start," and he had heart-rending tales to tell 
 of his sufferings and losses in the good cause. These pa- 
 thetic narratives procured him some indulgences from those 
 
 31* 
 
366 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 in authority ; so that he rapidly repaked his fortunes. He 
 has since developed, natui'ally and easily, into the character 
 which, no doubt, Heaven designed him to be, — a prosperous 
 Grovemment contractor and speculator in the misfortunes of 
 war. 
 
 Stanley's force pursued the enemy beyond Triune, de- 
 stroying two camps, and capturing a few horses and men ; 
 and bivouacked that night seven miles west of Mmfrees- 
 borough. The next morning, they carried out their original 
 design of an attack on Franklin, captui*ed the place, put the 
 ganison to flight, took a number of prisoners, destroyed a 
 flouring-miU, and returned — having made a brilliant and 
 successful reconnoissance, without the loss of a man — to 
 report to E-osecrans. 
 
 In the mean time, soon after the rescue, Fred and his 
 companions, together with a handful of prisoners, under a 
 sufficient escort, had been sent oflf to Nashville. Pomp, 
 despatched as a courier, accompanied them. They reached 
 the city in the middle Of the afternoon, as jovial a set of 
 fellows as ever were seen returning safe and whole, after 
 all the hardships and horrors of a flight from captivity and 
 death in an enemy's country. 
 
 And now the time came for Fred to separate temporarily 
 from his old comrades ; for they were going to the provost- 
 
TO NASHVILLE.-A SURPRISE. 
 
 3G7 
 
 mai-shal's; and Pomp, for a pailicular reason, wished to take 
 liim, with Carl, to the office of the anny-pohce. 
 
 " Good-by, boys ! See you soon. Be with you at the front 
 again in a few days. My foot is almost well abeady ! " 
 (Joy had cui^ed that.) " Don't go to the hospital if you 
 can help it, Joel : I sha'u't ! " 
 
 - Blast the hospital ! " growled old Joel. " I want to git 
 back to the rigunent agin : that's all I ax ! " 
 
 As he emphasized the word ax with a flourish of the 
 hatchet, all the boys laughed ; and so they parted. 
 
 " A good old soul, but as odd as Dick's hat-band ! " said 
 Fred-, gazing after his comrades with affectionate, earnest eyes. 
 " And what a splendid fellow Cy is ! He'll go to Congi-ess 
 some day, I'll bet ! I've known him for years. I only found 
 out to-day what a man is inside his clothes ! And Jake — 
 glorious Jake ! I am filled with remorse to think I ever 
 called him lazy ! " 
 
 Pomp had galloped on before the arriving party, and de- 
 livered "gay old Stanley's" despatch at Eosecrans's head- 
 quarters; and he now had nothing to do but to accompany 
 the boys. At the office of the army-police they dismounted, 
 and Fred entered, leaning on Carl's shoulders ; for joy had 
 not quite cured his sprain, after all. They were shown into 
 a private room, where the two boys sat down and waited. 
 
368 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 Pomp went out, and in a little while the "colonel" came 
 in. 
 
 He was delighted at the sight of Carl ; and he qnestioned 
 both boys closely with regard to all they had seen in Dixie. 
 They had brought important infonnation with regard to the 
 rebel forces at Shelbyville : and Carl, moreover, was enabled 
 to lay before him a complete exposition of all the smuggling 
 operations canied on by " Joseph," and his associates North 
 and South ; an exposition which, it may here be said, led to 
 the speedy interniption of those operations by the national 
 authorities, the aiTCst of several of the gang, and the confisca- 
 tion of their goods. 
 
 But, when Carl proceeded to relate his adventures in Mur- 
 freesborough, the colonel interposed with a smile, — 
 
 " Never mind about that now. I know more of what you 
 saw there, and of much that you only suspected, than 
 you suppose. — As for you, my plucky young friend," — 
 pressing Fred's hand cordially, — "I sympathize with you in 
 all you have suffered in connection with that strange man, 
 Daniels ; but I have a bit of good news for you, that will 
 make you forget all that. Your mother " — 
 
 "My mother!" echoed Fred with a start: "you have 
 heard from her? " 
 
 "Better than that," said the pleasant colonel. "The 
 
TO NASHVILLE. — A SURPRISE. 369 
 
 morning you were captured, word was sent to her tliat you 
 were wounded. It proved to be another that had the wound ; 
 but the mistake had, as it now turns out, happy conse- 
 quences." 
 
 ** She came on ! she is here ! " said Fred, trembling with 
 joyous excitement. 
 
 "Exactly; and as you are lame, and couldn't very well 
 go and find her, I told Pomp she had better come and find 
 you. Come in, Pomp ! " 
 
 It was indeed Pomp's face at the door. But Fred saw 
 p.lso another face, to him the dearest in the world, — a face 
 beaming with love and rapture, with joy and tears, — his 
 mother's. In a moment he was in her arms. 
 
 "My boy, my boy! " was all she could utter, as she 
 snatched him to her lips and fluttering heart. 
 
 As for Fred, he could not say a word, but just flung his 
 arms about her, laid his face upon her neck, and sobbed with 
 excess of joy. It was such a little while ago that he gave 
 up all hope of ever seeing her again in this world; and 
 now here she was ! Oh ! Grod was certainly good to him ; and 
 well might he feel now such gTatitude and blessed happiness 
 as he had never in all his Hfe felt before. 
 
 " My child, my Alfred ! Heaven has given you to me 
 
370 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 again ! And he lias given me something more. Al- 
 fred ! look! this is" — 
 
 , Along with Pomp and Mrs. Kivers had entered a third 
 person, whom Fred, overcome by the sight of his mother, 
 had not observed. But now he looked up ; and a shadow 
 swept over him ; an icy chill contracted his heart : for he saw 
 standing before him, bronzed and calm and bland, smiling 
 upon mother and son, Daniels the spy. 
 
THE SPY. 871 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 THE SPY. 
 
 Y father ! I know it ! " said Fred in a hollow 
 voice, shrinking back, and coldly declining the 
 man's proffered hand. 
 
 Daniels — or rather ^Ir. Rivers, as we must call him now 
 — received this rebufl with perfect equanimity ; still extend- 
 ing his hand, and smiling proudly, even affectionately, upon- 
 the spirited hoy. 
 
 "Alfred, my son!" exclaimed Mrs. Rivers, "you do 
 not know ! — it is he who saved your life ! " 
 
 "I know that too ! " said Fred, in a voice that ill con- 
 cealed the indignation, grief, and shame that convulsed his 
 heart ; " and, at the same time, he betrayed my friends ! " 
 
 Still Mr. Rivers did not speak : he continued to smile, with 
 hand extended, and with the same look of paternal love and 
 pride. But Mrs. Rivers exclaimed, — 
 
 " Betrayed them? On the contrary, it was he who rode to 
 
372 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 meet the Union cavalry, and told Pomp just where to find 
 you!" 
 
 "And, moreover, it belongs to me to inform you," said 
 the colonel, laying his hand kindly upon Fred's shoulder, 
 " that you have quite misunderstood certain things. Even 
 Carl here, shrewd as he is, has been — well, a little too 
 shrewd ! " 
 
 "I've been shtoopider as my mule ! " broke forth Carl, 
 throwing up his hands with gestures of dismay. " Vas ever 
 such ? I shall vake up to-morrow vith ears a foot long ! 
 Give me some bags to get into and hide ! " 
 
 "Why, Carl," laughed the colonel, "what's the mat- 
 ter?" 
 
 ' ' I made such a plunder ! It vas bogus maps he vas 
 showing the rebs, ven I spotted him for a spy ! " 
 
 "Maps I gave him myself," added the colonel. "But 
 the conclusion you came to was perfectly natural, and you 
 acted altogether right afterwards. The truth is, I have in 
 this room here now three of my very best scouts. You have 
 proved yourself worthy to be called one, Carl. Pomp, in his 
 way, is unequalled. But the man who has really rendered 
 us the most extensive and valuable service is — Yiy. Dan- 
 iel S. Rivers!" 
 
 Scarcely changing a feature, but smilmg still, and still ex- 
 
THE SPY. Si'S 
 
 tending his hand, the noted scout waited patiently for Fred io 
 recognize him in his true character. And Fred, Hstening, 
 o-azino:, wonderins;, — bewildered and incredulous at first, but 
 his doubts clearino; and his mind convinced at last, — bent 
 forward with a sudden impulse, penitent but overjoyed, 
 clasped the hand, and pressed it to his lips. 
 
 "0 my father! forgive me!" he exclaimed. "I was 
 wrong ; but I loved you all the while ! " 
 
 " Did you, my boy ? I believe so ! " said Mr. Rivers, 
 drawing him to his bosom as fondly as when they lay that 
 night in the pine-woods under the same blanket. " But let 
 me tell you that I have" nothing to forgive. You and Carl 
 and the rest did only your duty." 
 
 ** Oh! but why didn't you tell us how it was? it would 
 have saved so much ! " 
 
 " That, indeed, I should have done, before permitting you 
 quite to hang me up ! In fact, I was on the point of ex- 
 plaining every thing when you captui'ed Captain Gruffley. I 
 had become a pretended spy in the rebel service, against my 
 will, and in order to save my life, when I was once scouting 
 for our army ; and, after that, I found it necessary to keep 
 up the chai'acter whenever I entered the rebel lines. I was 
 able, by that means, to gain a great deal of information which 
 could not otherwise have been obtained ; but, at the same 
 
 32 
 
374 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 time, I was obliged to use tlie utmost caution to prevent my 
 real business from being discovered. I made it a rule to in- 
 trust absolutely no one with my secret ; and many a time I 
 have passed for a reprobate with good Union men, rather than 
 give them a hint that I was different from what I seemed." 
 
 " Oh ! but oui' fellows would have kept your secret sacred 
 as the grave ! " 
 
 ** Yery likely, and yet possibly not. Suppose they had 
 been recaptured, as seemed inevitable at one time, and had 
 afterwards, in some fit of disgust and despair, concluded that 
 I Mid deceived them : do you think they might not have 
 flung out something which would have led to my being sus- 
 pected by the rebels, especially since I had run some risks 
 in rescuing you ? Gruffley was beginning to distnist me : I 
 found that out when I stole down the hill before day-break to 
 have a talk with him. My object was to ascertain his object 
 in being there, and to learn his plans. But he was so close, 
 I could get nothing out of him. For that reason, I did not 
 think it useful to tell you I had seen him." 
 
 *' And you did not guide the rebels to attack our pickets 
 that morning? " 
 
 " Quite the contrary. It was several hours after I entered 
 the rebel camp that I first heard that an attack was meditated. 
 I was sent for to consult with the leaders. I did my best to 
 
THE SP Y. 375 
 
 dissuade thcra from it; but, finding them determined, I re- 
 solved to accompany them, and see that no harm came to you. 
 I also hoped to be able to get the start of them, and warn 
 your pickets; but theu' excessive precautions rendered that 
 impossible." 
 
 "Oh! I am so glad!" exclaimed Fred. "And you 
 have truly been a Union man all along ? " 
 
 " From the beginning, my boy. And now I will tell you 
 more. I was once an uncompromising proslavery man, as 
 your mother here knows too well ; and I never had my eyes 
 fully opened to the evils of the institution, until, of late years, 
 the subject of secession began to be agitated. Then I found 
 that slavery had besotted the moral sense of the South ; that, 
 for its sake, men who prided themselves on then- high and 
 stainless honor were ready to do the most dishonorable 
 things. Whatever was done in behalf of the favorite institu- 
 tion was considered right, even to the overthrow of the most 
 beneficent Government on earth, and the plunging of their 
 country into civil war. Then I remembered, and found 
 true, many things your mother had said to me in days when 
 that was the only great subject we differed upon, — the source 
 of all our unhappiness. Yes, my boy : I say it to you now, 
 as I have already said it to her, I discovered, when too late, 
 that I had been wrong, and that she had been right all the 
 
376 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 time. I lived in a neighborhood of violent secessionists ; 
 and, as soon as it was well known that I had decided to 
 stand for the 'Union at all hazards, their persecution began. 
 I foresaw all that has taken place since in those regions of 
 guerillas and assassins : so I kept quiet as possible until T 
 liad perfected a plan for freeing my slaves ; then with them 
 I abandoned every thing, and escaped to the Union camps. 
 Since then I have devoted body and mind and soul to defeat 
 the designs of the traitors ; and have, even as you have seen, 
 been willing to pass as a spy in their employment, in order to 
 discover and thwart theii' own plans. I hoped to do my 
 country some worthy service ; and I hoped too, in that way, 
 to prove to your mother how sincerely I repented of my past 
 errors of opinion, and the wrong I have done her. A won- 
 derful Providence has brought us together here : she was 
 hunting for you, and found me. She has forgiven me. 
 Hiive you? " 
 
 All this was said with the ah' of a fi-ank, generous, and 
 manly nature, avowing faults of the past, and standing 
 calm and grand for the truth now and for evermore. Mrs. 
 Rivers's fine and noble face beamed with inexpressible pride 
 and happiness, and Fred was fairly intoxicated with delight. 
 
 " But Alfred is suffering with his foot ! Let us take him 
 home," said Mrs. Rivers. 
 
THE SPY. 377 
 
 ** Never mind the foot! But what do you mean by 
 home?" 
 
 " We will show you," said his father. 
 
 There was a mutual happy understanding between his 
 parents, which puzzled Fred. "Were they taking him to his 
 father's home in Kentucky, or to his mother's home in 
 Illinois ? 
 
 " Any thing but the hospital ! " said he. 
 
 ** You shall have no hospital except our own house, and no 
 nui'se but your mother ! " replied Mr. Kivers. 
 
 " But where is Carl? and Pomp? " 
 
 They had delicately withdrawn during the boy's interview 
 with his parents. He found them at the door. There was 
 also at the door a carriage, which had brought his mother and 
 father to the army police-office, and was waiting to take them 
 away again. 
 
 " Go with us, can't you? " cried Fred, loath to part with 
 his tried friends, although he had found those who were 
 dearer than any friends. 
 
 *'I should be wery happy," replied Carl, with a sturdy 
 grip of the hand ; " but I must go find my captain, and see 
 vat news " — what made him pause and blush so ? Was it 
 news from Penn Hapgood's beautiful Quaker sister he was 
 so eager to obtain? — *' news from the regiment, you know ! " 
 he added with a droll smile. 
 
 32* 
 
378 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 "You don't regret your little scouting expedition, do 
 you? " said Mr. Eivers. 
 
 "Ye had some shport!" Carl answered. "And I vill 
 show you, Fred, vat the colonel has just shlipped into my 
 vist." It was a fifty-dollar " greenback." 
 
 lie was evidently veiy proud, not of the money, but of 
 the fact that his sei*vices were thus appreciated. " Yoseph 
 said I shall make much money," he added with a smile. 
 " The colonel says I must take this horse too, to make up for 
 the walue of the vun I lost " (it was the captured animal 
 which he had ridden into Nashville). " So now goot-py ! " 
 
 He mounted, and rode cheerily away : not that he parted 
 from Fred and Pomp without regret, but that his anticipa- 
 tions of a speedy meeting with his beloved captain, and of 
 getting news from — the regiment, overshadowed every other 
 consideration. 
 
 " But you are going with us. Pomp ?" said Fred. 
 
 "I'll be your coachman, I reckon/' the negro answered, 
 measuring out the reins. 
 
 " Oh ! if we could only stop at the provost-marshal's a 
 minute, and tell the boys ! " 
 
 " That we can do, Alfred," §aid Mr. Rivers. " I should 
 like to see them a minute myself." 
 
 Pomp reined up to the door of the provostrmarshal's 
 
THE SPY. 379 
 
 office, and, bounding to the ground, ran in to inform Cy and 
 his companions that he had caught the spy. 
 
 ** Good on your head, old fellow ! " ejaculated Jake. 
 
 ** By time ! where is he ? " growled old Joel, grasping his 
 hatchet. 
 
 " At the door : come and identify him, some of you." 
 
 All went; all identified the man they had tried, con- 
 demned, and nearly hung : and gi-eat was the astonishment 
 of all when they saw his wife with him and his son, and 
 leai-ned the truth. 
 
 *' I was never so glad to know I had made a fool of ray- 
 self! " exclaimed Cy, cordially shaking the hand of his late 
 prisoner. "IMrs. Rivers, I am rejoiced to see you, and to 
 congratulate you ! " 
 
 " All I have to say is, that you'll see me turn somersets 
 to the moon, before I ever set on a court-martial again ! " de- 
 clared Jake. "This justice is ticklish business, after all; 
 ain't it, Cy?" 
 
 Only old Joel, who would never acknowledge himself to 
 be in the wrong, grumbled, and shook his head, and threw 
 out dark hints that all was not yet as it should be. Mr. 
 Kivers laughed. 
 
 " Well, my friends," said he, *'I think you were a little 
 hasty and over-zealous ; but you were very excusable, under 
 
380 THE THREE SCOUTS. 
 
 the cii-cumstances. I shall be happy to meet you all at my 
 house, and have an opportunity to thank you for your kind- 
 ness to my son here, and also to give you some useful hints 
 with regard to conducting a court-martial ! " 
 
 " Your business with the rebels is no secret now?" Cy 
 queried. 
 
 " No ; for I think my usefulness in that Ime has terminat- 
 ed with this last adventure. . I still remam in the employ- 
 ment of the Government, however. I have taken a house in 
 the city, where, as I said, you will all be welcome. Drive 
 on. Pomp! " 
 
 Fred swung his hat at his comrades as he rode away, and 
 they cheered him in return. A short drive took the caiTiage 
 to the door of an elegant residence, where Mr. Rivers, 
 jumped down, and helped his wife to ahght. He then took 
 Fred in his arms, and carried him gayly up the steps. 
 
 " What ! is this our home ? " cried the dehghted boy. 
 
 " For the present, and probably as long as the army re- 
 mains at Nashville. It is one of those fine houses which our 
 rebellious relatives have vacated, and left ready furnished for 
 our accommodation. In consideration of my services, which 
 I have hitherto refused to receive pay for. Government has 
 placed all this at our disposal." And, the door being opened 
 by a black servant, jMr. Rivers took Fred in, and showed 
 him the comforts and conveniences of their new home. 
 
THE SPY. 381 
 
 " mother! isn't this tip-top! " exclaimed Fred, over- 
 flowing with gratitude and happiness. " I am almost glad I 
 am lame, so that I can stay a little while with you ! " 
 
 Fred's " little while " became a long while. It was weeks 
 before he was able to walk without lameness. The result was, 
 that he never returned to his regiment. Through his father's 
 influence, he obtained an appointment on the staflf of one of 
 the most brilliant young ofiicers in the Army of the Cumber- 
 land ; and he has since distinguished himself on many a hard- 
 fought field. 
 
 His parents, so happily re-united, have scarcely been sep- 
 arated since ; for while Mr. Rivers follows the army, being 
 now at the head of one of its most important departments, his 
 wife accompanies him, devoting her life to the welfare of the 
 wounded soldiers, — one of those noble missionaries of the 
 hospitals, whose good deeds shall not be forgotten either in 
 this world or the next. 
 
 Carl has not been out on any very extensive scouting ex- 
 peditions of late. Not so Pomp : where services of that 
 sort, involving greatest danger and hardship, are to be per- 
 formed, there the fearless and sagacious black scout is to be 
 found. 
 
 THE END. 
 
\4 
 
 IW ii 
 
 p) 
 
7> 
 
 RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 Wilmer 
 1091