The Rock of Chickamauga by Joseph A. Altsheler (best love novels of all time txt) 📖
- Author: Joseph A. Altsheler
Book online «The Rock of Chickamauga by Joseph A. Altsheler (best love novels of all time txt) 📖». Author Joseph A. Altsheler
the crossing of the river, to which his trail would lead when they found
it.
He saw them cease talking and begin searching among the woods. It might
be at least a half-hour before they found the trail and his strength
would be restored fully then. His sinking of the canoe had been in
reality a triumph, and so he remained at ease, watching the ford.
He was quite sure that when his trail was found the little man would
be the one to find it, and sure enough at the end of a half-hour the
weazened figure led down to the ford. Dick might have shot one of them
in the water, but he had no desire to take life. It would serve no
purpose, and, refreshed and strengthened, he set out through the forest
toward Jackson.
He came to a brook soon, and, remembering the old device of Indian
times, he waded in it at least a half-mile. When he left it he passed
through a stretch of wood, crossed an old cotton field and entered the
woods again. Then he sat down and ate from his store, feeling that he
had shaken off his pursuers. Another examination of his map followed. He
had kept fixed in his mind the point at which he was to find Hertford,
and, being a good judge of direction, he felt sure that he could yet
reach it.
The sun, now high and warm, had dried his clothing, and, after the food,
he was ready for another long march. He struck into a path and walked
along it, coming soon to a house which stood back a little distance from
a road into which the path merged. A man and two women standing on the
porch stared at him curiously, but he pretended to take no notice. After
long exposure to weather, blue uniforms did not differ much from gray,
and his own was now covered with mud. He could readily pass as a soldier
of the Confederacy unless they chose to ask too many questions.
"From General Pemberton's army?" called the man, when he was opposite
the house.
Dick nodded and stepped a little faster.
"Won't you stop for a bite and fresh water with friends of the cause?"
"Thanks, but important dispatches. Must hurry." They repeated the
invitation. He shook his head, and went on. He did not look back, but he
was sure that they stared at him as long as he was in sight. Then, for
safety's sake, he left the road and entered the wood once more.
He had now come to country comparatively free from swamp and marsh, and
pursued his way through a great forest, beautiful with live oaks and
magnolias. In the afternoon he took a long rest by the side of a clear
spring, where he drew further upon the store of food in his saddlebags,
which he calculated held enough for another day. After that he would
have to forage upon the country.
He would sleep the second night in the forest, his blanket being
sufficient protection, unless rain came, which he would have to endure
as best he could. Another look at his map and he believed that on the
following afternoon he could reach Hertford.
He took the remaining food from his saddlebags, wrapped it in his
blanket, and strapped the pack on his back. Then, in order to lighten
his burden, he hung the saddlebags on the bough of a tree and abandoned
them, after which he pressed forward through the woods with renewed
speed.
He came at times to the edge of the forest and saw houses in the fields,
but he always turned back among the trees. He could find only enemies
here, and he knew that it was his plan to avoid all human beings.
Precept and example are of great power and he recalled again much that
he had heard of his famous ancestor, Paul Cotter. He had been compelled
to fight often for his life and again to flee for it from an enemy who
reserved torture and death for the captured. Dick felt that he must do
as well, and the feeling increased his vigor and courage.
A little later he heard a note, low, faint and musical. It was behind
him, but he was sure at first that it was made by negroes singing. It
was a pleasing sound. The negro had a great capacity for happiness, and
Dick as a young lad had played with and liked the young colored lads of
his age.
But as he walked on he heard the low, musical note once more and, as
before, directly behind him. It seemed a little nearer. He paused and
listened. It came again, always nearer and nearer, and now it did not
seem as musical as before. There was a sinister thread in that flowing
note, and suddenly Dick remembered.
He was a daring horseman and with his uncle and cousin and others at
Pendleton he had often ridden after the fox. It was the note of the
hounds, but of bloodhounds, and this time they were following him. From
the first he had not the slightest doubt of it. Somebody, some traitor
in the Union camp, knew the nature of his errand, and was hanging on to
the pursuit like death.
Dick knew it was the little man whom he had seen by the river, and
perhaps the canoemen were with him--he would certainly have comrades,
or his own danger would be too great--and they had probably obtained the
bloodhounds at a farmhouse. Nearly everybody in Mississippi kept hounds.
The long whining note came again and much nearer. Now all music was gone
from it for Dick. It was ferocious, like the howl of the wolf seeking
prey, and he could not restrain a shudder. His danger had returned with
twofold force, because the hounds would unerringly lead his pursuers
through the forest as fast as they could follow.
He did not yet despair. A new resolution was drawn from the depths of
his courage. He did not forget that he was a good marksman and he
had both rifle and pistols. He tried to calculate from that whining,
ferocious note how many hounds were pursuing, and he believed they were
not many. Now he prepared for battle, and, as he ran, he kept his eye on
the ground in order that he might choose his own field.
He saw it presently, a mass of fallen timber thrown together by a great
storm, and he took his place on the highest log, out of reach of a
leaping hound. Then, lying almost flat on the log and with his rifle
ready, he waited, his heart beating hard with anger that he should be
pursued thus like an animal.
The howling of the hounds grew more ferocious, and it was tinged with
joy. The trail had suddenly grown very hot, and they knew that the
quarry was just before them. Dick caught a good view of a long, lean,
racing figure bounding among the trees, and he fired straight at a spot
between the blazing eyes. The hound fell without a sound, and with equal
ease he slew the second. The third and last drew back, although the lad
heard the distant halloo of men seeking to drive him on.
Dick sprang from his log and ran through the forest again. He knew
that the lone hound after his first recoil would follow, but he had his
reloaded rifle and he had proved that he knew how to shoot. It would
please him for the hound to come within range.
When he took to renewed flight the hound again whined ferociously and
Dick glanced back now and then seeking a shot. Once he caught a glimpse
of two or three dusky figures some distance behind the hound, urging
him on, and his heart throbbed with increased rage. If they presented an
equal target he would fire at them rather than the hound.
He could run no longer, and his gait sank to a walk. His very exhaustion
brought him his opportunity, as the animal came rapidly within range,
and Dick finished him with a single lucky shot. Then, making an extreme
effort, he fled on a long time, and, while he was fleeing, he saw the
sun set and the night come.
The strain upon him had been so great that his nerves and brain were
unsteady. Although the forest was black with night he saw it through a
blood-red mist. Something in him was about to burst, and when he saw a
human figure rising up before him it broke and he fell.
Dick was unconscious a long time. But when he awoke he found himself
wrapped in a blanket, while another was doubled under his head. It was
pitchy dark, but he beheld the outline of a human figure, sitting by his
side. He strove to rise, but a powerful hand on his shoulder pushed him
back, though gently, and a low voice said:
"Stay still, Mr. Mason. We mustn't make any sound now!"
Dick recognized in dim wonder the voice of Sergeant Daniel Whitley. How
he had come there at such a time, and what he was doing now was past all
guessing, but Sergeant Whitley was a most competent man. He knew more
than most generals, and he was filled with the lore of the woods. He
would trust him. He let his head sink back on the folded blanket, and
his heavy eyes closed again.
When Dick roused from his stupor the sergeant was still by his side,
and, as his eyes grew used to the darkness, he noticed that Whitley was
really kneeling rather than sitting, crouched to meet danger, his finger
on the trigger of a rifle. Dick's brain cleared and he sat up.
"What is it, Sergeant?" he whispered.
"I see you're all right now, Mr. Mason," the sergeant whispered back,
"but be sure you don't stir."
"Is it the Johnnies?"
"Lean over a little and look down into that dip."
Dick did so, and saw four men hunting among the trees, and the one
who seemed to be their leader was the little weazened fellow, with the
great, flap-brimmed hat.
"They're looking for your trail," whispered the sergeant, "but they
won't find it. It's too dark, even for a Sioux Indian, and I've seen
them do some wonderful things in trailing."
"I seem to have met you in time, Sergeant."
"So you did, sir, but more of that later. Perhaps you'd better lie down
again, as you're weak yet. I'll tell you all they do."
"I'll take your advice, Sergeant, but am I sound and whole? I felt
something in me break, and then the earth rose up and hit me in the
face."
"I reckon it was just the last ounce of breath going out of you with a
pop. They're hunting hard, Mr. Mason, but they can't pick up the trace
of a footstep. Slade must be mad clean through."
"Slade! Slade! Who's Slade?"
"Slade is a spy partly, and an outlaw mostly, 'cause he often works on
his own hook. He's the weazened little fellow with so much hat-brim, and
he's about twenty different kinds of a demon. You've plenty of reason to
fear him, and it's lucky we've met."
"It's more than luck for me, Sergeant. It's salvation. I believe it
wouldn't have been half as hard on me if somebody had been with me, and
you're the first whom I would have chosen. Are they still in the dip,
Sergeant?"
"No, they've passed to the slope on the right, and I think they'll go
over the hill. We're safe here so long as we remain quiet; that is, safe
for the time. Slade will hang on as long as there's a possible chance to
find us."
"Sergeant, if they do happen to stumble upon us in the dark I hope
you'll promise to do one thing for me."
"I'll do anything I can, Mr. Mason."
"Kill Slade first. That little villain gives me the horrors. I believe
the soul of the last bloodhound I shot has been reincarnated in him."
"All right, Mr. Mason," returned the sergeant, placidly, "if we have to
fight I'll make sure of Slade at once. Is there anybody else you'd like
specially to have killed?"
"No thank you, Sergeant. I don't hate any of the others, and I suppose
they'd have dropped the chase long ago if it hadn't been for this fellow
whom you call Slade. Now, I think I'll lie quiet, while you watch."
"Very good, sir. I'll tell you everything I can see. They're passing
over the hill out of sight, and if they return I won't fail to let you
know."
Sergeant Whitley, a man of vast physical powers, hardened by the long
service of forest and plain, was not weary at all, and, in the dusk, he
looked down with sympathy and pity at the lad who
Comments (0)